Ryan Day Takes Responsibility, Addresses Ohio State's Struggles After Oregon Loss

Ohio State jumped out to a 14-0 lead over Oregon in the first quarter before the Ducks went on a 38-0 scoring run and won 41-28 to hand the Buckeyes their third loss of the season.

Faced with questions about his freshman quarterback, coaching decisions and Ohio State's late-season collapse, Ryan Day addressed what went wrong against Oregon and where the Buckeyes go from here.

Day Takes Responsibility for Ohio State's Three Losses

With losses to Texas, USC and now Oregon, the Buckeyes' College Football Playoff hopes have taken a significant hit. Day took responsibility for the team's shortcomings.

“Beyond disappointed,” Day said. “When you walk in the door, you join our program, and you understand what the expectations are. Your expectations are to win every game here. To lose three games is unacceptable, and I own that.”

Ohio State's Offense Has Lost Its Rhythm

After an explosive first quarter with 174 yards and two touchdowns, Ohio State's offense came to a screeching halt with just 17 yards in the second quarter. The Buckeyes didn’t score again until the fourth.

“I think there's two games in a row where there's just really been no rhythm on offense,” Day said. “Positive runs, completions…you connect on some third downs and you keep the thing moving. We were able to do that, I think, on the first couple drives. And that was good. But other than that, it's just, there's really been no rhythm there. And so we haven't been able to sustain anything. There's just been too many mistakes."

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The Buckeyes' struggles were compounded by a costly interception, a bad snap, missed throws and four failed fourth-down conversions.

Day Says Ohio State Isn't Putting Luke Fahey in Position to Succeed

Day acknowledged the challenges of starting a true freshman quarterback but also admitted Ohio State hasn't consistently put Fahey in favorable situations.

“If we're not going to run the ball consistently and give him easier throws and, you know, again, put him in better situations, then things like this can come up," Day said.

The Buckeyes finished with just 53 rushing yards against the Ducks, while Fahey threw for 360 yards with two touchdowns and a 72% completion rate.

Day Admits Ohio State Hasn't Done Enough Schematically

Oregon found ways to gain a strategic advantage against Ohio State, including a successful fake punt in the second quarter and an unconventional touchdown play just before halftime.

When asked whether Ohio State's coaching staff is doing enough to create strategic advantages, Day acknowledged the Buckeyes have fallen short.

“It's our job to figure out how we can put our guys in a situation to be successful. Creativity is one of them. I can't sit here coming out of these last two games and say we've done a good enough job in those areas,” Day said.

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