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Ryan Day gives candid answer on how important beating Penn State was for his job

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•11/07/24
Ryan Day
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day (© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Even when you’re winning a lot of games at a place like Ohio State you’re never truly safe, at least not without a couple championships. Ask Ryan Day.

And the Buckeyes have been close without truly breaking through under Day. Worse, they watched rival Michigan win it all last year, only heaping further pressure on Day to produce.

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So Saturday, when the team won at Penn State, it was a huge weight off the shoulders for Day and company.

“Yeah, I think so. There’s a lot there to probably unpack, and I’m not going to get into all of it,” Ryan Day said. “But yeah, there’s a lot that goes with being the head coach at Ohio State. You can say ignore everything that goes on, but your players read it, your coaches read it, your staff members read it, your families read it. And you’ve got to stay strong in those moments.”

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Day has been criticized for his inability to beat Michigan, something that has kept a program otherwise equipped to play for national titles from doing so. He’s felt the heat.

He still hasn’t fully evaded it this year, not with one loss to Oregon already. Admittedly, that was a close loss and a tough game, and it’s one that won’t seriously damage the team’s postseason aspirations.

If Ohio State can keep winning.

That, of course, is the real challenge. But for a day, Ryan Day and company did just that against a top-five opponent. On the road.

That’s well worth celebrating.

“That entire team, our families, they all believed,” Ryan Day said. “And so to go do that and accomplish that, what we did today in this game and a top-five victory, it feels good right now. Still got a lot of football ahead of us, but right now, yeah, feels good. I’m proud of our team and proud of our coaching staff.”

The rest of the schedule for Ohio State looks perfectly manageable. A key home date with unbeaten Indiana looms, then the season finale against a Michigan team experiencing the dropoff after losing a slew of players off that title team to the NFL.

It’s all there for the taking for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes. First up? A home date with Purdue at noon ET Saturday on FOX.