Ohio State’s Ryan Day on Indiana matchup: ‘This’ll be another tough environment’

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Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day addressed the media on Tuesday ahead of Indiana’s massive home matchup with the Buckeyes on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.

He fielded several questions about the Hoosiers, largely from last season’s Big Ten Championship game and what he sees from this year’s team. Here’s a few notable bits.

On Pressure

Day was asked about the pressure Indiana was able to generate on quarterback Julian Sayin throughout the matchup. The Hoosiers finished the game with five sacks on Sayin and forced several less-than-ideal throws through the pass rush.

There’s a lot that goes into pressure, Day said, from the timing of the routes to pass protection and the quarterback’s presence in the pocket. He’s seen progress from Sayin in that last area and added that he expects a tough environment from Memorial Stadium.

“This’ll be another tough environment,” Day said. “This is gonna be loud, so we’ve gotta be able to handle the silent cadence. We know what this means for their program and for our program.”

“This is where quarterbacks have to be tough. Everyone has to be tough but when you’re on the road in these types of environments handling the noise, getting a win like this on the road is gonna take everybody and certainly the quarterback, being able to handle everything that comes with that. Third down, red zone, pressure, all of those things will be important. I’m excited to see Julian play on Saturday.”

On winning 1on1s

Day added that Indiana goes a good job of forcing teams to win 1on1 battles, noting that’ll be a challenge for Ohio State on an individual level.

Asked about Indiana’s play in the fourth quarter, Day made note that the Hoosiers have made enough plays in games to come back or stay in control, as happened against Nebraska and Northwestern this season.

“You take a play off, these guys’ll hurt ya,” Day said. “We can’t do that. We have to, from the jump, we have to be locked in with great concentration, everybody doing their job at a high level, and then sustain that throughout the entire game because if you don’t these guys can hurt ya, and they have.”

On Indiana’s experience

Indiana has gone through the transfer portal for much of its roster building through the first three seasons of Curt Cignetti’s time in Bloomington with the bulk of it being importing several players from his final James Madison roster.

That blueprint has been a hot topic around the college football landscape ever since, with several commentators noting or deriding Indiana’s more advanced experience relative to the program’s peers. Day, asked about this, gave the staff credit for the results.

“They have a very veteran team,” Day said. “These guys have played a lot of football. A lot of guys in all three phases have played over a thousand college snaps.”

Day said Cignetti and the rest of Indiana’s staff have done a great job of bringing in mature talent that fit the program’s culture.

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