With Ohio State's season opener finally in the books, Ryan Day made his first media appearance of the week on the Buckeye Roundtable show to recap the first game against Nebraska and look ahead to this week's road trip to Penn State.
A quick roundup of what Ohio State's head coach had to say during his weekly Q&A with the Ohio State IMG Sports Network on Monday evening:
- Day said he thought Saturday's 52-17 win was “a fairly clean game, considering all that's gone on.” Said he thought the Buckeyes tackled well for the most part after the couple defensive series, and they mostly avoided turnovers and penalties.
- Justin Fields took some sacks that he probably shouldn't have on Saturday, but Day said extending plays is a big part of his game and he doesn't want to take that away from him. “I think there are times when he goes to extend that he could probably keep his eyes downfield a little bit more.”
- Day said he thought Ohio State's running backs did a good job in protection. He thought the running backs were feeling things out early, but as the game progressed, he thought they gained more confidence running the ball.
- Day said he thought Nebraska came in with a “good plan on both sides of the ball early on,” but “our guys didn't panic“ and the Buckeyes adjusted, ultimately scoring 38 of the game's final 41 points.
- Day said Ohio State doesn't typically see many looks like they saw from Nebraska with its 2-5 defensive front on Saturday, but you expect to see some unique looks in the first game of the year.
- On young players/backups getting in the game late: “To even have those guys get any snaps was a bonus, and some of them opened some eyes.”
- Day said one of the biggest challenges for the young wide receivers was to see how tough they were, and he thought “for the most part, they did a good job,” though they “need to do a much better job blocking on the perimeter.”
- On Haskell Garrett's return: “That was a pretty amazing story, how that all played out, and give a lot of credit to Haskell. But also our medical people, I think, and our personnel, have done a tremendous job. And I just have to think to myself, if this had happened anywhere else ... maybe it wouldn't have been as fast ... he was able to get care right away.”
- Day said his “biggest disappointment” on Saturday was that the Buckeyes didn't get to hear the roar of the crowd after Sevyn Banks' defensive touchdown made it 38-14, which he thought was the “checkmate” play of the game. Day said this is a big season for Banks, who thinks he has a lot of riding on this season, his third year at Ohio State.
- On Penn State: “When you look at the film, other than the scoreboard, they outplayed Indiana ... it just got away from them, but they're good. They're good really in all areas.” Day said that even though Saturday night's game won't be a White Out, it's still a “big challenge” going on the road, so “we gotta have a great week of practice.”
