The press conference room in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center gets more crowded this time of year.
Not only does The Game draw the attention of media personalities who aren't normally in the WHAC, but there's a tension clogging up the air that any Buckeye fan can recognize. Ryan Day knows the feeling all too well.
That said, Day says he’s more excited than he is anxious for Saturday.
"I'm excited. I'm excited about this game," Day said. "I'm excited about this team. I love the look in their eye. I love coming to work every day. But this is not about me. It's about these seniors that decided to come back. They want to have a pair of Gold Pants. They want to have hardware. That's what motivates me. I'm excited for them to go out and play this thing and go win it."
And Day knows his players are just as hungry for a victory as he is.
"To say that this team and those leaders and those seniors want to win this game, it would be one of the biggest understatements of all time," Day said. "They don't need any extra motivation. They have to do a great job of preparing themselves — their mind, their body and soul to go play the game — and then trust their training. That's really what it comes down to.
"All the work that's been done, you've seen us talk about our bricks and our foundation and all those things, it's all leading to this point right here. You can't all of a sudden turn it on in a few days for one game. It doesn't work that way. The way we play will be because of how we've built our foundation up to this point. Everything in the entire program has been built to win this game.
"Now we have to trust that. We have to go play with confidence, with great energy, with great passion, playing for your brothers and everybody doing your job. Like, sometimes it's easy in this game to try and do something extraordinary, but the only thing that needs to be extraordinary is their effort. Everything else, they just need to do their job."
As Day put it in his weekly press conference on Tuesday, this is a rivalry Ohio State lives every day. Day said that the team who runs the ball and stops the run will stand victorious on Saturday.
More of what Day had to say in his Michigan week press conference:
- On how the scheme of Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale compares to previous Michigan DCs: "Very similar. A little bit more pressure, but he's got his own flavor to it. Similar to what he's done in the past. ... A little bit more impressive."
- While the stakes of this game are higher than any other, Day wants his players to take the same dedicated approach to their preparation. "This part of the week, you're putting a plan together and you're really focusing on the process right now. ... That was the message to the guys on Sunday. That's it. We're gonna focus on the process."
- On what he tells transfers about The Game: "In the recruiting process, when they commit, you make sure that's the No. 1 goal. ... We live it every day of the year. In our workout, in the way we structure everything."
- Day said there were no expectations placed on Will Howard's stats when he came to Columbus. "Our expectation is to win, that's it. ... You start to worry about other things like completions or stats, you can go down a bad road. ... Decisions are made to reach our goals and we expect to win, that's it. ... He's gotta go get his first pair of gold pants."
- On Carson Hinzman and Austin Siereveld: "I think they both had a good week of practice last week. I thought they had great energy out there, gave great effort. When they missed, they swung and missed hard."
- Day said weather is always a factor this time of year, and that Ohio State will have a plan for it. "It'll be the same for both teams."
- On Ohio State's third-down efficiency being up while its fourth-down efficiency is down: "We want to be great on third-down. I think third- and fourth-down are very similar, so at the end of the game we usually combine those statistics."
- Freshmen have had breakout performances, especially at wide receivers in the Michigan game under Day. "You don't know until you're in it, but again, you just go back to your training and what you see in practice every game. ... Guys who are playing this for the first time, you don't know until you're in it ... but ultimately it's still football, so you've just gotta go play the way you've played."
- Day said the running game is of the utmost importance against Michigan. "The team who runs the ball and the team who stops the run is going to win the game."
- Day said some personnel changes helped the Buckeyes excel in special teams, but the success was mostly about continuing to improve. "We just kept cracking the rock, kept swinging at it."
- While Day believes his defense should have confidence in what they've done to build up to this week, it has to keep pressing the issue. "Nothing you've done in the past has anything to do with what you do moving forward."
- On motivating the team: "This game here I'll be right there with them, swinging as hard as I can."
- On Jelani Thurman: "We need Jelani to give us real snaps and it was good to see him get that touchdown. ... He's made some big blocks for us this year. ... No matter who it is, everyone's gotta step up their game."
- On what a win in The Game would mean after three straight losses to "I think you know what it means. It means the World and it's everything here."
- "This game is a war. And anytime there's a war ... there's casualties."
- Asked if he is excited or anxious for Saturday, Day replied: "I'm excited about this game. I'm excited about this team, the look in their eye. ... They want to have a pair of Gold Pants, they want to have hardware."
- Day thinks Ohio State's experience in its three top-five matchups will benefit the Buckeyes on Saturday. "There's nothing quite like this game or this stage, but it has been good for us to get tested this year and to work through some of those issues. We've gone down in games. We lost a game. We've been through adversity in big games (like) early in the Penn State game, even last week. All of that adds to the character and resilience of your team — that no matter what comes at us on Saturday, we'll know how to react. But this one's different."
