Day laments that Alabama game wasn’t played ‘under different circumstances’

COLUMBUS, Ohio –– No college football team was operating under ideal circumstances during the 2020 season. Scratch that. No sports team period operated under an optimal set of conditions last year.

That wide net certainly encompasses Ohio State’s state of affairs headed into the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against Alabama this past January, and while head coach Ryan Day may not have been as willing to open up about exactly how handicapped he felt his team was at the time, he’s not shying away from it now.

“Some days leading up to that game, we weren't allowed to practice, because we had to meet virtually because we had an outbreak of COVID on the team,” Day said Friday. “Yet, we still were gonna play in the game against an opponent that really hadn't broke stride all year. Very, very difficult situation, and never made excuses. We were going to play in the game. I would love to play the game under different circumstances in a different moment.”

Whispers about a potential championship game postponement were widespread leading up to the Jan. 11 title game, so much so that Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith even issued a statement to say the game would be played on schedule.

That didn’t mean that COVID-19 issues weren’t affecting the team though.

The Buckeyes played the game without two starters in defensive tackle Tommy Togiai and defensive end Tyreke Smith, and the Scarlet and Gray was also without starting kicker Blake Haubeil and then-freshman running back Miyan Williams, who may have come in handy given Trey Sermon’s injury on the very first play of the game.

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Quarterback Justin Fields was also coming off of a rib injury suffered in the Buckeyes’ CFP semifinal win against Clemson, a game that Day said he still can’t believe Ohio State won looking back on it.

“I don't really know to this day how we got that done, because we weren't really prepared to play in the postseason, the way that we would like to normally,” Day said.

Alabama was not at full strength either, given that starting center Landon Dickerson missed the game with injury, and injured wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was still clearly not at 100 percent despite playing in the game. However, COVID-19 in particular did not have a comparable impact on the Crimson Tide roster.

According to Day, Ohio State had just one padded practice ahead of the national championship game, which of course did not go the Buckeyes’ way. The Crimson Tide crushed Ohio State 52-24 in the Buckeyes’ most lopsided postseason loss in four years, and the success of the Alabama offense called a number of factors into question in regards to Kerry Coombs’ defense.

Still, Day says making wholesale changes based on that loss would be “foolish" given all the aforementioned variables.

“I look at it the other way. I think guys need to be commended for what they did, because this is really, really hard,” Day said. “Unless you were really in it, you don't get it. And I'm not trying to be overdramatic, but it was real and we’ll be talking about this for 20 years down the road.”

Changes have been made though, if relatively minor from what we’ve seen so far in terms of coaching responsibilities and personnel. But it seems that with a few months of perspective, Day isn’t allowing the championship defeat to shake his confidence in the team’s best practices ahead of the 2021 slate.