Ryan Day to treat bye week as opportunity to get healthy and self-evaluate

The first part of Ohio State’s schedule couldn’t have gone much better. The Buckeyes enter their first bye week with a 6-0 record, and they’ve beaten opponents by an average of 40.8 points per game.

But no coach is going to admit his team doesn’t need to get better. Ohio State coach Ryan Day is having his team come back and practice Sunday, a day earlier than normal because the team’s next game is Friday, Oct. 18.

Day said during his press conference Tuesday that he will use the rest of the bye week to evaluate his schemes while he hopes his players use the extra time off to rest and get healthy.

Day said OSU is "a little battered" after Michigan State game. Wants to "be smart" during off week to get guys healthy (or healthier, I suppose).

— Nathan Baird (@nwbaird) October 8, 2019

OSU coach Ryan Day on off week: "We're kind of in a self-evaluation phase on both sides of the ball, schematically, things like that."

"Each coach is giving tangible things for their players to work on." Could be on-field, academics, etc.

— Nathan Baird (@nwbaird) October 8, 2019

Ohio State will begin the back half of its schedule a week from Friday against Northwestern, which is a rematch of last year’s B1G Championship Game. The Buckeyes have won 31 of last 32 matchups against the Wildcats dating back to 1972, including seven in a row since 2004. Ohio State won last year’s B1G Championship Game, 45-24.

After visiting Northwestern, Ohio State will host No. 8 Wisconsin on Oct. 26 before another bye week on the first weekend of November.