Ohio State HC Talks Prime-Time vs. Michigan State
The Michigan State Spartans (3-1) will host the No.3 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0) on Saturday night at Spartan Stadium searching for a stunning upset and its fourth win of the year. Buckeyes head coach, Ryan Day, spoke to 10TV WBNS Columbus on Thursday, previewing the battle.
Day possesses a 5-0 lifetime record against the Spartans since taking the head coaching job in 2018. His defenses have only given up 52 combined points in those five games and is very familiar with what his opponent is bringing to the table.
“I think they [MSU] have everybody's attention because they beat Maryland on the road and that was something that probably caught everybody a little bit off guard,” Day said. “But what I did explain to them [our team] is this is a completely different team than the one we played the last couple of years. So, we try not to overdo it when we're talking about other teams because ultimately, it's about us. And if we say it's about us against other opponents, then we have to say it about everybody else and it is about us.”
There is a heavy advantage in favor of the Spartans as they will host Saturday's game. Being a Big Ten game accompanied by the induction of legendary coach Mark Dantonio to the Michigan State Ring of Honor and College Football Hall of Fame, it is going to be a ruckus crowd in East Lansing.
It will be the first road time the Buckeyes are on the road this season and they are prepared for the noise to be a factor. The introduction of new helmet technology that allows a quarterback to hear the play calls through speakers in the helmet is something that will be utilized.
“It allows us to huddle and get everybody on the same page when we need to huddle,” Day said regarding the new technology. “We may need to use silent count, and we work on that during preseason, we work on that year-round, so we're prepared to use that. Not that it's easy, that is certainly an advantage for the defense. So we'll kind of get an idea of what we're dealing with and take it from there.”
The Spartans have begun to revive the identity of a gritty, physical team that is going to make it hard to score points against and will make plays in big moments to win a football game. Coach Day credits the Green and White on their physicality and is not taking the matchup lightly.
“Yeah, they do, they play that way, you can see it on film, they play hard and they play tough, so, we have to match that physicality,” Day said regarding the Spartans' toughness. “This is gonna be a Big Ten game on the road, night game – these are not easy and we have to explain that to the guys. I think that this team has our attention they know that, they gotta come play well and do a good job against these guys. They watch film, they've seen this quarterback [Aidan Chiles] make some plays and defense play well.”
The Buckeyes have been atop the Big Ten mountain ever since Day was brought into the program. He is very aware of what needs to be done to get a win on the road in a hostile environment. The Spartans will have to play nearly flawless football to shock the world and pull off an upset.
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