Ryan Day rejects criticism of OSU offensive issues following win over No. 5 Notre Dame

Ryan Day doesn’t want to hear any criticism of the Ohio State offensive following their display in a victory over No. 5 Notre Dame.

“I refuse to answer that question right off the bat,” Day joked, after being asked about Ohio State’s offensive troubles. “We just beat the No. 5 team in the country by 11 points, and when you, really when you look at the last four teams that we’ve played, I think all four teams were in the top ten. This is a top five team. It’s not easy to do. It’s hard. And we just beat the No. 5 team in the country by 11 points.

“I couldn’t be any prouder of our team, and the way that our team played, especially in the fourth quarter. A lot of people questioned our toughness going into the off-season. Well, I mean you have to watch the film, but you make your decisions on if that team was tough tonight. For us to win the way we did, I couldn’t be any prouder. We lost Jaxon [Smith-Njigba] early on and that was a struggle, their game plan was to kind of hold onto the ball and control the game. There wasn’t as many possessions, and we missed on a few things early and got off schedule. But to be able to get the run game going in that last quarter says a lot about our team.”

While the Buckeyes got off to a slow start, Ohio State’s offense came around in the end — resulting in a 21-10 victory over the Fighting Irish. Continuing, Day had immense praise for the moxie of his quarterback, C.J. Stroud.

“CJ Stroud was way out in-front of that. Made some huge plays down the stretch. I think you can see who CJ wants to be. It isn’t that he wants to go out and have all these yards — that’s not important to him,” stated Day. “What’s important to him is winning. He’s a winner. And to see him play like that next to the offensive line and those guys run.

Still, the Buckeyes coach believes the defense was the most impressive thing from his squad, as they held the Fighting Irish in check for almost the entire game.

“The story of the night was the defense. The turnaround after what’s been said about them in the off-season. Questioning their toughness and to play the way they did against a No. 5 team in the country, I’m proud of our guys,” added Day. “If we can continue to win games like that, then that’s how we’ll win games.

“When you can win different ways, that says a lot about your team, as well. I think this game is going to pay dividends down the road.”

Nevertheless, Ohio State is expected to be an offensive juggernaut, and they weren’t on Saturday. Day relented, saying his offense struggled early on, but he also had some praise for Notre Dame and their defense.

“It was a struggle early on. They’re a good defense,” stated Day. “They have a lot of seniors, and when we lost Jaxon we got a little bit out of rhythm. Didn’t convert on third down. A little bit off-schedule there with a couple of things, a couple of penalties that we’ve got to clean up. But early games are a little bit clunky. Losing Jaxon kind of threw us off a little bit, and we have to respond. How about Xavier [Johnson] showing up in a big way and making that catch, and then coming back on the next play and running down on kickoff and making a tackle down inside the 20-yard line.

“Again, we’re playing a top five team in the country tonight. They’re a very good team, and we have a lot of respect for them.”

The Buckeyes offense may have got off to a slow start, but Ryan Day and C.J. Stroud will be looking to use their momentum from a victory over a top program to ignite their offense next week against Arkansas State.