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Th most interesting thing I heard after Ohio State’s win over UCLA came from Brandon Inniss.
The senior receiver was asked about how the Buckeyes have avoided any semblance of a letdown through 10 games this season.
“Yeah, I mean, Coach Day does a great job addressing our team and keeping us focused during the week. He always says, ‘No distractions,’ and those are just rules that we follow. Honestly, we know we’ve got to be locked in. We can't be a team that slips up.”
OK, that’s a little coach-speaky, but how about this response when someone asked if the message is different this year:
“Not necessarily different, but I would say Coach Day has a different look in his eye. I mean, a lot of people see it. I just feel like ever since that Team Up North loss last year, it's been a different coach Day.”
He concluded that by saying either, “And we all know it,” or, “We all love it.”
I can’t quite tell on the audio, but either one works.
This is a bit ephemeral, and I get nervous just writing about vibes, but it also is the same impression I’ve gotten since the beginning of the season.
Day does seem like a different guy since getting the national championship monkey off his back in January.
He’s got more gravitas, more control of the message and the moment. He just comes across like a man with a plan more than he did in the past when he was chasing greatness but perhaps guessing about what it really took to get there.
Maybe it’s perception, but perception is reality.
That a veteran player brought that up on his own is meaningful because those guys have great BS detectors.
Does it mean the results will be different next time Ohio State takes the field against Michigan? I don’t know. Sometimes it’s just a matter of how the ball bounces on a certain day, but I felt like that was worth sharing (after an ad I hope you’ll click so I can get a little cash).
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Here are a few more quick thoughts on the Buckeyes’ beatdown of the Bruins:
The running game looked really good
UCLA’s run defense stinks, but that is what you need to do to a squad like that.
Day said it seemed like the running backs were running downhill and being physical, and I agree.
Bo Jackson (15 carries for 122 yards), James Peoples (six carries for 42) and Isaiah West (eight carries for 61 yards) all had their moments, and the end result was 222 yards on 33 carries (that includes a sack of Julian Sayin).
The offensive line is far from perfect, but that is two weeks in a row the backs have looked better regardless of who is trying to bring them down. That’s a good sign.
The passing game looked.. mortal?
Julian Sayin completed 74% of his passes, and it felt kind of underwhelming. That is the type of standard he has already set.
UCLA blitzed a lot and seemed to speed him up a little, at least more than anyone else has this season.
The backup receivers going in place of Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith seemed to have a harder time getting separation (again, a high bar), and there were a few times they were out of sync with the quarterback. That is to be expected.
The defense looked like… itself
The Bruins offense isn’t good to begin with, so they had virtually no chance without starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who missed the game with a concussion.
Nonetheless, they had two first downs before Ohio State started subbing heavily late in the third quarter. It’s hard to do much better than that.
They were also impenetrable in short-yardage situations, which figures to be a key trait in a couple of weeks and beyond.
Special teams were special for once
This has been a sore spot for a few years, but the Buckeyes blocked a punt and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. They hadn’t done the latter since 2010, which seems insane but is true.
Jayden Fielding making both his field goal attempts is worth noting, too, as he had some issues late last season but looks pretty solid this year.
OK, that’s all for now because, well, it’s already almost 1 a.m. and I still have to drive back to Clark County.
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