A couple of huge calls in Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl went Clemson’s way, and Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day was not thrilled about them.
During his halftime interview, Day brought up the targeting call on Shaun Wade that helped pave the way for the Tigers’ first touchdown of the game. Late in the third quarter, Ohio State appeared to have a fumble return for a touchdown that was taken away on a review.
In his postgame interview with Tom Rinaldi, Day seemed to hint at the controversial calls without specifically bringing up the refs.
“Range of emotions — disappointed, angry,” Day said of how he felt.
When Rinaldi asked why Day was angry, the coach elaborated.
“Oh there’s just a lot of plays in that game that didn’t go our way for one reason or another,” said Day. The coach looked Rinaldi in the eye as he said “for one reason or another,” almost as if to say with his face, “you know what I’m referring to.”
“It’s hard to look guys in the eye knowing how hard they played and how well they played,” He said.
Rinaldi asked Day what plays or decisions stood out to him the most.
“Hard to say right now — too close to the game — I’d rather not go down that road. There were some huge plays in that game that could have gone one way or another that didn’t go our way, and it’s really hard to swallow.”
It’s pretty clear that Day was talking about the refs without mentioning them by name. When he says it’s hard to look his players in the eye after that, that’s because he feels they got robbed. Most Buckeyes fans would agree.
