November 21, 2020, is the day that saved Michigan football.
The Wolverines walked into Piscataway, NJ to face off against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights with a 1-3 record under HC Jim Harbaugh and fans in Ann Arbor growing weary of continually falling short of expectations.
If Michigan dropped that game to the Scarlet Knights, many were convinced that it would mark the end of the Harbaugh era in Maize and Blue.
However, the Wolverines pulled off a triple OT thriller that ultimately saved Harbaughs job and set forth a historic run by that program up north.
Ryan Day finds himself in a similar situation.
After four straight losses to Michigan, routinely falling short of a Big Ten Championship, and zero luck in the playoffs, the Columbus faithful are at the end of their rope.
The pressure is immense, and Ryan Day knows it. It comes with the territory of coaching a program like Ohio State. The expectations are different, and the bar is exponentially higher than other programs in the nation.
Ryan Day has shown time and time again that when the pressure rises, he crumbles. He gets in his own head, makes costly decisions, overthinks simple and routine calls, and costs his team the game on the biggest stages.
If Ryan Day wants to be the coach of the Buckeyes next season, he needs to handle business this year, starting on Saturday at 8pm in the Horseshoe when the Tennessee Volunteers come to visit.
It won’t be easy, and should he get the victory, the road only gets crazier from there. A rematch with Oregon, and a potential matchup of Texas and Georgia should they advance to win the whole thing?
Oof.
The path is there, but the path is about as difficult as it is to pronounce Nico Lamaleava.
Ohio State 27 Tennessee 24
