Lots of debate in yesterday's forum topic discussing the Vrabel situation about what constitutes a big game. There was some excellent dialog. For me it seems like a big game is one that factors into season defined goals. The published goals for a successful Ohio State football season are as follows:
1. Beat TTUN
2. Win the B1G
3. Win the National Championship
Unfortunately, we have struggled to beat TTUN. We are 1-4 under Day.
Winning a B1G championship looks like it will require beating Oregon in the near future. Unfortunately, we are 0-2 against Oregon under Day.
Winning a national championship will require beating one or more national championship caliber teams. Unfortunately, Day is 1-3 against Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson. Those 3 teams and TTUN are the teams we have played that have hoisted the trophy in the Day era.
The bad news is that gives us a 2-9 record in season defining games. The good news is that these are the marquee games that don't come along all that often.
In fairness to Day, maybe we should different between these marquee games (against the championship contenders) and big games (against ranked teams). Coach Day deserves credit for a solid record against ranked teams.
I think it's fair to call all of these playoff games "big games". A four game winning streak goes a long way to change the big game narrative.
