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What Ohio State’s Ryan Day said during his weekly press conference
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Ohio State head coach Ryan Day wasn’t on the sideline for the Buckeyes 52-12 win over Michigan State on Saturday.
Day had tested positive for COVID-19 the week prior and had to watch the game with the Spartans from home. Day said the three hours of the game time was probably the hardest of his life.
After spending every season since 1998 either coaching or playing, Day had to experience the afternoon contest like most of the rest of us, on television.
Associate head coach Larry Johnson stepped in as the interim head coach in Day’s absence, and led the Buckeyes to a convincing win, with 521 yards of total offense on the day, and having the defense allow just 261 yards.
Day met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the game, his experinece with COVID-19 and preparation for this Saturday’s game with rival Michigan.
Ryan Day on preparing for Michigan: “It's not any different until we hear otherwise … Everything we're hearing right now is we're playing the game.” pic.twitter.com/aqumRmSo0S
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Ryan Day said the Big Ten is talking about the possibility of decreasing the 21-day timeline for return to play.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Ryan Day said Haskell Garrett has had “a different look in his eye” since he was shot in August.
“I'm really glad he was able to take a negative and turn it into a positive.”
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Ryan Day said he's leaving all communication with Michigan about the status of The Game up to Gene Smith, and Gene will provide him updates if anything changes.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Ryan Day said he doesn't want to think about the disappointment the Buckeyes would feel if they don't get to play Michigan. Just wants to think positive for now.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Ryan Day said he thinks the Big Ten should take a hard look at the six-game minimum to make the Big Ten Championship Game if Ohio State can't play its sixth game this weekend.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Ryan Day said “consistency is critical” for Dawand Jones, but Saturday was a good start for him.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Ryan Day on this week's game against Michigan: “This is a postseason game to me. This is a playoff game right here.”
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Asked about the "hang 100 on them" comment he reportedly made after a dispute with Jim Harbaugh this summer, Ryan Day didn't deny it but said that's in the past. “There's gonna be a lot of things that are said here or there but we gotta go win this game. That's all that matters.”
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Ryan Day on testing positive for COVID-19: “I was crushed. A little bit of an embarrassment, I felt like I let people down … after a couple days of feeling sorry for myself, I kind of dug myself out and said, 'OK, we gotta move on here.'” Said he didn't feel many symptoms.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 8, 2020
Ryan Day on UM “maybe they haven’t played their best ball yet either. They flash. They do some really good things. We’ve got to show up”
— angelique (@chengelis) December 8, 2020
“Kwity Paye is one of the best defensive linemen in the country” — Ryan Day
— angelique (@chengelis) December 8, 2020
Scott Schultz covers Michigan State Football, along with Breaking News for B1G Football & Basketball for Saturday Tradition. He also serves as an Automotive News Editor & Writer, and Softball Writer elsewhere on the web. Follow him on Twitter @SRSchultz.