Ryan Day’s increasing role in the offensive game plan has led to a potent passing attack

The first question posed to Ohio State head coach Ryan Day during a pre-Cotton Bowl news conference on Jan. 3, two days after his team throttled top-seeded Oregon and two weeks after defeating Tennessee to open the College Football Playoff, surveyed the most notable offseason change in the program’s operation.

It had been nearly a year since Day agonized over the decision to hire an experienced offensive coordinator and hand over play-calling duties for the first time since joining the Buckeyes before the 2017 season, when Urban Meyer was still running the team. show. It was a choice that Day, considered one of the game’s brightest offensive minds, enacted despite obvious pangs of reluctance. He had earned a reputation as an astute designer of game plans, the kind of coach who loved to match wits with the opposition on Saturday afternoons. But Day understood that the rapid modernization of college football made it more difficult than ever for the head coach to invest as much time in the X’s and O’s during the actual season. There were always more recruiting pitches to be made, fundraising events to attend, and roster management discussions, all on top of supervising the entire coaching staff and every aspect of the team’s soccer game. Day knew his role had to change after failing to make the College Football Playoff in 2023, the same year rival Michigan captured a third straight Big Ten Championship trophy and national title.

In mid-January, about two weeks after a humiliating loss to Missouri in last year’s Cotton Bowl, Day pulled former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien from the rubble of the New England Patriots , where the Bill Belichick era had drawn to a close. The marriage lasted less than a month before O’Brien was named head coach of Boston College, at which point Day doubled down by luring Chip Kelly, his old friend and former boss, away from some difficult circumstances at UCLA. a school with limited resources. about to join Ohio State in the Big Ten. Kelly took over the offense so Day could broaden the lens through which he oversees the program. And that’s why Day’s response to the question about his CEO-style role ahead of Friday’s date with Texas was so fascinating.

“Well,” Day said on Zoom, “I actually think this time of year in the playoffs, I’ve had more time to be a part of football. During the season, a little less. But now that we’ve been in the playoffs “I was able to really step aside in terms of some of that other stuff, and really get more involved with football, which has been great.”

An increase in Day’s involvement in the Buckeyes’ game planning has coincided with an offensive eruption during the College Football Playoff, especially when juxtaposed with the team’s meager 10-point performance in a stunning home loss to Michigan on November 30. Ohio State exploded to 21-0 first-half leads over Tennessee and 34-0 over Oregon while averaging 486.5 yards of total offense and reaching the end zone once every 11.6 plays, including five touchdowns of 37 yards or longer. Those two wins marked the first time Day’s team topped 40 points in consecutive games against Power 4 opponents since mid-November 2022, and quarterback Will Howard became the program’s first signal-caller to top 300. air yards in consecutive outings from CJ. Stroud did it against Michigan in the regular season finale and against Georgia in the national semifinals that same year.

For many Ohio State fans, the 42-41 loss to eventual national champion Georgia in the Peach Bowl offered a window into Day’s passing offense at its peak. That night, the Buckeyes ran through a star-studded defense that had only allowed more than 22 points in a game once all season and would produce three first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. They racked up 467 yards of total offense. against the Bulldogs, including 348 yards and four touchdowns through the air from Stroud, as they built leads of 21-7, 38-24 and 41-35 before finally succumb at the last minute. Four wide receivers caught passes of at least 25 yards, including stars Emeka Egbuka (eight catches, 112 yards, 1 TD) and Marvin Harrison Jr. (five catches, 106 yards, 2 TD), who left the game with a concussion and not not return.

The fact that the Buckeyes employed similar levels of verticality in recent wins over Tennessee and Oregon highlights an area where Day’s influence is almost certainly at play, particularly when compared to data from the first 12 games in which Kelly , who is best known for his experience and creativity. in the run game, he was exerting greater control. Only 11.1% of Howard’s passes traveled at least 20 yards downfield during the regular season, according to Pro Football Focus, and he completed 21 of 38 attempts (55.3%) for 708 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. His deep shooting percentage increased to 17.2% against Tennessee and 15.4% against Oregon for a combined 271 yards and three touchdowns on 8-of-9 passing, with the lone incompletion resulting in a Volunteer interception when Ohio State already led by three scores.

