We are now just a couple of days away from Ohio State and Georgia facing off in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and we continue to get snippets, quotes, pictures, and more coming out of Atlanta.
On Thursday, there was a flurry of activity to observe because it was officially media day. Both the Ohio State and Georgia head coaches as well as players took turns with media availability, and we’re here to provide everything that was said from both sides.
We heard from OSU head coach Ryan Day earlier in the week when his team arrived for the College Football Playoff semifinal, but we got even more from him on Thursday, and in fact, it was wide-ranging.
Here is everything Day told the media after being peppered with more questions about how things are going as things progress with Ohio State leading up to the game.
On how Day thinks the team will play in the game
RYAN DAY: Yeah. I think preparations have been excellent. I think the practices have been excellent. Our guys — we got down here Christmas night. It was good to get down here early. Had a good practice Monday, two really physical practices the last two days. We’ll have a really good practice today and good preparation here as we head into meetings this morning. But all the focus is just playing the fastest and most violent game we’ve played all season here Saturday night 8:00.
And I think all the work that we’ve put in the last month is going to show. Our guys are going to play with confidence because we’ve had a really good month of prep.
On the absence of running back Miyan Williams at practice Wednesday
RYAN DAY: Nah. He’s had a stomach bug, and we expect him to be at practice today. We’ll just kind of take it as we go.
On the strength of the Georgia defense
RYAN DAY: I think they have good players all over the place. They have five stars running around all over the field, certainly in the back end. The corners are excellent. Their safeties are really good. Linebackers are really
athletic and play downhill and play physical. The front is very good as well.
We’re going to be balanced like we always are. We’re going to have to find ways to score in the red zone. We’re going to have to be creative in all kinds of different areas, but at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to who’s more physical, who’s winning the game upfront, who’s going to play harder, who’s going to play through the whistle, who’s going to play for four quarters.
And they’re a very, very good team, but so are we. This is going to be a great game on Saturday night. I think it’s going to be one of the more — I think they said more people in this game they’ve ever had in the stadium. So our guys are excited about that. When you get to this point of year, this is where you want to be. All the focus has been on this game for our guys.
On possibly needing help stopping defensive lineman Jalen Carter
RYAN DAY: Very good player. Disrupts the game, and their entire frontage is really good and so is their back end. They really don’t have any weaknesses on defense. They’re very, very good, and you can see why they’re ranked one of the best in the country. They do a good job, and he is very good as well. Our guys know what the challenge is, and that’s why we’ve been prepared for it so hard.
On the ridiculous amount of talent Georgia has
RYAN DAY: Yeah, a lot of talent, but they’re well coached, too, and they play hard. You can see that based on what they’ve done the last two years. We know again what the challenge is going to be, and we’re going to have to play
really hard in the game and execute well because at the end of the day, it comes down to who plays harder and who is going to execute better in the game. When you get into games like this, there’s a lot of lead up. There’s a lot
of conversation, and that’s what matters the most.
About the OSU defensive players mentioning how ticked off and motivated they are
RYAN DAY: Well, they should be. And we all should be. We know what we need to do in this game to win, and that’s kind of the way this month has been for a lot of us at practice every day. There’s been an edge. There’s been friction. There’s been conflict. There’s been a lot of that going on, and that’s a healthy thing.
And so the one good thing about this, we’re going to go play. We’re not going to sit there and worry about what if or anything like that. Nobody really gives us a chance to win this game anyway. So we’re going to let it all out. We’re going to play as hard as we possibly can and look up after four quarters and see where we’re at.
On playing with the right mindset in a possible road type atmospher
RYAN DAY: I don’t know. That’s for the fans and everything like that. Whatever it is, I know that we’re going to play fast in this game. We gotta play violent in this game. We gotta execute at a high level, and that’s what
it’s going to come down to. What we’re not going to do is play it close to the vest. We’re going to go and then our guys are going to play that way and have that mentality when they walk in that stadium because we know what the stadium is going to be like. We know the electricity. We know it’s going to be heavy.
