Ohio State’s 2025 season ended embarrassingly, losing to Miami by 14-24 at the Cotton Bowl. While most pointed fingers at Ryan Day’s play-calling decisions as the rationale for the loss, Urban Meyer, under whom Day called plays, shared his verdict, revealing what went wrong against Miami.

While discussing Ohio State’s loss to Miami in the Cotton Bowl, Urban Meyer acknowledged that play-calling is a crucial position; however, it wasn’t the primary reason behind the loss against Miami. He stated Ohio State lost the last two games at the line of scrimmage.

“I’m one of those guys who believe that the play caller is a very serious position, said Urban Meyer on the January 05 episode of Triple Option.

I was a head coach who called the plays. The head coach will be involved in every play. There’s never a play that, when you’re an offensive coach, doesn’t require the head coach.”

If you dissect Ohio State’s four games against ranked teams, they lost the line of scrimmage three times against Texas, Indiana, and Miami, in which the Buckeyes managed to secure a win against the Longhorns by 14-7, gaining only 207 total yards. The only ranked team they won against on both lines was Michigan in the regular season finale.

“For example, Ryan Day’s my coordinator, or Dan Mullen back in the day, whatever, and I’d say, ‘Okay, Danny, take a shot here,’ continued Meyer.

Or I’d hear something come out of his head, say, ‘No, no, no, no. Run the ball. Run the ball.’ So yeah, who’s calling plays at that point, it’s important, but I think at times it’s a little bit overrated as well. Here’s the issue. You got your a** kicked at the line of scrimmage the last two games.”

In the game against the Hurricanes, the offensive line couldn’t protect Julian Sayin, and the quarterback was pressured from almost every drop-back. The run blocking couldn’t hold up. The Hurricanes finished the game with 22 total pressures, seven tackles for loss, and five sacks. 

On the flip side, the Buckeyes’ front seven on the DL got thoroughly beaten up by the Hurricanes. OSU had only two sacks and four tackles for loss on the night. There was clearly a skill difference between the front, and the Buckeyes could not match Miami’s calls.

Miami’s dominant defensive front, led by Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, shut down the Buckeyes by combining for eight total tackles and three sacks, with some masterful defense on display.

Ryan Day’s play-calling did have a part, but the line of scrimmage played the big part in the last few games for the Buckeyes.

Breaking down Ryan Day’s much-criticized play-calling at the Cotton Bowl

Ryan Day’s play-calling wasn’t that awful against Miami, but the first-quarter moves were quite predictable. The Buckeyes’ offense had a slow start, gaining just nine total yards and one first down in the first quarter. Their plays became more predictable surrounding Carnell Tate, and the Canes kept the perfect coverage to block their moves.

Play-calling improved after the second quarter, with a quick start in the third quarter, resulting in early scoring in both the third and fourth quarters. However, the lack of play in the first half didn’t help the Buckeyes overcome the Hurricanes, resulting in a 10-point loss.

Ryan Day took the blame for the loss, for not being able to execute the plan together. However, he assured that he will figure that out and come back stronger for the next season.

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“At the end of the day, we didn’t get it done, and that starts with me. Then it goes down from there and I take responsibility for not getting the guys ready. As you guys know, we spent an inordinate amount of time putting the plan together to get everybody ready to go play in that first half. We didn’t win the first half, so we got to figure out why that was and learn from it moving forward.”

The Buckeyes hope to take these valuable lessons and get back to business in the next season.