Ohio State had to hit the lowest of lows to reach the highest of highs

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Sports are funny. After Ohio State's shocking loss to Michigan, I wrote on this very website that the Ryan Day era at Ohio State was finished:

I called him the goldilocks of head coaches. I lambasted his team's big-game performances, his ability to lead the program, and said that it was time to pull the plug. I didn't give the idea of Ohio State winning the national title a second of my time, much less a second thought. 51 days later, I was in Atlanta celebrating their national title win over Notre Dame:

Look, I don't blame you if you think I'm a jackass. I've spouted off plenty the last three years about what I think of Day and the teams he's fielded. I didn't believe in them heading into the playoffs, and quite honestly I was over it until kickoff of the Tennessee game. Now I'm here taking in the spoils of them winning it all? If that makes me a bad fan in your eyes, I'll wear it. My Ohio State fandom is an insane rollercoaster, though, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I was wrong about Day's ability to not only lead his team in big-time games, but win championships. I'd have to be the No. 1 hater alive to not give him credit for what he and his team just pulled off:

Regardless of how you feel about the current playoff structure, Day just led Ohio State on an all-time gauntlet march through some of the nation's best teams. They indisputably earned this championship, no matter how hard any Michigan or other non-Ohio State fan wants to cope online about how they actually didn't. What's wild about it all is that none of it happens without them hitting rock bottom against the Wolverines.

As wrong as I ultimately was about Day, I don't take back much of what I said after that game. It was a disaster, and deserved to be treated as such. Ohio State crumbled in crucial moments, and looked as uncomfortable and rattled as they've ever been in the Day era. They got punked on their home field by their greatest rival during the game, and the events after the game somehow made them look even worse. They were on the verge of fumbling what some people called the most talented team in school history. The group of veteran players who came back to "re-load the clip," looked like their legacy would be nothing more than shooting blanks when it mattered most. In the center of it all was Day. Ohio State played tight and scared - a direct reflection of how their coach managed the game. It doesn't take a psychologist to deduce that this isn't the face of a man who's got a great grasp of everything happening in the moment:

Funnily enough, this is exactly what had to happen for Day and Ohio State to transform into the best version of themselves. Much like the defense needed the Oregon loss to "re-engineer" into the country's best unit, Day and the offense –hell, the team as a whole– needed that gut-punch from Michigan to get their shit together. Whether it was from a schematic standpoint, or just to take an honest look at themselves and realize what they were doing wasn't going to cut it against elite teams - it had to happen if they were going to make a run. Just to be clear, that's not me saying I'm cool with losing to Michigan, either. Far from it. But, I'm rational enough that I can deal with a loss if the team learns something from it. A couple years ago, I wrote an article ranking how mad every Ohio State loss since 2002 makes me. Here's what I said in retrospect about the 2021 Michigan loss ranked third:

The only true loss in life is when you lose and don't learn from it. Ohio State didn't learn shit from the 2021 Michigan game.

This year's Michigan loss was ten times more painful than that one, but I'll remember it differently as the years go on. Winning the national championship is the most obvious reason for that, but this time they actually learned from their failures, and applied those lessons going forward.

My beef with Day before the last month was his process not matching his overall results (record). Ohio State can beat 90 percent of the teams they play based off talent alone, and that's what they've done for a large chunk of his tenure. You can win by 20+ with bad process against the likes of Nebraska, Wisconsin, Purdue, and even Iowa. But in games where the talent margin is slim? That's how you get the losses to Oregon, Clemson, Michigan, and Georgia. The process was excellent during these playoffs, though, and is one of the defining reasons they're now national champions.

The biggest kudos I can give Day and the program is how they responded to the lowest of lows. Where past Day teams crumbled, this group picked themselves off the mat and not only responded, but finished the job. When people like me didn't believe they could do it, they stuck together and did it. They went on a historic run, totally re-writing the script on their legacy after it looked like it was in the dirt.

The difference between the team that had Michigan's flag planted on their field and the one we watched in the playoffs was astronomical. They stomped on Tennessee and Oregon's throats after fast starts - something they failed to do in past painful playoff losses to Clemson and Georgia. The offense blitzed both of those opponents by making their main focus (getting the ball to their all-world receivers) the complete opposite of their Michigan plan. They even played mostly whistle-clean special teams, which is something they haven't done at all in the Day era, let alone the big games! Meanwhile, the defense continued its dominance since losing to Oregon. Jack Sawyer and the line bludgeoned the Vols' and Ducks' fronts, Cody Simon led a sound linebacker group, while Caleb Downs and Lathan Ransom erased everything in their path. Those two wins were as comprehensive as any under Day, and clear signs that this wasn't the same team that looked shell-shocked against the Wolverines. Then again, it's easier to do that when you're up three scores in the first quarter. How would they handle a tight game if it came to them?

We got our answer against Texas. They started fast again, but what probably should've been a two-possession lead into the fourth quarter was a tie game. The offense spun its wheels for large stretches, while the defense had a couple of glaring breakdowns on both Longhorns' touchdowns. It looked like they were careening towards a classic big-game Day crumble. And then all of the sudden they weren't. The defense got off the field on a crucial third-and-five near midfield:

The offense went on a bruising 13-play, 88-yard touchdown drive - highlighted by Will Howard's fourth-down gallop:

That play more than any other exhibited the lessons Day learned from the past. No cutesy Emeka Egbuka sweep on fourth-and-short. No trying to outsmart the defense with a clever call that gets called back for an illegal motion. Just ramming your behemoth quarterback up the gut for a first down. Meat and potatoes football.

To cap it all off, Jack Sawyer and the defense repeated history by pulling off the same epic goal-line stop they did against Michigan. This time, Sawyer didn't leave anything up to chance:

Ohio State became a team who showed they could win critical moments in every phase. Most importantly, they finally found a way to not beat themselves when things got tight. Which brings us to the national championship against Notre Dame.

The whole game showcased everything Day and his team learned along the way. The defense rebounded from the Irish's time consuming 18-play, 75-yard opening drive-touchdown by giving up four total yards on Notre Dame's next three full possessions. The offense picked them up right away by responding with a TD of their own, capped by creatively getting the ball to their best player:

They built a 31-7 lead with four-straight scoring drives after that. The biggest reason? They went five-of-six on third downs, where Will Howard was at his best:

In a hilarious twist of fate, they also weren't the team who couldn't execute on special teams. Not just once:

But twice:

And when things got a bit dicey at the end, they got the ball to Jeremiah Smith and got the hell out of the way:

It wasn't the prettiest game in the end after being up 31-7, but in a way it was the perfect final test for them to pass. The resiliency they found after the Michigan loss –the resiliency Day and his previous Ohio State teams didn't have– was what carried them through a tight fourth quarter and finally made them champions. If you think I'm just making this up to prove a point, take it from Day himself:

Where they couldn't live up to Day's "Leave no doubt," slogan in the past is where they thrived after losing to Michigan. They left no doubt when they smoked Tennessee their first time back on the field. Or about how a rematch with Oregon would go when they blasted them in the Rose Bowl. Jack Sawyer made sure there wasn't any in the end against Texas. Finally, the team as a whole –offense, defense, special teams, coaching– left none against Notre Dame when they completed a grueling playoff run that took contributions from everyone to become national champions. Least importantly, they left no doubt to me –someone who doubted them the most– about Ryan Day's ability to be a national title-winning head coach.