"We cannot have that in this game": Ryan Day discloses the flaws Ohio State must fix ahead of the national title game

Ryan Day led Ohio State to a 28-14 victory over Texas in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The win secured a place for the Buckeyes in the national championship game of the first edition of the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Despite sealing a crucial win against the Longhorns, Day remains focused on improving certain areas of the game as Ohio State (13-2) prepares to play Notre Dame (14-1) on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.

“There's nobody that came back on offense and was pleased with the fact that we had those penalties,” Day said Sunday, according to ESPN. “The issues are there.

“We certainly have the right and opportunity to persevere through those penalties, but certainly sets us way behind the sticks, and we cannot have that in this game. Efficiency is going to be something that we've got to do a much better job of if we're going to win it.”

Ohio State's offense was more clinical in its first two CFP games against Tennessee (a 42-17 win) and Oregon (a 42-21 win). However, it faced some challenges against the strong defense of Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

Ryan Day wants a better performance against Notre Dame

Ohio State has undoubtedly been the best team in the CFP. Despite entering the College Football Playoff amid a lot of uncertainties, the team produced astonishing performances that got them big victories against powerhouses like Tennessee, Oregon and Texas.

The Buckeyes will face another strong team when they play the Fighting Irish in the national championship game. While Ryan Day isn't impressed with the team's performance against Texas in the semifinal, he is hoping for a much better outing while playing for the title.

“To me, the story of this past game was the self-inflicted wounds that set us back and allowed us to be in the game in the fourth quarter, when we could have done a better job executing and made it a little bit of a bigger spread down the stretch,” Day added. “That's going to be the focus this week. We've got to play our best game against Notre Dame.”

Ryan Day is hoping to lead Ohio State to its first national championship since 2014. That came under the leadership of Urban Meyer in the first four-team CFP. It will be an amazing story if the Buckeyes go on to also win the first title in the 12-team playoff format.