So of course running the ball better than your opponent is generally of paramount importance and is usually one of the top factors in determining who wins any football game, including THE GAME. But listening to Ryan Day in the presser yesterday, he seems to take it to a whole new level of, instead of it just being a highly important factor in The Game, it’s some kind of immutable law like gravity that if you don’t win the rushing war, you don’t win the game. 

As a result you have a game plan where Day emphasizes coming out and running the ball. Only, when that game plan clearly isn’t working, he doesn’t make adjustments to try more pass heavy strategies, he just keeps slamming the ball into the UM defensive line in the hopes that something eventually gives and the dam holding them back from running the ball breaks wide open. 
 

Even when they have vastly superior WRs to UMs DBs, including their best DB by far out with injuries, and their best drive of the day, BY FAR, is a fast tempo, pass heavy series just before the half, Day STILL refuses to abandon the believe that he has to run the damn ball because in his mind yards gained by passing the ball aren’t as far, and points scored by passing the ball aren’t worth as much as they are from their rushing counterparts. 

So in essence you have a self fulfilling prophecy of “If we don’t run the ball as well as our opponents, we absolutely can’t win. So we refuse to even consider employing a less rush heavy alternative strategy when it becomes clear we can’t run the ball successfully.”

It’s pretty insane when you think about how a coach at Day’s level can fall into the trap of such one dimensional thinking.