Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / 7 Things We Learned After Miami Clinched A Spot To Play The Buckeyes
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeys tomorrow morning. From Monday, December twenty second,
- 0:03Speaker 1: I'm your host, tom Or The Cotton Bowl game against
- 0:05Speaker 1: Miami in nine days, the mcgeth Michigan in three hundred
- 0:08Speaker 1: and forty one days. If you're planning your next event,
- 0:10Speaker 1: make it unforgettable with Grateful Brittle, Columbus's favorite froud truck
- 0:13Speaker 1: serving up Smashburgers, Cormet sandwiches, and good vibes booker catering
- 0:17Speaker 1: today at gratefulgriddleoh dot com. All right, a quick heads
- 0:21Speaker 1: up on what is coming later on today. We're going
- 0:23Speaker 1: to be talking to Ohio State's offensive players starting around
- 0:26Speaker 1: eleven this morning, and then talking to Ryan Day at noon,
- 0:30Speaker 1: then a little bit of a break, and then we'll
- 0:31Speaker 1: be talking to the defensive players after practice six thirty
- 0:34Speaker 1: six forty five ish on Monday night. We'll have all
- 0:38Speaker 1: sorts of coverage coming for you all day long at
- 0:40Speaker 1: bucke Huddle dot com as we start counting down the
- 0:43Speaker 1: days to that Cotton Bowl game now just over a
- 0:46Speaker 1: week away. One week from now, Tony Gerderman and I
- 0:49Speaker 1: will be down in Texas for that game, getting ready
- 0:52Speaker 1: to cover that for you on today's show you get
- 0:54Speaker 1: to hear a little bit from Miami head coach Mario
- 0:57Speaker 1: Christobal in the wake of his teams tend to re
- 1:00Speaker 1: win over Texas A and M in the first round
- 1:02Speaker 1: of the College Football Playoff. With that win, Miami earned
- 1:05Speaker 1: a berth in the Cotton Mold to face Ohio State.
- 1:08Speaker 1: Just this first one going to get some feedback in
- 1:12Speaker 1: a couple of different ways here. First of all, you're
- 1:15Speaker 1: going to get some feedback from Mario Cristobal and in
- 1:18Speaker 1: terms of general thoughts on this game. Also, I will
- 1:21Speaker 1: warn you there is some feedback from a little bit
- 1:23Speaker 1: of a shoddy microphone set up at Texas A and
- 1:26Speaker 1: M after the game, So you're going to hear a
- 1:28Speaker 1: little bit of a screeching noise. Apologize in advance for that.
- 1:31Speaker 2: Hats off to our guys for just showing resiliency.
- 1:35Speaker 3: Don't shoot me with that thing.
- 1:36Speaker 2: Then, you know, resiliency, toughness, just found a way to continue,
- 1:40Speaker 2: just keep you know, pushing through some difficult situations. The
- 1:43Speaker 2: defense was off the charts the entire day. We found
- 1:48Speaker 2: ourselves finally run the football and get some chunk yardage.
- 1:50Speaker 2: It took a while. We're all over the you know,
- 1:53Speaker 2: we were up and down on offense, and just a
- 1:56Speaker 2: great response turned the ball over, both by the defense
- 1:58Speaker 2: getting the ball back and the offense going right down
- 2:02Speaker 2: the field and scoring.
- 2:03Speaker 1: One of the players you've probably heard Tony Gerderman and
- 2:05Speaker 1: I talking about already in terms of Miami is Malachai Tony,
- 2:08Speaker 1: the true freshman wide receiver. He has been a big
- 2:11Speaker 1: standout for them. Really kind of got shut down quite
- 2:13Speaker 1: a bit in that Texas A and m game, and
- 2:16Speaker 1: also had a really crucial fumble in the fourth quarter
- 2:18Speaker 1: that looked like it could cost Miami the game, But
- 2:21Speaker 1: then they went right back to him on that next drive.
- 2:24Speaker 1: He was the one who scored the only touchdown of
- 2:26Speaker 1: the game right at the end of the game. So
- 2:29Speaker 1: what was it that had made them have faith like that?
- 2:32Speaker 1: And a true freshman like Malachai Tony.
- 2:34Speaker 2: I mean, you saw the entire team just go right
- 2:36Speaker 2: to him after the fumble. Everybody trusts him. I mean
- 2:40Speaker 2: a lot of the reason why we're here today is
- 2:42Speaker 2: because of his play making ability, and he brings so
- 2:46Speaker 2: much energy to the team. They trust him, they love him,
- 2:48Speaker 2: and they knew that there was going to be some
- 2:52Speaker 2: more football to be played, and he was going to
- 2:54Speaker 2: be a big part of the reason why we're going
- 2:56Speaker 2: to have a chance to pull out the game.
