Ohio State’s Ryan Day backed by athletic director after loss to Michigan

Ohio State’s Ryan Day backed by athletic director after loss to Michigan

Ohio State suffered an incomprehensible loss at home to rival Michigan on Saturday, 13-10. It marked the team’s fourth straight loss to their bitter rival under head coach Ryan Day, eliminating them from the Big 10 Title game while making their College Football Playoff trek more difficult.

While fans were understandably irate and screaming online to fire Day, athletic director Ross Bjork showed strong support for his sixth-year head coach this weekend despite the loss.

“Our full focus right now is on the College Football Playoff and making a strong run,” Bjork said Sunday, according to Bill Rabinowitz of The Columbus Dispatch. “We have a ton to play for. We have a great team made up of talented players and great young men. Coach Day does a great job leading our program. He’s our coach.

“There’s going to be plenty of time to dissect what happened in the rivalry game the last couple years. But right now, we have to keep the main thing the main thing, and that’s focus on the values of the program, focus on why we lead the young men, focus on the mission and the playoff.

“Our program is built to last, and coach Day has done that. … I’m focused on supporting our players and our coaches and continuing to get to know our fan base and our donor base and leading through this disappointing time.”

Day is 66-10 in his six years at Ohio State, even though beating Michigan is the team’s top priority each year outside of winning a National Championship. He moved to 1-4 against Michigan after Saturday’s unfathomable loss. Michigan entered 6-5 without any offense–plus missing two of their best players in cornerback Will Johnson and Colston Loveland. It was also one of Day’s most talented teams assembled, on paper. But you know what they say: You still have to play the games.

Bjork’s support publicly doesn’t mean that changes will or won’t be made after the season. For now, he’s trying to show support while they still have a 12-team college football playoff to play–even though it will be an uphill climb to make a National Championship. Day is 4-6 all-time against top-5 teams and 12-8 against top-10 teams–not terrible, but also not up to a National Championship standard that Ohio State lives and breathes off of.

I’m sure Day and the Buckeyes want to wash this sour taste from their mouths as soon as possible, though the trek could begin on the road after being the No. 5 seed entering Saturday. I’m not confident in Ohio State, but I also can’t say the rest about the field, which will make the next several weeks very intriguing.

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