OSU & Day wasted generational talent at QB & WR

Submitted by RealElonMusk on December 1st, 2023 at 2:13 PM

I'm not a Ryan Day hater-  I think he's a good coach but not a great coach.

In addition to his 0-6 record versus top 5 SP+ teams I think the biggest mark against him is that he had incredible talent & didn't beat M, win Big10, or win a game in playoffs.

  • Stroud went #2 in draft and is killing it in the NFL which freshman very rarely do-  Generational QB talent
  • Garrett Wilson-  #2 ranked receiver in 2019
  • Olave- First round draft pick, doing well in NFL
  • Julian Fleming #1 WR 2020
  • Paris Johnson #1 OT 2020
  • Jason Smith-Njigba   #2 receiver 2020  Close to generational talent
  • JT Tuimloau   #1  DL/DE 2021
  • Emega Egbuka  # receiver 2021
  • Treveyon Henderson  #1 RB 2021
  • Marvin Harrison  likely #1 Draft Pick 2024   Generational Talent

With all of this talent couldn't win the Big10 or beat Michigan.   

But, he almost beat Georgia you say?   Well about that game-  OSU had it won and blew it and that is on the coach-    All they had to do in the 4th quarter up 2 scores is keep everything in front of them and have 2 3-5 minute drives.  Instead, OSU gave up a long TD and lost by 1.    

Advantage Michiganif Day stays at OSU because I his approach doesn't match up well against U of M and he will struggle to coach the game effectively because he appears to pinball back and forth between excessive aggressiveness and excessive caution like in his pregame dance with the team-

https://twitter.com/11W/status/1728457098881810760

 

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Buy Bushwood

December 1st, 2023 at 2:45 PM ^

Yep.  Really, it's the coming 3-4 years which will show whether Day is even a good coach.  These will be players whom he will need to recruit and fully develop himself, and to do this with the adversity of the "can't beat Michigan narrative". To this point, there is no evidence that Day can build and maintain multiple generations of elite winning at a high-pressure program. He'll need to show, like Harbaugh and Meyer have shown, that he can continue to pick out and hire the very best coordinators as well.  At the same time, he appears to be slowly crumbling under the pressure. 

My guess is that he'll be a regular season 9.5 wins, 2.5 losses coach from here out, which, if so, he'll last 1 more year if that's 9-3 (or maybe even 10-2) with a loss to UM next year.  

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Carcajou

December 1st, 2023 at 7:23 PM ^

 OSU just isn't going to have a clear path like they used to

In some ways, it will be easier for them. They don't have to go through PSU and Michigan, they can afford to drop one or two of those games and get into a 12 team playoff, especially with the consolidation. Next year, they just have to win two out of three versus Michigan, Penn State, and Oregon and  beyond that, just beat Iowa and the rest of the fairly easy schedule and they are in.
(Michigan's schedule is far more daunting).

Joined: 02/26/2009

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Eastside Maize

December 1st, 2023 at 2:16 PM ^

Ohio was on the opposite end of the spectrum in regards to its DL/OL play. They had the stars but not the production and that's why Ohio has lost 3 straight!!!

 

P.S. Third Base Day looks high off Gorilla Glue in that mosh pit.

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jdemille9

December 1st, 2023 at 2:24 PM ^

Pretty sure all his losses (all 7 of them over like what 5 years) were to top 10 teams - and half to us deservedly so. He's actually done pretty well for himself down there. 

No one is Alabama, that sort of championship success is not normal. Hell, even Clemson only got a couple when they had two generational QB's back to back. Day may not be Urban Meyer or Nick Saban but to say he wasted his talent is a bit much. 

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True Blue Grit

December 1st, 2023 at 3:37 PM ^

Exactly.  Having a roster filled with 5 stars can be a double edged sword.  It raises the expectations of their fanbase to absurd levels.  And the team can use it as a crutch by thinking their superior talent will always enable them to prevail.  Maybe one day they'll learn it isn't enough.  Then again, they're just Buckeyes.  

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dragonchild

December 1st, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^

Apparently it's not enough for OP to recognize Michigan as a great team.  No, Day has to suck somehow.

Also when someone opens with "I'm not a. . .", they are quite predictably that which they say they are not.  Being hateful and miserable in the glow of others' success makes OP a better fit for the OSU fanbase.

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DennisFranklinDaMan

December 1st, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^

Fully agree. Always strange to me that we want to both talk about what an incredible team Harbaugh has put together, and simultaneously rip on Day for being weak. But he never loses to teams worse than his, and that alone is pretty impressive.

Besides. I worry about small samples. We definitely have had an awesome these past three years. But does anyone remember when Harbaugh started 0-5 against OSU (the last two of which being absymal)? Things can change.

Finally ... it really does reflect different institutional emphases, doesn't it? Michigan has had the best offensive line in the country for at least two of the past three years (and maybe all three), and our defensive line is also flat-out awesome. Nobody would say that OSU comes close to matching us there. And it turns out, a lot of football is still decided in the trenches. 

Go Blue.

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Buy Bushwood

December 1st, 2023 at 3:01 PM ^

I dunno.  2019 was essentially Meyer's team, and I'd argue that OSU was better than the Clemson team they lost to.  2020 doesn't exist.  In 2021 they lost Mario Cristobal and a meh Oregon team, that was certainly a worse team than OSU.  They also had substantially more talent than UM in 2021.  Day has beaten up on a horrible Big 10, lost the biggest games to UM, squeaked by a couple of average ND teams, and challenged Georgia.  I don't think you can argue that he doesn't lose to worse team.  The other side of the coin is that he has certainly never beaten a better team.  

