While Ryan Day wanted to know where Lou Holtz was after Ohio State’s win at Notre Dame last year, Day and Holtz haven’t spoken since then.
Day and Holtz will be forever linked by Day’s famous interview after Ohio State’s 2023 win over Notre Dame in South Bend, in which Day proclaimed he’d “like to know where Lou Holtz is right now” in response to comments made by Holtz the day before the game questioning the Buckeyes’ toughness. Asked Sunday if he had spoken with Holtz at all since then, Day gave a succinct one-word answer before the question could even be completed.
“No,” Day interjected.
Holtz did speak with Rob Oller of The Columbus Dispatch this weekend and said he’s picking Notre Dame to beat Ohio State when the two teams reunite in next Monday’s national championship game. While he acknowledged Ohio State’s status as the favorite, he thinks his beloved Fighting Irish will find a way to win.
“When you look at it, Ohio State is the best team," Holtz said. "They have an explosive offense and their defensive coordinator (Jim Knowles) has done a tremendous job. They’re something like a nine-point favorite. However, in a one-game, winner-take-all, anything can happen. I like Notre Dame’s culture. They’re very physical, but they have to keep it close by forcing Ohio State’s offense off the field.”
Although Ohio State just beat Texas 28-14 in a game that was tied entering the fourth quarter, Holtz – who correctly predicted Ohio State would beat Texas by 14 in the Cotton Bowl – believes Notre Dame will have the advantage if the game is close entering the final 15 minutes.
“That puts pressure on Ohio State, which is used to winning and winning big,” Holtz told the Dispatch. “Ohio State is the better team, but I think Notre Dame finds a way to prevail. It’s going to take a big effort.”
Holtz didn’t criticize Day or Ohio State’s toughness this time around, however. He said he thinks Day made a good choice hiring Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator and called defensive coordinator Jim Knowles “vastly underrated.”
Day wasn’t keen to revisit the comments he made sixteen months ago on Sunday, preferring to keep his focus on Ohio State’s upcoming matchup with Notre Dame in eight days, in which he says the Buckeyes will need to play their best game of the year. The Buckeyes were clearly motivated by Holtz’s comments in last season’s win over Notre Dame, though, and they won’t have trouble finding sources of motivation for their next battle with the Fighting Irish with a national championship on the line.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Notre Dame and certainly what Marcus (Freeman) has done there. I think they're a gritty group. They're a tough group. They're a great program. And last two years has been a battle playing against them. And we know it's going to be the same way,” Day said. “Every year is a different group of guys and a different situation. This is a different situation. It'll be the same way. But every game, you're either trying to prove somebody right or prove somebody wrong. It doesn't matter when it is. And it'll be the same thing in this game here.”