“[Day] “He’s definitely been more involved in the game-planning process,” Howard said at a news conference over the weekend. Obviously, you eliminate some of the nonsense he has to deal with. [related to] the changing nature of college football [where] He’s more of a general manager in the offseason, and even at the beginning of the season, than a head coach. But I feel like now with the playoffs and with 10 days between each game, we can really refine our game plan, get in there and really find what we like, and I think that’s been very positive for us these last two weeks. . “I’m excited to see what we come up with this week.”

The pace at which Howard has incorporated deep passing during this year’s College Football Playoff is more in line with the numbers of previous Ohio State quarterbacks who ran the offense when Day was still calling plays. Kyle McCord in 2023 (13.6%), Stroud in 2022 (15.6%) and 2021 (14%), Justin Fields in 2020 (14.2%) and 2019 (21.9%), Dwayne Haskins in 2018 (13.5%) and JT Barrett in 2017 (15.5%) threw a higher percentage of passes that went at least 20 yards downfield than Howard in the regular season. And more than 20% of Stroud’s passes during Ohio State’s heartbreaking semifinal loss to Georgia two years ago were deep passes, with six completions in seven attempts for 160 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

It’s a stark contrast to the percentages seen during Kelly’s career as head coach at UCLA from 2018 to 2023, a period that included four years with dual-threat quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson running the offense. The 2021 campaign was the only season in which more than 10.7% of Thompson-Robinson’s throws traveled at least 20 yards downfield, although the Bruins ranked in the top 15 nationally in rushing three times during his career. None of the Buckeyes quarterbacks who had Day as their playcaller showed as much caution.

But none of Ohio State’s quarterbacks before Howard have had Jeremiah Smith at wide receiver either, and the coaching staff’s deployment of the rookie phenom during the College Football Playoffs carries additional signs of Day’s influence. The percentage of plays with Smith lined up in the slot jumped from 15.5% during the regular season to 28.6% against Tennessee and Oregon combined, two teams he torched for 13 receptions, 290 yards and four touchdowns. It’s a similar strategy to the one Day used with Harrison, his latest spectacular receiver, last season. Harrison recorded his highest snap count in the slot (27 of 70, 38.6%) when the Buckeyes needed him most during a critical game against Penn State. The similar treatment for Smith has caught the attention of the Texas secondary.

Cornerback Jahdae Barron said: “It’s going to be an unbelievable opportunity to go against him. That kid knows how to play. He can play. He’s a great player. He’s got great skill. He’s a deep threat. And they love to give him the ball.” , and they love creating opportunities to give him the ball.

Safety Andrew Mukuba said: “He can catch the ball. He has [a] Good capture radius. He can make a lot of crazy catches. Good speed. Good route runner. And the boy is very special. I’ve seen him in movies do some crazy things: run past people, jump on people, that kind of thing. “I can tell he put in the time and did what he was supposed to do, and it shows by how he’s playing with a lot of confidence.”

Safety Michael Taaffe said, “I don’t think you can compare anyone to Jeremiah. The whole country knows what kind of talent he has, what kind of football player he is. I think he’s only getting better.”

It’s a scary thought for the rest of college football, given that Smith is only a freshman, but it could be especially problematic for a Longhorns secondary that was torn apart by the passing attacks of every one of its playoff opponents. college football. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 26 of 43 passes for 336 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in the first round. Three Arizona State players combined to complete 26 of 48 passes for 296 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the Peach Bowl last week. Both productions were a far cry from the dominance that Texas’ defense displayed during the regular season, with defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s unit still entering the Cotton Bowl ranked third nationally against the pass (166.1 yards per game) and third place overall (277.7 yards per game). despite the recent leak.

They will now face an Ohio State passing game that is more potent and explosive than at any time this season. And Day is a big reason.

“It could be a vertical throw or it could be running between the tackles,” tight end Gee Scott Jr. said in a news conference over the weekend. “But the whole message remains the same. [and it’s] that we are going to be dominant. We will be the proactive ones. And we are going to strike the first blow.”

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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