Ohio State's Ryan Day dishes on 'critically important' key ahead of Oregon showdown
Yesterday at 02:17 PM
On Saturday night, the biggest Big Ten game of the year will be played in Eugene, Oregon, which is something we couldn’t have said for the first 127 years of the conference’s existence. The 2nd-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will make the long trip up to the Pacific Northwest to take on the 3rd-ranked Oregon Ducks in what should be a competitive matchup between two teams that are eyeing a National Title.
There are stars aplenty on both rosters, and often times in matchups such as this one, it’s the stars who ultimately end up determining the outcome. But ask Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day about Ohio State’s keys to victory, and he’ll tell you that he’s far more concerned with his team executing the basic fundamentals versus the Ducks.
“Ryan Day said Ohio State needs to run the ball, stop the run and take care of the ball to beat Oregon,” per Chase Brown of Eleven Warriors. Brown also provided a typical coach-speak quote from Day.
"The turnover battle is huge," Day said. "The battle of field position becomes critically important … We've got to take care of the football in this game. We got to make sure we're finishing drives."
Basically, what Ryan Day is saying is that the Buckeyes need to continue doing what they’ve done all season long. During their 5-0 start to the season, Ohio State has only turned the ball over five times, and behind Quinshon Judkins (468 yards and 5 touchdowns) and TreVeyon Henderson (337 yards and 4 touchdowns), the Buckeyes are averaging 222 yards per game on the ground, while allowing opponents to rush for just 72 yards per contest
The Buckeyes are outscoring their opponents by an average of 39 points per game, with last week’s 28 point victory over Iowa being their closest game of the season. Even if you expect the Buckeyes, a 3-point favorite on the road, to depart Eugene with a win, a sixth consecutive blowout victory would to start the season come as a huge surprise.
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