Ryan Day doesn't want Ohio State's offense to get complacent after strong start

Coach Ryan Day has led the second-ranked Buckeyes to a 6-0 start to the season behind an absolutely ruthless Ohio State offense that has torn the heart out of every defense it has faced this season.

The Buckeyes have the nation’s top-ranked scoring offense and second-ranked total offense. Yet Day is still looking for ways to improve.

“There’s a whole bunch that we’ve got to get better at,” Day said. “I think our guys know that. I think that’s why they come in hungry every day to get better. We know the issues are there and we have to identify those and be introspective enough to recognize those and get them fixed after a game, even if we’ve had a lot of success.”

If that’s the case, the ceiling for Ohio State is remarkably high.

The Buckeyes have averaged 48.8 points and 543.7 yards per game, dusting opponents by an average margin of victory of 33.2 points. For Day, the key to continuing to get better is mindset.

“Just staying disciplined enough not to think that you’ve arrived or that you have a really good offense,” Day said. “That doesn’t mean anything going into this game. We’ve got to bring it every single week, and that’s why practice is so critically important.”

Ohio State offense staying hungry

It’s one thing to simply talk about getting better, but Day seemed to rattle off several different things at the top of his head when asked for one area the Ohio State offense can improve.

“Taking pride in your execution, playing with great pad level, understanding how important the ball is, playing really good in situational football,” Day said. “All these things don’t just happen because we’ve done it in the past or we have good players or whatever.”

Coming off a bye week that allowed the Buckeyes to focus on those things, Ohio State will face one of its stiffest tests yet defensively. A home date with Iowa is on tap Saturday.

The Hawkeyes rank third nationally in scoring defense (allowing 9.8 points per game) and seventh in total defense (allowing 265.0 yards per game).

So Day harping on constant improvement this week certainly makes sense.

“We have to bring it every single week and that’s the competitive stamina we’ve been talking about,” he said. “We’re going to have to do it again on Saturday.”