The fans will be heavily in Georgia’s favor. It’s going to be a loud environment, all those types of things. So it’s going to be like being on the road. Certainly we appreciate all the Buckeyes who are going to be at the game and having that presence there, but it’s going to be that type of feel, and our guys know that. So we’ve talked about it, and we’ve prepared for that.
On whether Day is happy that weather won't be an issue (roof will be closed)
RYAN DAY: No. That’s one less thing we have to worry about. Again, it’s the same thing all year. You have to have balance. You have to be able to win the line of scrimmage. The team that wins the line of scrimmage typically wins the game. That goes back a long time. So we have to do that again in this game.
And they’re very good at that on both sides of the ball. Our defensive line is going to do a great job. Our offensive is going to do a great job, and it’s going to come down to one-on-one matchups at the end. Their inside guy against our guards, their tackles against our defensive ends, our linebackers against their tight ends, those types of things.
Does practicing indoors all year have a benefit?
RYAN DAY: I don’t think so. Yeah. I hadn’t really thought of the fact that they hadn’t played an indoor game before, but we practice in it all the time. Yeah, I don’t know. I think that we’re comfortable in that. We’ve practiced in it the last month, and we’ve been over there the last week. So still the same field, still the same dimensions. Everything is about the same. So I don’t think it’ll play much of a factor at all.
On what it'll take to win this game
RYAN DAY: Well, it comes down to the little things. It comes down to one or two plays typically that can change the game. When you look at the game they played against LSU, they’re kicking a field goal. They block every hat return for a touchdown. That’s a ten point swing in a game. Things like that in a matchup game can be the difference. It can come down to one or two plays.
You never know when those things are going to be. When you are in matchup games, you gotta playing. You have to keep swinging. And you have the mentality that you’re going to go out there and swing as hard as you can for 60 minutes and then you’ll come up for air at the end, but the team that prepares harder and continues to work towards 8:00 is going to win, and that’s the mentality we’ve had all month as we’ve prepared is who’s practicing harder, who’s preparing better, who’s doing a better job and meetings. And once we get on that field, who’s going to play harder, and that’s what it is.
On the poor second half against Michigan
RYAN DAY: I think it got a little sideways in that game. So they kind of played one way, and you never want to be in that world. You want to have that balance all the time. You don’t want to be playing one way. And certainly we haven’t done that all year. We won’t do it this week. We’ll just continue to find that balance and keep attacking teams or keep attacking the defense and try to put them in as much stress as possible. That’s what it comes down to. You start to have tendencies one way or another, you set yourself up. We want to keep having a clean game plan where the guys can play and hard and fast as possible and not think a whole bunch.
On running back Dallan Hayden having more of a roll than he did against Michigan and his confidence
RYAN DAY: Yeah, I do.
RYAN DAY: I think so. I think so. And he’s had a great
month of preparation. So, yeah, we’re going to need him to
win this game.
On what the running back depth will look like inclusive of Dallan Hayden
RYAN DAY: Again, we don’t really have a pecking order. I think one of the things that we’ve had to do all year is nothing new is we’ve had to adjust as the season has gone on because that’s just kind of the way it’s gone this year.
That room is we’ve had some guys in and out. So we’ve had to put some guys into the spots. And the good news is we’ve been able to adjust and we’ve responded in that area. So that’s nothing new. And the good news is we should have everybody available for the game.
On the temptation to install stuff Georgia hasn't seen on film
RYAN DAY: Similar to a first game of the season, you can overthink things, but you do have a lot of preparation time to get ready. And there’s certain different things you can do, wrinkles, new things, and then that’s all real. But you want to make sure it comes down to fundamentals at the end, who plays harder, and that’s it.
On the potential of seeing new things from Georgia and possible in-game adjustments
RYAN DAY: Yeah. They do a great job of being multiple on both sides of the ball, and they have a bunch of ways to attack you, and they’re going to have wrinkles and things that are new. So we’ll have to do a great be job of identifying what those things are and adjusting from there in the game.
