"They do a great job on offense": Ohio State HC Ryan Day offers honest review of Notre Dame ahead of the national championship game

Ryan Day has another shot at the national title following a dominant College Football Playoff run. The coach will lead his Ohio State team out on Monday night to play Notre Dame in the national championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

In his press conference session ahead of the highly anticipated encounter on Saturday, Ryan Day gave his honest review of Notre Dame. The Buckeyes coach was wary of what the Fighting Irish, on a 13-game winning streak, could do on offense.

“I think they do a great job on offense,” Day said. “Coach Denbrock has done a great job wherever he’s been. Riley Leonard is an excellent leader. Jeremiyah Love is one of the most talented backs we’ve gone against. And they have a very good offensive line. Evans is really good at tight end. They have multiple tight ends. Receivers are weapons."

“They’re going to challenge us in a lot of different areas. So we have to play Big Ten football. That’s what it’s going to look like. Every play matters when you play in a game like this, and certainly against this team, it’ll be the same way.”

Ohio State is entering the game as an 8.5-point favorite following its impressive outing in the playoffs so far. However, Notre Dame will fancy its chances of staging an upset.

Ryan Day on Ohio State’s history with Notre Dame

Ohio State and Notre Dame share some history in college football. The two teams have only met eight times, with the first coming in 1935. The Buckeyes lead the series with a 6-2 record, winning the last six encounters, and the Fighting Irish’s last win in the series came in 1936.

Despite the Buckeyes’ dominance in the recent editions of the series, Ryan Day says that won't influence anything in the national championship game. The coach believes his team must stay focused.

“I think when you go into games like this, there’s a lot of ways to look at it,” Day said. ”There’s a lot of stats we can look at. The truth is we’ve played these guys three years in a row — well, this will be our third time in three years.”

“So our guys know who these guys are and have a lot of respect for them and are excited to play in the game. This game has nothing to do with the past and what’s gone on. It’s all about what’s going to happen in this game, and that’s what we’ll focus on.”

Ryan Day has led Ohio State to the CFP four times in his six years in Columbus. However, he's never led them to national championship success. After falling to Alabama in the championship game in the 2020 season, he hopes to win it this time.