Ryan Day, Jim Knowles, Chip Kelly, Will Howard Talk Disappointment Following Tough 32-31 Loss At Oregon

EUGENE, OR — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with reporters following the Buckeyes’ 32-31 loss at No. 3 Oregon. He discussed the environment, penalties, turnovers, a hard-fought game, and what’s next for his football team. The highlights of everything that was said can be found below.

Ryan Day

• On the final few plays: Did a great job getting the ball down the field. They called a flag on Jeremiah Smith “and that cost us, but it shouldn’t come down to one play. I wanted to leave no doubt…” and they didn’t do that. “That’s on us.” Too many big plays allowed and too many turnovers “and it cost us.” Have to do a better job overall.
• Will have to go back and figure out what the common theme was on defense, but there were some big throws that got behind the defense and some runs that weren’t fit correctly. “I don’t think it was just one thing, but we’ve got to play better.”
• On the frustration of turnovers: They hammer it home during the week. They were expecting a squib kick of some sort on the 50-yard line. “That one hurt.”
• Oregon was leading by one at halftime, so they felt like if they just fit the runs better on defense they would be okay, but they just couldn’t get off the field.
• Not gonna complain about a call, “we’re gonna own it.”
• “The ball got by us twice” over the top. “It starts with coaching.”
• “The issues are there and those issues came up in this game. So we’re gonna have to sit on this thing for a week.”
• The injury to Josh Simmons hurt. “It doesn’t look great on him returning this season.” Zen Michalski stepped up.
• “I hate to point fingers and I’m not going to do that. This was a team loss.” The offense had a chance to finish this off.
• What did you tell the team afterward? The season is half over. This one hurts. “We should’ve won the game. Give Oregon credit.” They did too many things they shouldn’t have.
• The false starts can’t be accepted but the team kept fighting.
• The defense had a goal-line stand to give the offense a chance.
• Will Howard competed all the way to the end. Somebody flashed in his face on the last play and took off. “I do like the way Will played.” He will be hard on himself.

Jim Knowles

• “Gotta do a better job coaching. That’s it. That’s the bottom line. We didn’t make enough plays. I didn’t think we were outstanding in any area. Felt like we were always behind. It was uncharacteristic. We’ve got to learn from it.” “Our players are certainly good enough to win that game. We talked about winning it on defense and we didn’t get the job done.”
• What was different tonight in giving up the explosive plays? “We didn’t execute.” You have to raise the level of your game when you play an opponent of this level. Have to coach the players better and get them in better position.
• Have to make sure this loss doesn’t beat them twice.
• Why did the defense struggle getting pressure? Dillon Gabriel does a good job stepping up into the pocket. “He’s a really good quarterback.” What we’ve done has worked in the past so they need to take a look at what they’ve done.
• The players are always going to play to the level of their coaching and preparation.
• What’s the message to Denzel Burke? “I would just tell him that he’s a great player and we love him.” “He, me, the whole defense, we need to learn from it. We’re going to get more chances.”

Chip Kelly

• The offense was disjointed after the first scoring drive. “You can’t do that against good defensive teams.” “I’ve got to do a better job on third down.” “I thought our guys battled.”
• On not running well in the second half: Have to look at the film but they didn’t execute. They had injuries too.
• On the last play: They wanted 10-11 yards and were trying to get a boundary pass. Will Howard thought he gave himself up with time on the clock. “I’ve got to put him in better situations.”
• On the last drive, they knew the spot they had to get to. They got there until the pass interference on Jeremiah Smith.
• How comfortable are you with the deep ball? “I think a lot of it depends on the defense.” They were doubling Jeremiah Smith at times. That led to Gee Scott being open a couple of times. You have to take what they’re giving to you on the inside.

Will Howard

• On the last play, did he have enough time? “I thought I did. I obviously didn’t.” “I gotta get down, I guess. Gotta learn from it.”
• What’s your message to the team? “I hope it lights a little fire under us because I still have all the belief in the world in this team. I don’t think they necessarily beat us. I think we beat ourselves a little bit.” We’re going to see them again.
• How do you process that last play? “I don’t know man. It’s a bitch. It sucks. A play like that, you don’t want to lose the game like that.”
• It sucks when you’re in field goal range and a call like that happens.
• How frustrating were the penalties? That’s a discipline thing. Playing in an environment like this can overcome you if you let it.

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