Ryan Day has dealt with much since Ohio State’s tragic loss against Michigan. His job is still in serious jeopardy. But there’s no point in dwelling on past mistakes. The Buckeyes are now looking to build back their prestige Saturday night in Columbus by clinching a win against Tennessee. They have to make sure that the offense didn’t pan out as it did on November 30th. The run game fell flat, and the game plan looked like a joke. But take it slow, Tennessee fans, it would be absolutely foolish of you to sleep on a massive plus point of the OSU offense that can spark anytime and turn the page.

This is a test of the Buckeyes to show they learned enough from their woes. During the cursed game against the Wolverines, the OSU offense could rush for just 77 yards, 67 of which came on 22 carries (3.04 yards per rush) from Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson. It wasn’t even decent. But they have an ace in the hole in the O-line. Spilling that strength, Big 10 Hurdle podcast host JR noted, ”This is a game where I think Ohio State can win going slow or Ohio State can win going fast. It’s just about whether the coaches will adjust for Ohio State. I think Tennessee can win going fast, but I’m not sure Tennessee can win going slow in this one. So, for me, Tennessee really needs to try and dictate this game by going fast, using Tempo on offense and hoping that Ohio State doesn’t use tempo on offense.”

In their first three games of the season, Tennessee’s offense was a magic show, averaging a sizzling 63.6 points per game. But as they moved to the tough schedule, the momentum flickered. Ever since their week seven’s narrow win against the Gators, the huge O-line gap started to get the better of the Vols.

There isn’t just a single thing that went wrong. It’s a combination of missed assignments, dicey technique, and clear lapses in decisions. Josh Heupel and his boys have simply very little room to take things for granted in the first-round playoff.

”If you watched Tennessee this year, they have a really hard time with Tempo when they’re on defense so much so that they are one of the, you know, primary teams that will just like have a player randomly get shot by a sniper and go down in the middle of the field which I don’t know how they’ll handle that in this one,” JR added how they kept up with the tempo in the season.

A massive silver lining for Ryan Day to catch right there! Will he be able to forget the massive Michigan dilemma and take the momentum forward to a potential national title win?

Ryan Day smells hope in the first step of their playoff path

Ryan Day knows how it hurts to carry the tag of a ‘big game loser’ with an overall 62-9 record in his six-year tenure in Columbus. It’s painful. It’s even more painful when they couldn’t avoid an upset against the archrival for the fourth straight year even after doing enough experiments with the recruits, the strategy, the coaching staff, and a lot more. It’s a punch in the gut. Reading hate comments from the loyal OSU fanbase wasn’t a part of his plan when he took up the $9.5M job.

But whining about the truth will not help. The resilient coach knows how to focus on the task at hand. After Ohio State made it to the playoff, Day said, it would be unbelievable to make this run in the home game and win the whole thing. He reminds his players that they are just four games away from the ultimate prize. ”It’s real. It’s on the table. As much as last week hurt — and it hurt — here we are now. All the focus has got to be on Tennessee and winning this first one,” the veteran coach said in an optimistic pregame scouting.

The path is clear. The talent is there. All Day needs to do is take care of things from the very first snap and cap off their season with huge success, both for the sake of his job and his love for football, especially for OSU.