"We need everybody": Ryan Day makes an urgent request to Buckeyes nation before facing Texas

Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes have turned things after a disastrous end to the regular season. After a 13-10 loss to Michigan, not many picked the Buckeyes to make it this far. However, with Ohio State set to play Texas in the Cotton Bowl, many fans are picking the Buckeyes to win the national championship.

Ahead of the game on Friday, coach Day spoke with a WBNS 10TV reporter. He spoke about the importance of getting support from fans at the stadium and from back home in Ohio:

"We're all in this thing together and we have strength in numbers. And when I think about where this team is at where the coaches are at, but I also think about the fans. I think about the fans who you know took out a loan to get on a plane to work through the weather to buy a ticket to get to this game.

"I think about all the fans back at home who are watching TV. I mean we need everybody. We need everybody's energy. We need all of Buckeye Nation to send good vibes to this team because our team feels that. So wherever you are, whether you're at the stadium or you're back home, we need that energy in this game."

Ryan Day added:

"Our team is going to feed off of that. You know I feel like we've had good preparation, so we're going to continue to work until game time."

Ryan Day has changed his image since the end of the regular season

Throughout the regular season, Ryan Day's image was slowly deteriorating among the media and fans. Despite only losing two games this season, Day was getting a reputation as a coach who could not motivate his team to perform well in big games.

The narrative started when his team lost 32-31 to Oregon on Oct. 12. It continued a several season-long trend of Day's teams struggling against top-five ranked teams.

The trend continued in the regular-season finale when his Buckeyes lost to the Michigan Wolverines. That loss eliminated the Buckeyes from Big Ten Championship contention and forced them to play a first-round matchup in the CFP.

However, since then, the Buckeyes have had one of the most dominant playoff runs through two games. They defeated Tennessee 42-17 in the first round, and Oregon 41-21 in the quarterfinals. They play Texas on Friday at 7:30 p.m. EST.