Ryan Day reveals level of confidence in Jim Knowles as defensive coordinator
After not allowing an opponent to score more than 14 points in a single game, the Buckeyes gave up 32 points to Oregon in their Week 7 loss to the Ducks. On Tuesday, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day revealed his confidence level in Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
“I go in the meeting and I have hard conversations with everybody and I know what the plan is moving forward and I’m involved in that plan,” Day said. “I got confidence in all those guys on that side of the ball and I know what we need to get done and we’re going to get it done.”
In the heated Big Ten showdown, Oregon racked up 496 total yards of offense and never committed a turnover. The Buckeyes couldn’t penetrate the Ducks’ backfield, failing to record a sack and only tallying two tackles for loss in the defeat.
While it’s not easy to stop Oregon’s offense, Ohio State’s defensive effort looks worse when compared to the Ducks’ other opponents this season. For example, Idaho and Boise State each held Oregon to less than 496 yards when they played the Ducks this season.
Although Ryan Day trusts defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, he isn’t sitting idly by waiting for others to fix his defense’s issues.
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“I definitely have been in there more in the last week than I have in the past,” Day said of defensive meetings. “Ultimately, it’s my job to make sure that all three phases are the way they’re supposed to be, so we’ll make sure that gets done.
“You put patches or Band-Aids on things, and then, all of a sudden you get a loss and it gets ripped open and you have harder conversations,” Day said. “You make bigger decisions, and you just drive it harder. It’s just the way it goes after a loss. But it’s not like we haven’t been going hard or pushing hard. We’ve been going 100 miles an hour around here.”
Ohio State had a bye this past week to correct any issues it saw against Oregon. On Saturday, the Buckeyes will look to bounce back as they square off against Nebraska at noon ET. The game will be broadcast on FOX.