Ryan Day has now lost four in a row to Michigan, which is the one thing the head coach of Ohio State cannot do. The latest stumble was the most embarrassing and only got worse when the two rivals created an ugly scene at midfield when the Wolverines tried to plant a flag into artificial turf. We're now onto Day 3 or 4 of the take cycle on this incident but new voices are still finding new ways to say new things.
Like ESPN's Paul Finebaum, who was asked for his thoughts on (at the 2:45-mark below).
"Ryan Day comes up with just this idiotic statement," Finebaum said. "'We're not going to let them do that to our field,' try and beat them first and then you won't have to worry about that. … It happened all day long and all night, because these guys watch other games, but that's the one that gets me. If you're Ryan Day, keep your mouth shut."
Day's so-called idiotic statement in question was: "I'll find out exactly what happened but this is our field and certainly we're embarrassed at the fact we lost the game but there's some prideful guys on our team that weren't just going to let that happen."
The overwhelming majority of people seem to be taking the tried-and-true approach of saying that if Ohio State didn't want a flag planted on their field then they should have won the football game. It's certainly an argument but the Buckeyes were definitely trying to win, they just didn't. Day isn't sympathetic at all and it's really tough to take up his cause yet at the same time he actually has to say something when reporters ask him questions about this stuff. And he can't torch his own team that is still very much alive in the chase for a national championship. So he's basically in a no-win situation after not winning.
Finebaum opened the door to the idea that getting bounced from the College Football Playoff in the first game could spell curtains for Day.
"I mean, his path is so interesting," the pundit said. "Let's remind the audience, he's got a brand new athletic director. This is the same guy who fired Jimbo Fisher a few years ago in Ross Bjork. I mean, I don't know. I don't think you can evaluate Ryan Day until it's all over this year, whenever they walk off the field for the final time. But they better not lose in the first round of the Playoff."
So things seem bleak in Columbus right now. The one bright spot is that all the Buckeyes goals are right ahead of him and Day still has a chance to change the entire conversation about his tenure with a three-game winning streak.
