Never a doubt. Ohio State football hosted Penn State on Saturday at The Shoe and you had a feeling that Ryan Day was going to be a bit motivated in this one. There's been plenty of talk about Jim Knowles making his return to Columbus and the Buckeyes offense provided him with a nightmare afternoon.
Jim Knowles gets flamed online after defensive performance vs. Ohio State
In the 38-14 win, Ohio State indeed looked sensational on both sides of the ball, especially on offense. Julian Sayin was superb throwing the ball, while Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith had several big-time catches, combining for three scores.
Right after the final whistle, Day was interviewed on the field by FOX and he provided some words that have the Ohio State faithful even more fired up about the win. You already know he was incredibly proud of his team for outscoring Penn State 21-0 in the second half.
Ohio State HC Ryan Day was fired up after the Buckeyes dismantled Penn State
"Going into halftime, those last five minutes were not really good," an honest Day said. "It put a bad taste in everybody's mouth at halftime. We talk about coming into halftime and you're either winning, losing or tied and then we have to move on. We were up by three going in and we had to come down and get a quick score there to start the second half and then we started playing complimentary football. I thought the energy was great in the second half."
You've just got to love that reaction from Day. Several times throughout this contest, the FOX cameras caught Day pretty animated on the sidelines and no one can blame him for that. Anytime Ohio State and Penn State go to battle, it's an intriguing showdown.
Just because James Franklin was fired and Terry Smith took over as the interim head coach didn't mean that this wasn't going to be a tough meeting for the Buckeyes. Yes, everyone thought this might be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game when the schedule came out, but Ohio State reminded people why they're the best team in the country and why the Nittany Lions are a mess, now losers of five straight.
In the win, Sayin tossed for 316 yards and four touchdowns. Tate had 124 yards and a TD, while Smith was right behind him with 123 yards and his two TDs. Ohio State put on a clinic in this one, with the offense being electric and Matt Patricia's defense deserving a ton of credit too. Day is over the moon right now and no one can blame him for that.