The eyes of the college football world will be upon the Big House on Saturday as No. 3 Michigan hosts No. 2 Ohio State in what is one of the biggest games in college football this season. Both teams enter the contest with a perfect 11-0 record, and the winner will earn a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game and a likely invitation to the College Football Playoff.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with the media on Tuesday to preview the matchup. Here's everything Day had to say.
On the Buckeyes keeping their composure in such an intense matchup
I think that's important. You have to play with emotion, you can't let emotion play with you. I think that's important to have your emotions in check, which isn't easy in a game like this, because we all know the magnitude of it all. But it's something that we identified in the offseason and we'll talk about this week.
On the run game's improvement throughout the season
Yeah, gotta keep getting tested, but I feel like we've made some progress in different areas. I think, certainly, [Treveyon Henderson] coming back has made a big impact on that but everybody is involved with it, it's balanced. But I think identifying each week what's worked for us, and what hasn't — fixing those things just over time, getting better, and I think the infusion of Tre has certainly helped.
On keeping Kyle McCord from trying to prove Ryan Day's decision of choosing him over J.J. McCarthy right
I think there's a lot going on here and I think what we've done all season is in preparation for this game — the way we've prepared, the way we've evaluated each game, the way we've talked about each game, our focus in the offseason, our focus in the preseason and our focus during the season. So, like I told the guys on Sunday: We've been preparing for this moment all year, and so now we just need to continue on the routines that we've been on and be the best team we've been all season, but at the same time focusing on those things, and it'll be the same for Kyle.
On when he first grasped the magnitude of the rivalry
I just think every year you learn more and more. I guess this will be my sixth time in The Game, so you learn quickly when you're here, but each year you learn more and it has more of a significant impact on you as a person. And I think all of our guys, when they come here, whether it's a coach or a player, they're here for one reason, and it's to win that game. And I guess every year that you're here you learn that more and more. But, shoot, my youngest daughter doesn't know any place other than Ohio. This means the world to me and my family.
On what he looks for when scouting quarterbacks in high school
Yeah. I mean, it's not just one thing, but there's a lot that you look at. You know, leadership, competitiveness, toughness — there's just so many things that you do. And the difficult thing now is starting recruiting at younger ages, and certain guys are being evaluated as freshmen and sophomores, and then you continue to evaluate and then you have guys like Lincoln [Kienholz], who we evaluated in his senior year, so, and then you try to compare the best you can. But there's not one thing, other than competitiveness is one that for sure is high on the list.
On what he remembers from recruiting J.J. McCarthy, and what it was about Kyle McCord that led Day to him
There's all kinds of things that lead into recruiting. J.J. was always great, he was very respectful, very competitive player, got a lot of respect for him as a player and as a person. And during the recruiting cycle you just spend time with different people and different folks, and you learn about people and again, all my interactions with he and his family were very classy.
On if the matchup this year is personal for him
Yeah, because I think, not that it's easy, but the only thing that matters is this game, this team, is preparing. The rest of it doesn't matter, so that's what we have to do — we have got to stay disciplined enough to focus on that. And it goes back to the conversation about emotion — letting emotion of the game get in the way — we can't do that. And every year you learn more and more about this game and the preparation for it so we're not gonna let any of that stuff get in our way in terms of distractions. We're just gonna focus on this team, this season and preparing the best we possibly can.
On if he thought he was more uptight during Michigan week last year compared to the weeks leading up to the Peach Bowl against Georgia
I think every year you evaluate what's gone on, and you try to do the best you can to make sure that you fix the things that don't go well, and you enhance the things that do go well. I think there was a lot of things that went on in the game, looking back on it, and so you learn from it and you move on.
On Kyle McCord's added experience from playing at Notre Dame
Yeah, any time you have experience in a game like this, it makes a big difference, and it's something to go back upon, which is good. He's a very smart player who understands situations, and when you've been in those type of situations before, you have something to grab on to and refer to, and you have a reference point, and I think that all helps in preparation.
On if the seemingly lost respect from the Ten Year War days energizes Day, or if it saddens him
I was taught that the way you respect the rivalry is to work it every day. Whether it's in the weight room, whether it's game planning, talking to your players, periods in practice during the spring, periods in practice in the preseason, and that's it. We do. We respect the rivalry, and certainly excited to play here on Saturday.
On his team embracing the road environment
Well, yeah, and we have the schedule right over there, and I point to the white blocks right there — the teams we had to go on the road this season more than we had in the past. And we certainly knew we had to go on the road for this one. Like I said, it's all in preparation for the last game of the year. It's been great to get tested, get battle tested, so you talk about reference point, our team does have a reference point. It'll be loud, it'll be hostile, great environment, but we've been in those before, and so a reference point going into the game is important.
On the importance of getting the rushing attack going
It's extremely important. Yeah. There's a lot of things that are important, but that's certainly extremely high on the list.
