Presser Bullets: Ryan Day Says Offensive Line "Not Even Close" to Good Enough on the Ground, Thought Defense Played Angry

Life without Josh Simmons isn't off to a great start for Ohio State.

The Buckeyes escaped with a 21-17 win against Nebraska despite a dismal performance running the football, with just 64 rushing yards on 2.1 yards per carry. Ryan Day and the offensive staff rode with Zen Michalski all week, with Day saying they wanted to let him work through his first-start jitters.

With Michalski sustaining an injury late in the game, Day added that the Buckeyes aren't committed to Donovan Jackson at left tackle going forward after he kicked outside to finish the game. Ohio State's head coach also praised his defense's effort in the win.

Day thought his team showed toughness in rallying late to win the game. "The way we went out in the fourth quarter and won the game, that's something we talked about in the off week. ... At the end of the day, you've gotta win the game in the fourth quarter. ... Now we're gonna look back and say that we should not be in games like this. ... We knew they were gonna come out and play us really hard. ... That we can build on. But certainly if we're gonna go 1-for-10 on third-down and we're gonna run the ball the way we did."
Day felt Ohio State's shortcomings in the run game were a top cause of the offense's struggles. "We've gotta be able to run the football. ... We were explosive in the pass game ... but I really liked the way the defense played. Played with energy, played with fire."
With Zen Michalski now also out at left tackle, Day said Donovan Jackson's move outside was the plan to get out of the game but the team will still evaluate its options going forward. "We're gonna have to talk about it, figure it out."
Day thought the performance of linebacker Cody Simon was a microcosm of the whole defense. "I thought we played that way on defense. We played angry, played possessed. ... It has to be consistent week after week after week."
Day had no comment on the targeting call against linebacker Arvell Reese.
On the offensive line: "We didn't run the football." After reviewing rushing stats for the Buckeyes, Day added "That's not even close to good enough."
Day said the Buckeyes still have confidence in Jayden Fielding to make field goals.
On why Zen Michalski stayed in the game throughout: "Felt like for his first start, he had to play through it. Didn't want to just panic and pull him out ... there's some things you're going through. We wanted him to play through that and see how that went."

Following the game, Will Howard, Jordan Hancock, Cody Simon, Ty Hamilton and Quinshon Judkins also met with reporters to discuss the win. You can see what they had to say in the videos below.