Ohio State's Ryan Day Opens Up On Defensive Changes

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day spoke about his team's defensive changes following the win over the Purdue Boilermakers.

Nov 9, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day yells at his players in the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Samantha Madar-Imagn Images / Samantha Madar-Imagn Images

The Ohio State Buckeyes' defense came to play on Saturday afternoon, as Ohio State hammered the Purdue Boilermakers by a score of 45-0.

The Buckeyes' defense had come under fire in recent weeks, especially after its rather lackluster performance against the Oregon Ducks in Week 7.

However, something seems to have clicked for the unit, and head coach Ryan Day has revealed that he wanted to experiment with some different things versus Purdue.

"We wanted to try out some different things and work some different packages," Day said, via Eleven Warriors. "... We felt like this was a good opportunity to try some of that stuff."

In other words, the Boilermakers—who entered the matchup with a record of 1-7—were the perfect opponent against which to run some trial and error.

"When you start from scratch, there's just certain things that you make assumptions on or you have to make sure you're putting the right guys in the right place," added Day. "... We have to have the changeups in the game to keep people off-balance."

Remember: it was Alabama legend Nick Saban who said that Ohio State's defense looked "antiquated" versus Oregon, so it seems like Day took that criticism to heart.

The Buckeyes forced Purdue into a couple of second-half turnovers on back-to-back possessions, intercepting the Boilermakers in the end zone and then returning a fumble for a touchdown in a hectic third-quarter sequence.

While Purdue was clearly overmatched by Ohio State from a talent perspective, this was certainly a positive sign for the Buckeyes moving forward.