Ryan Day couldn't say enough positive things about Ohio State's defense.
Matt Patricia's unit carried the Buckeyes to a 14-7 win over No. 1 Texas on Saturday as Ohio State starts its title defense with a statement victory.
In his first meaningful start, Arch Manning was kept in check, as he completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown with one interception by Jermaine Mathews Jr.
On the flip side, Ohio State signal caller Julian Sayin managed the game effectively and completed 13 of 20 passes for 126 yards and one 40-yard touchdown pass that was caught by Carnell Tate.
The Buckeyes will face Grambling State at 3:30 p.m. next week in their second contest of the season.
Ryan Day
- Day gave Texas "a lot of credit" and thanked Ohio State's fans for an unbelievable atmosphere in Saturday's win, saying there weren't many empty seats for a noon kickoff. He said the energy made a big difference in the fourth quarter and called it a gritty win.
- On Julian Sayin: "I thought he handled himself well and took care of the ball. Made some throws when he needed to. Could we have opened it up in the second half, yeah, but Brian (Hartline) called an unselfish game."
- Day called the "story of the game" Ohio State's defense and credited Matt Patricia's game plan.
- Day said the team you saw week one won't even be close to the team you see at the end of the season.
- On Matt Patricia: "I know what kind of a coach Matt is because I see him every day. The buy-in is what's most important. What matters is the guys on the field and believing in the plan."
- Day gave Ohio State's defensive backs a ton of credit for making play after play on Saturday.
- On the run game: "We'll have to look at the film and see. We were leaning on some of our tight ends and there were some good runs in there. I need to look at the film and see where things need to go perfect... I do think we were getting movement out there, there were not many possessions in the game."
- On the fourth down stops: "Situational football becomes big when you're huddling and slowing the game down. Understanding what that is is what we do and how we prepare for it. Every time you get a fourth down stop, it's a turnover. When you get a fourth down stop at midfield, it flips the game."
- Day acknowledged OSU had a few drops which "is rare around here."
- Day reflected on C.J. Stroud and Justin Fields' first starts in big games and said there's a lot of things he took into consideration and he did the same against Texas considering how stout the Longhorns defense was. He didn't want to put Sayin in a bad position but coming out of the game, Day said he believed Sayin could handle what OSU asked of him.
- Day said the moment "wasn't too big" for Ohio State today despite having so much new faces on both sides of the ball. As the game against Texas approached, Day knew this would be a great way to open the season because they had to be ready to go.
- Day said that Arch Manning is "going to be a great player" but the Buckeyes "didn't want to beat themselves" and took that into consideration with their game plan.
- On Kenyatta Jackson Jr. "They took his helmet away and we'll evaluate it. I don't see this being a long-term injury.
- Day said he played this game out every day for the past three months so he tried to get an early feel for how the defense would hold up right away and how the Buckeyes were up front offensively. He liked what he saw, so OSU decided to play conservatively because the defense was playing well.
Matt Patricia
- On holding Texas to seven points: "I'm so proud of the players, give all the credit to them. They played really fast and really aggressive."
- Patricia gave credit to Arch Manning and says he's a great quarterback but was impressed by his players' defensive effort.
- On OSU's assistant coaches: "Give credit to the coaches. All those guys really evaluated what we have and what they do well. Our coaches did a great job moving our pieces because they knew the skillset of what they had."
- On how he's been received by OSU fans so far in his tenure: "Columbus is great, everyone has been so nice, honestly. Everyone has been so welcoming and so kind. I'm so thankful for Buckeye fans."
- On coaching a college game for the first time in two decades: "Always appreciative of my situation and being able to coach great players. The thing about college is I really appreciate those (NFL) preseason games because operationally with communication and the sideline things get a little nuts. But this place gets loud and I absolutely love it."
- Patricia praised Ohio State's secondary for playing fast and aggressively all throughout the game.
Julian Sayin
- On not having too much put on him: "I was just going out there and focusing on my job. The defense played really well and helped make my job easy."
- On his poise: "I feel like I was really well prepared by my coaches... I was able to see the looks that we saw on tape."
- Sayin said the team's only expectation for this week was winning the game, not individual numbers.
- On OSU's defense: "They're very fast, very physical, coach Patricia does a great job mixing things up and making things confusing for you as a quarterback. He makes my job in practice very hard.
- "A big thank you to our fans, I thought they were awesome today. Just everyone behind us on third down."
- On getting an earful on fourth down: "Coach Day coaches the quarterbacks hard and that's what we want because he brings the best out in us."
- On the Carnell Tate touchdown pass: "Before the drive they let me know this play call might be coming. Carnell made a great play."
- On what he told himself all week about this game: "Just going out there and playing one play at a time and focusing on my job."
