Ryan Day says Justin Fields’ first touchdown pass to Chris Olave in the 2020 Sugar Bowl was his favorite play for the Buckeyes

On the latest episode of “Big Noon Conversations” with Joel Klatt, the FOX college football commentator asked Day, who handed over his duties as head playcaller to new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly during the offseason, to share his best or favorite play from his seven years in Columbus.

Day’s first answer was funny.

“CJ (Stroud) and Jaxon (Smith-Njigba) were so hot in that Rose Bowl. Everything clicked,” Day said with a laugh. “I don’t even think I looked at the schedule because (Stroud) was so hot in that game.”

After some reflection, Day’s mind wandered to Ohio State’s victory over Clemson in the 2020 Sugar Bowl. He remembered the hard hit Justin Fields took from James Skalski – which resulted in the Clemson linebacker being ejected. Day said the play immediately afterward was his favorite play for the Buckeyes.

“Justin was in the tent and he had this look in his eyes like he wasn’t going to make it through the game,” Day said. “He grew up on the same street as (Clemson quarterback) Trevor Lawrence. They kept falling out. We lost to him the year before. Justin had this look in his eyes all offseason.”

“So we brought him back in and threw a rollout pass to the right. It was a stuttering comeback for Chris Olave. I felt like if we got him running, because he’s such a good athlete, maybe we could throw him the ball and just bring it in, and he did. After we threw the touchdown pass, he literally kept running back into the tent. I don’t remember what was going on in there, but I remember it clearly. He was just such a competitive guy.”

At the end of the conversation, Klatt revealed his favorite play from Day: a 20-yard pass from Dwayne Haskins to KJ Hill in the 2018 Michigan game.

“They were shaking them up with their crossing routes,” Klatt said. “They were trying to shake the safeties. … They did that a couple of times. They were trying to shake the safeties down there. They were shaking them up. They run it again, and KJ Hill hits the brakes, stops and goes back out, and they still shook the safeties. They threw it to KJ Hill, and he ran down the barrier. I was in the locker room thinking, ‘Man, that was a great play.'”

“And that wasn’t in the game plan,” Day replied. “Most teams don’t get to play after the snap. They did that. But we called the same play, and we called it the ‘pivot,’ as opposed to the ‘mesh’ play. I give those guys a lot of credit for being able to put it on the field without really practicing that week. But yeah, that was a good feeling.”