This year, Ohio State and

Ryan Day dominated the Big Ten until they faced Oregon. After they lost to Oregon, fans expected them to bounce back and continue their winning streak. They were emerging as favorites for the College Football Playoffs, but their recent tight victory over Nebraska 21-17 has raised some serious questions about their performance. Are they still your favorites?

Probably, they are for Paul Finebaum. Despite recent offensive struggles, the former columnist has decided to put his chip on Ohio State, who are still considered one of the Big Ten giants. This week things did not go as per Ryan Day’s plan. Who thought a team that was blown out 56-7 by Indiana a week ago would give Ohio State tough competition?

In the latest video of ESPN College Football show, Finebaum emphasizes that Ohio State may have two significant wins, even if one has been downplayed, indicating the importance of their victories in shaping perceptions of the team. “I’m going to put my chips on Ohio State because they may very well have two of the bigger wins, even though one has been heavily discounted. I think a win—I mean, the Penn State game is now Paramount.” Considering the high stakes involved in Ohio State’s upcoming matchups, where each game could significantly impact their playoff hopes and conference standings, Finebaum still trusts Ohio State and the HC.

Ryan Day and his offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, need to focus on their running game. They need to take some time and figure out what went wrong. While many of us think this way, Finebaum defends Day and acknowledges victories so far. “Uh, we all gather around, and it’s now the new Game of the Year, and no matter how bad Michigan is, you and I both know the eyes will be on that game because of what Ryan Day has not been able to do, so I think he could really stamp his mark even with that loss.” What is Finebaum talking about? Well, he is discussing the late November rivalry game between the Ohio State and the Michigan Wolverines.

Coming back to Ohio State’s struggles, Judkins and Henderson did not put their best foot forward. Judkins has 10 carries for 29 yards. His longest play was 7 yards. While Henderson also has 10 carries for 25 yards. Most of the attempts for Henderson were unproductive. Their offense was struggling badly.

The surprising thing is that the Oregon loss could have easily been a win if not for a late penalty on Jeremiah Smith. After a bye week, everyone expected the Buckeyes to show the college football world that the defeat was a one-off. Against Nebraska, even a win felt worse than the loss against the Ducks. Naturally, Ryan Day had something to say about the performance.

Ryan Day after Nebraska’s game: ‘Effort was not good enough’

After October 12, things have slightly changed on the Buckeyes side. Before that, they dominated all five opponents. Although they avoided a major upset on Saturday against Nebraska, head coach Ryan Day is not happy with how his team performed.

Day acknowledged the team’s overall efforts. Resilience and ability to perform under pressure during their recent game against Nebraska.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to win the game in the fourth quarter. We were down by three in the fourth quarter, put a drive together, scored a touchdown, and the defense got a stop. To me, that’s what we’ve got to do to win these games.” His comments reflect on building a winning mentality within his team, stressing that success hinges on both offensive and defensive efforts when the game is on the line.

He further emphasized the importance of execution in critical moments and also shed light on their poor run game: “I thought that the execution on the throw and catch to Carnell on the deep ball was big, and then the one to Jeremiah was really well executed. The timing was right—good throw and great catch.”

He added, “We struggled to run the ball, so setting up that play-action pass on the sideline to Carnell got us into plus territory, and that allowed us to score.” Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola tried to be calm and composed throughout the game. His late interception helped Ohio State seal the victory.

Day and his team await their second top-four matchup in conference play of the season at Penn State coming Saturday.