Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day believes the adversity his team faced during the 2024 season fueled the team’s quest for the National Championship.
Following the Buckeyes 34-23 over Notre Dame in the Championship Game, Day spoke about how the team “stuck together” throughout the tribulations.
ESPN @espn
“It’s the reason why you get into coaching … see guys overcome things, learn life lessons, and reach their dreams. That’s what happened tonight.”
Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes are NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 🏆 pic.twitter.com/pXQ7aLBHEo
“It’s just sticking together, having each other’s back,” Day said. “Faith is huge with these guys. We built a foundation early in the season and we knew we were going to have to withstand some storms along the way. We did, we stuck together, we hung in there like a family does when things get hard and we came out the back end.”
The Buckeyes finish the season 14-2 with their only losses coming against Oregon and arch-rival Michigan. Ohio State was able to avenge the loss to the Ducks in the Rose Bowl but the loss to the Wolverines came against a Michigan team that finished 8-5 and has now defeated the Buckeyes in the last four iterations of “The Game.”
The loss to the Wolverines knocked the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten Championship Game and relegated the program to the No. 8 seed in the CFP. This meant that they were the lower seed in three of their four games in the Playoff and had to defeat a gauntlet of opponents that included Oregon.
Ohio State was playing its best in the postseason, outscoring opponents 145-75 across the four games. Day’s comments show that the regular season losses and the criticism that came from it served as motivation that the team used to emerge from the field as champions.