Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day met Sunday with reporters over Zoom for a press conference looking ahead at the College Football Playoff national championship game. Notre Dame (14-1) will play Ohio State (13-2) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20 (7:30 p.m. EST on ESPN).
Here's everything Day had to say in transcript form provided by ASAP Sports.
Opening statement
RYAN DAY: "It's an honor for our team to be representing Ohio State in the National Championship game this year. We're excited to be going back down to Atlanta. They have a great venue there and certainly a great opponent in Notre Dame.
"Our players are excited about preparation, and just like we've said, this will be our fourth time now doing this in the college football playoffs. We have to wipe the slate clean and have a great week of preparation.
"We brought the team back yesterday, had some great meetings, put the last game to bed, and now the focus is on Notre Dame.
"We'll get into what a great team they are and everything that comes with that. But excited for a great week of preparation."
Q. Ryan, you guys got away with having a lot of uncharacteristic penalties. Do you have anything you can attribute that to? How much has that been addressed, especially like [running back] TreVeyon [Henderson]. It seemed so out of character for him.
RYAN DAY: "Yeah, we're disappointed in the fact that we really let four drives get away, five with the turnover in the game, with penalties. Self-inflicted, so we feel like we need to play our best game in this game, and we know that.
"There's nobody that came back on offense and was pleased with the fact that we had those penalties. Went back on the film and identified them.
"The issues are always there. I've said it all along, and you know that, that win, lose, it doesn't matter; the issues are there. The fact that we turned the ball over once and then had the four drives that really got behind the sticks, two 15-yarders and two holding calls. We certainly have the right and opportunity to persevere through those penalties, but certainly sets us way behind the sticks, and we cannot have that in this game.
"This is a team here that we're about to play against that has been unbelievable about creating turnovers and creating scores after their turnovers. So efficiency is going to be something that we've got to do a much better job of in this game if we're going to win it."
Q. Did you get an explanation about the TreVeyon, what happened there?
RYAN DAY: "Just the fact that there was back-and-forth and that Tre made contact with his helmet. TreVeyon obviously feels terrible about it.
"There's a lot of lessons to be learned there. Every game you learn, and TreVeyon is somebody that certainly has grown in so many different areas of his life, so to see him respond the way that he did after that speaks to his maturity. But he knows that he's got to play with emotion. He can't let emotion play with him.
"Even Austin, he's hustling to the ball, and we're talking about pushing the pile and it's a great effort play, we talk about plus two, and we get the penalty there, which is a 15-yarder, which really hurt after I think it was a 12-yard gain. Those type of things we've got to do a good job of. The holding calls certainly set us back.
"But we've got to do a good job with our execution overall, and that's going to be important in this game more than ever."
Q. Ryan, last year you go 11-1, there's no expanded playoff, you miss out. This year, 10-2, you're playing for a National Championship game. The simple question is how grateful are you there is an expanded playoff this year, but also, did you change anything in terms of mindset, mentality, preparation, knowing that because of the expanded playoff you could potentially drop a couple of games and still end up in this situation?
RYAN DAY: "Yeah, very, very grateful. I think everybody in the program is, to be in this situation, for a lot of reasons.
"But I do think the new format has allowed our team to grow and build throughout the season, and as much as losses hurt, they really allow us as coaches and players to take a hard look at the issues and get them addressed, and then it's about the business of getting them fixed as time goes on.
"I think that's really been the biggest thing that I've learned about this format, which I think has been great for our players. I think it's great for college football.
"Along the way, we looked at a lot of different things and metrics about playing this many games, playing our 16th game, what that was going to be like. We knew it was going to be a little bit of a battle of attrition at times. So depth was certainly a critical part of roster management and talent acquisition, but also how we practice, how we play. So we've taken all those things into consideration so that we're still really, really fresh going into the end of the season."
