Friday may be the last time Lou Holtz opens his mouth on national TV before a big game.
Holtz made an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” Friday and was critical of Ohio State head coach Ryan Day ahead of Saturday’s matchup between the Buckeyes and Holtz’s beloved Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Holtz, a former Notre Dame national championship-winning head coach, picked his Irish to beat the Buckeyes. He was also critical of Day, saying the Ohio State coach doesn’t have a physical team.
The criticism certainly made its way back to Day.
The Buckeyes coach was fired up in his postgame interview after Ohio State scored on the final play to beat Notre Dame 17-14. He immediately called out Holtz and said how wrong the program’s critics are.
It was more of the same from Day during his press conference with the assembled media.
Day was asked if he felt he got some stuff off his back. He said yes and stated that the criticism that his team isn’t physical is false.
“First off, it’s not true,” Day said of the accusation that his team isn’t physical. “I don’t know where people get off just saying things. It really upsets me. Put the film on. People make comments, and they don’t watch film. Our guys are tough. They’re physical. They do — they get after it — and they did again tonight.”
Ryan Day was PISSED about what Lou Holtz (and others) said about his team. That's why he was so happy the Buckeyes got that one yard when they needed it.https://t.co/E1OHkHm2Pa pic.twitter.com/cBs7mvyuYx
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) September 24, 2023
Though he didn’t mention Holtz by name in that quote, he was most definitely talking about the former Notre Dame coach. And he’s probably right that Holtz hasn’t been watching Ohio State film the last few years.
In general, you could see just how heated Day has been about the narrative that Ohio State isn’t physical under him. A lot of that criticism stems from the way Ohio State got pushed around in the second half of their loss to Michigan last season. If not for that, they wouldn’t have that soft label that rankles Day.
And maybe now the 86-year-old Holtz won’t talk as big of a game knowing how much his comments motivated Notre Dame’s opponent.
