Ohio State’s football team edged out a narrow 21-17 victory over Nebraska on Saturday, improving to 6-1 but raising questions about its future prospects.
Ranked No. 4, the Buckeyes survived a scare from the unranked Cornhuskers, marking their first nail-biter victory of the season after five blowout wins followed by a heartbreaking 32-31 loss to Oregon.
The team now faces a daunting matchup on the road against No. 3 Penn State, where they’ll need to tighten up their game in order to remain at the top of the national title conversation.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was clearly relieved after his team managed to scrape by, though pressure continues to mount.
Appearing on “The Matt Barrie Show,” ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum remarked that Day is “counting his lucky stars” after avoiding a potentially devastating loss.
“He’s counting his lucky stars because had they lost that game, and they weren’t far from it, I mean, he could have possibly been out of the playoffs by next Saturday night,’ Finebaum said.
“I’m giving you the worst-case scenario at Penn State, but this is a team that, I mean, I was convinced they had more talent than anybody and were probably the best team before the season. And then I’m getting really squeamish about that.”
Finebaum is far from alone in thinking that Ohio State has the most talented team in the country, at least on-paper. However, scares like the one on Saturday against Nebraska lead to second thoughts.
With the stakes as high as ever, the Buckeyes cannot afford another misstep if they want to secure the Big Ten title and a spot in the College Football Playoff – and beyond.
Of course, the expanded 12-team playoff field helps matters. But a loss to Penn State could be a severe blow to the Buckeyes in the grand scheme of things.
Amid rising tensions, some Ohio State fans are questioning Day’s leadership.
“Please just lose next week and one more this year, miss the playoffs and we can finally end the Ryan Day experiment dude should not be our HC plain and simple,” one fan commented on X.
Another added, “OSU has to fire Ryan Day. He’s wasted enough talent these last four years. Shouldn’t have the chance to ruin another talented roster if he can’t do anything with this one.”
The frustration runs deep among fans, with one even calling the Buckeyes “soft” under Day’s leadership: “What a f***ing joke dude. This team is soft, Ryan Day is soft, they’re all talk and no bite. What a waste of talent. Ryan Day needs to go.”
It goes without saying that 99.99% of programs would love to be in Ohio State’s position. They’re clearly one of the best teams in the nation and are certainly one of the favorites to win the national championship.
Having said that, the standard is as high in Columbus as it is anywhere else in the country.
In other words, Day and the Buckeyes are expected to not only win every game but win every game in convincing fashion. That’s just the nature of the beast.
The eyes of the college football world will be on Happy Valley this coming Saturday as the Buckeyes head to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions in an epic Big Ten clash.
Both ESPN’s College GameDay and FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff will be on-site for the occasion. Kickoff is set for noon EST and FOX’s rating for the game will surely be one of the biggest of the entire season.
What are your thoughts on Finebaum’s comments?
Is he being too harsh on Day? … Or is it fair to wonder if he’s truly the right man to lead the program???
