It's officially Week 10 for Ohio State as it looks to come back home and regain some of the lost momentum from a disappointing performance last week at USC. Now with absolutely zero room for error when looking at the College Football Playoff, the Buckeyes welcome Oregon to Columbus on Saturday.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with the media on Tuesday for his weekly game-week presser to review the Buckeyes' matchup with the Trojans and look ahead to Oregon. The Ohio State head coach discussed numerous topics, including quarterback play, lessons learned from last week, what needs to change, and a message to the team this week.
Here's a look at some of the standout notes and quotes he had.
Red Zone Offense And The Consistent Struggles
There's no question that Ohio State's performance inside
the 20 has been horrendous for parts of the season, and dating back to previous years too. Saturday may have been a tipping point, however. Despite being 3-of-4 in the red zone against USC, two of the drives ended in a field goal -- including one that was inside the five-yard line. While the drive the Buckeyes didn't score on was the turnover on downs on the final drive of the game, there was also a possession that ended with three points that was stopped on the Trojans ' 21-yard line.
Ohio State went 11 plays, eight plays, and then 13 plays -- each drive taking up more than four minutes -- on its three scoring drives of the first half. Typically those would be looked at as very efficient possessions, but to come out with just 9 points is inexcusable. At that point in the game, it was 20-9 USC.
The inability to convert was a major talking point for Day as he looked back at the mistakes made.
"Any time you don't have success, you look and ask, 'Is it the scheme, personnel, or the coaching? We can continue to go back through and see if there are any schematic ways to get better... everything that happens on the field is my responsibility ... to say it's working well is not accurate," Day said. "It's hard for anyone to score touchdowns in the red zone nowadays ... we have to execute cleanly down there, and when we have negative plays and penalties, it sets us way back
"When we get down there, we are late in drives ... we aren't finishing them off well enough when we're down there. One play, whether it's a negative play or penalty, is setting us back, and we have to do a better job of focusing and making sure it's clean. Have to be aggressive ... I'm as frustrated as anybody."
Urgency. Urgency. Urgency.
With two losses, the margin for error is zero. Ryan Day clearly understands that not only will one more loss likely force Ohio State out of a potential Big Ten Championship, but it will certainly eliminate the Buckeyes from an at-large bid for the College Football Playoff.
The expectations for the Buckeyes this season were sky-high -- win a national championship. While an injured Julian Sayin certainly changes things slightly, the talent level on this roster is still there. This week, with Oregon coming to town, a team that was projected by many to win the title this year, the urgency has to be at an all-time high. No other slip-up can happen.
"The margin for error here is tiny," Day said. "We better recognize that if we don't get things fixed and play better, it's not going to go better against Oregon. We have to be better in all phases ... that's the challenge; it's not going to go well if we don't get things fixed. The urgency better be very high for everybody, coaches and players included ... We need everyone to step up; that's the bottom line, and everyone needs to know that. As the head coach it's my job directing to make sure everyone knows what the expectations are.
"I said it before, we aren't allowed to lose games. When it happens, there are consequences. If you don't like it, don't come to Ohio State."
Offensive Line Continues To Struggle
Ohio State continues to see an inconsistent offensive line take the field -- whether it be week to week or drive to drive. Saturday was the Buckeyes' worst pass-blocking grade of the season, to go along with the worst run-blocking grade of Big Ten play and the second-worst of the year. That's on top of five penalties from the offensive line and 15 additional pressures.
Ryan Day was asked about the offensive line on Tuesday, but more specifically -- Tyler Bowen, the offensive line coach.
"You have to evaluate everybody, and that's something about being at Ohio State, the expectations are very high," Day said. "There are certainly some positives, but when you come out of the last game or two, there are too many mistakes there, and we have to improve that ... we know what needs to get done but have too many penalties and missed assignments, and everyone in that room would tell you that."
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: 3 key quotes from Ryan Day as he turns the page from USC to Oregon
