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Oklahoma OC Ben Arbuckle Kent State Post Game Press Conference · Sooner or Later Sports

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, Hey, really good team win today. A lot
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of good things out there today. But the first thing
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: that I want to talk about is I just want
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  Speaker 1: to talk about Mike Hawkins.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: I want to talk about.
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  Speaker 1: How he has been the last two weeks, throughout the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: bye week and throughout this week of preparation.
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  Speaker 2: He's been stellar.
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  Speaker 1: He's been an awesome teammate, and he really stepped in
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  Speaker 1: and commanded the role. And I think you saw a
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: lot of that today too. So just a testament to
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  Speaker 1: that kid, testament to his process, testament to how he
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  Speaker 1: has worked and how he's put himself in position to
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  Speaker 1: be successful. It was awesome today to get Jay not
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  Speaker 1: going to I mean again, he's someone that I think
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  Speaker 1: I've bragged on the last two weeks, just from how
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  Speaker 1: he's been at practice, his mindset at practice, how he
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  Speaker 1: really attacked those moments in those situations. And I think
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  Speaker 1: he did a lot of really good things today. So
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  Speaker 1: I think a lot of awesome things that we can
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  Speaker 1: build on from an offensive standpoint. But I just really
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  Speaker 1: wanted to point out those two guys because they put
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  Speaker 1: in unbelieve amount of work the last two weeks, and
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  Speaker 1: so I'm really proud of them proud of this team win.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: And with that, I'll take some questions.
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: Man, talking about you start, you score your first five
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  Speaker 3: possessions three or field goals.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: So how do you look at that?
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  Speaker 3: It down?
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  Speaker 2: How do I look at at that?
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  Speaker 1: You know you went you went five for five scoring
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  Speaker 1: on those I believe it was two touchdowns and three
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  Speaker 1: field goals. And and our goal is to end every
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  Speaker 1: single drive with the kick, right, every single drive with
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  Speaker 1: the kick, and you and you're hoping it's a pat.
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  Speaker 2: And not a field goal. Uh.
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  Speaker 1: And there's just a few little things on those drives
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  Speaker 1: that we kicked field goals that kept us from staying
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  Speaker 1: on schedule or moving the ball down the field. Things
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  Speaker 1: that you know, we got to clean up. But at
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  Speaker 1: the end of the day, whenever you have Tate Sandel,
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  Speaker 1: who's just absolute nails out there, right, He's he's a
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  Speaker 1: great kid. He exudes confidence and I have I don't
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  Speaker 1: think anyone on our sideline has zero doubt whenever he
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  Speaker 1: walks out there that he's going to make the field goal.
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  Speaker 1: So you're proud of the five for five scoring drive,
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  Speaker 1: but you got to clean up those things because you
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  Speaker 1: want to end with touchdowns. You want to that's the
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  Speaker 1: standard here, and we got to clean some things up
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  Speaker 1: in order to finish with the ball in the end zone.
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  Speaker 4: And what were some of the things that you like
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  Speaker 4: that Michael did and what were maybe some areas that
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: you hope he can improve upon.
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  Speaker 1: I thought Mike operated really well today. I thought he
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  Speaker 1: had great command out there, and he showed that throughout
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: the last two weeks. But I thought he went out there.
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  Speaker 1: I didn't think the moment was too big for him
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  Speaker 1: at all. I think that goes back to a lot
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  Speaker 1: of things that happened last year with him. He kind
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  Speaker 1: of got some of those probably jitters out of the way,
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  Speaker 1: but he went out there and he led, and he
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  Speaker 1: competed well for the most part. He was really good
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  Speaker 1: with his feet and his eyes. I think there's a
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  Speaker 1: few throws on film that he's gonna wish that he
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: had back, But for the most part, other than a
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  Speaker 1: few things that come to mind, I mean, he was
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  Speaker 1: really pretty clean today and so great preparation.
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  Speaker 2: But I thought he come in and I thought he
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  Speaker 2: led really well.
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  Speaker 4: Was the communication with him on the sidelines and in
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: the helmet?
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  Speaker 2: Did you learn.
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  Speaker 4: Anything new about him?
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  Speaker 2: You know, in a game.
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  Speaker 1: Settings learn about anything new about him in a game setting.
