Ari "not a homer" Wasserman FLAMES Ryan Day's coaching ability (Athletic)
https://theathletic.com/5089683/2023/11/27/ryan-day-ohio-state-michigan/
Wasserman is a shameless shill who wants nothing more than for you to believe he's not exactly that, and his analysis almost always sucks. But this amount of cope & vitriol is worth the price of admission in and of itself
With a kicker who had a career long of 47 yards, Day set up for a 52-yard field goal in the freezing cold. Jayden Fielding missed it, of course, which shouldn’t be surprising given Ohio State’s special teams have been terrible this year. So the Buckeyes came away with nothing — the same thing they would have come away with had they gone on fourth down and failed.
Failing, actually, would have been better because at least the Buckeyes would have tried something. Anything.
The sickest part? Day would have gone for it if he were playing Maryland or Minnesota. But he got spooked and changed who he was in the biggest game of the year. That’s what gets you beat.
Just think guys, we get a whole year of these columns. It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine
November 27th, 2023 at 11:58 AM ^
Ari sucks
November 27th, 2023 at 12:23 PM ^
...but he's right on this opinion ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
November 27th, 2023 at 3:24 PM ^
so he's a broken clock?
November 27th, 2023 at 3:30 PM ^
Given that they're all nuts, I think the blind squirrel analogy is more apt.
November 27th, 2023 at 4:24 PM ^
Fielding made the practice kick. Ari has no X & O ability, he just talks Jimmys & Joes out of HS. He's tethered to signing day on how good a team is...what an idiot.
November 27th, 2023 at 10:28 PM ^
Yeah it's strange that OSU fans are so sharply critical of that decision. Fielding clearly had the leg, he just missed it to the left. There wasn't enough time to score a TD, so basically to justify going for it, you have to think the marginal improvement in the odds of making the kick from ~10 yards closer are greater than the odds of not converting on 4th & 2...which seems doubtful to me.
My diagnosis is that OSU fans are desperate to find random coaching decisions to criticize because it's a much tougher pill to swallow that Michigan is just the tougher, better team right now.
November 27th, 2023 at 11:59 AM ^
This stuff is so delicious. For the last 6-8 weeks it's just been about how terrible Michigan is for "cheating" and now that they beat their chief accuser without "cheating" we get to read about how terrible Ohio State actually is for not backing up their words.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:01 PM ^
Yes, the media loves their narratives, and it has officially shifted.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:02 PM ^
I know we want to post all these shills revising their takes to get more clicks but Wasserman is a shitty writer who doesn't deserve any attention just because he's saying dumb shit about OSU instead of about Michigan.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:12 PM ^
Right. I'm happy to live in blissful ignorance of these hacks' existence. That's only broken by folks who post the crap takes on here.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:39 PM ^
This is a guy who kept buying Texas A&M as a CFP contender the last 2 seasons exclusively because of their 247 recruiting rankings. How he’ll bend the narrative if Michigan wins the national title will be really interesting.
November 27th, 2023 at 3:11 PM ^
This is why I never click the link mi only read the excerpts if they are copy and pasted. If they are not copy and pasted then I just read the comments to determine what was said. If the comments don’t give much then I just move on to the next forum. The only click I continually give is to the MGoBlog which is way too frequent.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:03 PM ^
I think you probably go for it there, but there is the consideration of giving the ball back to Michigan at damn near midfield with 30 seconds left if you don't get it.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:07 PM ^
They were at or near the 35 yard line
November 27th, 2023 at 12:09 PM ^
Ok I get it. But I don't think you can completely ignore "worst case scenario." Giving Michigan another 3 and then kicking to them to begin the second half would have been a huge blow. I agree it is Lloyd-ish, though.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
Yep, I thought Day did the right thing there, and the guy definitely had the leg, which Day would have known no matter what his "long" was before that.
Giving Michigan back the ball right then (before he ran time off, which is what would have happened if he decided to go for it), would have been giving Michigan a short field, and the ball out of the half. Two scores right there and the game would have been over.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:23 PM ^
What would Tressel have done? The same thing.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:49 PM ^
Sorry, but the difference in this game was coaching. One staff coached to win. Another staff coached scared and soft and this was another example of that.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:03 PM ^
Funny thing is these articles (and comments from OSU fans) will convince Ryan Day to go full frames next year.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:08 PM ^
Frames is his own thing entirely. Day made a couple of questionable "close calls." Frames takes easy calls and makes them ridiculous at the most inexplicable times.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:09 PM ^
He’s going to be sketching penises on the sideline?
