Ryan Day Talks About Buckeyes' 35-16 Win At Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, NJ — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day talked with the media following the Buckeyes’ 35-16 win over Rutgers on Saturday. It was never easy for Ohio State, but Day spoke about how pleased he was with the way his team continued to battle. Highlights of everything Day had to say can be found below.

The defense continued to hang in down in the red zone.
The fake punt was NOT a fake punt. It was a miscommunication. “That cannot happen.
Cade Stover could have played but they held him back.
The pick six changed the game.
These have been physical weeks. “We’re wearing teams down in the second half.”
Not gonna get into the miscommunication on the fake punt right now. Maybe on Tuesday after getting back with the team.
Rutgers was dropping the safeties deep which took away some of the downfield passing. So OSU had to be patient enough to run the ball, which they decided to do in the second half. The running game takes time.
Kyle McCord could have done a better job of checking down in the first half. He did it well in the second half.
When TreVeyon Henderson gets to the second down, he’s dangerous. He’s a mismatch. The check down went 65 yards as an example.
The defense has shown that they will hang in and make teams work.
“It was good to see us pull away a bit down the stretch.”
This team finds a way. They don’t panic. They keep swinging and fighting. They’ve been at the half in these games before and they come out determined to play better in the second half.
The Will linebacker made a nice read on the McCord interception. McCord made the right read and it would have been a nice gain but the linebacker made a nice play. The ball came out flat.
Championship teams, week after week, continue to have the stamina to keep fighting.
Don’t know how long they’ll be without Lathan Ransom and Denzel Burke. “I don’t have the answer to that.”
On being ranked No. 1: “It doesn’t mean anything to us.”
Give Gee Scott and Patrick Gurd credit for stepping up without Cade Stover.
Gotta get better on third downs. They weren’t finishing drives in the first half. They were 0-5. Situational football is critical.
Did the drops affect Kyle McCord? How big were those drops? “We’re not used to seeing that.” They say “throw it better, catch it better.” There were some that would have kept drives moving if they had caught them.