Ryan Day allowing time to celebrate Indiana win before Michigan prep

Ryan Day didn’t want to gloss over the fact Ohio State beat a top five Indiana team before moving onto Michigan in the finale.

Sure, the rivalry is arguably the most intense in college football, but Ohio State is now 10-1 on the season following the win over the Hoosiers. Indiana came in at 10-0 and ranked No. 5 in the latest AP Poll.

It’ll be a quick celebration before switching focus towards the Wolverines. But Day and company will still enjoy getting the job done.

“We need to at least celebrate and enjoy the win, but it’s not going to be a late night,” Day said postgame. “You know, we all need to get to bed, we need to get our rest, we need to enjoy. You can’t just, you know, have a top five win like this, and just move on. The minute it hit triple zeros on that clock, it was on to the team up north, onto the rivalry game. We know what’s coming and how important this week is for everybody in the state of Ohio, Buckeye nation, and most importantly, our team and our obligation to play really well next week and win that game.”

Day acknowledged that beating Indiana, although not their rival, was still integral to the season. On the resume, beating a top five team looks pretty darn good.

“But we also need to make sure we take a deep breath and recognize the things that happened today,” Day said. “We’ll do that tomorrow during our champions meeting, celebrate the guys who played really well, and then move on. Because, you know, it’s easy just to move on, but there’s a lot of work that gets put into a win like this, and it’s a top five win. So we’ll get some good rest tonight. Make sure we get to bed early, and then we’ll wake up tomorrow and make sure we get back to work.”

In the 38-15 win, Day saw dominance following a quick 7-0 deficit. Will Howard finished 22 of 26 passing for 201 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for a score.

TreVeyon Henderson had nine carries for 68 yards and one touchdown.

But Day and company will give out their flowers amongst themselves and pivot for the biggest game of the year. Ohio State and Michigan square off Saturday at 12:00 p.m ET.