Buckeyes Publicly Challenged by HC Ryan Day Prior to Oregon Game

The Ohio State Buckeyes are in a really tough spot right now from a player's perspective. There is nothing worse than being in a tough stretch of football where everyone around the building is tense, especially the head coach.

Earlier in the week, Ryan Day was asked how he thought the Buckeyes had responded so far this week after they got crushed by the USC Trojans, and his response was a good one. He said that they had a good week of practice up to that point, but that didn't really matter. Everyone would learn on Saturday how they responded, and that is the thing that really mattered. 

This isn't a discussion about being fair or foul; it is about the coach publicly challenging his team. Usually, you don't see that until all other options have been exhausted by the head coach. 

Public challenging is usually the last card in the deck after you have exhausted everything else to try to motivate a group of young men. Day is there, and is there for a good reason. 

The Buckeyes have no room for error for the rest of the season. Their ranking in the College Football Playoff rankings indicates that they only have one choice, and that is to win out the rest of the season.

A loss to any of their final four regular-season opponents would launch them outside of the top-12 in the country and outside of the College Football Playoff.

They have put themselves in this position with what they have done up to this point in the year. The meltdown at Texas and the beatdown at USC have erased any benefit of the doubt and have made each game for the rest of the season win-or-go-home.

That's why it doesn't really matter how the team has responded in the weight room or out on the practice field. What matters is how they respond to all of their adversity on Saturday afternoon at home against the Oregon Ducks. 

It's even more important this week specifically because Oregon would be such an easy team to look past. They have had a disaster season up until this point, but they could erase all of it with a win against the Buckeyes. Along with that, they still have the talent to match Ohio State, and if their quarterback has the hot hand on Saturday, then look out.

The Buckeyes are in an uncomfortable position at this point in the season. They better respond to this adversity because, if they don't, they are going to be left disappointed at the end of the year.