Football coaches usually like to tell their players to ignore any and all outside noise.
But Ohio State head coach Ryan Day sure didn’t ignore what Lou Holtz said in the lead-up to the sixth-ranked Buckeyes’ road showdown with No. 9 Notre Dame on Saturday night.
The 86-year-old Holtz, who coached Notre Dame for 11 seasons and led the Fighting Irish to their last national title in 1988, questioned Ohio State’s toughness Friday during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“He has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan twice — and everybody who beats them does so because they’re more physical than Ohio State,” Holtz said, per Cleveland.com. “I think Notre Dame will take that same approach.”
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Day took his chance to bark back at Holtz after the Buckeyes took a 17-14 win over Notre Dame in dramatic fashion with running back Chip Trayanum scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run with one second remaining.
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day said in his walk-off interview with NBC Sports. “What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio and it’s always been Ohio against the world. And it will continue to be Ohio against the world. But I’ll tell you what, I love those kids and we got a tough team.”
Day didn’t stop there. He was already too worked up and kept his rant going when asked about what he learned from his team against Notre Dame.
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“Everybody’s questioning these kids all the time,” Day said. “We had one bad half the last couple years. That’s it. Everybody wants to question these guys. These guys are warriors right here to come back and win. … I’m emotional about this for a reason. A lot of people question these kids and say a lot of things about them. I love them. When someone attacks your family, to come in and win like this is special. It’s a great win for our program and a great win for Ohio State.”
Day wasn’t the only college football coach to make headlines Saturday. Oregon head coach Dan Lanning blasted Deion Sanders and Colorado during his pregame speech before the Ducks torched the Buffaloes, 42-6.
Featured image via Matt Cashore/USA TODAY Sports Images
