Ohio State football: Day happy, but not satisfied, as Buckeyes prepare to play Maryland

That was following a 49-27 win over Rutgers that was sloppy at times and before he looked at the film of Maryland upsetting Penn State.

With the Terrapins up next for Day’s team, here are five takeaways from his preview press conference:

1. He is happy the third-ranked Buckeyes are 3-0, but he is not satisfied with the state of the team.

“Two months ago if you said we’re 3-0, I would have taken it obviously,” said Day, whose team was sidelined along with the rest of the Big Ten in September and most of October. “With everything that’s gone on — there’s just so much that goes on, and there’s a lot of things that are distractions right now and different.”

The Buckeyes still recognized outstanding players from the win over the Scarlet Knight but quickly moved on.

“We need to know make sure that we recognize that, and we did,” Day said. “We recognized the champions, but no to say that we’re where we need to be as a team in terms of playing at a high level and all that, no, we’re not where we need to be. And I don’t know if it’s gonna happen this weekend. I don’t know if it’s gonna happen in two weeks, but we have to continue to work at that, and that’s only going to happen if we practice better.”

2. He expects Trey Sermon to be able to practice this week.

The team’s No. 2 running back left the Rutgers game late with an apparent injury, but Day said he is expected to be able to work with the team as it prepares to face Maryland.

“We plan on having him for practice this week, but we’ll just see how it goes as the week goes on,” Day said.

Sermon, a senior graduate transfer from Oklahoma who missed the end of last season with an injury, has 172 yards rushing on 36 carries. Master Teague III, coming off an offseason achilles injury, has 47 carries for 211 yards and four touchdowns.

3. Day is happy with the balance on offense the Buckeyes have displayed.

While the hot start of Justin Fields and receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson has garnered most of the headlines, Ohio State is still third in the Big Ten at 208.7 yards per game on the ground.

With Fields having accounted for more touchdowns (13) than incomplete passes (11), Ohio State is averaging 302.7 yards through the air.

“To run for more than 200 yards, I don’t know how much more we need to rush than that,” Day said. “Two hundred yards rushing is a pretty good day.”

4. Ohio State’s kicking situation is uncertain.

Blake Haubeil left a win over Penn State in Week 2 with a groin injury and was not available last week.

Freshman Jake Seibert handled place kicking Saturday night and made all seven of his PAT kicks.

“Jake was good,” Day said. "I thought the ball came up, which was good to see. Anytime a kicker gets a lot of height on the ball that really helps. And he’s very accurate. His timing was good.

“He really wasn’t challenged — they were just extra points — but it was a good start. I thought he looked confident out there. This is a guy who didn’t just kick coming out of high school. He played other positions, so he’s a good athlete.”

5. He saw a confident Maryland team beat Penn State last week.

“They competed. They played well,” said Day, who noted Terps head coach Mike Locksley has upgraded the talent with some transfers.

That includes quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. He’s the younger brother of former Alabama standout and current Miami Dolphin Tua Tagovailoa.

“Taulia is playing with a lot of confidence, and he’s got some really good receivers there,” Day said. “Coach Locksley is doing a good job putting them in the right position so I mean they’re dangerous right now. They just really, really played well against Penn State, so we’re gonna have to do a great job of coming in there with confidence, playing well early and take care of the football. The recipe hasn’t changed, but these guys are definitely better than they’ve been.”

SATURDAY’S GAME

Ohio State at Maryland, 3:30 p.m., BTN, 1410