- 2:58Speaker 1: Corey Heatherman is a defense coordinator from Miami. Now, he
- 3:01Speaker 1: was hired away from Minnesota just back in January. So
- 3:04Speaker 1: this is year one for Corey Heatherman, and you were
- 3:07Speaker 1: already seeing some remarkable results for the Miami defense. So,
- 3:11Speaker 1: you know, is Mario Christopaul surprised to see that kind
- 3:13Speaker 1: of an early impact and once again a lot going
- 3:17Speaker 1: on here. You're going to hear a little bit of
- 3:18Speaker 1: marching band in the background. I don't know what the
- 3:20Speaker 1: audio setup is down at Texas A and M, but
- 3:22Speaker 1: it is a little bit of a circus.
- 3:24Speaker 2: Well, we knew we were going to get better because
- 3:26Speaker 2: what he does really caters to our personnel.
- 3:28Speaker 3: You know, we're built to be a very aggressive front seven.
- 3:31Speaker 2: You know, guys that are explosive, guys that have length,
- 3:34Speaker 2: that have power and twitch.
- 3:36Speaker 3: So you know, he worked. He did some great work
- 3:39Speaker 3: at Minnesota.
- 3:40Speaker 2: They were a top ten defense over there on JMU
- 3:42Speaker 2: as well. So can you envision this level in year one?
- 3:46Speaker 2: I mean, I think that's hard for anybody to exactly,
- 3:49Speaker 2: you know, make it look like this, But now that
- 3:52Speaker 2: surprises us because of the way our guys just work
- 3:55Speaker 2: and train.
- 3:56Speaker 3: So a name that.
- 3:57Speaker 1: Ohio State fans will probably remember from recruiting from a
- 4:00Speaker 1: couple of years ago is running back Mark Fletcher. He
- 4:02Speaker 1: was someone that looked like he was headed to Ohio
- 4:04Speaker 1: State and then ended up flipping to Miami late in
- 4:07Speaker 1: the cycle. So he ended up having an enormous day.
- 4:10Speaker 1: Seventeen carries one hundred and seventy two yards, more than
- 4:13Speaker 1: ten yards of carry for him, and they really rode
- 4:17Speaker 1: him on that winning touchdown drive. What did that mean
- 4:19Speaker 1: to Mario Cristobal to see Mark Fletcher have that kind
- 4:22Speaker 1: of a day.
- 4:23Speaker 2: Yeah, Mark seventeen carries one hundred and seventy three yards.
- 4:26Speaker 2: Man was he was such a difference in the game
- 4:30Speaker 2: and what he means to the team. He's There's been
- 4:33Speaker 2: a was a rough year for him, you know that.
- 4:34Speaker 2: You know, with the passing of his father, he never flinched,
- 4:37Speaker 2: stayed with his teammates, played the game that Saturday.
- 4:40Speaker 3: That's about a year.
- 4:40Speaker 2: Ago, and he's just.
- 4:43Speaker 3: A heart and soul of our football team and.
- 4:46Speaker 2: Everything he does is dedicated to his teammates getting better,
- 4:50Speaker 2: to the team winning and to see him just he
- 4:54Speaker 2: took over. He took over the ground game in a
- 4:56Speaker 2: game where we're having a real tough time moving the football.
- 4:59Speaker 2: You know, they have the good defense. That wind was
- 5:01Speaker 2: all over the place. I mean that blew some things out,
- 5:03Speaker 2: you know, both in the passing game and on field goals.
- 5:05Speaker 2: But Mark Fletcher certainly wasn't affected by it. And great
- 5:09Speaker 2: to the offensive line also because you know they're whipping
- 5:11Speaker 2: a bunch of pressure, you know, the plus one concept
- 5:14Speaker 2: safety Blitza's will fires, Nickel fires, and we just got
- 5:17Speaker 2: our feet in the ground, started moving them and you
- 5:18Speaker 2: know we I think we ran for almost two hundred
- 5:21Speaker 2: yard on twenty eight carries, you know, six to a shot,
- 5:23Speaker 2: so we you know, something to certainly be proud of.
- 5:26Speaker 1: It was not pretty, but it was certainly not easy
- 5:29Speaker 1: either for the Miami Hurricanes. It took some grit. They
- 5:31Speaker 1: had to fight through a good opponent on the road,
- 5:34Speaker 1: some rough weather, a lot of wind, a lot of
- 5:36Speaker 1: crowd noise, all that kind of stuff. That's it's a
- 5:38Speaker 1: kind of scenario that we've seen a lot of Miami
- 5:40Speaker 1: teams fold in the past, and this one they fought
- 5:43Speaker 1: through it. So what did that mean?
- 5:45Speaker 3: That's the best part.
- 5:46Speaker 2: It really is because a year ago, you was mentioned earlier,
- 5:50Speaker 2: I mean, we couldn't. We had tough time stopping people
- 5:52Speaker 2: on defense, and man, I felt like, you know, you're
- 5:55Speaker 2: always wondering, Man, do you kick it?
