On the laptop now and just trying to collect all my thoughts on this game.
For starters, these are both very good teams. That was a throwback football game but it was legitimate high level play based on what I saw. Notre Dame is way, way better than they were last year; it's honestly not even close. This loss is probably killing them right now but they aren't out of it yet by any stretch, especially considering the opponents they still have to play, everything is in front of them. They have a very good defense, particularly in the secondary, and it's going to give them a chance in every single game they play. Especially if the refs continue letting them hold all the time
Moving to Ohio State, if I'm giving credit to Notre Dame's defense, I have to give credit to ours. This defense is definitely improved this season. I'm not quite ready to call them elite but they look like a legitimate top 10 defense to me. Their response on that final drive, after surrendering b2b TD drives and being on the field for what seemed like the entire 2nd half, was remarkable. They gave the offense (and Ryan Day) another chance.
The offense is clearly still a work in progress, but hopefully the way they ended this game can give them some momentum and be a big building block moving forward. I've been keeping belief that McCord is "good enough" and tonight pretty much proved that. He definitely needs help, he's not gonna carry us to wins in big games, but with the right support he is good enough, especially in a year like this where there is no elite team. Hopefully we can see some improvement from him as he gains experience over the course of the season. That throw to Egbuka though...whew.
Ryan Day...dude, you are not helping this offense right now. The short yardage playcalling has been a total disaster. I was ecstatic when Trayanum ran on for the final play and Day FINALLY did what we've all been asking for for weeks in this situation - give the fucking ball to Chip and let him bang. Get Henderson the hell off the field in short yardage. Throw the reverse play in the goddamn recycle bin. Forget passing. Move on from Miyan, who looks washed after one too many injuries. Just...free Chip Trayanum. And honestly he should be involved way more than just short yardage too, but baby steps, here. Based on the final play, it seems like Day finally figured it out. But my god, simply let Chip run in those situations and we score 2 more TDs and this game doesn't become a nail biter. I thought Day coached a pretty good game overall outside of those previous 2 goalline situations, but those damn near (and probably should have) blown the game for us. He was this close to somehow finding another way to lose another big game, but the players picked him up at the end in a big way. He's clearly still learning on the job and it was evident over the course of this game alone. That said, I still believe Day is a great coach, he just needs to learn a little quicker in some of these critical moments. I'm happy for him and the team, this was a big win.
And I know twitter is meme-ing Lou Holtz right now, but for a raised Ohioan that coached here under our GOAT (and got him his first Head Coaching opportunity), to take shots at Day (who's won 91% of his games) and the program for being "soft" is just fucking lame and I loved seeing Day call him out and roast his ass for that. That was bush league shit from Lou acting like a drunk radio caller on 97.1. And Day was spot on in his assessment of Lou's comments, too. We were soft against Michigan in 2021, no doubt about it. They ran a train through us in that game. (And honestly, same with the Oregon game that year too, but neither Lou nor Day mentioned Oregon). In the other losses? We were either outcoached, outplayed, or both. With some god awful luck mixed in with the Clemson & Georgia losses. It's football...shit happens. It doesn't mean you're soft by default when it does.
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