Dear Buckeye Nation,

You want to fire Ryan Day now?

We asked the same question after Ohio State dismantled Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 21, and we ask the same question again.

All those who wanted Day dismissed after an admittedly embarrassing loss to Michigan to end the regular season need to take that bold step forward now and defend their desire to cast off their head coach after the Buckeyes just bathed the Arroyo Seco in scarlet and grey.

Anyone? That’s what we thought.

Day’s Buckeyes made a second straight emphatic statement, this time in what was a highly anticipated rematch against top-seeded Oregon – hammering the Ducks 41-21 in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday to advance to the Playoff semifinals. Ohio State (12-2) will face No. 5 seed Texas in the Jan. 10 Cotton Bowl for the right to make the CFP title game.

Almost from the jump Wednesday, Ohio State turned the picturesque setting of the Rose Bowl into a literal house of horrors for the Ducks. The Buckeyes scored on all but 1 of their first-half drives, only punted once, and racked up 34 points in wave after wave of big plays.

On the other side of the ball, Ohio State’s defense so completely dominated Oregon’s big-play attack so completely that the Ducks didn’t even cross the midfield stripe until there were 30 seconds to go before halftime. It didn’t help Oregon when leading rusher Jordan James departed via injury in the first half. But the Ducks largely abandoned its ground game down 26 points in the second half anyway. Oregon finished with -26 rushing yards — thanks largely to Ohio State sacking Dillon Gabriel 8 times for -56 yards.

There are butt-kickings all the time in college football. Every week from coast to coast, one team or another dominates so completely that their opponent looks silly. But this deep in the Playoff? And the one feeling toe to rear end being Oregon – a team that beat OSU earlier and rolled to a perfect 13-0 record in its first Big Ten season?

Yet there was Ohio State, be-bopping into the Rose Bowl Stadium locker room with a 34-8 halftime lead behind a 269-yard, 3-touchdown passing performance from quarterback Will Howard. And, he might not be only 17 years old (hello, Alabama’s Ryan Williams), but freshman Jeremiah Smith hauled in 5 receptions for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first 30 minutes. Not to be outdone, senior running back TreVeyon Henderson touched the rock just twice – but still broke off a 66-yard touchdown run.

Ohio State rolled up a staggering 233 yards of offense in the game’s first 15 minutes and added 157 more in the second stanza. It was a complete, stunning, breathtaking offensive onslaught that was married perfectly by a stout defensive effort against Gabriel – a Heisman Trophy finalist who threw 2 TD passes but largely couldn’t crack the code of a Buckeyes defense swarming to the football.

Part of the reason the defensive dominance felt like such a surprise is that Round 1 of Oregon-Ohio State featured precious little resistance by the Buckeyes. Oregon rolled up 496 yards on Oct. 12 in Eugene, and needed every inch of it against an Ohio State squad that kept up step-for-step in a 32-31 Oregon win.

But that was in front of a frenzied Autzen Stadium crowd, not inside the mecca of college football – a locale that Ohio State practically called a second home in the glory days of Woody Hayes and Urban Meyer. Wednesday marked the 10th time Ohio State smelled the roses in 17 trips to Pasadena – 1 more than Michigan has earned.

Sundown along the San Gabriel Mountains might have felt slightly delayed, given that Oregon managed to drive for its first score to end the open half and maneuvered 75 yards for another touchdown to open the 3rd quarter. But that second score only made it 34-15, and any semblance of a comeback got wiped clean as the Buckeyes kept chasing Gabriel around with the same urgency they did in the first half.

Ohio State’s offense kept on rolling after intermission, too, as Henderson powered in for a 2nd touchdown run on just his 4th carry with 5:35 to play in the third quarter to make it 41-15 and extinguish any remaining Oregon hope.

Every step that Ohio State has taken in the aftermath of losing to the Wolverines in Columbus has felt like a catharsis – a literal cleansing of the hearts, minds and souls of Buckeye Nation after enduring That Team Up North dancing and planting flags on their territory.

Next up for Ohio State: Texas, which survived a wild double-OT Peach Bowl scare against Arizona State. Can Day’s Buckeyes again summon the will to dominate the Longhorns in their backyard? Can Day’s Buckeyes continue to flummox the lummoxes in their own fanbase who wanted their coach and his gaudy 68-10 record fired?

Those questions are for later. For now, Ohio State and its embattled coach are busy inhaling the sweet scent of countless scarlet-red roses after yet another dominant Playoff performance.