The Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions are all set for a November 1 face-off in Happy Valley. But Ohio State HC Ryan Day does not really have any reason to be happy about it. They just got a reality check facing against Nebraska. Even though they won, they had to literally fight for their breath against Matt Rhule’s army, leaving Buckeyes’ cracks coming to the surface. Now analyst Rece Davis further sprinkles salt on Day’s wounds, talking about Ohio State’s offensive weapon and his highlights this season. But poor Day, he has lost this player who fell prey to a season-ending injury. Not just this, as the list of roadblocks is pretty long as the Buckeyes are heading to Penn State.    

The blow came with Day’s starting left tackle Josh Simmons, who was carted off the field in the second quarter of Ohio State’s matchup against the Oregon Ducks in Week 7. Not only did Buckeyes lose the game, they will now lose out on Simmons for the rest of the season, who is down with a serious knee injury. Now that shuts all the doors for Day’s boys’ Big Ten Championship dreams and Playoff aspirations. That’s when Davis poured in with his insights about the after-effects of Simmons’ absence. Here he drops in some stats: “In games against Power Four opponents this year, when Josh Simmons has been on the field, Ohio State has run the ball 79 times.” How cool is that? And his rage continued. 

“They’ve averaged almost six yards to carry nearly four yards of carry before contact only 11% of the plays have gone for no gain or a loss and they’ve had five rushing touchdowns and they’ve had five rushing touchdowns,” highlighted Davis. Now let’s take a look at the numbers when Simmons had been away.

The average of Day’s squad has been reduced to “two yards per carry.” Plus, they lost strength in carrying the pigskin beyond the line of scrimmage, which accounts for only 37%. Well, that makes up a small part of the heap of problems that Ohio State is going through at the moment.   

Is Ryan Day’s program already feeling the heat?

First things first, why is Day’s OL in such a mess? Against Nebraska, the running back tandem of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins had been bottled up. Plus, their QB Will Howard, who could just offer 8 carries and 14 yards, was a non-factor in the running game. If you think their passing game had been on point, let me pop your bubble!

Howard was criticized for sliding on the final play against Oregon, letting time slip out of his hands. For now, these had been about how Day’s program faltered because of their lagging skills. Now as they are moving to face off James Franklin’s squad, the external factor of ‘pressure’ vs. ‘expectations’ is taking a toll on them. Even though the Buckeyes already led their way since 2016, coming off 1-11 against their Big Ten rival, this season things are slightly different.

Penn State is coming off an undefeated, 7-0 streak. Meanwhile, Yahoo Sports analyst Jason Fitz brilliantly described Ryan Day’s situation right now: “You’re backed up against the wall. You have to win this game. You go to two losses. Now, all of a sudden, you no longer control any. You go to two losses. You are not going to be in the Big 10 championship game. I think there’s a ton of pressure in this match-up.” Can the Buckeyes boys buy Day another season, or is his time running out? Do share your thoughts!