Ohio State acting head coach Ryan Day took part in Tuesday’s weekly Big Ten Coaches Teleconference. Day spoke for his customary eight minutes and provided updates on his football team and also talked about the upcoming matchup this Saturday in Dallas against the TCU Horned Frogs. Here are the highlights of what he had to say.
+ Looking forward to this game and getting on the road for the first time to play a Top 20 opponent. They are knee deep in game planning right now.
+ TCU has a veteran group of players who have played in big games before. They’ll be close to home as well. They have an excellent defensive scheme. They are put in positions to be successful and they don’t hurt themselves on defense. “It will be a big challenge for us.”
+ Asked if Tate Martell will play this week, Day said the plan has always been to play him. He is getting better. He’s playing his first real football at Ohio State — Dwayne Haskins too. “So now they both have to take the next step.” They are trying to get both players as many snaps as they can.
+ The toughest challenge of TCU’s 4-2-5 is that they can match up well with offenses. Their hybrid linebacker can cover like a safety, so it’s hard to find matchup problems for the Ohio State offense. The focus this week in practice is to have the offense be ready as a whole, not just Dwayne Haskins, and to give him a good picture of what to expect.
+ Haskins did a nice job of preparing for the different looks last week as well as his communication with the offensive line. When you don’t do that, the offense gets out of rhythm. The preparation has been good, but this game is going to be a step up for them.
+ Cornerback Jeff Okudah has really developed over the past year. He has a lot of talent and is very aggressive. His mindset is just like the other great corners at OSU. Everyone has worked hard to develop his technique and fundamentals. He’s one of the best kids you can be around on a day-to-day basis because of his demeanor and work ethic.
+ Linebacker Baron Browning is very, very talented. Browning and the staff have put a lot of work in to get him ready for this year. He runs from sideline to sideline and makes plays. They need depth at that position and they have it.
+ Asked where Haskins has made the most progress as a quarterback is in the classroom and understanding the offense and football as a whole. He has also improved in taking command of the offense. Haskins has also done well in the weight room and gotten bigger and stronger.
+ When the opportunity presents itself, Haskins will run the ball and beat you with his feet. As teams start to defend the pass a little more, he may have to run. The good thing for OSU is that defenses are still selling out to stop the running backs, which allows the Buckeyes to throw the ball.
+ Tate Martell has improved significantly as a passer in the last couple of months. Any time you combine his running and throwing, defenses have to equate both things. When the QB can run, the defense has to worry about it and that sometimes removes the safety from the middle of the field, which allows more deep shots.
Russ Miller…you are correct. I was talking about before Dwayne and Tate.
Mistakes will be made by our Buckeyes. There is no such thing as a mistake free game by any team. Let’s hope we don’t give up any big plays like the first game of the year and limit our false starts, holding, and other penalties. On third downs we need to stop TCU to a good percentage and get our offense back on the field. The longer our offense has the ball, the better chance we have of winning. We are 13 point favorite right now.
Douglas, I believe James was referring to previous Buckeyes passing game aka JTB. Obviously the past 2 games have given us high expectations for passing game going forward.
I believe James was referring to recent Buckeyes teams aka JT Barrett..maybe you don’t remember watching that version of Urban’s passing game , if you can call it that. Obviously these past 2 games gives us hope and excitement for the future, but it depends on execution against top teams.TBD. we got the tools
People here get all waded up in the crotch when you speak “evil” about the complete awfulness of JT’s inability to consistently stretch the field. He could get lucky once or twice a game but ABSOLUTELY NO DEFENSE had any concern about him beyond the box.
With Dwayne and Tate, DC’s have a new concern. Dwayne AND Tate have no fear of their ability to take the top off of a defense crowding the box, and thus far have been consistent in doing it. If that continues, defenses will either adapt to that new found Buckeye strength, or Dwayne or Tate will take their defense completely apart while lighting up the scoreboard.
Our first 2 opponents certainly appear to have approached their defensive gameplan like it was JT under center. Load up to attack the RPO in the box. They paid for it by being aerially exploited over the top and shredded on the scoreboard.
