Ryan Day Says Ohio State Must Have Its Best Week of Practice, Treat Illinois As A Top-10 Opponent Despite Blowout Loss to Indiana

At Ohio State head coach Ryan Day’s weekly press conference Tuesday, he gave Illinois high praise ahead of the Buckeyes clash with the Illini in Champaign Saturday. 

Day emphasized that Ohio State must have a strong week of practice ahead of its matchup against No. 17 ranked Illinois, who he said is one of the best opponents No. 1 Ohio State has seen to this point in the season, despite the Illini’s bad loss. He added that Illinois’ Gies Memorial Stadium may also be the toughest road environment redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin has faced in his young career.  

He said that Ohio State must do a good job making sure that Sayin is comfortable on the road against the Illini as he continues to grow and become more comfortable as he sees more in-game action. 

“You’re seeing Julian grow each week,” Day said. “It’s important for any quarterback to understand what he’s surrounded by. This is gonna be another challenge for him on the road. Second road game, a really difficult environment. To me, this is like a top-10 opponent on the road. He’s growing every day and we’ve gotta keep giving him more and more to handle, but at the same time understanding that, it’s about winning games.”

Through Week Six, Illinois has chalked up a strong 4-1 record, including a comeback 34-32 victory over then-No. 21 USC. However, what draws the eyes of most is the lone loss — a 63-10 thrashing in Bloomington at the hands of No. 7 Indiana. 

Day called the Illini’s loss to the Hoosiers “an outlier” stating that Sept. 20 against Indiana contest isn’t who Illinois or head coach Bret Bielema is.

“Pitch the game, throw it out, it’s not who they are. Throw that film out. Don’t even barely look at it,” Day said. “To me, that’s not who we’re playing. Whatever it was in that game, that’s an outlier. (Bret Bielema) is one of the better coaches in the country, and he’s a resilient guy, that’s a resilient team. We know we’re going to get their best shot on Saturday.”

As Day focuses on Illinois’ strong performances over the past two seasons in preparation, he’s trying to get his players in the mindset that an upset can happen at any time — especially if Ohio State doesn’t come out firing on all cylinders.

Day said that Ohio State players must have its best week of practice ahead of its matchup with Illinois, adding that the Buckeyes must bring that energy from Columbus to Champaign. 

“We got a really good opponent that we’re playing this week that knows how to win,” Day said. “Bret is as good a coach as there is in the game. He’s got a really good staff. His players are tough, they’re smart, they know how to win and they know how to win games like this. At home, it’s a noon game, 11 local time. 

“They’re really good. So we have to have the best week of practice we’ve had all year and so we got to get on that plane, get ready to play with a ton of energy and play with a great physicality and fly around because it’s going to be a great atmosphere.”