What Ryan Day said about Ohio State’s hope to have more players back for Clemson game
Ohio State football coach Ryan Day said Sunday he hopes his team is close to full strength for its playoff matchup with Clemson.
The Buckeyes and Tigers will meet in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
The Buckeyes were missing 22 players — including leading receiver Chris Olave and two coaches Saturday in the Big Ten Championship game against Northwestern — many out because of COVID-19 protocols. A change in Big Ten policy might allow the Buckeyes get players back sooner.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg said players who test positive for COVID will now be required by the Big Ten to miss 17 days, a reduction from 21. The players will still have to go through extensive cardiatic testing and must receive clearance from team physicians before they can return to competition “any earlier than the 17th calendar day after the sample was taken.”
The policy will affect all sports in the Big Ten and not just football.
“Hopefully these guys will be symptom-free and then in about 10 days can clear the cardiac protocol and get back to work,” Day said on ESPN’s College Playoff Show. “It would be a good amount of them (back), and there will be some that will be really close based on the number that we are talking about.”
The Buckeyes will be making their second-straight playoff appearance. It will be the fourth postseason meeting against Clemson in the last eight years. The Tigers defeated Ohio State 29-23 in the semifinals and are 4-0 all-time against the Buckeyes.
“We are going to have to play our best game of the season and I don’t think we have played it yet,” Day said. “The margin for error is tiny when you play a team like Clemson, and we are going to learn from last year. ... We have to do a great job in all three phases, and in the red zone. If we do those things, it will give us our best chance.”
Getting to the playoffs and just having a season have been challenges for the Buckeyes. The Big Ten said it wasn’t going to play any games this season because of COVID-19 before reversing its course and agreeing to a six-game regular season. Ohio State only played five regular-season games and then the Big Ten championship.
Many college football analysts and coaches, including Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly, were recently critical of the Buckeyes being considered for the playoffs because of the shorter schedule.
“I totally respect everybody’s situation because everyone’s gone through different things this year. Everyone’s gone through different challenges,” Day said. “I just focus on this team because I know how special these guys are and everything they’ve overcome. We started our season on Oct. 23 ... and the virus spiked and we had three games canceled. They just kept showing up every day.
“This team has learned more life lessons than any team I’ve ever been around in my entire coaching career. And that’s really why I got into coaching. This has an opportunity to be one of the best stories in the history of college football. ... That’s why you play the game. I have so much respect for so many teams and so many young men who have been through so much and worked through adversity this season.”
