Ohio State's Ryan Day explains aggressiveness in CFP win over Tennessee

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12/22/2024 01:02 AM

After a day filled with college football, NBA games, and even a few NFL games for good measure, fans in the Buckeye State locked in for the main event of the night: Ohio State vs. Tennessee for a right to play in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Now granted, calling this game a game feels somewhat like a disrespect to the concept of competition, as Ohio State came out to an early lead and held it for the rest of the contest, adding insult to injury to the few Volunteers fans who made the trip out to Columbus. But part of why the SEC team never really stood a chance is because the Buckeyes came out aggressive and stayed aggressive for the entire game, punching their foe repeatedly even when they were up multiple scores.

Asked about his mindset heading into a game, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said this decision was by design, noting that he wants to really stick it to his foe and never give them a chance to catch their breath.

“We called this game more aggressively. There’s no question about that. But also, I think we did some things in this game that maximized what we have in terms of our strengths and minimized our deficiencies. Not that everything was perfect in this game. It wasn’t. But I do think — I also thought Will was excellent in this game. Played really well. Did a really good job of placing the ball. He made some big-time throws. When he needed to make plays with his legs, he did. Certainly, Jeremiah (Smith) was dynamite again. But Will was a leader,” Day told reporters via Chase Brown.

“We also had balance in this game. … We had some good runs. Those hits for us. It makes a big makes difference for us when we have that run-pass balance we’re looking for. This has got to build momentum going into this next game.”

And build momentum they did, with Will Howard throwing for 311 yards and two touchdowns versus just one pick, TreVeyon Henderson leading a rushing attack that went for 156 yards, and Jeremiah Smith amassing 103 yards and two touchdowns in his CFP debut. Throw that all together, and you have a great all-around win by the Ohio State Buckeyes, even if their prize is a one-way ticket to the Rose Bowl to face off against an Oregon Ducks team that already beat them once before in 2024.

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Ohio State's Ryan Day explains aggressiveness in CFP win over Tennessee

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