It’s been nearly a week since Ryan Day’s rant about Lou Holtz following Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame and reaction is still pouring in.
The latest to weigh in on what Day said is former Florida and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier. The legendary coach came to Holtz’s defense during an appearance on Another Dooley Noted Podcast days after Day made his comments.
“He didn’t say anything terrible,” Spurrier said of Holtz, a former Notre Dame head coach who questioned the Buckeyes’ toughness during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show prior to the game. “Ohio State’s lost some close games. They’ve been out-muscled. [Day] didn’t necessarily clobber Notre Dame. He was very fortunate.”
The College Football Hall of Fame inductee and 1966 Heisman Trophy winner continued: “[Former Florida quarterback] Danny Wuerfful and I, if we had won a game like that where we scored on the one-yard line with two seconds left, we’d be saying a lot of thank you Lords instead of ‘we’re tough, we’re mean’. We’d be saying a lot of thank you’s that’s for sure. Either team could’ve won that game.”
To Spurrier’s point, Ohio State didn’t dominate Notre Dame, but only managed to beat the Fighting Irish after a 15-yard, 65-yard drive that culminated with a game-winning one-yard touchdown run by running back Chip Trayanum with one second remaining in the game. In an on-field interview with NBC after the game, an animated Day took aim at Holtz for the comments he had made a day prior.”
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team. What he said about our team, I cannot believe,” Day said. “This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world and it will continue to be Ohio against the world.”
[Another Dooley Noted Podcast]
