Ohio State head coach Ryan Day hilariously cleared the air about his thoughts on his special teams group today at practice.
Ohio State head coach ended his first press conference of the week in pretty suspicious fashion when he was storming off the podium while being asked if he trusts the Buckeyes' special teams.
The result was an image that was a pretty bad look for the head coach, but one that was definitely totally an accident. He addressed it head-on during Wednesday's meeting with the media when he sat down and opened up the questioning with a laugh, saying, "Any hard-hitting questions? Like, if I trust the special teams and just for the record, I trust the special teams."
It was a very funny moment that honestly was one of the first times that Ryan Day showed a lot of positive emotion. He is typically very stoic, but it was really cool to see him break out laughing and crack a joke.
It is good to clear the air about that moment because in today's world of social media and out-of-context posts, it certainly took on a life of its own.
The problem is that it took a life of it's own for justified reasons.
The Buckeyes special teams has been, objectively speaking, below average at best.
Week one was an unmitigated disaster in the kick return game when freshman Legend Bey took two kicks out of the end zone that he had absolutely no business doing. Then, in week two, the play of the game was a missed 46-yard field goal by one of the newest Buckeyes, Connor Hawkins.
Hawkins came to Columbus with the hopes of being a savior for the Buckeyes' kicking game, but in his first opportunity, he came up way short, and it ended up costing the Buckeyes a win over Texas.
The reality of college football is that there is some parity in the sport, and the teams at the top are leveling out. Teams ranked No. 1 through No. 7 are pretty similar, and getting an edge, any way possible, is paramount.
Special teams is often where, as long as your team is neutral, you'll have a chance to win the game. If you are plus in special teams, you'll likely win, but if you are a minus in special teams, it's a direct path to a loss.
Ohio State simply has to get it cleaned up in the special teams game without any questions. They need to be better, and I believe they will.
Thankfully, their head coach still trusts them.
