It’s been a while since we’ve talked about Ryan Day. You know, OSU was well off. They wrapped up Indiana’s undefeated run and their resume was squeaky clean, with only one loss to the Ducks. You can’t go wrong from here, right? Well, Michigan proved everyone wrong. Somehow, Sherrone Moore managed to snag a win against a $21 million roster, and Ryan Day couldn’t do anything but watch UM plant their flag on the Buckeyes home turf. Now, this single loss at the end of the season not only pushed OSU off of their B1G conference title game but also created a nightmare scenario for Ryan Day.

See, OSU is on the 8th seed now, and they have to get a win against the Vols. And there lies the problem. “He’s as scary as any quarterback in this entire college football playoff,” Todd McShay pointed out on his YouTube channel. HC Josh Heupel‘s entire dynasty is being carried by Nico Iamaleava and this guy will be a massive pain for OSU. Now, if you have watched Nico play all season, you might have spotted that this guy had his share of ups and downs. But in the last 5 games? He has been on point with his passes and overall presence, but this won’t be good for the Buckeyes’ defense.

If we are to go off of that Michigan game, it’s safe to say that Day’s defense was all over the place. In that 13-10 nail-biter, OSU somehow allowed to get the Wolverines 172 rushing yards on the board. Remember, Michigan’s 2024 roster is held together by paper and glue. Their QB depth is tragic, and Moore has to rely on a walk-on QB. Yet here we are.

Now, when we switch the table towards the Vols, they have been massive the entire season. And in the center of it all is Nico. With over 2500 yards and 19 touchdowns under his belt, he knows what he is doing. Yes, we will agree that during the Razorbacks and Bama game, Nico kind of lost his flair, but when he got that back against Vandy or UTEP, you could easily see the problems he could cause. All this guy has to do is fix his turnover problems, and he can easily win the game for the Vols.

And the Vols defense? Yeah, they have been one of the best, allowing, on average, 15 points per game. Yeah, Day’s offense will have a hard time because this is the same defensive line that stopped Alabama to 17 points only and barely allowed QB Jalen Milroe to run the football. The boys showed up when Nico couldn’t result in anything spectacular.

All in all, when you get that rare 100% from Nick Iamaleava, then he is easily one of the scariest players Day has faced all season (other than Dillion Gabriel from the Ducks). However, this doesn’t mean OSU doesn’t have a shot at winning their first-round game.

Ryan Day’s confidence problem

Didn’t it feel like Day wasn’t “all in” for the Michigan game? You kind of see it on his face that the pressure of playing on the home turf and the 3 consecutive losses were making him tense. And this exactly could’ve been the reason OSU lost.

Nick Saban pointed this out back on The Pat McAfee Show. “Ohio State played free and easy against Indiana. Not so much against Michigan,” Saban mentioned. This is true. As we pointed out before, Day absolutely ruined Curt Cignetti’s day. Indiana could’ve had a top seed in the playoff, but the Buckeyes came in and pummeled them 38 to 15.

Not only was the defense on point and barely allowed QB Kurtis Rourke to make any good plays, but the offense also had full control of the gridiron, with QB Will Howard going for 2 touchdowns and 22 out of 26 passes landed. This fire was completely gone against UM.

If Vols gets the better version of Nico on the playoff game and Day doesn’t manage to regain his confidence, then it is over for the Buckeyes.