Buckeye Bits: Ryan Day discusses Fields, Cavazos, Haubeil, more

Ohio State has a top-10 matchup this weekend against the Big Ten East division leader, yada yada yada. The thing that really matters right now is the Potato region in the Land-Grant Holy Stick to Sports podcast Chip Championship bracket.

Tia Johnston and I debated the region down to two finalists on today’s show, now it’s your turn to determine who advances to the Final Four. Vote in the Twitter poll bellow and have the rightful OG chip advance to the semifinals.

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From around Land-Grant Holy Land...

Column: An article designed exclusively to mess with SB Nation’s new article-reading robot

Me, LGHL

I have written a lot of stupid articles for Land-Grant Holy Land dot com in my four+ years here, but this is the only one that has literally made me laugh out loud to myself. Check it out, but prepare to lose brain cells.

Buckeyes offer 2022 Georgia receiver, current OSU commit gets big ratings boost

Caleb Houser, LGHL

With just a few weeks left until the early signing day for the 2021 class, it’s good to keep an eye on what’s coming in future classes as well. Good things cooking for the Buckeyes.

Stick to Sports podcast: Help us decide which potato chip is the best potato chip

Tia Johnston and me, LGHL

I love this podcast that Tia and I do every week. Not only did we debate down our Potato region in our 2020 Chip Championship (as mentioned above), but I also played a game to determine if she was, in fact, the vocal doppelgänger of one of my favorite soap stars. Oh yeah, and we talked a little bit about Ohio State football, I guess.

Players to Watch: Indiana

Gene Ross, LGHL

Good B1G fans should already know the names Michael Penix Jr. and Whop Philyor by now, but if you don’t know Ty Fryfogle, you should. Also, is there a better QB-WR trio of names in college football history? I think not.

Indiana-Ohio State headlines the Week 5 Big Ten slate

Brett Ludwiczak, LGHL

The line is still at OSU -20.5. BLeez isn’t taking it, but I am. Hammer that number and take the over!

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From the mouth of Ryan Day...

As with all Thursdays this season, earlier today, Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day did his radio show and then did a quick, rapid-fire interview session with the local media. So, I’m going to run through those highlights, before we take a spin around some of the other things percolating in the Ohio State blogosphere.

Day started talking about the news that friends and family will not be allowed in Ohio Stadium for games over the next 28 days in relation to Franklin County’s stay-at-home order.

Due to last week’s game against Maryland being canceled, Day said that while they would have preferred to play, giving guys some extra time to recuperate after the first three games was a silver lining.

“I think that was one of the more positive things, we’re fresh,” he said.

In terms of what the Buckeyes were preparing for when it comes to facing the No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, Day said that Penix Jr. is fearless, and that no matter how good the coverage is, he is going to throw the ball up and trust his talented receivers to go and get it.

On the other side of the ball, Day said that the IU defense brings a lot of pressure, which has led to a Big Ten-best 10 interceptions already this year.

Flipping over the OSU side of the game, Day did provide a bit of insight into the injuries at kicker:

In other injury news, Day noted that true-freshman cornerback Lejond Cavazos — who has yet to be available for a game this season — has been working to get healthy, and has looked good in practices recently. He also said that along with classmate Ryan Watts, it’s difficult to know where young players are at right now, because they haven’t had opportunities to have many late-game snaps through three games.

One guy who has had a lot of snaps this season is quarterback Justin Fields:

The head coach also said that while they would like to see running back Master Teague turn in some longer runs, he is a tough runner who gets important yards when the team needs them (more on that in a second).

Day also discussed the recently extended NCAA recruiting dead period, which will now be in place until mid-April. The coach said that he doesn’t believe that this will impact who does or doesn’t sign during the early signing period next month.

He still expects that most of the 2021 class will be signed, sealed, delivered in December. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Buckeyes add a couple of big names who might have been holding out to see if they could schedule officials after the first of the year.

LFG (which I assume stands for Large. Fast. Guys. Right?)

Hear me out. Maybe give the ball to Teague when the game is on the line and/or you need a first down. Let Sermon carry the ball only when it doesn’t really matter.

I stress eat from the end of one game on Saturday until the availability report is released the following Friday. Your plan seems more healthy, coach.

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What else ya got?...

Remember that article I mentioned above where I trolled SB Nation’s new article-reading bot? Here’s a clip of the AI “rapping” a little bit of “Hamilton”:

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After some unexpected start and stops, I am back to posting a column every single day from preseason camp until whenever Ohio State’s football season ends. Some days they will be longer and in depth, some days they will be short and sweet. Let me know what you think of this one, and what you’d like to see me discuss in the comments or on Twitter. Go Bucks!