Ryan Day explains making notable change to starting offensive line

Going into the Cotton Bowl against Missouri, Ohio State coach Ryan Day thought he could coax a bit more out of his starting offensive line by making a change.

The Buckeyes would bench starting center Carson Hinzman, instead starting Matthew Jones at center and moving Enokk Vimahi into his place at right guard.

“I don’t want to get too much into it, but Carson was having a tough time the last couple weeks in practice and we just felt like at the right time, all right, this was the right thing to do at the time,” Day said. “He was having a few issues there and so it’s not that Carson will never play here again, but based on the last couple weeks of play the decision was made that Matt gave us the best chance at center.”

Hinzman had started all 12 regular season games for the Buckeyes but did not play a single snap in the Cotton Bowl.

12-Team Playoff Should Benefit Ryan Day

The move to a 12-team playoff starting with the 2024 season should be a huge benefit to Ohio State, which has been on the wrong side of the four-team selection for the past few years thanks to rival Michigan.

An expanded field should make the playoff more accessible. And from there, anything can happen.

“I think the new playoff system really helps Ryan Day. Because it puts them in that mix every year,” On3’s Andy Staples said. “Like you don’t have to beat Michigan, though Ryan Day will deal local problems if he can’t beat Michigan. But nationally, you’re in the mix. And if you’re in those games, you can win a few. And you’re always going to have the talent to go on a run at Ohio State. Like you will always have enough talent that if you get in to the playoff, you can win the playoff.”

Staples, who was discussing the topic with Off The Bench’s T-Bob Hebert, a former LSU player and current college football analyst, really believes perspectives could be changed on Day when it comes to a 12-team field.

Herbert concurred with Staples and wondered if the narrow blinders of the four-team CFP unfairly altered the perspective on Day and his run so far. Through six years, Ohio State is 56-8 under him.

“That’s all to say maybe we’ve gone too far with Ryan Day. I love — getting Quinshon Judkins is huge. They’re retaining talent at a pretty unreal level,” Herbert said.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this report.