With the first Big Ten game of the season in the books and one more non-conference game to go, Ohio State coach Ryan Day returned to the airwaves of the Ohio State IMG Sports Network on Monday evening to review Saturday's 51-10 win over Indiana and look ahead to the fourth game of the year against Miami (Ohio) on the Buckeye Roundtable show.
As the Buckeyes begin their week of preparation for this Saturday's game at Ohio Stadium (3:30 p.m., BTN), Day discussed what went well that allowed Ohio State to roll to another dominant win against the Hoosiers and explained what he still wants to see from team this week against the RedHawks.
A quick bullet-point recap of what Day had to say:
- Day said he thought the Buckeyes' effort, toughness and tackling were "excellent" in Saturday's game. Said he still thought the Buckeyes' attention to detail and a few other things could have been better.
- Day said the Buckeyes tried to keep their routine as consistent as possible with their first two games, even though it was a road game, because it was their third straight noon game and only a short flight to Bloomington. He thought the coaches and players did a good job handling the challenge of going on the road.
- As he said since the preseason, Day reiterated that toughness remains a "huge point of emphasis" for the Buckeyes. "We've proven that we can play tough, but now we have to continue to do it." He is pleased with how the Buckeyes have tackled and owned the line of scrimmage.
- On Ohio State's wide receivers: "They've done a good job of continuing the tradition that the guys set here in the past." Said K.J. Hill is the leader of the receiver group, Austin Mack and Binjimen Victor are also providing senior leadership and Day is pleased with how Chris Olave has stepped up. Said they still have to prove their ability to make contested catches, which they haven't had to do much in the first three games.
- Day said with a laugh that getting a safety on Olave's punt block was "actually the worst-case scenario" because the Buckeyes only got two points out of it instead of putting them in position for a touchdown. Said the punt block was a huge momentum boost, though, and said Teradja Mitchell and Austin Mack also deserved credit for attacking the punter's shield to set Olave up to make the block.
