Everything Ohio State’s Ryan Day said about Penn State and former DC Jim Knowles
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Day praises Penn State quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer and notes his talent.
- He warns Penn State remains dangerous despite 3-4 record and coaching changes.
- Day frames Jim Knowles exit as abrupt, credits his work and accepts movement.
Penn State is heading into what was supposed to be the biggest matchup of its season against Ohio State, but will now do so as a massive underdog. The Nittany Lions will head on the road to take on the Buckeyes, who are once again led by head coach Ryan Day.
Day spoke to the media Tuesday afternoon about the Nittany Lions, their quarterback and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles — who was Ohio State’s defensive coordinator for its national championship season in 2024.
Here’s everything Day had to say about the Nittany Lions.
On Penn State QB Ethan Grunkemeyer
“I think he’s a very talented young man. He’s — anybody you speak to up in the Olentangy High School or in the area growing up — he’s got a great family. He’s a great leader and very intelligent, competitive player that has a bright future in the game. And this is just his second start, but you can see the talent on the field. You can see that he’s got leadership skills, and he obviously had a great career here while he was in high school. And think very, very highly of him.”
On Penn State being a threat despite being 3-4
“We know that this is one of the top 5-10 teams in the country. I don’t think there’s many teams in the country that have more talent than Penn State has, and I think people recognized that early in the season. Sure, it hasn’t gone the way they’ve wanted it to, but that doesn’t change that they still have really good players. And when you looked at this game, a few months ago, it was an absolute matchup game — that has not changed. It’s still the same players other than the quarterback. And so our guys know that, they understand that, and they know that it’s about us, it’s not about our opponent, and so we’ll focus on our preparation, but you need to know your opponent. And these are very, very talented players, and they have a lot of NFL players, and we know they have really good coaches. So all that’s going to lead into a huge matchup game for us on Saturday.”
On facing a team coming off a bye week that needs a win
“They really have a nothing to lose mentality, so we have to be on high alert at all times for things. They have two weeks to put together different things on offense, defense and special teams that they haven’t put on film. We know that. And certainly, when you have a coaching change like they did, we expect that. You have to expect the unexpected. Be on high alert. Know that they sort of have that mentality going into the game. And so all of those things matter at the end of the day. You still gotta go play the play, and you don’t know what’s going to come, but we have to understand what our opponent is. And the fact that they’ve had two weeks to prepare and change up the looks.”
On his relationship with Knowles
“Like any relationship, when it breaks off, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, but there really hasn’t been much communication. He did a great job when he was here, helped us win a national championship, and kind of left it at that. And then it was, hey, we got to go make a replacement and move on from there. So, yeah, that’s kind of how it is. It was abrupt, but we certainly respect the work that he did when he was here.”
On losing Knowles to a Big Ten rival
“I think it goes back to what we were saying earlier, just about how college football and how it’s changed, and the money and everything like that. It’s just you’re seeing some things that maybe we’re not used to. But I guess when you look at the NFL, you see more of that than you would in college. But I guess we’re getting more like the NFL, so we try not to take those things personal, but we are human.”
