The season debut for the Ohio State Buckeyes in College Football couldn’t have gone any better, as they secured a home win over the Arch Manning-led Texas Longhorns. While the team as a whole delivered a well-rounded performance, Ryan Day highlighted one specific factor in the hard-fought victory.
While he could have highlighted the performance of his new starting QB, Julian Sayin, the successful head coach chose instead to direct his initial praise toward his coaching staff — specifically, Matt Patricia.
“Well, he did a great job,” Day said of Patricia to FOX’s Jenny Taft postgame. “Our staff did a great job. I thought the play coming in was excellent. They kept fighting. I can’t say enough about these guys for the first game coming out and playing like this.
“It’s just a start. We got a lot to improve on. But yeah, defense really did a great job all night. A lot of respect for Arch and for Sark and they’re gonna have a great season. But man, what a great win for us to start off with such a young group.”
Julian Sayin #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrates a 14-7 win.
Despite gaining 336 total yards, Texas struggled to capitalize, as Ohio State’s defense came up big—forcing several turnovers on downs and picking off Manning once. The Buckeyes held the Longhorns to just a single score.
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A strong debut for Sayin
Replacing Will Howard was never going to be an easy task — even less so after winning a National Championship. Despite that, Julian Sayin delivered a solid debut as the Buckeyes’ starting QB, something Ryan Day truly appreciated.
“I really like his composure,” Day said. “We probably could open it up later in the game, but his first start, we didn’t want to do that, so we won’t. But I think he could have handled it. This is a great start for him to win a game in his first star to beat the number one team in the country. Big time play over here. I thought he took care of the football and then, I mean, yeah, what a start for him.
“But, you know, just a gutsy win for our team. It’s a long season, so we got a long way to go. But I’m just proud of these guys. Gutsy win here to start.”