On the possibility of this being a close game and keeping the right mindset
RYAN DAY: I think it’s a great question. I think that’s one of the things we’ve gotta do a great job of in this game. And I talked to the team last year about the Rose Bowl and how that was a back-and-forth type of game. And some of
the games we’ve been in have come down to that. The Penn State game for us this year was close in the fourth quarter. We were down. We had to come back and win.
If we go up, if we go down, if it’s close early on, we gotta keep playing for four quarters, and that’s what the CFPs games are typically like. And I just kind of shared with them some of the history of this game and what it’s been
like, and we’ve talked about what the first Clemson game was like, the second Clemson game, and different games along the way, some of the games that Ohio State has played in in the past. But this is about them. This is going to be their story. They have an opportunity to write a story here that could be very special, and I think our guys recognize that.
On the one thing that Georgia does defensively to create consistent problems
RYAN DAY: Oh, where do I start. First off, it’s the talent. They have a tremendous amount of talent. In the back end, they can fly around. They have great coverage skills and create a lot of problems, and it goes right to the linebackers and the guys upfront. Schematically they’re very, very well coached. They do an unbelievable job of getting them to play hard. They have a history of knowing how you’re trying to attack them, and they can make adjustments in game and certainly you try to recognize what you’re doing and how you’re lining up and things like that. So very, very good talent and very, very well coached.
On bouncing back from criticism and adversity after the loss to Michigan
RYAN DAY: You know, I think that’s coaching, and that’s life. There’s going to be things that come along the way that you have to bounce back from, and that’s something that I think all of our guys have really embraced the last couple weeks, and there’s certainly been a lot of noise, but our guys have done a great job of focusing on what really matters. We got a chance to go win a national championship here and play Georgia in Atlanta, and that’s
been the focus of our team.
On the makeup and preparation of C.J. Stroud
RYAN DAY: He’s resilient. I think people can recognize how resilient he is as a young man, but I don’t think anyone can prepare you for being on this type of stage and everything that comes with it, and I just give him an unbelievable amount of credit for the way that he goes about his business every day and the way that he’s handled himself as a person, you know.
I forget if he’s 20 or 21 years old, but for him to handle himself the way that he has, I got a lot of admiration for that and a lot of respect for that. There’s a lot of people that I know that wouldn’t be able to do that. And he’s growing every day. He’s building every day. This team loves him. I love him. And I can’t wait to see him compete on Saturday night.
On matching up with Georgia
RYAN DAY: Yeah. They’re very good. They have really good talent. And again, they’re coached really, really well. This is a matchup game. And whether it’s the front, the linebackers, the tight ends or like you said, the receivers and DBs, you’re going against your clone. You’re going against a guy who’s as talented as you are.
So you have to embrace that role. You have to embrace the fact that you’re going against really good players and go do it. And how do you do that? You have to figure out how you’re going to win that matchup, and it isn’t just going to be with talent.
On the extra juice losing to Michigan and still reaching the CFP resulted in
RYAN DAY: I don’t know. Everyone has their own journey to get here. The bottom line is we’re here, and we gotta go play in the game. How far each team gets here, that’s their own story, but there’s four teams left. And everyone’s got a chance to win it. And I guess I could tell you that the last
month of preparations have been excellent, though.
It’s been a really good week. We got in here Christmas night, and everybody in the Peach Bowl has been wonderful and the city of Atlanta has been great and been very well taken care of. Great accommodations, and I think our guys have appreciated everything that the Peach Bowl folks have done here for us.
On whether there is there a different approach to playing indoors
RYAN DAY: We’ve tried to treat it like the Woody Hayes Athletic Center the best we could. We kind of said, okay, that is where we come out of the Woody. We try to make it ours, but also talk to them about visualizing themselves playing in the capacity crowd on Saturday night and what that’s like so that when you run out, it’s not the first time. You’ve already done it. You’ve played it. You’ve felt what it’s like to be on third and 3. You feel what it’s like to be in the red zone, coming out the first kickoff of the game, all those types of things you’ve already played.
