The sport’s most expensive roster was built to avoid a result like this.
An offseason overhaul that saw Ryan Day give up play-calling duties to his mentor Chip Kelly and aggressively pursue some of the nation’s top portal options — the No. 1 overall player in Caleb Downs, the No. 1 running back in Quinshon Judkins, for starters — should have managed more than 10 points in a losing effort against a 7-5 Michigan team.
Everyone in the sport knew why Ohio State went on its offseason shopping spree. After watching its archrival Michigan win the national championship last season, Ohio State’s power players tried to do everything in their power to prevent it from happening again. They wanted that glory that comes with sitting atop the sport. The total price to try to ensure that was more than $20 million for this 2024 version of the Ohio State Buckeyes, according to athletic director Ross Bjork. Judkins, the transfer from Ole Miss, committed to Ohio State the night of Michigan’s national championship win, if it gives you any idea of the desperation to send a message.
That included raiding the SEC for two first-team all-SEC players (Judkins, Downs) and a starting center (Seth McLaughlin). The Buckeyes also added the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit, Jeremiah Smith, a freak receiver who OSU had to fight Miami late to hold onto.
But, perhaps, the most important decision Day made was jettisoning Kyle McCord, last year’s starting quarterback, in the favor of a transfer portal option that turned out to be Kansas State QB Will Howard.
In a poetic sense, Saturday’s action showed how Day erred there.
McCord was badly maligned last season as critics believed he was holding back OSU’s all-star cast which included first-round receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.. A New York Giants assistant coach even tried to goad Harrison into calling out a poor McCord throw during the draft process, which Harrison Jr. refused to do.
After a 30-24 loss to Michigan last year, Day declined to commit to McCord long-term and all but pushed him out the door. It was a bold move but one that was largely accepted at the time. McCord landed at Syracuse, a signal to some that there wasn’t as robust a market for the Ohio State transfer as one would have anticipated.
And yet as Will Howard struggled in a loss to Michigan, throwing two costly interceptions, McCord was up in Syracuse out-dueling the nation’s best quarterback, Cam Ward, in a thrilling comeback 42-38 win over No. 6 Miami. Down 21-0 early in the second quarter, McCord erupted for 380 yards and three touchdowns on 26 of 36 passes.
When asked after the game about beating Miami while his former school Ohio State lost to Michigan yet again, McCord had the perfect response.
“Everything comes full circle,” McCord said.
Syracuse coach Fran Brown, who deserves Coach of the Year consideration after guiding the Orange to a 9-3 record in his first year, made headlines earlier this year that he should send Day a bottle of champagne for letting him have McCord. I asked McCord in October what caliber champagne Brown ought to send Day and after a good laugh about it, McCord finished with, “Time will tell.”
Time told that Brown better send Day a bottle of Dom Perignon to drown his sorrows for making a catastrophic mistake in letting McCord leave the program. McCord looked freer and more confident this season than he ever did at Ohio State, a credit to Brown and a knock on Day whose teams always seem to take on his personality and turtle up in big games. McCord has a nation’s best 4,326 passing yards plus 29 touchdowns (fourth-best in the country).
“A lot of that comes from self-confidence as well as knowing all the coaches and all the guys around me have confidence in me,” McCord told CBS Sports earlier this year. “When you put in a lot of preparation and you watch a ton of film and study the playbook, it allows you to go out in a game and just play free. Trust your eyes, trust what you see and just let it rip.”
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McCord told me he prepared like he had something to prove “because obviously I do” and that “you have to have the mindset you’re the best player on the field.” That confidence did wonders for McCord and Syracuse against Ward and Miami in what could be the biggest win in decades for the program.
And it was certainly needed Saturday in Columbus. It’s not fair to put the blame on Howard, who took a big hit against the Wolverines and never quite looked completely the same afterward. Day and Kelly insisted on trying to ride with an inefficient run game that averaged 2.96 yards per carry and managed only 77 yards total. Judkins, the highly-anticipated Ole Miss transfer who is believed to be the highest-paid running back in college football, had 46 rushing yards on 17 carries. Ohio State showed sparks of life when it sped up its tempo but Day was never willing to fully commit to it.
After a fourth consecutive loss to Michigan, the calls for Day’s dismissal have increased as has the pressure on the team to win it all to justify this team’s hefty expense. If it doesn’t work, Day will think back on an offensive offseason overhaul that went bust.
MORE: After Ohio State once again came up short, it must go on deep CFP run for Day’s sake
