Welcome to the Skull Session.
No win, no intro.
Themz the rulez.
A PICTURE IS WORTH 1,000 WORDS.
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STUCK ON THIRD BASE. After Ohio State’s loss to Michigan in 2021, Jim Harbaugh called out Ryan Day.
“Some people were born on third base and think they hit a triple,” he said.
Harbaugh’s comment came to mind as I reflected on Ohio State’s 32-31 loss to Oregon, not because I now believe it, but for another reason. How Day arrived on third base doesn’t matter, but this does: Almost six years after becoming Ohio State’s head coach and three years after Harbaugh’s comment in November 2021, Day remains 90 feet from home plate.
Year after year, inning after inning, Day puts the Buckeyes in a position to accomplish their goals. Across five-plus seasons, he’s collected 61 wins in 70 games, he’s landed top-five recruiting classes, he’s produced NFL draft picks...
he’s reached third base, But he’s never made it further. The reasons for that are complex.
Day’s been picked off a few times (yes, it’s possible for a baserunner to be picked off at third; I know because it happened to me once) as he’s failed to win on the margins and lacked a killer instinct in matchup games, such as the final moments in the 2022 Georgia game or the end of the first half in the 2023 Michigan game.
He’s also been stranded on third, thanks to Ohio State’s offense, defense and special teams. The offense — well, the offensive line and Kyle McCord — failed to execute on the last drive in the 2023 Michigan game. The defense fell flat in the 2021 Oregon game, the 2021 and 2022 Michigan games (more on that in a moment), the 2022 Georgia game and the 2024 Oregon game. Then, of course, Noah Ruggles shanked a game-winning field goal in the 2022 Georgia game.
Finally, there’s been the stuff Day couldn’t control — call it poor umpiring or a rain delay, I don’t care — such as the referees calling back Ohio State’s scoop-and-score against Clemson in 2019 and Michigan’s illegal sign-stealing scheme in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Whatever the reason, Day's narrative is that he can’t win the big games. He’s stuck at third base and can’t get home to score the winning run. And while he has two Big Ten championships and three College Football Playoff appearances, he’s still 2-7 against AP top-five opponents. That won't lead to his termination, but it’s enough to create angst in Columbus and abroad.
For those experiencing that angst (or a range of other hostile emotions), Ohio State can still accomplish its goals this season: Beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and win the College Football Playoff. While Day’s margin for error has diminished drastically — we’ve reached the seventh-inning stretch of this figurative baseball game — Day remains where he’s always been: 90 feet from home plate.
Maybe someone will knock him in. Or maybe he’ll get aggressive and steal home.
Time will tell.
“THAT’S A BIG HIT FOR US.” Josh Simmons can have my left leg. He can have it!
In the second quarter of Ohio State's loss to Oregon, Simmons was carted off the field. Day revealed in his postgame press conference that Simmons will miss the rest of the season with his injury.
"The injury to Josh Simmons hurt," Day said after the game. "I'll have to get the update on Simmons, but it doesn't look great in terms of him being able to come back this season. That's a big hit for us."
No kidding.
As I mentioned in the Gameday Skull Session, Dane Brugler of The Athletic named Simmons as the second-best 2025 NFL draft prospect in the Ohio State-Oregon game behind Tyleik Williams.
"One of the biggest risers this season, Simmons has been playing at a high level," Brugler wrote. "Give me nimble blockers with smooth body control and finishing skills — that description sums up Simmons."
When Simmons went down, Zen Michalski swapped in at left tackle. Unlike Austin Siereveld, who filled in for Tegra Tshabola and started for the Buckeyes' wins over Akron and Western Michigan, Michalski had limited experience near the end of blowouts for Ohio State. Still, Day said the fourth-year offensive lineman performed well in place of Simmons.
"Zen did a good job of coming in and competing," he said. "Tegra went down for a little bit there and so Austin had to go in. I thought those guys competed."
With Ohio State idle this weekend, Day deferred the Buckeyes' plans for the left tackle spot to a later date. Their next game will come at home against Nebraska on Oct. 26.
"We'll have to get all of that identified," Day said. "We'll go back to work next week."
"THEY DID THEIR JOB AND WE DIDN'T." What the heck happened to Denzel Burke? And the Ohio State defense — what the heck happened to the Ohio State defense?
"They did their job, and we didn't," Cody Simon said after the game. "That's what's gonna happen when you don't execute the way you're supposed to. ... We had to get more stops on defense. We needed to help our offense out. They did more than enough to win this game."
Ohio State's offense racked up 467 yards against Oregon. Will Howard completed 28 of 35 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns. He added another score on the ground.
Still, Chip Kelly said Ohio State looked "disjointed" on offense.
Oregon thwarted Ohio State's deep passing game and forced Howard to settle for short and intermediate throws in all four quarters. That worked in spades as Egbuka had 10 catches for 93 yards and one touchdown, while Jeremiah Smith had nine catches for 100 yards and one score. Carnell Tate didn't record his first reception until the final drive when he hauled in a 13-yard pass from Howard.
Smith's performance was excellent outside of his offensive pass interference penalty, which came on Ohio State's final drive and wiped out a 9-yard catch to the Oregon 19. That penalty knocked the Buckeyes out of field-goal range (to the Oregon 43). They never got back inside of it.
On the final play of the game, Howard thought he'd slid before time expired; however, he was one second too late.
“It sucks,” Howard said. “You don't want to lose a game like that.”
But Ohio State did lose a game like that.
That means the Buckeyes have some soul-searching to do over the next two weeks.
“We've got to look at it all,” Day said. “Something we preach a lot is limiting explosive plays and keeping it in front, making them work the ball down the field. It didn't happen in this game. It starts with coaching. We've got to coach it better, demand it better and then drill it better in practice.”
Ohio State will have plenty of time to practice over the next 12 days. The Buckeyes are off on Saturday before an Oct. 26 showdown with Nebraska. They will then face No. 3 Penn State, Purdue, Northwestern, No. 16 Indiana and No. 24 Michigan before the year ends.
“We can sit here and look at one play here, one play there, complain about a call,” Day said of the Oregon game. “But we're not going to do that. We're going to own it. We're going to get it fixed.”
Let's hope.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Hurt" - Johnny Cash (Nine-Inch Nails).
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