Ryan Day confirmed exactly what Buckeye Nation wanted to hear after Ohio State beat Tennessee
Coming away from the loss to Michigan to end the regular season, it was known that Ohio State had to be a lot better on offense in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes did just that and have a first-round win over Tennessee by a score of 42-17 to show for it. Ohio State started […]
Coming away from the loss to Michigan to end the regular season, it was known that Ohio State had to be a lot better on offense in the College Football Playoff.
The Buckeyes did just that and have a first-round win over Tennessee by a score of 42-17 to show for it. Ohio State started quickly with 21 points in the first quarter and it was a complete 360 from their last time out.
Following the game, head coach Ryan Day confirmed that the Buckeyes wanted to be more aggressive on offense, as well as playing quicker. It is something many have wanted to see from the Buckeyes as the year has gone on.
"I think it was a combination of things. When you go back and look at the season, we were a different team when we lost Seth (McLaughlin),” Day said. “We really didn't play great on offense in the Indiana game. We called this [way] game more aggressively, there was no question about that. We did some things in this game to maximize our strengths. I also thought Will (Howard) was excellent in this game [too]."
It was promising for Ohio State’s road ahead that they were much more aggressive. The defense didn’t force a turnover and the Buckeyes threw an interception themselves, still the offense put up 42 points.
Howard was a very nice 24-of-29 passing for 311 yards and two touchdowns. The senior added 37 yards on the ground. TreVeyon Henderson had 80 rushing yards and was able to establish the needed running game to open up the offense.
Freshman Jeremiah Smith was a star as he normally is with two fade touchdowns. Ohio State’s offense goes as he goes and he went over 100 yards receiving in his first playoff game.
Going up against Oregon next, the Buckeyes are going to have to continue scoring points. Their approach against the Vols was promising in terms of continuing.
