By Jim Naveau

jnaveau@limanews.com

COLUMBUS – Some people might be concerned that Ohio State’s defense had only one sack in a 49-14

win over Marshall last Saturday but Ryan Day isn’t.

Day explained why on Tuesday in what sounded like a mini-lecture from a Football 101 class during his

weekly press conference to preview Saturday night’s game at Michigan State.

“I think what is important for everybody to understand, and that includes J.T. And Jack (defensive ends

J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer), and our guys, that if an offense decides they’re not going to give up any

sacks they can run the ball every play or run an RPO (run pass option) and get the ball out of the

quarterback’s hand quickly,” Day said.

“It isn’t a game of stats. What you’ve got to do is stop the run and if the quarterback is in a situation

where he’s looking to run quarterback draw or quarterback power or those type of things we’ve got to stop

the run first. The sacks will come.

“Just to go out there and think you’re going to sack the quarterback if one of the things the other side

decides is they’re not going to take a 5-step drop and hangs on to the ball those opportunities aren’t going

to be there. You have to defend what the other team is trying to do. That’s just the bottom line.

“When you have talented pass rushers you’re going to get some different styles of play. We all just have to

make sure we understand the goal, which is first to stop the run, and then secondly it’s about disrupting

the passing game.

“There are different ways to disrupt the passing game. We could talk about this for hours but I want to

make sure that the No. 1 goal is the No. 1 goal and that’s to stop the run and get off the field on third

down, whatever that takes. And that might not be a sack,” he said.

Some other thoughts from Day:

•FIELDING’S EXPLANATION: Usually reliable kicker Jayden Fielding sent three kickoffs sailing out of

bounds against Marshall in the first half and did not play in the second half.

Day used the word “tweak” to describe an apparent physical issue Fielding had last Saturday.

“He gave us some information about a little tweak that he had. He either has to make the correction or

communicate to us that there was an issue. I talked to him about that and how much we need him moving

forward. He felt a little something early on and wasn’t able to make the adjustment from. Nothing long

term or anything like that,” he said.

•ROTATING GUARDS: Tegra Tshabola will continue to be the starter at right guard on the offensive line

but Austin Siereveld will get some playing time at that position, as he did against Marshall.

Siereveld earned more playing time after starting at left guard when starter Donovan Jackson did not play

the first two games of the season.

“We are going to keep moving forward like we just did and let both these guys play. As of right now Tegra

is going to start but they’re both going to play,” Day said.

•BROWN STILL NO. 2: Devin Brown remains the back-up quarterback but the competition for that spot

continues, Day said.

“He would be our No. 2 right but everyone has a chance to compete. There are five guys in that

(quarterbacks) room who want to get out there. Right now he is our two,” he said.

•WILLIAMS DAY TO DAY: Defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, who missed the Marshall game because

of an undisclosed injury which some media reports have speculated is a shoulder injury, is “day to day,”

Day said.

“Tyleik is day to day. He will be out there today (Tuesday) and we will see how it goes.”

Hero Kanu started in Williams’ position and others also played that position.

“When you watch the film there were good plays but there needs to be more consistent play. When Tyleik

is out there he certainly makes his impact felt. You learn when you step into that role it’s different than

playing 10 to 15 snaps in a backup capacity when you’re the guy,” Day said.