That’s a part of coaching or really preparing a team is like, hey, you can do this, but it’s gotta be through your imagination because the first time you do it can’t be on Saturday night. You gotta already do it. And being in the stadium for a whole week has allowed us to do that a little bit.
On comparing both quarterbacks
RYAN DAY: Two really good players, both Heisman Trophy finalists. I got a lot of respect for Stetson and what he’s done. And certainly he’s a winner, and he’s a competitor and very, very talented, makes some unbelievable throws, tough running the football. He can do — it he can do it all. Great player.
And then obviously we know about C.J. and all his ability and what he’s done, and he’s had an unbelievable week of practice. And, again, I said it before, I know he’s really excited about playing in this game.
On playing in Mercedes-Benz Stadium
RYAN DAY: When you’re playing in bowl games this time of year, this is the setting, but we’ve had a good week of work in the stadium. This is my first time in the stadium, I believe, actually, because I was going back to when we
played a Monday night game back a few years ago when I was in the NFL, and I actually wasn’t at the stadium.
So this is our first time kind of being there and feeling it, and I think it was good to at least get a feel for what it was like and try to visualize ourselves playing in the game, because it’s going to be an electric atmosphere.
On being able to control your own destiny now that the team is in the CFP
RYAN DAY: Well, that kind of was something that happened there at the beginning of December where we weren’t sure how it was going to shake and then some things broke our way. And now all of a sudden, you had a second opportunity to go win this thing and kind of gave a lot of energy and excitement and juice around the facility and then it just kind of translated to some really excellent practices and preparation. So we’re now kind of into the
game preparation. All that stuff is kind of behind us now, and it’s all about Georgia.
On whether Ohio State will be keeping an eye on the other semifinal
RYAN DAY: No. It’s all about this game right now.
On how anxious he is to finally get out there on the field
RYAN DAY: I’m excited to see us play. I’m excited to play in this game. I’m excited for our team to go play, going to play fast, going to play loose, going to go and have a bunch of fun playing on the field. But we can’t play the game right now. When you get in games like this, you just want to get to the game, but there’s still a lot of preparation to be done.
On ranking this game as far as high stakes go
RYAN DAY: Every game you play at Ohio State has got huge magnitude. And if you don’t think so, try losing a game. That’s kind of the world we live in at Ohio State.
On the situation with the quarterback
RYAN DAY: Yeah. So we’re expecting him to practice
today and have everybody available.
On the various options Ohio State has had to use at running back this year
RYAN DAY: The one thing is we’ve kind of been working through that all season, and the good news is our guys have responded well to it. And some guys have stepped up. So this is not something new, and certainly when Tray
wasn’t available, we had to go down the road of a surgery for him, even though he was working real hard to try to get back on the field. I give him a lot of credit for that, but in the end, he just had to have the surgery. And that was the right thing for Tray. And then from there, okay, so now where do we go, and all these guys have been preparing hard, and we have some good options going into this game.
On how challenging all of the logistics around the holiday season have been
RYAN DAY: Yeah. There’s a lot going on on a week like this for sure, but that’s what this is all about this time of year is managing it all, put the focus on our players and focus on practice and the focus on making sure our guys are prepared to play in this game. That’s the number one thing. But there are a lot of things going on. Like you said, there’s the holidays, there’s the bowl and the events and all these types of things, but I think we’ve done a really good job of keeping the main thing, the main thing, and that’s about playing here at 8:00 on Saturday night.
On how he managed the time with the players
RYAN DAY: We allowed them to go home for a couple of days to be with their families during the holidays and everybody met here Christmas night, and we got back to work. We also did our senior tackle the Saturday before we left and had the senior banquet there on campus, which was a nice event. And then obviously we are able to help out with the families getting down here to the bowl game as well, so that’s great. And most of the families will be here over the next couple days.
