Buckeye bounce-back? Ryan Day still believes
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Jake Trotter, ESPN Senior Writer
Ohio State coach Ryan Day said Wednesday that, despite losing to Michigan, the Buckeyes have a team capable of bouncing back and winning the national championship.
“That’s all in front of us,” Day said. “And we have plenty of good enough players to go do that.”
The unranked Wolverines won their fourth straight in the rivalry Saturday, stunning Ohio State 13-10 at the Horseshoe. The Buckeyes were 20.5-point favorites, the second-largest spread in the series since 1978, according to ESPN Research.
Despite the upset, Ohio State (10-2) remains a virtual lock to advance to the playoff, falling just four spots to No. 6 in the selection committee’s rankings. The Buckeyes are also projected to host their first-round playoff matchup.
“As much as [the Michigan loss] hurts, we get a chance to go play for the national championship,” Day said. “You think about the teams who are in the [NFL] wild card. They get that first win and they can get some momentum going and win the whole thing.”
As Ohio State’s coach, Day is 47-1 against other Big Ten opponents, but just 1-4 vs. the Wolverines.
Day said he and his coaching staff deserved some of the blame after the Buckeyes failed to score in the second half for the first time since 2011.
Jeremiah Smith, the Big Ten Freshman and Receiver of the Year, had only one catch for 3 yards on just two targets after halftime, both coming in the third quarter
“When you look at the offensive side of the ball, it was not a good day,” Day said. “It wasn’t a good day across the board on offense. And some of that had to do with the coaching and some of the game planning that went on. There’s no question that we could have done a better job getting the ball to [the receivers on] the perimeter. … Ultimately, that comes back on me as the head coach, whether it’s the right guys being in the right spot, the recruiting part of it, the scheme, the coaching. That’s on me.”
Day said that he expects to be back in Columbus in 2025, adding that he believes he is still the right coach for the job.
“I think the culture is as strong as it’s ever been [at Ohio State]. … I think we have great players. I think we have great coaches,” Day said. “It was a bad day. So, we have to go forward — and the mindset is, go win the whole thing now.”
Cincinnati Reds left-hander Wade Miley said Friday that he has not been accused of any wrongdoing, one day after reports stated a deposition from a lawsuit alleged he supplied Tyler Skaggs with drugs when both players were with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The deposition is part of a motion for summary judgment filed by the Los Angeles Angels, requesting a lawsuit from the Skaggs family be dismissed.
The deposition from Ryan Hamill, Skaggs’ agent, contains testimony that he was concerned in 2013 about Skaggs’ drug use. Hamill said he and Skaggs’ family confronted Skaggs about his drug use. Skaggs was then in his second season as a teammate of Miley with the Diamondbacks.
“He came clean,” Hamill testified. “He said he had been using — I believe it was Percocets — and he said he got them through Wade Miley.”
Skaggs died on July 1, 2019, at age 27 in a Dallas-area hotel. The autopsy found fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system.
Miley briefly addressed the issue before Friday’s road game against the Detroit Tigers.
“I hate what happened to Tyler, it sucks. My thoughts are with his family and his friends,” Miley said. “But I’m not going to sit here and talk about things that someone might have said about me or whatnot. I was never a witness for any of this. I was never accused of any wrongdoing.”
Former Angels communications director Eric Kay is serving a 22-year prison sentence in Texas after being found guilty on two charges of providing drugs related on Skaggs’ overdose.
The Athletic reported that the criminal proceedings against Kay included a recorded phone conversation in which Kay told his mother that Miley was a drug source to Skaggs.
Asked if Major League Baseball has contacted him regarding the allegations, Miley said, “I’d rather just focus on the Cincinnati Reds right now and baseball and what I have to do moving forward. I’ve got to get ready for a game on Sunday.”
Miley was mentioned in Kay’s criminal case, but he was never charged with a crime.
Skaggs was traded to the Angels after the 2013 season. He went 28-38 with a 4.41 ERA in 96 career starts.
Miley, 38, is with his eighth big league team and attempting to revive his career after Tommy John surgery in 2024.
Miley has a career 109-99 mark with a 4.09 ERA in 319 games (311 starts) since making his major league debut in 2011. This is his second go-round with the Reds. He was with the team in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, going 12-10 with a 3.55 ERA in 177⅓ innings over 34 starts (32 innings).
The Skaggs family is suing the Angels, contending that high-level team officials, as well as other employees, knew Kay was a drug user and should have known he was Skaggs’ source.
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