Ohio State answers questions of toughness vs. Irish, but more tests to come

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Ryan Day stopped just short of the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium late Saturday night. As a clutch of Ohio State fans hung over the rails and called his name, Day raised both hands and screamed.

Catharsis can be blood-curdling, too.

Moments earlier, Day yelled his way through a postgame interview with NBC’s Kathryn Tappen as he explained the all-or-nothing off-tackle handoff to Chip Trayanum that produced a 1-yard touchdown that gave Ohio State a 17-14 win and left thousands of green-clad Notre Dame fans staring at the ground and mumbling.

Day was still hot about Lou Holtz, still angry that anyone would question his team’s toughness. And as he left the field, he let out those demons. His team needed a yard. It surged forward and got that yard. 

Case closed.

Except it isn’t. 

Day defended his players vocally and gave them the opportunity to prove with their actions that a popular perception of them is misguided. This is precisely his job. In the critical moment Saturday, Day did his job perfectly.

What so vexed Day? A hilarious interview Friday in which a sidekick of ESPN host Pat McAfee interviewed the actual Lou Holtz while doing a Lou Holtz impression for the entirety of the segment. 

Here’s what Lou Holtz said on @PatMcAfeeShow that Ryan Day angrily referred to after Ohio St. beat Notre Dame: pic.twitter.com/r1Ju4pwl00

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 24, 2023

https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/1705779509092376842?s=20

Here’s what Holtz said that truly enraged Day: “You look at Coach Day. I coached at Ohio State under Woody Hayes. We won the national championship when I was there. I’m proud of that. However, he has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan twice and everybody that beats them does so because they’re more physical than Ohio State. And I think Notre Dame will take that same approach.”

This interview took place in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus in front of a raucous pro-Notre Dame crowd. Was Holtz playing to that crowd? Absolutely. Was what he said wrong? It was, according to Day.

“I don’t know where he gets off saying those type of things,” Day said. “I don’t. I don’t. I have some other things I’d like to say too, but I’m not going to say them because I’m a lot more respectful than he is.”

Day considered that final play a statement.

“We’re not going to stand for that, because that’s not even close to true,” Day said of the reputation Holtz referenced. “We had one bad half a couple years ago in Ann Arbor. We did. The second half. But every game we play in, we’re physical. We are. I don’t know where that narrative comes from. But it ends tonight.”

Except it probably doesn’t. It is a credit to Day that Holtz could list every single loss Day has suffered in four-plus seasons as Ohio State’s coach in one sentence. And Ohio State’s players and a significant number of Ohio State’s fans loved Day having the guts to call that run with three seconds remaining. There’s also a group of Ohio State fans who watched Notre Dame keep pounding the run game and finally break through with a fourth-quarter touchdown that thought “Oh no. We’ve seen this movie before.” And while they likely were relieved that the Buckeyes drove 65 yards in 1 minute, 25 seconds for the game-winning score, they likely fear what may happen when Penn State visits Oct. 21 and when the Buckeyes close the regular season in Ann Arbor. Because Penn State and Michigan might be better to Notre Dame, and Ohio State needed the kind of miracle that on Notre Dame’s campus usually requires the lighting of a candle in the Grotto to request.

Day earned the right to dunk on an 86-year-old former coach who was playing to the home crowd. But he works at Ohio State. Those doubts don’t go away until he’s standing on a stage holding a national title trophy. (And then they crank right back up the next time he loses.)

But what happened Saturday also suggests the scene described above is quite possible. 

On that final drive, Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord converted on third-and-10, on fourth-and-7 and on third-and-19. That requires the kind of poise that can produce championships. That third-and-19 play was a 23-yard strike to Emeka Egbuka that set up Trayanum’s winning TD. And Day noted that had star receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. not returned to the game after suffering a sprained ankle in the first half and drawn so much attention on that play, Egbuka might have been too blanketed to make the catch. Harrison’s toughness directly led to the Buckeyes’ success.

After McCord threw two incomplete passes following Egbuka’s catch, three seconds remained. Who decided what play came next?

“Me. I made the call,” Day said. “Was there a doubt? I looked at the clock and saw three seconds left. So I’m thinking that’s the last play anyways. … So I said at this point, it probably just makes sense for one yard. Not only do we need to get that yard for this program, but I felt like it was the right thing to do.”

It was. Notre Dame only had 10 players on the field. The full complement might have stopped Trayanum, but we’ll never know. He put the ball across the goal line. A replay review confirmed it, and the Buckeyes silenced Notre Dame Stadium. 

“The narrative around us is that we aren’t tough,” McCord said. “I don’t know how else you’d want to draw it up. Last play of the game. Top-10 opponent. No timeouts. Three seconds left. Either we get that yard and win and we don’t get that yard and lose.” 

They got that yard.