Ryan Day, Kevin Wilson And Kerry Coombs Discuss Ohio State’s Win Over Penn State, Preview Rutgers

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Kevin Wilson and defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs met remotely with the media on Tuesday afternoon to discuss Ohio State’s 38-25 win over Penn State and preview Saturday night’s game against Rutgers (7:30 p.m. on BTN).

Here’s a bullet-point recap of what they had to say:

Day on cornerback Cameron Brown’s season-ending injury: “It’s a significant hit. I really feel bad for Cam and his family.”
After seeing Wisconsin cancel its second straight game due to a coronavirus outbreak, Day said it feels like a victory whenever you do get to play.
Day said he was impressed with Ohio State’s physicality against Penn State, but noted they need to clean up “silly penalties.”
On the two missed field goals, Day said it was “just ridiculous. Those are chip shots.”
Day said the decision to get wide receiver Garrett Wilson a carry on the first play of the game helps the Buckeyes get some runs to the perimeter without J.K. Dobbins.
Day didn’t want to get too much into what happened at the end of the first half, though he did not there were some conversations with the Big Ten about it. “Apparently, there was more than two seconds on the clock, which I don’t really understand, but I’m going to just move on.”
With the players having a mandatory day off today due to the presidential election, Day said they practices yesterday. “We had a really good practice. It was very spirited.”
With Brown out, cornerbacks Tyreke Johnson, Lathan Ransom, Ryan Watts and Cameron Martinez are going to have to step up. They’re hoping to get Lejond Cavazos back, too.
Day noted freshman Jake Seibert might see action if starting kicker Blake Haubeil is sidelined for any period of time with a groin injury. “It’s kind of a day-to-day thing.”
Day thought Shaun Wade and Sevyn Banks played well against the Nittany Lions, but credited Jahan Dotson for a couple stellar catches.
Day on former defensive coordinator and current Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano: “(I have) a lot of respect for the way he went about his business every day (at Ohio State).” Said Schiano was helpful when he was serving as the acting head coach in 2018. “I’m forever in debt to him for that.”
Day noted the Buckeyes have to get better if they want to be great, even with an impressive 2-0 start
On defensive end Jonathon Cooper’s performance: “He was playing hungry, he was playing with passion and it was really cool to see a guy playing like that with the Block ‘O’ on his chest.”
Day felt the team did well in the red zone, but there are spots they can improve such as the snap over quarterback Justin Fields’ head.
Day noted it was a major challenge to communicate at Penn State, even with nobody in the crowd, thanks to the artificial crowd noise. It can be at 90 decibels until the center is over the ball, when it’s turned down to 70.
“If we’re chasing greatness – and that’s what we want to be – then every day we should be going after this thing at 100 miles per hour.”
Day on the defensive line rotation in lieu of star power: “We’ll play as many guys as we think have the opportunity to play at a championship level.”
Day noted the protocols that make road games difficult, such as dressing at the hotel before bussing over to the stadium, having space for meetings, etc.
Day confirmed the report of a false positive that kept linebacker Justin Hilliard out of action against Penn State. “We felt awful for Justin.”
Coombs felt Dotson pushed off on one of his touchdown catches, but “that’s neither here nor there.”
“I have no worries about Shaun Wade.”
Coombs said Johnson is ready to play with Brown out. “He works really hard in practice and is always prepared.”
Coombs felt he learned a lot working with Schiano in 2016-17. “The stamp that you see already on that program is those guys are playing hard.”
Coombs believes the defense is remarkably similar to last season, but there are some small changes on the back end.
On Ransom, who saw action late in the win over the Nittany Lions: “Lathan is a run-and-hit guy, and run-and-hit guys always end up playing football.”
Wilson said he’s proud of how the tight ends sacrifice catches for blocking and doing what’s vest for the program.
Wilson noted there’s no real change in play calling when Master Teague or Trey Sermon are in at running back. Thinks both improved from the first game and that they will continue to do so.
Wilson on left guard Harry Miller: “From game one to game two, probably made as much improvement as anybody on our offense.”
On Miller and right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere:”Not to get into Harry’s Russian literature thoughts, but they’re very smart guys.”
Wilson said tight end Luke Farrell had a “gash,” which is why he left the game. He did return for the final few series.
On offensive balance, Wilson said they’ve “got to play to Justin’s strengths … we got to play to what’s best for the offense to win the game.”
Wilson on right guard Wyatt Davis: “He’s one of the juice guys of the offense. He plays very hard, he plays very tough, but he brings a lot of energy. He’s one of the best verbalizers on the team and articulating the way we want to play.”

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