COLUMBUS — We had a three-show Tuesday, and now we want your answer to some of the same questions. Here are the five questions we asked on Around the Shoe on Tuesday, and then a few more questions about your feelings about the Buckeyes.
Around the Shoe topics
Other questions
Ryan Day said Tuesday the staff will evaluate which players should be on the field in the coming weeks.
“The first thing you’ve got to look at is the personnel and making sure you have the right guys out there,” Day said. “I think we have some really good young players that are going to play into both sides of the ball more often as we move forward into conference play. So that's a big part of it.
“Moving forward, we have to make sure that we put the best guys on the field that gives us the best chance to win.”
Do you believe that? Do you think by the Indiana game Ohio State will make changes in playing time, particularly getting some young, high-upside players more snaps?
I jumped in to ask Day at the end of the news conference whether he had changed his mind at all on whether he should have let Texas score to get the ball back to Ohio State’s offense with more time on the clock.
“Well, it didn't work. So the answer is yes,” Day said. “If we win the game, then it would've been the right decision. And in the moment, you've got to make a hard decision. And I decided to try to hold the line. There's a lot that comes with that, just saying, ‘Hey, let him score right there.’ As the head coach of your team, I decided to make that call. And ultimately, would love to have seen what it would've looked like if they would've scored.”
What do you think?
One interesting point Day revealed Tuesday was that he told Arthur Smith before the game that if the Buckeyes got a fourth-and-short situation in the red zone, they would go for it. Ohio State had a fourth-and-2 at the 13-yard line in the first half and a run got stuffed.
When Day in the second half called for a punt on fourth-and-4 from the 39-yard line, he felt the OSU defense was playing well at that point and he hoped to pin Texas deep. But the punt only went 26 yards.
“We’ve got to execute that better. If we’re going to do that, if we’re going to make that decision, it is hard for me to stand in front of you and say, ‘Yeah, that’s a good thing,’ when the ball’s on the 15-yard line,” Day said. “If we pin them on the 2 or the 1, you’re probably saying, ‘OK, I get it better.’ So either we have to execute that better or we’ve got to go for it.”
So he outlined two decisions there. Then there’s the late-game call. Overall, what do you think of Day’s strategy decisions in games?
We will discuss your answers on Wednesday’s Substack show.
Just so you can keep up with our yapping, here are the three shows we did Tuesday.
We know from experience the natty is still a very real possibility. We know the team is much less experienced than teams from the past couple of years. We know the team is capable of learning and developing. I have complete confidence in the Buckeyes, players and coaches.
In just about every position group, there are young guys most of us in Buckeye Nation believe need more impactful playing time. WRs Boyd and Henry, DE Wilder, LB Pettijohn, Alfred, Alliegro, RB Bey, etc. Does Ryan Day leave these decisions to position coaches and they’re the ones reluctant to play the young talent? Or are position coaches pushing for the best players on the field no matter what, but Ryan Day is the one dictating more experience to reduce mistakes at the expense of best talent on the field?