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Ryan Day claims Ohio State’s title as the best run in college football history
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Ryan Day is enjoying the first national championship of his head coaching career, leading Ohio State to the promised land for its first title since 2014.
Now, Day is making the case that the title for the Buckeyes deserves a significant spot in history. In a sitdown interview with ESPN’s Rece Davis to discuss Ohio State’s title, Day referred to it as the best run in college football history.
“I think it’s the best run in the history of college football. The wins, and the resilience that these guys showed to continue to push,” said Day.
On the one hand, Ohio State lost 2 regular-season games, including a game at home against Michigan as a 3-touchdown favorite. But, on the other hand, the wins of the Buckeyes look like some of the best in the history of the sport.
With a win over Notre Dame in the CFP National Championship Game, Ohio State registered its 5th win over an AP Top 5 team this season. That’s a new record, even trumping LSU‘s 2019 season (4 AP Top 5 wins) in that regard.
Ohio State also finished the year beating 6 of the 11 teams in the Playoff bracket. The Buckeyes downed Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and the Fighting Irish in the postseason while beating Indiana and Penn State in the regular season.
“When the bracket was set, we were like ‘Okay, well we put ourselves in this situation.’ But we knew if we got that first win, watch out, because this team was dangerous,” Ryan Day continued in his interview with Davis. “We knew that all along, but we had to come together on our own. We knew we had the talent, but talent doesn’t win games. It just doesn’t.
“We came together in a big way, caught some momentum off that Tennessee game. And once you have momentum, you’ve got to keep it. We kept it throughout and played our best down the stretch.”
While the significance of Ohio State’s run will be up for debate, the Buckeyes once again have history on their side as the first-ever winner of a 12-team Playoff. We’ll see what Ryan Day has for an encore in 2025.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.