Urban Meyer reveals text he sent Ryan Day after loss vs. Oregon

Following one of the games of the year, Ryan Day and Ohio State found themselves on the wrong side of the win/loss column, stumbling in the final stretches against Oregon to come up empty on the road.

Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer had an encouraging message for current Buckeyes coach Ryan Day after the game, though.

“They went on the road. I actually texted coach Day this, ‘You went on the road, one of the most difficult — I never played there, but I coached there — I hear it’s one of the most difficult places. You took the team’s best shot and you were seriously one yard away from winning that game,'” Meyer said on The Triple Option podcast.

That’s certainly evidenced by the way the pollsters have treated Ryan Day and Ohio State in the aftermath of the game. The Buckeyes fell only two spots, to No. 4 in the nation, with the loss.

That means little long-term damage was done thanks to the result.

“So somehow he’s got to get through the media, the big game, they’re not winning the big games,” Meyer said. “The reality is that’s a little bit like the Georgia game when they played Georgia in the playoffs a couple years ago. Whoever wins that game, I think they’re front-runner with Texas to be a national champion.”

Of course, Ohio State didn’t win, so it’s got to regroup and figure out where things went wrong. Do that, though, and there’s no reason to think Ohio State can’t still be a College Football Playoff team.

Fellow podcast host Mark Ingram also concurred about the loss and what it means for Ryan Day.

“Like you said, it’s this far away from having a chance to win that game, getting out of Oregon,” Ingram said. “They didn’t get any turnovers on defense. They took Oregon’s best shot on the road at home.

“The sky is not falling for Ohio State. They still have everything ahead of them. This 12-team playoff, they still have everything ahead of them. They still have the great team that we think they are. They just went on the road into a hostile environment and lost by a little bit of time. An offensive pass interference, a little bit of time.”

Ohio State will have the luxury of a bye week to let the loss fade. Then it’s on to Nebraska, followed by a road trip to No. 3 Penn State.

If Ryan Day wins those, few are likely to remember the narrow loss to Oregon in the big picture.