The Buckeyes are brimming with confidence ahead of their season opener, but Ryan Day says don't mistake that for cockiness: “Coming off of last year, there's no big heads.”
The Buckeyes have said all the right things to address the shortcomings that cost them a chance at a championship a year ago. Ryan Day said Tuesday his roster has turned in an “excellent preseason” with just three days remaining before its top-five matchup with Notre Dame. Jim Knowles said the revamped Ohio State defense is “100% ready to go,” and Cade Stover said the Buckeyes “pride ourselves” on running the ball this year.
Day said the Buckeyes are driven by their 2021 slip-ups against Oregon, a comparable early nonconference matchup to the one they have Saturday, and Michigan. They’ve heard the criticism all offseason and it’s fueled them ahead of the new year. Now though, critics have quickly become believers, if the Buckeyes’Day wants all feedback and speculation, positive or negative, to be tuned out as Ohio State hosts the fifth-ranked team in the country this weekend.
Given its letdown showing the very next week against its archrival, though, Day’s made the commitment to consistency something of a mantra for this year’s Ohio State team. In place of the outside noise, Day wants his team to hone in on that philosophy entering the season. “I think the main thing for this generation, I mean, put your phone down,” Stover said Tuesday. “If you don't read what everybody says, you don't hear what anybody's saying, you don't know. A lot of times that comes through all the social media platforms. They can put us dead last in the country this year, we really don't care to be honest with you.”