On what specifically stands out when preparing for Georgia
RYAN DAY: I think it’s just the complete package of three levels or three phases. You have offense, defense and special teams. I think they do a good job on all three phases. I’ve gone through it all, what they do in all those areas, but they have obviously very, very good players and a lot of talented players, recruited very well. And then they’re well coached and execute well.
On managing the loss to Michigan and then getting into the playoff all in the same week
RYAN DAY: Well, what we did is took a couple days there, and then quickly just got together with the team and said, listen, if a couple things go our way, we’re probably going to be playing Georgia here in this game. And so that started the Wednesday before we even knew what was going to happen, and we got out there and had a couple practices, which was good, because the best thing to do is get back to work, and that’s what we did.
And then when it did kind of fall that way over the weekend, our guys had so much energy. We already talked about this. And then it just kind of translated into some really good practices and some physical practices. And we’ve had an edge about us. And then we got down here and had three really good days of work and about to have another day, and we’ll just keep working towards 8:00 on Saturday night.
On what he sees with the Georgia defense coming from an offensive mind
RYAN DAY: Well, like you said, one of the best defenses of all time. They’re a great defense, and it’s a huge challenge for us.
On the Georgia front that is new but still playing at a high level
RYAN DAY: Yeah. Strong, talented, physical. Done a really good job of preparing for that over the last month, and the game is going to be won upfront. It always is, the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball whether it’s offense or defense.
On the development of C.J. Stroud over the last two seasons
RYAN DAY: Yeah. I’ve just been very impressed with how he’s handled himself over the last few weeks. He’s a special young man who this team loves, I love, and I’m looking forward to seeing him play on Saturday night.
On what Day sees from Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett
RYAN DAY: Yeah, a great player. Somebody who’s already won a national championship. He can do a lot of things. Like you said, he’s got a quick release. He’s accurate down field, can run. He kind of operates everything, gets in the right play, and he’s got some real good weapons around him.
On what he saw from C.J. Stroud after the loss to Michigan and leading up to this game
RYAN DAY: Really what I saw everybody do and that’s get back to work and focus on preparing for Georgia. But he’s grown a lot in a short period of time, and he knows that his best football is ahead of him, and he’s using everything opportunity to grow as a football player, as a person. And like I said, this team loves him, and I love him, and looking forward to see him play at 8:00 on Saturday night.
On how C.J. Stroud reacted after finding out the team made the College Football Playoff
RYAN DAY: I mean, I don’t think he addressed the team, but his work every day and his practices preparation has been excellent, and he knows how important this game is. We all do. So I don’t think he’s doing anything different than anybody else.
But we got an opportunity of playing in the semifinals and compete for a national championship here. There’s only four teams left and we’re one of them. So what matters is how we prepare and how we play in this game, and that’s it. What we can’t do is let a game beat us twice. So continually have to field questions about that, that he’s had to do and certainly we’ve had to do, but that has not affected our preparation.
On what his expectations are heading into the game
RYAN DAY: Well, we expect an unbelievable crowd, unbelievable atmosphere, and a great opponent, and a great challenge, but I think you’re going to see some really physical play. You’re going to see some high-end
execution, and you’re going to see a heck of a game.
On where he would go before the game to get mentally prepared
RYAN DAY: Oh. I like being with the players. I like being with the team. Yeah. And the locker room, on the field, you know, whatever it is. Every once in a while you gotta have a little time for yourself, but I like being with the players.
On what music Day plays
RYAN DAY: Me? I let those guys choose the music. Not that I always know what they’re playing, but I let them choose the music.
On what he'll eat, if anything leading up to the game
RYAN DAY: Anything? We keep it pretty bland before a game, you know, grilled chicken and spaghetti and things like that.
On if he had to rename a drink, the Ryan Day ...
RYAN DAY: I have to think about that. I don’t know.
