College football can be unpredictable, but Ohio State Buckeyes fans are starting to see a pattern in their losses. Saturday night’s defeat against the Texas Longhorns has made the “enough is enough” chant ring louder inside their heads. The 20-point third-quarter lead slipped right through head coach Ryan Day’s hands in an upset that shouldn’t have happened.
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Day had his team firmly in control for the first three quarters. That changed in the fourth quarter, when Texas scored 21 straight points, as Ohio State’s offense stalled and the defense struggled to get off the field.
College Football Report posted on X: “Every Ryan Day loss is the same lol… • Terrible clock management • Terrible FG kicking • Defense on the field the entire second half • Ultra conservative playcalling with a lead”.
92.3 The Fan’s Daryl Ruiter also took to X, writing: “All time bleep the bed second half for #OhioState. Sorry that’s an absolute fireable offense how that game was managed.”
“Can’t believe we are going to lose this game. Clearly the better team, just horrible coaching in the second half,” one fan posted on X before the outcome had even materialized.
Buckeyes fans saw their worst fear unfold in real time and knew this game would be talked about as one of Day’s worst in his Ohio stint. After all, per ESPN, “AP No. 1 teams are 197-0 when holding a 20-point lead at any point in the fourth quarter.” Now, all thanks to Ohio folding, the teams are now 197-1.
“This is all on Ryan Day. His losses just have too much in common with each other,” one wrote on X.
“Every single time we lose, it’s the same way man. Every. Single. Time,” another agreed.
Day’s tendency to become more conservative in close games has become a familiar criticism, and against Texas, that approach backfired badly. 11W’s Dan Hope, a team expert, reported: “Ryan Day said Ohio State considered letting Texas score on second down, but decided they wanted to go play defense and see if they could get off the field.” Day’s plan evidently backfired.
The collapse also revived memories of Ohio State’s 13-10 loss to rival Michigan in 2024, another defeat that intensified criticism of Day’s late-game approach. But per @BuckeyeStatsFB, as Hope reported, “it’s the first time ever that Ohio State has blown a 17-point halftime lead and a 20-point fourth-quarter lead”. Last night, the Longhorns threw three fourth-quarter touchdowns, while the Buckeyes couldn’t cope under the revised game plan.
“Hate Arthur Smith kill-the-clock offense and Matt Patricia prevent defense in the 2nd half…and another Ohio State FG kicker choked in crunch time,” one X user berated the team’s unit coordinators before adding, “Ryan Day gave this game away!”
“I absolutely hate when Ryan Day before a big game says it’s going to be a 4th quarter game. Why?” another asked pointedly. “Why does it have to be a 4th quarter game? Put your got damn foot on their throat and finish people.”
Lastly, one said: “Ryan Day has completely broken my brain. He’s 83-12, he has won a national championship, he signs top recruiting classes every year, and I think he’s terrible. he’s the least inspiring successful head coach of all time.”
Now, Day is hardly an incompetent coach. Since becoming Ohio State’s head coach in 2019, Day has built one of the strongest records in college football. Through the loss to Texas, Day has an 83-13 record at Ohio State. He led the team to that memorable 2024 run when Ohio became the first FBS team to defeat five top-five opponents in a single season and the first to win four CFP games in one year.
But when the mistake is historic in nature, fans see no excuses.