Ohio State football Head Coach Ryan Day walks into Skull Session at St. John’s Arena before the game against Minnesota Oct. 3. Credit: Sandra Fu | Managing Photo Editor
The Buckeyes will take on their second ranked opponent of the season Saturday when they face No. 17 Illinois. The Fighting Illini stand in the way of Ohio State from advancing to 6-0 for the third time in four seasons.
The Buckeyes, however, have lost two of their last three games against ranked Big Ten opponents on the road: 32-31 to No. 3 Oregon, on Oct. 12, 2024, and 30-24 to No. 3 Michigan on Nov. 25, 2023.
Ohio State is on a nine-game win streak against the Fighting Illini, but Saturday’s contest will mark the first time head coach Ryan Day has faced Illinois in seven seasons as the Buckeyes’ head coach. Ohio State defeated Illinois 52-14 on Nov. 18, 2017 in their last meeting.
“Every single team we play, including this team, who is a very good team, can knock you off if you’re not on your game,” Day said. “This has to be the best game we’ve played all season.”
Here are the takeaways from Day’s Tuesday press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Growth of Julian Sayin
Through the first five starts of Sayin’s career, the redshirt freshman leads the country in completion percentage at 80.3%.
Sayin connected with wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate for a combined 898 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“His accuracy and how quickly the ball comes out is certainly something I think we all can recognize is pretty special,” Day said.
Day added that Sayin’s growth as a leader has allowed him to have a greater command of the offense.
“You’re seeing him grow each week,” Day said. “I think you’re seeing his teammates believe in him more and more.”
Evaluating Illinois
Led by quarterback Luke Altmyer, Illinois has three Power Four wins this season: 45-19 over Duke on Sept. 6, 34-32 over USC on Sept. 27 and 43-27 against Purdue on Oct. 4.
The Fighting Illini’s lone loss was a 63-10 shellacking by No. 7 Indiana on Sept. 20.
Day called Illinois’ game against the Hoosiers an outlier and said the Buckeyes are preparing for how they played in other games this season.
Since their loss, the Fighting Illini have won two straight with a victory against then-No. 21 USC, 34-32 and Purdue 43-27.
“We all know that going through a tough loss can bring a bunch of people together,” Day said. “I think they’ve done that.”
Weekly approach
The No. 1 Buckeyes have sat atop the rankings for six weeks straight, but Day is blocking out the noise.
“Every time I hear somebody say, ‘You guys are doing great’ or anything like that, I feel like we’re getting set up,” Day said.
Day added that the team needs to focus on improvement each week to reach its full potential.
“The team we were last week is not going to be good enough,” Day said. “We’ve got to be better in a lot of areas.”