On if he went out and about in Atlanta or not
RYAN DAY: In recruiting, I’ve stayed up in Buckhead before, and been over to Lenox Mall and those areas. I know my family really enjoyed the Aquarium. I’ve not been over there, but they said it’s a great Aquarium. Usually when we’re recruiting, we’re staying in some of the suburbs
and some of the areas, up in Gwinnett County and some those towns. There’s great football here. Usually when we’re here, we’re not here sightseeing. We’re usually here recruiting. But it’s certainly a great city with great players,
great coaches, great programs, and everybody here has been great to us. We’ve had a great week.
On what he would tell recruits ahead of time that he's looking for in a player
RYAN DAY: I think the first thing is when you recruit you have to keep the focus on what really matters, and that’s their development on and off the field for the rest of their life. Everyone’s chasing the dream of going to the NFL and having a 15-year career in the NFL or whatever it is. But guys in college are still in the most formidable years of their life, and there’s going to be life after football. So choosing the right school for the right reasons I think is the most important thing. Once you choose a school, you have to go live it. After you put out the tweet and after you go through signing day, now you gotta go live there and you gotta go embrace the culture of the program that’s there.
So, and I just think for every recruit and their families, the number one thing has to be their development as a person, as a student, in getting a great degree and then obviously as a player.
On whether he's looked forward to any ping pong matches with Jesse Mirco after last year's Rose Bowl
RYAN DAY: Well, there was a little trash talking yesterday that we’d be going against each other, and certainly Jesse did get me last year, and I can’t tell you I’ve had a lot of time to work on my game, but there will be a rematch before we play in this game on Saturday night, and I will win.
On the opportunity to play in Mercedes-Benz Stadium
RYAN DAY: Yeah. We figure certainly it’s going to be the majority will be the Georgia fans, and so we’ll have to handle it as such, which we’ve done. We knew that coming down here. So almost treating it like a road game. But like you said, this is their third time playing here, so it is kind of familiar for them. But we’ve had an opportunity to practice in Mercedes Benz Stadium all week, and we’ve known what we are up against here, and it’s a great challenge. I know our guys are excited about it.
On his assessment of the media day circus and how the players have handled it
RYAN DAY: Yeah. This is probably one of the few times that we’re all out here together as a team for an event like this. And it’s good. It’s good for our team. But there will be a lot of questions and things and distractions on a week like this. This is not something typically we go through like if it was a normal game week, but when you’re dealing with a bowl game like this, what you have to do is you have to focus on the game. There’s a lot of things along the way that can be distracting, and we can’t let that happen. But our guys are pros. We have a great group, and I think they’ll do a great job today.
On what he'll focus on in today's practice after media day
RYAN DAY: Well, we’ve had really good practices these three days. The last two days have been physical. They’ve been edgy. You can just see it in our guys’ eyes, the way that we’re practicing. They’re looking forward to playing in this game, and today will be no different. We’ll get out there today and have a great practice. We got meetings here in a few minutes, and keep grinding and keep working towards playing, because the most prepared
team will win.
On his thoughts about how unique the career path of Stetson Bennett has been
RYAN DAY: I think everybody has their own journey, and whether it starts when they go into college or high school, everybody kind of has it, and it comes usually with adversity along the way. And when you think about even
for us this season, life is about overcoming adversity, and I think Stetson has done an unbelievable job of that, not exactly the way you draw it out. He came in as a walk-on and left Georgia, came back to Georgia and was in a room with some really talented, highly recruited guys, but just kept grinding. Got a lot of respect for him and the way he’s handled himself, because that’s what life’s all about is overcoming adversity, and he’s done that, and he’s turned into a great player.
