Will Ohio State Fans Take It Easy on Ryan Day If the Buckeyes Lose to Michigan Again?

Ryan Day has coached the Ohio State Buckeyes to a national championship appearance, multiple College Football Playoff berths, and has recruited at an elite level since taking over from Urban Meyer in 2019. His resume, on the surface, is the stuff most programs across the country would envy. Yet in Columbus, Day is defined not by his overall record or talent pipeline but by one game above all others — The Game against Michigan. And the question now hovering over the program like a dark cloud is simple but harsh: If Day loses to Michigan again this season, will Ohio State fans let it slide?

The answer, in most corners of Buckeye Nation, is shaping up to be a resounding no.

To understand why, you have to understand the stakes. The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry isn’t just the fiercest in college football — it’s the lifeblood of both programs. At Ohio State, it is ingrained in the culture, the offseason workouts, the locker room signs. Everything funnels toward beating the Wolverines in late November. And lately, Day has not delivered.

After starting his head coaching tenure 1-0 against Michigan with a blowout win in 2019, Day has lost three straight to the Wolverines — in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In each of those games, Ohio State fans walked away not just disappointed, but shaken. In 2021, Michigan ran the ball down the Buckeyes’ throats in a snow-filled game that turned the tide of the rivalry. In 2022, the Wolverines dominated in Columbus for the first time since 2000. And in 2023, without head coach Jim Harbaugh on the Michigan sideline due to suspension, the Wolverines still came out on top. To many, that was the most damning indictment yet of Day’s ability to win the game that matters most.

So now, with the 2024 season approaching and the Buckeyes once again loaded with talent — perhaps more than any other team in the country — the pressure is reaching a boiling point. Ohio State fans are not just expecting a win in Ann Arbor. They’re demanding it.

This isn’t about being ungrateful. Fans know Day has built an elite program. They know he’s won more than 88% of his games. They know he consistently brings in top-five recruiting classes and has turned quarterbacks like Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud into NFL stars. But when the rival is standing in the way of a Big Ten title and a national championship — three years in a row — and the head coach can’t get over the hump, patience starts to wane.

There is also a matter of perception. While Michigan has leaned into a physical, smashmouth identity under Harbaugh, Ohio State under Day has often been criticized for playing too finesse, especially in the trenches. Fair or not, that narrative has stuck — and it has fueled the belief among some fans that Day’s teams aren’t built to win Big Ten football in November. A fourth straight loss would only add to that criticism.

Let’s be clear — no one is saying Day is a bad coach. Quite the opposite. But in Columbus, the standard is different. It always has been. John Cooper learned that the hard way in the 1990s when he posted a stellar overall record but went just 2-10-1 against Michigan. He was eventually let go. Jim Tressel flipped the script, going 9-1 against the Wolverines and instantly becoming a legend. Urban Meyer never lost to Michigan — and that spotless record is still referenced constantly when comparing his legacy to Day’s.

There’s also the added complication of how loaded this 2024 Buckeye roster is. The return of star wideout Emeka Egbuka, running back TreVeyon Henderson, and a defensive core headlined by J.T. Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer, and Denzel Burke makes this arguably the most talented Ohio State team in a decade. Add in the arrival of Alabama transfer quarterback Julian Sayin and veteran leadership across the board, and expectations are not just sky-high — they’re championship-or-bust.

In fact, some national pundits have gone as far as to say that this is the year Ohio State must cash in. That if Day can’t win it all with this group — and more specifically, if he can’t beat Michigan with this group — then it may never happen under his watch.

That’s not to say athletic director Ross Bjork would pull the plug immediately. Day has earned enough respect and results to maintain some level of job security. But the tenor of the fanbase would shift. The support would dwindle. The calls for change, currently a simmering undercurrent, would become louder and more sustained. It would move from a fringe discussion to a mainstream one.

And that’s the challenge facing Day.

Because this year, more than any other, everything is aligned for him to reclaim the rivalry. Harbaugh is gone, now coaching the Los Angeles Chargers. Michigan lost several key contributors to the NFL Draft and may need time to recalibrate under new head coach Sherrone Moore. The Wolverines remain formidable — the culture Harbaugh built is still in place — but they are more vulnerable now than at any point in the last three seasons.

If Day can’t seize the opportunity and win in Ann Arbor — for the first time since 2019 — it will raise serious questions. Not just about his ability to win big games, but about the trajectory of the program itself. Ohio State has not gone four straight years without beating Michigan since the 1980s. A fourth loss would put Day in uncharted territory, and no amount of national playoff appearances would be enough to cushion that blow for many fans.

Compounding matters is the fact that 2024 marks the final year of the traditional Big Ten structure before the expanded conference and playoff formats fully take hold. With USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington joining the Big Ten, and the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams, the regular season will look very different going forward. Rivalries will still matter, but perhaps not as much as before. The stakes of The Game may never be higher than they are this year. It’s a moment Day cannot afford to squander.

Some fans argue that Day is being held to an impossible standard. That demanding perfection — especially in a sport as chaotic as college football — is unfair. And there’s truth to that. But when you’re the head coach at Ohio State, fair doesn’t always enter the equation. What matters is results, and the most important result on the calendar is what happens against Michigan in late November.

Others point to Day’s overall success and insist he deserves more time regardless of what happens against the Wolverines. They see a program still very much in the hunt for national titles every year and believe making a change just because of one opponent would be shortsighted. And again, there’s logic in that view. It’s not as if Ohio State is spiraling — quite the opposite. But even the most pragmatic fans struggle to reconcile national title hopes with repeated failures against their biggest rival.

There is also a segment of the fanbase who see Day as a modern-day John Cooper — capable of winning consistently but not against that team. And that comparison, fair or not, is the one Day must shake off. Because once that label sticks in Columbus, it’s nearly impossible to remove.

So, will Ohio State fans take it easy on Ryan Day if he loses to Michigan again?

Almost certainly not.

They may acknowledge his strengths. They may appreciate his recruiting acumen. They may give him credit for keeping the Buckeyes nationally relevant. But they will not forgive another loss to Michigan — not in Year Six, not with a loaded roster, not against a post-Harbaugh team. The goodwill he built in his early seasons is quickly evaporating, and the countdown to November has already begun.

For Day, the mission is clear. Beat Michigan or brace for impact. Because in Columbus, there are a lot of things fans can live with. Losing to Michigan, four years in a row, is not one of them.