• New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.

Game Thread THE GAME: #1 tOSU at tCun, Sat. Nov. 29th, 12 pm ET, FOX

Ryan Day Says Ohio State’s Fourth-Down Touchdown Play Call is One It Had Saved For Key Moment

160093_h.jpg


One of the biggest turning points of The Game on Saturday was Ohio State's 35-yard touchdown strike on 4th-and-5 when it trailed 6-3 in the first half.

The slant-and-go route run by Smith put his defender on skates and Ohio State in the lead after Michigan had taken early momentum on a field-goal drive and an interception that led to another field goal. Julian Sayin put the ball in a perfect spot.



On his weekly Buckeye Roundtable appearance with 97.1 the Fan, Day dove into his decision to go for it in that spot and shared some extra insight on the play call. It was one that Ohio State was keeping in its back pocket for a critical late-game moment, but Day felt then was the time to strike. It's hard to argue with the decision after a 27-9 Buckeye win to end their curse in The Game.

Day also discussed his offensive line's performance and did some more previewing of the Big Ten Championship Game vs. Indiana during the segment.
  • On the decision to go for it on 4th-and-5: "It was a play that I felt like we were gonna use later in the game in a spot like that, but we didn’t start the way we wanted to. ... I made my mind up that we were going to go for it on third down. ... We got the coverage that we expected. The corner was sitting at the sticks at five yards and Jeremiah ran a great route."
.
.
.
continued

Just sayin': I thought Hartline was supposed to be calling the plays.....:confused:

Just sayin' - Hartline does call the plays.

Expecting Day or any head coach to NOT have input is really naive. This is how most teams operate.
 
Upvote 0
An offensive mind like Day isn’t going to completely be quiet, especially in the biggest Game of the year.

4th down decisons are definitely on the HC. I can imagine it was even something like “Hey Hart, I’m thinking 4 downs here, be ready. Might be time for XYZ.” Or hell, he may have directly called it. Not a big deal.

The concern is if he’s calling every play, every game - that will drain your battery and make you lose focus on the bigger picture. Not the case here, imo. A little input at important moments is perfect.
 
Upvote 0


Just want to call attention to something in this video. Look at Laurinaitis' eyes in the first minute. Watch Hartline as they come into the tunnel. Listen to the work for our love for one another rather than hatred of them. What Day has done is to build a culture that is informed by the culture of Ohio's farmlands and central Ohio urban areas, the legendary teams of the past, and something very much rooted in a holistic human development approach to these players. That is not easy to copy. Stunningly good.

This is why they will repeat.
 
Upvote 0
Random mostly frivolous thoughts after finally getting to watch the entire game:
1. Carnell might have gotten away with a bit of a hold on Bo's long run in Q1. But also, someone needs to gif that girl throwing up the first down signal after that run. Bo's pass blocking has gotten good too, stonewalled a few blitzers throughout the game.
2. Sayin played a really nice game, but there are still some minor areas for improvement (duh, first year starter as a RS Fr). Think it was last week where if he stayed on a read a little longer he would have had Inniss for a TD; there was a play early in Q2 (completed pass to TE) where if he had stayed on one side of the read a little longer, he probably had Bo open for a long gain, potentially a TD. The gravity Jeremiah Smith has is insane, BTW, the safety abandoned his side of the field to track 4 and the LB also tracked him for a triple team instead of taking the leaking out RB.
3. Usually respect Klatt, but his posturing for the Jeremiah Smith TD/fumble and his justification of the DPI on Jermaine Mathews on the ensuing drive were a bit grating.
4. Credit to TUN, they schemed up some good runs in the first half. Even more credit to the D for adjusting to the runs. Also questionable decision to throw Jordan Marshall back out there.
5. Did anyone see the flop/picked up flag? Would love to see what happened there. Edit: found here:
6. Would have loved to have seen Bo get a TD, but it seemed fitting that the 3 WR leaders (4, 17, 1) got TDs in The Game.
7. Might be the best Brutus ever with the X in the endzone and the Script Ohio.
Think I've said this before, but I was born in the 80s and I survived Coop. All I have wanted was to see the all-time H2H record swing in our favor in my lifetime. I doubted Coach Day last year, but he's made good and made a rather emphatic statement. He's not Urban, but let's hope he's able to rattle off at least another 7 in a row. Breathing huge sighs of relief now; everything is still ahead of us.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Interesting video from Kyle Jones at 11 Warriors.The main reason the first run by Marshall netted 34 yards was because Patricia had called a blitz coming from the opposite side of the line. The adjustment that Patricia made to shut down the SCUM offense was to play their base defense all the time. So that means the "freshman QB unlike any other" could only generate 63 yards of passing and 66 yards of rushing for the rest of the game against OSU based defense.

 
Upvote 0
Back
Top