Chip Trayanum was lying on the goal line with the football, unleashing an Ohio State celebration that would climax with Ryan Day bellowing on live television like a madman about Lou Holtz and toughness and criticism and disrespect. “It’s Ohio against the world!” Day said, sounding a rallying cry for the richest athletic department in the United States.
Ultimately, it was Ohio against only 10 Notre Dame defenders on the play that swung the most consequential game of the season to date in favor of the No. 6 Buckeyes and against the No. 9 Fighting Irish, 17-14. Trayanum’s touchdown run with one second left went directly over a hole in the Notre Dame defense created by a missing lineman, a massive gaffe with the game in the balance and Ohio State a yard from the end zone. Irish coach Marcus Freeman and defensive coordinator Al Golden will have to live with that one—especially if this outcome resonates throughout the College Football Playoff race.
This was a game steeped in short-yardage tension—a yard-here, yard-there game. It was the kind of game that Ohio State lost to end last season against Georgia in the CFP semifinals. This time, the final three feet went the Buckeyes’ way to end a 65-yard drive that instantly earned doubted quarterback Kyle McCord hero status. And it ultimately sent Day into a paroxysm of trash talk aimed at an 86-year-old man who hasn’t been a coach since 2004 or a TV analyst since 2015.
