Ohio State’s Ryan Day Shares Final Thoughts On Northwestern During Radio Show

On the potential for inclement weather on Saturday, Day said "that’s part of playing in the Big Ten in November."

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day made his weekly appearance on 97.1 The Fan on Thursday afternoon, then met with the media for approximately 15 minutes for a lighting round to preview Saturday’s game at Northwestern.

The following is a bullet-point recap of everything Day had to say:

Ryan Day Radio Show

• Day said “toughness” has been the message the coaches have been preaching to the team this season, and that was apparent late in the win over the Nittany Lions. He praised their focus when times got tough.
• Day said they knew going into the Penn State game that it wasn’t going to necessarily go as they expected, but said if they executed on a couple things, they would have had a comfortable leading heading into halftime.
• Day said he knew Saturday would take a full four quarters, something they hadn’t faced all season. “For us to execute the way we did in the fourth quarter says a lot about the leadership of the team.”
• Day said they’re looking forward to getting running back Miyan Williams back this week after he left in the first quarter of the win over the Nittany Lions with apparent knee and hand injuries. “Losing Miyan certainly had an effect on us.”
• Day said he’s never seen a defensive line force turnovers like it did on Saturday, although he “can’t sit here and tell you that I’m all that surprised” by defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau’s performance because of how he’s been practicing.
• Day credited defensive line coach Larry Johnson for keeping the defensive line fresh by rotation players to counter the Nittany Lions’ offensive tempo.
• Day said tight end Cade Stover’s touchdown reception reminded him of former wide receiver Binjimen Victor weaving through defenders in the 2018 come-from-behind win at Penn State.
• Day said the bubble screens to the wide receivers are an extension of the run game when Penn State was going “zero pressure,” and that there’s always a chance for them to become an explosive play.
• Day said defensive end Zach Harrison is “playing his best football” right now. Added he’s been doing a great job of pushing the pocket, while his athleticism helped him make the interception off of Tuimoloau’s deflection.
• Day said defensive tackle Tyleik Williams’ stop on fourth down was a big play and that he’ll become a huge weapon for the defensive when he becomes more consistent in practice.
• Day noted how winning the turnover battle increases their chances of winning the game, and the more turnovers you get, the higher the chances of winning the game.
• Day believes they handled the road atmosphere really well. He said the false starts were unique, which he noted earlier this week were based upon a defender who wasn’t adjacent to Stover jumping in to the neutral zone, while the delays of game were on the coaches for not getting the play in sooner.
• Day said that wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka stepped up out of necessity with Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s injury and that each made an impact in their own way against Penn State.
• Day said they want to be a balanced offense (250 yards passing and 250 yards rushing), but it doesn’t always go that way depending on the game.
• Day said the Buckeyes “love” the potential for inclement weather at Northwestern on Saturday. “That’s part of playing in the Big Ten in November.” Said they don’t look at those things until two or three days before, though.
• Day said they allowed quarterback C.J. Stroud to make some checks at the line against the Nittany Lions, but the environment made it a but clunky in the first half and so they stopped doing it. A lot easier for them to do it at home when the crowd is on your side.
• Day felt they learned a lot about the defense because they had 80 plays on that side of the ball “against a really good offense.” Have been happy with what they’ve seen on film from the unit.
• Day said he takes concepts from watching other other teams, both in college and the NFL. “We’re all copycats. We all steal all kinds of ideas.”
• Day credited long sapper Mason Arnold for his performance in his first career start at Penn State. “It’s a little nerve-racking, your long snapper going into that environment in State College for his first game.”
• Day said he was happy to see so many Ohio State fans in Happy Valley, who contrasted the white- and blue-clad fans rooting for Penn State by wearing scarlet. “There was a lot more in the crowd than I expected, which was great.”
• Day on cornerback Jordan Hancock: “You can see his ability to make plays, drive on balls, ball skills, feel for the game.” Said it was great to get him back after missing the first six games of the season.
• On running back Chip Trayanum, who switched from linebacker to provide depth for the rest of the season: “He’s picked up the offense well." Said he’s getting more reps in recent weeks. “Looking forward to see him on the field.”
• Day said he really likes the freshman class and believes that “they have a bright future.” Said they’re all just putting one foot in front of the other. Mentioned wide receiver Kaleb Brown as someone who is making plays in practice recently.

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Ryan Day Lightning Round

• Day said “they have to handle (the weather) better than their opponent” on Saturday. Doesn’t know if it’ll be extreme, but they’ll make adjustments if it does. “That’s why you plan like this … in November, the weather is unpredictable in the Big Ten.”
• Day said they focus on each week as it comes, but knew Penn State would be a tough win on the road and that they needed to do so to reach their goals. Said it’s just another check mark along the way.
• Day said there’s nothing more frustrating than having to deal with injuries as a coach, but credits the training staff for getting players ready. “It’s hard, but that’s why we build depth.”
• Day said they’re expecting Arnold to be the long snapper the rest of the way, though Max Lomonico will also travel with the team this week to Evanston, suggesting Robinson’s season could be over.
• Day said the offense line has “an edge to them” after the last two weeks of not being able to run the ball as well as they wanted to. “All you can do is get back to work and keep pushing.”
• Day said it “brings a lot of value” to have someone like offensive line coach Justin Frye to see the whole offense, not just focus solely on his unit.
• On Tuimoloau: “Guys are going to know where he is now, but that’s why you want to have balance in your defensive line group.” Said he opened up a lot of eyes on Saturday. 

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