Five Takeaways from Ryan Day's Press Conference
Ryan Day met with the media on Tuesday afternoon to wrap up the Rutgers game and share some thoughts heading into a big game against Maryland. Here are my five biggest takeaways from his press conference:
***Day is a little concerned about the lack of reps the second and third string units are getting. He referenced that with no spring practice and such an odd summer, plus not having any non-conference games, the non-starters don't have many reps. The Rutgers game was supposed to be the kind of game where they starters didn't have to play much (if at all) in the second half, but things didn't really work out like the Buckeyes hoped in that regard.
The plan last Saturday was to have the starters play the first series and then call it a night. When Rutgers came out and had some reasonable success in the third quarter, it was hard to pull the starters.
At the beginning of the year, Rutgers and Maryland appeared to be the two easiest games on paper. Rutgers gave Ohio State a far more competitive game then most fans may have anticipated and Maryland is suddenly one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten.
***Garrett Wilson is on track to be one of the most productive wide receivers in the history of Ohio State football. Coach Day spoke about Garrett Wilson's talent, how excellent his ball skills are, his ability to accelerate in a tight area and his timing down the field have enabled him to really excel this year. He's very high on Wilson and said, "he can be as good as he wants to be."
Ohio State Athletics
***The Buckeyes offense is one of the most complex in the country and Coach Day spoke about how deep their playbook is. He referenced that having a quarterback like Justin Fields in his second year with the offense makes a huge difference and that they constantly rep their core concepts so they can call those plays at any time. Beyond that, they have some game-plan things that are specific to the opponent they are playing. From there, they adjust to have a defense is playing and what might be most effective.
***Coach Day isn't concerned with potentially signing top high school quarterbacks in consecutive classes. He said the guys that come to play at Ohio State know what they're getting into, that it's a very competitive environment and that it's not for everyone. But he has no reservations about bringing in some of the top QB's in high school football year after year. He said they don't recruit someone to be a backup.
***This stretch of games is much different than what Ohio State may have originally thought when looking at the schedule before the season began. Nobody really would've thought playing Maryland and Indiana was going to potentially be the toughest part of the schedule ... yet here we are. Coach Day is very impressed with Maryland and said that the Buckeyes better come ready to go on Saturday.
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