Each week at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day meets with the media ahead of the Buckeyes’ matchup that following weekend. Each week here at Land-Grant Holy Land, we will be bringing you three of the biggest storylines from said press conference. You can listen to Day’s full availability on LGHL’s Uncut here.
These are three takeaways from Day’s Week 6 press conference recapping the win over Washington and previewing the matchup against Minnesota on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
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1) “There’s a lot of growth,” for Davison Igbinosun
Ohio State’s defense returned only three starters from last year’s national title team. Two of those returnees were bonafide stars in safety Caleb Downs and linebacker Sonny Styles. The third has been a bit of an enigma…
That guy is Davison Igbinosun, the No. 2 corner a year ago to Denzel Burke. The 2025 season marks Iggy’s third with the Buckeyes, beginning his career at Ole Miss before transferring to Ohio State in 2023.
One of the most physical defensive backs in college football, his tackling ability and effort have never been a question, but that physicality has gotten him in trouble in the penalty department.
The overall results have been a mixed bag.
Igbinosun was one of the most flagged players in college football a year ago. It seemed nearly every week he was good for at least one pass interference or holding penalty. All told, he was flagged 16 (!!) times in 2024.
However, at the same time, Iggy was also an incredibly effective cover corner, making some really clutch plays for Ohio State — including, most notably, a critical interception in the end zone against Penn State.
This season, it seems as though Igbinosun has been able to hone in his physical and competitive nature, still locking down opposing receivers while also avoiding those costly penalties.
He remains one of the best tacklers on a loaded defense — the third-highest ranked tackler on Ohio State this season per PFF — while having only been flagged ONCE through four games.
It always seemed clear that there was a prototypical NFL-level corner inside Igbinosun if he cut just cut down on the penalties. Well, leading the way as the most experienced man in his position group this season, so far so good!
2) “We’ve got an army of people involved with special teams.”
Ohio State has been a well-oiled machine on defense so far this year, ranking No. 1 in the country in scoring defense allowing only 5.5 points per game and only two total touchdowns through four contests.
The offense, while a bit slow out of the gate, contains the nation’s best receiver, a five-star quarterback with incredible accuracy, and a quickly rising star freshman running back.
Really the only area of concern for the Buckeyes right now is a special teams unit that is anything but special.
Even outside of the anecdotal evidence that Ohio State’s special teams stink, both from a punting and a returning perspective, the numbers back it up. The Buckeyes rank 85th nationally in average punt yardage, 77th in opponent kick return yardage, and 132nd (out of 135 teams) in average kick return yardage.
That doesn’t even factor in what has been a disastrous punt return unit, where basically every decision made has been the wrong one. When Ohio State attempts to return punts, they lose yardage or fumble the ball. When they choose whether to let the ball bounce or fair catch it, the choice they make is almost always opposite the correct one.
In a sport where, against the other top teams in the country, the margins are so thin, you cannot allow your special teams to cost you yards — and sometimes even possessions.
Ryan Day says there is an army of people involved with special teams, and he expressed confidence in Brandon Inniss remaining the team’s primary punt returner, but so far the results have not been great.
Something has to give. Whether it’s a changing of personnel or a few extra practice periods devoted to the special teams unit, this group has to get better before the premier opponents return to the schedule.
3) “Aaron Scott’s gonna start playing more football around here.”
Aaron Scott has flashed a bit in very limited playing time early this season.
He made a big hit on special teams against Washington this past week, stopping the returner at their own 19-yard line. It also looked like Scott had recorded his first career interception against Grambling, making a nice play on the ball to get in front of the intended receiver, but the ball moved a bit on his way to the ground and it was ruled incomplete.
Ohio State’s defense has obviously been excellent so far this year, but if there is one area the unit could look to improve, it would be in the slot.
Lorenzo Styles Jr. has had a tough start to the season. The most glaring issue was his missed tackle against Ohio, leading to the Bobcats’ lone touchdown of the game, but the overall numbers aren’t that great either.
Styles Jr.’s coverage grade of 55.8, per PFF, is by far the lowest of any Buckeyes defender that has played at least 100 snaps. The nine receptions allowed for 129 yards and a touchdown are all also team-highs.
Of course, the long 67-yard touchdown plays into that yardage a bunch, and it isn’t like Styles Jr. has been a complete disaster out there, but it has been at least noticeable that opposing teams seem to feel like they can attack the slot.
Meanwhile, Scott, who again has played very limited reps — 36 total snaps, to be exact — does rank third on the team with a 74.8 coverage grade, behind only Caleb Downs (87.6) and Sonny Styles (78.2).
A lot can change when a player gets on the field more, especially given that the majority of Scott’s reps on defense have come against backups in garbage time. That said, it’s clear Day and the rest of this Ohio State staff have liked what they’ve seen from Scott so far, and I think its worth giving him a little extra run in that slot position just to see what they have.
Two of the next three games on the schedule should be relatively easy wins against Minnesota and Wisconsin, with a tough road contest at Illinois thrown in the middle. You should get some chances to throw Scott in both of those games before things are out of reach and see if you can potentially upgrade one of the few areas of weakness on this defense.
