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Day: December will be battle between who is ‘mentally tougher’

Ohio State is scheduled to play at Michigan St. on Dec. 5 and against Michigan on Dec. 12 in Columbus.
Ohio State is scheduled to play at Michigan St. on Dec. 5 and against Michigan on Dec. 12 in Columbus. (Scott Stuart)

The brisk air of an afternoon game in late October becomes bitter in November.

The Buckeyes won't have the luxury of continuing to guess what it feels like to play a regular-season game in December.

“In Big Ten country, that means cold weather," Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said Thursday during the Ryan Day Radio Show on 97.1 The Fan. "Even just the other day, it was rainy, cold, windy, and we practiced outside. That’s part of the understanding of starting a season towards the end of October, we’re going to have to play in that kind of weather this year.”

December football is nothing new to the Buckeyes, but regular-season college football in the year’s final month is different.

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Ohio State is currently scheduled to be on the road in East Lansing to play Michigan St. on Dec. 5. Spartan Stadium is an outside venue.

The Dec. 12 matchup with Michigan - the first time ‘The Game’ will be played later than Nov. 30 - will be a home game. Ohio Stadium is also an outside venue.

Day said Ohio State is “certainly going to have to order more things” to add to its current cold-weather inventory.

But Day emphasized a tool that cannot be ordered will be the difference in December.

“The biggest thing is you got to handle it better than your opponent,” Day said. “Are you tougher, mentally, than your opponent? That’s what it comes down to.”

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Ohio State has competed in conference championships and bowl games in December in recent years. Those games have typically been played indoors at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, or in warmer climates like Arizona, California, Louisiana and Texas.

In the NFL, December football is commonplace. Day has experience coaching with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, and several of his December contests have been in New England, New York and Chicago.

Day has seen how professional football teams handle the cold weather. He aims to take what he learned and apply it at Ohio State.

“When you look at some of the guys who have handled the weather over the years, you think about Aaron Rodgers and some of the guys in Green Bay, even [Tom] Brady up in New England," Day said. "They have science about what exactly they wear for the game to make sure they’re comfortable.

“We’ll make sure we have what they need.”

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Even though Ohio State may have to change it's approach to apparel for a December football game, Ryan Day said the mental approach will not be different.

“We play in cold games towards the end of November, so a couple more weeks at the end isn’t going to be a big deal.”

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