Day sets a higher standard for Buckeyes

What's three percent? It's a prod to do better if you're an Ohio State football player. One of the things to come out of Ryan Day's press conference on Tuesday to preview the Buckeyes' game against UCLA on Saturday night is that the standard for grading out as a champion has been bumped up to carrying out 83 percent of all assignments successfully. The previous standard was 80 percent. "We upped our ante on being a champion," Day said. "Now we're at 83 percent because we feel like we need to increase our efficiency and execution. We want all those guys to grade out over 83 percent." Day was talking about OSU's running games and its offensive line and running backs when he announced the new standard so those units' performances might have played a role in the change. Day pushed back at criticism of the offensive line in a 34-10 win at Purdue last week on a day when starting right tackle Phillip Daniels and back-up guard Joshua Padilla were unavailable because of injuries. "I always want to be more consistent but I can't say I'm disappointed," Day said. "I'm encouraged with a lot of things. If I thought it was a real problem or a mess I would address it." He said he expects Padilla and Daniels to practice this week but did not specifically say they would be in the starting lineup. "We're expecting a full week from Josh and we'll see how today (Tuesday) goes. He and Phil both, we'll see how the week goes, but we're expecting a full week of work out of those guys." Some other thoughts from Day: REESE NEVER DISTRACTED: Asked how linebacker Arvell Reese has gone from being a back-up linebacker last season to being talked about as a possible No.1 overall selection in the NFL draft, Day said, "You see this in guys when they get into year three or sometimes year four and the program kind of kicks in. What I mean by that is that all the work they have done up to that point it all starts to come together. "I think you see that with a lot of our guys but in particular with Arvell. He was a very productive player in high school. Coach Ginn (Ted Ginn Sr.) did a great job of bringing him along and providing a mindset of what it means to be a Buckeye, what it means to play at Ohio State. Arvell has that mindset, he had it when he walked in the door. "I think Arvell never gets distracted with the noise. He just focuses on what matters and that's a unique trait. We were talking about this the other day. Maybe there is talk about him and awards, maybe there is talk about the draft, that doesn't affect Arvell. He just focuses on what matters." NO FEAR OF AWARDS: Numerous Ohio State players are in the running for national awards, up to and including the Heisman Trophy, and Day thinks they are handling it well. "The No. 1 goal is to win and team championships. If the guys understand that then it's great to promote that (individual honors). I think our guys understand if you win as a team then everybody is going to do well," he said. "You can see that with Jeremiah (Smith) and with Julian (Sayin). They both are pulling for each other. I think this is a team that understands how important it is to win as a team, not individually. That is a message we've been talking about for a long time, about being unselfish. Obviously, it's my job to keep a close eye on that." SECOND CHANCES: Defensive tackle Eddrick Houston was regarded as an essential part of OSU's defensive line when preseason practice began and Ethan Onianwa was thought to be the heir apparent for the starting left tackle job. But a preseason injury set Houston back and Onianwa did not live up to expectations. Houston started at Purdue last Saturday in place of Tywone Malone, who was out with an unspecified injury, and Day liked what he saw. "He's had his ups and downs a little bit this year but you're starting to see him play his best football. He's going to be a big player for us," he said, Asked about Onianwa's time on the field at Purdue, Day said, "I thought he had some good movement in the run game. He did some good things."Hopefully, we can get him to play at a certain level we need him to play at in order to finish the season the way we want to."