Ryan Day Radio Show: Ryan Day Says Ohio State’s Win Over Texas “Builds Confidence,” But the Buckeyes Must Improve Their Run Game, Special Teams and Overall Explosiveness

During this week's Ryan Day Radio Show, Day discussed Ohio State's composure and physicality in the Buckeyes' 14-7 win over the top-ranked Longhorns.

"What we saw in practice was sort of what we saw in the game," Day said. "That's a good sign for a young team."

Ohio State's defense delivered four fourth-down stops, including a pivotal goal-line stand, while quarterback Julian Sayin showcased poise in his first start. Day emphasized the importance of building on this momentum from the Buckeyes' statement win, looking for ways to improve entering Week 2.

"There's a lot to grow on, a lot to build on, but we got a lot of work to do," Day said.

Looking ahead to Ohio State's matchup with Grambling State, Day expressed excitement for the potential of young talents like Bo Jackson and Isaiah West, eager to see how they perform in upcoming games.

Following Day's appearance, Ohio State offensive lineman Luke Montgomery joined Paul Keels and Jim Lachey on the broadcast.

Ryan Day

On Ohio State's performance against Texas

• "What we saw in practice was sort of what we saw in the game. That's a good sign for a young team."
• Day said Ohio State worked hard all preseason to beat Texas in the season opener. "That thing was ramped up right from the beginning."
• "It was a physical game."
• "When you play a game like that, I think it builds confidence. You went toe-to-toe with one of the better teams in the entire country, personnel-wise and schematically. There's a lot to grow on, a lot to build on, but we got a lot of work to do."

On Ohio State's goal-line stand

• Day said Ohio State's goal-line stand was one of his favorite moments of the Texas game.
• "That moment, to step up and get a stop there on the 1-yard line was a big, big play for our team."
• "It's important for us to draw a line in the sand and make sure we can dig in during those goal-line situations."

On Ohio State's special teams

• Day said Ohio State has talked about and worked on not starting drives inside its own 10-yard line.
• "A big part of that is the battle of field position."
• "If we're starting out a drive, and we get the thing to midfield, we got to pin them inside the 10-yard line, get a stop and get that thing toward midfield — or, if we are at midfield and now have a ball, we got to get this thing down and score touchdowns."

On Ohio State's physicality against Texas

• "Paint chips flying all over the place."
• "Guys were getting after it. You can see it on film — just watch it."
• "That's what we wanted to make sure we were establishing in this game was guys who were rocking off the ball, with an edge, finishing down the field and playing really hard."

On Jeremiah Smith lining up as a punt returner

• "If we had held up just a little bit longer and given him a chance to return that, we were in a pretty good position there."
• "We were trying to keep it sort of quiet that he was getting some of that work back there."
• "He'll continue to have an opportunity to be back there. We think he gives us something back there, as you can imagine, when the ball is in his hands."
• Day said Brandon Inniss and Caleb Downs will still be involved in the punt return game as well. "We're gonna keep working like crazy to give these guys a chance."

On Ohio State's running backs against Texas

• "Both running backs I thought ran hard," Day said of CJ Donaldson and James Peoples. "There are a lot of things we're gonna grow from."
• Day said the running game needs to be "more explosive" and "get to the second level a little more."
• Day said "it's gonna be exciting" to see Bo Jackson and Isaiah West get in the game and get some carries against Grambling State and Ohio. "Start their careers and see what the looks like," he said. "When you have running backs, it's not always easy to know what you have until you get them in the game and get them some carries."
• On Donaldson and Peoples: "It was good to see them get their feet wet because neither of them had played a game here for the Buckeyes as a starter before. Both of them are starter level and they're gonna get a lot of carries here this week."

On Ohio State's offensive line against Texas

• "Solid. I thought they competed."
• "For both tackles to go against (Colin) Simmons and (Trey) Moore and some of the edge players they have, it's got to build confidence for them because they're some of the best players in the country."
• "That's a very good defense," Day said of Texas.
• "It's so encouraging to know that there's still a lot of meat on the bone here. We got a lot of work to do. But we did play physical."
• Day said Ohio State's offensive line has "decent depth we're excited about working on" against Grambling State this week.

On Julian Sayin's performance against Texas

• "It was good."
• "I think the fact that he didn't turn the ball over, I thought some of the throws he made were good."
• "We had some drops early in the game, and when you have a young quarterback like that, we got to help him. We did, and that's part of the game, and we said no matter what happens we're gonna keep swinging."
• "It wasn't as clean as we would like it to have been, but that's OK. It's Week 1, and that's part of the deal. I don't think that rattled him. I think he kept playing and made some good throws. We're gonna need that as move forward."
• Day said Sayin has practiced well this week. He said the same for Lincoln Kienholz. "Excited to see how this game plays out and looking at obviously that position to have a lot of growth."

On the atmosphere for Ohio State vs. Texas

• "It was great for them to see the environment, see the crowd."
• "How great was the crowd? How about the atmosphere? Everybody was in their seats at 11:30. It was rocking. It was loud.
• "If you don't want to come to Ohio State after watching that game, I don't know if you like football."

On Ohio State's defensive tackles against Texas

• "That's where the game is won."
• "A great offense is built from the inside out. You got to run the football, establish the run. It's the same on defense — stop the dang run."
• Day said "there are areas we gotta improve" on the defensive line.

On Arvell Reese

• "I don't think anybody was surprised with how Arvell played in this game if you came to practice and get the chance to see how he's done."
• "James (Laurinaitis) has done a great job with him."
• "Matt (Patricia) has done a good job — and Tim (Walton) — in terms of putting him in situations to be successful and to create pressure on the quarterback. He can cover. He can play the run game. He's a weapon for us."
• Day also praised Payton Pierce while discussing Reese. "You're gonna start to see him more and more. The linebacker position is building some depth."

On Brian Hartline in the box, Patricia on the field

• "Matt did a good job of getting the calls in early."
• Day said Patricia enjoyed having an iPad to watch film on the sidelines. "That was new for him," he said with a laugh.
• "Guys were on it. The information was correct. It was clean and clear, and that's important."

On whether he likes Ohio State being ranked No. 1

• "At the end of the season, yeah, it's great," Day said with a laugh. "Right now, it's just a giant bullseye. But that's just the way it's always gonna be. It doesn't matter. What matters is the end of the season."
• "We know we got to bring it every week, and it's gonna be that way no matter where we go. We're gonna get everybody's best shot. Welcome to Ohio State."

Luke Montgomery

On Ohio State's win over Texas

• "It was an amazing atmosphere."
• "It was a lot of fun."
• "I enjoyed it a lot."
• Montgomery said Ohio State's win over Texas was the second-loudest game he’s experienced inside Ohio Stadium behind only the 2016 double-overtime win over Michigan, which he attended as a fan.

On Ohio State's offensive line depth

• "Last year, we had to build depth in the offensive line unit. This year, we're kind of a veteran group up front."
• Montgomery said cross-training has helped Ohio State's offensive line prepare for this season, as multiple linemen can play multiple positions.

On facing Ohio State's defense in practice

• "They're freak athletes."
• "It's hard to go against, but it helps you out every day because that's the best defense we're gonna go against every day. When that transitions into a game, you should have no fear going out there. That's helped us out a lot."