COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — With two weeks remaining before its schedule gets tougher, top-ranked Ohio State looks to continue its dominating season when it hosts UCLA on Saturday night.
The Buckeyes (9-0, 6-0
Big Ten) — who are favored by 31 1/2 points to beat the Bruins (3-6, 3-3), according to BetMGM Sportsbook — have dominated their six Big Ten games, winning by an average of 26.2 points. That includes a pair of 24-point victories the past two weeks against Penn State and at Purdue.
The one person not buying into the hype, though, is coach Ryan Day.
“And so it’s one thing to say, ‘OK, we’ve done X, Y, and Z up until this point,’ but that means absolutely nothing, like zero. We’ve done nothing,” he said following Wednesday’s practice. “So I understand everyone’s gonna talk about those things, but none of that has anything to do with what we’re doing moving forward. So if we think that has anything to do with this weekend or where we’re going, then we’re dead wrong. So we have to make sure we all understand that.”
After facing UCLA, Ohio State will host Rutgers next Saturday, leading up to its Nov. 29 showdown at Michigan. This could set up a Dec. 6 matchup against second-ranked Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game, followed by a potential College Football Playoff appearance.
“We said this from the beginning, we wanna be the first (Ohio State) team ever to be back-to-back. And that’s a tall task. It’s easy to say, but it’s another thing to do. And so we’re in the middle of it right now, but we’ve got a lot of work to do and we gotta continue to stay focused on what matters,” Day said.
Day’s more immediate focus is making sure quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith remain concentrated on the present, rather than thinking about potential Heisman Trophy considerations.
Sayin leads the Football Bowl Subdivision in completion percentage (80.9%) and passer rating (192.6). Smith is second with 10 receiving touchdowns and sixth in receptions (65) and receiving yards (862).
“Our guys understand that if you win as a team, then everybody’s going to do well. I think you can see that with Jeremiah. You can see it with Julian. They both are pulling for each other. If I started to feel like it was becoming an individual thing, then yeah, we’d probably put a stop to it,” Day said.
The Bruins have lost their last two, including a 56-6 setback at Indiana on Oct. 25. Interim coach Tim Skipper is 3-3 since replacing the fired DeShaun Foster.
“It’s always going to come back to us just doing what we’re supposed to do. The big message from that game to this one will be starting fast. We have to take care of us. We can’t worry about who we were playing and things like that,” Skipper said.
Nico Iamaleava returns to Ohio Stadium, albeit in different circumstances.
The UCLA sophomore was Tennessee’s starting quarterback during the Volunteers' 42-17 loss to the Buckeyes in a College Football Playoff first-round game last December. Iamaleava was 14-of-31 passing for 104 yards and had a career-high 20 rushing attempts for 47 yards.
“He takes hits, but he’ll get back up and do his thing. You just got to be aware of his feet, him on the ground and in the air because he can hurt you both ways,” defensive tackle Eddrick Houston said.
Even though Iamaleava is the leader of a 3-6 squad, Day knows how dangerous he can be. He is second in the Big Ten among quarterbacks with 474 rushing yards.
“He played tough in the playoff game here, and I’m watching him play the last few weeks, and man, he’s physical, he runs hard,” Day said.
Ohio State could be without Carnell Tate for a second straight game. Day did not have an update on the junior wide receiver after he was held out of the Purdue game due to precautionary reasons.
Tate has 39 catches, 711 yards, and seven touchdowns this season.
Ohio State’s biggest lineup question going into the game is who will start at right guard? Josh Padilla is coming back from injury after missing last week at Purdue.
The Buckeyes are still likely to go with a rotation of Padilla, Tegra Tshabola, and Ethan Onianwa, as no one has emerged as a clear starter.
A win would give Day his sixth season of at least 10 victories, moving him past Woody Hayes and John Cooper.
Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel share the mark with seven.
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Freelance reporter Marcus Hartman contributed to this story.
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