When Ryan Day was asked Thursday about Carnell Tate returning to Chicago for this week’s game against Northwestern, Day didn’t hide his desire for the sophomore wide receiver to have a big game in his hometown.
“I just have so much respect for who he is as a person, what he’s been through, and the fact that he’s going back to Chicago. I want to win this game personally for him,” Day said during his radio show. “I know this team respects the fact that he’s going home, and it means a lot to him.”
If that foreshadowing and the fact that Tate had more than 30 family members and friends in attendance put any extra pressure on the second-year Ohio State wideout to perform, he certainly didn’t look fazed by it on Saturday at Wrigley Field.