Presser Bullets: Ryan Day Disagrees With Pass Interference Call Against Jeremiah Smith But Says "It Shouldn't Come Down to One Play," Josh Simmons Likely Out for Season

The nature of a one-point game is that there's a long list of plays that could swing it one way or another. But for Ohio State to be in that situation to start with isn't acceptable to Ryan Day.

Following the No. 2 Buckeyes' 32-31 loss at No. 3 Oregon, Day voiced his displeasure with an offensive pass interference call against Jeremiah Smith that knocked Ohio State out of field goal range on its final drive but said the game shouldn't have come down to such a play. He felt there were too many mistakes, including blown coverages, penalties and turnovers where the Buckeyes hurt themselves.

On the injury front, Ohio State starting left tackle Josh Simmons "doesn't look great" to return this season after being carted off the field with an apparent left leg injury. The Buckeyes will have to address the big plays they allowed on defense, Day added.

Ryan Day felt the offensive pass interference against Jeremiah Smith on Ohio State’s final drive was a bad call, but felt the Buckeyes shouldn’t have left it up to that. “But it shouldn’t come down to one play, I’ve said that before. ... You put it in the hands of a call, that’s on us. ... We’ve got to do a better job of handling those situations and doing a better job overall, just too many explosive plays on the defensive side.”
There were several reasons for Ohio State’s defeat, Day said, but “There were some long throws down the field where they got behind us. ... It was more than just one thing. ... We’ve got to play better.”
On reasons for the loss: “We talk about, ‘Take care of the football.’ ... To turn the ball over and give it to them in plus-territory, that was a big play in the game. ... We kept fighting. We kept hanging in there. ... Couldn’t quite get the stops when we needed to and didn’t finish it. ... We can sit here an look at one play here, one there. We’re not gonna do that. We’re gonna own it. We’re gonna get it fixed.”
On the big plays allowed on defense: “It starts with coaching. We’ve gotta coach it better, demand it better and drill it better in practice.”
On injury updates: “The injury to Josh Simmons hurt. Zen did a good job of coming in and competing. ... I’ll have to get the update on Simmons, but it doesn’t look great in terms of him being able to come back this season.”
Day added that tight end Will Kacmarek was also injured.
On whether the defense shoulders the blame for the loss: “You hate to point fingers ... this is a team loss. The offense had a chance to go in and finish it off at the end and it didn’t happen. ... You take a brutal penalty like that, it pushes you back.”
Day said Ohio State shot itself in the foot too many times. “Some false starts there that hurt and that’s ultimately things that we can’t accept. ... I thought guys kept fighting, guys kept swinging. ... This one hurts, it does hurt. ... Give Oregon credit, they played well, but there’s too many things that we didn’t do well.”
On Will Howard’s performance: “He was fighting until the end. ... He’ll be hard on himself, but he was competing all the way to the end. Made some big-time throws to get us into field goal range.”

Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, quarterback Will Howard and linebacker Cody Simon also met with reporters after the contest and you can see what they had to say in the videos below.