Buckeyes Talk With Media Following Wednesday's Practice
9/2/2026 8:32:00 PM | Football
On the team handling the football:
When the ball’s in your hands, you literally have the hopes and dreams of the entire Buckeye Nation in your hands. Let your national instincts take over. The rest of it will just happen.”
On figuring out the team early in the season:
“You know, it looks the way it showed on the field. The scheme has been solid. I think, you know, we have the right stuff. It’s time to get going with the games and figure out what we have, and have some success, and make some mistakes, and figure all those things out.”
How Ryan Day feels about the tight end group going into the season:
"This year, I think, you know, we have really good depth there. We have some really good young players, but it's been good to watch Mason come in and really earn the opportunity to play a lot this year. You're gonna see Bennett, Nate Roberts, and then Max Leblanc have an opportunity to play as the season goes on, and those other young guys will kind of see how they continue to develop, but I feel like they have bright futures ahead of them.”
Note: Coach Day came back and followed up by saying Hunter Welcing has also impressed so far this year.
Discussing how his experience has changed since the championship win:
“We played in the biggest moments, so there’s not a bigger moment than what we played in 2 years ago. So, there's no reason to get out there and be anxious or stressed. And when you have guys around you that you can trust and who’ve you played a lot of reps with, the game becomes easier and it slows down.”
Discussing the O-Line:
“I think we have a lot of guys on the offensive line that are going to be NFL players”
Luke Montgomery discussing the defense:
“We’ve seen every front, we’ve seen every blitz, we’ve seen every pressure, we’ve seen every stunt. We have seen everything on the defensive side, so that helps us.”
Discussing the coaching staff:
“Having Coach Smith and Coach Patricia, two guys that were head coaches in the NFL, as our offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and having Coach Day and all these other guys on staff here is crazy. We’re so blessed. We have such an amazing staff here that cares about us so much.”
Where are you a different a better player now than you were at this time last year?:
“I think it’s night and day, mentally and physically. Obviously, there’s always something to get better at, but every day I try to find that one thing, that one percent, and get better at that. I would say I’ve improved tremendously.”
On Coach Discher:
“I would say he brings a little bit of everything. He brings the juice, a lot of energy, and when he needs to get honest, he will. Like I said, he’s a great guy. He’s been a great addition to the program, and we’re happy to have him.”
On Christian Alliegro:
“Christian’s a great guy. He comes from Wisconsin and is just a hard-nosed football player and, overall, a great linebacker. I think bringing him in was such a great addition to the room. Having a veteran guy like him has helped show me, Payton, TJ and Riley things that we didn’t really know. He’s brought a different type of energy to the room, which you’ll see on Saturday. He’s been flying around.”
On matchup vs. Ball State:
“It's about not worrying about who's out there in front of us. You just go out there competing for each other and get out on the field and make plays.”
On Jay Timmons:
“He's making it known that that he's going to be on the field.We got a lot of trust in him. We count on him a lot.”
When asked what makes him confident in the team being ready and cohesive:
"Just the connection of the team, offense and defense (is fun) to watch. We come together. There's a lot of guys going out there playing for their brother and not playing for theirselves. That's really the biggest thing that I see now.”
