COLUMBUS, Ohio – Monday morning was the first chance for head coach Ryan Day to talk to local reporters about the big news in terms of the coaching staff as Jeff Hafley was officially introduced as the head coach of the Boston College Eagles earlier this morning. But there was plenty more to this press conference than that as the Fiesta Bowl is less than two weeks away.

Day had just come back from a whirlwind trip that included both recruiting responsibilities and award circuit appearances. Day was actually MIA to one of those appearances with the other three College Football Playoff coaches earlier this week but eventually made it to Atlanta to support his players who were up for awards.

The Buckeyes, along with the other three teams who are still alive for the CFP Championship are having to compact a lot of stuff into a small window. It was not all that long ago where the BCS title game was 50-plus days away from the time Ohio State would play its last game.

That is not a problem now as Ohio State has a much smaller window, maybe too small if you ask some people to get ready for Clemson in what is shaping up to be the biggest game of the year on the college football calendar.

“It's the same for both teams,” Day said talking about both the Buckeyes and Tigers of Clemson both having this type of frantic schedule. “It's like anything else, like dealing with rain or something like that in a game. This is the situation, now we got to deal with it, maximize our situation better than our opponent. That's what it comes down to.”

Nobody said that it would be easy. There are 130 teams in Division I-A (FBS) and only four are left standing. That means there are 126 teams that wish they had these kinds of problems.

“You talk about getting worn down and running from day to day as hard as you can go, waking up early in the morning, going to bed late at night, flights, everything else. There's a lot that goes in into it,” Day added. “It is what it is. That's why we have a great team, a great team that can handle it, good maturity on the team. We are going to go in and have a great week of practice this week. We are going to let them go home, catch their breath, then meet out in Arizona.”

The Buckeyes will practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before letting players head home for a few days before meeting to travel to Arizona on the 22nd. Obviously that means that traditional Christmas day with the family is off the table and the Buckeyes will play just a few short days after the 25th.

This is not going to be that traditional bowl game where everyone is just happy to be there. While this game is viewed as a reward for a full season of hard work, going all the way back to just days after the 2019 Rose Bowl, but with everything on the line, look for there to be some extra measures in place to get the full focus of everyone involved.

“Their curfews are going to be a little earlier,” Day said. “We really shouldn't have to enforce those if we have the team we want. While they have to enjoy it, they will enjoy it, it doesn't mean they don't understand what's at stake. I think our guys will do a great job with that.”

The Buckeyes have exhibited that winning spirit for 13 games already including a gauntlet run that saw the Buckeyes face three-straight top-15 teams in consecutive weeks. There is little doubt that this team doesn’t have what it will take to be successful on this stage, even if it has been more than a few years since the Buckeyes have tasted victory in the playoff.

“Whatever it takes to win, you do,” Day said about the grind at this point, knowing that one of the four teams involved will hoist the trophy by mid-January. “Everybody has to be willing to do whatever it takes. Selfishness can't be in the way at this point. I mean, it has to be everybody onboard doing everything they can to win every play. You talk about every yard mattering, every first down mattering, every series mattering, that's going to be the case here.”

It is going to be a hard grind but if the Buckeyes are successful in their mission, it will be a legendary outcome as this team could really cement itself in the record books as one of the best to every play at Ohio State.

“All hands on deck,” Day said. “We got to be really efficient. We have to believe we can win the whole thing.”