Paul Finebaum has been waiting to say "I told you so," and after Ohio State's 41-28 loss to Oregon on Saturday, he finally got his moment. The Buckeyes dropped to 6-3, virtually extinguishing any hopes of a College Football Playoff berth. But according to the ESPN personality, this wasn't a shock—it was inevitable.
Appearing on The Matt Barrie Show, Finebaum didn't hold back in his assessment of Ryan Day's program. "I think there were warning signs from Day 1," he said. "They were still preseason No. 1 because we just are accustomed to thinking that Ryan Day will actually do the job."
Finebaum's critique went beyond X's and O's. He pointed to a pattern of inconsistency that has plagued the Buckeyes under Day. "The one thing Ryan Day is consistent on is buying black dye for his beard," Finebaum quipped. "But other than that, really, it's been all over the place."
The warning signs, as Finebaum sees them, have been building for years. He referenced the 2021 national championship season, which came after a massive regular-season stumble, and last year's inexcusable ending. "Last year was just inexcusable the way that season ended, but it portended the future," he said.
For a program often considered the gold standard in college football, Finebaum believes the dysfunction is baffling. "After asking questions about probably the best constructed football program in America, what's in front of them?" he mused. "They recruit at the top shelf, but it just always seems to be chaotic, Matt, for a program that really nothing should go wrong on that massive a scale."
The irony, Finebaum noted, is that Ohio State lost to a team that was also left for dead earlier this season. Oregon started the year at No. 2 but faced its own doubts before Saturday's statement win.
Ryan Day, meanwhile, has promised to "evaluate everything" after the loss, starting with his staff before turning to the players. The Buckeyes are now 6-5 in their last 11 games, a stretch that has Buckeye Nation turning on their coach. The pressure is mounting, and Finebaum's warnings seem more prescient than ever.
As Ohio State looks to salvage its season, questions about Ryan Day's future in Columbus are growing louder. The once-mighty program is in unfamiliar territory, and Finebaum believes the chaos is far from over.
With the College Football Playoff picture shifting, Notre Dame's statement win over Miami has further muddied the waters. But for Ohio State, the postseason is now a distant dream, and the real drama is unfolding in the coaching search and the program's identity.
