So far Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has thoroughly impressed Buckeye Nation with an unblemished coaching record. And with the College Football Playoff looming in the near future, it gives Buckeye fans a unique opportunity to reflect back on the season to date, and to see just how truly blessed Ohio State is to have had such a seamless transition from Urban Meyer to the man wearing the headset today.
In the months before the start of this year’s season, so many speculated about an Ohio State slide. Instead, we saw quite the opposite. In Columbus, the expectations are incredibly high, and rightfully so due to the lineage of great coaches and players in the history of the program.
But Day has taken the baton (and whistle) handed to him by Meyer and somehow exceeded those lofty expectations by racing out to a unblemished record in truly dominating fashion.
Most analysts and experts outside the program believed Ohio State would be about a ten-win team with a couple of blemishes during the season. Some in the media didn’t even list Ohio State as one of the top three teams to win the Big Ten.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day finalist for Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year https://t.co/la58KSPy79
— Buckeyes Wire (@BuckeyesWire) December 11, 2019
Undaunted, all the Buckeye program did under Day’s guidance is finish the season in the top five in total offense and defense. The dominance and superlatives are numerous. Ohio State leads the country in sacks and in third-down conversion percentage. The defense is 2nd in the nation in yards given up per game, and third in scoring.
Perhaps most important for many fans, Day prolonged the misery of That Team Up North by stomping the living maize and blue out of it — something every OSU coach is judged by.
While we don’t know how this season will end, we do know that Day has picked up where Meyer left off, and is sprinting ahead with a real shot at hanging another banner in the ‘Shoe.
I’d say so far he’s passed the test with flying scarlet and gray colors.