Defense is the focus in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
When Ryan Day was asked Monday on 97.1 the Fan's Buckeye Roundtable show which side of the ball he spent more time with during the bye week, Day’s response was succinct.
“The defense,” Day replied.
With Ohio State's second and final bye week come and gone to address issues that arose during the team's 32-31 loss to Oregon, Day and the Buckeyes have been drilling down on what the Buckeyes can do to better themselves defensively.
“Everyone's working in here, and we're all looking to get better. But yeah, for certain, that's an area that I’ve really been spending more time during the last week with and making sure that we're addressing the things that we got beat with in the game,” Day said.
With rumors circulating about Lathan Ransom suffering an injury last week in practice and Quinshon Judkins undergoing a hand procedure last week, Day also said that all injured players outside offensive tackle Josh Simmons and tight end Will Kacmarek are “day-to-day” and that Judkins has been practicing.
Day is encouraged as he has been all season by the vocal leadership of his team, but said that there's a time to "talk" and a time to "do" and now "it's about taking action" for Ohio State.
A full recap of what Day had to say:
- On whether the team begins game-planning early when it has a bye: "You're coming together and you're identifying the things that you need to get fixed. ... Then as we closer toward the end of the week, we start to approach Nebraska."
- Day said the team did do a bit of self-scouting to identify its strengths and weaknesses. "A little bit of a self-scout, you want to see what you've done and if you've done it well. ... I think those are all things to consider."
- On which side of the ball he spent more time with during the bye week: "The defense."
- On why he spent more time with the defense: "Everyone's working in here and we're all looking to get better. ... That's an area that I've really been spending more time in the last week with. ... It's not just that area, but I have spent more time there this week."
- On if there are players that have been encouraging: "There's a point where you can talk and a point where you can do. It's about taking action. ... You have to identify, 'What's in front of us?' ... It's going to start with the first game and we know that we're in control of this thing. ... We've also gotta learn from what happened last week."
- On Dylan Raiola: "He's a very talented young man. He's got good size and a strong arm and he really works at the game. ... He doesn't need a whole lot underneath him to make some of those throws and he's got a bright future ahead of him."
- Day said he doesn't know what to make of Nebraska's defense. "They went into that (Indiana) game playing good football. ... They try to change up the looks up front ... they're very active and they have a very good spring."
- Asked if anyone other than Josh Simmons and Will Kacmarek has been sidelined by injuries, amid rumors that Lathan Ransom suffered an injury in practice last week, Ryan Day said everyone else who is dealing with injuries is “day-to-day.”
- There wasn't much non-Ohio State football watching for him during this bye week, Day said. "Not much this weekend in terms of that, no ... My mind is on this team."
- On whether fans can expect to see more of Bennett Christian and Jelani Thurman with Will Kacmarek out: "Absolutely. Those guys have been practicing hard and when we go to multiple tight end sets those guys will be in there."
