Desmond Howard rips Ryan Day, Ohio State football after near-upset vs. Nebraska
Michigan football legend Desmond Howard was critical of Ohio State's strength of schedule to begin the 2024 season, and is now suggesting head coach Ryan Day and the Buckeyes are overconfident due to their success against inferior opponents early in the year.
In an appearance on ESPN's College Football Live, Howard cited Ohio State's loss to Oregon and a near-upset at the hands of Nebraska in Columbus as signs that the Buckeyes may not be all they're cracked up to be.
"They have a lot of talent, and we saw that in the early part of the season when they were playing inferior opponents. And they looked like they were dominating guys left and right," Howard said.
"Now, there's been some question marks that have come up because of the way they've struggled defensively on the road against Oregon. Oregon could have put up almost 41 points on them, left some points on the field that day."
It's not just Ohio State's defense that drew criticism from Howard, however. The Buckeyes offense struggled to move the ball consistently against Nebraska's defense, and OSU's offensive line continues to be a weak link on that side of the ball. After outscoring its first five opponents roughly 46-7, Ohio State has scored an average of 26 points and allowed 24.5 points per game in its last two outings.
"I knd of look at Ryan Day and his staff like, they really didn't know what they had early in the season," Howard said. "They have big name talents, right? They brought in [running back Quinshon] Judkins, they brought in [quarterback] Will Howard, they brought in [safety] Caleb Downs. Big name talents.
"But, you get a false impression of how great you are when you're going up and down the field against inferior opponents. So, they really didn't know what they had. The Oregon game, when they came up against talent that's equal to theirs, now you look at Jim Knowles on defense, you look at Chip Kelly on offense — now they understand just what they have talent-wise when things get tough and things get thick.
"I thought, coming out of the bye week, we'd see a better performance, but then Nebraska gave them all that they could handle too. And, to be honest, Nebraska, talent-wise, isn't on the same level as Ohio State, when you look at recruiting and the $20 million they spent in the offseason to bring the talent in."
Ohio State's 32-31 loss to Oregon back on Oct. 12 dropped Day's career record to 2-7 against Associated Press Top 5 opponents. The No. 4 Buckeyes are set to face another such opponent this upcoming weekend, when they travel to Happy Valley to take on No. 3 Penn State.
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