Day opposes NCAA transfer recommendation

COLUMBUS -- Ryan Day made it clear he is not a fan of a proposal to reduce the transfer portal to 10 days in January at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. The NCAA's Football Oversight Committee recommended that the two current portals be replaced with one, which would run for 10 days from Jan. 2-11 next year. For teams like Ohio State, which think there is a chance every season of playing for a national championship, those January dates are a problem. This season's national championship game is on Jan. 19. "I don't think it's a good idea at all. In the conversations we had with the Big Ten coaches I think the majority of them agree," Day said. "I just don't quite understand how teams that are playing in the playoff are expected to make the decisions and sign their upcoming players while they're still getting ready to play for games. It doesn't make any sense to me. "I know that the Big Ten and (Big Ten Commissioner) Tony Petitti have been working hard because he doesn't believe it, either. The coaches in the Big Ten, we've had a lot of long decisions about that and trying to work through the different windows but I don't agree with it being in January." The current portals allow athletes to transfer for 20 days in December and 10 days in April. Some other thoughts from Day: … PETTIJOHN MAKES STATEMENT: Freshman linebacker Riley Pettijohn was named Defensive Player of the Game for his performance in OSU's 70-0 win over Grambling last Saturday. Pettijohn forced a fumble, recovered another fumble and scored a touchdown and was credited with a pass break up. "It's sometimes tough to pick a Player of the Game when guys didn't get a ton of reps but in a short sample of plays he had a lot of production. So it spoke for itself and we did what was right and gave it to him even though he is a freshman," Day said. "It was the right thing to do. We can't not give it to him because he's a freshman. He deserved it." Pettijohn could get more opportunities to play if he continues to practice and play at a high level. "The more you play like that the more you're going to get on the field. This is somebody who is getting more and more action on special teams and is going to get more and more action at linebacker, too," Day said. … EVALUATING SAYIN: Beyond the numbers against Grambling (18 of 19 for 306 yards, 4 touchdowns) Day found a lot to like about quarterback Julian Sayin in the second start of his career. "I thought he had a good rhythm again. He started fast, which was another good sign. I think he was accurate. The ball came out on time. We pushed the ball down the field a little. I think he was accurate on those throws. Those are the things that probably jumped out," Day said. … PUNT RETURN PROBLEMS: Day called Ohio State's punt returns against Grambling "a red flag" and said there must be improvement. "That's an area coming out of the game that we've got to improve on for sure. I think we lost 47 yards with the ball bouncing around on the ground. A couple of them were very difficult because they weren't very well hit but other ones I feel like we could have fielded," he said. "Brandon (Inniss) is still going to return punts for us but we also have Jeremiah (Smith) who we can put back there, and also Carnell (Tate) or Caleb (Downs) if we need to. That was a red flag we need to get fixed." IN-STATE OPPONENT: Day said Saturday night's game against Ohio University (7 p.m., Peacock) is a great match-up for both teams. "I think it's great for the state. It's great for their school, it's great for our school. When you're from the state of Ohio having a memory of playing in The Horseshoe during your college career is significant. We know these guys will be playing with their hair on fire," he said. Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro led the Bobcats to the Mid-American Conference championship last season and to their first win over West Virginia in 13 games all-time last Saturday. "You watch what he's done against two Power Four opponents (Rutgers and West Virginia) and he's done some really good things. He will spread the ball around, he can make plays off schedule, he has good quickness, he's a competitive player. But ultimately he's a winner. He did that last week. He's a good challenge for us," Day said.