Rose Bowl celebrations are over. It's on to the next round of the College Football Playoff for Ohio State, a semifinal date with Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
Two days after a triumphant 41-21 win over Oregon and one week before the Buckeyes meet the Longhorns, Ryan Day met with the media on Friday to preview the matchup and discuss what went right – and even what went wrong – against the Ducks.
Moving forward, however, part of the motivation for the Buckeyes is the opportunity to play another week of football together. Day expressed multiple times in his press conference the love for each other and passion for football that has the team hungry to get two more games instead of one with a win over Texas.
Longhorn quarterback Quinn Ewers spent one fall at Ohio State as a freshman before transferring to Texas, and Day said Ewers has had a "great career" since that move. The coach doesn't feel any bad blood, however, instead saying that Ewers still has "great relationships" in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
A full bullet-point recap of what Day had to say:
- In opening, Day expressed excitement to play in the Cotton Bowl. "It's gonna be a great environment and we're very excited to play in the game."
- Day said stepping away from play-calling has been a big boost for him to address the issues facing his team. "Been able to step away from the team and look at things with a wider lens, and that's certainly been big this season."
- On Texas' run game struggles: "I look at their offensive line, the coaches, the running backs and I know that they're very talented. ... I have a tremendous amount of respect for (Texas coach Steve Sarkisian) and the way he designs his offenses, calls the game."
- On keeping the same "edge" heading into the semifinals now that the team is national title favorites: "I mentioned it to the team the other day. ... Nothing that's happened in the past or anything around the building has anything to do with our focus, our preparation and our process. ... One thing that does motivate the guys is the opportunity to play another week together. ... We're banking on this to be our best football this season, but these guys, they care a lot about each other."
- On Will Howard: "Even with somebody who's experienced like he is ... you're in a new offense. ... His job is to be the No. 1 leader on the team and on the field and the team is going to take on his personality. ... His footwork is on time, he's able to time some things up ... you're seeing him play really good football."
- Day said he loved the fast start Ohio State got off to but wants to see better play in the middle eight minutes of the game. "We've always wanted to have fast starts. ... Both games we've started off with the ball and we've gone right down and scored. Execution fuels emotion. ... We've been able to jump on the last two opponents, but we also know when we get into halftime, we've got to do a great job coming out of the second half."
- It will be important for the team to rely on its leaders to stay focused through the process of preparation for the Cotton Bowl. "It isn't always easy to stay locked in for this long of a time. And I think the team that can do that ... is going to give themselves the best chance to win."
- Between last year's Cotton Bowl and Day's interim head coaching game against TCU there in 2018, there's some familiarity with the stadium for coach and team. "There's a lot of history there. I don't think that has anything to do with anything ... but it's a great venue."
- Asked a question about the success of Ohio State’s offense by a reporter named Jeremiah Smith, Day quipped: “We’ll just keep throwing it to you.”
- On Quinn Ewers as a recruit and then now: "He was one of the first eighth-graders that I ever offered. ... I saw a young boy at the time who had a tremendous release. ... He decided to come in the middle of preseason camp ... C.J. Stroud had a tremendous season (in 2021) he decided he wanted to play. ... He's had a great career at Texas. A lot of people here still have great relationships with him."
- On Donovan Jackson: "In terms of his leadership, he's been extraordinary. ... He battled his tail off. And all those throws that Will had an opportunity to push down the field is because of the protection of the offensive line."
- More on Ewers' on-field acumen: "I think his talent of throwing the ball is just off the chart. He just flicks his wrist and it's very accruate. ... One of the best quarterbacks in the country, so it's going to be a challenge for our defense."
- Day said the trip back from the Rose Bowl was filled with passionate football talk. "They were talking about football the entire ride. ... They just love ball. They love playing together. ... You can see it in the way that they're playing."
- On kicker Jayden Fielding after a 2-for-2 performance against Oregon: "I think that's going to build confidence for him going into these last two games. ... We did have a kicking competition going into (the Tennessee game), he handled that well. ... Good to see him put two through."
- Day said Ohio State's better defensive performance against Oregon is a credit to Jim Knowles and his staff, but also the veteran savvy of its players. "It's a staff that's grown, but it's also a lot of players who have grown and stuck together and played a lot of football together now. ... You might have some talent, but when you have some guys who have played a lot of football ... when you have older guys that have seen those things, they react quickly to it."
- On the play of the defensive line: "We talk about coverage and rush working together, and although we had eight sacks in the game, some of those should go to the secondary. ... We knew that at some point they were going to try us at corner, and those guys held up. ... I thought we did a great job of disrupting the passing game by getting our hands on some balls up front. ... When the defensive line can stop the run the way that they did ... the defensive line certainly did their job in this game."
- On the offensive line: "I thought they competed. ... I loved the attitude, I loved the effort, I loved the intensity. ... That's the passion that we need and it starts with the offensive line."
- On the turnaround since the Michigan loss: "We have learned a lot. I don't like to look back, but you learn a lot about yourself when you go through tough times. ... It's about how you respond. And I think our guys have recognized how we've responded as a team and individually."