On dealing with so many injuries this season
RYAN DAY: Yeah. It has. I was looking at the injury report. We’re clean going into this game and expecting to have everybody that you know of that’ll be available. I just think this year it’s been a couple key spots that’s hurt us. I think overall we’ve done pretty good. When you look at the overall games and who guys are — who missed games, I think we did pretty good. Certainly not having Jaxon available, it just felt like is he going to be ready next week, it never quite got better. And so that was frustrating, and the same thing with Tray. And, again, I give those guys credit. They were trying to get back in, but when you have injuries that don’t allow you to do that, it’s frustrating and when you have such high-end athletes, those things come
into play. But when you look at all the different areas, I guess the corners early on, we had some struggles there, but some guys stepped up, but then we got them healthy. And so we think overall across the board we’ve done pretty good, but they’ve been in key spots, which is — it’s been frustrating, but that’s part of the game. Everybody deals with it. I think about some of the great teams who have had to overcome injuries along the way, and it’d be one heck of a story if we can go out there and win this game and go on and win a National Championship overcoming some of these things. Again, that’s what life’s all about, and that’s what we’re going to look forward to do here Saturday night.
On handling being an underdog against Georgia
RYAN DAY: I mean, our focus has been on this game, and certainly I would assume one of the reasons we’re an underdog is because we lost the last game. And that plays into it. But what matters is how hard we play and how well we execute. That’s it. Nothing else matters. And our preparation. So I don’t know what to think of it all. But I know it doesn’t really matter about point spreads or anything like that. It matters if you win the game or not, and sometimes during the season that becomes a topic of conversation. After every game during the season, how many did you win by, style points, did this guy look good, did you get the running game going. In this game it’s all about winning. It doesn’t matter how you win. You could win pretty, clean, ugly, nasty. It doesn’t matter how you win. You just gotta win. And we’ve been in that pressure room before. That was an ugly win. We’ll take any win when you’re in the CFPs. So, yeah.
On what it was like sitting there and hearing that Ohio State made the CFP
RYAN DAY: Well, I think there was a point there where we were expecting to be in that fourth spot after everything that shook out. But there was just something we had talked about the week before was that if things played out the way we thought they could, that we’d have a chance to be in this situation. So we got to work the week before. We practiced two days and had really good practices. So when it did happen it was like, all right, we already talked about this. We planned for this, and now here we go. It’s happening. And that was excitement there, especially after the week before, it wasn’t good there for a few days. But new life, great month of preparation, and now, again, it’s all about this game.
On what the toughest thing is about preparing for the game?
RYAN DAY: Oh, there’s not just one thing. It’s everything. Again, the talent, the scheme, all of the above.
On not giving away tendencies and the ability to do multiple things
RYAN DAY: Having guys who can do multiple things like Emeka is great. The more you can do, the more versatile you can be, the more value you bring. And we have a few guys like that. You look at Mitch and Emeka and Xavier and those guys, and it helps us.
On how big Emeka's ability and intellect was when Jaxon Smith-Njigba went down
RYAN DAY: Yeah, and his toughness. I just think he’s been a warrior all year. You look at what he’s done and whether it’s special teams, whether it’s playing the slot, whether it’s playing outside, like you said, running the ball, he’s been a warrior. And he can handle high levels of information, but he’s also physically tough and turned into one heck of a football player this year.
On what he heard from his team after the Michigan loss
RYAN DAY: There was a lot of things that were said, and I’ll kind of leave some of that stuff to the team, but no, some guys have stepped up and shown really good leadership over the last month, and that’s what you gotta do. You gotta be resilient. You gotta have perseverance. You gotta work through tough times. That’s what life’s about. Life isn’t always going to be easy. Certainly we’re not proud of what happened. It was a bad loss, but we gotta rebound. No one is going to feel sorry for ourselves, and we didn’t that. We got back to work, and now all the focus is on this game.
On embracing the underdog mentatlity
RYAN DAY: Well, I think we have an opportunity to do something real special here, and more than anything, I just want them to go out there and play as hard and as fast as they can with — not pressing at all, because, again, this is what life is. Life is about going through obstacles and being strong and not veering away from hitting the issues head on, dealing with conflict, and then improving from it. And we got an unbelievable opportunity on Saturday night.
