What Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said about Penn State ahead of Saturday’s matchup
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day praised the defense built by Penn State head coach James Franklin and defensive coordinator Brent Pry at his weekly press conference Tuesday.
Day and his Buckeyes will host the Nittany Lions at home in Columbus Saturday and said the group his offense will take on is one of the best in the country.
“They’re one of the best defenses in the country, in my opinion,” Day said. “And there’s a lot that goes into that. I think it’s scheme, I think it’s coaching, but they have really good personnel, as well.”
The Ohio State head coach will have an offense to match the defense with the Buckeyes ranked first in the country in ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s SP+, a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. Day’s offense has been especially good of late with the unit scoring at least 40 points in its last four games.
Still, he expects a difficult matchup with the Nittany Lions based on how previous matchups between the two programs have gone.
“You look at the games we’ve had with them in the past, they’re always a dogfight,” Day said. “That’s just the way it’s been. I know it’s gonna be that way. They have a lot of pride, they’re a very good program. ... They’re one of the best programs in the country. It’s hard to beat these type of teams. We know when Penn State comes into town, we’ve got to be on our game. And this is gonna be one of those games. It’s gonna be physical back and forth. We’ve gotta start fast and be ready to play for four quarters.”
Here’s everything else Day said about the Nittany Lions ahead of Saturday’s matchup between the two top-25 teams.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day
On Penn State’s defense
I think the defense has played well. They really only gave up 10 points last week and they’re averaging 14 points per game given up. It’s a very good defense. Brent Pry is an excellent defensive coordinator, has been for a long time. They have a very good scheme, very good players. I think when you look at their front, they’re very active, the linebackers are very good. Their back end is veteran now, they’ve played a lot of football. They’re one of the best defenses in the country, in my opinion. And there’s a lot that goes into that. I think it’s scheme, I think it’s coaching, but they have really good personnel, as well.
On previous games against Penn State
You look at the games we’ve had with them in the past, they’re always a dogfight. That’s just the way it’s been. I know it’s gonna be that way. They have a lot of pride, they’re a very good program. Coach Franklin does a very good job. I got a lot of respect for the two coordinators, Brent Pry and obviously Mike Yurcich, who we know well. They’re one of the best programs in the country. It’s hard to beat these type of teams. We know when Penn State comes into town, we’ve got to be on our game. And this is gonna be one of those games. It’s gonna be physical back and forth. We’ve gotta start fast and be ready to play for four quarters.
On Penn State’s secondary
Castro-Fields has played for a long time. Very good player, veteran, understands that style of defense. I feel like over the years they’ve had a lot of corners who have played in that style of defense for a long time, he’s one of them. Porter played against us last year. Very long, very athletic, does a good job in their defense. I think Brisker is one of the better safeties that we’ve played against this year. He’s physical in the box, he’s athletic, he runs around. I just think across the board, they’re athletic back there. It allows them to run some different schemes. They can man you up, they can zone you up, they can do a couple different things. And they do a lot of pressuring now and they’re aggressive with that. And I know they’ll continue to do that in our game.
On Jahan Dotson
I think Dotson is one of the better wide receivers in the country. We gotta know where he is at all times. They’re gonna try to find ways to get him the ball for sure. However we go about doing that, that’s part of the schematic stuff that we’ll work on this week. But we’ll have to know exactly where he is.
