Ryan Day on moving past Michigan loss: 'We got a lot in front of us'

While the general vibe in Columbus, Ohio, this week might’ve been one of the sky falling, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day knows it’s not. And he knows getting his team to see that with the College Football Playoff looming is key.

Ohio State is almost assuredly getting in the field as an at-large team and more than likely going to host a game in Ohio Stadium as a team seeded between No. 5 and No. 8. But after losing to Michigan and falling short on some goals like a Big Ten title, Day is spending a bit of his time getting himself and those around him refocused on an important reality: Ohio State can still win a national championship.

“Well we’ve got a lot in front of us,” Day said days after the Michigan loss. “And as much as this hurts, we’ve got a chance to go play for a national championship and when the dust settles, here we are. And we don’t just turn around after a day and say ‘We’re on to the next thing.’ That’s not going to happen. But, we’ve come in here, had some meetings. We’re going to get out on the field today, move around a little bit.”

He likened the situation to that of an NFL wildcard team getting into the playoffs, getting a first win, and getting hot and running to the Super Bowl.

And unlike NFL wildcard teams, the Buckeyes have a chance to do that in front of a home crowd.

“So that’s all out in front of us and we’ve got plenty good enough players to go do that,” Day said. “So it’s going to come down to the leaders pulling everybody together knowing we’ve got some guys maybe going into the portal, we’ve got some things. But all those things are going to happen whether we lost or we won. So here we are, we’re 10-2, frustrated with how the season ended, but everything’s out in front of us. We’ve had good conversations. I think the guys are moving in that direction. I know we wanna know what the next target is, we’ll get that Sunday. But there’s a good chance we’re going to be hosting here.”

And for all the internal anguish and plenty of outside noise following the regular season finale, Day had an even bigger point to make.

Getting to compete for a national championship does more than just keep the Buckeyes’ season from losing a lot of steam. It should be an exciting challenge, too.

“And so I think that’s exciting for our guys and we’ll rally around this thing and go after it,” Day said.