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BONUS: How Can Matt Patricia Help Ohio State Generate More Pass Rush · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: It's time for another special bonus episode. And this one
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  Speaker 1: you get to hear from Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: He's someone who we had been sort of waiting to
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  Speaker 1: talk to for a few weeks. Got a chance to
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  Speaker 1: talk to him on Wednesday night after practice. He is
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: always a lot of fun to talk to. Always very upbeat.
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  Speaker 1: Has some interesting stuff to say. I think you guys
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  Speaker 1: will enjoy this episode. He has a very different team
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  Speaker 1: on defense this year than he did last year. Obviously
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  Speaker 1: lost some very, very high profile players in Caleb Downs.
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  Speaker 1: Sonny Stiles, Arvell Reese, Caden McDonald. But the defense has
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  Speaker 1: been pretty good so far, really outside of that fourth
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  Speaker 1: quarter at Texas. It's been a very good defense so
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  Speaker 1: far this year. So what does Matt Patricia know about
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  Speaker 1: his defense this year now that he maybe didn't know
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  Speaker 1: three weeks ago?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think definitely going into the season,
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  Speaker 2: you have those teams that you know it's going to
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  Speaker 2: be a journey, you know, as you go through and
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  Speaker 2: you're going to learn and grow as the season goes.
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  Speaker 2: And sometimes those are some of the better ones that
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: you wind up with, you know, you got to get
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  Speaker 2: into that pressure and get into the fire and, um,
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  Speaker 2: have those moments where you really learn and execute and
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  Speaker 2: get better. So I think we've done that. We certainly
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  Speaker 2: have been in, you know, Some tough competition here early
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  Speaker 2: on in the season, which is great because we need it,
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  Speaker 2: especially with as many new faces as we have out
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  Speaker 2: there from a communication standpoint. And just finding out how
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  Speaker 2: guys handle those moments has been really good for us
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  Speaker 2: to see now as we start to get ready for
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  Speaker 2: Big Ten play. And I think the encouraging thing for
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  Speaker 2: us right now is I'd say we're able to play
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  Speaker 2: a lot of guys right now and kind of roll through,
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  Speaker 2: which is really good. And still trying to learn some
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  Speaker 2: of the things that guys do well so we can
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  Speaker 2: find those roles and put them in those roles as
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  Speaker 2: they go. But having that depth, I think, has been
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  Speaker 2: really good for us early in the season, for sure.
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  Speaker 1: It felt like you saw more blitzing, more pressures out
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  Speaker 1: of the Ohio State defense last week against Kent State
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  Speaker 1: than you had in some previous weeks. Is that Matt
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  Speaker 1: Patricia sort of trying to solve the problem of getting
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  Speaker 1: more pressure? Or is that him just sort of trying
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  Speaker 1: stuff out in a low stakes environment? What was the
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  Speaker 1: deal with that?
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  Speaker 2: I would say, yeah, probably. I'm not sure about the
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  Speaker 2: numbers on it. Sometimes those blitzes are disguised certain ways,
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  Speaker 2: and they maybe look like blitzes, but they're not, or
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  Speaker 2: we have different add-ons that we can go. But I
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  Speaker 2: do think, to your point, trying to see some of
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  Speaker 2: the guys that we have on the field and how
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  Speaker 2: maybe good or not good they are at some of
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  Speaker 2: those different blitz patterns or different looks, and communication is
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  Speaker 2: really the big part of it. When you have defenses
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  Speaker 2: where you're pressuring and situations where you're bringing pressure Communication
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  Speaker 2: is the most important thing, right? Because you have to be,
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  Speaker 2: whether gap sound or coverage sound. And so having an
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  Speaker 2: opportunity to kind of run some of those and practice
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  Speaker 2: that with, you know, live speed and in that moment
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  Speaker 2: now where we're in the season where, you know, you
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  Speaker 2: take as many of those reps as you can get.
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  Speaker 2: So I thought it was a good opportunity to do
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  Speaker 2: that for sure.
