SOUTH BEND, Indiana — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with the media immediately following the Buckeyes’ 17-14 win at Notre Dame on the final drive. Quarterback Kyle McCord, running back Chip Trayanum, and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles also spoke with reporters.
Hear the comments and watch the full press conferences below.
Ryan Day
+ This was brewing for a couple of days. A lot of people took a lot of shots at this team over the last 48 hours and it hit home for him. Not only did they physically get after Notre Dame last year…. but they did it again tonight at their house. He feels disrespected by what Lou Holtz said about this team publicly. They had one bad half in Ann Arbor a few years ago. That narrative ends tonight. This team is tough.
+ He is very upset about the short yardage situations and not getting those, there was four opportunities and the game could’ve been different. But he is not going to be upset about this win. It has always been Ohio against the world.
+ Kyle McCord was good on third down, and then to win the game in a two minute drill, that’s what good quarterbacks do. To do what he did “says a lot about his future.” His play was big.
+ “What a win for this program.” A lot of people were taking shots, but they finished it with one play and it was very fitting. He has been emotional the last couple of days, people say things about this team without watching film, and it hurt him and this team.
+ On the two minute drill, they spent time talking about it and they worked on it in the game plan, even just four hours before the game. They planned for what to expect, Emeka Egbuka had a big play and Kyle McCord had a lot of poise.
+ He made the call to run it with three seconds left, knowing it would be the last play either way. They needed that yard for this program, but he also felt it was the right thing to do schematically.
+ On his emotions, Day said people said things and at some point they had to put their foot in the ground. They always say they ignore the noise but when people are poking at them, they had to say they weren’t going to stand for it. They needed to win like that and stop that narrative.
+ To go 2-0 in the home and home series against Notre Dame means a lot for this program.
+ On McCord looking better on third and fourth down after not looking so good on first and second, Day said it could have been the concepts, but he had his best ball on third down in this game. He competed and won a game like this.
+ On Marvin Harrison Jr., Day said they were trying to get it to him as best they could but Notre Dame was doubling him. He hurt his ankle pretty good, sprained it, but to play the way he did… His presence made a huge impact in the game. “That’s toughness.”
+ On the defense, Day said they hung in there and played well. There weren’t too many explosive plays and they were tough. “Hats off to the defense.” The 4th-and-1 stop was huge.
Kyle McCord
+ On the last drive, McCord said they practice those drills all the time. It wasn’t perfect but they found a way to make it work.
+ “You can’t draw it up any better than that,” McCord said on having an opportunity to go win the game, on the road, against a Top 10 team.
+ The narrative around the team was that they weren’t tough, “but it’s crazy how it all came together.” That was the most animated he has ever seen Ryan Day. They did a good job of staying quiet all week but they’d be lying if they said it didn’t bother them. They proved a lot of people wrong but also proved themselves right.
+ On the 65-yard drive, McCord said the sky is the limit for this offense. The receivers did a good job of getting open, it was backyard football-esque, trying to just find the open player. It was a matter of players making plays when their number was called and having reps on reps on reps.
+ “There was no way Chip was going to be denied with the game on the line.”
Chip Trayanum
+ It was a rush getting on the field, to hurry up and get the play called and get lined up. He had confidence in the play and his teammates had confidence in him.
+ He knew he was in the end zone on the touchdown review. “As a running back, you live for runs like that, the nitty-gritty runs.” They work on keeping their knees up when running.
+ On getting a moment like that, Trayanum said it echoes the confidence the teammates and coaches have in him to keep the dream alive. “I knew the job had to be done, simple as that. We always preach one play. That one play sums it up.”
+ On any doubts about Kyle McCord being the starter and whether those questions were answered tonight, “hell yeah they were answered. Kyle is a dawg.”
Jim Knowles
Beware of Maryland. Notre Dame revealed the weakness of OSU’s offense–at least the lack of a powerful ground game and an inability in scoring points. Maryland is pretty solid and can score points. Will the Buckeyes be able to keep up? DO NOT look ahead to Penn State! I’d hate to see OSU upset by Maryland. Notre Dame wasn’t that good, people. They barely came back to squeak by Duke on Saturday. It took all the Buckeyes had plus a rookie coaching mistake by Marcus Freeman to barely win. OSU got a bit lucky there. Holtz is probably correct about the OSU offense’s ‘toughness’. Struggling to get 1 yard several times, etc. ND outgained them on the ground. It felt great to win but was not confirmation of anything other than the fact they have a lot of work to do to stay undefeated.
That “Ohio Against The World” banner is stupid nonsense and must have been designed by Brady Hoke. The world is neither against Ohio nor Ohio State. Lol. Just stupid and does not represent the people of Ohio aside from a few football fans who need to get out of their single-wide trailers more often.
Good win. Felt like an old school game. Low scoring, great defense by both teams. This team is coming together. Still not much pass rush though. The 4th and inches play was a real head scratcher. The TD was redeeming but lots to work (and build) on.