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Ohio State entered the Big Ten Championship game last season undefeated, with its eyes set on a potential College Football Playoff national championship run. Then, a two-game losing streak ended the Buckeyes' season abruptly.
Ohio State spent nearly every week of the 2025 regular season as the No. 1-ranked team in the country but then quickly bowed out of the title hunt with losses to Indiana in the Big Ten title game and Miami in the quarterfinals of the CFP in the Cotton Bowl. The last time Ohio State lost two games in a row? The final two games of the 2023 season. What happened the year after? A national title.
Ryan Day is hoping that type of response is shown this season and addressed that at Big Ten Media Days.
"You take a lot of things (from those losses). Every year you look at the things that have gone well, then you look at the things that came up short," Day said on Wednesday. "I think when you're chasing small margins like you are, you have to identify the things that need to get fixed and fix them."
As Day and Ohio State enter fall camp, all eyes will once again be on the Buckeyes. With standout performers and Heisman Trophy candidates Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State is again loaded with talent and expectations.
The big question is in the trenches. When looking at Ohio State's two losses to end the 2026 season, it was the play of the offensive and defensive lines that dipped. The result was an inability to control the line of scrimmage and make the necessary plays to keep drives alive or force opposing offenses off the field.
"We look back on the game that we played in the Big Ten championship, look at some of those key situational things that we should have done a much better job with. We take ownership of that. We had to get that better," Day said. "They won in those situations. If we win those situations, the outcome's different. But that's football. That's where we've got to be better, and make sure we're ready next time when those opportunities come up that we make the plays.
"The easy thing is to do nothing or overreact. Where the real work is identifying what needs to get fixed and then make that change. I won't get into all those things. Yeah, there's a lot of things that needed to get addressed and will continue to get addressed. Sometimes you don't know if those decisions were right until you get to the end of the season."
The Buckeyes won't have to wait until the last game of the year in 2026 to know what will happen when adversity hits. Ohio State has arguably the toughest schedule in the country and will be tested early and often. Those types of early-season tests, for this team, in addition to the experience returning on both sides of the ball, are something Day is excited to lean on as the year goes on, and play gets deeper in the season.
"This year, based on the way our schedule looks and the way it's laid out, we're going to get some early feedback in these games," said Day. "We're going to have to play well down the stretch in the fourth quarter ... Every year is different. I'd like to sit here and tell you that last year is similar to this year because of X, Y, and Z, and that will be the solution, but it's not the same because it is a different group of guys. There are things in place that we've identified that we always want to improve on."
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State coach Ryan Day dishes on late-season lessons last season
Continue reading...
Ohio State spent nearly every week of the 2025 regular season as the No. 1-ranked team in the country but then quickly bowed out of the title hunt with losses to Indiana in the Big Ten title game and Miami in the quarterfinals of the CFP in the Cotton Bowl. The last time Ohio State lost two games in a row? The final two games of the 2023 season. What happened the year after? A national title.
Ryan Day is hoping that type of response is shown this season and addressed that at Big Ten Media Days.
"You take a lot of things (from those losses). Every year you look at the things that have gone well, then you look at the things that came up short," Day said on Wednesday. "I think when you're chasing small margins like you are, you have to identify the things that need to get fixed and fix them."
As Day and Ohio State enter fall camp, all eyes will once again be on the Buckeyes. With standout performers and Heisman Trophy candidates Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State is again loaded with talent and expectations.
The big question is in the trenches. When looking at Ohio State's two losses to end the 2026 season, it was the play of the offensive and defensive lines that dipped. The result was an inability to control the line of scrimmage and make the necessary plays to keep drives alive or force opposing offenses off the field.
"We look back on the game that we played in the Big Ten championship, look at some of those key situational things that we should have done a much better job with. We take ownership of that. We had to get that better," Day said. "They won in those situations. If we win those situations, the outcome's different. But that's football. That's where we've got to be better, and make sure we're ready next time when those opportunities come up that we make the plays.
"The easy thing is to do nothing or overreact. Where the real work is identifying what needs to get fixed and then make that change. I won't get into all those things. Yeah, there's a lot of things that needed to get addressed and will continue to get addressed. Sometimes you don't know if those decisions were right until you get to the end of the season."
The Buckeyes won't have to wait until the last game of the year in 2026 to know what will happen when adversity hits. Ohio State has arguably the toughest schedule in the country and will be tested early and often. Those types of early-season tests, for this team, in addition to the experience returning on both sides of the ball, are something Day is excited to lean on as the year goes on, and play gets deeper in the season.
"This year, based on the way our schedule looks and the way it's laid out, we're going to get some early feedback in these games," said Day. "We're going to have to play well down the stretch in the fourth quarter ... Every year is different. I'd like to sit here and tell you that last year is similar to this year because of X, Y, and Z, and that will be the solution, but it's not the same because it is a different group of guys. There are things in place that we've identified that we always want to improve on."
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State coach Ryan Day dishes on late-season lessons last season
Continue reading...
