Eric Boggs
Ryan Day met with the media following practice and spoke in detail about his young team’s development, particularly the growth of quarterback Julian Sayin and the balance Ohio State is still working to strike in the run game.
Day began by focusing on one of the most important traits for any quarterback: ball placement. “I mean I think that’s one of the things we try to evaluate during the recruiting process and when we’re evaluating quarterbacks is ball placement. It’s just so important in terms of accuracy,” Day said. “It’s one of those things that I’ve seen some guys develop it as time has gone on but it’s one of those things usually is something that people have. It’s innate and there’s anticipation, there’s timing, there’s touch, there’s understanding body language. These are all the things that I think are hard to quantify and so that’s one thing we look for in quarterbacks. I think you’ve seen some of the location and another part of it is being able to do it even though when you see it, can you mechanically make the throw when you need to? And Julian can, you’ve seen that. So there’s more to it than just that but we’ve seen him do that in practice time and time again and that’s a good sign for a young quarterback.”
Day also touched on the running game, where Ohio State is still looking for more explosive plays. “I think there’s physical play going on. We’ve got to keep building on that and then figure as we continue to move forward where we see ourselves and then as the season goes on, how do we stay ahead of the trends and make sure we have enough things to give us explosives,” he said. “There’s a lot that goes into the run game. Everybody’s involved with it. The wide receivers are involved with it, tight ends are very much involved with it, obviously the offensive line. But the running backs are involved with it and making sure the timing and all those things are right. Again, I thought there was some physical runs in week one, not explosive. We wanted to be more explosive and so that’s what we’re going to continue to work on.”
On pass protection and timing, Day made it clear that the entire offense plays a role, not just the line. “I think the ball is coming out on time and I think there’s good timing there. We have to continue to figure out ways to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hand but also push the ball down the field without putting the quarterback at risk,” he said. “You’ll hear me all the time if you’re out at practice, once it gets to about two, two and a half seconds, I’m saying ball. The ball’s got to come out or it’s got to get checked down and the timing of all that is important.”
Day compared his team’s steady growth to watching a young person mature over time. “I mentioned to the guys today that when you see somebody young, whether it’s a brother or a relative or just someone who’s young and you don’t see them for six months or a year and you see them and you’re like wow, you’ve really grown up. And when you’re practicing every day, sometimes you don’t see the growth, you don’t see the progress but it’s there. As long as we continue to work and get better and we’re making sure that the hardest day is today and we keep getting better, then we’ll have a chance to continue to grow, even though sometimes you don’t feel it and that’s with everybody, including the passing game.”
On the defensive line, Day pointed out there has been both strong play and room for growth. “Yeah, there’s a handful of guys that have graded out champions and others that haven’t. I think that’s 80% is how we look at it. I always say if guys are grading out, continue to enhance it. If you don’t, we’ve got to get it fixed and get it better. I think that there’s a lot of growth there. We’re looking to develop depth and we’re looking to have production but I think like everybody else, we’re all trying to get better right now. It’s not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination and so we’ve just got to keep working at it but there’s definitely been some really good play.”
When asked about facing Ohio University, Day drew on past experiences coaching underdogs and compared it to Ohio State’s own week one battle with Texas. “You play it one play at a time. I think you look at it as an opportunity to build confidence, to know that when you’re going up against a really good opponent, that it’s an opportunity to build confidence. Sort of like us in week one playing Texas. What an opportunity for us to build confidence knowing that we can play with, at the time, the number one team in the country,” Day said. “Where are we right now? This is a team that went toe-to-toe with Rutgers, went toe-to-toe, obviously, with West Virginia and won the game. So they’re going to come in here with a lot of confidence. They’re going to, I’m sure, take it one play at a time, try to get the game in the fourth quarter, and then go from there. But it’s an opportunity more than anything to, again, build confidence for the rest of the season. They’re well coached and have a good team, so we know that these guys are going to come in and play real hard.”
Day also praised the maturity of cornerback play and the effort being made to control penalties. “We certainly don’t want as many as we had last year, and that’s been the focus,” Day said. “And I think even on that fourth down play that he (Davison Igbinosun) made in the end zone in week one, I mean, you could see there was a concerted effort for him to not make contact there. But he’s still going to be aggressive. That’s who he is, and I think he’s learning to control that aggression. We’ve had different things that Coach Walt’s done with boxing gloves and things like that. I think that’s all coaching, and we want guys who are aggressive. It’s our job as coaches to help coach them with the technique and those things. So he’s worked really hard in the offseason. He’s one of our most competitive guys out there. I think when he came here, he changed that room along with Tim Walton because of just the overall competitiveness of that group and the edginess of that group. And he’s not a man of many words, but he lets his play do the talking, and he’s a huge leader for us, and we’re going to need him here.”
The secondary also continues to show its versatility and intelligence, highlighted by Caleb’s interception. “The thing to me about Caleb was after the play, we talked, and he verbalized everything that went on in that play. He was anticipating everything about it, so that’s who he is,” Day said. “And then his approach rubs off on others. Sonny’s that way, and you’re seeing Jaylen McLean, and you see Davison, and you see Jermaine, you see all these guys, Lorenzo coming in early to get extra film work and put the work in with Tim and Matt. And that’s what winning football is. And if we can continue to build that as our routine, and that can be who we are, it’ll give us a chance to reach our goals. But like I said before, it’s great when your best players are your hardest workers. And they’re the most professional. That’s probably the best way to put it when it comes to Caleb.”
Finally, Day returned to the mechanics and rhythm of Sayin’s play, emphasizing how important it is for the offense to fit the quarterback’s strengths. “Every quarterback is different. Like you’re saying, when you think about the quarterbacks we’ve had here, you go to different guys. Everybody’s had different mechanics and a different style. What you try to do as you put together the offense is figure out what fits his skill set. And then you try to take the pieces and put it all together,” Day said. “We’re still kind of in that process. But when you can get the ball out of your hand quickly and accurately, as you know, it just makes the offense move faster. And we say all the time, those throws within about five yards from the line of scrimmage, those are like long handoffs. There’s a big difference when I’m running full speed on, let’s just say, a bubble or a drag route. And that ball’s right here and I can catch it in stride as opposed to having to stop my feet and have to catch it. Those are all the hidden yards that we talk about. And that’s a challenge for all quarterbacks. But it’s easy to see that he gets the ball out fast. And we’ll continue to figure out what he does best. I think we’re getting a good feel for that as he’s getting on the field and playing.”
