Earlier this week, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day complimented Marshall head coach Charles Huff for the program he runs in Huntington, West Virginia.
"They have good players," Day said on Buckeye Roundtable. "They had a week off as well, and they're gonna come in here and play physical."
In a nine-minute press conference on Wednesday, Day continued to call the Herd a powerful, strong football team with talent on offense and defense. He also provided updates on Will Howard, Seth McLaughlin, Donovan Jackson and more.
Here are all the news and notes from Day's media session:
- Day on having a better understanding of third-down efficiency, fourth-down efficiency and other advanced statistics this season: "It's pretty much on par with where we've been. I've got some pretty good feedback on some things last year. I feel like we were right where we needed to be. ... I thought it would be a good idea to have the weekly reports with what's gone on in the NFL and what's gone on in college. ... There's a lot that comes with it. ... It's been great. Another resource to bounce ideas off of. ... We're prepared for different situations."
- Day on who will be Ohio State's No. 1 kick returner against Marshall: "We've got Brandon (Inniss) back there a little bit this week. He and JB (Jayden Ballard) were back there. ... They'll probably both still return kicks, but who takes the first one will probably be decided tomorrow."
- On Howard and and McLaughlin: "They're not newcomers anymore. They're veterans."
- On how Ohio State has performed in practice so far this week: "Yesterday was a dynamite practice. Today was a hard practice, but it wasn't all perfect. But we put another brick in the foundation. ... The intensity was good today. ... It was a good day for us to get on the field, get some work in, push through it. ... Noon will come fast (on Saturday)."
- On Joe McGuire, Ohio State's depth at punter: "We're looking to get those other guys some reps when we can. ... They've done a good job in practice. They have kicked well in practice. Joey's done a good job in practice, too, though."
- On Ohio State's offensive line, the return of Jackson: "I think there's a little bit of confidence being built there coming off the last game. ... I thought the offensive line had one of their better practices on Tuesday. ... We're an athletic group up there."
- On Jackson: "Leader, experienced, communicates well — to me, the best guard in the country. ... This is a guy that's played a lot of football, one of the best in the game."
- On Huff, the head coach's Tudor's NIL comment "I have a lot of respect for him. I think he's very thorough in his approach. ... I thought the way he handled that was great. Sometimes, as coaches, we take ourselves too seriously. I thought he had a great moment there. ,,, They're a good team. He's a good coach. ... We got to be ready for them."
- On whether he received feedback from the Big Ten about Denzel Burke's targeting call and ejection: "Yeah, I did. I don't think I'm at liberty to speak about that. I don't want to get myself jammed up. ... I can promise you there's nobody on our team that's looking to lead with their head when they tackle."
- On George Fitzpatrick and Zen Michalski: "George and Zen are putting in good days. ... We got to keep pushing those guys, getting them reps. ... They got to keep coming, too. We got to keep challenging them. We need that."
