COLUMBUS, Ohio — If Ohio State tight end Mitch Rossi sees Ryan Day in his office, no matter how late in the week it is, he knows what his head coach is doing.
“It could be Friday afternoon and he’s still watching film for something every single day,” Rossi said. “He just wants to put us in the best position.”
Day knows Ohio State’s offense is in a good place, just coming off one of its better performances in terms of balance — recording 197 rushing yards with an average of 5.5 yards per carry with 333 passing yards — along with the dominant return of his rested quarterback.
Coming into Week 6, Day will lead onto the field the No. 1 offense in college football, averaging 556.2 yards per game and 8.58 yards per play — one of two teams in the country, along with Coastal Carolina, to average more than eight.
Day admits there may be some momentum, but there’s no satisfaction.
Now, the head coach knows, the offense has to go back on the field and do that again.
“It’s still a young team,” Day said. “We’re not all of a sudden out of the woods here. It’s still a work in progress. We got to bring it every week now.”
There are a few aspects of the offense that remain constant from week to week. For one thing, it starts with C.J. Stroud.
Coming off a resurgent return, completing 17-of-23 pass attempts for 330 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, Stroud continued to hear messages of toughness from his head coach, messages of consistency and steadiness, messages of growth.
Steadiness is something senior wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has seen from the first-string quarterback, even through the adversity Stroud has faced in his young collegiate career.
“I feel like he’s been handling it well and I feel like every week, he’s just building his confidence with us and with himself and just seeing the defense,” Smith-Njigba said. “He’s a great player, so much more in store for him.”
But Day also knows the success of the offense doesn’t sit solely on the throwing shoulder of its quarterback.
"The good thing for him is that he has good things around him,” Day said. “He's got really good pieces. If he just continues to stay in the offense, makes his plays and keep his poise, he's got a chance to be a good player."
It starts on an offensive line Day says runs six or seven deep, relying on a combination of versatility and unselfishness — with tackles Paris Johnson Jr. and Thayer Munford moving to guard for the season or Matthew Jones occupying the necessary spot as the sixth man.
“We have a really good group of guys this year. We have a very talented group of guys,” junior tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere said. “Everyone around me is probably some of the best players I have ever played with.
“We have a very strong bond as an offensive line unit and we have trust in each other. That trust has built up to where we are right now.”
But the way the rest of the game goes is up to the opposing defense.
It could be like the Tulsa game: dropping eight back into coverage and basically giving freshman TreVeyon Henderson and the rest of the Ohio State running game seven yards per rush.
It could be like the Rutgers game, where Stroud had enough time in the backfield to find receivers like Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and tight end Jeremy Ruckert in stride.
That’s why Day sits in his office watching film as late as Friday nights before a game Saturday. His job is to see how the offensive game plan fits each week with the same cast of characters.
As for Maryland, what's directly next, it’s a defense that has found success against the run game, allowing 119.4 yards per game — 3.4 yards per rush — but have allowed seven rushing touchdowns: tied for third most in the Big Ten. Pass defense is not much better for the Terrapins, allowing 226 yards per game, but with a 52.4% completion rate, second lowest in the Big Ten behind Purdue.
But to Day the overall goal remains the same no matter which defense Ohio State is facing. It’s balance, ending with someone celebrating in the end zone early and often.
And that’s a message the entire offense can buy into.
“We have to understand that as we go through the game... they are going to try and take X away. They can do that, it’s going to open up Y and Z,” Day said. “We’ll see how the game plan fits this week. And these guys are all highly competitive and high achievers. They want to make an impact. I get it. It’s why they are here. That’s why we love them.”
