COLUMBUS, Ohio — There is a pretty simple way to respond to losing a 20-point fourth-quarter lead. You can say it was one bad quarter. Or you can decide that one bad quarter exposed some things that need to change.
Ryan Day appears to be choosing the latter.
Following Ohio State’s 24-23 loss to Texas, Day said Tuesday that the Buckeyes are taking a hard look at their personnel decisions moving forward. That doesn’t necessarily mean wholesale changes are coming, but it does mean nobody should assume the current depth chart is set in stone.
“We’re going to look at everything,” Day said.
That includes personnel. And that might be the most interesting part of what Day said Tuesday in his weekly press conference with local media.
Ohio State had plenty of talented players on the field Saturday night. It also had plenty of talented players standing next to the coaches. Now Day and his staff have to determine whether they had the right ones out there when the game mattered most.
“If you feel like somebody gives you the best chance to win, you’re going to play them,” Day said.
That’s not exactly a shocking statement. It’s the basic job description for a coaching staff. But after what happened in Austin, it carries a little more weight. Ohio State had a chance to put Texas away. It didn’t. The Buckeyes couldn’t get off the field. They couldn’t sustain enough offense. They couldn’t make the handful of plays that would have turned a 20-point lead into a road victory instead of one of the more painful losses of the Day era.
So now everything gets looked at. Scheme. Coaching. Execution. And, apparently, personnel.
Day said the Buckeyes have young players who are pushing for more opportunities, and he isn’t going to keep them on the sideline simply because they’re young.
“If they’re the best players and they give us the best chance to win, then they’re going to play,” Day said.
That’s important for a team that entered the season with plenty of established names but also a number of younger players who were expected to eventually become major contributors. Eventually may be coming sooner than expected.
Jay Timmons is a good example.
The freshman cornerback has earned Day’s trust early in his Ohio State career, and that trust has translated into opportunities on the field.
That’s the standard Day said he wants to use with the rest of the younger players on the roster. It doesn’t matter as much how old they are or where they started on the depth chart. If they prove they can help Ohio State win, they’ll play. The Texas game provided some pretty strong evidence that Ohio State can’t afford to play players based solely on what they were expected to become. It has to play the guys who can make the play right now.
Day was asked about some of those younger players Tuesday, including freshman defensive end Khary Wilder and sophomore linebacker Riley Pettijohn. Wilder played five snaps against Texas but made an impact in those limited opportunities, getting pressure on Texas quarterback Arch Manning. Pettijohn had three tackles and a sack while rotating at linebacker.
Wilder has already shown flashes in limited opportunities. Pettijohn has been steadily working his way into the rotation. Day said Pettijohn will continue to play more.
And that’s where Timmons matters. He’s not playing because Ohio State needs to find something different just for the sake of finding something different. He’s playing because he has earned the trust of the coaching staff.
Now Wilder, Pettijohn and the other young players on the roster have the same opportunity. That doesn’t mean a freshman or young sophomore is suddenly taking over the defense. It does mean the coaching staff is willing to give younger players a bigger piece of the game if they’ve earned it.
And maybe that’s the bigger takeaway from the Texas loss. Ohio State doesn’t need to panic, but it does need to be honest.
The Buckeyes were good enough to lead Texas 23-3. They were also not good enough to hold that lead. Both things can be true.
The temptation after a loss like this is to identify one problem and declare it the problem. Maybe it was the pass rush. Maybe it was the offensive line. Maybe it was the play-calling. Maybe it was the inability to convert in key situations. It’s probably more complicated than that.
Day said the staff will look at “coaching, personnel, scheme, all of it.”
That’s probably the appropriate response.
Because Ohio State didn’t lose to Texas because it suddenly forgot how to play football. It lost because Texas made the plays Ohio State didn’t. And when that happens, coaches have to ask a fairly uncomfortable question: Are we putting the players on the field who are most capable of making those plays?
Day’s answer, at least Tuesday, was that the question is being asked.
“We have to make sure that we put the best guys on the field that gives us the best chance to win,” he said.
Photo via Ohio State Dept. of Athletics.
