In hindsight, Ryan Day realizes he could have made a different call during Ohio State’s stunning collapse to Texas.
The Buckeyes blew a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 24-23 loss at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. The Longhorns took the lead with 25 seconds remaining after Hollywood Smothers pounded in a 1-yard rushing touchdown.
Texas earned a first-and-goal at the 1 with over a minute remaining. Rather than let the opponent score to regain the ball with more time, Ohio State’s defense made two stops before allowing the go-ahead touchdown and ensuing extra point. Day also declined to use a timeout after two running plays.
Day conceded on Tuesday that he should have let Texas score earlier.
“It didn’t work, so yes,” Day told reporters, per Lyle Alenstein of Eleven Warriors.
“We talked about it”
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Day also addressed the sequence in his post-game conference. He considered letting Texas score but decided to trust Matt Patricia’s defense after making two stops.
“We talked about it, and decided that we were gonna play defense on second down,” Day said. “And then when we got that stop, right there, we said, ‘Alright, we’re gonna take our chances. Put the ball down for one yard and see if we can stop them for two downs and win the game.’
“If they were to score there, on second down, then we would have gone from there … It didn’t work out.”
Day’s decision left his offense little time to respond. A holding penalty cost them time and 10 yards before Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin followed a 5-yard completion by throwing a game-sealing interception to Graceson Littleton.
Of course, plenty went wrong before that final score. The Longhorns stormed the field for three straight touchdown drives in the final quarter, converting a pair of fourth downs beyond five yards. Meanwhile, Connor Hawkins missed a field goal that would have given Ohio State a 10-point lead with around four minutes remaining.
“When you look at not being able to get off the field on defense, when you’re really not able to sustain any drives on offense, and then we missed the field goal— all three phases didn’t get it done in the fourth quarter,” Day said. “So we’ve all got to own that.”
