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Ryan Day says Jim Knowles has compiled ‘excellent’ plan for facing Tennessee’s offense
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Ryan Day has almost arrived at his moment of retribution.
The Ohio State head coach took it on the chin, on the field and in the court of public opinion, on Nov. 30 when the Buckeyes fell at home to a 6-5 Michigan team and lost their spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. Fortunately for Day and Ohio State, that loss didn’t cost them a College Football Playoff berth.
And that Playoff opportunity comes this Saturday night at The Horseshoe, where the Buckeyes will host Tennessee in a first-round game with a shot to get to the quarterfinals. On Monday, Day spoke about his defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles, who has been tasked with getting the defense ready to defend quarterback Nico Iamaleava and the Volunteers offense. Day is confident Knowles has his unit prepared for the primetime showdown that kicks off shortly after 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
“(Ohio State offensive coordinator) Chip (Kelly) was one of the first to ever do this, and I was his QB. We were laughing about this the other day, and it’s kind of gone full circle,” explained Day. “The idea of their offense, first off, they’re very well-coached and they have a very good plan at what they do. And they play physically and run the ball up inside. But when you’re going no-huddle, the first thing they want to do is to not let you get aligned and they want you to not communicate very well. They want to stretch you horizontally, stretch you vertically … (get you to) play undisciplined.”
Knowles had the benefit of extra time to prepare for the Volunteers offense after the Playoff matchups were set on Dec. 8, and that has benefitted the Buckeyes.
“We know what that style is, we know that philosophy, but it doesn’t make it easy … We’ve had a couple of weeks to prepare for this, I think the preparation has been good, I think Jim’s plan is excellent,” said Day. “Ultimately, it’s still going to come down to taking on blocks, defeating blocks and tackling in space.”
RELATED: Be sure to track all the odds on the Vols as they embark on their Playoff run with SDS’s betting apps for Tennessee.
The winner of the Tennessee-Ohio State matchup gets a quarterfinal meeting with top-seeded Oregon on New Year’s Day.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
