Ryan Day just led the Buckeyes to the most important win of his career. Because it wasn’t a loss.
If Ohio State had stumbled hard against Tennessee Saturday night in the scarlet-and-orange infused Horseshoe – and especially if the loss was like the abomination against Michigan three weeks ago – the torch and pitchfork-carrying crowd among Buckeye Nation would have made a beeline down High Street, turned left down Lane Avenue and, after navigating dejected OSU tailgaters and dodging ebullient Volunteers fans, searched every room of the stadium to find Day and run Ohio State’s coach out on a rail. 
OSU athletic director Ross Bjork is unlikely to have held the door open for the angry mob and disaffected donors. After the Michigan loss, Bjork gave his 45-year-old coach what sounded like a vote of confidence on steroids.
“He’s our coach,” Bjork said.
But would Bjork have slammed the door in the mob’s face and bolted it shut? Doubtful. After all, “He’s our coach” is not time sensitive. One day he is and the next he’s not. 
It’s one thing to support your coach, as Bjork has done. It’s quite another to go to the mat for him, because you might get pinned yourself by FOPs (Friends of the Program) in even higher tax brackets.
The good news for Bjork is we’ll never know, because Day pulled a 180 against the Vols, opening up the Buckeyes’ offense. It was the opposite of how he and play-caller Chip Kelly closed things down in the 13-10 loss to the Wolverines on Nov. 30.
Instead of playing Woody ball by repeatedly running it up the gut, Day switched to “backyard ball,” which anyone who has squeezed a Nerf football knows means tossing it here, there and everywhere.
Day did to Tennessee what he should have done to Michigan, by unveiling a game plan that used the pass to set up the run. And by the time the clock struck midnight, his job status no longer felt like it was on shaky ground. 
Let me be clear: I never thought Day would lose his job if he lost to Tennessee. Check that, if he lost a close one to UT, and if the Buckeyes looked competent while doing so, the Day haters would have a field day. A blowout loss, however, and all bets were off.
That’s why dominating Tennessee 42-17 was so huge for Day, even bigger than it was for the Buckeyes. It not only got him one more game without flaming darts whizzing past his ears, but it showed that when he trusts his instincts and stays aggressive instead of going into a shell, like whatever that was against Michigan, his teams almost always are in the hunt, if not always victorious. Against Georgia two years ago, and against Clemson in 2020, Day went all-in by letting his offense fly. The Buckeyes clubbed Clemson 49-28 and took eventual national champion Georgia to the final second before losing on a missed field goal.
It’s probably true that Michigan is in Day’s head, but an easy way to get the Wolverines out of there is to lean into your identity. And OSU’s identity since Day took over from Urban Meyer in 2019 is to pair elite wide receivers with above-average quarterbacks and hope the defense is stout enough to spell the difference, which tends to be more often than not, though not often enough to have secured a national title.
When Day cuts it loose, as he did against Tennessee, the Buckeyes are extremely dangerous. Oregon is about to discover as much. The Ducks are next on OSU’s agenda with a rematch in the Rose Bowl set for Jan. 1.
Prediction: No. 8 seed Ohio State, bubbling with confidence after demolishing Rocky Top, will upset No. 1 seed Oregon in Pasadena. It won’t be easy, and the outcome won’t be determined until after the sun sets on the San Gabriel mountains early in the fourth quarter, but the 32-31 loss in Eugene on Oct. 12 will be avenged. Book it.
Back to discussing Day’s job security. Tennessee was always going to be a program-defining game for the Buckeyes and their coach. But only if they lost. A win simply would mean getting another bite at the apple, and a juicy one at that. 
Beat Oregon and the “Is Day right for the job?” debate will die down faster than a political argument at the Christmas dinner table. Not now, family. 
But a loss Saturday would have jacked the “Fire Day” speaker knob to 11. And a bad loss would have broken the Internet.
Returning to Bjork’s comments three weeks ago, the AD addressed whether public opinion might sway him to rescind his support of Day.
“Let’s go make a run in the playoff,” he said. “That’s all I’m going to say. Let’s go make a run in the playoff. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
What defines a run? One win? Two? Winning the natty? Only Bjork knows, but you have to think that the way Day turned things around after Michigan endeared him to his boss and other university/community bigwigs. If nothing else, it showed that Day is teachable.
I asked Day postgame what changed from a coaching perspective from Michigan to Tennessee.
“I think it was a combination of things. I think it’s a little bit of everything,” he said, explaining that OSU was not at its best even before Michigan. “We really didn’t play great on offense in the Indiana game, truth be told. And then we went into the (Michigan) game and there was a lot that played into that, but certainly we called this game more aggressively.
“But also we did some things in this game that maximized what we have in terms of our strengths, and minimized our deficiencies.”
Day praised quarterback Will Howard, who after playing his worst game of the season against Michigan bounced back with one of his best performances, completing 24 of 29 passes for 311 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. It helped immensely that the Buckeyes’ offensive line protected him by not allowing a sack. 
Mostly, though, the difference this night was Day. 
“We had balance in this game,” he said, never wanting to be thought of only as a pass-happy coach, a label he has fought for a few years. “It’s not like we were just throwing it all over the place. We did get some runs that hit for us, and that makes a big difference when you have that run-pass balance.”
No, no, no, coach. Get it right. It’s pass-run balance. The pass comes first. Remember that. Otherwise, your critics will run, run, run you out of town. 
roller@dispatch.com
@rollerCD

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