Ohio State Buckeyes: Day wants team to show fight against Akron

“Our culture is built around one term, and I’m going to talk to the team today about that,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said, adding that he is always more focused on his team than the opponent. “It’s about fight. Fight to be the best version of yourself. This week that has to be the focus — nothing else. Simply be the best version of you and the best version of this team we can be. If we do that, we take the next step forward. It’s a fight. It’s not easy. You have to prepare at the highest level you can prepare at and go put it on the field again.”

Here are four things to know about the game:

1. A new quarterback is expected to get the start for the Buckeyes.

First-year starter C.J. Stroud (shoulder soreness) is expected to be used only on an emergency basis, clearing the way for Kyle McCord or Jack Miller III (or both) to see their first action of the season.

While Day has repeatedly expressed confidence in Stroud, he has not anointed him the permanent starter, and the coach did not rule out what happens Saturday night having an impact on who is The Man at the position as the season continues.

“This is a long season,” Day said. “You don’t know what’s coming next. All I knew for sure was that in the first week, we’d have a starter named for Minnesota, and then the season is going to go from there. So here we are. I think it’s a great opportunity to get reps, and it’ll be a great evaluation moving forward. Let’s just get through today and see where this goes.”

2. Ohio State has numerous other positions that also seem unsettled.

The list of champions from last week’s win over Tulsa was more notable for the names that were absent than those who made it.

Junior receiver Garrett Wilson was the only returning starter on offense, and Wilson and reserve offensive lineman Matt Jones and starting “Bullet” Ronnie Hickman were the only scholarship players from the recruiting class of 2018 or ‘19 to grade out as champions.

They were joined by sophomore receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, true freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson, senior reserve tight end Mitch Rossi (a walk-on), redshirt freshman nickel back Cameron Martinez and true freshman reserve defensive lineman Tyleik Williams.

That means all the traditional linebackers and starting DBs, all the starting offensive linemen and a big group of veteran defensive linemen fell short of the staff’s expectations.

On special teams, the honorees were running back/receiver Xavier Johnson and linebacker Cade Kacherski, both veteran walk-ons.

“My grading system’s really tough,” said defensive line coach Larry Johnson, the only assistant made available to the media this week. “To make a champion, you gotta meet all the standards, and it’s more than just playing. It’s just technique and everything involved in the game is more important to me than just guys making plays. Making plays is really cool, and I think that’s what we should do production-wise, but also there’s technique things that have to be improved on.

“Tyleik played really well for a guy that played 22 plays. There were some guys close to being champion. I just felt that I needed to see more.”

3. The pass rush is one of the areas that could show more.

With many new faces in the back seven, the defensive front was supposed to be a reliable force for the Buckeyes in 2021. That has not been the case so far.

Akron might not provide the best barometer, but getting after the Zips quarterbacks could be a good first step in raising the Buckeyes’ national ranking of 98th in sacks. (OSU is tied for 119th in tackles for loss.)

“I don’t sleep well when we can’t get pressure on the quarterback because that’s what we gotta do,” Johnson said. “If we do that, we’ll change the game. We’ll change the game immediately, and that’s what we’re doing going forward — look to find ways to get to the quarterback. That means changing personnel, putting the right guys on the field to get it done, but the bottom line is we gotta get it done, and it starts with me.”

4. Another game offers another opportunity for Day to get a better idea what his team is this year.

Expectations are always high at Ohio State — especially coming off a year in which the Buckeyes made the national championship game — but some involve more challenges than others because of changing personnel.

Quarterback is the most notable example, but Ohio State also has had a revolving door at linebacker, inconsistency on the defensive line and in the secondary. The offensive line has three returning starters but no one playing the same position he played last year, and freshmen have started all three games at running back.

“I didn’t know what this year would bring, and now here we are with a whole new journey,” Day said. “This is brand new for us to have such a young and inexperienced team. It is still early on. We’re going to be steadfast in getting the experience we need but also in forging an identity as a team.

“What identity do we want to have with this group right here? I’m hopeful we can keep working and as we look back here in a few weeks we can see a lot of growth and that we did a good job of coaching, building guys up and teaching and we stuck together. These first few weeks have not been ideal – but that’s life, too.”