Much of the talk over the 12 days following Ohio State's loss to Oregon has revolved around how to fix the issues that cost the Buckeyes in Eugene.
That's not a surprise to anyone who follows sports. A team's flaws get exposed in a defeat, they review what went wrong and try to fix it in practice and the head coach talks about it to an inquisitive group of reporters. Ryan Day's given his thoughts on problems and possible solutions in the Buckeyes' pass rush, late-game shortcomings, loss of the turnover battle and defense as a whole.
Before publically addressing those concerns, however, Day made sure to let his team know that the blame and responsibility is ultimately on him first and foremost.
"One thing I love and respect about Coach Day is that he took it upon himself," TreVeyon Henderson said on Wednesday. "He called himself out and was like, that's on him. But really it's on all of us, you know, as a team. And so that's one thing I really love about Coach Day is that he was willing to check himself."
Day echoed that responsibility at his Tuesday press conference when discussing the fact he spent most of his time in defensive meeting rooms during Ohio State's bye week.
"Ultimately, it's my job to make sure that all three phases are the way they're supposed to be," Day said. "So I'll make sure that gets done."
Now, accountability in and of itself accomplishes very little. Admitting a fault is the first step in correcting it, but one must then find the source of the problem and correct it in the right manner. Day addressed three areas where he looks for flaws.
"The first thing, you look at the personnel," Day said. "You have to make sure we've got the right people in the right spots. I think we do. Maybe we can tweak a few things, but I think we have the right people in the right spots. Then it comes down to scheme. I think there's some things that we can do better, for sure, putting guys in better situations to be successful. And then there's the coaching. And I think we definitely can do a better job there of making sure that the guys understand exactly what they're doing, getting them lined up, and then going from there."
There's no doubt plenty needs to be addressed off of the defeat, even if it was a one-point loss to a top-three team on the road. Oregon put up the most points, yards, passing yards and explosive plays of any team against the Buckeyes' defense since Georgia beat Ohio State 42-41 in the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinals.
Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel went 23-of-34 (67.6 percent) passing for 341 yards and two touchdowns, adding 32 yards with a crucial 27-yard rushing score that put Oregon ahead 29-28 in the fourth quarter. Though Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon collected 10 tackles and a pass breakup in a strong performance, as a team captain, he feels culpability for the defense's failings as well.
"I feel all that pressure and that blame," Simon said. "I feel fully responsible. I've got to lead the defense and we didn’t play to our standard. We’ve got to be better at all times, in all phases. So, it’s on me.”
"I feel all that pressure and that blame. I feel fully responsible.”– Cody Simon
Still, Simon feels that his coach is willing to be the lightning rod for the team. And the hope is that that level of accountability bleeds down from the head coach to coordinators to position coaches to team leaders.
"He's the leader of it all," Simon said. "He faces all the blame. He takes all the blame. He has to face all you guys (in the media) and explain what happened. For him, we've got to find an answer."
It's coachspeakesque, but finding an answer truly does start in practice for a football team, or a team of any sport. Buckeye quarterback Will Howard spoke of his hope that the loss will be looked back upon as the reason Ohio State won a national championship in 2024, and if OSU still wants to achieve all its goals, it better be motivated to fix what's been ailing it.
"The biggest thing is going back to what makes us good, go back to our fundamentals," Simon said. "All that stuff that we do, all camp, all everything. So I think he's done a really good job of just reminding us and getting us back into that intensity of, like, just do your job 100 percent as fast as you can, as hard as you can and that stuff will take care of itself."
Now is the time for action. But Day's players do appreciate that their coach took accountability with his words.
"This is his team, he's, like, the guy," Henderson said. "And so he was just like, 'It really starts with me.' And we love that. I think a lot of times, coaches will pinpoint it on everyone else. But Coach Day, he just took it upon himself and was like, 'That's on me.' And he's going to get it fixed."