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  Speaker 1: They have rotated four guys through that linebacker position pretty regularly.
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  Speaker 1: Now that's a pretty key linchpin in terms of coordination
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  Speaker 1: and communication on defense. Those guys are the ones wearing
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  Speaker 1: the green dot and the helmet communications. And they're the
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  Speaker 1: ones responsible for getting the information and disseminating it out
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  Speaker 1: to all the other guys before every play. So what
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  Speaker 1: is he seeing from those linebackers? And has that been
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  Speaker 1: consistent on that front as they've rotated guys through?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly right. Because most of the communication starts,
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  Speaker 2: you know, through the middle. We kind of talk about
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  Speaker 2: those signal callers and really from the safety positions to
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  Speaker 2: the linebackers. Those are the guys that kind of communicate
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  Speaker 2: and then it spreads out from there. So even if
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  Speaker 2: the linebackers are changing and the safeties are consistent or
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  Speaker 2: the safeties may be changing too, and then, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the linebackers may be consistent, it's kind of working those
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  Speaker 2: groups to make sure that that communication spreads and it
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  Speaker 2: has to get all the way outside. So I think
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  Speaker 2: what we've been able to kind of work through here
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  Speaker 2: in the last couple of weeks is that we have
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  Speaker 2: pretty good communicators, you know, some guys that are younger
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  Speaker 2: out in the field right now that are still learning
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  Speaker 2: to kind of, find that voice and have that authority,
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  Speaker 2: you know, and feel like, okay, hey, here's the picture,
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  Speaker 2: here's the call, here's what we're going to do, and
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  Speaker 2: make sure they get it out to everybody. You know,
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  Speaker 2: there is a command that, you know, comes with that,
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  Speaker 2: and sometimes as a younger player, you're kind of feeling
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  Speaker 2: your way through that a little bit, but I think
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  Speaker 2: we're getting to the point now where they're just building
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  Speaker 2: more confidence. That's really the biggest part of it, you know,
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  Speaker 2: especially as some of those groups change and some of
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  Speaker 2: the voices you're talking to are a little bit different
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  Speaker 2: of just, You know, we always say communication is a
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  Speaker 2: two way street. You know, you can give communication, but
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  Speaker 2: the other guys got to hear it, too. And part
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  Speaker 2: of that's also knowing who you're talking to in those moments.
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  Speaker 2: And that's kind of like a full picture sort of
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  Speaker 2: mindset that you got to understand when you're doing that.
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  Speaker 2: So it's been good. You know, we've been trying a
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  Speaker 2: lot of different guys in those roles. I think the
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  Speaker 2: guys that were in those roles to start are getting
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  Speaker 2: more confident. And some of the timing of that stuff
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  Speaker 2: is starting to improve, which is really what you usually
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  Speaker 2: find out in the month of September. When things are
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  Speaker 2: actually moving at game speed, you're adjusting some of, whether
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  Speaker 2: it's a pre-snap look or a disguise, timing of the pressure,
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  Speaker 2: the blitz pattern, you know, getting those live reps to
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  Speaker 2: do it is always the most important thing.
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  Speaker 1: One of the young guys who has been a hot
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  Speaker 1: topic this season is sophomore linebacker Riley Pettyjohn. He's someone
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  Speaker 1: that a lot of fans have wanted to see more of.
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  Speaker 1: And he's someone who feels like he might be someone
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  Speaker 1: who could give them something in that pass rush they
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  Speaker 1: haven't necessarily gotten from some other guys. So what has
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  Speaker 1: Matt Patricia seen from Raleigh Pettyjohn on that front?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly linebackers in my history, I pretty much have
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  Speaker 2: moved them in a lot of different spots. And Raleigh
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  Speaker 2: would be one of those guys who has, just from
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  Speaker 2: a trait standpoint... Um, explosive power, speed, quickness, um, a
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  Speaker 2: little bit of elusiveness, maybe Gumby-ish, uh, where you're trying
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  Speaker 2: to block him and he just kind of slips and
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  Speaker 2: you're like, how did he do that? So, um, if
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  Speaker 2: you can try to exploit that and use that for sure,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you just find those roles and that's part
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  Speaker 2: of kind of like what we're learning as we go
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  Speaker 2: through the early journey right now is. hey, these guys
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  Speaker 2: in those moments, actually, this is what they can do.
