Now that all the luster and emotion of a College Football Playoff semifinal victory over Texas has settled, there's one more job for Ohio State to complete.
The Buckeyes will meet Notre Dame on Jan. 20 in the CFP national championship game. Ryan Day met with the media to preview the matchup for the first time on Sunday, and his focus went straight to preparation for the Fighting Irish.
Ohio State got hit with nine penalties against Texas in its 28-14 win over the Longhorns in the CFP semifinals, and that's the top issue Day is eager to address with his team entering their bout with the Fighting Irish. Day didn’t want to spend too much time reflecting on that game, though, saying that his team's story will only be told if it beats Notre Dame.
- In his opening statement, Day said it's an honor to represent Ohio State in the national championship. "Certainly a great opponent in Notre Dame, our players are excited about preparation. ... We have to wipe the slate clean and have a great week of preparation."
- On the Buckeyes' nine penalties against Texas: "We're disappointed in the fact that we really let five drives get away with penalties. ... Self-inflicted and we feel like we need to play our best game in this game. There's nobody who came back on offense and was pleased with the fact that we had those nine penalties. ... We turned the ball over once and had those four drives that got behind the sticks, those holding calls."
- On Jeremiah Smith being limited to one catch and how Texas defended him: "When you look at it, it's a little bit more execution than it is anything else. ... We weren't able to sustain a few of those drives and connect on a couple plays. ... They're gonna mix it up, but ultimately, at the end of the day, we've gotta execute at a high level and continue to move the ball down the field. ... There's different ways for teams to adjust. ... To me, the story of this game for us on offense was self-inflicted wounds ... that's gonna be the focus this week."
- Day said an upper-body injury prompted Jermaine Mathews Jr. to play the entire second half at cornerback for Denzel Burke. "He'll be available for the next game, he was dealing with an upper extremity issue that we felt it was the right thing to do at the time to hold him. And Jermaine was playing well."
- On Mathews: "Jermaine's done a good job and I think everybody trusts the fact that when he goes in the game, he's gonna do his job. ... I felt like he played well, he graded out a champion and he's a very competitive player."
- On adjusting as Texas tried to take away Smith: "The ultimate goal is to score points and move the ball. There's a lot of things that come into play. We want balance. ... You did see Carnell (Tate) get targeted a lot more. ... When you have weapons across the board it's a little bit harder to take something away. ... Other than the penalties that set us back, there was a lot of good play."
- Day said Texas hopped into cover three and Ohio State didn't do a good job selling play-action on Will Howard's interception. "I think if he had a little bit more time he would have worked his way out to the field. ... There's a lot that went into that play ... we could have done a better job with our pads."
- Day said Burke's removal from the game was not based on performance.
- On the staff's evaluation of Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard in the transfer portal: "He's a great athlete, he's got a great mindset. ... The toughness and the leadership that he brings, you can tell that the offense and the entire team feeds off of him."
- On the level Caleb Downs and Lathan Ransom are playing at: "That's all the preparation and work that gets done in the meeting rooms. ... Both of those guys are playing at a high level and fast."
- On chasing the Jack Sawyer scoop-and-score down the sideline: "You can almost see it happening in front of you, this is one of the great plays that will go down in Buckeye history. ... The happiest I've been in a long time. ... It's all focus on this game."
- Day said he and Lou Holtz have not talked since their tiff last season.
- Day reiterated that the team can't stay in the past with what's been accomplished and must focus on what's ahead. "There will be time to tell this story after the season, but the only way to tell that story is if we win. That's the sobering reality."
