Sept. 23, 2023, was not the finest moment for Marcus Freeman or Ryan Day. Their football teams battled for three taut hours, and at the end everything went off the rails to a degree that left you wondering whether either guy was well-suited for their very demanding jobs.
Freeman’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish were trying to hold onto a 14–10 lead in the final seconds. With Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes just two yards from taking the lead, the Irish botched their substitutions and wound up with 10 men on the field defensively—not just for one play, but two in a row. That included the one where Ohio State running back Chip Trayanum budged the ball past the goal line—lunging right through the hole where a missing Notre Dame defensive lineman should have been.
