COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ryan Day is raising the bar for what it means to achieve success as an Ohio State football player.
For years, that success has been categorized on a weekly basis during the season by separating those who performed and those who didn’t. The former earned the title of “Champion” for the week with the best of them even earning player of the game honors on either offense, defense or special teams.
That list of champions used to be public, but that changed, starting the moment the Buckeyes lost to Michigan in 2021. Now, the only thing the public gets is the players of the game, and when Day or any other coach randomly brings it up.
That list has become a coveted thing to strive for each week, and even the players know why it’s so important. They even go above and beyond to make sure that not only do they earn the honor, but their teammates, too.
Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.
It was the motivation behind Jeremiah Smith’s second touchdown catch in a 38-14 win over Penn State. That highlight ended up being the thing that allowed his quarterback, Julian Sayin, to join him and Carnell Tate as the Offensive Players of the Game. Had he not had that effort, maybe that tipped pass would’ve ended up an interception, which automatically would’ve disqualified Sayin from champion status.
“I didn’t want Julian Sayin to throw an interception so he wouldn’t grade out a champion,” Smith said after the game. “I just had to make a play.”
The threshold for champion status has long been grading out at 80% or higher. But as of this past weekend, that number is no longer good enough.
OSU is entering the most pivotal part of its season as it hopes to repeat as national champions, reclaim the Big Ten title for the first time since 2020 and snap a four-game losing streak against Michigan. An 80% grade won’t cut it anymore because accomplishing those three things requires everyone to raise their level of play.
“We upped our ante on being a champion this past weekend,” Day said. “It used to be 80. Now we’re 83% because we feel like we need to increase our efficiency and execution.”
That’s just the latest change Day is making to the program in an effort to maximize his team’s ability to bat 1.000 on its goals.
Whether it’s moving the traditional band visit off of Michigan week to ensure the game week routine stays routine, or tangibly raising the standard for what it takes to earn the honor of “Champion” over the next two weeks. It’s clear that Day is motivated to make sure this group reaches its potential by pushing all the proper buttons to make it happen.
Ohio State might be the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff rankings. But Day knows this team hasn’t accomplished anything right now.
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