Huddle Updates: Ryan Day Talks Buckeyes, Rockets On Radio Show, Lightning Round

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day is taking part in his weekly radio show today, and then following his radio appearance he will meet with reporters via Zoom for a “lightning round” question and answer session. He is expected to provide further updates on the health of his team and also look ahead to Saturday’s matchup with the undefeated Toledo Rockets. We will provide live updates through the next hour-plus. Just refresh for the latest.

Ryan Day Lightning Round

Chip Trayanum has running back experience so he’s carried the ball. He’s got some strength to him and you need that from your kickoff returner. Day thinks you should have bigger, stronger guys doing it because they can take some hits.
What defines a complete game for him? “I don’t know. I don’t really look at it like that.” He looks at where they are getting better. Individual players, sides of the ball, and then as a team.
They’re going to give Chip Trayanum an opportunity to be the kickoff return guy. He’s shown enough in practice. They will continue to evaluate the position but they like him there.
This will be their third game against a QB who is a dual-threat, so you have to play assignment football and you have to be disciplined. It’s being aware of what you are up against, and that goes for every player on the field.
Donovan Jackson has good size and athleticism and strength. Those separate him from most interior linemen. But also the mental aspect raises him up as well. He is a high-achiever. He is a starter and significant contributor to this offense.
Asked about the three-and-outs on offense, he said Arkansas State did a good job of challenging them at the line of scrimmage, including press man. They have a style of defense like Michigan State and what OSU had with Chris Ash. When you go against a defense like this, you will have some negative plays but also some explosive plays. You can’t panic when things don’t go well for a couple of plays.
On Jack Sawyer’s role: “I think it’s been good. He’s graded out well.” The more you see of these guys on the field, the more production you’re going to see. He’s a big part of the defense.
Are the penalties related to the aggressive style of defense? They want to clean up the penalties that they can control.
They can’t even be thinking about getting the young players into the game right now. They have to worry about winning the game. Just look at last week’s upsets. They need to come out fast and play fast. The more games the play, the better they get, the more players they’ll get to play. They are still waiting for their first fast start.
Hoping Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Julian Fleming, and Kamryn Babb will all be on the field and available for the game.

Ryan Day Radio Show

The roster number is 121 total players. They haven’t had tryouts in a couple of years. They do have some other players who are on call. The number before school starts is 110 now. Even with the increase, it’s still an antiquated rule. It’s an old rule and the game has changed. Everybody should be with the team.
Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson have run well this season. They run hard. It’s important that the OL and the RBs are on the same page, and that’s built during the week in practice.
CJ Stroud has been extending plays. The movement is more powerful and quicker.
CJ Stroud has played well. He has a good handle on the offense. Made some big-time throws last week. “We’re all improving on things” and he’s not any different than anybody else on the team. He has grown as a leader. He has a wider view on the team now. It’s okay to take what the defense gives you. The focus is on winning, not on yards or points. If you’re looking for those things, they’re not going to come.
Rankings don’t mean anything right now. It means more later and can become a distraction, but they talk about not being distracted by any outside noise.
Have to be aware of the Toledo QB Dequan Finn scrambling. They’ve gone against his style before but you always have to know where he is.
Toledo’s front is very good and experienced. They have guys who OSU recruited up front. They know Dallas Gant, obviously. And they’re very well coached.
The second-team offensive line is getting better. They just need practice. Overall, the entire unit is showing progress. “I think we’re seeing it.”
Was good to see the tight ends working last week. They played well. They want to get the tight ends the ball even more.
They like to have a couple of gadget plays in their back pocket. They practice two or three a week. They also have two-point plays, but those are also their third-and-two types of plays near the goal line. “We probably carry too much sometimes.”
When is a swing pass most effective? Sometimes it’s just used to stretch the flat defender, which gives the QB a choice to swing it or go past the defender to a hook or come back.
Hoping to get the ball in Chip Trayanum’s hands on kickoff return. The guys believe in him.
The gunners on punt coverage have gotten a lot of work this week trying to build depth there. Also with the jammers on punt return. Kickoff coverage has been solid. They have speed down the field. Toledo has good returners this week. Palaie Gaoteote has been unbelievably physical on kickoff coverage.
There are times when Larry Johnson is looking for matchups, but generally he’s just trying to get guys their reps. But they want to make sure that they continue to get their best players out there.
Steele Chambers is very productive. He’s more physical. Tommy Eichenberg’s leadership has really helped Chambers and Cody Simon. There is a lot of harmony at the linebacker position right now. He likes that Jim Knowles coaches the linebackers because it ties the entire defense together.
Any time you keep a team out of the end zone is a good day. The defense has given up some plays but they have done a good job of keeping them out of the end zone.
Most defenses they face have multiple fronts. In practice they don’t jump around between fronts. They face one front for a long time, then will switch to a different front so that they offense can get accustomed to it and know best how to deal with it.
How does he determine when to take starters out? They say that if that’s the biggest issue they have, then it’s been a good game. But it is an issue. You have to balance keeping guys safe with needing more reps. Last week he felt the team needed more reps and needed to keep learning “and flushing out the different issues.”
The only way to get better at weaknesses is to practice them. This week Jim Knowles wanted to do more good on good in practice. i.e. ones vs. ones. They also discussed the penalty issues and they have addressed that with the team.
The absence of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming provided an opportunity to the other receivers to step up. Now they are looking at separate packages and ways to get everybody involved when the receivers are all back.
When you look over CFB last week end, it’s clear that you have to bring it ever weekend.
The transfer portal likely played into the upsets last week. Guys can transfer down and play and bolster smaller schools.
Regardless of who OSU is playing, “it’s about us.” If you are the best team in the country, that means you do it every single week.
This has been a physical two days of practice. Now they have to come back and play well again today.
Marvin Harrison has had the game slow down for him since the opener. He’s running routes well. The first game for everybody was moving fast. He played within himself against Arkansas State. The best play of the game for the entire offense was the last touchdown pass to Harrison. CJ Stroud looked off the safety and then Stroud had to fire the fade in there because the defense was closing.
They lost two possessions via special teams and that hinders their opportunity to score and control the game.