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What Ohio State’s Ryan Day said during his weekly press conference
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Ohio State got a big win on Saturday to start the season off on the right foot. And even though Penn State’s opener against Indiana didn’t go as planned, the Buckeyes are still preparing for a hungry Nittany Lions football team this weekend.
Day led the Buckeyes to a 52-17 victory over Nebraska to open the season in Week 1. Ohio State got off to a somewhat sluggish start, but exploded in the second half, outscoring the Huskers 28-3 in the final 30 minutes.
But Saturday’s game against Penn State presents new challenges. Before the season started, many believed that James Franklin’s bunch was the biggest challenger to OSU in the B1G. Talent-wise, that might still be the case.
Day spoke with reporters on Tuesday after Saturday’s win over Nebraska and previewed the upcoming matchup with the Lions. Here’s what the second-year head coach had to say:
Ryan Day said “we'll see how it goes as the week goes along” regarding Chris Olave's status after he left last week's game. If he can't play, the Buckeyes will “move things around as we always do.”
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) October 27, 2020
Day characterized running backs' play was was "solid." Early, it was "just OK" but thought it improved as the game went on.
— Bill Rabinowitz 🗞 (@brdispatch) October 27, 2020
Day said it was a team effort to get Haskell Garrett ready to play after his August shooting but said he deserves most of the credit.
— Bill Rabinowitz 🗞 (@brdispatch) October 27, 2020
Ryan Day said Ohio State sees freshman wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba make a lot of “amazing catches” in practice. He was excited to see Smith-Njigba score his first touchdown on Saturday.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) October 27, 2020
Ryan Day on this week's game at Penn State: “The goal is to win the game. It can't be anything else.” Said one thing Ohio State has to do better than it's done against Penn State the past couple years is taking care of the football.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) October 27, 2020
Despite Penn State losing to Indiana, Day said "the score doesn't really tell the tale." Said PSU played well in all three phases and said it's going to be a tough game.
— Bill Rabinowitz 🗞 (@brdispatch) October 27, 2020
Ryan Day said he often works with Justin Fields individually, separate from the other quarterbacks, “for a lot of reasons” – but one reason is to limit the risk of COVID-19 spreading to him through the quarterback room.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) October 27, 2020
Ryan Day said the backup quarterback battle is still an “ongoing deal.” Jack Miller was the only backup quarterback who got into the game on Saturday, but Day says the quarterbacks will continue to be evaluated all season.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) October 27, 2020
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB