In his second press conference since Ohio State beat Michigan, Ryan Day reiterated a message he shared in his first: The Buckeyes take pride in their rivalry win but have shifted focus to the Big Ten Championship Game, where a "great opponent" in Indiana awaits.
“I know our guys are looking forward to it, going to Indy. It’s been a long time since we’ve been to Indy — too long,” Day said. “We’re going to (Indy to) win the game. Great opponent.”
Day also discussed the performances of Ohio State's offensive line, Julian Sayin and Bo Jackson in The Game. In a surprising note, Day mentioned that he and the Buckeyes had contingency plans in case the team's headset communications system went down against the Wolverines, including quarterback wristbands, ear-to-ear playcalls and more.
Here's a recap of Day's press conference on Tuesday:
- On the offensive line's performance against Michigan: “That was the goal of really the lead-up was to play our best game of the season. … I think they did that. I think you guys can see that on film. Whether you’re grading the same way as Tyler Bowen is another story, but you guys saw the way they played. That’s their capability.”
- On winning The Game with humility: “We wanted to win the game. That’s what we wanted to do. That’s what the focus was. That was it. That’s really what it came down to. I did talk to our team leading up about how we wanted to handle ourselves before, during and after the game. I thought our guys did that. They handled themselves great.”
- Day said Ohio State has moved past its win over Michigan and is now focused on Indiana. “It’s on to Indiana. This is gonna be an electric atmosphere. It’s a great opponent. This is a very important game for us. We got to go play our best. That game is behind us.”
- Day said Ohio State needs to be able to do what it wants to do against Indiana. If it needs to pass the ball, it needs to pass the ball. If it needs to run the ball, it needs to run the ball. The Buckeyes will look to take what the Hoosiers give them, but the coaches and players still want to be aggressive when they can be.
- Day said Indiana plays really hard and is well-coached. Day said he has a lot of respect for Curt Cignetti and “what he’s put on the field and what he’s done.”
- Day said Ohio State’s players are looking forward to the Big Ten Championship Game and want to win a conference title. “I know our guys are looking forward to it, going to Indy. It’s been a long time since we’ve been to Indy — too long. We’re going to (Indy to) win the game. Great opponent.”
- Day said Ohio State will get C.J. Hicks “back on the field” and “figure out where he may fit it.” Hicks is available to play in the postseason without burning his redshirt.
- On Davison Igbinosun’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following his interception against Michigan: “He gets a pass on that, but no more — no more passes.” Day said Ohio State had to run an extra sprint on Sunday for the penalty, but the players were happy to do it, considering the significance of Igbinosun’s play.
- Day said Ohio State must be prepared for Indiana to run many RPOs on Saturday. He said the defense must be disciplined to keep Fernando Mendoza and Indiana’s offense from generating explosives.
- On what stood out about Bo Jackson’s performance against Michigan: “To me, it was the workload he was able to manage in that game, handle in that game.”
- Day said Julian Sayin has earned his teammates' respect and has command of the huddle. Day said Sayin is intelligent, much like Will Howard was before him. Day loves that Sayin has a routine pre-snap and post-snap. “He’s very methodical in how he does it.”
- Day said he was very impressed by Julian Sayin on Saturday. “First game in the snow, first game in the rivalry game, his first throw or second throw was an interception. The way he played from there on out was special to me. He has a good way of not panicking. He sees it, the ball comes out quick, the guys believe in him, he has a special talent of putting the ball on time with accuracy.”
- On Fernando Mendoza: “Very accurate. I guess I’ll call it sneaky athletic. When you look at him, maybe you don’t think dual-threat, but he makes a lot of plays with his feet. You can tell he’s very intelligent. He can see the field, makes good decisions and plays situational football.”
- When asked to pick between Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith as Ohio State’s premier Heisman candidate, Day answered, “I’d vote for ‘em both, so don’t get me in trouble, Bill. I’d put Carnell right there, too. And Caleb Downs would be right in there. These guys are really good football players — Arvell Reese? I could go on and on.”
- On why the Big Ten Championship still matters to Ohio State: “That was something that these guys haven’t done, they haven’t been there, haven’t played in this game before. It’s an electric atmosphere. It’s a great venue. These guys want this opportunity. This was on the list of our goals every year.”
- Day said “there’s a lot at stake” in the Big Ten Championship Game, including a conference title and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
- On Ohio State losing headset communications on the sideline against Michigan. “We lost communication there in the second half, but the good news was that earlier that week, I thought there may be an inkling that they may happen, so we had a plan for it. We had a wristband plan, and then we would bring Julian over and that was just getting us through it until we got the headsets back up and running, which took a little while to get done. But just by chance, we had a plan for it, and so we were ready to go when it happened.”
- When asked to follow up on his previous comment, Day said, “We’re just ready for everything. You just got to be ready for anything. When you go into any big game, you’re always trying to put contingency plans in place for anything that could possibly happen, and so I was in here on Friday and I think some of the guys on the staff were looking at me sideways like, ‘Why would you think that would happen?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. We just got to be ready and ready for anything.’ It’s funny how your mind works.” Day winked after his final words.
