Ryan Day and the Buckeyes are Preparing for Indiana

As Ohio State puts an unplanned bye week behind them with the Maryland game cancelled because of CoVID-19 and they're ready to turn the page to a huge game against the Indiana Hoosiers. Ryan Day joined Buckeye Roundtable on 97.1 The Fan Monday evening and answered a few questions about the team's weekend without football and his thoughts regarding Indiana.

On playing a different Indiana team than the Buckeyes saw last year: "They're better in all areas ... Quarterback (Michael) Penix is doing a great job, huge win early in the year (against Penn State) catapulted them, receivers look good ... they create a lot of pressure on defense and they have a great return game."

On trying to stay on schedule the last few days: "Yeah, I think we did the best we could. We practiced Friday, Saturday was quicker than normal, we took Sunday off, practiced today ... we handled it like we were coming off a bye week."

On using the last few days to go over fundamentals ... "Yeah the biggest thing is having that mental edge. Up front, it's hand placement, pad level ... on the edge, getting good leverage and catching the ball ... so on and so forth ... we want guys at game speed as much as possible and we are trying to get better."

Commenting on the Indiana defense finally helping make them a better team: "Their DC has changed a little from last year. He comes at you in different ways, changes it up every look ... he has them playing with a lot of confidence."

Ohio State's red zone success: "It's in our plan to win to be 75% TD percentage ... the game really changes down there. The 12th man is the back of the end zone ... players get bigger and faster and it gets harder to operate down there ... they'll take a safety out of the middle of the field and put him in the box ... you gotta get creative ... it's going to be important as we get into bigger games."

Did you watch Michigan State vs. Indiana? How'd you handle Saturday? "Oh yeah, we watched all of them actually - the noon, 3:30 and 7:30 games. It's hard not to, there's nowhere to go ... I love watching football and enjoyed the games." Can you watch as a fan? "No (laughing). I'm always taking notes. Your brain starts to move and it's hard to stop, but its fun."

Players taking care of what they need to with academic calendar winding down, meaning more time for football: "The virus is everywhere. We have to do as good a job as any ... we were really unfortunate last week, felt really bad for the guys ... last week is behind us and we have to just make sure we can play these games moving forward.

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