"Fully operational Death Star" - Former Ohio State LB quotes Star Wars to describe Buckeyes' unique journey under Ryan Day

Ohio State coach Ryan Day led the Buckeyes to the national championship game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after blowing out opponents in the College Football Playoff. The 28-14 Cotton Bowl win against the Texas Longhorns was the most modest score the Buckeyes registered in the playoffs.

During Friday's segment of "Saturday Down South" show, former Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter used a Star Wars reference to describe the tumultuous journey that the Buckeyes have undertaken this season under Day's guidance.

"They've been on this unique course," Carpenter said (1:02:00). "Like, the little loss to Oregon you know, nothing to cry about but obviously it was a tight game and very tough and then the Michigan loss kinda threw everything maybe in a little bit of a negative manner for this team and I give Ryan Day a lot of credit for being able to internalize that and the team kind of coalescing around him.

"And it kind of galvanized them and you got a chance to see what people felt like I'll quote Star Wars, the fully operational Death Star for a couple of weeks and against Texas maybe not quite what people wanted to see. But Texas is a great team and you could make an argument that they're right there with Ohio State talent-wise. And now they're here on the doorstep of potentially being able to right some wrongs and give Ryan Day his first title."

Ryan Day admits to pressure of Ohio State job

Ryan Day entered the College Football Playoff on the hottest seat in college football after losing 13-10 to Ohio State's biggest rivals, the Michigan Wolverines. The Buckeyes were 20-point favorites for the game.

During his weekly news conference ahead of the clash against coach Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame, Day admitted to the intense pressure of the Ohio State job.

“I do think that there’s great conversation to be had about that down the road, and what comes with it, because it isn’t the same as a lot of other places,” Day said. “It’s just different. But I’m proud of our guys and the way that we stuck together throughout the year. So now we’re just going to have a great day of practice, that’s it. And no distractions.”

“One of the things we’re trying to do this week is eliminate all the distractions,” Day added. “What’s happened in the past doesn’t matter. What’s happening moving forward doesn’t matter. All that matters is winning this game right now, and then we can kind of figure out what that is.”

Criticism is never too far away from Ryan Day despite his team entering the national championship game against the Fighting Irish as 9.5-point favorites for the clash.