Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes are excited to be in the College Football Playoff field of 4 after losing their regular-season finale and having to anxiously follow the Championship Week results to learn their fate.

The Buckeyes will head south to Atlanta to face No. 1 Georgia in the Bulldogs’ backyard. Day joined ESPN Sunday to share his initial thoughts on the matchup with Kirby Smart’s 13-0 squad.

“Life is all about opportunity,” Day told ESPN. “What an unbelievable opportunity this is, going down to Atlanta, playing the national champs. You know, Kirby’s done an unbelievable job again this year.

“This is all going to be about taking advantage of this opportunity, who works harder over the next month – the coaches, the players, just maximizing every day, practicing really well, preparing to play in this game. Because now, we’re back in control of our destiny. We weren’t, and that was the hardest thing going into this past weekend, but now, we’re back in control of our destiny.”

Though OSU did not have a Week 14 game, Day’s squad did have a couple of practices, which Day said were CFP-minded.

“We spent the last week focusing on the opportunity to play in the CFP,” Day said on ESPN. “If this opportunity was here, don’t be surprised on Sunday afternoon if your name’s up on that board. So we did that. We went in, we had 2 really good days of practice and then got after the film (of Michigan game). Certainly, as you guys know, it was the big plays, the explosive plays that hurt us.”

On the status of Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Day said, “We’ll probably have more of an update here in the next couple days.”