Ryan Day Has Earned Respect. He Hasn’t Earned a Lifetime Pass.

There are losses, and then there are losses that stick with you.

Ohio State’s 24-23 loss to Texas belongs in the second category.

The Buckeyes walked into Austin as the No. 1 team in the country and, for three quarters, looked every bit like it. Ohio State built a 23-3 lead and appeared to have complete control of one of the biggest games of the young college football season.

Then everything fell apart.

Texas scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, completing a 20-point comeback that became the largest fourth-quarter comeback ever against an AP No. 1 team. What should have been another statement victory for Ryan Day instead became one of the most embarrassing collapses of his tenure.

And as an Ohio State fan, I’m tired of pretending games like this can simply be dismissed.

Ryan Day deserves credit for what he has accomplished in Columbus. Most importantly, he won a national championship. That matters. It answered a lot of criticism surrounding his ability to get Ohio State over the hump, and it earned him something every coach should receive after reaching the mountaintop: goodwill.

But goodwill is not immunity.

At some point, Ohio State fans have to be allowed to ask why the same problems continue appearing when games become uncomfortable.

Saturday night was the perfect example.

Ohio State did almost everything necessary to win for three quarters. The defense controlled Arch Manning. The Buckeyes had a 20-point advantage. The crowd had been largely neutralized. Texas looked beaten.

Then Ohio State stopped playing like the team that had built the lead.

The offense became ineffective. The defense allowed Manning to find a rhythm. Texas converted critical plays when it absolutely had to. The Buckeyes failed to score a touchdown after halftime, missed an important field goal and eventually watched Texas score the winning touchdown with only 25 seconds remaining.

That is not simply bad luck.

When you are leading 23-3 entering the fourth quarter, you should win the football game. Period.

This is Ohio State. The expectations are different here.

Nobody is asking Ryan Day to go undefeated every season. Nobody reasonable expects Ohio State to win every national championship. College football has too much talent, too much parity and too many difficult environments for that.

But there is a difference between losing a great football game and repeatedly finding ways to let major games slip away.

That is where the frustration comes from.

The most troubling part is that Ohio State spent the offseason talking about finishing games. After late-game struggles against Indiana and Miami last season, the fourth quarter was supposedly an area of emphasis.

Then the Buckeyes went to Austin and surrendered 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

So what exactly changed?

That is the question Ryan Day has to answer.

And the answer cannot always be execution.

Players obviously have responsibility. A missed tackle matters. A missed field goal matters. A bad offensive possession matters. Coaches cannot physically make those plays for them.

But when the same type of failures occur repeatedly in high-pressure situations, coaching has to become part of the conversation.

Ohio State appeared to become more conservative as Texas became more aggressive. One team played like it had everything to gain. The other played like it had something to protect.

We have seen that version of Ohio State before.

And that is exactly why Saturday night bothers me so much.

I like Ryan Day. I believe he is a very good football coach. I believe he cares deeply about Ohio State, his players and the responsibility that comes with this job.

But being a good coach at Ohio State is not the standard.

Greatness is.

Fair or unfair, that comes with the paycheck, the recruiting classes, the facilities, the resources and the enormous expectations surrounding the program.

Ohio State does not measure itself against most college football programs. It measures itself against Georgia, Alabama, Texas and the handful of programs capable of competing for national championships every season.

Those games matter differently.

And when you have a 23-3 lead against one of those teams, you have to finish.

The national championship bought Ryan Day time. It should have. Winning a championship is an enormous accomplishment, and nobody can ever take that away from him.

But it cannot become the answer every time somebody questions another major-game failure.

“Remember the national championship” cannot become a shield protecting the program from legitimate criticism.

Ohio State fans should be able to celebrate what Day has accomplished while still demanding better.

Both things can be true.

Ryan Day can be the coach who brought another national championship to Columbus.

And Ryan Day can also be the coach who needs to prove that nights like Saturday are finally going to stop happening.

Because Ohio State had Texas beaten.

Not almost beaten.

Beaten.

A 23-3 fourth-quarter lead should have been enough.

Instead, Texas celebrated one of the greatest comebacks in its history while Ohio State walked off the field wondering how another enormous game had gotten away.

I’m tired of giving Ryan Day a pass for those nights.

The championship earned him respect.

It did not lower the standard.

At Ohio State, the standard never changes.

Finish the game.