COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio State football coach Ryan Day held a news conference Tuesday. You can watch his comments in the video player above.
OSU’s next opponent is Tulsa at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Ohio Stadium.
The Buckeyes are coming off a 35-28 loss to Oregon that sent them down seven spots in the Associated Press Top 25 to No. 9.
The Buckeyes struggled throughout the game on defense, specifically against protecting the edge when Oregon ran it and guarding the middle of the field against the pass.
“It’s not just a single game, it’s a pattern,” Ryan Day on Ohio State’s defense giving up too many points and too many yards. “We’re going to make some adjustments and changes. We have to.”
Ohio State gave up more than 500 yards to the Ducks including more than 250 yards on the ground while recording no sacks and only one tackle for a loss. The Buckeyes also struggled against the run versus Minnesota and their flaws against Alabama in last year’s national championship game are well documented.
“When you look at the results over the last couple games and coming off last year, it’s not the result we want here,” Day said.
Day did not say whether second-year defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs will call the plays this week but did say he is still the Buckeyes defensive coordinator.
The defense also took a hit by losing starting free safety Josh Proctor for the season after he fractured his leg in the loss to Oregon.
The Buckeyes loss to Oregon is the first regular season loss under Day who had previously only lost to Clemson and Alabama in the College Football Playoffs.
“You find out about their true character. It’s one thing when things are going well,” Day said. “When something goes bad you find out who people are . . . what [the loss] really does is allow you to address issues that are already there.”
One of the bright spots in OSU’s loss was the play of redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud who threw for three touchdowns and nearly 600 yards to earn Big Ten freshman of the week honors for a second week in a row.
“I thought he made some throws I haven’t seen a young player make in some time. He’s not the issue,” Day said.
One issue was Ohio State’s rushing attack, which only had 128 yards on the ground against the Ducks. Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson split carries nearly equally with Williams taking 14 and Henderson taking 12, but senior Master Teague did not record a single rush.