Ohio State football is the toast of college football following a win over then-No. 1 Texas and Arch Manning on Aug. 30.
The 14-7 win over the Longhorns helped the Buckeyes earn the No. 1 ranking in the US LBM Coaches and Associated Press polls released on Sept. 2. However, despite the win, analyst Lou Holtz remains unimpressed with the defending national champion Buckeyes.
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He continued his beef with Ryan Day in an interview with Outkick’s Dan Dakich.
REQUIRED READING: A poised Julian Sayin outplays overhyped Arch Manning as Ohio State upends No. 1 Texas
“I don’t think Ohio State is a great football team,” Holtz said. “I know the schedule is very, very good, but when you’re at home and you’re outgained by well over 100 yards, you just can’t look at it and say, ‘Okay, we’re great. We won the game.’ They are 1-0 and that’s the objective they had going in that game, but they’re not a great football team.
“I would not be overwhelmed about facing Ohio State, although I was surprised that they lost Knowles, their defensive coordinator. I thought there’d be a big drop off on their defense, but Ohio State’s defense played outstanding football. So I think we’ll have to see how good Michigan is. We’ll have to see how good other teams are.”
The Wolverines were ranked No. 13 in the coaches’ poll this week and play No. 24 Oklahoma on Sept. 6, while the Buckeyes take on Grambling this weekend.
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The answer to which team is better: Michigan or Ohio State, won’t be answered until Nov. 29 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Buckeyes will look to snap a four-game losing streak to the Wolverines.
“I think Michigan could be a very, very good football team,” Holtz said. “Michigan better not beat Ohio State again. I’m from Ohio. I coached there under Woody Hayes, we won the national championship. We scored late in the game (against Michigan), the winner is going to go play for the national championship.
“And Woody went for two, and we made it. Won the game, 50-14. They said to Woody, ‘Why’d you go for two?’ He said ‘they wouldn’t let me go for three.’”
Lou Holtz continues beef with Ryan Day
The running feud between Day and Holtz runs back to 2023, ahead of a matchup between Ohio State and Notre Dame. Ahead of the matchup, the former Fighting Irish coach called the Buckeyes “too soft.”
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“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 in 2023. “I think Notre Dame will take that same approach.”
The Buckeyes proceeded to earn a 17-14 win over Notre Dame on the road. Day wasted no time after the game to call out Holtz.
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day said postgame to Kathryn Tappen of 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. It’s always been Ohio against the world, and it’ll continue to be Ohio against the world.”
“I don’t know where [Holtz] gets off saying those type of things,” the coach added. “I have some other things I’d like to say, too, but I’m not going to say [them] because I’m more respectful than he is.”
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In the podcast appearance on Sept. 3, Holtz said he had reached out to Day following the game, but never heard back.
“Ryan Day (can do) whatever he wants. I did write him a congratulatory letter, but I never heard back from him. I’m not sure he could write but in any event,” Holtz said. “And he’s obviously a good coach, he’s a good recruiter, he’s a good coach … You look at his win-loss record, it’s really tremendous. But let’s not get overwhelmed, because the Big Ten doesn’t have that many great football teams in it this year, but we’ll find out.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Lou Holtz doesn’t believe Ohio State is ‘a great football team’
