Ohio State’s Ryan Day ends a long, painful climb to the top of the college football mountain

ATLANTA – As the final notes of “Carmen Ohio” floated toward the cavernous ceiling at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Ohio State players and coaches lifted their arms from each other’s shoulders to spell the state of being a freshman college football player. the champion lives. It’s a tradition the Buckeyes honor after every game they play – home or away, win or lose – and there’s never been a more euphoric mood than Monday night, when the ninth national championship in program history was secured with a 34-23 victory. Notre Dame. Hello Alma Mater … OHIO!

From his position in the concourse where this year’s trophy presentation had just concluded, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day offered an exception to the usual arm-waving that ends the song. Rather than mimicking the letters OHIO with his entire team, as he usually does each week, Day simply held up a 50-pound prize made of gold, copper and stainless steel. He had finally completed the long, painful climb to the top of his much-scrutinized career.

And what a satisfying moment that must have been after everything Day has struggled through this season and the previous three, none of which included Big Ten Championships or a win over rival Michigan. What a song it must have sounded like on this night and on this stage when it was played to the raucous crowd at Ohio Stadium on Nov. 30, when the Buckeyes lost their fourth straight loss to the Wolverines and the buzz was starting to erupt around the stadium, pepper. -a hidden truth that failed to be heard on a day of shock and awe. How lovely it must have been to hug his family knowing that his children will not be harassed when they return to school later this week and his wife will not have to worry about death threats against her husband. Even the ecstatic postgame scenes that followed the demolitions of Tennessee, Oregon and Texas came with lingering questions about Day’s future if Ohio State falls short against Notre Dame.

“I think that in this day and age,” Day said shortly after midnight Tuesday morning, “it’s just a lot about winning and losing and social media, and people have to write articles, and there’s a lot of things that are said. That, of course, it certainly has an impact on you and your family, but when you sign up for this job, that’s what you have to do to be strong enough to weather those storms, to get out from behind. Now is the best story.”

The story of Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame was about an unstoppable offense that scored four first down touchdowns and converted nine of 12 third down attempts, racing to a 31-7 lead midway through the third quarter. It’s about a defense that rolled on the opening drive and responded by giving up 11 yards on four combined plays, none of which led to points. It was about a reverse kick to Jayden Fielding who connected from 46 yards and 33 yards to keep the Fighting Irish at bay in the second half. It was about a crucial third-down conversion just before the two-minute mark that the coaching staff entrusted freshman Jeremiah Smith to beat the man defense for a game-tying 56-yard completion.

But the story of Ohio State’s national championship can’t be told without examining the growth and maturity since Day, who took over from Urban Meyer in 2019 and spent the better part of a decade playing and toiling before perfecting the formula during the first iteration. of qualifying for 12 teams. Which means this year’s headline story is about things like Day’s choice to hire defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State and then stick with him after Michigan (twice) and Georgia’s bad plays, and Knowles turning his army into a battle with 2024. . It’s about Day’s recruiting and the hiring of Kansas State quarterback Will Howard (17-of-21 yards, 231, two TDs), a combination of leadership and talent that is exactly what the Buckeyes needed following a disappointing season with Kyle McCord. It’s about Day’s connection to his 2021 recruiting class, most of which decided to skip the NFL Draft and return for another chance to win it all. It’s about Day’s willingness to give up playing duties and hire then-UCLA coach Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator, freeing himself up to be more involved in other parts of the program such as recruiting and fundraising, the result was one of the program. the most powerful transfer portals in the country. It’s about Day’s incredible display of self-reliance in coming back from another heartbreaking loss to Michigan and guiding Ohio State to four straight postseason victories against teams ranked seventh, first, third and fifth when the College Football Playoff bracket is revealed.

“I don’t know if it surprises some people,” Kelly said Monday night, “[but] It didn’t surprise me because he was built for this. I told him that he has been a coach here for a long time. ‘Go and run with it because you were made for it.’ I am very happy for him. And the way he led this team – and the players will say the same – how he stood tall in everything. They always talk about Ohio Against the World. Sometimes, it was the Woody Hayes Athletic Center against the world because it was just us. ”

And yet, the expectation was always that Ohio State would come to Atlanta and clobber Notre Dame, as the Buckeyes have outscored their previous three playoff opponents by a combined score of 111-52. Strange Songs”OH! … YO!“It began to rock downtown Atlanta shortly after 1:00 p.m. Monday as hundreds of fans marched, parade style, along Peachtree Street and toward the stadium, all bundled up in the bitter cold. The floors above ground level through the thick windows of the media hotel, a testament to the fans’ love of -Ohio State and how The loosely enforced renewable open-container laws can be a few blocks south, at the intersection of Marietta Street NW and and Centennial Olympic Park Drive, a revolving billboard flashed Ohio State’s ad on repeat ,” said the accomplished coach that would have made Day proud.

Their marketing effort was spent a long way from SkyView Atlanta, the giant Ferris wheel across the street where fans of both schools stood in front of the Olympic rings. A family of loyal Fighting Irish people wore matching shamrock hats around their heads and under their chins, the face deep in the center where each leaf met. Near the field, where parking attendants warmed up using propane heating tanks, a Notre Dame truck was painted top to bottom with a number that will never need to be updated: 11 CONSENSUS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS,” read white letters punctuated by shamrocks. .

And for a moment, if only briefly, the possibility of another national title for Notre Dame felt distinctly real. That the Fighting Irish turned their first possession into an 18-yard, 75-yard odyssey that included punt after punt from quarterback Riley Leonard, who easily scanned Knowles’ defense, gave the impression that the head coach Marcus Freeman and his independent underdogs can actually hang with the most explosive team in college football. When Leonard sprinted through the goal line untouched for a 1-yard touchdown that gave Notre Dame the lead, the green crowd on the field let out a roar of eardrums. Day was so confused by what had happened that he spent the entire pregame press timeout reading film on a tablet, wandering around the 35-yard line between occasional aimless strolls.

“I would say the first drive was uncharacteristic for us,” linebacker Cody Simon said. “We expected to come out there and dominate.”

The reign came quickly, and along with an emotional display from Day that underscored how much he longed for this national title after years of personal and family stress. He pumped his fist twice and raised his leg as quarterback Quinshon Judkins ran past the defenders and into the end zone for a 14-7 advantage. He joined the Bronx crowd in cheering when Notre Dame’s offense was flagged for holding, the first such penalty against an Ohio State opponent since September. He jumped in the air and waved his arms in glee when the Fighting Irish’s fake punt-pass fell incomplete a few feet from where Day was standing. And when his players doused him with Gatorade in the waning moments — at which point the Buckeyes’ victory was assured — he jumped into the arms of offensive tackle Josh Fryar and wept with joy.

About 20 minutes later, after the award ceremony and the playing of “Carmen Ohio” was over, Day walked off the field under a thick field of Ohio State fans. It had only been seven weeks since Suku had made that same trip following the tragic loss of his home in Michigan, when insults and insults and calls for his resignation were hurled at him. This time, Day simply raised his right hand as thousands of Buckeyes cheered him on.

“Nothing is guaranteed,” Day said. “But I always—in my mind—felt that the people of Ohio and all the people of Buckeye Nation, after going through some tough times and seeing a team and a group of coaches go through some tough times to accomplish their goal, it would mean that.” and I hope they’re all proud of what we’ve done.”

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on @Michael_Cohen13.

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