3 things from Ryan Day’s Week 6 presser

Each week at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day meets with the media ahead of the Buckeyes’ matchup that following weekend. Each week here at Land-Grant Holy Land, we will be bringing you three of the biggest storylines from said press conference.

These are three takeaways from Day’s Week 6 press conference recapping the game against Iowa and previewing the matchup against Maryland on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. ET.

1) “I don’t think I can sit here and say that we’ve improved with special teams right now”

The understatement of the century by Ryan Day in acknowledging that Ohio State’s special teams is an abject disaster. Not only has the unit not improved year over year, there have been virtually zero positives to take away from the special teams through five games this season.

Ohio State ranks 99th nationally in net punting, averaging a paltry 38.18 yards per punt. They are tied for 119th in FBS in kick return yardage, averaging a little over 15 yards per attempt on their three non-touchbacks. They are 116th in punt return yardage, averaging 4.62 yards over 13 returns. Connor Hawkins is 5-for-7 on field goal tries, but has missed the only high leverage kick he’s attempted and is 1-of-3 on tries of more than 40 yards.

Ohio State should not rank in the 100s nationally of any statistic, and that isn’t even taking into account their inability to do something as simple as getting lined up correctly, with the Buckeyes already being flagged for numerous procedural penalties this season on both punts and kicks.

This past offseason, Ohio State hired Robby Discher away from Illinois to serve as the full-time special teams coordinator, having previously utilized quality control coach Rob Keys in the role. Discher had coached with the Illini for three seasons, wherein Illinois ranked No. 16 and No. 30 nationally in ESPN’s special teams efficiency metric and produced All-Big Ten kickers and returns in all three years.

The result: zero improvement. How can this be?

This issue is not new to Ohio State under Day. Now in his eighth full season at the helm, the Buckeyes’ special teams unit has never been good at any point during his stint in Columbus.

Ohio State has watched numerous big games slip away due to poor special teams play, namely field goal kicking. The 2022 Peach Bowl vs. Georgia, the 2025 B1G title vs. Indiana and this year’s matchup against Texas all featured makable kicks that were missed and ultimately resulted in a loss, and yet Day has allowed the unit to continue to fester.

In an era where it seems like college kickers are better than ever, Ohio State has missed the boat, and the special teams issues for the Buckeyes extend far beyond just the field goals.

Whatever they are doing is obviously not working, and it has extended beyond multiple special teams coordinators and approaches. Whether they aren’t spending enough time on it in practice, the coaches aren’t up to par or the players aren’t understanding the direction, something has to change.

If the unit can’t find a way to improve, it will absolutely cost Ohio State another game in the near future. Whether it’s their inability to flip the field because of awful punting or their lack of a consistent kicking game, you can’t continue to give up the margins in the third phase of the game.

2) “If it’s one-on-one, he’s open”

Flipping over to a much more positive note, this full quote — obviously in reference to Jeremiah Smith — is one of my favorite in a long time from Day.

“If it’s one-on-one, he’s open. If he’s double-covered, he’s sort of open. If he’s triple-covered, he’s covered, so that means somebody’s got to be open somewhere else. I say that half-kidding.”

Day was mostly referencing the throw over the middle from Julian Sayin to Smith, where the star wide receiver appeared to be triple covered but still managed to make the catch over the defenders and then take it down the field for a 54-yard gain. While Smith made the catch, as he usually does, it was probably not the best decision to throw the ball in that spot, and Day doesn’t want his quarterback to continue taking that type of risk.

Sayin has been about as good as it gets this season, especially over the last few weeks. The second-year starter has already thrown for more than 1,500 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 72.5% of his passes, and his only interception came on a Hail Mary pass at the end of the Texas game.

The Buckeyes’ QB has been very risk averse, but Sayin does have a tendency to lock in on Smith here and there. While targeting the best player in college football is rarely a bad thing, it can lead to missing other wide open options down the field and poor throw decisions, like the one against Iowa despite the result being positive.

That said, Arthur Smith is going to continue to dial up plays for Smith early and often. The Heisman frontrunner leads the country in both receptions and receiving yards with 44 and 823, respectively, and he is tied with Oregon State’s electric freshman Jesse Legree with nine touchdowns.

Smith needs 238 more yards and four more touchdowns to become the Big Ten’s all-time leader in both categories, and it’s likely he will accomplish that in the next few weeks.

Ohio State has some issues this season; Smith is not one of them.

3) “Nobody just gets on the field because they have talent”

One of the underlying subplots of this 2026 season has been the snap counts — or lack thereof — for talented freshmen Legend Bey and Khary Wilder.

Bey has played a total of 14 snaps this season, 10 of which came against Ball State in the season opener. The speedy running back/receiver hybrid put up 74 total yards and a touchdown in that short time, including an incredible catch-and-run score, but has since played four total snaps and missed the last two games entirely.

Wilder has gotten a bit more run, playing 49 snaps in total this season, the bulk of which have come as a third down pass rusher up the middle. Ohio State has since gone away from that package as it has been susceptible to the run, and with it Wilder has seen the field less and less. He was completely absent last time out against Iowa.

To make matters more puzzling, both of these guys play at positions Ohio State isn’t exactly excelling at right now.

Day has repeatedly asked for more explosiveness from his running back room, and Bey is likely the most explosive non-Jeremiah Smith player on the entire offensive roster, yet he can’t seem to find his way onto the field.

Day has also voiced the need for more disruptiveness from the defensive line. Wilder, in less than 50 snaps this season, is second on the Buckeyes with seven QB hurries, but like Bey, cannot seem to earn consistent playing time.

It is exceedingly clear that both players are supremely talented, but it sounds like, for whatever reason, neither has been able to earn the trust of the coaching staff to this point. We don’t fully know what goes on behind closed doors and on the practice field, but it’s clear that on-field performance isn’t the biggest roadblock for Bey or Wilder right now.

Whatever the case, Ohio State could really use both of these guys on Saturday’s sooner than later.

It would be nice to get an extended look at Wilder at his natural position off the edge, especially given the lack of pass rush from the defensive line from everyone not named Kenyatta Jackson (at least prior to the Iowa game). It also couldn’t hurt to see if Bey can bring the home run play to the rushing attack that it has been sorely missing.