Ryan Day responds to Nick Saban describing Ohio State pass rush vs. Oregon as ‘antiquated’

Former head coach Nick Saban was recently critical of the Ohio State Buckeyes pass rush against the Oregon Ducks, referring to it as antiquated. Now, head coach Ryan Day has responded to Saban.

Saban was specifically referencing the pass rush against Oregon. In that game, Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel was able to put up 32 points and it could have been more. That was largely because of the lack of a pass rush, with Ohio State failing to sack Gabriel at all.

“When it doesn’t work, it’s accurate,” Ryan Day said. “It’s not working.”

This season, Ohio State is 32nd in the country in sacks forced with 17 in six games to this point. That’s an average of 2.83 sacks per game. It’s also been for a total of 83 sack yards this season. That number is also good for a three-way tie for sacks forced in the Big Ten this season. Notably, Oregon is 32nd in the country in sacks allowed, giving up 1.29 per game.

Ryan Day went on to emphasize that the Buckeyes are working on changing things, acknowledging that the pass rush needs to improve this season.

Nick Saban made his initial comments during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. There, he explained his concerns with the approach Ohio State took to rushing the passer in Eugene.

“They didn’t affect the quarterback in any way … they didn’t ever pressure,” Saban said. “I mean, there was just four guys rush, which, you know, that’s kind of an antiquated way to play defense. And I’m not being critical of somebody’s philosophy at Ohio State, but there’s so much four-man rush simulated pressure, still able to play the coverages that you play, drop different people, rush somebody that is supposed to be dropping, drop somebody that’s supposed to be rushing, and these things are ways to get pressure without giving up anything in coverage. And I think in this day and age of football, you’ve got to go down that road a little bit or you’re going to be behind the 8-ball.”

The Buckeyes had a bye week after the loss to Oregon. With that, Ryan Day and the Ohio State staff did have time to adjust their approach for their game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. There, the Buckeyes will go from trying to stop sixth-year quarterback Dillon Gabriel to freshman Dylan Raiola.

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