Insider Sends Stern Message To Ohio State For Oregon Matchup

A lot is at stake for Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes in their Week 7 Big Ten matchup with the Oregon Ducks.

Oct 5, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day waits to take the field against Iowa Hawkeyes during the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium. / Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Heading into the 2024 season, we heard constant chatter about how talented the Ohio State Buckeyes are, and early on, that very much appears to be the case.

Ohio State's 35-7 drubbing of the Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend was concrete evidence of just how good this team can be when it is locked in.

But the Buckeyes have yet to truly be tested...until now.

Ohio State will be facing the Oregon Ducks on the road this Saturday, and Ari Wasserman of On3 thinks that the reputation of the Buckeyes—and head coach Ryan Day—may very well be on the line.

"How the country continues to view Day, and this Ohio State program is at stake," Wasserman wrote. "Everyone knows Ohio State can be a giant against smaller teams. Can it be a giant against other giants? This is a huge game for Day to prove that it can."

In spite of Day's gaudy 61-8 record (the best active mark in the nation), he has been heavily criticized for his inability to consistently win big games.

Ohio State has dropped three straight meetings to the archrival Michigan Wolverines, and its Cotton Bowl loss to the Missouri Tigers last winter was nothing short of embarrassing.

Plus, for as prestigious as the Ohio State name has been over the years, the Buckeyes have won just two national championships since the turn of the century.

Wasserman adds that an Ohio State loss will certainly not knock them out of the College Football Playoff conversation, but that's time for Day's group to finally break through in a meaningful game.

"Ohio State doesn’t lose games it shouldn’t under his leadership," Wasserman wrote of Day. "The Buckeyes have yet to drop a game to an unranked team or suffer an embarrassing upset like the one Alabama just lived through Saturday. But in the last three years, the Buckeyes have only been so-so when as it pertains to winning games the Buckeyes fan base craves. And, as a result, it hasn’t gone to Indianapolis to play for the Big Ten Championship since 2020."

We'll see if the Buckeyes can send a message to the nation when it battles the Ducks in Eugene, Or. in this pivotal Week 7 clash.