Ryan Day praises Buckeye nation following dominant Week 3 victory

When Ohio State head coach Ryan Day took the podium following the Buckeye’s 77-21 win over Toledo, he had a message he wanted to share before getting into the ball game. Day wanted to acknowledge the Ohio State fans, who showed up and showed out not only during their recent home game, but before as well.

“Before we go to questions, I just want to quickly make a mention of the crowd. Unbelievable,” day said. “The walk from the Blackwell over to the Skull Session, the Skull Session was standing room only, and then the walk over to the stadium.”

Ohio State’s Skull Sessions are one of their most anticipated game day traditions, led by the team’s band. The band plays and marches to St. John arena before kickoff, then play “Fanfare for a New Era” in front of a packed crowd as the team enters the area, capped off with a speech from Day and one member of the Buckeyes team.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

The pregame festivities were just the start, as fans piled into the Horseshoe to cheer on the Buckeyes in their dominant victory over the Rockets.

“And then to see everybody in the stadium 105,000 for this night game was unbelievable and we wanted to make sure we played well in this game because of that. So I just want to thank Buckeye nation for showing out in a good way,” Day said.

The game day environment was electric this weekend for the Buckeyes, and it may be even more this upcoming week, as Ohio State opens up their conference schedule at home versus Wisconsin this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in a nationally televised game that’ll air on ABC.

CJ Stroud reveals what has clicked, allowed him to take the next step

Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud put on a show this weekend against Toledo, leading the Buckeyes to a 77-21 win over the Rockets. Stroud lit up the scoreboard and the stat line up, throwing for 367 yards and five touchdowns. Stroud has progressed throughout his career at Ohio State, as he’s now established himself as one of the nation’s top passers, and was asked when this year he felt like the progression slowed down and everything started really clicking for him.

“I’m not sure, I mean I always try to keep my head down and work,” Stroud said. “I definitely think that my confidence is definitely boosted, I think maybe that was a click, maybe that was an on and off that I maybe first put on in that Rose Bowl game last season. Playing confident in that game kind of forced the momentum to roll and for me to be confident this season.”

Stroud’s performance in the Rose Bowl barely eclipsed his elite passing day this weekend, as he threw for exactly as many yards with 367 and six touchdown passes in a come-from-behind victory over Utah. His confidence was definitely on display in both matchups, and he spoke about how he believes his confidence impacts not the offense, but the entire Ohio State team.

“I definitely think just me being a leader and a captain on the team, when they see I’m confident I think our offense and our whole team is confident, which I think is a great thing for the Buckeyes, so continue to build on that,” Stroud said.

Stroud’s definitely been building on it so far this season, as he’s led the Buckeyes to an undefeated record and a No. 3 ranking in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Their offense got to a little bit of a slow start compared to their normal standards, scoring just 21 points in a week 1 victory over Notre Dame. But in week’s 2 and 3, they were firing on all cylinders, averaging 61 points in those two weeks behind Stroud’s 718 passing yards and nine touchdowns.