Ryan Day just led the Buckeyes to the most important win of his career. Because it wasn’t a loss. If Ohio State had stumbled hard against Tennessee Saturday night in the scarlet-and-orange infused Horseshoe – and especially if the loss was like the abomination against Michigan three weeks ago – the torch and pitchfork-carrying crowd among Buckeye Nation would have made a beeline down High Street,

Tennessee never threatened Ohio State, which bore no resemblance to the team that lost its last regular-season game to arch-rival Michigan 13-10. That defeat against the 19.5-point underdog Wolverines enraged the Ohio State fanbase, which directed most of its anger toward coach Ryan Day.