COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the first time in college football history, 12 teams made it to the playoffs. It’s also history in the making for Ohio State as the team hosts Tennessee in its first-ever December home game at the ‘Shoe.
As Saturday’s playoff game nears, 10TV’s Dom Tiberi caught up with head coach Ryan Day to talk about the matchup, expectations and how the season has looked overall.
From the very beginning, Day said the team’s goal has been to make it to the playoffs — they made it that far. Their next goal? Winning the national championship.
“All of our focus is on this game,” Day said in the one-on one interview.
This season has come with a lot of changes for the Buckeyes.
“Along the way, there’s been different challenges. This year the Big Ten changed, we had three top five games this year, two in a row, and we took on some injuries,” Day said. “Along the way this year, there’s been twists and turns, some things that went well, some things we’d like to have back, but you’ve got to learn from those and make adjustments. Every team that’s in this playoff right now is going to have issues.”
Day said it’s the teams that address their issues going into the playoffs that are going to give themselves the best chance to win.
Looking ahead to the matchup with Tennessee
Heading into the game, Day said he’s focused on maximizing the team’s strengths and minimizing their deficiencies.
Day said Tennessee is known for trying to go fast.
“On offense, when you look at the way that they run their offense, they try to spread you out sideline to sideline and they try to spread you vertically and they try to go fast,” Day said. “Ultimately this style of play, what they’re trying to do, they’re trying to go fast and get you to miscommunicate and not get aligned, wear down, not run to the football, so we have to make sure we eliminate that.”
In a press conference last week, Day said their defense presents a great front and their cornerbacks are good.
Ohio State's offensive could have its hands full against a defense that's giving up less than 14 points a game.
When asked about Ohio State's defense, Day said that they have to play at a high level just like the offense and special teams.
“I certainly think that our defense plays with confidence right now. They know they can play with anyone in the country.”
While the Buckeyes secured 10 wins this season, two against top five teams, Day admits there’s always room for improvement.
“We got to do a better job at situational football, we got to do a better job at coming out, you know we had a couple coming out situations that we didn’t handle very well,” Day said. “And we got to do a better job in the red zone - third down will be just as important.”
As for fans, Day said their role means a lot to the team and he’s excited for the fans to get back together at Ohio Stadium.
“These players are going to give everything they possibly have in that game and I know it’s going to be an electric atmosphere,” Day said.
The winner of Saturday's game will go on to play the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl.
Ohio State has made 16 previous appearances in the Rose Bowl, third-most in the game's history behind USC (34) and Michigan (21). The Buckeyes have won their last four games in Pasadena, most recently beating Washington in 2019 and Utah in 2022.