After Brady Quinn expressed his confidence in a Notre Dame win over Ohio State last week, the former Notre Dame quarterback and current Fox Sports college football analyst discussed the Buckeyes more on Monday, labeling Ryan Day's comments directed at Lou Holtz "bizarre."
"You're talking about an 86-year-old man," Quinn said on the 2 Pros and Cup of Joe show on Fox Sports Radio. "They had the 1988 national championship team down there on the field, and they were helping to hold coach Holtz up, given his health conditions and everything else."
TELL EM, COACH! pic.twitter.com/Se7zs18oHO
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 24, 2023
"I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now," Day told NBC after Ohio State's win. "What he said about our team, what he said about our team – I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We're proud to be from Ohio. It's always been Ohio against the world, and it will continue to be Ohio against the world. But I'll tell you what. I love those kids. We have a tough team."
Quinn didn't understand Day's priorities after Ohio State's dramatic win. Rather than sound off on Holtz's comments, Quinn believes Day should have praised Kyle McCord, TreVeyon Henderson and other Buckeyes who made an impact in the victory.
"Where's that emotion after the last two years against Michigan?" Quinn said. "Did Lou Holtz say anything that wasn't true about those previous losses? There wasn't anything that he said that wasn't true. It was for TV. He's an 86-year-old man. This came off to me as Ryan Day looking bizarre for taking this emotional response after a big win.
"Like that's your first words? You don't talk about your team, your players, anything that stood out to you? You had a quarterback you had to name as the starter because of how inconsistent it looked through camp and early in the season. You don't want to say, 'What about Kyle McCord and the job he did?' What about our defense? What about TreVeyon? That's the angle you took?
"I took a step back. (Fox Sports is) a part of the Ohio State-Michigan game every year, and I haven't seen that type of emotion (from Day). But that's where you want to save all your energy and emotion for – to go off on an 86-year-old coach that's no longer a part of it anymore? Are you trying to find him in a bar like you are trying to beat him up because of what he said? It was bizarre. It was so odd to me, man."
Quinn later credited Ohio State and Kyle McCord for the final drive that secured a come-from-behind win over Notre Dame. However, Quinn said "Ohio State was not the better team" on Saturday. Instead, he claimed the Irish failed to make multiple plays to secure a win, including two plays where the team only had 10 players on the field to stop Chip Trayanum from reaching the end zone.
Ohio State has now won six consecutive games against Notre Dame dating back to 1995, but Day said the Buckeyes' 2023 win will stand out above the rest, and perhaps be seen as one of the best victories ever.
"I think it's going to go down as one of the great wins in Ohio State history," Day said in his postgame press conference.
The Buckeyes enter their bye week with a 4-0 record and will return to action in their fifth game of the season against Maryland at home on Oct. 7. Notre Dame, ranked No. 11 in the latest AP Poll, will face No. 17 Duke on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
