Urban Meyer called it an unbreakable record, but Ryan Day could reclaim the Big Ten coaching wins lead for Ohio State

The Buckeyes' boss won his 72nd game Saturday, and here are three reasons he could make a run at Woody Hayes and Kirk Ferentz.

Ryan Day and the Buckeyes beat Grambling State on Saturday as Day. moved to 72-10 in his career. (Photo courtesy of Ohio State)

COLUMBUS — August 30, 2036. That’s the day Ryan Day could pass Woody Hayes for the most wins in Ohio State coaching history.

He’ll be 57 years old. Jim Tressel will be president. Day will be coaching robots. An AI simulation of my voice will do the postgame podcast. Landis will think something about the way an Ohio State guard pulled and a telestration of the play will instantly show up on your phone.

(Actually, 11 years isn’t that far off. I think we’ll still be holding off the robot revolution. It was 11 years ago today that Ohio State was recovering from a 35-21 home defeat against Virginia Tech, and it’s not like all that much has changed from the day after that OSU loss to the Hokies until now. Well, except for two mind-bending national title runs, Meyer rising and then retiring, Day arriving, the Michigan rivalry flipping, a bunch of lawsuits changing college football, players getting paid, the Pac-12 imploding, the Big Ten and SEC expanding … hmm. OK, maybe robots in charge in 11 years wouldn’t be such a huge change.)

Saturday, son of Ohio Matt Campbell, born exactly 11 months after Woody Hayes’ final game as the head coach of the Buckeyes, repelled the attempt by Kirk Ferentz to pass Hayes on the all-time Big Ten wins list. Campbell and Iowa State beat Iowa 16-13, and Ferentz stayed tied with Hayes at 205 wins coaching in the Big Ten. He’ll have to break the record next Saturday against UMass.

On Big Noon Kickoff, which was in Ames for the Cy-Hawk Showdown, Meyer predicted that once Ferentz breaks the record, that’s it. It’ll be Kirk Forever.

“I’m gonna go on record and say that I thought the Woody Hayes record was unbreakable,” Meyer said. “When he breaks this record, it will be unbreakable.”