Ryan Day reveals an X-factor player ready to shock Oregon

Ryan Day has opened the door for a potential X-factor player to make an impact for Ohio State against Oregon.

The Ohio State Buckeyes weren’t good enough in multiple facets of the game against USC on the road last week.

They were handed their second loss of the season as a result.

Ohio State now heads into its matchup with the Oregon Ducks knowing it can’t afford another loss if it wants to make the College Football Playoff.

The Buckeyes needed to step up around true freshman quarterback Luke Fahey against USC, and it didn’t happen.

The offense outside of the quarterback wasn’t good enough.

The defense also turned in one of its worst performances in quite some time.

Ohio State gave up multiple explosive plays in uncharacteristic ways against the Trojans.

The defensive line also had no pressure on USC quarterback Jayden Maiava throughout the night.

Maiava wasn’t sacked once.

Ohio State’s defensive line has been mediocre this year.

The Buckeyes lost leading sack man Caden Curry from last season, and they haven’t been able to replace his production off the edge.

Kenyatta Jackson was expected to be that guy for Ohio State’s defense this season.

However, Jackson has just three sacks through eight games, and the defensive line is still searching for its best answers at getting pressure on the quarterback.

Outside of Jackson, nobody on the roster has more than the two sacks linebacker Riley Pettijohn has recorded.

Early in the season, freshman Khary Wilder got a lot of attention for getting after the quarterback consistently with pressure.

He wasn’t turning that pressure into sacks, but you could see what he brought to the table, and it was exciting to say the least.

Wilder has dealt with some injuries since then.

He hasn’t been on the field since the Illinois game at the end of September.

He’s played in just four games this season and has one tackle to his name.

Still, it sounds like Ohio State is thinking about giving him another shot.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day gave an update on the freshman Wednesday.

“It’s good that he’s healthy now. Fully healthy,” Day pointed out.

“So that is good and we’ve had conversations about giving him an opportunity to get in there.”

Day acknowledged the difficulty of inserting a young player into high-stakes games.

“It is a little more difficult when you find yourself in a situation where we are, not experimenting, but putting him in there for something like this,” Day said.

“Every play matters so much right now, and we have to make sure we’re doing what’s right.”