Ryan Day hammers Ohio State's self-inflicted wounds as key to national championship game
Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl and will play for a national championship.
However, while the Buckeyes won, the team played far from a perfect game. Day was especially annoyed by his team’s “self-inflicted” wounds and knows a cleaner performance will be needed against Notre Dame in the finals.
The Buckeyes committed 9 penalties for 75 yards against Texas, while the Longhorns committed just 5 penalties for 54 yards. Ryan Day said that “nobody on offense was pleased,” with the performance.
Ryan Day on penalties:
Self-inflicted. Nobody on offense was pleased with the penalties. The fact we turned the ball over once and four drives behind the sticks.. we can’t have that in this game.
7 pass
He stressed the importance of efficiency.— Kellyanne Stitts (@KellyanneStitts) January 12, 2025
Another thing that will need to change in the championship game is the involvement of star freshman Jeremiah Smith. The Longhorns were able to hold the phenom to just 1 catch for 3 yards in the Cotton Bowl.
It was shocking to see the WR struggle after his first 2 performances in the Playoff. Against Tennessee, Smith caught 6 passes for 103 yards and 2 TDs. Against Oregon, the WR caught 7 passes for 187 yards and 2 TDs.
Day was asked how the Longhorns were able to slow Smith down, but the head coach did not see anything extraordinary in the Cotton Bowl.
“They really didn’t play us any differently from other teams we were able to play,” said Day. “To me, the story for us this past game on offense was the self-inflicted wounds that set us back.”
How did Texas slow phenom Jeremiah Smith (1 catch, 3 yards)?
Ohio State’s Ryan Day: “They really didn’t play us any differently from other teams we were able to play.”
Added: “To me the story for us this past game on offense was the self-inflicted wounds that set us back.”
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) January 12, 2025
Smith will have another tough matchup in the championship game. The Longhorns have the No. 7 pass defense in the country while the Fighting Irish have the No. 2 unit.