Ryan Day knows what Ohio State needs to improve, and he’s challenging his players and coaches to fix it

Each week at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day meets with the media ahead of the Buckeyes’ matchup that following weekend. Each week here at Land-Grant Holy Land, we will be bringing you three of the biggest storylines from said press conference.

These are three takeaways from Day’s Week 4 press conference recapping the win over Kent State and previewing the Big Ten opener against Illinois…

One of the biggest points of contention coming out of Ohio State’s 59-3 victory over Kent State was the team’s performance on third down and in the red zone, and Day mentioned as much in his presser.

The Buckeyes went just 1-of-8 on third down overall against the Golden Flashes, with the starting offense failing to convert a single time. Ohio State did score on six of seven (hand gesture) trips in the red zone, but also very notably failed to score on a drive that began inside the Kent State 15-yard line following an interception.

Offensive shortcomings on third-and-short and in the red zone have become a staple of Day’s offenses, regardless of who is at the helm of the offensive coordinator position. It is clear that the head coach has a philosophy he is trying to achieve in these scenarios that simply isn’t working.

In both areas, the Buckeyes’ answer has been to go heavy. Ohio State deploys multiple tight ends and often times tries to win with the power rushing attack. The problem, especially this season, is that the running back room is not well suited for that style of offense, and the tight end group isn’t very good.

Keenan Bailey is severely underqualified for his role as tight ends coach, and the staff continues to force Nate Roberts into a sort of fullback role that he is incapable of playing. Roberts routinely whiffs on his blocks, as do most other guys in the room, and the play falls flat — even against a team like Kent State that should have a severe talent disadvantage in the trenches.

It makes no sense for Ohio State to continue to bang its head against the wall by electing to put success on the shoulders of its weakest position groups. The Buckeyes are taking their best players (the wide receivers) off the field and giving the opposition a massive break.

It has been multiple seasons of this now, and there still seems to be no willingness from the offensive braintrust, or lack thereof, to make a change. Until we see the end of the 12 and 13 personnel groupings, the third down and red zone struggles will continue.

Speaking of the rushing attack, Day was very candid in his analysis of the running back room thus far.

Ohio State ran for 151 yards on 37 carries against Kent State, adjusting for sack yardage. That’s a 4.08 yard-per-carry average, which would be a respectable mark if the Buckeyes weren’t playing against a massively overmatched MAC squad.

Day said he was disappointed in the running backs’ ability to make defenders miss at the second level on Saturday. Ohio State’s longest run of the day was just 17 yards, and only four of the 37 attempts went for at least 10 yards. It was a microcosm of the room’s overall lack of explosiveness thus far this season.

The head coach specifically called out Bo Jackson, saying that Florida transfer Ja’Kobi Jackson ran harder than the second-year back against Kent State. He wants to challenge the position group as a whole moving forward.

“Challenge is out to really run angry and run physical in this game,” Day said. “How they practice is gonna determine how we play them. That’s the bottom line.”

Through the first three weeks of the season, Ja’Kobi Jackson, who was thought of as more of a depth piece when he joined Ohio State in the transfer portal, has outplayed the incumbent Bo Jackson. Ja’Kobi has averaged 7.9 yards per carry on 21 touches with four touchdowns, while Bo is averaging 5.9 yards per carry with two touchdowns on 39 carries.

After rushing for more than 1,000 yards as a freshman, Bo Jackson hasn’t quite looked like the same guy to start 2026, and it sounds like Day is putting him on notice.

On a positive note, Ohio State does seem to have a core group of guys on defense that it can begin to build around. Three of those defenders, whom Day mentioned by name, are all new additions to the roster.

One of the biggest bright spots of the young season has been freshman corner, Jay Timmons. The former five-star prospect earned a starting role out of camp and has run with it, currently leading the team in pass breakups. Day specifically lauded Timmons’ competitiveness as a major reason why he has been able to start at Ohio State right away and do so effectively.

Earl Little Jr. has been another solid addition by way of the transfer portal, coming in from Florida State this past offseason. After leading the Seminoles with 76 tackles a year ago, almost 30 more than the next-highest player, Little Jr. leads the Buckeyes in tackles through three weeks with 17. The safety isn’t flashy, but is very consistent and does a lot of the little things well.

Then there is Christian Alliegro. Transferring in from Wisconsin this past offseason, Alliegro is technically a linebacker, but Ohio State should look to give him more reps rushing the passer as that is his biggest area of expertise.

It is good that the head coach is recognizing some of his impactful new additions, but the Buckeyes could be doing a better job of recognizing talent elsewhere.

Riley Pettijohn and TJ Alford simply must start at linebacker. Alford (90.4) and Pettijohn (90.0) are Ohio State’s highest-graded defenders overall through three weeks of action, while current starter Payton Pierce (70.0) is coming off a team-low 55.1 defensive grade against Kent State.

If the Buckeyes want to maximize their roster, starting Alford and Pettijohn at the two linebacker spots and moving Alliegro down as more of a stand-up defensive end would create a much more formidable front seven than their configuration over the first few weeks.

Larry Johnson should also look to get significantly more usage out of freshman Khary Wilder, who has been far and away the team’s most disruptive defensive lineman in very limited action. Despite playing only 33 total snaps over the first three games, Wilder has generated three QB hurries. Wilder was also the team’s second-highest-graded pass rusher against Kent State, behind only Jamir Perez — who should also be seeing more snaps.

There are a lot of talented pieces on this Ohio State defense. The hardest part for this coaching staff, for whatever reason, is putting the clear best players on the field. The Buckeyes cannot be afraid to hurt the feelings of their veteran players if the young guys behind them are objectively better.