Following a dominant Ohio State performance in a 59-7 win over Akron, Ryan Day and several other Buckeyes took the podium to address members of the media.
For a full breakdown of everything Day and company said after closing out the non-conference portion of their schedule with a victory Saturday, here's a bullet-point list highlighting the most noteworthy moments from the post-game presser.
Ryan Day
- "First off I want to thank the crowd." Day says he could tell the fans were having fun Saturday.
- On the K'Vaughan Pope situation, Day says he'll "get the details" before saying anything final on the matter.
- Day says he "has a hard time" with the Dallas Gant transfer, because he felt like a commitment was made to the team. However, Day says in today's day and age, guys can transfer before four games in order to preserve a season of eligibility.
- On the quarterback play: "I thought there were some things that were OK, I thought there were some things we needed to clean up."
- Day says McCord does an "excellent job" preparing, but says the game was moving "pretty fast for him early on."
- On creating a potential quarterback controversy: "From the beginning I've said we need all three." Day called tonight a "great learning experience" for Miller and McCord.
- Day says the Buckeyes' "confidence built up" as the game wore on and found a rhythm of the game. Day says Ronnie Hickman is building "a little bit of a reputation for playing really good football." Names Cody Simon as another guy.
- Day told Kyle McCord to "take a deep breath" after making some mistakes.
- Will C.J. Stroud play next week? Day says "we'll kind of see that tomorrow, see how he's doing. Seems today like he's feeling stronger."
- On the Pope situation, Day says a lot of guys want to play, but "you can't play everybody and frustration kicks in." Day thinks it's a "very isolated" situation.
- Day says Tyleik Williams stood out to him, and names Mike Hall, Lathan Ransom as Buckeyes that played hard against Akron.
- Day says all three of the Buckeye QBs "do a lot of thinking" and can sometimes "overthink" things.
- On not being able to comment on Pope, Day says "I just got off the field."
DT Antwuan Jackson, RG Paris Johnson, WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
- Smith-Njigba thought McCord "stepped up to the challenge and made some big throws."
- Smith-Njigba says Stroud has been the same leader this week as he would've been if he had started the game.
- Jackson says the Buckeye defensive line "showed what it could do" after Larry Johnson challenged it this week.
- Paris Johnson says the offensive line takes a lot of pride in keeping quarterbacks clean.
- How did the veterans set the tone on the D-line? Jackson reiterates that Larry Johnson "got on" his unit this week about bringing pressure.
- Smith-Njigba says he likes the jet sweep passes because he can "do whatever with it," and said they helped build momentum for McCord tonight.
- Paris Johnson says it was a "good feeling" seeing the team come together to make plays on Saturday.
- Smith-Njigba thinks McCord "stepped up in a big way."
- Paris Johnson says "nobody was worried about" McCord's shaky drive to start off the game.
DT Haskell Garrett, LB Steele Chambers, OL Matt Jones
- Garrett says he stopped counting the team's sacks, but that the group played "undeniable defense tonight."
- Garrett says this game was great for building confidence in the young guys, and that he's now confident in them as well.
- Chambers says he's just "doing his job" at LB, and thinks the defense is building momentum after the past two weeks.
- Garrett on Pope: "I don't really want to get into that." Chambers says he "doesn't really know what happened" with Pope.
- On Tyleik Williams, Garrett says "I'm really excited for what he has to bring to the table to the D-line and the future."
- Garrett says the Buckeyes didn't hone in on Akron this week, but honed in on themselves instead.
- Jones on getting comfortable in a starting role on the O-line: "I feel like today was another step of building."
- Garrett says the Buckeye D-line played "relentless" on Saturday.
- Garrett: Ohio State O-line "is the best in the business, in my opinion." Says "iron sharpens iron."
- Jones says there was "no doubt in my mind" that Kyle McCord would step up and play well in his first start.