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othernel

December 1st, 2023 at 2:20 PM ^

This sort of reminds me of the Henne/Hart era team that was loaded with future NFL players, but never got their OSU win.

This is the rivalry in a nutshell. You will be remembered for what you do in The Game, fair or not.

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blueheron

December 1st, 2023 at 2:29 PM ^

Look closely -- the "aughts" recruiting classes of Michigan weren't at the same level as OSU the past few years. They were mostly irrelevant for the famous '06 game, but the '05 - '07 classes were particularly meh.

- - -

As for OSU, I think they've definitely underachieved since Meyer took over. By average player ranking they've been in the Top Five forever. When you consider the relative ease of running the table in the Big Ten for many of those years, you can make the case that they should have multiple national championships.

Was it a failure of culture? Player development? Something else? Whatever the case, I'm glad they've underachieved.

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alum96

December 1st, 2023 at 8:46 PM ^

It's not close.  OSU recruiting if not for Bama Georgia would be considered an outlier off the chart - they get 4-5 5*. They get 8 top 100 mercenaries---err players  They get 13-14 of the top 150 players annually.  They stack them one class on top of the other.

Michigan has never recruited even close to that. Never.  

It's obscene. 

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Dunder

December 1st, 2023 at 2:23 PM ^

Last year the refrain was Stroud no good etc... . What I see is that UM (Harbaugh et al) reinvigorated their program, put a keen focus on a well chosen path to compete with that great program down south and accomplished it. 

I marvel at UMs accomplishment of over-coming that behemoth they've built at OSU. And hope UM can reap the benefits and start pulling in generational talent in each recruiting class like they do. 

We should all be so fortunate to have rung up the record OSU has and call that 'wasted'.  

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Bo Harbaugh

December 1st, 2023 at 2:29 PM ^

They can't develop O-line or D-line like under Meyer, and that's the difference.

They could blow any team with lesser talent out of the water with their starz!, and played UGA close (hang the "Almost Beat Georgia!" banner), with an inspired effort, Stroud actually running, and UGA playing poorly most of the game.

They don't have Ben Herbert, they don't have Harbaugh and therefore they just aren't built for the dogfight like UM in the trenches.  That was the difference - primarily in 21 and 22 (soft), and this year, the difference was mainly JJ - until the running game started grinding meat, particularly in the 4th quarter.  

UM may not win the National Title - it's always a crapshoot at that level, but there's not a mentally tougher group of sons of bitches playing CFB right now.

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Vasav

December 1st, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^

I think Day has gotten outcoached the last three years - but I also think people are underselling the fact that Michigan has just been better. Yes, OSU had this amazing offense/passing game and allowed Michigan to contain it 3 years running. But first off, their defense was not good in '21 and '22 and Michigan exploited their weaknesses to perfection. Second, their running game was decent but able to be contained by Michigan all 3 years. In '21, Hutch and Ojabo were able to contain the passing game pretty effectively - 2 Hutch sacks directly caused a punt and a FG, an Ojabo sack led to a 3rd and long, and that offense still managed to ball out for two TDs in the 2nd. And in '22, Michigan's DBs were VERY good - better than this year's, because Green/Turner > Wallace. They weren't all-americans, but they were good enough to contain Stroud and the passing game, and they lucked out that Stroud had a weird aversion to scrambling in '22. This year, McCord is good but not great, and the DL was pretty damn great, holding both the run down and harassing the pass.

Day is a good coach and called a good offensive game on Saturday, probably one of the better ones he called over the last 3 years. OSU's defense was by far the best of their last 3 years. Michigan was just a little bit better. This class didn't get any titles, but three 11-win seasons is hardly a "waste."

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BlueHills

December 1st, 2023 at 2:39 PM ^

I can't call any 11-1 regular season wasted, much as I might dislike Ohio State and their coach.

We also have generational talent at QB, RB, and perhaps our great O-line players. We've had great defensive players all three years. We also are lucky to have the best assistant coaches in the Big Ten, if not the country.

If this was a third blowout win in a row, I'd think less of Day's coaching, but it was a close game, closer than I would have liked. I don't know about anyone else, but I was pretty nervous during OSU's last drive before the INT, and very relieved and happy with that win.

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alum96

December 1st, 2023 at 8:51 PM ^

JJ is not generational  

We have had such a low bar since Henne.  Trevor Lawrence is generational. Watson is generational.  Vince Young is generational. Burrow was for a year.  

JJ is a freaking really good QB.  But no not one going down as transcending college football.  

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GRBluefan

December 1st, 2023 at 2:41 PM ^

He's had a lot of great players.  He's also had a butt-ton of success.  He has trouble beating Michigan.  A lot of teams do.  Let's just be happy for ourselves, since we have basically maximized our talent.  

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901 P

December 1st, 2023 at 8:28 PM ^

Generational talents mentioned in this thread: current OSU WR, last year's OSU QB, possibly *another* current OSU WR, back-to-back recent Clemson QBs, current Michigan QB, current Michigan RB, possibly current Michigan OL. Another comment mentions that OSU gets generational talent in *every* recruiting class. That's a lot of generational talents crammed into a couple of years of college football! 

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VanWolverine

December 1st, 2023 at 2:58 PM ^

Can't remember where but read a comment that Day looks like a penguin in that dumb dance, bounce around, or whatever it's called. Still cracks me up, wtf is that meant to be.

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