‘We’re not defending anything’ – Ryan Day sends firm message showing the mindset the Ohio State Buckeyes have with Texas approaching
Ohio State will get a College Football Playoff-like test right out of the gates on Aug. 30 when it hosts Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns. The Buckeyes must now put their National Championship behind them—and based on what they’re saying, it sounds like they already have. This is a new team in many ways, […]
Ohio State will get a College Football Playoff-like test right out of the gates on Aug. 30 when it hosts Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns.
The Buckeyes must now put their National Championship behind them—and based on what they’re saying, it sounds like they already have. This is a new team in many ways, especially after having 14 players drafted. That means there are new goals to chase and new legacies to build.
Ryan Day sends firm message on where the Buckeyes stand going into 2025
“The Texas game is 39 days away from right now,” Day said off the top of his head during Big Ten Football Media Days on Tuesday. “The team that we have currently wants to leave their own legacy behind. And they made that clear a week after the national championship game with some of the comments that they made.
“We’ve said it before: we’re not defending national champions. We’re not defending anything. They can’t take the trophy away. We’re looking to attack and win a championship with this team. That started with the offseason and it’s continuing through July. I think we’ve had a great offseason, but now we need to have a great August as we head into this first game against Texas.”
The Buckeyes do return some major stars—such as safety Caleb Downs and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith—but they’ll also need to reload at several key positions. Julian Sayin is the favorite to take over at quarterback for Will Howard, while James Peoples is the frontrunner to be the starting running back this fall.
The mindset of starting fresh with a clean slate seems like the right approach to keep the team focused and hungry. Ohio State went a decade between national titles the last time around—and now that Day has won his first, he’ll certainly hope history doesn’t repeat itself.
