Here's everything Ryan Day said previewing Ohio State's Rose Bowl appearance

Despite missing out on the B1G Championship and College Football Playoff, Ohio State gets a chance to end the year with a trip to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes are once again a 10-win team and are looking for postseason wins in back-to-back years after a Sugar Bowl win vs. Clemson in last year’s Playoff.

Facing Ohio State will be Utah as the champions of the Pac-12. The Utes ended the regular season at 10-3, including 2 huge wins over Oregon with 1 of those coming in the Pac-12 Championship.

Unfortunately for Day, the Buckeyes will be without a number of key players due to opt-outs in order to begin draft preparations. Those opt-outs include star receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.

Fortunately, Ohio State will still have Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a host of talented youngsters at the position. JSN even led the Buckeyes with 80 catches for 1,259 yards this season.

On Friday, Day met with the media to preview the matchup with Utah. Here is a glimpse at everything he had to say about Saturday’s matchup:

Ryan Day said he does not expect Chris Olave to have a last-minute change of heart and play on Saturday, but “We’d certainly be excited if he did.”

Day said “it meant a lot” to Olave to continue to be a part of the team through the Rose Bowl even though he won’t be playing.

— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 31, 2021

Ryan Day: “I do think that Utah is similar to some of the teams that do play in the Big Ten … they want to run the ball, control the game, play complementary football, play excellent defense, don’t give up big plays.”

— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 31, 2021

Ryan Day said Ohio State has had a few “isolated” cases of COVID-19 within the team, but the Buckeyes will have a “full roster” of players for Saturday’s game.

— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 31, 2021

On Cade Stover switching positions, Day says the Buckeyes have been light at linebacker, and that "Cade's prepared to play in this game."

— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) December 31, 2021

On C.J. Stroud, Day says there's been a "different look in his eye coming off the last game."

— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) December 31, 2021

On defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, Day says he had no input on Rose Bowl preparations, and that the Buckeyes will "start fresh" on Jan. 2. Day says he's still figuring what the mix of coaches will be on defense moving forward.

— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) December 31, 2021

On Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Day says he can't try to "do too much" and should simply "play within himself and believe in the guys around him" despite the absences of Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.

— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) December 31, 2021

Day says he doesn't think Chris Olave would decide to play in the game at the last minute, but that "we'd certainly be excited if he did."

— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) December 31, 2021