Ohio State’s bye week is over, and it’s preparing for an important game against Nebraska.
For the first time since losing at Oregon, coach Ryan Day met with the media. Here are four thoughts on the Buckeyes and what Day had to say.
This is the most hands-on Day has been with the defense
There was a different tone in Day’s voice on Tuesday. You could tell and even see it on his face, that he knows things need to change after the loss.
He said, on multiple occasions, that he wasn’t happy with anything right now.
Ohio State’s defense was the main topic of discussion on Tuesday. Day addressed questions about his frustrations with the pass rush, the idea of changing things up and even whether defensive line coach Larry Johnson and coordinator Jim Knowles were on the same page, which they are, Day said.
A few things stood out to me, including Day agreeing with former Alabama coach and ESPN analyst Nick Saban saying Ohio State’s defensive pressure was “antiquated.”
“When it doesn’t work it’s accurate. It’s not working,” Day said. “There’s a lot of ways to do it. There’s different strategies on how to go do that. When you have the results we have right now it’s not working and that has to change.”
We made a big deal all offseason about Day giving up play calling. These are the moments when that decision needs to pay off for the Buckeyes.
In the past, coming off a loss, Day wouldn’t be able to spend as much time in the defense’s meetings because he had his own offense to prepare. This year, though, with Chip Kelly running the offense, he is able to go where he’s needed most. And that’s on defense.
“I was in there more in the last week than I have in the past,” Day said. “It’s my job to make sure all three phases are the way they’re supposed to be.”
He’s spent time in meetings, in position rooms and doing more on-field coaching, as well. That’s a big boost for Ohio State.
No matter how people feel about Day and his 2-7 record in top-five games, nobody can discredit his football brain. He’s as smart as they come when talking about the game of football, and his voice should help Knowles’ defense.
If you’re a glass half-full type of fan, that is a reason to be optimistic about this season, still. This is still Knowles’ defense, but we’ve never seen an Ohio State team with Day so hands-on. That could make the difference, and Day’s confidence in Knowles and the direction of the defense hasn’t dropped.
While some may point to the 148 points and 1,897 yards given up in the past four top-five matchups, everything Day heard last week about adjustments makes him believe, he said, the defense is going in the right direction.
Hearing Day talk on Tuesday, it sounds like the Buckeyes will have a few new looks to debut against Nebraska.
Saturday will tell us a lot going into a potential top-five matchup against Penn State.
Zen Michalski doesn’t have to be Josh Simmons
After the loss to Oregon, Day said he thought left tackle Josh Simmons would be out for the season, and he confirmed that on Tuesday, adding that it was a knee injury without getting into specifics.
Simmons, who had been one of Ohio State’s best offensive linemen, is a huge loss for the Buckeyes.
Michalski will step in for Simmons. The four-year player is about to earn his first career start after playing 44 offensive snaps against the Ducks. He was good in that game, not great, but serviceable. He gave up two pressures in 28 pass block snaps, according to TruMedia.
“He’s a veteran guy who has been in the program and knows what we’re doing. He was ready,” Day said. “Was it perfect? No, but he did some good things. When you go against Jack (Sawyer), JT (Tuimoloau) and Kenyatta (Jackson) every day, you should be able to go out there in those environments with confidence.”
The Buckeyes will continue to rotate players in practice, using left guard Donovan Jackson and right guard Tegra Tshabola as players who could rotate in if things go poorly for Michalski.
In that case, Ohio State has flexibility to move Austin Siereveld into either guard spot.
That depth is something that Day has talked about multiple times since the summer.
Coming into the offseason there were a lot of unknowns with the offensive line. In fact, after the Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri, it didn’t look like Ohio State had more than two serviceable offensive linemen. Instead, now it has at least six, counting Simmons and Siereveld.
While the hope is that Michalski can bump that number up one.
“Zen has to take the next step,” Day said. “It’s one thing when you’re coming in to finish a game. Now he has to be the starter.”
I tend to believe Michalski will be fine. The good thing about this offensive line is that the right side is showing a lot of improvement, especially right tackle Josh Fryar. With Fryar and Tshabola playing well and Jackson next to Michalski, Ohio State won’t have to rely on him to be everything Simmons was. He will have to move well in space, target defenders in the run game and pick up blitzers in the pass game, but having Jackson and even quarterback Will Howard to help him will be a boost.
Quinshon Judkins had a hand procedure
Simmons wasn’t the only injury coming out of the Oregon game.
Tight end Will Kacmarek is out indefinitely, Day said. That means Jelani Thurman and Bennett Christian will be used more, paired with Gee Scott Jr.
Those were the known injuries, though.
Day also said that running back Judkins had a minor procedure on his hand, but is feeling good. In fact, Day said that he’s feeling better than he was even going into the Oregon game.
That’s good news for the Buckeyes, who are entering the most important stretch of their season.
What is kicker Jayden Fielding’s range?
One thing I kept thinking about during the bye week was that Fielding may really have missed the field goal even if Howard got down one second earlier at Oregon and gave the Buckeyes a chance to win in the 32-31 loss.
Howard, after the game and again on Tuesday, said the Buckeyes were trying to get 15 yards to feel safe about a kick. Ohio State was on the 38-yard line, so 15 yards would’ve meant around a 43-yard field goal. Howard didn’t get that far on his scramble, though, he was just around the 29-yard line, which would’ve meant around 47 yards, which is Fielding’s career high from last year.
Finding a college kicker that can consistently kick 50-yarders isn’t easy.
To Ohio State’s credit, it’s been extremely aggressive when it comes to fourth downs in scoring range, and it is converting at a 75 percent rate. But even if Fielding misses a field goal, Ohio State needs to see where his max distance is in a game.
Kicking in practice and kicking with pressure are two completely different things, and it’s time to figure that out. I’m not saying to settle for a field goal at Penn State just to test out Fielding, but when Purdue comes to town and Ohio State is up 17-0 already, it’s all right to kick and find out what Fielding has with the bright lights on.
He’s attempted just three kicks this year, his longest a 40-yarder. That’s not enough, but if it’s anything like last year, he’ll get more attempts soon.
Last year, 11 of his 20 field goals came in the final six games of the regular season.
(Photo of Ryan Day: Adam Cairns / Columbus Dispatch / USA Today via Imagn Images)
