Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz apparently believes he was a motivating factor for Ohio State in Saturday's 17-14 loss for the Fighting Irish.
Appearing on Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich (starts at 69:00 mark), Holtz said he called Marcus Freeman to apologize for putting Notre Dame in a "bad position" going into the team's marquee showdown with the Buckeyes.
"I called Coach Freeman yesterday and apologized because I put him in a bad position, maybe," Holtz said. "I don't feel bad about saying it because I believe it, and Notre Dame was the better football team."
Appearing on the Sept. 22 episode of The Pat McAfee Show (h/t Christopher Breiler of SI.com), Holtz was critical of Day's track record against elite-level competition.
"He has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan twice, and everybody that beats him does so because they're more physical than Ohio State. I think Notre Dame will take that same approach," Holtz said.
After Ohio State escaped South Bend with a victory, Day specifically called out the 86-year-old College Football Hall of Famer during his postgame interview on NBC.
"I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now," Day said (h/t 10TV in Columbus). "What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We're proud to be from Ohio. It's always been Ohio against the world, and it'll continue to be Ohio against the world. But I'll tell you what: I love those kids. We've got a tough team."
Holtz didn't say anything that Day could reasonably argue against. Closing has been a big problem for his teams in big games. The two losses against Michigan came because the Wolverines wore them down over the course of the game before dominating late.
The Buckeyes have been outscored by a combined score of 56-17 by their Big Ten rivals in the previous two games. Alabama dominated them in a 52-24 win in the 2021 College Football Playoff Championship Game.
In the 2019 College Football Playoff semifinal, Clemson finished the game on a 29-7 run after falling behind 16-0 in the second quarter. Georgia outscored Ohio State 18-3 in the fourth quarter of last year's playoff semifinal.
Granted, it's hard to fault Day too much for losing games to these teams. Three of the five losses were in the College Football Playoff and the two against Michigan determined the Big Ten East representative in the conference championship game.
Ohio State wasn't favored to beat Clemson, Georgia or Alabama. Day has only lost six games during his tenure as Buckeyes head coach, with five of them coming against teams that made the College Football Playoff.
Day's only loss to a non-playoff team was in Week 2 of the 2021 season against an Oregon team that won 10 games and was in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
Saturday's showdown was a defensive battle that saw just one field goal in the first half. Notre Dame took a 14-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter on an 11-play, 96-yard drive.
The Buckeyes stole a win almost at the buzzer on Chip Trayanum's touchdown run with one second remaining after Notre Dame's defense got stops on the first two plays from the one-yard line.
Ohio State moved up two spots to No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll as a result of the win. Notre Dame dropped two spots to No. 11.
Holtz had a 34-year coaching career from 1969 to 2004. He's best known for his 11-year stint with the Fighting Irish from 1986 to '96. He went 100-30-2 and won a national title during the 1988 season.
