Ryan Day Says Ohio State 'Not Defending Anything' After CFP Title, 'We're Attacking'

Ohio State enters the 2025 season as the reigning national champions, but it isn't resting on its laurels.

Just ask head coach Ryan Day.

"We're not defending anything," he told reporters Tuesday. "They can't take the trophy away. We're attacking."

The Buckeyes were certainly in attack mode during the College Football Playoff, as they won their four games by a combined score of 145-75 and trailed for a grand total of six minutes. It was surely a cathartic run for Day, who was facing plenty of pressure and noise after losing to rival Michigan for a fourth straight year to end the regular season.

And now the Scarlet and Gray enter the new campaign with a bullseye on their back even if Day stressed aggressiveness with his comments.

It will feel like a new team in some regards, as many of the starters and key pieces from last season's national title team are no longer on the roster. Ohio State had 14 players selected in the 2025 NFL draft, including wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, running back TreVeyon Henderson, quarterback Will Howard, and defensive ends Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau.

Headline playmakers in wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs are back, but there will be plenty of new faces surrounding them.

None of them will be under more of a spotlight than quarterback Julian Sayin, and he will immediately be thrown into the fire with the season opener against Texas assuming he wins the starting job. 

It could be one of the games of the entire season across the college football landscape and is a rematch of the CFP semifinal matchup. The Longhorns were the only team to push the Buckeyes for the full 60 minutes during the CFP, as the champions destroyed Tennessee and Oregon and put up 31 unanswered points before letting their foot off the proverbial gas a bit against Notre Dame.

How Sayin performs in that opener, especially against a high-profile counterpart in Arch Manning, could set the tone for the entire season for the Buckeyes.

If he is in attack mode early and getting the ball in the hands of Smith, Carnell Tate and the other playmakers, it could be another special season for Day and Co.