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  Speaker 2: So let's kind of tailor it to doing that as
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  Speaker 2: opposed to maybe, you know, hey, this is what it
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  Speaker 2: looks like on paper. And maybe it's going to be
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  Speaker 2: a little nontraditional, but you still get the same effect.
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  Speaker 1: One of the big surprises of fall camp was the
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  Speaker 1: emergence and really just sort of growth and immediate winning
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  Speaker 1: of a starting job from nickel Jay Timmons. He was
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  Speaker 1: someone who coming out of spring, you thought, yeah, maybe
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  Speaker 1: he'll get a chance to play some this year. And
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  Speaker 1: then Basically, from day one of fall camp, he just
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  Speaker 1: won that starting nickel position. So what did Jay Timmons
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  Speaker 1: show Matt Patricia this fall?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, super determined, you know, I would say, and
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  Speaker 2: just give credit to him for having the right mindset
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  Speaker 2: to come in and be like, hey, I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: earn a job and go from there and work ethic
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  Speaker 2: every single day competing. And I would say this, like
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  Speaker 2: with young players, whether it's in the NFL or in college,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the one thing I see is just once
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  Speaker 2: kind of that light bulb of confidence goes on, and
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  Speaker 2: you feel like, hey, I can do this, and the
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  Speaker 2: game slows down a little bit for you, and it's
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  Speaker 2: not just moving all really fast, you can really see
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  Speaker 2: the skill set shine. You can see the talent shine
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  Speaker 2: through there. And part of that with some of the
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  Speaker 2: young guys that we have is just making their role
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  Speaker 2: very specific, even though it may look complex, but just
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  Speaker 2: really kind of dial in and, hey, just do this
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  Speaker 2: one job really well, and then we'll build from there.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that's something that he was able to
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  Speaker 2: do early on, And now we're kind of throwing some
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  Speaker 2: bricks on top of that. And that's really good to
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  Speaker 2: see him be able to handle all that.
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  Speaker 1: One of the really pleasant surprises this season has been
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  Speaker 1: the growth and emergence of defensive tackle Jason Moore. He's
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  Speaker 1: been around the program seemingly forever and has always been
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  Speaker 1: sort of one of those, well, maybe this will be
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  Speaker 1: the year, guys. And then all of a sudden, boom,
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  Speaker 1: this is seemingly the year for Jason Moore, where he
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  Speaker 1: really has taken that next step and taken on a
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  Speaker 1: bigger role. How about Matt Patricia's thoughts on Jason Moore? Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Um, I think JMO, um, I would say in the spring,
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  Speaker 2: really all of a sudden it was kind of like, Hey,
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  Speaker 2: here we go. He's just like, same thing. Kind of
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  Speaker 2: like technique got really good. Pad level got good. Hands
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  Speaker 2: got good. Maybe got a little stronger. And then through
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  Speaker 2: training camp, um, he just kept showing up again and again.
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  Speaker 2: And it was like, he was doing the things really
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  Speaker 2: well inside that we needed him to do and just
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  Speaker 2: showing him over and over and kind of like building
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  Speaker 2: his confidence with that too. And saying, Hey, this is,
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  Speaker 2: This is really good here. This is really good here.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that has been a huge part for
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  Speaker 2: him to feel like he can step on that field
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  Speaker 2: and own those roles and do them at a high level.
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  Speaker 2: So that's been really good because he's, you know, he's
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  Speaker 2: a big dude. He's big, he's long, he's strong. And
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  Speaker 2: so being able to be in the middle for him is,
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  Speaker 2: I think, going to help us from that aspect of it.
