Desmond Howard is at it again.
On Saturday's broadcast of College GameDay on ESPN, the former Michigan wide receiver and current college football analyst took yet another shot at the second-ranked Buckeyes, specifically head coach Ryan Day.
"When you put so much effort, so much attention, there's so much at stake in this game, and you come up short again, especially in the Shoe, that's when your fan base, they go against you," Howard said. "This media down here, man, they can be treacherous. You got to watch the emphasis you put on a game like this. Because if you stumble and lose... things will get hot. They may go over there to FOX and snatch Urban Meyer."
Former Ohio State quarterback and Howard's co-host on GameDay Kirk Herbstreit said that kind of thinking toward Day is "embarrassing," pointing to the Buckeyes' tremendous resume under the fourth-year head coach, who is 45-4 with two College Football Playoff appearances in three complete seasons. His only losses are to Clemson (2019) and Alabama (2020) in the CFP and Oregon and Michigan in the regular season of 2021.
"What are we even talking about?" Herbstreit asked. "If he wins this game, great. We'll celebrate Ryan Day and Ohio State. But if he loses, you wake up tomorrow, you're disappointed and your heart's ripped out. But Ryan Day is still a great coach. ... I don't look at this like, 'He has to win this game, or you're going to do some talking to this guy, get this thing right.' Screw that. That's embarrassing."
First-year GameDay co-host Pat McAfee had the final word on the matter and agreed that a lot is riding on today's game for Ohio State and said there likely hasn't been a bigger matchup on the Buckeyes' mind this season since the loss to Michigan in 2021.
"I'd assume this is a big-time day for Ryan," McAfee said. "And if they get a win, he's going to have some cold beers and celebrate."
Ohio State and Michigan kick off at 12:14 p.m. on Saturday following a Senior Day recognition for 22 Buckeyes. The Game will be broadcast on FOX.
