Ryan Day can silence the critics against the Oregon Ducks, or continue hearing from more and more skeptics depending on the Ohio State performance

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has accumulated a 61-8 overall record since becoming the lead man of the Buckeyes. That includes a stellar .884 winning percentage, two playoff berths and an appearance in the 2020 National Championship game. On paper, that is an incredible resume.

You would think that most observers would generally be more than happy for what Coach Day has accomplished and built in Columbus, but there is still a strange aura around the program with Day at the helm. While saying he is on the hot seat is far from the truth, observers do still have their microscope out. This program heads into their matchup with the Oregon Ducks with an awkwardly uptight feeling around them.

A big reason for that feeling is some of the inconsistencies in the bigger games, and obviously in their rivalry woes against Michigan the past few seasons. Of the top 25 victories that Day has had during the duration of his career, two of them have come against Penn State, two against Notre Dame, Indiana, Clemson, Oregon, Michigan State and Utah are the schools on that list. Outside of Clemson, that is a list of good (very good in Oregon’s case) programs, but not teams you would consider championship caliber teams in recent memory.

When you are the head coach at Ohio State, there is going to be a lot of pressure. The expectations are winning Big Ten championships, defeating the Michigan Wolverines, and winning national championships on a relatively consistent basis. That is the standard.

For the last three seasons, Coach Day has accomplished zero of those expectations. Is he a bad coach? Absolutely not. Day is a good football coach, but there is still a lot to prove. This weekend could go a long way to show how good this team is, and really actualize the expectations they had going into the year.

Right or wrong, there is a stigma out there that Day walked into a perfect situation in Columbus. For all the faults that Urban Meyer had as a person, he was a wonderful coach and recruiter. Coach Day walked into a talented roster that expected to win championships. For the first couple of years of Day’s head coaching career, he was winning football games with holdovers from Meyer’s tenure.

The further you’re removed from those early years, the more this program is fully Day’s program. Until they begin to win championships again, both Big Ten and national titles alike, there is going to be some skeptics about if they can get back under Day. From a talent perspective, they are absolutely a roster who can do both this season.

This weekend is a glimpse into what the Buckeyes have been building, and the product of all of the offseason hype. The Ryan Day skeptics will either be somewhat silenced this weekend, or get louder and louder depending on their performance.