Conservative might not be the word to describe Ohio State's game plan against Washington. Methodical seems more accurate.
That's how Ryan Day sees it, anyway. The Buckeyes had only six possessions where they were worried about scoring points against the Huskies and managed three touchdowns with one field goal. They took things slow, ran the football and trusted their defense to carry them to a comfortable win. Which it did.
Day said that execution and ball control were Ohio State's top priorities in a hostile road environment, for that reason, in his weekly appearance on 97.1 the Fan's Buckeye Roundtable show Monday. He also dove into how Caden Curry's "resilience" has paid off with monster production this season and what stood out about Julian Sayin's outing against Washington.
- On the performance of Ohio State's defense: "The first thing you look for is effort ... shoutout to all the Buckeye fans who were there, because we had a great presence ... but I thought the effort was excellent. ... We had just about everybody on the defense grade out as a champion."
- Day said Ohio State's methodical game plan was designed to lean on its dominant defense on the road. "The No. 1 goal is to win the game, and as we start to acquire different ways to play the game, we're going to identify the best ways to do that. ... We lost a possession in the first half with the special teams, but I thought we did a great job in the middle eight. ... A huge part of that (controlling the game) is getting first downs running the football. ... But when you're playing a game where you only have six possessions, you have to be very efficient. ... When your defense is playing like that, we thought that was the right way to play it."
- On how Ohio State plugged up the rushing threat of Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr.: "The rush lanes were really disciplined. ... The guys are understanding it, what we're trying to get done, and the confidence is building each week."
- On Caden Curry’s growth: "He stuck with it. And as we all know, that's a huge part of having success in this game, is resilience. ... Caden's a great example of somebody that has put the hard work in ... now you're seeing him play at a very high level. And the production is significant."
- Day agreed that his team's composure has been a strength. "They're edgy, they're competitive. ... There's no panic with this team. They just believe in what's going on, they believe in each other, and that's a good sign."
- On Julian Sayin's growth: "There were a few things in the game, like his scramble to get into field goal range on third-and-long ... he had to throw the ball away a couple of times ... just the composure of going into an environment like that on the silent cadence for the first time."
- On returning home for a night game: "Good reference point for our team, but excited to be back home, excited for a night game. ... There's a lot of excitement around this team right now."
- On the Golden Gophers: "Minnesota is well-coached, I've got a lot of respect for what P.J. (Fleck) does ... They had a big win (over Rutgers) and they're gaining confidence. ... Every conference game is going to be a battle."
