Four days out from Ohio State's first road trip of the season, Ryan Day took the podium to discuss the upcoming matchup with Michigan State Tuesday.
Day also talked about the fallout from the Buckeyes' 49-10 win over Rutgers and addressed lingering injury questions about several scarlet and gray starters. After Day, Buckeye defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and running backs coach Tony Alford answered questions from the media as well.
For notes on everything the Buckeye coaches said at the first press conference of the week at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, check out our bullet-point breakdown below.
Ryan Day
- "Watching the film, (Miyan Williams) was the player of the game on offense. He ran really well." Day says the Buckeyes are "anxious to get TreVeyon back" though, and that it could be this week.
- Day says Jordan Hancock is back to full speed, but the Buckeyes will likely hold him out until after the bye week. "It's week-to-week at this point."
- Day says Williams' vision and low-to-the-ground running style jumped off the tape in high school.
- Days says there are often "very heated discussions" among the Buckeye coaches about red zone play calling decisions during Wednesday meetings. "We had to dig into a couple plays we hadn't practiced in a week or so" against Rutgers.
- On C.J. Hicks' peer recruiting ability in the 2022 class: "(He) was excellent, did a great job."
- On Williams: "He really has a way about him where he's very thoughtful, at times can be understated a little bit." Day says Williams can also be loud and joke around teammates, though.
- Day says Williams' "overall ability" has improved since his freshman season. "I think his vision has really improved, I think his pass protection has really improved."
- On how Steele Chambers improved at linebacker: "Just playing more. ... There's so many different job descriptions for a linebacker, and the more he's done them, the better he's been."
- "It's pretty natural for running backs to transition to linebacker." Day says Chambers and Trayanum both played in high school and were athletic enough to do so.
- Day says the Buckeyes have had to adapt in terms of offensive play calling without Jaxon Smith-Njigba. "Those guys have embraced it. ... It wasn't something we spent a ton of time on in the offseason, but some. Now it's on the field."
- Day says the Buckeyes are looking forward to getting Smith-Njigba back and "getting him going" again soon.
- On if he calls plays with C.J. Stroud's Heisman candidacy in mind: "I think C.J. would tell you all he wants to do is win. ... All the other things will take care of themselves in the end."
- On Michigan State: "It's hard to win up there. New challenge for us, new test." Day says it's "unique" that Ohio State is going into Week 6 without having played a road game.
- "We expect a top-10 team when we go to East Lansing. ... We know we got our hands full."
- Days says the Buckeyes have "a better idea of what we have than we did five weeks ago." Day says "it's not magic, it's fundamentals" that lead to Ohio State's success.
- Day says "it's a good thing" that standards are so high for the program because "we didn't come to Ohio State to be average."
- On Paris Johnson: "For a first-time starting tackle, there's been some good play."
- Day says it was Cade Stover and Chambers' own decision to switch positions. Day says the Buckeyes "recruited (Trayanum) like crazy to play linebacker" out of high school, and now thinks his career will "take off" now that he's back at that position.
- Day says "until we get some really concrete rules on what's allowed and what isn't – college football is a multi-billion-dollar business, and until we get some guardrails, there's gonna be some hard feelings."
- On who has stepped up as leaders this season: "I've really felt Ronnie Hickman out there. He's been excellent. ... I feel like Dawand Jones has been a pleasant surprise."
- Day says the Spartans "do a great job" in the punting area, and says Ohio State intends on "winning the kicking game."
- "It's not good when you turn the ball over on the first punt of the game. .... Nobody wanted to make the play more than Emeka Egbuka. Nobody cares more than him." Day says the Buckeyes have "all the confidence in the world" in Egbuka."
- Day says composure and focus are key in road games and that the "leadership and older guys got to lead the way."
- "You can learn a lot from being on the road, certainly." Day says "you can really mature and grow as a team on the road."
- Day says he leans on Mickey Marotti, Mark Pantoni and Quinn Tempel, among others, in the Buckeye program as far as administrative and ancillary concerns.
- Day says "nobody is more frustrated than (Cameron Brown) is" about his latest injury setback, and that he feels an "urgency" to get back on the field. Day says Brown may be back this week, and Hancock in a couple weeks.
- Day says Ohio State is hoping to get Smith-Njigba back this week, but that the nature of his injury is "day-to-day."
- On Denzel Burke, Day says "we certainly believe in him" and that he commends him for returning so quickly after having a hand procedure. Day says he's been "right there" on some of the big plays he's given up in the passing game.
- Day says "I don't think we're there right now" in terms of being a finished product, but thinks the Buckeyes have had bright moments through five weeks.
