Ryan Day explains how Ohio State has found ways to start hot in postseason

Ohio State has kicked off their two playoff games and never really looked back in either win in advancing to the semifinals. That’s a credit to how they’ve played from the start and then maintained past the half according to Ryan Day.

Day spoke about the Buckeyes’ very fast starts so far in the playoff while speaking with the media last week. He noted how they’ve executed on both sides of the ball in each of their first quarters and first halves which has then led to the team firing themselves up even more within the game.

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“We’ve always wanted to have fast starts and we all know that,” said Day. “I do think that, you know, we’ve talked about, you know, early in games, you know, you want to set the tone for the game, you know, as an individual but also as a team, as a unit.”

“You know, both games, we’ve started off with the ball and we’ve gone right down and scored. So execution fuels emotion. That certainly has a big part of it. They go together,” Day said. “We’ve executed well on those first couple drives and that’s had a big part of it. Defense has got some three-and-outs early in the game. We’ve been able to jump on the last two opponents.”

Ohio State started up 21-0 in a 25-point win over Tennessee in round one and started up 34-0 until the very end of the second quarter in a 20-point win against Oregon in their quarterfinal in the Rose Bowl. Both were among their very best starts over this fall when playing against power competition as each led them to wins to advance into the semifinals of the CFP.

With that said, Day didn’t discredit the importance of closing out the games after halftime after beginning those games in that way.

“We also know, when we get into halftime, we’ve got to go play in the second half. You know, we didn’t do a great job of handling the middle eight this past game so we had to get that fixed,” Day said. “We always want to get fast starts but we know it’s going to be four quarters and, you know, we’ve got to come out of halftime. I think that’s the thing that, you know, we talk about all the time. When you come into halftime, it’s going to be one of three things – you’re leading, it’s tied, or you’re losing. Then how do you, you know, figure out how you’re going to go adapt in the second half to go win the game?”

Day also didn’t try to say that Ohio State has been perfect despite their dominance so far in the playoff. That made it all the more important for them to get back and begin their preparations for the Cotton Bowl on Friday.

“The issues are always there. You come out of a game like this, it’s easy to say, ‘Well, you know, everything was great’. It wasn’t great. You know, there was a lot of things that we’ve got to get better at if we’re going to beat Texas,” Day said. “We’ve got to make those adjustments. Coming out of the game, we got back here, got back on the film. You know, it was a quick turnaround but guys did a great job getting in here, getting on the film. We kept our routine our routine and, so, you know, that’s going to be the focus.”