Ohio State's “improvement week” is underway.
Though there aren't many nits to pick from the Buckeyes' 56-0 victory over Western Michigan, Ohio State's coaching staff will find plenty of fine details to iron out before the team rounds out its nonconference schedule with Marshall in 12 days.
During his weekly appearance on 97.1 The Fan's Buckeye Roundtable show, Day praised his team's effort against Western Michigan, particularly in the area of blocking. He also said that Ty Hamilton proved “disruptive” against the Broncos and dove into Ohio State's approach to its first bye week.
- On what areas the team is working to improve on: "Each week teams improve, and we have to improve as well. ... We've just played two games, we just want to stay in the rhythm of a game week as best we can."
- On Defensive Player of the Game Ty Hamilton and Special Teams Player of the Game Lorenzo Styles Jr.: "Ty Hamilton really had a challenge, their center was a guy that was a projected draft pick. ... He got after him early on ... was very disruptive. Lorenzo Styles made a really nice play on kickoff, he had 22 plays on special teams, was really fast." Day said Styles’ special teams performance could lead to more playing time on defense: “He’s earned that right.”
- Day again praised Will Howard's smart decision to throw the ball away when he came under pressure: "We have to be realistic in analyzing a game like what happened on Saturday and recognize the things that, in a matchup game, one play or two plays can cost you a game. ... That was a first-down play, we were able to get into the end zone."
- On this week's practice schedule, as the Buckeyes will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: "We came in yesterday and went through the film, put that to bed. ... Each coach has got to really give some feedback to each of the players on what they need to improve on. ... We won't practice on Friday or Saturday, rest a little bit."
- On what he's seen from the entirety of the roster in practice: "Everybody's engaged. I felt like we had a really good week of practice. ... Across the board, it was a good week of practice. ... Depth is important like we talked about, so we'll make sure we keep hammering that with our guys."
- On second-level and downfield blocking: "The effort was exceptional on Saturday, and we have to continue that. It has to be who we are. ... Some of the efforts were excellent on the perimeter, guys sprinting downfield, blocking downfield. ... Same thing on defense, guys were flying around."
- Day agreed that it was "fun" to see his offense run up-tempo as much as it did. "Watching the film was fun. It was. Guys were getting in the end zone, celebrating together. ... Guys were playing with passion, and that's the way the game is supposed to be played. ... We'll decide based on game plan what the right tempo is."
