Every coach in America wants their team to play a clean game, that's not breaking news.
Ryan Day, of course, said as much during his media session yesterday afternoon at the WHAC but you can certainly understand where he's coming from given how Ohio State's nine penalties for 75 yards and a second half turnover helped keep Texas close in last year's CFP semifinal before the Buckeyes worked some late magic, scoring 14 points in the final seven minutes of regulation to earn a spot in the CFP title game.
Day, now with a much younger, less proven roster, doesn't want to tempt fate when the Buckeyes host the No. 1 Longhorns on Saturday in Ohio Stadium.
I think when you look back on that game, those penalties really hurt us. They set us way behind the sticks. And we have to play better football than that. They're a very disciplined team, and we have to do a better job than we did in that game.– Ryan Day
In last year's matchup, Day's squad racked up five penalties for 50 yards in the first half alone.
Four of those came via the offense and essentially killed three straight possessions.
Leading 7-0 early, Ohio State advanced its second possession of the game to 1st-and-10 at the Texas 38 but following a 1-yard run, tailback TreVeyon Henderson got in the face of a Longhorn defender and earned a 15-yard personal foul flag to put the Buckeyes in a 2nd-and-24 hole back at their own 48. Ohio State would punt three plays later.
Still leading 7-0 to start its next possession, Ohio State advanced to near midfield but a Gee Scott Jr. hold on 2-and-10 play put it behind the chains again, this time with 2nd-and-20 at the OSU 36. Ohio State would again punt three plays later.
| SEASON | PEN/G | NATL RANK |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4.5 | 11 |
| 2023 | 5.7 | 59 |
| 2022 | 5.6 | 47 |
| 2021 | 6.5 | 79 |
| 2020 | 6.1 | 71 |
| 2019 | 5.8 | 50 |
Finally, on the next Buckeye possession, already behind the chains with 2nd-and-10 at the OSU 35, a Josh Fryar hold created a 2nd-and-20 from the OSU 25. A 3rd-and-13 false start from Luke Montgomery further aggravated the possession and Ohio State punted two plays later.
Lights out defense and Henderson making up for his penalty by taking a screen pass 75 yards to the house just before halftime gave the Buckeyes a 14-7 lead at intermission but there were clearly things to address.
Then, with a chance to create some separation as Ohio State started the second half with the ball, Will Howard rushed a pressured 1st-and-10 throw for an interception.
Obviously, Ohio State overcame those self-inflicted wounds via a magical 13-play, 88-yard touchdown drive spanning 7:45 of game clock to take a 21-14 lead with 7:02 left in regulation before Jack Sawyer's Lone Star Heist gave the Buckeyes a 28-14 cushion with 2:13 to play but had OSU blown that game, back-breaking penalties and the interception would've been painful reminders of how important it is to play clean football.
This Saturday, Day enters the rematch with an inexperienced starting quarterback in Julian Sayin and a lot of young talent but not as many grizzled veterans as he had a year ago.
Finding that balance of playing free and aggressive - or "letting it fly" as Day would say and not worrying about making a mistake while still avoiding issues with penalties and turnovers will likely be critical given the generally equal talent on each team's roster.
Playing at home, the hope is a home field advantage will instead create some miscues from the Longhorns - maybe some false starts or miscommunication leading to negative plays or an interception.
Bottom line, Saturday projects to be a matchup game where the margin for error is often razor thin and minimizing self-inflicted wounds could go a long way in determining which program begins the season 1-0.
