Ryan Day discusses impact of Ohio State roster turnover, opt-outs for Rose Bowl

When the No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes take the field to face the No. 10 Utah Utes in Saturday’s Rose Bowl, Ryan Day’s team will look quite different than it did in the regular season.

The Buckeyes, which finished the regular season 10-2, opened up as a seven-point favorite over the 10-3, Pac-12 Champion Utes. But that line dwindled to a four-point spread after Day suffered a slew of impactful opt-outs. Notably, wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett have decided to end their Ohio State careers early and prepare for the 2022 NFL Draft, putting Day in a difficult situation. But Day doesn’t see it as a setback; instead, he sees it as an opportunity for some of Ohio State’s youngest talent to see the field and log some impactful playing time in an iconic venue like the Rose Bowl.

“I think certainly we’ve had our adversity over the last month, but what a great opportunity for some of our younger guys to come in and start this thing off the right way,” Day said Friday. “Certainly at receiver, that’s going to be a great opportunity for them. We’ve talked about it before.”

Heisman Trophy finalist C.J. Stroud lost two of his top-three targets in Wilson and Olave. This season, Wilson has reeled in 70 catches for 1,058 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns, while Olave has caught 65 passes for 936 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. However, while Stroud loses two top targets, Day understands that the Buckeyes have plenty of depth at wide receiver — in fact, the No. 1 target for Ohio State this year, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, is only a sophomore and will be playing Saturday. Smith-Njigba has 80 receptions for 1,259 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

It certainly won’t be easy for Day to replace Wilson and Olave, even with Smith-Njigba still in the mix. The next-best wide receiver in terms of receptions is Julian Fleming, who has a mere seven catches.

“What a great opportunity for (young players) to play in this game and against certainly a very, very good team in Utah,” Day continued. “The way they played down the stretch and how they played together and playing complementary football, certainly a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Whittingham and what he’s done not only in his career, but this year and this team and all the things they’ve been through.”

Ohio State entered the 2021 season with high expectations, and many expected the Buckeyes to be a College Football Playoff contender — even after a Week 2 loss to Oregon. Those hopes were ultimately crushed, though, when the Buckeyes lost their rivalry week game to Michigan and failed to make the Big Ten Championship game. Through all the adversity, Day said Ohio State is presented with one final challenge, and he’s excited to see how some new faces can seize the opportunity.

“It’s a big challenge for our guys,” Day said. “What a great opportunity for them at the year, really two things, for the younger guys to build the momentum, and for the older guys, to end this the right way. But to answer your question, yeah, we feel like we’ve got plenty.”