It doesn't take long.
All you need is five seconds of the bassline and you can feel it. The “Ding-Ding-Ding Diddle Ing-Ding” beat of this early-80's Queen/David Bowie masterpiece comes close to mimicking the sound of a heart pounding away during a moment where one is ‘Under Pressure,' and I have to imagine at some point on Saturday afternoon, when the Buckeyes and Wolverines are doing battle in The Big House in The Game, this is what Ohio State football coach Ryan Day will be feeling in his chest.
“It's the terror of knowing what this world is about”
The world that Ryan Day will be waking up to on Saturday morning is one that no other college coach will be required to inhabit. No other coach is under as much pressure this weekend, or any weekend during the 2023 college football season, as Ryan Day is. And FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt, who will be calling the game on Saturday along with Gus Johnson, explained why:
“I think that the pressure of the game is going to be uniquely felt by Ryan Day,” Klatt said on his podcast The Joel Klatt Show (h/t Zach McKinnell of Athlon Sports). “Now, I've gotten to know Ryan Day very well. I think Ryan's one of the best coaches in America. He's one of the guys that I would love my sons to play for. He is just a good man, has an excellent staff, he recruits at a high level and he's under an immense amount of pressure. Why? Because this fan base requires you to beat Michigan. He's done just about everything now. He hasn't won a national championship, but he's won playoff games. He's won the Big Ten Championship and yet, these last two losses against Michigan have put him in a situation where his fan base is looking squarely at him saying, ‘You have to win this game.'”
That last line says it all. “You have to win this game.” Those are the stakes for Ryan Day, and it's not just because it's Ohio State-Michigan. It's not just because it's the #2 and #3 teams in the country playing for a spot in the Big Ten title game and the College Football Playoff. It's not just because of all of the noise surrounding Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan football program. It's not because this will certainly be the most-watched college football game in years.
It's because Ryan Day hasn't beaten Michigan in the last two seasons, and in Columbus, Ohio, that's absolutely unacceptable.
“Can we give ourselves one more chance?”
It wasn't long ago that Jim Harbaugh was in the position that Ryan Day is currently in. Despite solid seasons that resulted in appearances in the Orange Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Outback Bowl and Peach Bowl, the knock on Harbaugh was that he couldn't beat Ohio State. It was so bad that Harbaugh, a Michigan alum, was on the hot seat almost exclusively because he couldn't get over the hurdle that is the Ohio State Buckeyes. Smartly, the University of Michigan didn't budge. Harbaugh remained in Ann Arbor, and whether you want to say it was because of Connor Stalions or not, he eventually cleared that Buckeye hurdle and led the Wolverines to two consecutive College Football Playoff appearances and two consecutive Big Ten titles.
Ryan Day may not be there just yet, but with a loss on Saturday to Michigan (a loss which would likely ensure Ohio State would miss the College Football Playoff), you can expect that Day will suddenly find himself on a seat much hotter than he's accustomed to. It will start out in jest by blogs and talk local radio hosts who offer immediate reactions to the game that pin the loss on Ryan Day. It won't be deserved, nor was Harbaugh's stay in this unenviable spot before he led Michigan to back-to-back wins over Ohio State. But it's the harsh reality of the business of college football. If you elevate to a level where you're the man in charge of one of the most prestigious football programs in the country, there are expectations that are required to be met. And before you even have a chance to plead for “one more chance,” your time is up.
“This is our last dance, This is ourselves under pressure”
This won't be Ryan Day's final opportunity to beat Michigan, but it could be his last chance to beat Jim Harbaugh, who could be on his way to the NFL to avoid serious sanctions at the hands of the NCAA. Day and Harbaugh will be forever linked in the same way that Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler are, and if this is the last chapter of their rivalry, we'll long remember who the final victor was.
If it's Harbaugh, all of the pressure shifts to Day. It will stay with him for the remainder of his career, or until he's able to lead Ohio State past Michigan and to a National Title.
If it's Day, and if Harbaugh ends up leaving Michigan in the offseason, Day's name will be on even terrain with Hayes and Tressel and Meyer. He'll become an Ohio State icon. The man who ran Jim Harbaugh out of Ann Arbor and put an end to a brief Wolverines run near the top of the college football world.
Those are the stakes.
Get ready. This is The Game.
Everyone is Under Pressure.
Ding-Ding-Ding Diddle Ing-Ding.
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