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.
These are three takeaways from Day’s Week 10 press conference discussing the loss to USC and previewing the matchup against Oregon on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
1) Ohio State “did speed up” but should’ve been faster
Ryan Day last season, infamously, said that, “When it’s time to turn
up the gas, we will,” in regards to Ohio State’s slow-played offense. While the Buckeyes have largely gone away from that slow motion style of play in 2026, we are still waiting for that statement to actually come true almost a year later.
Ohio State got the ball with 6:11 remaining in the third quarter trailing 27-9 against USC. Obviously, down by three scores, if there was any chance of staging a come-from-behind victory, the Buckeyes would have to move fast.
Instead, Day and Arthur Smith elected to run the ball eight times out of the 12 plays on the ensuing drive, and while it did result in a field goal to cut the deficit to 27-12, the possession ate up 6:15 of the clock.
After the two teams traded punts, Ohio State got the ball back again with around eight minutes remaining in the game trailing by two scores. Again, if there was any hope of a comeback, the Buckeyes would have to move quickly.
Ohio State was in no hurry, taking its sweet time while continuing to huddle up and run the ball. The drive ended in a touchdown, but it ultimately ate up another 5:45 of the game clock.
The Buckeyes failed the two-point conversion, making it a moot point anyway, but there was zero urgency from a team that desperately needed to put up points fast to dig themselves out of the huge hole they had dug. Now trailing by nine with only two minutes left, the game was over.
It makes no sense why Ohio State didn’t look to push the tempo. There was virtually no risk in trying to go fast in a game that you were going to lose anyway if you couldn’t put together a few quick scoring drives.
For Day to say that they ‘did speed up’ is simply not true.
2) “Still a lot of value” in multiple TE packages
It is unclear what kind of dirt tight ends coach Keenan Bailey has on the head coach, but the continued support of multiple tight end packages by Day is complete and utter insanity, and a troubling indication that he fundamentally does not understand his personnel.
Ohio State’s tight ends have been a complete and utter disaster. The position group as a whole has been wildly ineffective both in the blocking game and as pass-catchers, yet Day and his offensive brain trust continue to try and feature the unit in some of the biggest moments of games, including in the red zone — a key factor in the Buckeyes’ failures down near the goal line.
Far too often Ohio State is taking Jeremiah Smith and other supremely talented wide receivers off the field in favor of terrible tight ends for seemingly no reason. They continue to do their opposition a massive favor for no gain whatsoever, and it is unclear why they are the only people on the planet who are unable to see the problem.
Bailey is an awful coach who should’ve never been hired in the first place, and the tight end room under his watch has only gotten worse. Jelani Thurman is a great example of the Buckeyes’ shortcomings at the position and a microcosm of Bailey’s shortcomings in Columbus.
In three seasons at Ohio State, Thurman barely touched the field. He caught 13 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns as a Buckeye, and transferred to UNC this past offseason.
Now with the Tar Heels, Thurman is one of the most productive tight ends in the country. He has racked up 461 yards on 38 receptions with six touchdowns in eight games. Ohio State’s entire tight ends room by comparison, which plays FIVE different guys, has only 24 catches for 322 yards and three touchdowns COMBINED.
Saturday night was the greatest juxtaposition of the two.
While Ohio State’s tight end room was committing multiple penalties and repeatedly whiffing on blocks against USC, Thurman had 70 yards and two touchdowns against now-No. 1 Miami.
There is no reason for Ohio State to continue to trot out multiple tight end sets. They do not have the talent in the room to justify having more than one on the field at a time, and the results have been disastrous for several seasons.
3) “That’s the thing about being at Ohio State, the expectations are very high”
Day has never made an in-season coaching change in his time at Ohio State, at least in an official capacity. The closest the head coach has come was taking away play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs in 2021.
While Day said in his press conference this week that he is, “not against,” making any coaching changes, “if it’s appropriate,” the Buckeyes are at a bit of a crossroads on the offensive line.
“Something that you got to evaluate everybody,” said in regards to OL coach Tyler Bowen. “That’s the thing about being at Ohio State, the expectations are very high. There are definitely some positive things that have gone on there, but when you come out of the last game or two, I think there’s just been too many mistakes there and so we have to improve on that.”
Bowen was a bad hire. The former Virginia Tech tight ends coach is clearly way in over his head, and the unit has taken a nose dive as a result. There was zero reason the Buckeyes should be hiring a guy who hasn’t coached the position in several years to lead one of the most important position groups in the country.
Ohio State returned four starters up front from a year ago. An offensive line loaded with veterans was expected to be a strength of the Buckeyes this season, but instead has taken a massive step back and has become a huge problem.
The performance has been stark. According to Bill Landis on the Bill and Doug Show, Ohio State’s offensive line accounted for 19 penalties in the team’s 14 games. This season, the Buckeyes’ OL has committed a whopping 25 penalties in only eight games thus far.
Similarly to Bailey this the Thurman transfer, another huge indictment on Bowen has been the performance of Tegra Tshabola at Kentucky.
Tshabola was by far Ohio State’s worst offensive lineman a year ago. He was the weakest link on a unit that definitely had its struggles but was overall good enough in most areas. It was clear he was not going to keep his starting job in Columbus if he returned, so he took his talents to Lexington.
Now, Tshabola is one of the best guards in the country. Among right guards this season, Tshabola is No. 1 in FBS with a 93.2 grade, per Pro Football Network.
To go from worst to first is an obvious coaching issue, and Ohio State continues to pay the price by allowing Bowen to remain on staff.
Day said he is, “not in that frame of mind right now,” in regards to a coaching change, but the longer the head coach lets this fester the worse it is going to get.