November 27th, 2023 at 12:05 PM ^
The best thing is not having to read articles stating Michigan's last two seasons are suspect due to crappy iphone videos. it silenced all that specific noise, which is great for the players. They've earned everything.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:05 PM ^
He made the first FG but a timeout was called.
The buckeye fans behind me were pissed at Day and his clock management
November 27th, 2023 at 12:08 PM ^
Made this comment elsewhere:
Him making the first kick didn't prove anything other than he has the leg and can do it in practice. He took that first kick well after whistle. He knew it wasn't live. He missed when it was real and knew there was a defense on the other end.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
But Ryan Day has more stars. I don't understand.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:14 PM ^
STARS MATTER*
*but less so when your coach is Ryan Day
November 27th, 2023 at 12:53 PM ^
You can't see the stars during the Day time...
November 27th, 2023 at 12:07 PM ^
I tried to give Wasserman the benefit of the doubt when he did that podcast with Andy Staples knowing he was an OSU guy but the dude is just a D- college football analyst. He's reactionary, he's inconsistent, and he's much closer to being a click baiter than he is a serious writer.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:33 PM ^
E V E R Y T H I N G is about the 247 Composite to him, and when a better team beats a more talented team he always blithers and hedges about how “really that’s not how it should have played out.” FOH. His columns are terrible
November 27th, 2023 at 12:45 PM ^
Yep, stars *do* matter but Ari is way way too into it. He probably looks at Zak Zinter or Rod Moore or Mike Sanristil or Colston Loveland and thinks they should be bad players because he cannot grasp that scouting, development, and coaching is a big factor too. And its not a schtick for him, he just isn't a good analyst
November 27th, 2023 at 1:05 PM ^
Only two teams in college football have more "team talent" according to 247 Sports - than Ohio State. Those two team - Alabama and Georgia.
In fact - when noting "5 star" players - the above also describes the status. Only two programs have more five star players on their rosters than Ohio State - Alabama and Georgia.
There is only one year since 2015 when Ohio State didn't have "Top three or better" talent - that year was 2016, when they were ranked fifth.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:10 PM ^
This writer missed the point completely...
Day has said repeatedly they looked at what was going on and made changes.
1) OSU changed their signs back to the 2021 signs.
2) Michigan runs the ball, so OSU ran the ball....for one drive
3) Michigan kicks long field goals, so OSU tried a long field goal
Day is trying to emulate Michigan. It would be considered flattery...if he wasn't so crappy at it.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:12 PM ^
This dude sits in a basement and Monday morning quarterbacks a guy with a 56-7 record for revenue.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
Excellent. Now give me some Michigan Monday with that other snarky prick
November 27th, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
Ari must be so confused...Ohio State has so many five stars, how could they lose?
November 27th, 2023 at 12:24 PM ^
Fielding split the uprights on his bonus practice kick before the actual missed attempt. He obviously had plenty of leg to make it. He just yanked it when it mattered.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:33 PM ^
Technically, I don't think he "yanked" it. For a right footed kicker, a "yank" would be missing it to the left - like a hook to a golfer. I thought it was a "push" and he missed it to the right.
As others noted - he had the distance, and his "practice" kick was actually good. So, distance / length and accuracy weren't the issue.
The question of Day's clock management was not using his final timeout in the fourth quarter which would have saved about 40 seconds of game clock.
EDIT: My seats are on the east side of Michigan Stadium - so, it wasn't until I saw a replay of the FG attempt at the end of the half. I stand corrected - it was a "yank" and missed just to the left.
November 27th, 2023 at 1:08 PM ^
The aristocracy in the B1G and SEC has been entrenched for quite some time. It will take another 2-3 years of Michigan excellence (generally) and Georgia dominating Alabama for the media disbelief to shift. I kind of like our team being viewed as an outsider.
November 27th, 2023 at 1:29 PM ^
I have listened to his podcast for a long time, he’s actually a big Texas fan believe it or not
One of the things you have to understand about Ari is that he lives and dies by the Stars Matter philosophy, that recruiting dictates or should dictate success on the field
Michigan being better than Ohio State offends him not because he is a homer, but because it directly contradicts his worldview when it comes to college football…Michigan shouldn’t be better based on recruiting rankings
November 27th, 2023 at 1:50 PM ^
The Athletic? Really?
November 27th, 2023 at 2:06 PM ^
Don't read The Athletic. Don't patronize ESPN. Together, half a million plus hard core M fans CAN put a dent in their operations.