COLUMBUS — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with reporters on Sunday to discuss the College Football Playoffs and being ranked No. 2, dropping behind LSU. Also speaking with reporters were center Josh Myers and defensive linemen Jashon Cornell and Robert Landers. They all talked about the test that Clemson provides and much, much more. Here are the highlights.
Ryan Day
+ Not sure if this is a “chip on the shoulder moment” getting bumped to No. 2. Three teams could have been No. 1. “At the end of the day you have to beat the best to win the National Championship.”
+ “I’ve kind of moved on. Now it’s nothing but Clemson. I thought we made our case.”
+ “I told the team how proud I was of the team at halftime.” That was three emotional games in a row. “It took toughness and it took love.” “That was probably the coolest quarter of football I’ve ever been a part of.” Players were coming off the field with tears in their eyes because they were so emotional.
+ The impression of Clemson is that they were the defending champs. They have some of the best skill in the country on offense. The defense with Brent Venables, you can make the case they are the best in the country over the last five or 10 years.
+ He’s watched Clemson this year on offense and defense. He studies a lot of teams looking for ideas.
+ Brendon White wasn’t available to play for personal reasons last night.
+ They will use the 2016 game with Clemson as a reference point, but these are very different teams.
+ He’s not interested in getting too far into motivating his team with the drop. “You can’t look back on those things. We can’t worry about that.”
+ It is really important to get some rest right now. Physically they are okay, but emotionally and mentally they need some time off. It takes so much to win that game last night. It was playoff football.
+ Wisconsin has a good front and they have one of the best rush defenses and OSU went in planning to not run Justin Fields. They were moving the ball, but could have been cleaner in some of the situations.
+ The team will go home for a couple of days before they leave for the bowl game. They will treat this week like a bye week, then the second week they will go home for a couple of days, then the third week is game week.
Josh Myers
+ “I wasn’t sure. I thought it would be a toss up,” regarding being No. 1.
+ Just happy to be in this thing because I’ve never been in the playoffs.
+ Clemson is a great football team. They’ve won a lot of games in a row. It will take a lot of focus and preparation. “I’ve watched them.”
+ It will be huge having a break to get healthy. “That was a battle three weeks in a row.” Everybody needs a break.
+ They were never thinking about style points, only beating Wisconsin and winning a dogfight.
+ There are no easy games for any team, so all four teams should be wary of their respective opponents.
+ So proud of how they turned it around in the second half last night and he’s very proud.
+ “Of course we want to be No. 1. That’s not on any of our minds.” Day told them after the announcement that they’re still in the playoffs and what else could you ask for?
+ It was extremely beneficial that they got to get so much rest during the season because of the blowouts.
+ “The Big Ten is a great conference and we want to do our best to represent the conference and represent the North.”
+ Myers watched the Clemson game in the 2016 playoffs alone in a hotel room. “I think I was in shock at how it went.”
+ “I think it helps a lot that we’ve played in a lot of big games.” Even though he and his teammates haven’t been in the playoffs, they have been in big moments before.
+ The most difficult part of these last three games was having to win the game last night after two big wins and an emotional win over Michigan.
+ Some of the pass protection problems were simply Wisconsin bringing more rushers than OSU had blockers, but they got it figured out in the second half.
Robert Landers and Jashon Cornell
+ Cornell believes the break will be beneficial to allow their bodies to recover. They only need a week because they got plenty of breaks in most of the games this season.
+ Landers said their love of play has garnered a lot of respect from around the country.
+ Both guys were on the team the last time they played Clemson, but that game is a whole different team, new scheme. Cornell says they’re just going to go and play Ohio State football. There is no margin for error here.
+ Landers: To win the Big Ten outright back-to-back-to-back is something that no other Ohio State team has done, but they still have more games to play.
+ Damon Arnette has matured over the years. One thing Arnette has done this year is he’s become a leader of the whole team, not just his position.
+ Cornell kind of felt like Ohio State wouldn’t get the respect they were due when it came to the final rankings. “Number two doesn’t matter to us. We’re still in the rankings.”
+ “When we played Clemson in 2016 was a different era of Ohio State.” — BB Landers
+ Landers said they’re carrying the Buckeye name rather than the Big Ten name, but if Big Ten fans want to cheer for them, that’s great. But the Big Ten is a lot to carry. They can only focus on carrying Ohio State’s name.
+ Cornell doesn’t remember what the locker room was like after the Clemson game in 2016. “I do,” Landers responds. It was rough. “We didn’t play the way we wanted to or the way we should have.”