Ryan Day’s increased role in offensive game plan has led to potent passing attack

Michael Cohen

College Football and College Basketball Writer

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 it shellacked Tennessee to open the College Football Playoff, probed the most high-profile offseason change to the program’s operation.

Nearly a year had passed since Day agonized over the decision to hire an experienced offensive coordinator and cede play-calling duties for the first time since joining the Buckeyes prior to the 2017 campaign, when Urban Meyer was still running the show. It was a choice that Day, who is regarded as one of the keenest offensive minds in the sport, enacted despite obvious pangs of reluctance. He’d built his reputation as a shrewd designer of game plans, the kind of coach who loved matching wits with the opposition on Saturday afternoons. But Day understood that the rapid modernization of college football made it harder than ever for the head coach to invest so 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 to be had — all in addition to overseeing the entire coaching staff and every football-playing aspect of the team. Day knew his role needed to change after failing to reach the College Football Playoff in 2023, the same year that saw rival Michigan secure both a third consecutive Big Ten Championship trophy and the national title.

By mid-January, approximately two weeks after a humbling loss to Missouri in last year’s Cotton Bowl, Day plucked 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 at Boston College, at which point Day doubled down by luring Chip Kelly, his longtime friend and former boss, away from some difficult circumstances at UCLA, a resource-challenged school about to join Ohio State in the Big Ten. Kelly assumed control of the offense so that Day could widen 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.

Ohio State Buckeyes

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Texas Longhorns

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

An uptick in Day’s involvement with 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 showing in a stunning home loss to Michigan on Nov. 30. Ohio State exploded for first-half leads of 21-0 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 victories marked the first time Day’s team exceeded 40 points in consecutive games against Power 4 opponents since mid-November 2022, with quarterback Will Howard becoming the program’s first signal-caller to surpass 300 passing yards in back-to-back outings since C.J. Stroud did so against Michigan in the regular-season finale and 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 aerially inclined offense at its peak. That night, the Buckeyes tore through a star-studded defense that had only surrendered 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 scores through the air from Stroud, while building leads of 21-7, 38-24 and 41-35 before ultimately succumbing in the final 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 TDs), who left the game with a concussion and did not return.

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 known more for his expertise and creativity in the running game, 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 percentage of deep throws increased to 17.2% against Tennessee and 15.4% against Oregon with combined production of 271 yards and three touchdowns on 8-for-9 passing, with the lone incompletion resulting in an interception by the Volunteers when Ohio State already led by three scores.

“[Day] has definitely been more involved in the game-planning process,” Howard said in a news conference over the weekend. Obviously, you take out some of the BS that 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 in the early season, than being a head coach. But I feel like now with the playoffs and having 10 days between each game, we’re really able to refine our game plan, get in there and really find what we like, and I think it’s been really positive for us these last two weeks. I’m excited to see what we draw up this week.”

The rate at which Howard has incorporated deep passes during this year’s College Football Playoff is more aligned 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%) all threw a greater percentage of passes that traveled at least 20 yards downfield than Howard did 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 balls, with six completions on seven attempts for 160 yards, three scores and no interceptions.

It’s a stark contrast from the percentages seen during Kelly’s run as head coach at UCLA from 2018-23, a stretch that included four years with dual-threat quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson running the offense. The 2021 campaign was the only season when more than 10.7% of Thompson-Robinson’s throws traveled at least 20 yards downfield, though the Bruins did rank among the top 15 nationally in rushing three times during his career. None of the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks who had Day as their playcaller ever exhibited such cautiousness.

But none of Ohio State’s quarterbacks prior to Howard have had Jeremiah Smith at wide receiver, either, and the coaching staff’s deployment of the freshman phenom throughout the College Football Playoff carries additional signs of Day’s influence. The percentage of snaps 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 catches, 290 yards and four touchdowns. It’s a similar strategy to the one Day used with Harrison, his last eye-popping wideout, last season. Harrison logged his highest snap count in the slot (27 out 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 eye of Texas’ secondary.

Said cornerback Jahdae Barron: “That’s going to be an amazing opportunity to go against him. That kid can ball. He can ball. He’s a big baller. Strong, strong ability. He’s a deep threat. And they love to get him the ball, and they love to create opportunities to get him the ball.”

Said safety Andrew Mukuba: “He can catch the ball. He’s got [a] good catch radius. He can make a lot of crazy catches. Good speed. Good route runner. And the kid is very special. I’ve seen him on film do some crazy things — run past people, jump over people, those sorts of things. I can tell he put in the time and he’s done what he’s supposed to do, and you can tell by how he’s playing with a lot of confidence.”

Said safety Michael Taaffe: “I don’t think you can compare anybody to Jeremiah. The whole country knows what type of talent he has, what type 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 shredded by the passing attacks from each of its opponents in the College Football Playoff. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 26 of 43 passes for 336 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in the opening round. Three Arizona State players combined to complete 26 of 48 passes for 296 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the Peach Bowl last week. Both outputs were a far cry from the dominance Texas’ defense displayed throughout 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 overall (277.7 yards per game) despite the recent leakage.

Now they’ll face an Ohio State passing game that’s more potent, and more explosive, than at any point this season. And Day is a big reason why.

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

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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