Ohio State’s Ryan Day named semifinalist for George Munger Award
The Ohio State football program made a big decision when Urban Meyer elected to step down after the 2018 season. The Buckeyes turned over control of the team to Ryan Day, Meyer’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach over his final two seasons. Given Day’s inexperience as a head coach, the Scarlet and Gray took a calculated risk. That risk has largely paid off. Day has carried on what Meyer did through his time in Columbus, continuing the success of the program.
This past week, the Maxwell Football Club announced the semifinalsts for the George Munger Award, which replaced the Joseph V. Paterno Award and goes out manually to the best coach in college football. Day was among the 16 coaches named. He joins Illinois’ Bret Bielema, Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, TCU’s Sonny Dykes, Duke’s Mike Elko, Penn State’s James Franklin, Tulane’s Willie Fritz, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, Kansas State’s Jim Mora, USC’s Lincoln Riley, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Troy’s Jon Sumrall, UTSA’s Jeff Traylor and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham.
Day and Ohio State put together another impressive season, going 11-1 and making the College Football Playoff. Under Day’s direction, the Buckeyes had the country’s No. 7 offense in yards per game (492.7) and No. 2 scoring offense (44.5 points per game) in 2022. The Scarlet and Gray’s defense also took a major step forward from the previous two years, finishing the regular season as the No. 11 total defense (303.9 yards per game allowed) and No. 13 scoring defense (19.3 points allowed per game).
Ohio State came into the year with high expectations and delivered out of the gates, defeating Notre Dame 21-10 at home in a top-five Week 1 matchup. The Buckeyes rolled off four straight wins at Ohio Stadium, defeating Arkansas State, Toledo, Wisconsin and Rutgers in convincing fashion, before going on the road for the first time in Week 6. The Scarlet and Gray beat Michigan State at Spartan Stadium 49-20 to head into the team’s off week with a 6-0 record.
Coming off the off weekend, Ohio State returned home and rolled Iowa 54-10 before going back on the road. The Buckeyes came from behind to defeat Penn State 44-31 and then played in hurricane-like winds at Northwestern the next week, but still left with a 21-7 win. The Scarlet and Gray had no problem with Indiana at home, earning a 56-14 victory before the final road game of the year, a tight 43-30 win against Maryland.
The final game of the regular season was against rivals Michigan. Despite talking of revenge all offseason, Day and Ohio State fell for a second straight time to the Wolverines, 45-23. The game was close heading into the fourth quarter, with the Buckeyes leading 20-17 at halftime, but the Scalret and Gray collapsed in the fourth quarter.
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Despite the loss and not playing in the Big Ten Championship Game, Ohio State was still selected to play in the College Football Playoff. The fourth-ranked Buckeyes will face No. 1 Georgia in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
Day’s only individal accolade as the head coach of the Scarlet and Gray was the Big Ten Coach of the Year award in 2019. No Ohio State head coach has ever won the George Munger Award.
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