Ryan Day calls one part of Ohio State's season opener a 'disaster'

The No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes ran over Ball State with a 56-3 blowout victory in Week 1. Ohio State scored 14 points in each quarter. Julian Sayin threw for 320 yards with three scores, and three Ohio State QBs saw playing time, with each of them throwing a touchdown. Heisman Trophy candidate Jeremiah Smith broke out with eight catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Yet, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said one part of the opener was a disaster. "The kickoff returns were a disaster, so we gotta get that fixed," Day said, via Chase Brown of 11 Warriors. To be fair, Ohio State only had two kickoff returns in the entire game, both coming from Legend Bey. Bey returned both kicks for a total of 26 yards, with the longest being a 16-yard return. Day made those comments likely because Bey brought the kickoffs out of the end zone instead of signaling for a touchback, as the Ohio State coach said after the game. Ryan Day said he was disappointed that Legend Bey took the kickoff out of the end zone twice when he wasn't supposed to, but 'you can see the talent.''He's got a good attitude when it comes to being corrected ... It's his job to continue to work to get better.' At the end of the game, however, Bey caught two passes for 37 yards and a score, and he had six carries for 37 yards, drawing rave reviews from Day. WELCOME TO COLUMBUS, TRUE FRESHMAN LEGEND BEY pic.twitter.com/ocn58MkfS4 Still, if kickoff returns is the only area that Ryan Day thinks is a disaster, that's a strong start to the 2026 season. Matt Wadleigh is based in California and born and raised in the San Diego area. He studied print journalism at Fresno State for college and got to watch Paul George, Derek Carr and Davante Adams play in a Bulldogs uniform. His work has been featured at ClutchPoints, Sportscasting, Sporting News, and various USA Today sites, including UCLA Wire, where he was the first managing editor