Ryan Day credits Ohio State defense, Matt Patricia in 14-7 win over No. 1 Texas

Ryan Day knows the old adage of “defense wins championships,” but clearly defense won the day as Ohio State beat Texas 14-7. The Longhorns were No. 1 in the country and the Buckeyes, the defending national champions, were ranked No. 3.

Offense didn’t mold this game, especially early. The Ohio State defense shut down Arch Manning and the Texas offense and there was a big tip of the cap from Day and QB Julian Sayin to new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.

With the win, Ohio State starts 1-0 and Texas falls to 0-1, but certainly has a chance to be just the first of multiple matchups this year. With a long season on tap, Day appreciated the opening day win and is looking forward to getting back to work.

“Well, he did a great job,” Day said of Patricia to FOX’s Jenny Taft postgame. “Our staff did a great job. I thought the play coming in was excellent. They kept fighting. I can’t say enough about these guys for the first game coming out and playing like this. It’s just a start. We got a lot to improve on. But yeah, defense really did a great job all night. A lot of respect for Arch and for Sark and they’re gonna have a great season. But man, what a great win for us to start off with such a young group.”

Texas had 336 total yards, but Ohio State forced numerous turnovers on downs during the game. They also forced an interception from Manning, limiting the Longhorns to just one score.

Sayin got some credit from Day as well. While all the talk was about Manning coming in, Sayin made his debut and played relatively well, given the circumstances.

“I really like his composure,” Day said. “We probably could open it up later in the game, but his first start, we didn’t want to do that, so we won’t. But I think he could have handled it. This is a great start for him to win a game in his first star to beat the number one team in the country. Big time play over here. I thought he took care of the football and then, I mean, yeah, what a start for him.

“But, you know, just a gutsy win for our team. It’s a long season, so we got a long way to go. But I’m just proud of these guys. Gutsy win here to start.”

Sayin let the defense do the work, but as Day said, he had composure. He went 13-of-20 passing for 126 yards and one touchdown.