The Ohio State Buckeyes had a bye this past weekend, meaning that their last-second win at Notre Dame on Sept. 23 is still their most recent game. Despite that, the legendary former Fighting Irish head coach Lou Holtz still dropped Ohio State five spots in the most recent weekly rankings he submitted to the Football Writer’s Association of America as part of its “Super 16” poll.
In his entry to previous week’s FWAA poll, taken soon after Ohio State’s dramatic victory in South Bend, Holtz had the team ranked No. 4, behind only Georgia, Michigan and Texas. But in Holtz’s latest rankings, he dropped the Buckeyes to No. 9, slotting Oregon, Washington, Florida State, Penn State and Oklahoma above them.
It’s the latest twist in a growing feud between Holtz and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day.
Day’s comments after running back Chip Trayanum scored the winning touchdown on the game’s final play from scrimmage instantly went viral as the Ohio State coach took direct aim at his program’s critics, calling out the 86-year-old Holtz by name.
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“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day told NBC Sports while walking off the field at Notre Dame Stadium. “What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world, and it’ll continue to be Ohio against the world.”
Day was referring to comments Holtz made on “The Pat McAfee Show” a day prior.
“I coached at Ohio State under Woody Hayes, we won the national championship when I was there,” Holtz said. “[Day] has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan twice, and everybody [that] beats him does so because they’re more physical than Ohio State.”
[Related: Ohio State not tough? Ryan Day fights back after win over Irish: ‘That ends tonight’]
As Day himself alluded to in his postgame interview, Holtz is far from the only source of outside criticism toward Ohio State’s program over the past two seasons, especially amid the Buckeyes’ back-to-back defeats to archrival Michigan.
“Everybody’s questioning these kids all the time,” Day said. “We had one bad half the last couple of years. That’s it. Everybody wants to question these guys. These guys are warriors right here. … A lot of people questioned these kids and say a lot of things about them. I love ’em. When someone attacks your family, to come in and win like this, it’s special.”
It is unclear whether Holtz was aware of Day’s comments when he submitted the prior week’s rankings, but he definitely knew about them before this past weekend, having doubled down on his opinion of Ohio State under Day in a podcast interview last week.
Joel Klatt reacts to Ryan Day’s response to Notre Dame legend Lou Holtz
“I don’t feel bad about saying it, because I believe it,” Holtz said. “Notre Dame was the better football team. … [Day] is a great coach. He’s done a tremendous job. He’s a great offensive mind. [Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles] is doing a tremendous job. Ohio State is a good football team, I don’t think they’re a great football team. He can go after me all he wants.”
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Holtz did say he placed an apology phone call after the game — to current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, for “putting him in a bad position.”
“When I say something but can’t control the outcome of the game, that’s unfair to Coach Freeman,” Holtz said.
Ohio State is ranked No. 4 in the latest AP college football poll, while Notre Dame is ranked No. 10, the highest ranking for a one-loss team.
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