While all of Ohio State's focus has shifted to Purdue, Ryan Day spent most of his weekly radio show appearance breaking down the Buckeyes' top-five win at Penn State last weekend.
Day said he was proud of how his team performed against the Nittany Lions. Still, the sixth-year head coach thinks Ohio State has a lot to improve as it finishes the regular season against Purdue, Northwestern, No. 8 Indiana and Michigan.
"We need to start playing cleaner football. We need to execute better. We need to be up by a couple of scores in the fourth quarter. That's gonna be the challenge this week," he said. "We have to execute better. We have to continue to play physically."
More of Day's comments are featured below, as well as some remarks from Ohio State offensive lineman Carson Hinzman, who made his first start of the year against Penn State.
Ryan Day
On Ohio State's win at Penn State
- "I thought we handled the environment well."
- "We had no false starts, no holding penalties. That was good. That was clean."
- Day said Ohio State still has a lot to improve as the season continues. "We have to execute better across the board."
On Ohio State being tested through eight games
- "There have been times where I wasn't sure going into November how tested we really were as a team in years past. I know we've been tested this year. That part is good. The fact that we've had two fourth-down stands inside the 5-yard line in back-to-back weeks is a great sign for defense, a great sign for our team."
- "The other side of the coin is we need to start playing cleaner football. We need to execute better. We need to be up by a couple of scores in the fourth quarter. That's gonna be the challenge this week. We have to execute better. We have to continue to play physically."
- "We want to play our best football here in November."
On Will Howard
- "Will is gutsy. Will is a leader. He's got toughness. He's got resilience. You saw that in the game. The conversation in the huddle going into that last drive, everything about it was exactly what you want out of your quarterback — just the toughness, the physicality."
- Day said "nobody is sicker" about Howard's turnovers than Howard is. "We've got to learn from those experiences."
- Day said Howard's "ability to be plus one in the run game" helped Ohio State win the game in the fourth quarter.
On Ohio State's offensive line against Penn State
- Day said Donovan Jackson and Carson Hinzman have to take "the next step" in their preparation and performance now that teams have at least one week of film on them at left tackle and left guard.
- Day said the entire offensive line gained confidence from their performance on Ohio State's final drive.
- Day said he was pleased with how TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins dove forward for extra yards on each of their carries on the final drive.
On Brandon Inniss
- "Brandon can do a lot of different things."
- "He's got a great skill set."
- "He's just a great teammate."
- "His energy is infectious."
On whether defenses are taking away Jeremiah Smith
- "Yeah, I would say so. They know exactly where No. 4 is."
- Day said "you put the most stress on the defense" when it has to account for Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, Inniss, Henderson and Judkins, too.
- "There's different things we got to continue to do to make sure he's touching the ball."
On Jelani Thurman's fourth-down catch
- "It was like a bar of soap. That thing was all over the place. I said he got three catches and three drops all in one play. And then I lost about a week of my life on that play.
- "The great part was Jermaine Mathews was there pushing me after we got it. He was so jacked up we went for it on fourth down and won. Jack (Sawyer) and JT (Tuimoloau) were screaming at me. The whole sideline in that game was on fire."
- "The fact that we went for it and Jelani made that play had a big part in that game."
On Cody Simon and Sonny Styles
- "They both played well. They both played well in the run game."
- Day said Simon's sack was "a momentum-changer for us."
- "Good against the pass. Good against the run. That's a couple of weeks in a row now where those guys have been active."
On Ohio State's defensive backs
- Day said Caleb Downs "matched up well" with Tyler Warren and "did a good job when he was assigned to him."
- Day said Lathan Ransom and the defense "were ready for" Penn State's passing play on 4th-and-goal. "They responded. That's important for us. ... Those kinds of situations are gonna pay off moving forward."
- "That has to continue here against Purdue. It has to. We can't be like every other team in the country where when they have a big win, all of a sudden, they have a letdown. That can't happen this week. That's been the message to these guys."
On the purpose of laying bricks after practice, games
- Day said Ohio State started laying bricks on the Woody Hayes Atheltic Center outdoor practice field after practices and games. "We use that as a reminder to everybody that this is our foundation, and we have to keep building on that."
- Day said Ohio State's foundation needs to be at its strongest in November."
- "When you have a mission, and you go on that mission, and you successfully complete that mission, you got to enjoy it with your buddies. What is fun? What is fun? Fun isn't necessarily practice. Fun is winning. ... That's what happened on Saturday."
On Purdue
- "I think that this team is much better than their record shows."
- "It's about us, but you gotta know your opponent."
- "They're playing good football. We got to play hard. We got to play physical. We got to execute."
On Dylan Thieneman, Purdue's defense
- "I think Thieneman is a really good safety. I think he's one of the best safeties in the league. I thought he was as a freshman. He's a really good player."
- Day said Purdue likes to run a Bear front on defense and load the box with eight players.
- Day said Ohio State has to do a good job pre-snap to recognize what formations and plays Purdue plans to run to stop the Buckeyes.
On Purdue quarterbacks Hudson Card and Ryan Browne
- "I've been impressed with both of them on film."
- Day said Ohio State recruited Card out of high school. Card was teammates with former Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson.
- "I think these guys have talent."
- "They do a nice job. They have two nice quarterbacks."
On Henderson and Judkins blocking in pass protection
- "There were some blitz pickups that were tremendous."
- "(TreVeyon) was just strong in protection. To see him — and the sick thing was we ended up fumbling the ball on the 2-yard line — but the block he made on that, he flattened the guy."
- "Both TreVeyon and Quinshon have taken pride in that."
- Day said "you could throw up on the field" with how sickening it feels to fumble the ball out of the end zone for a touchback.
On Jayden Fielding
- "When you're in a matchup game, every point matters. We learned that certainly already this year."
- Fielding made kicks of 39 and 46 yards against Penn State. "Those were two big kicks."
- "He had confidence going in. He had a good week of practice. We'll need that again moving forward."
On Henderson and Judkins
- "Both these guys have played off each other very, very well."
- "They understand that it's a long season. They need each other."
- "Confidence breeds success; success breeds confidence."
- Day said Ohio State wants to establish the run early against Purdue.
On Egbuka
- "He's a big, big part of our offense."
- "Him being healthy is critically important for us."
- "He's somebody that does a lot for us."
On Ohio State's offensive line depth
- Day said Ohio State is still determining whether Carson Hinzman would move back to center or Joshua Padilla would step in at center if it needed a backup to play there.
- If Hinzman had to move back to center, Austin Siereveld would step in at left guard.
- Day said Jackson has the athleticism and length to play left tackle. Day was impressed with how Jackson performed on the road and in one of the toughest environments in college football against future first-round pick Abdul Carter.
Carson Hinzman
On how he felt entering the Penn State game
- "Our preparation is always on point. Just trusting the process, trusting what Coach Day and Coach (Justin) Frye had for us."
- "The offensive line came together really well."
- "It worked out for the best."
On playing between Jackson and Seth McLaughlin
- "It makes my job a lot easier."
- "I'll lean on those guys a lot."
- Frye said he and Jackson have been learning their new positions together. He called it a "good opportunity" for both of them. "It's been a pretty good experience for the both of us."
On Ohio State's final drive of the game
- "Going into that last drive, I think we had the utmost confidence."
- "After that first 5-yard play, we were like, 'Alright, we're rolling. We're gonna go close this thing out.' It was fun."
- "That was an awesome experience. Probably not one I'll forget for a long time."
