Ryan Day Radio Show Updates: What Is The Latest On The Buckeyes?

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day took part in his weekly radio show on Thursday. It was his first time speaking following Saturday night’s 32-31 loss at Oregon. He discussed the feelings in the days after the loss, injuries to key Buckeyes, the messaging moving forward, and more. The highlights of everything he had to say can be found below.

It took a while to get over the game. “It took us a few days.” They had a really good practice on Wednesday and the focus now is moving forward and fixing what needs fixed.
Didn’t win the turnover battle, didn’t win the rushing battle, gave up too many explosive plays. Those things need to be fixed. If you win the next six games, you’re right back where you need to be.
There were a lot of things to review right after the game. There were some positives that came out of it. But in those games, you have to win the turnover battle. That’s the No. 1 thing. Then down the stretch they need to get a stop and find a way to get a field goal kicked.
There was accountability among the coaches and players. “There wasn’t a lot of finger pointing.” They know there’s still a lot of football ahead of them. There’s a feeling that there were some things they could’ve done differently that would’ve changed the game.
Not everybody that was injured in the game will be back. Josh Simmons and Will Kacmarek “will be a while.”
Is there a call for a quick snap to avoid a review? “Yeah, you don’t want to leave it up to chance. You don’t want the cops up there looking at it.” It doesn’t matter how many yards you get.
“It’s okay to get down” immediately after a loss like that. It’s going to hurt, but at some point you’ve got to move on. It’s not a game they will reference a ton, but it’s always going to be in the back of their minds.
Practices after losses are often chippy. “We’re all edgy. That’s the way it should be.” It has been like that all year. This is not a wakeup call. They know what they need to do to win those games — win the turnovers, win the rushing battle, limit explosive plays.
Who would’ve thought Josh Simmons would go down that early in the game. Zen Michalski stepped up and played well. “We’re gonna go with Zen right now.” Donovan Jackson could be an option. Tegra Tshabola could as well, along with George Fitzpatrick.
The practice right now has been on focus and fundamentals. A lot of young guys getting work this week since it is an off week.
Did Oregon give you any looks or plays you hadn’t seen? Not really. They had some formational changes, which comes back to fundamentals for the defense. “They had a good plan coming into it, but it wasn’t like a bunch of stuff that caught us off guard. We just need to execute better.”
“The real issues don’t typically come out until you play a matchup game like we just did.”
They have addressed getting plays in quicker on the road on defense. “You gotta get lined up.”
TreVeyon Henderson ran hard. There were maybe two runs he’d like to have back. They were setting a tone early with the running game, then the fumble happened.
Did you think about calling a timeout before the squib kick? They practiced that kind of kick a bunch, including last week. “We were prepared for it. You worry about the bunt, but then you also have to be ready for the line drive.” The kid really drilled one right at Caleb Downs and it bounced right back to the Ducks. No timeout would have prepared them anymore than they already were. Gotta try to reduce your surface area more next time.
“Emeka’s been great. Emeka’s been clutch.” He gives you flexibility and can line up anywhere. He stresses a defense. He’s been a “really good” influence on Jeremiah Smith. Jeremiah is already very mature for his age, but to have a mentor like Emeka, “it’s tremendous.”
There was a good balance throughout the night on offense. They established the run a bit early on, then threw the ball downfield well in the second half. There was a good mix.
The dropped snap by Will Howard: his eyes were on the rush. The snap was fine, he just didn’t handle it.
On the NCAA rule change on the 12-man penalty: Not sure how much it really had an affect on the play, but “I do think the right thing to do is to put the time back on the clock.” Day asked if the refs could’ve blown the whistle, but was told no, only if they did it in back-to-back snaps.
A bunch of coaches will be out recruiting and then everybody will be out tomorrow. Day will be able to watch his son play in Cincinnati and do some recruiting down there as well.
Will Howard threw some nice passes in the red zone and on third downs.
Any discussion about going for two after the last touchdown? “At that moment I felt like it was still early.” There was a lot of game left. If that was the fourth quarter with nine minutes left, they’d probably go for it. They felt like there was going to be more scoring going on. If there wasn’t much scoring going on, then you think harder about going for it in the third quarter.
On the TD run by Dillon Gabriel: They need to close the line of scrimmage faster. There was too much room in there. They need to eat up the air and close down those gaps.
What’s the encouragement to the team this weekend: Get a way a little bit. Get off your feet. “Get a little bit of a reset on your mind.” There’s a long stretch coming up. Today will be the last practice, but they’ll be back on Sunday and do some things tomorrow as well.