Ohio State's first chapter of the 2024 season has been written.
Following a 52-6 win over Akron that featured more first-half clunkiness than that score might indicate, Ryan Day met with the Ohio State media to discuss the offense's slow start and second-half response and a breakout performance from freshman Jeremiah Smith.
Day also felt that Will Howard showed "poise" and mostly good decision-making in his first game and that Joe McGuire's week of practice and overall consistency led to him starting at punter. Ohio State also hopes to get both Cody Simon and Donovan Jackson back this week.
- Day opened by saying it was a "great crowd" in Ohio Stadium on Saturday and gave another shoutout to the impact Archie Griffin's had on and off the field. "I just have so much respect for what he's done."
- On Will Howard's performance: "I'm gonna watch the film and make that determination. I thought he had pretty good poise the whole day, took pretty good care of the football outside that one decision. ... I felt like early on, the three inside guys (on the offensive line), they hadn't played (at Ohio State). ... I think they were a little worked up. ... I think (in the second half) we started to loosen up and have some fun."
- On Smith: "You can see the talent, and we're gonna play right through just about all of it. ... Sometimes you look at him and you don't even think he's quite human. But he is."
- Day felt that Smith showed good maturity in playing through an early drop and an early penalty. "He's built different. He is. ... Typically someone with that type of talent doesn't have the discipline and focus that he has. ... He did a great job settling in."
- On how he grades the run game: "It looked much better in the second half. I just think there were some things off on the interior."
- On the defense creating three turnovers and multiple sacks against Akron: "It was great. ... We tightened up some coverage a little bit and made (the quarterback) hold onto the ball a couple of times. ... Ball disruption is something we spent a lot of time on this offseason."
- On Sonny Styles being ready to slide to Mike linebacker against Akron: "We're hoping to get Cody back this week. ... (Styles) is very conscientious, very smart.
- Donovan Jackson will hopefully be ready to go next week and could have played Saturday if absolutely needed, Day said.
- Joe McGuire had a significantly better week of practice leading into Akron, which is why he started at punter.
- Day said it's key for the defensive line to continue trusting its technique and playing fast to create negative plays. "Some of those plays are just flat-out effort."
Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith, Will Howard, Lathan Ransom and Denzel Burke also spoke with the media after the win and you can see what they had to say in the videos provided below.
