Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst impressed with Ohio State: 'It's sound, very good football'
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Paul Chryst has never had much success against Ohio State.
Since taking over the Wisconsin football program in 2015, Chryst has lost to the Buckeyes in each of the Badgers’ four matchups, including twice in the Big Ten Championship game.
As Chryst prepares Wisconsin for another matchup with Ohio State, in an attempt to break the Buckeyes’ eight-game win streak against the Badgers, he can’t help but be impressed with what Ryan Day has helped build since he joined the program in 2017.
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“I don’t know this, but from looking at it and watching it, I feel like he has a system,” Chryst said in his press conference Monday. “There’s a rhyme or reason to it. I think that they certainly understand it and the players understand it.
“If you are doing something to take away something or make it harder on something, he knows where the cheats are. It’s sound, very good football. Credit to him, I think that’s what’s impressive. It’s what he allows them to do, and he built it.”
For Chryst, the preparation starts with Ohio State’s offense.
Bringing in a Wisconsin defense that has allowed eight points and 246 yards through its first three games against Illinois State, Washington State and New Mexico State, Chryst said the Buckeyes do a “great job of threatening and using the whole field” in both the pass and run game, using “a heck of a quarterback” in Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.
For a Badgers defense that has developed a reputation as, consistently, one of the best in the Big Ten, Chryst said the responsibility of players like linebacker Maema Njongmeta and Nick Herbig is to simply execute their one-on-one battles, just like any other game.
“Any time a quarterback has time or is comfortable, the world is a little bit easier for them,” Chryst said on how Wisconsin plans to stop Stroud. “I think it comes down to all 11 guys got to do their part. In those moments, someone has to win the matchup.”
As for what quarterback Graham Mertz, running back Braelon Allen and the rest of the Badgers’ offense plans to see from Ohio State’s defense, Chryst said he sees a scheme where players trust defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to put them in positions to be successful.
For Chryst, that thought is consistent when he looks up and down Ohio State’s roster, leading to an ample amount of respect for the Buckeyes’ coaching staff.
“It’s one thing (to say) this is their scheme,” Chryst said. “But the players understand it and you see that. It allows them to truly go out and play and they do it very well.”
Ohio State football's 2022 schedule
Week 1: Ohio State 21, Notre Dame 10
Week 2: Ohio State 45, Arkansas State 12
Week 3: Ohio State 77, Toledo 21
Week 6:Ohio State vs. Michigan State, Oct. 8, East Lansing, Mich.
Week 8:Ohio State vs. Penn State, Oct. 29, State College, Pa.
Week 11: Ohio State vs. Maryland, Nov. 19, College Park, MD.
Week 12: Ohio State vs. Michigan, at noon Nov. 26, Columbus, Ohio
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Wisconsin football coach Paul Chryst impressed with Ohio State
