Eric Boggs
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day stood at the podium after Ohio State’s hard-fought 14-7 victory over top-ranked Texas and made one thing clear — this win was about toughness, grit, and defense. “I just want to start out by giving Texas a lot of credit,” Day said. “They’re the number one team in the country, Sark’s got a great team, but I also want to thank the fans. What an unbelievable atmosphere. Driving in this morning and seeing everybody at GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff, the tailgates, the energy — it was amazing. For a noon kickoff, to have that kind of environment, it made a huge difference in the fourth quarter.”
The Buckeyes entered the opener with plenty of questions after replacing eight NFL draft picks on defense and starting redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin in his first career start. Day was proud of how Sayin handled the moment. “I thought he handled himself well,” he said. “He took care of the ball, made throws when he needed to, and when it wasn’t there, he didn’t force it. Could we have opened it up more in the second half? Yeah, but I thought Brian [Hartline] called an unselfish game. We wanted to make sure we didn’t beat ourselves.”
It was clear from the start that Ohio State’s game plan was to control the tempo and lean on its defense, and that strategy paid off. The Buckeyes chewed up over eight minutes on an early touchdown drive, finishing it off with a gutsy fourth-and-one conversion as CJ Donaldson punched it in. “That was part of the game plan,” Day explained. “We wanted to keep their offense off the field and we knew possessions would be limited. To finish that drive with a touchdown was big, and then the play by Carnell [Tate] later on was huge, but really, the story of the game was the defense.”
The defense put together one of the most dominant performances of Day’s tenure, stopping Texas on four different fourth-down attempts, including a game-sealing stand in the final minutes. Day credited defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and his staff for having the unit ready. “I thought Matt put a great game plan together,” he said. “But more than that, the guys bought in. Scheme is scheme, but what matters is the warriors on the field believing in it. Plays are plays, but it’s about guys like Jermaine [Mathews] making that interception, Davison [Igbinosun] breaking up that fourth-down pass, and Caleb [Downs] making the game-winning tackle. Those are championship plays.”
Despite the win, Day acknowledged there’s plenty of room to improve, especially on offense and in the run game. “We’ll have to really look at the film,” he admitted. “That’s a stout front. There were some good runs, but there’s a lot we need to clean up. We had a few drops early, which is rare for us, and that changes the complexion of the game. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it’s a start.”
Day was also quick to highlight the development of Sayin, knowing that starting a redshirt freshman quarterback against the nation’s top-ranked team was no small task. “I was impressed with his poise,” Day said. “He had a good look in his eye, and what he was seeing matched what was happening on the field, which is a great sign. When you think about CJ [Stroud], Justin [Fields], Dwayne [Haskins], and Kyle [McCord] — those guys had their learning moments in big games too. We didn’t want to put Julian in a bad spot, especially against a defense with that kind of speed. Now, coming out of it, I think he probably could have handled more, but we wanted to be smart.”
One of the defining themes of Day’s press conference was the belief that this Ohio State team has only scratched the surface of its potential. “The team you see right now won’t be close to the team you see halfway through the season,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go, but it’s a lot easier to make corrections after a win over a top-five opponent. We wanted to set the tone for the season, and this is just the first chapter.”
For Day, this wasn’t just a win — it was proof that the Buckeyes’ identity is built on resilience, physicality, and preparation. “I played this game out in my head every day for the last three months,” he admitted. “You’re never sure until you see it live, but as the game went on, I could see our defense holding up, I could see the buy-in, and I could feel the energy. By the fourth quarter, I trusted our defense to finish it, and they did.”
With a season-opening win over the nation’s top-ranked team, Ohio State has already sent a message to the rest of college football. The defense proved it can dominate, Julian Sayin showed poise in his debut, and the Buckeyes showed they can win without playing their cleanest game. As Day put it best, “It takes everybody — players, coaches, fans — and everybody brought it today. I’m proud of our guys, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
