Ohio State's Ryan Day embracing expectations with pressure mounting on Buckeyes: 'We don't have a choice'

The Buckeyes have flirted with a national title under Day but have come up empty during his tenure

National championship expectations are prevalent around the Ohio State football program, and coach Ryan Day knows they won't be going away anytime soon as he enters his fifth season at the helm. The Buckeyes have flirted with the national title multiple times under his watch -- three College Football Playoff berths and one CFP National Championship appearance, to be exact -- but the program hasn't brought home college football's most coveted hardware since 2014.

Pressure has only mounted on Day and his staff over the past two seasons thanks to consecutive losses to Michigan in the longtime rivalry series. Provided that matchup regularly carries Big Ten championship and CFP implications, fixing Ohio State's recent woes against the Wolverines is all but imperative for Day and Co. if national titles remain the ultimate goal in Columbus. 

"We don't have a choice [of facing national title expectations]" Day told ESPN. "The expectation is that you do [win a national championship]. The rivalry game [with Michigan] is obviously very important, and when you look at those [losses to Michigan], and you see the single plays that really cost us the game, when you're talking about on defense giving up explosive plays, that's very important, that's how games can go sideways. We have to identify that and get that fixed. That hurt us in the Georgia game as well."

After losing to Michigan in 2021 for the first time since 2012, and subsequently missing out on both the Big Ten title and CFP appearance, Day brought in 2021 Broyles Award finalist Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State in an attempt to fix a scrutinized defense. Despite the coordinator change, those woes resurfaced during Ohio State's two biggest games of last season. The Buckeyes surrendered a combined 87 points across a second loss to Michigan and a CFP semifinal loss to Georgia, losing two straight after an 11-0 start.

Like Day, Knowles understands the margin for error is limited, if not nonexistent, entering his second year as Buckeyes defensive coordinator. Knowles is willing to shoulder the blame for miscues in the losses to the Wolverines and Bulldogs. The loss to Michigan was Ohio State's first to the Wolverines at home since 2000, and the 42-41 semifinal defeat against Georgia saw the Buckeyes squander a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. 

"We had some times where we lost our eyes and we didn't execute," Knowles told ESPN. "I call it 'eye violations.' When the moments get big, our vision has to get smaller and more condensed. At times we had guys who were doing too much and not focused on their assignment. That goes back to me. Nobody wants to make the critical mistake, they don't want to give up the critical play. That's not how our guys are built. So then I have to look at my teaching and the environment."

Even with Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith recently calling for more focus on the national title pursuit than results against Michigan, handling business in "The Game" is more often than not a prerequisite for both the Buckeyes and Wolverines in the quest for ultimate glory. The CFP will soon also be a more demanding test, expanding from four teams to 12 teams in 2024. 

Ohio State enters the 2023 season seeking the program's ninth claimed national title in program history. The Buckeyes have won it all twice this millennium, first in 2002 before winning the inaugural CFP nine years ago.