Ryan Day reveals what changed for Ohio State at halftime of Rose Bowl

Ohio State did not get off to a good start in the Rose Bowl on Saturday night. The Buckeyes trailed Utah 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. Ohio State was able to score 21 points in the second quarter, but Utah matched that, making it a 35-21 lead for the Utes at halftime. But when Ohio State got to the locker room at halftime, head coach Ryan Day said that everything changed.

Despite being down at halftime, Day said that Ohio State didn’t panic. The Buckeyes had some leaders step up in the locker room, and that fueled a massive second half turnaround.

“I think it’s huge,” Day said. “Worried, I don’t know. But I knew what an unbelievable opportunity. Like you said, down a bunch of guys, down some numbers in this spot.

“I kind of took a step back. Obviously, I was driving hard, but I also at halftime, there was a bunch of guys in that locker room that stepped up in a big way. We talked about how that 2019 Big Ten Championship game against Wisconsin, a bunch of guys did that. That same thing happened at halftime in this game.”

Whatever was said in the locker room at halftime, it worked. The message from Day and others in the Ohio State locker room fueled a great performance in the final two quarters. Ohio State outscored Utah 27-10 in the second half, ultimately winning on a late field goal, 48-45.

Day is thrilled with the leadership he saw in Ohio State’s locker room

Ohio State’s comeback and leadership after the slow start in the Rose Bowl inspired a lot of confidence in Day, for both now and in the future.

“When you have that type of leadership from within, that’s when you can do whatever you want,” Day added. “I think, as we springboard into this off-season, that’s the part that we’re really going to go back upon in this game is the leadership that drove us in the second half that we weren’t going to be denied, and two of them are sitting right here.

“If we want to get to where we want to be next year — it’s a long way away from now, but I’m already thinking about that first game and what that means is the leadership from these two guys has got to really springboard, especially the way they played in the second half of this game, but really the entire game, and it’s really going to build some momentum.”

Ohio State finishes the season 11-2, while Utah falls to 10-4.