COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach Ryan Day had his left hand on his hip and his right arm around cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr.
As the Ohio State band played “Carmen Ohio” following another loss to rival Michigan on Nov. 30, and the team gathered — as it does after every home game — to sing along, Day glanced up at the scoreboard. Boos rained down from the Ohio Stadium crowd, drowning out the alma mater.
Suddenly, Mathews turned and sprinted toward midfield, where the Wolverines had planted their flag. Day turned to see what was happening but, as if frozen in shock, only took a few steps and watched as players from both schools clashed — a melee that lasted five minutes and left a university police officer hospitalized. Police finally quashed the brawl, but only after deploying pepper spray.
The loss and the ugly scene that followed marked a low point for Day, Ohio State’s sixth-year coach, after a tenure that began with incredible promise. He won 42 of his first 46 games with the Buckeyes as head coach, claiming two Big Ten championships and reaching the national title game in his second full season. Day still boasts a 66-10 overall record. Only Urban Meyer, the man Day worked under and eventually replaced, has a better winning percentage among Ohio State coaches who lasted three or more seasons. But four consecutive losses to Michigan, no Big Ten titles since 2020 and no national championships have ratcheted up the pressure on Day and a team Ohio State invested $20 million in to retain and upgrade this offseason.
But despite the worst loss of Day’s career, Ohio State isn’t finished, having advanced to the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. The eighth-seeded Buckeyes will host No. 9 seed Tennessee in the first round Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN).
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