Updates: Ryan Day Focused On Buckeyes In Lead-Up To Youngstown State

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day sat down on Thursday for his weekly radio show. He discussed his team’s performance against Indiana, what he learned from his squad, and what to expect this week against Youngstown State. Following that, Day also met with reporters for his weekly “Lightning Round” session. The highlights of everything he had to say can be found below.

Lightning Round

Chip Trayanum spent a whole year training as a running back, so that has helped him perform this year. He’s versatile. The more things he can do, the better. He runs downhill and stays behind his pads. “Hopefully we can build on that.”
How much does the new QB impact running tempo? There are things you can do in tempo that can get a QB in rhythm, but sometimes you can run tempo plays into bad looks because you’re not trying to make an adjustment, you’re just trying to go fast. There’s a fine line between finding a rhythm and staying smart. They will always have tempo and when they can use it as a weapon, they will.
What makes Chip Trayanum a good fit for the RB/FB roles? He’s a team player and he’s tough. He’s got high-end speed. He’s way north of 20 mph. He runs low and he has good vision. They’ve asked him to put on a little bit of weight so that he can be a change of pace and do some different things than the other backs.
What’s the QB plan this week? Tristan Gebbia is the third quarterback right now, so he’d be the next one in the game after Devin Brown. Would love to get Lincoln Kienholz in a game at some point. They will be redshirting him, but he can still play four games. They are encouraged by him. Hasn’t played a whole bunch of football but is very intelligent and inquisitive. He didn’t play in Georgia or Texas or Ohio, so it’s going to take some time for him.
The better the WRs block on the perimeter, the more the defense is going to have to get out of the box and defend horizontally. That then opens the options up the middle.
What’s the right amount of playing time for Marvin Harrison? They have to make sure they win the game. They want to get him the ball and the other team knows that. “He’s ready to roll in this game.”
Matt Jones is now one of the older guys in the room, so now not only does he have to carry the water, but he has to bring people with him. It’s a new responsibility. He needs to continue to lead up front by setting an example and holding teammates to a certain standard. “He’s got to embrace that and he knows that.”
Lorenzo Styles, Jr. was the special teams player of the week. He earned that with his effort, competitiveness, and toughness. He can really run. Arvell Reese was physical on special teams as well. Styles was held twice on returns and both times the flags were thrown. He caused two penalties that backed Indiana up. When you start a drive that far back, it really decreases your scoring chances. Styles loves that part of the game.
What can you take away from the defensive performance against Indiana? You can take away the fact that they had an opportunity to get their hands on some passes and they did that. Haven’t seen a ton of the pass rush yet but you gain the fact that there wasn’t any panic on defense. Guys were still flying around and playing assignment football.
Is Jayden Fielding on scholarship? Yes, he is on scholarship.

Ryan Day Radio Show

For the players that aren’t traveling to the road games, they have food at the facility and the guys will watch the game there with each other. It’s not an easy thing to be left behind, so they definitely think of those guys and give them a place to go to be around each other.
Tuesday’s practice was hot and physical. “Bloody Tuesdays.” They flush the previous game on Sunday and get back to it on Tuesday.
They have been practicing in the late afternoon since school started, so they have to change the schedule a bit for the noon kickoff on Saturday. They’ll have to get the guys up a little earlier.
Could they go with more tempo? “What you don’t want to do is be in a rush to go nowhere.” They want to win big, but the goal is to win. You can’t rush just to score points to say they did. What they have to do is make sure they do what’s right by the team. Defenses are catching up with tempo, so it can cause some bad looks offensively, so it can create bad plays as well. The best way to keep a defense on their heels is to constantly change tempos.
The RBs ran hard but there were some plays where they had nowhere to go. They want at least 4 yards every time and that didn’t happen. The three RBs all played well and ran hard. They provide a change of pace from each other. Hopefully they will build on that and get more effective on first down.
Julian Fleming had another good week of football. He’s physical. He had some blocks last week that were strong. He was also finishing his catches and getting extra yards.
Day said the refs admitted a mistake in not allowing the Marvin Harrison touchdown catch.
Want to continue to play more guys and get more plays on video so they can build the depth.
Caden Curry “is a football player. Plays with a high motor.” Was good to see different guys get in the game. Hero Kanu getting a sack was good. A lot of guys on the scout team last year got to play. The defense overall handled an unexpected scheme very well. It always comes down to defeating blocks and tackling.
The defensive communication was very calm at the outset with the option attack. They adjusted well and had some time to talk during a targeting review.
It was good to get some Jayden Fielding some opportunities, but they missed on some “four-point plays” and had to settle for field goals. “We’ve got to do a better job on those four-point plays, which is what we’ve been talking about.” IU’s kick returner was dynamic, so it was good to go against him for future reference and film work.
How would Day rate the QB rushing potential? Any time the QB can be a threat with his legs, it makes a huge difference. Kyle McCord scrambled and escaped well. Had an 8-yard scramble early on to make it third-and-2. That’s how you create stress on a defense, with a passing game and a QB who can create something extra with his legs.
You don’t get a real feel for how QBs are going to run until you get them in a game. You can draw stuff up in practice, but they can’t be hit in practice. They will continue to use them in the running game because it provides a schematic advantage.
When the game is moving quickly, you don’t get the opportunity to wear a team down with the running game.
Some of the gap schemes looked the best on Saturday with the running game, but the zone and stretch should still be better. “We should be decent…” at the zones and “really good” on the gap scheme runs.
Why do you run to the boundary? Marvin Harrison is on the other side being double covered, so there are some schematic things you can find numbers-wise on either side depending on what you want to do.
“Week two is a challenging week but it’s a good week.” When you prepare for the first game, you have an opportunity to improve a lot in the next week. That’s a part of growing, which is a big step for them moving forward. You have to upgrade each week.
The Indiana defense was a combination of what Tom Allen had done in the past, what OSU has done, and what Matt Guerrieri did at Duke. Some of it worked and some of it didn’t.
The OSU offense nearly only had three possessions in the first half. “We’ve got to be more efficient early in the game.” The way IU bled the clock made sense for them. Every possession and play means more.
Could the play calling change based on having fewer possessions? The No. 1 goal is to win. “You can’t let your pride get in the way.” You can’t get reckless.
Could OSU start taking the ball instead of deferring if they win the toss? “Definitely considering it.” They have thought about it long and hard. Winning the middle six minutes of the game is so important, which is why they always defer. But getting that extra possession in the first half and setting the tempo is something he is thinking a lot about right now.