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  Speaker 1: That's a good question. He was really really good and
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  Speaker 1: really receptive on the sideline. You know, it helps having
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  Speaker 1: the tablet right there. You can give immediate feedback, Hey,
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  Speaker 1: what were you looking.
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  Speaker 2: At right here? Why? You know? Why? Why did you
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  Speaker 2: go here instead of there?
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  Speaker 1: And he was really really receptive to any coaching that
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: went on. But he was able to articulate what he
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  Speaker 1: saw in the field really well. And so I thought
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: that was really big time the fact that he could
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  Speaker 1: come off before we even watch the play and able
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  Speaker 1: to articulate what happened and then and then you watch
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  Speaker 1: it and it's like, okay, yeah, I see what you're
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  Speaker 1: talking about right there. So just really receptive and really
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  Speaker 1: aware of everything that was going on.
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  Speaker 3: And how much did it help Mike and you guys
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  Speaker 3: in an offense.
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  Speaker 1: As an offense that Isaiah seemed always just be in
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  Speaker 1: the right spot.
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  Speaker 2: In the consistency that he's.
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  Speaker 1: Had, Yeah, you said it right there. I mean, he
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  Speaker 1: is as consistent as they come. You know, he's a
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: guy that you can trust. He's a guy that I
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  Speaker 1: think everybody in the building trusts. He's where he's supposed
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  Speaker 1: to be. When he's supposed to be there, getting there
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  Speaker 1: how he's supposed to be there, and that builds a
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  Speaker 1: lot of confidence and not only coaches, but the quarterback
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  Speaker 1: and the other players. And so he's a model of
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  Speaker 1: consistency in our building, from taking care of his body
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  Speaker 1: physically to how he prepares himself mentally for the games. So,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I think I've said it maybe the last
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: two or three weeks. Everything, everything good that's happening to him.
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  Speaker 1: It's not just because you know, he's lucky or something.
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  Speaker 1: He puts in the work and reaps the benefits of it.
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  Speaker 3: I know you Texas right right, Relieved Arlington, all these
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  Speaker 3: eyes of a nation, huge game a couple of years ago,
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  Speaker 3: at thirty four to thirty there's often highest scoring games.
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  Speaker 3: How does that kind of game excite you? Asn't offensive coordinator.
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  Speaker 1: I'm excited to get down there and get to be
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  Speaker 1: a part of the tradition that goes with it, the
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  Speaker 1: history that goes with at the pageantry that goes with that.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's I think it something that's really really
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  Speaker 1: good for college football.
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  Speaker 2: But you.
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  Speaker 1: Can't look at it, I mean through a different lens.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it's our next opponent. We have to prepare
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  Speaker 1: and we have to put these kids in position to
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: go be successful and ultimately win the game. I am
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: excited for it, But what I'm excited for is our
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: players get to go play in this game and be
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  Speaker 1: in these moments.
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  Speaker 2: You know, a lot of our.
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  Speaker 1: Guys have done that before, they've been here for a
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  Speaker 1: few years, but some of them haven't. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: gonna be a really special moment that these guys are
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  Speaker 1: gonna get to carry with them for the rest of
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: their lives.
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  Speaker 2: And so really excited about it. And you've got a
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  Speaker 2: number of guys, new guys that you played, a number
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  Speaker 2: of tight ends. Helms gets a touchdown, as you mentioned
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  Speaker 2: earlier on Got Going Today?
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  Speaker 3: How does this going to help your offense?
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  Speaker 1: Down to board one, I think it builds really really
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  Speaker 1: good competitive depth. But also it's stuff that you can
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  Speaker 1: springboard into the future, all right. You can build off
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  Speaker 1: of this. You can build off these game reps, these
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: live reps, because practice is really really good. Practice can
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: only take you so far, though, from a football player standpoint,
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  Speaker 1: you have to have the the real time game gameplay experience,
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  Speaker 1: and I think that's gonna be really good for us.
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  Speaker 1: We are able to get a lot of guys in today,
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  Speaker 1: and that's really exciting a lot of those guys they
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  Speaker 1: have earned it, earned the right to play, especially in
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  Speaker 1: you know, a moment like that. So I was I
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  Speaker 1: was happy to see us get a lot of guys
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  Speaker 1: in there. I was happy to see some of the
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  Speaker 1: guys step up. That stepped up, and uh, we have
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  Speaker 1: to we have to build on it. We have to
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  Speaker 1: you know, make a conscious effort every single day to
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  Speaker 1: build off of everything that we've seen and incrementally get
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  Speaker 1: better rankless things.
