The Ohio State Buckeyes got off to a great start against Oregon on Saturday, jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. But it all fell apart from there, as the Ducks scored 38 straight points on their way to a 41-28 win.
Now, after a second straight lopsided loss, head coach Ryan Day says that things have to change. Day said after the game that “there needs to be accountability” for the team’s struggles, and he made it clear that it starts with him and his coaching staff.
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The Buckeyes entered the season with national title expectations, but things have gone south since quarterback Julian Sayin went down with an arm injury against Indiana. Day has since said that Sayin won’t return for at least a month.
Freshman Luke Fahey has stepped in at quarterback, and the results haven’t been great, though it’s safe to say that much of the failures haven’t been on the quarterback. Ohio State lost 30-18 at USC on Oct. 31, and Saturday’s loss to No. 23 Oregon was even uglier.
After taking a 14-0 lead, No. 12 Ohio State was outscored 17-0 in the second quarter and 14-0 in the third. Star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith went more than two full quarters without a catch during that stretch.
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The loss dropped the Buckeyes to 6-3, marking their first three-loss season under Day and their worst season since 2011. The loss also almost certainly ends their College Football Playoff hopes.
After the game, Day said that he and his staff need to take a hard look at everything that’s going wrong.
“I’ve got to evaluate everything and try to come in tomorrow and figure out, with the staff, the things we’re coming up short on and figure out how to adjust those things,” Day said in his postgame press conference, via On3. “It all starts with the staff, and then it goes to the players. There needs to be accountability for all of it, and then we go from there.”
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Day added that the team didn’t see this coming, especially after how well it played early on.
“We didn’t expect any of this to happen,” Day said. “I thought the way that we came out was how we thought we would play in this game. Once the momentum swung, we just weren’t able to stop that and then swing it.”
But Day also made it clear that he isn’t going to put the blame on any one group.
“I’m not going to sit here and point fingers at one group of guys that are coming up short, because we’re all coming up short,” Day added. “You always have to look yourself in the mirror and figure out what is going wrong here. Two weeks in a row, to get this kind of result, there’s something that needs to change and needs to get fixed. So we’ve got to look at all those things and figure out what that is.”
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Ohio State will try to get back on track when it hosts Northwestern next Saturday before closing the season with a trip to Nebraska and a home game against Michigan.
Clearly, that game against Michigan is going to carry even more pressure for Day than usual.
The post ‘There needs to be accountability’: Ohio State coach Ryan Day sends a message after blowout loss appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.
