Ryan Day says Ohio State will play with chip on the shoulder in 2023

Ryan Day is preparing for the 2023 college football season the same way he always does despite losing star quarterback CJ Stroud to the NFL Draft.

That leaves Ohio State without a true identity under center — but the situation is nothing Day hasn’t delt with before. The Buckeyes head coach told On3’s JD PicKell that his team as a whole is in great shape heading into the meat and potatos of the offseason.

“The expectations, the standards never change. We’ve never wavered,” Day told PicKell. “We’ve been in the CFP in three of the last four years. We were just a few plays from really winning it all and having the opportunity to play in the national championship game.

“I think coming off the way the season ended, yeah there’s a chip on our shoulder. I’m really excited about the leadership we have here for the guys that have come back. Xavier Johnson could have gone to the NFL but he decided to come back. There’s a veteran group here that’s driving this, but also … there’s a lot more experience on this team than any team I can remember in the past.”

The quarterback and offensive line positions are two in particular where Day hasn’t found a set rotation heading into the summer. The problems on the offensive line stem all the way back to the 2019 class. Since then, the last four Buckeye recruiting classes have failed to find an offensive tackle recruit ranked higher than No. 240 overall nationally.

Ohio State returns guards Donovan Jackson and Matthew Jones, but will need some young guys to step up. Four OL recruits — Luke Montgomery, Joshua Padilla, Austin Siereveld and Miles Walker — have committed to the Buckeyes for next season.

Under center, Buckeye quarterbacks Kyle McCord and Devin Brown are duking it out to see which man becomes Day’s day-one starter this fall. Brown missed the spring game while recovering from a minor surgery, while McCord used the opportunity to complete 18-of-34 passes for 184 yards and one touchdown.

Through all of that, Brown has made it difficult to rule him as the clear backup even though McCord has the edge on experience.

Despite the hesitant nature of declaring a ready-made starter to those offensive positions, Day remains excited about the potential this team has heading into the new season.

“I like this team a lot,” Day said. “The feedback we’ve gotten from [associate athletic director, football sports performance Mickey Marotti] on a daily basis is exciting. We’ve just got to put that on the field. But this is a good group.”