Q. Ryan, [wide receiver] Jeremiah [Smith] had been so dominant for you guys through the first two games and Texas obviously found a way to take him away. From what you saw on film, what did you learn about the way Texas was able to take him out of the game for you guys that you guys can learn from heading into this game against Notre Dame?
RYAN DAY: "Yeah, I think when you look at it, it's a little bit more about execution than it is anything else. They really didn't play us any differently than some of the other teams that we played. But we weren't able to sustain a few of those drives and connect on a couple other plays.
"We know typically how teams are going to take a look at us and play us. They're going to play some man, and they'll certainly know where Jeremiah is, and then they'll play some one high and they'll play some two high and they'll mix it up.
"But ultimately at the end of the day we've got to execute at a high level and continue to move the ball down the field, so we'll do the same thing this week. We'll put our game plan together. But he's obviously a huge part of our offense, as you know.
"There's different ways that teams will adjust based on what he's done and what he's capable of, and so we'll identify what those are in this game and then go from there.
"But to me, the story of this past game for us on offense was the self-inflicted wounds that set us back and allowed us to be in the game in the fourth quarter when I think we could have done a better job of executing and certainly made it a little bit of a bigger spread down the stretch.
"That's going to be the focus this week. Always things to work on, and that's going to be it this week. We've got to play our best against Notre Dame. This is a very, very good team. They are a very resilient team. They play together. I think Riley Leonard is a tremendous leader and a tremendous player and a winner, and their coaching staff does a great job. Got a lot of respect for their players and their coaches. This is going to be a complete battle, and we know that. We've got to play our best game this season in the last one."
Q. Ryan, I don't believe [cornerback] Denzel Burke played at all in the second half. Just what went into the decision to take him out of the game and ride with Jermaine [Mathews Jr.]?
RYAN DAY: "Yeah, he'll be available for the next game. He's dealing with an upper extremity issue that we felt like at the time was the right thing to do, to hold him. Obviously we listen to the doctors and we get the feedback from Denzel, and we felt like Jermaine was playing well at the time, so that was the decision that was made.
"But Denzel will be ready to play in this game."
(more)
Here's everything Day had to say in transcript form provided by ASAP Sports.
Opening statement
RYAN DAY: "It's an honor for our team to be representing Ohio State in the National Championship game this year. We're excited to be going back down to Atlanta. They have a great venue there and certainly a great opponent in Notre Dame.
"Our players are excited about preparation, and just like we've said, this will be our fourth time now doing this in the college football playoffs. We have to wipe the slate clean and have a great week of preparation.
"We brought the team back yesterday, had some great meetings, put the last game to bed, and now the focus is on Notre Dame.
"We'll get into what a great team they are and everything that comes with that. But excited for a great week of preparation."
Q. Ryan, you guys got away with having a lot of uncharacteristic penalties. Do you have anything you can attribute that to? How much has that been addressed, especially like [running back] TreVeyon [Henderson]. It seemed so out of character for him.
RYAN DAY: "Yeah, we're disappointed in the fact that we really let four drives get away, five with the turnover in the game, with penalties. Self-inflicted, so we feel like we need to play our best game in this game, and we know that.
"There's nobody that came back on offense and was pleased with the fact that we had those penalties. Went back on the film and identified them.
"The issues are always there. I've said it all along, and you know that, that win, lose, it doesn't matter; the issues are there. The fact that we turned the ball over once and then had the four drives that really got behind the sticks, two 15-yarders and two holding calls. We certainly have the right and opportunity to persevere through those penalties, but certainly sets us way behind the sticks, and we cannot have that in this game.
"This is a team here that we're about to play against that has been unbelievable about creating turnovers and creating scores after their turnovers. So efficiency is going to be something that we've got to do a much better job of in this game if we're going to win it."
Q. Did you get an explanation about the TreVeyon, what happened there?
RYAN DAY: "Just the fact that there was back-and-forth and that Tre made contact with his helmet. TreVeyon obviously feels terrible about it.
