COLUMBUS, Ohio — After months of build-up for Ohio State’s matchup against Texas to begin the season, it’s seemed as if non-conference play has gone by in a flash.
The Buckeyes are 3-0 with a bye week on deck this Saturday, and a trip to Washington the following Saturday on Sept. 27. Coach Ryan Day is leading the No. 1 team in the nation, and now, he’ll begin Big Ten play.
Here’s everything that Day said during his Tuesday press conference.
Latest Ohio State Buckeyes news
Ohio State football’s Ryan Day provides injury update on key offensive player
The Ohio State football team aren’t the only people using its bye week to improve: Buckeye Talk podcast
2 big things Ohio State football needs to achieve during its bye week
Ohio State’s football schedule can be divided into ‘windows’ — and the next one is the toughest
Day ran through plays in the red zone, and thought schematically they were in “decent” shape. He said he’s critical of that, but he wants the coaching staff (including himself) to make sure they’re honing in on execution.
Tight end Bennett Christian, who was out with an injury last week, should have a full week of practice this week.
Day said that right guard Tegra Tshabola did some good things, but did have the two penalties vs. Ohio. He said he got better in this past game, but, “We all know what the expectation is.”
On starting defensive tackle Tywone Malone over Eddrick Houston, he said that Malone took a step vs. Ohio and has some things that he’s graded out well on. “Eddrick still played and Will still played, we didn’t have a ton of snaps on defense. We’ll have a lot more moving forward.”
The team will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and take the weekend off.
On taking deep shots down the field, he said it’s not always there. But, balance will be critical. “We work hard on trying to find those situations.”
On managing a bye week, he said they’ll take a myriad of different things into account including the schedule, upcoming travel, the hard month of August, and other factors.
On running back Bo Jackson: “It doesn’t take a veteran coach to recognize talent when you see it, and Bo has talent. We’re going to keep bringing him along.” And, just like any other position, there’s a way you bring guys along.