Game week has already arrived for the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Entering Ohio State's home tilt with Tennessee on Saturday, Ryan Day met with the Buckeyes' media for the first of two times this week. He feels his team is "prepared" to make a postseason run thanks to their resiliency and maturity.
Day added that Luke Montgomery will work in at guard for Ohio State as it aims for better offensive line play and Devin Brown, for now, is still the Buckeyes' backup quarterback.
Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly met with the media later and admitted that he and the rest of the offensive coaching staff need to do a better job scheming their players into prime positions than they did against Michigan. Running back TreVeyon Henderson, left tackle Donovan Jackson and quarterback Will Howard also spoke with the media.
Ryan Day
- On his message to the fans: "I'm excited for our players and I'm excited for our fans to get back together in the Shoe. ... We had the senior tackle yesterday, and to hear those guys get up there and talk about how much they love this university ... it was a great day to spend time with our seniors and what they've put in."
- Day said Ohio State will try to mix tempos in the playoffs, but Ohio State has been methodical with huddling with a higher focus on efficiency as the number of plays have gone down in recent years.
- Ohio State is managing the transfer portal as it gears up for the Volunteers. "The number one focus is Tennessee right now, but as you know you can't just live in a vacuum. ... All challenges for us, but I think we're handling it well."
- Luke Montgomery is going to rotate in with Tegra Tshabola and Austin Siereveld at guard, Day said. "Luke Montgomery's got some reps at guard, so you'll probably be seeing him at guard some this game. ... We still have a whole week of preparation ... but we're gonna rotate those guys."
- Day said that Devin Brown is still Ohio State's backup quarterback, but Julian Sayin is "right there."
- On what they've seen from Montgomery recently: "After the Penn State game, we got a lot of confidence coming out of that game with Carson playing guard. ... Then when Seth (McLaughlin) went down, we went back to Austin (Siereveld) because of his experience. ... After assessing the last game, we felt like Luke deserves an opportunity."
- Day said Ohio State stayed in a "game-week routine" last week and into this week.
- Linebacker Gabe Powers and wide receiver Jayden Ballard will not be on Ohio State's playoff roster after entering the transfer portal but Kojo Antwi will be.
- Day reiterated that Ohio State needs to do a better job putting itself in the best situations possible schematically. "We've gotta make sure we're maximizing our strengths and minimizing our deficiencies, our weaknesses. ... That's very important in this game."
- On Will Howard: "He's doing great, he's had a good couple weeks of practice. ... Like the rest of us, he wants to move on and focus on Tennessee. ... He's very resilient. You can see he has a bounce in his step, he wants to get back on the field as quickly as he can."
- Day feels Ohio State is on the doorstep of something special. "You can be really, really close to something and not realize it. And you just have to keep working through it, learn from it, and move forward."
- Day is confident his team will be ready for the playoffs. "We are all invested in this thing in a big, big way. ... We're invested in each other. When you win a game, it can be thrilling. When you lose, it can be heartbreaking. ... We know what it means to lose a football game here. ... I know this team is prepared for the playoffs. I know this team, they're tough, they're resilient, they're mature. ... We're going to play our tails off on Saturday night."
- Day felt three weeks between the end of the regular season and the playoff was an optimal amount of time.
- Day said that Ohio State's big offensive focus was better situational football. "We have to maximize our personnel. ... We had five opportunities in the red zone, we only got 10 points. ... We have to do better in those situations. ... We're a different offense than we were, we recognize that."
TreVeyon Henderson
- On the difficulties of preparing for cold weather: "We're looking forward to that. (The coaches) have been pushing us outside our comfort zone. ... The coaches are preparing us well to that."
- On the scheme: "We trust the coaches. ... We trust what they're doing, we trust that, whatever happens, they're gonna get it fixed."
Donovan Jackson
- Jackson said the biggest thing he had to learn at offensive tackle was pass blocking against a "wide nine," that is, a defensive end lined up further outside than normal. "Jumping out there is not good, I've got to set up, let him come to me. ... Getting to the spot against a rusher like that."
- Jackson's continued growing as a tackle overall. "Over the weeks I feel a lot more comfortable in what I'm doing."
- On the team's mindset: "Playing free and playing loose is a lot better than playing tight. ... Playing for the brothers next to you, playing for the man next to you."
- On Seth McLaughlin coaching the other linemen up after his season-ending injury: "He helps out as much as he can. He's always here. ... He's a really unselfish person, he's always helping out Carson (Hinzman), he's always helping out the guards. ... He's still just as involved as he was before."
