Three big takeaways from Ohio State's media availability as Buckeyes prepare for Minnesota

Ohio State heads into its first Big Ten home game with an edge, built on a strong offensive line, a reliable kicking game, with plenty of memorable takeaways from Wednesday's media availability.

Determination Is Sky-High

It can be a tall task to keep a team that recently won a national championship playing at the same level of intensity it had in 2024, but head coach Ryan Day has managed to keep a similar identity for a different group.

“It’s an edgy group. They’re competitive, they go after it every day,” Day said. “There was a point in the spring where we had to stop practice to run 53s because there were fights breaking out at practice.”

Day also said that former Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel came to watch practice Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of learning from others, especially those who created sustained success in program history.

“People who have been around football, you just ask for their opinion and just get a lot of feedback,” Day said.

Offensive Line Continues to Hum

Left tackle Austin Siereveld continues his reign of dominance a third of the way through the regular season, the only offensive lineman in the FBS yet to allow a single pressure to the quarterback.

“As an offensive lineman you always got to protect the quarterback, and if you gave up a sack then that’s a horrible game,” Siereveld said. “I live by the quarterback can’t get touched, can’t get hurried and can’t get pressured.”

Left guard Luke Montgomery also spoke about how he lets his play do the talking.

“I don’t believe in talking trash, I just do my job, and if you get at me doing my job then I obviously did something right,” Montgomery said.

Playing with a competitive edge has been a theme of the 2025 Buckeyes, and Montgomery brought up how he continues a tradition he had with his family, watching the Buckeyes on TV, now while making pancake blocks.

“I like to go back and watch the TV copies as a fan because that’s something my dad and family would do when I was younger. We’d watch Ohio State on Saturday,” Montgomery said. “I just love listening to the commentary.”

Jayden Fielding Has Impressed

Kicker Jayden Fielding has converted all four of his field goals this season, along with 15-for-15 on extra points for a total of 27 points. He also has been praised for his effort and physicality on kickoffs.

“He might be our leading tackler on kickoff, which is not good, but he passed the toughness test at kicker,” Day said.

Day stressed that kickers only have one shot each drive, if that, to be successful. The coaching staff has tried recreating high-pressure moments for Fielding in practice to make in-game kicks feel more natural.

“We put him into situations where if we make the field goal everyone goes on to period two. If we don’t, everyone has to do up-downs or gassers,” Day said. “We’re constantly putting him in situations where they’re meaningful, and he keeps answering the calls.”

Fielding later talked about how the kickers were trying to expand their range during practice Wednesday.

“Today we kicked from 63 [yards], which was pretty fun. I missed wide left, but I had the leg,” Fielding said.