This Buckeye offense is FAR more dangerous and formidable than any offense led by JT Barrett. Plus it doesn’t have to beat it’s own quarterback half to death running into the teeth of 8 man boxes.
Completely agree on all fronts. Just hope no fluke turnovers and whatnot, but linebackers is certainly where Patterson is going to turn his attention. I dont want to sit through another OK game with empty 15 yrd of space behind the front 4/5, and guys running free criss-crossing at will. Think Bucks will be prepared, and superior talent, plus overall size/speed combo will eventually pay off. Game smells like a Va Tech game though..
Being able to consistently pass the football has been the achilles heal for the Buckeye offense. That appears to be on the road to recovery and, that is VERY bad news for opponents. Even the tougher opponents. If TCU manages to beat the Buckeyes, they will have to beat an offense that can strike you from anywhere on the field, north/south and east/west, effectively. In the past the field was reduced north and south. Load the box with 7 and 8 players and Dwayne OR Tate will exploit the defense with laser shots over the top.
This is BY FAR the most lethal offense Urban Meyer has had at Ohio State since Cardale Jones’ 3 game run to win the National Title. Even I can see that right now this offense is a higher “potential” offense than the 2014 playoff run team starting at Lucas Oil under Cardale.
Defense is the question mark. If the linebackers don’t upgrade their level of play this game is going to be a track meet/basketball game on grass mess. With the nastiness of the Buckeye defensive front and the elevated DB play with Jordan Fuller and Shaun Wade in the lineup, it will be the linebackers TCU will try to exploit. The Buckeyes will win or lose because of the linebacker execution and assignment discipline this weekend because I just don’t think there’s any other weaknesses on this defense. Underneath the Buckeye secondary is a lot of grass so the linebackers MUST not allow backs or TE’s to leak through uncontested like we’ve seen. TCU is plenty capable of literally executing the Buckeye defense if those 3 guys fail to play Buckeye linebacker football.
Being able to pass the football consistently has been the Achilles heal for the Buckeye offense?! Really??? What team have you been watching, James? In the last game, Martell was 10-10, and Haskins was 20-23. Each was sacked only once. In the previous game, we had 77 yards of offense, distributed almost evenly between rushing and passing (346 yards passing). Martell was 3-4, while Haskins was 22-30. The 22-30 is the worst of the 4, percentage-wise, at 73.3%. Neither QB was sacked. So, please present us with concrete evidence of this Achilles heal. And while you’re at it, please explain how all of the stats I just cited are somehow woeful and detrimental.
When Barrett was QB our passing game was not the worst and it was not the best either. We had receivers coached by Zach Smith and they could not get open. Now we have Ryan Day coaching the quarterbacks and Brian Hartline coaching the receivers. Haskins has a better arm and time will tell how many records he will break in the B1G.
I get a kick out of you people that blame everything on coaches. First we had yo get Hermann back. Yeah he is so good he cant beat Maryland. Barrett was a MAC QB at best.
JT Barrett was the best RPO quarterback in my memory, and I remember Pat White, Vince Young and many others, including Rex Kern, Cornelius Greene among others. But when it came to passing, and I don’t give a crap about dink and dunk garbage Urban used to establish records with……..JT STUNK as a passing quarterback. He had receivers open on about any play you go back and watch, he was either to afraid to make the throw or simply refused to trust his arm. When he did he would OFTEN overthrow his targets by 5 yards and sometimes more. Personally I believe part of the issue was that he had vision issues.
You’re perfectly fine to include dink dunk and half yard shovel passes to boost JT’s numbers, but he SUCKED beyond the box.
Buckeye receivers languished as little more than downfield offenfield offensive linemen and rarely got an opportunity to be consistent playmakers until Cardale was included after JT broke his ankle against _ichigan.
Why don’t you 2 actually read the post before you spout off. It’s pretty clear that I said that “THIS IS BY FAR THE MOST LETHAL OFFENSE URBAN MEYER HAS HAD….since Cardale in his 3 game run.
Instead of reading and misinterpreting, a common flaw in children, you look at the heading and think you have a grasp of the text. READ………English is PREEEEEEEEEEEEETY simple.
Another commenter brought to his knees by the all knowing Coach Mills!
Maybe being on his knee’s is what he prefers.