"There's a lot of lessons to be learned there. Every game you learn, and TreVeyon is somebody that certainly has grown in so many different areas of his life, so to see him respond the way that he did after that speaks to his maturity. But he knows that he's got to play with emotion. He can't let emotion play with him.
"Even Austin, he's hustling to the ball, and we're talking about pushing the pile and it's a great effort play, we talk about plus two, and we get the penalty there, which is a 15-yarder, which really hurt after I think it was a 12-yard gain. Those type of things we've got to do a good job of. The holding calls certainly set us back.
"But we've got to do a good job with our execution overall, and that's going to be important in this game more than ever."
Q. Ryan, last year you go 11-1, there's no expanded playoff, you miss out. This year, 10-2, you're playing for a National Championship game. The simple question is how grateful are you there is an expanded playoff this year, but also, did you change anything in terms of mindset, mentality, preparation, knowing that because of the expanded playoff you could potentially drop a couple of games and still end up in this situation?
RYAN DAY: "Yeah, very, very grateful. I think everybody in the program is, to be in this situation, for a lot of reasons.
"But I do think the new format has allowed our team to grow and build throughout the season, and as much as losses hurt, they really allow us as coaches and players to take a hard look at the issues and get them addressed, and then it's about the business of getting them fixed as time goes on.
"I think that's really been the biggest thing that I've learned about this format, which I think has been great for our players. I think it's great for college football.
"Along the way, we looked at a lot of different things and metrics about playing this many games, playing our 16th game, what that was going to be like. We knew it was going to be a little bit of a battle of attrition at times. So depth was certainly a critical part of roster management and talent acquisition, but also how we practice, how we play. So we've taken all those things into consideration so that we're still really, really fresh going into the end of the season."
Q. Ryan, [wide receiver] Jeremiah [Smith] had been so dominant for you guys through the first two games and Texas obviously found a way to take him away. From what you saw on film, what did you learn about the way Texas was able to take him out of the game for you guys that you guys can learn from heading into this game against Notre Dame?
RYAN DAY: "Yeah, I think when you look at it, it's a little bit more about execution than it is anything else. They really didn't play us any differently than some of the other teams that we played. But we weren't able to sustain a few of those drives and connect on a couple other plays.
"We know typically how teams are going to take a look at us and play us. They're going to play some man, and they'll certainly know where Jeremiah is, and then they'll play some one high and they'll play some two high and they'll mix it up.
"But ultimately at the end of the day we've got to execute at a high level and continue to move the ball down the field, so we'll do the same thing this week. We'll put our game plan together. But he's obviously a huge part of our offense, as you know.
"There's different ways that teams will adjust based on what he's done and what he's capable of, and so we'll identify what those are in this game and then go from there.
"But to me, the story of this past game for us on offense was the self-inflicted wounds that set us back and allowed us to be in the game in the fourth quarter when I think we could have done a better job of executing and certainly made it a little bit of a bigger spread down the stretch.
"That's going to be the focus this week. Always things to work on, and that's going to be it this week. We've got to play our best against Notre Dame. This is a very, very good team. They are a very resilient team. They play together. I think Riley Leonard is a tremendous leader and a tremendous player and a winner, and their coaching staff does a great job. Got a lot of respect for their players and their coaches. This is going to be a complete battle, and we know that. We've got to play our best game this season in the last one."
Q. Ryan, I don't believe [cornerback] Denzel Burke played at all in the second half. Just what went into the decision to take him out of the game and ride with Jermaine [Mathews Jr.]?
RYAN DAY: "Yeah, he'll be available for the next game. He's dealing with an upper extremity issue that we felt like at the time was the right thing to do, to hold him. Obviously we listen to the doctors and we get the feedback from Denzel, and we felt like Jermaine was playing well at the time, so that was the decision that was made.
"But Denzel will be ready to play in this game."
(more)
