Ryan Day and Lou Holtz might have beef again.
Ohio State defeated then-No. 1 Texas 14-7 on Saturday to claim the top spot in both of college football's major polls, smothering Texas' offense and stopping them short on four separate fourth-downs. But Holtz, a former Notre Dame head coach and ESPN personality, wasn't impressed.
"I don't think Ohio State's a great football team," Holtz said. "I know they're schedule is very, very good, but when you're at home and you're outgained by well over 100 yards, you just can't look at it and say, 'OK, we're great. We won the game.' Everybody looking in, they are 1-0, and that's the objective they had going into that game. But they're not a great football team. I would not be overwhelmed about facing Ohio State."
Lou Holtz on Ryan Day & Ohio State
— OutKick (@Outkick) September 3, 2025
"They're not a great football team. I would not be overwhelmed about facing Ohio State... I wrote him a congratulatory letter but I never heard back from him."@dandakich @CoachLouHoltz88 pic.twitter.com/NuDOBMAvMq
The Longhorns did outgain the Buckeyes 336 yards to 203 in total offense over the weekend, but to call the defending national champions who just defeated the preseason No. 1 “not a great football team” seems a bit far-fetched. Day also emphasized both in his postgame press conference and his weekly meeting with the media on Tuesday that Ohio State kept a conservative game plan and relied on its defense to win the game, though he does want a more explosive offense going forward.
“I can't sit up and say to you guys that the number one goal is to just win (and be disappointed) – if it's 14-7, we have to be really, really excited about that,” Day said Tuesday. “The number one thing was to win the game. We wanted to establish an identity in terms of playing physical; I think you saw that. I think guys played hard in this game. I thought there was a physicality to the game. The execution's got to improve. We need to be more explosive on offense, for sure.”
This is the third time in the past three seasons that Holtz has fired a shot at Ohio State. Famously, in 2023, before the Buckeyes played at Notre Dame, he went on the Pat McAfee Show and stated Ohio State wasn't physical or tough enough to beat the Fighting Irish, which led to a famous NBC interview with Day after the Buckeyes won 17-14 in South Bend.
TELL EM, COACH! pic.twitter.com/Se7zs18oHO
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 24, 2023
Then, before Ohio State played Notre Dame in the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship game, Holtz posted on X that if the Fighting Irish didn't win, it was only to “preserve Ryan Day's job.”
Holtz backpedaled a little bit after his initial comments to Dakich and complimented the Buckeyes' defense, saying they "played outstanding football" before talking about how good Michigan could be this year and adding, "Lord knows, Michigan better not beat Ohio State again."
Holtz apparently penned a letter to Day after his national championship victory, but never heard back.
"I did write him a congratulatory letter, but I never heard back from him," Holtz said. "I'm sure he can write. In any event, he did not answer the letter. But that's his (prerogative)."
Holtz did end his segment on Ohio State and Day with some nice words toward the man – which ended a bit backhandedly.
"He's got a good football team and he's obviously a good coach," Holtz said. "He's a good recruiter, he's a good coach, he can handle his staff, etc. You look at his win/loss record, it's really tremendous. But let's not get overwhelmed, because the Big Ten doesn't have that many great football teams in it this year."
