Ryan Day admits Ohio State was 'at a crossroads' before Penn State game

Ohio State‘s 20-13 win at Penn State in Week 10 seperated the Buckeyes as one of the top teams to consider in the College Football Playoff race.

If they hadn’t won, a two-loss Ohio State team would have been in limbo heading into the final stretch of regular season action. Instead, the Buckeyes answered for their lone blemish (32-31 loss to No. 1 Oregon) with one of the most impressive victories of the season in the eyes of College Football Playoff committee. Head coach Ryan Day recognized the importance of the win in his postgame press conference.

“I think it’s fair to say for a lot of we were at crossroads, this was a big game for us,” Day said postgame. “We didn’t really want to publicly say that, but we said that behind closed doors, and this is a big game for us, for a lot of reasons, and to get a top five win like this on a row, in a tough environment, moving Donnie [Jackson] over the left tackle, and we felt like going into this game, it was going to be a difficult environment.

“We knew we had to win the rushing yards, the turnover battle was going to be big, and then we’ve got [explosive] plays. So we had to really focus on those things. But at the end of the day, we had to find a way to get us stop, and get that extra first down or score. That’s what it’s going to come down to, so I think this is going to build us moving forwards. I think for our guys to get this win, it’s going to go a long way.”

Day said that there were multiple players this season who decided to come back — whether that be to use their extra COVID year or to wait an extra season and turn pro — and it was for moments like the win in Week 10.

After falling to Oregon by a point several weeks ago, to get a road win against a rival with the stakes as high as they can be — it was a good feeling for Day and company.

“Along the way, I think there was this conversation about the expectations, and all those types of things, and I said to the team, ‘There’s no great accomplishments that happen without going through adversity,'” Day continued. “And that’s the truth. You don’t just walk into the season and think you’re going to go reach your goals, it doesn’t work, it’s just not the way life works, and so you get backed up against the wall, you got to respond, that is life.”

For Day and the rest of the Buckeyes, their goals are right in front of them and it’s on them to be able to capture it.

He said the win against the Nittany Lions brought an excitement to the locker room that Day hasn’t seen in a long time, and it’s on the entire program to keep that momentum going strong as they move forward into what appears to be another berth to the College Football Playoff.