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Ryan Day, Ohio State focusing on Penn State, not looking ahead to Michigan
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The No. 2 team in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, the Ohio State Buckeyes control their own destiny in the B1G East.
While this is the preferred position, the Buckeyes’ last two tests – vs. No. 8 Penn State on Saturday and at No. 13 Michigan on November 30 – will be perhaps their toughest yet.
Head coach Ryan Day is relying on his players’ toughness and ability to focus on the task at hand to prevent them from looking ahead to “The Game” and postseason play.
Nathan Baird of Cleveland.com and Dan Hope of Eleven Warriors shared some of the coach’s comments during his weekly radio show:
Ohio State coach Ryan Day on radio on playing Penn State and Michigan back-to-back: "A question that's been asked of us all year is, how do you not look ahead? That's what toughness is."
— Nathan Baird (@nwbaird) November 21, 2019
Ryan Day: "At any point if you look ahead, you're at risk of getting beat." Day said the Buckeyes knew all year that this two-week stretch against Penn State and Michigan was coming, so they've been preparing for it all year.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) November 21, 2019
Possessing a flawless 10-0 record, Ohio State has outscored their opponents by an average margin of 51.5-9.8.
Quarterbacking the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense, sophomore Justin Fields has completed 69.1% of his passes for 2,164 yards, 31 touchdowns and just one interception. Also a threat in the running game, he has added another 377 yards and 10 scores on 84 attempts.
One of the best tailbacks in college football, junior J.K. Dobbins is the Buckeyes’ leading rusher with 1,289 yards on 183 carries (7 YPC). Not too far behind, redshirt freshman Master Teague III has ran for 744 yards on 114 rushes (6.5 YPC).
Second nationally with 13.5 sacks, Dobbins’ classmate, Chase Young, will also be eligible to return after missing the previous two games while serving a suspension for receiving a questionable loan.
Dropping their only game of the season to the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium on November 9, Penn State got back on track with a 34-27 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on November 16.
Averaging a shade under 37 points per game, the Nittany Lions feature one of America’s most explosive wide receivers in redshirt sophomore K.J. Hamler. Catching eight touchdowns, Hamler has totaled 46 receptions for 791 yards (17.2 AVG).
Saturday’s action from Ohio Stadium will kick at 12:00PM ET on FOX with Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and “The All-American Girl” Jenny Taft.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.