Three losses have now shaken things up in Columbus, putting Ryan Day and Ohio State under increasing scrutiny. With questions mounting over the Buckeyes’ performances and Day’s position at the helm, the pressure is building. However, not everyone is convinced the head coach deserves the criticism. Charles Davis has stepped forward to defend Day, insisting he remains the right man for the job despite Ohio State’s recent setbacks.
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“I know this may be unpopular, but I think Ryan Day is truly the right head coach for Ohio State,” Davis said on CBS Sports’ It’s Big Time. “You can’t lose the talent that they lost last year in the draft and expect to just flat-out reload and play at the same level. The next thing: pass rush. They just don’t have those guys like Nick and Joey Bosa and Chase Young coming off the edge. They have to manufacture pass rush. That hasn’t been there for them this year. It’ll come along down the road.”
Davis believes Day has still managed a good season after Ohio State lost 11 players to the NFL draft. Carnell Tate, Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs, Caden Curry, and Will Kacmarek were all important pieces of the championship-winning squad, and replacing them made it a challenge for Day to maintain the program’s high standards.
Through the first nine games of 2026, Ohio State has generated only 11 sacks, a sign of how little its pass rush has done. The Buckeyes haven’t ended a season below 20 sacks since 1981, and with just three games remaining, that run is now in jeopardy. Day himself acknowledges how serious the problem has become.
“We’re not getting enough of a pass rush. That’s just the bottom line,” Day said Tuesday. “So that’s the challenge to the staff. We’ve got to tighten up the coverage. We’ve got to get more of a pass rush.”
Getting to the quarterback has become a real problem for the 2026 Buckeyes, whose sack production is lower than anything the program has seen in decades. Ohio State is averaging 1.2 sacks per game, well under the previous low of 1.7 set in 1982 and 2001, and it has come away with only two sacks across its last four outings.
The conference and national numbers tell the same story. Only Texas A&M and Stanford have fewer sacks among Power 4 teams, and within the Big Ten, the Buckeyes share the bottom spot with Illinois, Penn State, Purdue, and Rutgers. PFF ranks the pass rush 95th among 138 FBS teams, and a 14.7% pressure rate puts Ohio State ahead of just 15 other Power 4 programs. Pass rush wasn’t the only concern Davis raised, though. He also pointed to the situation at quarterback.
“Let’s not underestimate the injury to Julian Sayin, their quarterback,” Davis added in the interview. “Not just because Luke Fahey is a freshman, but they don’t make the same type of throws as experienced guys, like Jeremiah Smith when he’s double-covered. Julian Sayin would put it out there… Freshman quarterbacks need to see it open before they throw it.”
Fahey has struggled to get the most out of wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Across his first two starts, he has recorded 620 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. While he has been productive on the field, the Buckeyes still lost both games.
The difference is that Sayin had already developed experience leading the offense, building chemistry with receivers, and making decisions under pressure. Fahey, meanwhile, has had to learn on the job while Ohio State is going through a difficult stretch. However, Davis still has unwavering faith in Coach Day that he will flip the switch.
“As far as Ryan Day, ladies and gentlemen, he’s 88 and 15,” Davis said while concluding. “He has more than earned the right to fix what has happened for Ohio State this year, and the crazy thing is, they get hot down the stretch; they’re still going to be in the conversation for the College Football Playoff. Ryan Day needs to be the head coach at Ohio State.”
For Ohio State, the debate will ultimately be settled on the field rather than on television. Whether Davis’s patience proves justified depends on how quickly this reshaped roster finds its footing in the games ahead.