Ryan Day talks about the importance of reducing penalties, the value of Mitch Rossi and Gee Scott Jr. and preparing a ‘really good’ Toledo team

During his weekly appearance on 97.1’s The Fan’s Buckeye Roundtable Monday, Day was repeatedly asked about the nine penalties the Buckeyes incurred against Arkansas State and made it clear in his responses that he thinks it is important for the State of Ohio to correct these errors. so as not to get bitten by them in more competitive games.

Ryan Day on the Buckeye Roundtable 9-12-22 @ryandaytime @SkipMosic @JimLachey64 https://t.co/VWhe1rkD5i

– 97.1 The Fan (@971thefan) September 12, 2022

Day was particularly unhappy with penalties that were entirely within the control of Ohio State, such as the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties imposed on Xavier Johnson and Taron Vincent and the four offside penalties against defensive linemen in Buckeye.

“Anytime you have a penalty that you can control, especially before the break, it’s the ones that are inexcusable,” Day said. “There are certain things that happen, playing hard, there will be penalties, but there are some that are controllable, and those are the ones you have to do a better job with.”

Day was also asked specifically about jumping over the punt shield penalty against Teradja Mitchell who negated a punt return touchdown from Emeka Egbuka and returned the ball to Arkansas State, and he said the Buckeyes would ask their players not to attempt to jump over the shield. Again.

“We had to learn from that. We lost a possession there. And that’s something that, in a tighter game, could be the difference between winning and losing. So that was a tough lesson to learn,” Day said. “And not only that, we returned that punt for a touchdown. There was a lot of work trying to turn the game around by returning a punt for a touchdown. That hasn’t happened in a while here. So this is all very discouraging, but we’re going to have to learn from it. And the rule is you can’t jump and land on the shield. So we are definitely not going to jump anymore.

In his first media interview of the week, Day also spoke about the value Mitch Rossi and Gee Scott Jr. provide as the Buckeyes’ second and third tight ends, Marvin Harrison Jr.’s three-touchdown game and the challenge Toledo could present to Ohio State on Saturday. A brief overview of everything Day had to say:

• Day thinks it was good that Ohio State had more defensive plays against Arkansas State so they could get more players into the game and get more game reps.” The more our guys feel comfortable in the new scheme, the better we will move forward.”

• Day is happy the Buckeyes have limited their opponents to just one touchdown in six trips to the red zone this year. “If we play well on offense and score touchdowns and they force field goals on defense, then those four points add up every time.”

• Day said he thinks it’s important for the Buckeyes to keep defenses honest by running the ball effectively when defenses drop extra defenders into coverage to try and stop the pass.

• Day on Gee Scott Jr. and Mitch Rossi: “These guys can do all the different job descriptions we need. And their versatility is what helps us attack the defense based on what we see.

• Day said he thought the game had “slowed down” for Marvin Harrison Jr. from Week 1 to Week 2, allowing him to have his performance of seven catches, 184 yards and three touchdowns against the State of the State. ‘Arkansas.

• “You can’t quite replace experience,” so he said it was important to have more young players and backups in the game against Arkansas State.

• On Toledo: “They’re a very good team. They certainly gave Notre Dame everything they could manage last year. So we have to do a great job of making sure we prepare like any other week, and that’s the same message. The message is that it’s about us and we have to make sure we’re building every week and getting stronger every week, but it’s a good team.