- On why Montgomery fits at guard after rolling through a few different positions: "I feel like Luke is versatile enough to plug in and play anywhere we need. ... He's been playing stronger ... but we just need everybody to step up at this point. It's unfortunate what's happened, but we need everybody to be able to go."
- Jackson has felt the impact of Ohio State's offensive line injuries. "You lose the best center in the country ... you lose Josh Simmons, he's a lockdown tackle ... now we've gotta take a step back. ... What we did before is not what we can do now. ... We've got guys stepping up right now playing at a competitive level, but we've got to put guys in the right position to succeed."
- On Tennessee's defensive front: "It's very talented. They rotate in a lot of guys and all those guys can go. ... You've gotta win your one-on-ones. They're gonna play their defense and we've gotta play our offense."
Chip Kelly
- On the evaluation of the offense: "We've been in, we dissected the last game. ... We didn't put our players in the best position to succeed, and that's on us as a coaching staff."
- Kelly feels that Ohio State needed to get the ball to its weapons against Michigan. "I think you've gotta get the ball to those guys. We're really talented on the perimeter. Sometimes guys scheme up to take those guys away. ... You still have to scheme up and be creative enough to get the ball in those guys' hands."
- While there's always pain from a loss, Kelly said the team has processed and is looking forward. "From the day we started our prep for Tennessee, they've been focused on one thing and that's beating Tennessee."
- On the pressure an Ohio State head coach faces: "Obviously, it hurts. ... I think Ryan's done a great job of it. ... We have an opportunity to play four more (games) if we play it right."
- In hindsight, Kelly feels he relied on the inside run too much in The Game. "Yeah, a play caller can get into a rut. You get into a mindset of, 'We've gotta establish the run to win the football game,' when maybe that's not always the case. ... We're playing a really formidable defensive group coming in here that's well-coached and they've got really good players."
- On whether he had the same confidence in Howard after the hit he took in the first half: "We always have confidence in Will."
- Kelly said Ohio State hasn't shown many two-back looks because Henderson and Quinshon Judkins' skill sets are very similar, and there hasn't been schematic reasons to opt for 21 or 20 personnel. "We're really a one-back offense. ... We get into some 12, we'll get into some 13. ... When both of those guys are in the game at the same time, who do you send in when you need a blow. ... Making personnel decisions early in the week versus a certain defense is really about what they'll play."
- Regardless of injuries, Kelly said it's up to coaches to set up players for success. "You can't ask them to do things that Jimmy and Seth did, because they aren't Jimmy and Seth. ... The team that can handle the attrition part of this the best could end up winning this whole thing."
Will Howard
- On the offensive line: "I've got all the faith in the world in those guys, man. ... It doesn't matter who's out there, who's playing. We've been through all the mat drills together. ... This is all we have left, man. ... A lot of different things have happened, but trying to be able to weather the storm and figure out what we need to work on and do it. ... I'm excited for Luke."
- On the drive to win for the seniors on the team: "This is all I have left. I have four games left in my college career. There's no other option than to empty the tank. ... I'm just excited to finish it the right way, because we have such a good group of guys. ... We can't go out any other way than winning it all."
- Howard and Ohio State are still focused on the task at hand, though. "The fact of the matter is, if we don't beat Tennessee, none of it matters."
- On the cold weather: "I don't think that that's a worry for us. We practice in the cold. ... I've played in very cold conditions, so it's something I'm used to."
- Howard said McLaughlin has done all he can to contribute since his season-ending injury. "Obviously we miss Seth out on the field, but we can still feel him in the room. ... He's hurting, he wants to be out there. But at the end of the day, he's doing everything he can. ... He's trying to impact it from a different perspective, a guy who has experience and a guy who can give us advice."
- Howard knows his leadership will be important for the playoffs. "My ability to push this team and to lead this team in this game is going to be crucial and I know that."
- Howard's leadership style is dependent on uplifting others. "That's how I try to lead, by bringing everyone's energy up. ... During the game, just staying on everyone, positive reinforcement."
- On the emotions of the Michigan loss: "It hurts ... we all still feel it. But we're moved on."
- On how he channels emotion: "It's experience, just doing it. ... I feel like you have to do it the wrong way to learn to do it the right way. ... I've gone through it so many times, I've felt the ups and downs, peaks and valleys of college football. ... Something is always going to go wrong in a game, you have to be able to come back from that. ... We can't let (Michigan) beat us twice."
- On what he learned from the loss: "Can't turn the ball over. We've moved on."
- Howard said he's "good" physically.
