Ohio State has moved on from its emotional 20-13 win at Penn State. Now, the Buckeyes have turned their attention to Purdue, a 1-7 football team Ryan Day thinks is better than its record reflects.
“Purdue, its record may not say it, but they’ve been playing good football," Day said Tuesday. "We have to come in and play physical in this game. We have to continue to build on what happened last week."
Eighteen hours later, Day held another press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. In the 10-minute media session, Day continued to preview the Buckeyes' matchup with the Boilermakers, provided updates on Tyleik Williams and Will Kacmarek's health and more.
- On Tegra Tshabola: "He's started grading out well, doing his job. He can match up with some of the best guys we play this season. ... The biggest thing for him is consistency. ... We think that he's continually getting better every week. ... We're gonna need him to play his best football in November."
- On Brandon Inniss: "Brandon is somebody who brings energy every day. ... He just comes out and works every day. He's not selfish. ... He just gets out there and works. ... Brandon is a very good player. We are gonna continue to try and utilize him."
- On preparation for Purdue coming off an emotional win at Penn State: "There's an energy (at practice), a lot of encouragement, a lot of confidence. ... You can see that building as we go. For our team, there's confidence in the physicality we played with. ... We'll see how this team continues to grow. This is an important week for us to see how we come out of this game and how we're projecting."
- Day said Ohio State hasn't received the return on investment it desires on special teams. Day said the Buckeyes have poured a lot of time and energy into the unit, but it's yet to be a "plus" in 2024. "Tired of saying one play away or one block away. We got to start doing it on the field. ... It has not been a big plus for us this year. ... Overall, there's been some great play and great effort, but it needs to be a plus for us."
- Day said Tyleik Williams' health has improved this week after he left the Penn State game with an injury in the fourth quarter. "It looks like he'll be available for the game."
- Day said Will Kacmarek is "doing great" and "healing quickly" in his recovery from injury. He expects the tight end to return to action in a couple of weeks. "He's doing great. All the reports back from the training room and Coach Mick (Marotti) is that he's a little bit ahead of schedule. That's encouraging. We're excited to hopefully get him back here in a couple of weeks."
- On TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins' blocking in the passing game and run game: "I get excited to watch them pass block and run block. It's a tone-setter. You can feel it. That's a big part of playing physical. ... Every position has to set the tone early in the game. The more and more these guys are doing, the more confident they're getting."