- On Jim Knowles' defense: "I think they're playing with great confidence. That's the most important thing. ... The scheme is great, I think they believe in the scheme." Day says Eichenberg and Chambers are playing faster this year at linebacker.
- Day on his mentality as a head coach: "You gotta wake up running every day or else somebody's gonna get you."
- Day says his head coaching role has changed the way he's thought about offense philosophically.
- On JSN: "Nobody wants to get on the field more than Jaxon, and we would love to see him on the field as well."
Jim Knowles
- Says Kye Stokes "held his own" at safety after coming in for injured Tanner McCalister.
- Knowles says he's "disappointed" that the Buckeyes are ranked 11th in the country on third down. "We certainly have higher aspirations than that."
- On Kourt Williams: "Kourt has been banged up. He's had some things going on that hasn't given him the chance to fully compete for a position. ... He's not completely healthy, so we need to give him time to get better."
- "I'm pleased. We have seen some success, but defense is such a right-now proposition." Knowles says "we don't have three of four years to put this system in to make it a premiere defense. It's gotta happen right here, right now."
- "Stopping people on the next play is a habit. So when it comes time when you need to stop them, you can't just pull that out of your pocket."
- On a relative lack of sack production from the defensive ends: "I'm pleased with what we're doing up front. I think it's my job to continue to create opportunities."
- Knowles says the Buckeyes are "not there yet" in terms of what all he can do with the defensive scheme.
- Knowles says he has "great tools" at Ohio State, and wants to free their mind by telling them that their mistakes are more his fault than theirs. "I want them just to play when it comes to gameday."
- Knowles on how many cups of coffee he drinks a day: "Not that many. Six."
- Knowles jokes that Tommy Eichenberg sometimes just grunts at him rather than making verbal communication.
- Knowles says he "busted on Steele (Chambers)" after his lackluster INT return and said "no wonder they moved you from running back."
- On Denzel Burke, Knowles says he "showed a lot of grit" playing through his hand injury and earned the opportunity to play through some mistakes at corner.
- Knowles says "Mike (Hall) is "definitely one of the guys that brings the juice. ... That's part of a great defense, you need people like that."
- On Chambers: "He's a full linebacker. Steele is. I didn't know him when he was a running back, but Steele was in there. I've continued to see improvement, even through the season, in his tackling. He's really starting to pick up how to tackle at this level."
- Knowles says it's harder to teach an edge rusher to be an interior lineman than the other way around. Knowles says Zach Harrison's ability to do so is "great for him, great for his future, great for this defense."
- "To me, a great coach wants to be talented at teaching his position, a great listener and learner."
Tony Alford
- On struggles on the goalline: "There's not a lot of space. We have not run that quarterback a lot in that situation, so you're always gonna be outnumbered. In the end, we were still able to punch things in."
- On Mitch Rossi: "I don't spend a lot of time with him." Alford says he comes and does a few things with his group every day, but not much.
- Alford says Williams has "been through so much" and "I'm extremely proud of the young man he's become."
- Alford on his initial impressions from talking to Miyan Williams as a recruit: "Who tho hell is this? This guy doesn't talk."
- Alford says he's "thrilled to have" TC Caffey on the Buckeye roster.
- Alford says recruiting Williams made people think "I couldn't recruit," but that he saw something in him early on and now he's a "damn good football player."
- On Williams' recruitment: "Remember, he was committed to Iowa State. Quite frankly I think he was pretty pissed at me. No, he was really pissed at me."
- Alford says he had "the wrong impression" of Williams at first during the recruitment process, and that he's "as respectful a young man as you could get."
- "We have two guys that are capable of being starters here. We have two guys capable of playing championship-level football, I believe. ... I don't care (about how the carries get split up), I want to win games."
- Alford says Ryan Day is "the best" at running meetings and "the guys is amazing." Alford says "I do believe that Ryan Day is one of the all-time top guys I've ever had the pleasure of working with. He does not make you feel like you work for him, you work with him. That empowers you to do your job."
- Alford says TreVeyon Henderson is playing "OK" this season, but "has not played poorly whatsoever." Henderson says the longer home run plays "will come." Alford says he's "really improved" with his blocking.
- Alford says "20 seconds after (Chambers') interception" he thought "this is why you aren't at running back."
- "The thing about Miyan, he's about 3-feet-tall. The lower half of his body is like hitting tree trunks." Alford says Williams has an "uncanny way of speeding up into contact."
- On Williams: "If you sit down and have a conversation with him, he's a tough guy. There's nothing soft about that guy."
- On Henderson: "I'm not gonna allow people to paint a picture that he's not playing well."
- "Just because a guy flashes on the tape doesn't mean he loves the game. ... You have to be able to leave your ego at the door."
