The Buckeyes were given new life after the Trojans fell to Utah in the Pac-12 championship.
Just a week ago, Ryan Day and Ohio State fell at home to archrival Michigan, knocking them out of Big Ten Championship game and the top four in the College Football Playoff rankings. But, less than seven days later, the Buckeyes have new life.
Utah upset No. 4 USC on Friday night in the Pac-12 championship game, likely knocking the Trojans out of a Playoff spot and clearing the way for current No. 5 Ohio State. Needless to say, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster for Day and the Buckeyes over the last week, a sentiment that he expanded upon during an appearance on College Gameday Saturday.
“Like you said, it has been an emotional rollercoaster. When you go through a few days where you think that maybe your whole season is gone and then all of the sudden you start to build hope and you start to see the opportunity where everything is right out in front of you. It’s almost like a second lease on life,” Day explained. “So we’re very excited.
“There’s been a whole swing in the program in the last 24 hours. There’s a lot of excitement… You get an opportunity to go play in this thing, you’re two games away from a national championship after feeling like, a few days ago, your season was over.”
Ohio State (11–1) has just the one blemish on its résumé and will likely be rewarded as a result, regardless of the outcomes in the other conference championship matchups. In fact, there’s a chance the Buckeyes could get a chance for revenge against the Wolverines in the national semifinals, depending on how the seeding breaks down.
But for now, Day and his program can do nothing but watch on conference championship Saturday. Once the day is over, Ohio State will have a much better understanding of what its next step will be.
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