Ryan Day Updates: Buckeyes Readying For Wrigley Field

COLUMBUS — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with reporters for his weekly Tuesday media session. He discussed film review of the win over Purdue, the upcoming trip to Wrigley Field to face Northwestern, and a number of personnel topics as well. The highlights of everything that was said can be found below.

On playing at Wrigley Field: It’s got great tradition. He grew up going to Fenway Park and seeing great games in that stadium. He’s been to Cubs games before. It’s got a great vibe in the area. Excited for Buckeye Nation to get to experience it. He’s been a part of teams that have played at Yankee Stadium. It’s a different feel but it’s 100 yards of football field. They are practicing on the grass this week.
TreVeyon Henderson is running very well. With power. Playing well without the football. He can do damage inside and outside and in pass protection. He and Quinshon Judkins are a great example of what it means to be unselfish. They are not worried about touches. Their goal is to win. When you have that attitude, usually you find a way to win.
On finishing strong: What they’ve done leading up to this point has nothing to do with what they do moving forward. It’s all about what they do moving forward. They need to be continue focusing on consistency and build new wrinkles, while also allowing your players to play extremely fast. “It’s November. We want to be undefeated in November.”
Too many noon games for you guys? Doesn’t matter when or where they tell them to play, “we’re gonna put the football down and go play.” They go to bed earlier on Friday nights for noon games.
What do noon games do to make recruiting visits more difficult? The time of game can sometimes affect who can make it from out of state at times.
Gee Scott, Jr. probably couldn’t have conjured up the journey that he’s been on as a Buckeye. “I’m proud of who he’s become as a young man.” That’s part of the job of being a coach. He graded out a champion last week. He’s made an impact on this team and in the offense. He helps teammates work through things emotionally.
Carson Hinzman was solid against Purdue. He has taken the next step at guard. They faced a lot of Bear front, so you have to sustain your blocks longer. He came out of it healthy, which is good. There is a lot he can learn from Seth McLaughlin. Not just the technical parts but also the preparation and the practice habits. Being resilient and persevering through good times and bad times. Navigating through all of that with confidence and not losing your aggressiveness.
There was good parts of Eddrick Houston’s first start. Obviously the one bad penalty was part of it. Didn’t quite grade out a champion.
It’s good having Maurice Clarett around the program. He’s overcome a lot in his life and he’s an example of perseverance. He’s at practice once a week. He brings credibility and a toughness and the team likes him.
Deep passing is about timing and footwork. Sometimes Will Howard’s been late with his feet. “I think it comes down to footwork and letting it go.”
They are always providing feedback to the turf company on slipping on the practice field and Ohio Stadium’s field. They have made some changes here and there to try and remedy some issues.
You need changeups offensively but you still have to have your identity. The staff has done a good job of finding that balance. “We’ve got a good balance right now but time will tell.”
How comfortable are you with the backup quarterback situation? They want to get those guys as many reps as they can. They wanted to give Julian Sayin a third-and-long situation because he hasn’t had an opportunity. They wanted to throw it a bit and they just couldn’t get it connecting. Devin Brown is the backup “but Julian is pushing hard.”
On playing Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson playing together on the field: Henderson has worked hard on his receiving skills. He has spent years working on that route down the sideline. “The look was right and he executed it well.” When you have guys who play well without the football in their hands, it gives you more versatility to expand those packages.
The back story on the new tradition with bricks: When you start a season with so many guys returning with a long focus, you have to get them to understand that the days in June, July, August all matter. You have to build the foundation. “We knew that there were going to be storms along the way.” All of the bricks they’ve put in the foundation will be what matters the most. You don’t just show up and play in a game. You put in the work and build the foundation. After each practice, they hand somebody a brick and that player goes and puts the brick in the foundation. But they have to put it in their right. This was Day’s idea.
Jordan Hancock has allowed the defense to be more versatile and also build depth. He can play multiple positions. It provides the defense more options. His skill set allows him to play nickel and safety now and down the road.
On the return of the Jack: When Tyleik Williams was questionable, they felt that this was an option for them because it removes a tackle from the game. They will continue to look at it because it creates different spacing and allows them to be aggressive. “We’ll see how it fits moving forward.” There were some good things but they’ll build on it.
On not having enough Heisman hype at OSU: Sometimes it just comes down to statistics, which is unfortunate. This team is worried about winning. That’s it.
He is more willing now to do some in-game experimenting because you have a veteran team and you have enough reps doing what you know what to do. But you can’t let it be a distraction away from what you do best. Coming off of the Penn State game, he was adamant that they need to play more depth. Even if that’s a pregame decision for the third series or whatever. They played depth in this game. You never know when those reps will come in handy.
“Our offensive plays are significantly lower this year.” They are down on number of plays, which isn’t always easy for guys who want touches. Huddling allows them to avoid signals and having them stolen. They still will go no-huddle at times. When it’s appropriate, they will do it again. Fewer plays makes situational football much more critical.
They talk about staying focused a lot. The leaders have to lead the way on that. They know they need to play their best football the rest of the way out. You can’t have a letdown after a big win. You have to sustain it. “Is it who you are or is it just something you did?” Every week is like the playoffs right now because they are fighting to get to Indianapolis.
Always had good games against Northwestern. The last trip out there was a tough weather day. Played them in the Big Ten Championship Game. This team is very similar to those teams. They are sound and built from the inside out. They will force you to earn it.
Donovan Jackson keeps increasing his value to this team and his future as an offensive line. He can be a tackle. He has good feet and is athletic. He just doesn’t have the multiple years of playing tackle.
Looking like 10-15 mph winds at Wrigley: “Okay. Good.” The winds were a nightmare at Ryan Field two years ago.
Tyleik Williams is ready to go.
They will go to Wrigley Field on Friday just to get a look at everything and look at the field and how they’re going to handle halftime (in the bullpen, not locker room). They generally don’t do that but this is unique.