On executing in the red zone against a Michigan team that is elite defensively in the red zone
Well first off, they haven't had very many snaps down there, so there's not a ton to go off of, but you've got to, every yard is worth two or three down there, and you gotta do a great job of execution. The field gets smaller, we call it the 12th defender is that end line, and so you've just got to operate in a smaller area. And so we got to be efficient. But that'll be another situation that'll be huge in the game — those four-point plays where you're either kicking field goals or scoring touchdowns on both sides of the ball.
On if he respects Jim Harbaugh and Michigan's staff
With everything going on, and the things that are out there, we've just kinda stayed away from all the distractions. We have. And just focused on our team. And I think our guys have done a good job of it. I think when you talk to our guys, I've talked to 'em a couple times about what's gone on this season and going into The Game, but they're focused on this game, their focused on this season, they're focused on their preparation, and we're just gonna continue on that.
On the importance of playing fast and loose on game day
It's our job to give them a good plan. Let them go play. Then they can go out there and compete at the highest level, and that's what you want as a coach. So we've got to have a good scheme, gotta do a great job of that, but at the same time we've got to allow them to go play. And that's what it comes down to in big games, and it's gonna be four quarters, it's gonna be a battle, and the good news is this is something we've been preparing for all year.
On how he thinks his emotional state in certain moments impacts the team
Yeah, I think you have to know your team, you have to know what's going on each week, sometimes it just pours out, other times, you feel like you gotta give your guys a little something, but you also want consistency. But the guys in the locker room know how competitive we all are, and how competitive I am, but like I said you have to keep your emotions in check, and that's gonna be starting from the head down, it's gotta start from me. We have to go in there and execute at a high level and handle the environment.
On if he's talked to his team about handling the tunnel at Michigan Stadium
We've had conversations already, folks have been talking about it here for a couple weeks and putting some good plans together to make sure we can focus on what matters, and that's getting on the field and playing football.
On the vibe around the program now compared to this time a year ago
Yeah, I think you look at that in the offseason for sure. You just try to dive in and identify, okay, let's talk about the scheme, let's talk about the preparation, let's talk about leading up to the game. Let's talk about all those things. And then you try to identify what exactly happened in the game. And then you learn from there and then you grow from there and you make adjustments from there. And then that's kinda how you shape your season. That's how you shape your offseason. And then you learn about your team. You learn about, there's a lot of information that comes in during the season and you grow from there and you build from there all in preparation for this one. So yeah, you certainly look at all those things, but at this point a lot of those decisions have been made.
On if he thinks the weight of The Game will decrease with the new college football format next season
Yeah I don't know if that'll be the case. I'm sure there'll always be just as much on the line when these two teams play. Certainly it'll be different, but I don't think it'll change anything just on the format. It's always gonna be this way. And the format certainly will change next year, but I don't think the rivalry will be anything less than it is right now.
On his confidence level with the offensive line
Yeah, you're seeing improvement every week, you're seeing a group that works together, you're seeing progressions individually and as a unit, and so they're gonna do a great job today of getting out there on Tuesday practice and working at their craft and preparing at a high level, and then go compete for four quarters. But like you said, week in and week out, we come in and we talk about the progress in different areas, and I think we've seen it in that area, so I think their confidence is as high as it's been all season.
On his excitement to see the defense perform after what's happened the last two seasons
It's, again, same thing, adjustments need to be made, not just this year, but the year before as well, so here we are, we gotta go put it on the field. But I think you're gonna see a confident group going out there.
On his confidence level in Kyle McCord
Yeah, you see him executing plays, you see it in practice and then it carries over to the field and that's what you want and ultimately you gotta take care of the football, win the game. That's the bottom line here. Good news is you've got a great group around him, and he's been in these environments before. So a lot of things in his favor going into the game. But now he's got to go put it on the field.
On the lack of close games between both teams and the unknown of both teams
I feel like we've been tested at different times this year. With the growth of the quarterback, we've been in games at halftime, winning, games where it's been close, games where we've been losing, so we've had to win games in the fourth quarter, we've had games where we've pulled away from teams, so I think we've learned a lot about this team. I think they're a more mature and veteran team than in the past. Many of these guys have played in this game before. So I feel like I have a good feel for who we are and who our identity is.
On how he can get his team to play its best football in this game
I think you look at the routine. That's something you grab onto in big weeks, that's why you set routines, that's why we talk to our team about routines, and that's in big games, that's what you grab onto. Make sure you stay on that routine, and it's a productive process to make sure you're covering everything you need to cover in terms of preparation. And we've had great opportunities to take a look and see how things have gone down, why they've gone down, and regroup every season and try to identify the things that we have to improve at. It's been a great group to build with, they're a great group to coach, and we're gonna have another great week of practice right now, and I can't wait to see these guys play on Saturday.
On if this week feels any different for him now than it did when he first started at Ohio State
I don't know. I think it's a good question, but we take every year as it is and go from there, but there's guys with scars, and I'm one of 'em. So it just drives you every day to work harder and to make sure you do everything you possibly can to win the game.
On how much freedom comes with knowing that all that matters is the win
We say in those matchups games, it could come down to one play, and we have to play those games that way. We've been in a couple of those this season, and we talk about those games. Not that any game is any different, but you know it could come down to one play, and you've got to win the situations.
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