Following the No. 2 Buckeyes’ 32–31 loss at No. 3 Oregon, Day expressed dismay over an offensive pass interference call against Jeremiah Smith that knocked Ohio State out of field goal range on the final drive, but said the competition should not do that. have come up with such a play. He felt there were too many mistakes, including botched coverage, penalties and turnovers where the Buckeyes hurt themselves.

On the injury front, Ohio State starting left tackle Josh Simmons “doesn’t look great” to return this season after being carted off the field with an apparent left leg injury. The Buckeyes will need to address the big plays they allowed on defense, Day added.

• Ryan Day thought the offensive pass interference against Jeremiah Smith on Ohio State’s final drive was a bad call, but said the Buckeyes shouldn’t have left it to that. “But it shouldn’t come down to one action, I’ve said that before. … You put it in the hands of a phone call, that’s our responsibility. … We have to do a better job of handling those situations and doing a better job overall, just too many explosive plays on the defensive end.

• There were several reasons for Ohio State’s loss, Day said, but “There were a couple long throws down the field where they got behind us.” …It was more than just one thing. … We have to play better.”

• On the reasons for the loss: “We talk about: ‘Take care of the football.’ … To turn the ball over and give it to them in plus territory, that was a big play in the game. … We kept fighting. We lingered there. … Couldn’t quite make the stops when he needed to and didn’t finish. … We can sit here and watch a play here, a play there. We’re not going to do that. We will own it. We’re going to fix it.”

• On the big plays allowed on defense: “It starts with coaching. We need to coach it better, demand it better and practice it better in practice.”

• On injury updates: “Josh Simmons’ injury hurt. Zen did a good job of coming in and competing. …I’ll have to get the update on Simmons, but it doesn’t look great in terms of him being able to come back this season.

• Day added that Will Kacmarek was also injured.

• On whether the defense will take the blame for the loss: “You hate to point fingers… this is a team loss. The offense had a chance to go in and finish it at the end, but it didn’t. … When you take such a brutal penalty, you get pushed back.

• Day said Ohio State shot itself in the foot too many times. “There are a few false starts that hurt and ultimately those are things we cannot accept. … I thought guys kept fighting, guys kept swinging. … This one hurts, it hurts. … Give Oregon credit, they played well, but there are too many things we didn’t do well.

• On Will Howard’s performance: “He fought to the end. … He will be hard on himself, but he fought to the end. We made some big throws to get us into field goal range.”

Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, quarterback Will Howard and linebacker Cody Simon also met with reporters after the game and you can see what they had to say in the videos below.