COLUMBUS, Ohio - There never really is an off-time when it comes to Ohio State football and even though it feels like an eternity until the start of the 2020 season, there are 12 months of work a year that go into the product that we see on the field for anywhere between 12 and 15 games.

Head coach Ryan Day met with the local media earlier this week to give a post-Fiesta Bowl update, our first chance to talk to Day since the evening of Ohio State's season coming to an all-too-abrupt end.

There will be a lot of questions that will come out of the 2019 season, how the Buckeyes mission to the championship came up just short and how the team can correct some of those mistakes before the start of the next season.

We put some of Day's comments into focus in this latest edition of the 3-2-1 brought to you by our friends over at Hague Water Conditioning. Plus, we take a look at the Ohio State Men's Basketball team as they finally snapped their losing skid and talk about what it is going to take to stay on the winning path. That and a whole lot more.

1 - It was a tough loss to take

The Buckeyes are not a team that is all that accustomed to losing football games, a grand total of 10 since the start of the 2012 to be exact.

The Fiesta Bowl loss was the first one under head coach Ryan Day and while the Buckeyes went in as the betting underdog, anyone around the Ohio State program felt that the oddsmakers had this one wrong and that the Buckeyes should have been the prohibitive favorite, just based on their body of work throughout the season based on results and opponents played.

None of that really matters once toe meets leather and the ball is put into play. But the Buckeyes backed that up for much of the first half, even if opportunities were squandered a long the way.

The Buckeyes came oh-so-close to snatching this game away at the end but it was just not meant to be as Chris Olave and Justin Fields had a miscommunication and that ended up leading to the game-sealing interception.

Day talked about how hard it was on Olave in particular after the fact.

"I'm not sure he ate solid food for about three or four days after that game; he was crushed," Day said on Wednesday.

As we know, games generally don't turn on just one play and this game was no exception. Ohio State had plenty of opportunities along the way and the Buckeyes just couldn't overcome some self-inflicted wounds along with some 50-50 moments that just came up Clemson's way.

But even for a first-year head coach, there was some real anger after the game. And while Day says that he has moved on from the anger, you already know that he is going to use that fire this next season as the Buckeyes look to rebound.

"I've moved on from the anger part of it," Day said. "Obviously when you're a competitor like that, it's hard to lose in a game of that magnitude. And you feel like you played really, really well."

Now it is time to use that fuel to get through the winter, spring and summer and see results on the field come September.

"It's going to keep motivating us moving forward," Day added. "But at some point you do have to take the next step."

2 - Message sent

Chris Holtmann made the decision to bench a pair of sophomore guards in Ohio State's most recent game against Nebraska as he sat both Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington. Jr.

The Buckeyes would go on to win that game but let's not get crazy here and talk about addition by the case of subtraction. The Cornhuskers, despite their wins against Iowa and Purdue, are a team that has about just as many issues as the Buckeyes do as they are trying to find a level of consistency.

Ohio State was on a four-game losing streak and desperately needed a win in the worst way and if the Buckeyes fell to the Huskers, it could have set up a long January drought with a road game at Penn State looming next on the schedule along with games against Minnesota and Northwestern.

And there is something to be said about having a little success and seeing the ball go through the hoop.

But Holtmann made it clear after the game that this is a big picture issue and not just about one game.

“I’m not coaching for just one game. Ever," Holtmann said after the win over Nebraska. "I’m not ever doing that. I’m not ever coaching just to win one game or put our best team on the floor for one game. They’re more important to me than that, and it’s more important to me than that. And if I ever get to the point to where I coach for just one game, I’m getting out. See ya. Peace out."

Both players were in the building for the game as they stayed in the Ohio State locker room.

Will they be available for the game at Penn State on Saturday?

Stay tuned.

3 - Numbers game

Now before anyone starts to freak out, we don't believe that Ohio State will be the first program ever to see what the NCAA might do if the Buckeyes go beyond the deadline (start of the season) with more than 85 awarded scholarships (excluding any hardships or things of that nature) on the football team.

That does not mean that it is not a topic of conversation as Ohio State still looks at potentially adding to the class of 2020 and as of this very moment stands beyond the count of 85 based on what summer enrollment will look like if everything goes according to plan.

Defensive lineman Alex Williams entered the Transfer Portal this week and that is another step toward getting closer to that magic number and there is little doubt that the Buckeyes will see more movement by the end of spring practice and the end of the second semester on the academic calendar as some players may see a future outside of Columbus.