On whether he's seen a shift in talent at Ohio State and whether it needs to be shored up
RYAN DAY: No. I think we’ve done an unbelievable job of recruiting, and I think we’ve done a great job of developing. You can see that with really all positions over the years. And I think each year is different, because you have some young guys, you have some older guys. You have some experience. You have different mixture of players, and this year we went to a different defensive scheme, and went to a three-safety system, and so that’s a little bit different, and we’ve had to adjust our recruiting there. But I think you’re seeing really good play at all positions. But every year is a little bit different, like you said. You have young guys who have to step up. You have some older guys who now have experience, and then once we get done with the season, it’ll all kind of change again, and we’ll have to regroup year in and year out. But there’s a certain amount of talent in each room, but to me it’s all about the skill and discipline you build over your time. And talent is God given, but you have to earn discipline and skill, and that’s what we focus
on.
On Stroud's ability to read defenses and his grasp of concepts
RYAN DAY: It’s a big part of playing quarterback is being able to do that, and the more you can do, the better. But then, also, you also don’t want to give it just because he can handle it, do too much, where it puts too much on his plate either, and that’s the balance you have to find, and I think the thing for C.J. is he’s really given great feedback to me. He’s given great feedback to the coaching staff on what he’s seeing, what he’s feeling. When you’re young, you don’t really know, but he’s got now a bunch of games under his belt, so he knows what he likes; he knows what he doesn’t like, and he’s had a really good month of preparation here, and I know he’s real excited about
playing in this one.
On C.J. understanding he won't change something on his own
RYAN DAY: No. But the feedback that he’s giving like, listen, what do you think about this or I’m seeing this thing a different way. So we adjust him in practice, and certainly he has some plays that he can change, but, no, that’s not how the offense is run. You don’t just all of a sudden start changing plays at the line of scrimmage.
On what his relationship with Kirby Smart is like
RYAN DAY: Just professional. Got a lot of respect for him and seen him at a couple different events, and he’s always been a gentleman.
On how important recruiting Georgia is for Day
RYAN DAY: For us, our number one goal in recruiting is to recruit the best players from the state of Ohio, but then from there, going to identify the areas that we think can help us, and Georgia’s just had an unbelievable amount of talent come out of this area now for a long time, and certainly strong now than it’s ever been. And great high school coaches, great talent. But it’s heavily recruited as well. You know. It’s competitive.
On how much admiration he has for a guy like Stetson Bennett who wasn't highly recruited
RYAN DAY: A ton. A ton. Kind of similar to the way that I kind of came up, smaller school and just kind of overachieving in different areas, but, boy, he’s really turned into a great player. He can beat you with his feet. He’s accurate downfield. The position of quarterback is one that you have to just continually overcome adversity. And that’s what he’s done. And you can just see that, and I think that’s the trait of a really good quarterback. And, shoot, he’s already won a National Championship and gone undefeated. Again, a lot of respect for him.
On how much Marvin Harrison has developed vs. innate ability
RYAN DAY: I think when you find special players, you have talent. Like you said, that was God given. And Marvin did not earn that talent. Like RJ Day is not going to have that talent, but Marvin does. But I think what makes Marvin special is his discipline and his skill.
He’s built a tremendous amount of discipline in his life, takes care of his body, prepares at a high level, just unbelievable amount of discipline, the way that he runs his routes. His work ethic is unbelievable. Then the skill.
I mean, the amount of work that he puts in I think you could say that he’s one of the hardest workers on the entire team, the work he puts in. You can ask anybody on their team, they would say he’s ranked number one or two top hardest working guys on our team. So when you combine all that together, you get a special player.
On the joking he's heard throughout the season late with Harrison Jr. still hanging out working late
RYAN DAY: Yeah. I think he had it going in the hotel somewhere this week. It’s just the way he is. Yeah. There was a point during the season where there was only a few of us. I think it was around midnight, and someone said to
me, there’s only a few people in the building, Coach, you, a couple of the assistants and Marvin is in there. I said get Marvin home. He needs to get some rest. But that’s just the way he is and, again, I think that’s what makes him special.
On whether he's heard about the beer deal one of the Ohio State players has, called Kentucky Cold Snap
RYAN DAY: No. But if we win this game, I’ll take one.
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