Ahead of Saturday’s prime-time showdown at Purdue, Ohio State faces its latest challenge in Big Ten play as the No. 2 Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0) try to outpace the Boilermakers (3-3, 2-1) with each team’s firepower ranking among the top-10 total offenses in college football.
With struggles on both sides of the ball for OSU, between problems on offense and injuries on defense, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ryan Day and defensive coordinator Greg Schiano prepare the respective units accordingly before the 7:30 p.m. ET start on ABC.
Ryan Day
On the play of the offensive line given some struggles in recent weeks…
“The line’s doing great. Again, it’s the whole package — protection, running the ball and everything like that. So, obviously, week to week, we’re always looking to make (improvement), enhancing the things that we’re doing well and fixing the things that we don’t feel like we’re doing a great job of. So we do that every week. Overall, I think they’re solid.”
On the development of the upperclassmen at wide receiver…
“These are guys that have put a lot of work into the program. There’s a lot of depth and camaraderie there. I think that goes without saying, the three captains (fifth-year seniors Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Johnnie Dixon). So there’s a ton of leadership, but they’ve really been given the opportunity to go make some plays this year and they’ve capitalized on it. Again, nothing’s perfect. We’re still working on it and still got a long way to go here midway through this thing, but proud of the way they’ve gone so far. But excited about what to see the rest of the season, too.”
On the lack of production rushing while passing is putting up numbers…
“It’s a good problem to have when you’re putting up that type of production (with per-game averages of 556.9 total yards and 46.3 points), and you still don’t feel like you’ve maxed out yet. I think that’s a good thing, though, because we’re still hungry. We’re still trying to figure out how we can maximize everybody on the field. Yet, when you look at it, I think, statistically, we’re still ranked pretty high in a lot of categories and I think one of the more explosive offenses in all of college football right now. So that’s a good thing, but we’re still hungry to get better.”
Greg Schiano
On the status of junior cornerback Damon Arnette…
“I’m not sure. I’m not sure what his status is going to be. He’s kind of up in the air. It would be big (if Arnette is unavailable at Purdue). We’re getting thinned out a little bit back there and we weren’t overly experienced to start with. They are going to throw the ball, that’s for sure, and that thing’s going to go in the air.”
On the decision of junior defensive end Nick Bosa…
“There’s decisions that are made. Everyone has to make decisions that are the best decisions for them. I don’t think that it’s anything new. We’ve seen it happen in the last few years. It won’t be the last time you see it happen, but Nick — I love him. I love coaching him. Fantastic player, one of the best I’ve ever coached. He’s going to heal up and he’s going to be a great player at the next level.”
On the obstacles of Purdue’s passing offense…
“They challenge you in many ways. Schematically, they use a ton of different personnel groups. Schematically, they also use a ton of different formations. They do a lot of trick plays. They make you dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ that’s the kind of out that they are, so we’re going to have to be at our very best Saturday night.”
