Ryan Day and 3 Ohio State scapegoats most to blame for loss to Michigan

1. Ryan Day got outcoached by Jim Harbaugh in Ohio State’s loss

Speaking of a losing record against Michigan, Ohio State head coach is now 1-2 against the Wolverines since he took over the program. And in case that didn’t look bad enough, the two losses to the program’s biggest rival is now more than Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel and Luke Fickell had against UofM combined in their tenures as head coach.

Day is clearly a brilliant offensive mind and is the leader of a staff that is consistently bringing in elite talent. But for all of that talent, the fact remains that Harbaugh and Michigan have essentially bullied them for the past eight quarters in this rivalry, and that was perhaps never more evident than in the fourth quarter on Saturday when the Wolverines offensive line pushed around the Buckeyes front seven to break off two 70+ yard touchdown runs to seal the game.

There were some in-game coaching mistakes, to be sure. You can question him for not being aggressive enough on some of the fourth-down calls. You can also question his lack of urgency offensively in the second half as his team fell behind.

But really, the blame on Day comes down to something more institutional. This team has all of the skill and talent in the world, but to win a national championship — and to beat this iteration of Michigan — you have to have a team that can get hit in the mouth and get hit back. To this point, Day hasn’t proven he can build a team capable of that. And until he does, there will be questions about the Ohio State head coach.

For more College Football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.