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  Speaker 2: And then what it does is gives us the flexibility
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  Speaker 2: to move some of those other pieces around with some
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  Speaker 2: of those guys that have different skill sets than his,
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  Speaker 2: maybe whether it's still a power, but maybe a little
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  Speaker 2: bit more quickness or kind of like different alignments that
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  Speaker 2: you can use with those guys. Having that piece in
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  Speaker 2: the middle, you know, helps kind of alleviate some of that.
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  Speaker 1: Mentioned off the top of the show, how different this
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  Speaker 1: year's team is from last year's in terms of personnel
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  Speaker 1: and just some of the elite, elite guys who are
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  Speaker 1: gone from last year's team. How much has Matt Patricia
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  Speaker 1: had to adjust his scheme from last year based on
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  Speaker 1: the personnel changes?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Um, you know, it's a good question. I was
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  Speaker 2: actually thinking about that the other day, honestly. Um, cause
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  Speaker 2: I was, I was looking at like the markers of
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  Speaker 2: like where we kind of like build and grow and
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  Speaker 2: add another elements or concepts to the defense. Um, and
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  Speaker 2: I would say we're probably maybe a little bit ahead
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  Speaker 2: of where we were last year from a full concept standpoint,
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  Speaker 2: because I think there was some carry over, you know,
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  Speaker 2: last year it was probably a little bit slower pace
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  Speaker 2: with that. I think our guys kind of handle some
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  Speaker 2: of that stuff a little bit better. But I do
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  Speaker 2: think it's more about right now for us working through
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  Speaker 2: the personnel and the roles that they go into. And really,
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  Speaker 2: quite frankly, last year we kind of had that one
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  Speaker 2: group that played a lot for us, and obviously they
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  Speaker 2: were very good. This year we have more depth, so
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  Speaker 2: there's more bodies to put into those roles. So maybe
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  Speaker 2: it's a little bit more by committee than it was
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  Speaker 2: last year at this point, and really dialing into those
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  Speaker 2: roles for those players.
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  Speaker 1: This is one of these questions where He was asked,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: are you satisfied with the pass rush and where the
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: pass rush is right now? And college football coaches are
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: never going to tell you they're satisfied. But here are
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Matt Patricia's thoughts on the pass rush.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: It's a great question. I mean, obviously, you know, we
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: always want to get to the quarterback as much as
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: we can. So, you know, we're always going to try
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  Speaker 2: to strive to get those numbers for sure. I think
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  Speaker 2: sometimes what happens, too, is there's certainly situations where opponents
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: aren't going to necessarily let you do that, you know,
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  Speaker 2: especially in Um, a couple of the teams that we
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: played where they, you know, just, it might be the
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  Speaker 2: matchup thing when, and they say, okay, well, we got
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  Speaker 2: to get the ball up quicker. These things are going
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: to happen faster in the offense or the offense may
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  Speaker 2: change a little bit from those scenarios. Um, I think
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  Speaker 2: the pass rushes is coming along well. I think those
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: pieces and really again, finding out, um, obviously with Kenyatta,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: we know him coming back, but working through some of
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  Speaker 2: the other guys that are up front, uh, some of
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  Speaker 2: even the linebackers, you know, kind of tying that into
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: the whole front pass rush conversation, um, figuring out what
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: those guys are and putting them in those roles so
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: hopefully we can build on that as we go forward
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: as we really dial into what they do.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Well all right we are just one day away from
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: the next ohio state football home game saturday noon on
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: fox ohio state and illinois kicking off the big 10
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: season is about to get real start to get a
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: little more a little more exciting and done with the
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: 50 point point spreads this year that's probably a good
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: thing for everyone involved We will have our usual pregame coverage,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: postgame coverage for you at youtube.com slash at Buckeye Insiders.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: But man, we would really love to see you at BuckeyeInsiders.com
• 11:21
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• 11:25
  Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks. We've had a ton of
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: great content from our Scheme Insiders. They've had a lot
• 11:30
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• 11:33
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• 11:35
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• 11:38
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• 11:41
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• 11:44
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• 11:47
  Speaker 1: guys all for joining us and we'll be back with
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: another episode soon.