Ryan Day discusses the balance of finishing this season, preparing for next

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Coach Ryan Day and Ohio State had hoped to be a College Football Playoff team but found themselves in a tough situation this year as a very competitive field had all but ended those dreams even before championship Saturday.

So now the Buckeyes must focus on their next task at hand: a Cotton Bowl matchup with Missouri.

Day has admitted that he’ll treat the game as a sort of go-between for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. It’ll be a chance to cap this year on a high note, while also beginning to take the first steps in the 2024 campaign.

“A little bit of both,” Ryan Day explained. “I think we had this situation a couple years ago in the Rose Bowl, and it did build some momentum into the next year. We always want to be playing for a championship this time of year, but we’re going to finish things and do things the right way.”

One of the complications for the Buckeyes going forward in the bowl game will be player availability.

With the NCAA transfer portal open, several players have already put their names in. That number includes quarterback Kyle McCord, which makes the Cotton Bowl a huge opportunity for backup Devin Brown.

Brown played sparingly in 2023, going 12-of-22 passing for 197 yards and two touchdowns. He threw one interception. He has some running ability, too, having rushed for 35 yards and a score.

A few others have also entered the transfer portal, like running back Chip Trayanum and receiver Julian Fleming. Trayanum had accounted for 373 yards rushing and three touchdowns, while Fleming had racked up 270 yards receiving.

But Day noted that just creates opportunity for some of the other players on the roster.

“Bowl practice is an opportunity for some of the younger guys to get out there and almost like a spring practice, continue to develop some of those guys,” Ryan Day said.

One thing Ohio State will not be doing is feeling sorry for itself and rolling over in the bowl game. And the Buckeyes know the Tigers will be plenty fired up after a 10-win season of their own.

“We’ll finish this thing the right way,” Day vowed.

The Cotton Bowl will be played at 8 p.m. ET on Dec. 29, with a national broadcast on ESPN.