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College football expert Josh Pate identified a missing element in Ryan Day’s success story as Ohio State coach. The journalist, who also hosts his eponymous Josh Pate’s College Football Show, said that Day’s failure to win the rivalry against Michigan will put pressure on him.
According to Pate, rivalries are a greater factor in measuring success in college football than titles:
“I don’t care if I don’t make sense to anyone else. My personal college football worldview is that if you’re the head coach of Ohio State, your job’s to beat Michigan, and then the Big Ten can be won, and then the national title can be won, in that order.
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"But beating Michigan is number one. And he hadn’t done it in several years now. So if you’re asking me, “Oh, is there pressure on him?” Absolutely, there’s pressure on him. I don’t care if they won the national title by a hundred last year. That’s almost like its own conversation.”
The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is one of the most storied rivalries, not only in college football but in global sports. This game has, over the years, been the decider for many Big Ten championship titles. It's not just a matchup to acquire bragging rights; it has proven to be one of the most consequential games in college football.
Winning the rivalry has become an important metric that fans of Michigan and Ohio State use in measuring their coaches’ success. Ryan Day won his first two matchups with Michigan as Ohio State's coach in 2018 and 2019. However, he has lost four straight games against the Wolverines since 2021.
Losing against Sherrone Moore’s Michigan, which was having a subpar campaign last season, was, perhaps, the most damning of all these losses.
Ryan Day ranks high in the new EA Sports College Football 26
Ryan Day is one of the highest-ranking coaches in the new College Football 26 video game. The national championship-winning coach ranks at No. 3, behind Kirby Smart in first place and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney in second.
The three coaches are rated A+. However, Smart and Swinney have an overall rating of 80, while Day is behind with 72. Coming fresh off a national championship win, Day’s rating in the game isn't unexpected.
With the new season weeks away, the Buckeyes coach will look to cement his place among the top echelon of college football coaches.
