Ryan Day has faced significant criticism in recent years for perceived shortcomings at Ohio State. After a dominant run to begin his tenure as head coach of the Buckeyes, the tide shifted with three consecutive losses to arch-rival Michigan. Those rebukes reached a new intensity after a disappointing end to the 2023 season, with some questioning whether Day had the passion and drive to lead Ohio State back to its reign in the Big Ten. Veteran defensive end Jack Sawyer deflected those claims Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis, saying it could not be further from the truth.
“I know, if you ask coach Day, (he’s) man enough to sit up here and tell you that’s part of the job he signed up to do,” Sawyer said, via Bucknuts. “But me being a guy who would go to war for him any day, regardless of the topic, I think he gets wrongly criticized on a bunch of stuff. A bunch of junk came out after we lost to [Michigan] a couple of times about him not caring, which couldn’t be more wrong.”
Ohio State is 39-0 against Big Ten opponents — excluding Michigan. The Buckeyes missed out on the College Football Playoff in two of the past three seasons, finishing with an 11-2 record each year.
Ohio State has come close to ending its national championship drought under Day. He led the Buckeyes to the national title game in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, though they lost to Alabama, 52-24. In 2022, Ohio State was a late field goal away from returning to the championship game, suffering a narrow 42-41 semifinal loss to Georgia.
“I think he does get unfairly criticized at times,” Sawyer continued. “But like he said, he knows what he signed up to do. We all signed up to do the same thing as well, we’ve fallen short as well. If anything, it doesn’t go back on him, it goes back on us as players and that’s why we decided to come back.”
Sawyer is part of a contingent of Ohio State veterans who chose to return to Columbus for the 2024 season rather than declare early for the NFL Draft. Their mission is clear: beat Michigan, reclaim the Big Ten title and win a national championship — something the Buckeyes have not achieved in nine years.
“The past few years are definitely three seasons that we came up short against those guys, and I’d be lying if I told you that it didn’t burn a fire inside of us,” Sawyer said. “So that is definitely something that we think about. We know what’s at stake when we play those guys, all of our goals and aspirations for the season rides on that one game in November.”
Ohio State enters the preseason as the favorite to win the Big Ten and has the second-best odds to claim the College Football Playoff National Championship, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
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Ohio State opens the 2024 season against Akron Aug. 31 in Columbus, Ohio.
