Ryan Day Reflects On 31-7 Wrigley Field Victory Over Northwestern

CHICAGO — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day spoke with reporters following the Buckeyes’ 31-7 win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field. He discussed the defensive adjustments, Will Howard’s play, the emotions of Carnell Tate’s big game, and much more. The highlights of everything that was said can be found below.

Struggled getting off the field on third down on the first drive. Didn’t expect them to run the ball on that first third-and-long.
Northwestern controlled the ball early in the game. They thought about taking the ball if they won the toss because they felt that was a possibility with how much the Wildcats were going to bleed the clock.
What turned the defense around: “I just think we got off the field on third down.”
Chicago-native Carnell Tate isn’t somebody who talks about himself and what he’s been through, but everybody knows he lost his mom and he doesn’t show that every day. “The game doesn’t care but we do.” The way he’s handled himself is an example to everybody. He had over 25 people here watching him.
On pushing the ball downfield: got the playmakers involved in space. They want to stretch the ball vertically and horizontally. “We have the combination of getting completions and throwing the ball downfield…” then they started cracking the run game and Chip Kelly did a good job of sticking with that.
Would’ve liked to see them finish the fourth quarter better.
How has the defense responded since the Oregon game: “Weve got some really big games ahead of us.” Gotten better at getting to the quarterback and playing fundamentally. Each week is a new season.
On the running game in the second half: Northwestern does a great job against the run, that’s why they were pushing the ball downfield. Will Howard did a nice job of checking it down when the deep stuff wasn’t there. The running game takes time in certain games.
On the CB rotation, what went into that decision: “We did it last week too and we’ll continue to do that.” It’s appropriate to play depth, so they want to do it. It’s healthy for them.
Sonny Styles growth: “We need Sonny to be as productive as he was today.” He can do it in man coverage and zone coverage. You saw him get after the quarterback today. Tried to drill doing a better job of getting the QB when you have a free run at him — that’s for the entire defense. That work is paying off.
On being on the other side of this two-game stretch: The truth is, you lose this game here and you’re out of the big Ten Championship game. “Everything you do is hard in the Big Ten.”
Northwestern had a week to game plan, so they knew they’d get their best shot. They did a nice job early on. “Kind of a business-like win.”
Day is now 47-0 against unranked opponents: The consistency of each game is key. Make it about the process and not your opponent. The coaching staff has embraced that. The leaders have embraced that.
Been working on QB footwork. It was better this week.
They expected to have a great presence in the crowd They felt that when they were driving around Wrigleyville. The people were fired up early on. They were coming out of the bars after opening at 7 am. They wanted to give the fans something to be fired up about.