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  Speaker 3: You know, he's assuming that John will be available next weekend.
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  Speaker 3: With what you saw from Michael today, did that do
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  Speaker 3: anything to.
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  Speaker 4: Just you know, reaffirm your confidence heading into you know,
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  Speaker 4: back in sec play with him as a potential starter.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean back to what I said on Tuesday,
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  Speaker 1: I believe in Mike Hawkins and I have a lot
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  Speaker 1: of confidence in Mike Hawkins. And he's done that, uh
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: with his preparations and his work. So I mean, whether
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: John's available or not, whether we play with Mike or
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  Speaker 1: whoever we play with, I got a lot of.
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  Speaker 2: Confidence in those guys.
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  Speaker 1: And uh, again it's just the type of kid they
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  Speaker 1: type of kids. They are the type of kid that
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  Speaker 1: Mike is and the way that he prepares himself to
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  Speaker 1: So I got a lot of confidence in Mike Hawkins.
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  Speaker 2: It was huge. It was huge.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, whenever you talk about the day as a whole,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: are our morning walkthroughs right just sitting there and constantly
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: just giving good little nuggets of advice whenever we're out
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  Speaker 1: there on the sideline. I think I heard it like
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  Speaker 1: twelve times today.
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  Speaker 2: Dude, that was.
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  Speaker 1: Freaking awesome by talking to Mike and and and that,
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  Speaker 1: and and and that affirmation goes so far for a
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  Speaker 1: kid's confidence and his ability to keep on playing. And
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  Speaker 1: John was great for the entire team to Uh. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I've said in the past about him, he's just always
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  Speaker 1: wanting to be the best leader that he possibly can
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  Speaker 1: and the best teammate that he possibly can for everybody.
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  Speaker 2: And I thought he did that today. And you mentioned
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  Speaker 2: Jadeen earlier.
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  Speaker 4: What to just say about his investment has to stay
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  Speaker 4: bought in, even though maybe he hasn't had the start
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: to the season that then maybe he wanted.
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  Speaker 2: Well, he's a very mature kid.
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  Speaker 1: He's a very aware kid, and he's a very experienced kids.
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  Speaker 1: He knows what it looks like and what it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: look like. And the way that he's practiced the last
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  Speaker 1: two weeks, you know, is what it looks like.
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  Speaker 2: The way he's prepared is what it looks like.
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  Speaker 1: And so he's very mature, he's very aware, and so
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  Speaker 1: you know, I think it speaks a lot to him
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  Speaker 1: as a kid, as a young man, and I love
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  Speaker 1: what I've loved what I've seen from him, both you know,
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  Speaker 1: football and personally here as of lately, and so I'm
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  Speaker 1: really excited for him.
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  Speaker 4: Bring to this offense. It seems like he's got quite
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: a bit of juice when he's.
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  Speaker 2: Got the balls.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, yeah, you said he's got some. He's
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: got some really good juice to him. He's got great awareness.
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  Speaker 1: Whenever the ball is in his hand, he does a
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: great job of being patient, being patient and sticking his
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: foot and getting getting vertical and and finishing with his
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: pads going forward. So and again, I don't think you
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: can discount the amount of ball that he's played in
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  Speaker 1: the experience that he has that goes a long way,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: especially when you know, whenever we get into the second
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: half of the season, having getting.
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: The offensive mind that you had location you're talking about
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: back as the starting.
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  Speaker 1: Today helped for getting the run game going but also
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: setting up for.
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  Speaker 3: The next week.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: I think it's huge. I think I think it's really huge.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Again, the offensive line position is all about cohesion and chemistry.
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  Speaker 1: So the more that you can get the same group
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: playing together, uh, the more the communication is gonna build.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: The stronger the communication is gonna get being on the
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: same page, you know, coming off violent, being a violent
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: offensive lineman. It's gonna build the more and more you're
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: around the same guys, and so I think it's a
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: big thing for us. Uh, and you know, got to
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: keep on getting better.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I appreciate y'all. Boomer