We are not ones to speculate on who might be a transfer candidate out of fairness to these student athletes. They are not chess pieces on a board, they are young men with real backstories who all have one major thing in common, a desire to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

As we know, it does not always work out that way as we have seen Isaiah Pryor and Brendon White both leave the program during the last season and now Williams joining the ranks. There will be others, especially if the Buckeyes are able to add anyone in this late (er, original) signing window.

We should have some more clarity in the coming weeks as we see what happens with visits and the status of Cam Martinez as well. But don't expect to see a locked-down, firm roster of 85 the day after signing day. This spring practice period will go a long way for the Buckeyes to figure out who are in the plans of the two-deep and who might need to go through some serious soul-searching and see what the future may hold in store for them.

1 - Bounce back?

We already talked a little bit about the basketball team earlier and the suspensions for the most recent game but with or without the duo, the Buckeyes know that they will be in for a dogfight on Saturday when they travel to State College (Pa.) to take on the Nittany Lions.

Both the Buckeyes and Nits are 2-4 in conference play but if we have learned anything this year it is how hard it is to win on the road in league play in the Big Ten and Penn State will have the edge of playing this game at home.

The Nittany Lions are on a three-game losing streak after falling at Minnesota in their most recent game (Ohio State lost there in December). During this losing streak, Penn State also has lost a game at home, to the Wisconsin Badgers (the same team that Ohio State lost to at home as well).

So there are a great number of parallels when you look at the schedule.

For the Buckeyes it will come down to being able to score the basketball. During the Ohio State losing streak, the Buckeyes could not break out of the 50s for scoring in any of those four games and then hit the 80-point mark in the win over the Huskers.

In two of Penn State's most recent losses, the Nittany Lions scored in the 60s but just couldn't keep their opponents from getting into the 70s.

It is probably a safe bet that the Buckeyes are going to need to get into the 70s in this game to come out with a win, and even getting to that mark does not guarantee victory but it has been more than a month since a team has hit the 80-point range on Ohio State (the loss at Minnesota).

Strap in, this game really could be telling for what things might look like the rest of the way as the Buckeyes are hoping that the early-January swoon was just a blip on the radar and not a harbinger of things to come.

2 - What is it going to take?

We are just as upset as anyone about the recent snub of Randy Gradishar from the Pro Football Hall of Fame with its new "Centennial Class" and push to alleviate some of the backlog of "Senior Players" that just cannot seem to break through in terms of getting the votes for enshrinement in Canton (Ohio).

The former Ohio State linebacker who went on to have one of the most productive careers of his era in Denver made the short list once again for the HOF, only to not get the call and be left questioning when his time will come.

Gradishar would go on to start for three seasons with the Buckeyes from 1971 through 1973 under legendary head coach Woody Hayes. Hayes would go on to call Gradishar “the best linebacker I ever coached”.

Gradishar would finish 6th in Heisman voting in 1973, one of three Buckeyes to finish in the top-six that season (John Hicks would finish second and Archie Griffin would finish fifth). That season Gradishar would record 134 tackles, 60 of them solo.

Gradishar, a two-time All-American has a tree in Buckeye Grove and would go on to be drafted No. 14 overall by the Denver Broncos from 1974 through the 1983 seasons.

The former Ohio State star would be named All-Pro six times and would be named to the Pro Bowl seven times as well as being a seven-time All-AFC performer. He was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1978 as well.

"He was as good a linebacker as I have ever been around, and I have been around some great ones,” his former Bronco coach, Dan Reeves said of Gradishar. “He was a leader without question of our defense while I was with Denver. He was an exceptional football player. He never missed a game and was a dominant force on the field. The opposing team always had to take him into account when they devised their game plans.”

Over his 10-year career, Gradishar would record 2,049 tackles and intercept 20 passes.

Drew Pearson was another player who thought that he was going to get his call this year as well but the Pro Football Hall of Fame saw it differently.

Gradishar is already a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and also part of the Denver Broncos Ring of Honor. It is time now for Canton to make the call, he deserves it.

Who? I don't know.

Which position? Still don't know.

Ryan Day played coy when he talked about how full the Buckeyes were on the numbers but I just feel that there is too much going on right now for the Buckeyes to stand pat on their class as it is.

We still have some time to talk about this with NSD still a few weeks away, but I just have a feeling that the Buckeyes are not done yet.