- 5:56Speaker 3: Do you go? Do you kick it? Do you go?
- 5:58Speaker 2: What do analytics say? What's the feel for the game,
- 6:00Speaker 2: what kind of defense are we playing? You know, what's
- 6:03Speaker 2: the caliber of team and their explosive capabilities. And it
- 6:07Speaker 2: was one of those games where we felt, all right,
- 6:10Speaker 2: we're holding up good and we're knocking them back. It's
- 6:12Speaker 2: going to be one of those tight, you know, back
- 6:14Speaker 2: and forth games, and fields are going to be critical.
- 6:16Speaker 2: They just I guess what I'm trying to say is
- 6:19Speaker 2: the confidence that they bring to us and being able
- 6:22Speaker 2: to call and manage the game.
- 6:24Speaker 3: Is off the charts, and certainly they were the difference today.
- 6:27Speaker 1: Miami has kind of been wandering in the wilderness for
- 6:30Speaker 1: a couple of decades since losing that two thousand and
- 6:32Speaker 1: three Fiesta Ball to Ohio State. Was basically they were
- 6:36Speaker 1: on the top of the sport and then they basically
- 6:38Speaker 1: fell off the edge of the earth after that and
- 6:40Speaker 1: have really been pretty irrelevant for a couple of decades,
- 6:43Speaker 1: so now they're sort of on the right track now,
- 6:46Speaker 1: trending back in the right direction. This is a little
- 6:48Speaker 1: bit of a milestone win. Yeah, it's a milestone to
- 6:50Speaker 1: make the playoff and now they've got their first college
- 6:53Speaker 1: football playoff win. What are the emotions for Miami after
- 6:57Speaker 1: a win like that?
- 6:58Speaker 3: The players.
- 6:58Speaker 2: I want the players to enjoy a plane ride, you know,
- 7:00Speaker 2: with their families when they get back. As a coach, man,
- 7:03Speaker 2: it's like, you know, by the time you get back
- 7:06Speaker 2: to locker room, you're like, you know, look, give me
- 7:07Speaker 2: the injury report, you know, let me know where the
- 7:09Speaker 2: guys are at. But I think I'm more man, how
- 7:14Speaker 2: do you say this? I'm more inclined right now to
- 7:18Speaker 2: just make sure I congratulate each and every player on
- 7:21Speaker 2: our team, because the guys in the scout team did
- 7:24Speaker 2: an unbelievable job, you know, because your down numbers as
- 7:26Speaker 2: a year goes on, you have a roster of one
- 7:28Speaker 2: oh five.
- 7:28Speaker 3: That's a massive cut from the previous years.
- 7:31Speaker 2: They are just as responsible for this victory as the
- 7:33Speaker 2: guys making the touchdowns and the stops.
- 7:35Speaker 3: And everything else.
- 7:36Speaker 2: So I want to take every minute I can today
- 7:40Speaker 2: to thank congratulate and love up our players for their
- 7:43Speaker 2: commitment to the University of Miami and for validating all
- 7:47Speaker 2: the hard work that they have been doing since some
- 7:50Speaker 2: guys three four years and some guys that got here
- 7:52Speaker 2: in January. So just we're blessed to have guys of
- 7:56Speaker 2: that caliber as human beings and as competitors to come.
- 7:59Speaker 1: To work every day at working with Malachai. Tony mentioned
- 8:02Speaker 1: him earlier. He is a true freshman wide receiver who
- 8:05Speaker 1: is a key player for the Miami offense. Bryce Fitzgerald,
- 8:08Speaker 1: he is a true freshman defensive back who is a
- 8:10Speaker 1: key player for the Miami defense. Now, he had both
- 8:13Speaker 1: interceptions for the Hurricanes in that game, including a really,
- 8:17Speaker 1: really crucial one in the end zone. So how important
- 8:21Speaker 1: was it for Bryce Fitzgerald to step up in the
- 8:23Speaker 1: way that he has as just a true freshman.
- 8:26Speaker 3: Yeah. Now, the best part about him he wasn't here
- 8:28Speaker 3: in January. You know.
- 8:29Speaker 2: He went to Columbus High School, Okay, and he doesn't
- 8:32Speaker 2: get out till juke.
- 8:33Speaker 3: That's when he joined us quick study. All right.
- 8:37Speaker 2: He's really People always wonder man, how's he gonna be
- 8:39Speaker 2: able to catch up?
- 8:40Speaker 3: Having she was the only one that started late. He
- 8:43Speaker 3: never flinchs. He spends every week in a minute.
- 8:45Speaker 2: It's kind of like Malachi gets in there, just studies
- 8:48Speaker 2: it up, spends extra time doing it. When the lights
- 8:50Speaker 2: come on, you know, certain guys just kind of have
- 8:52Speaker 2: it right. He's he's that guy. When the lights come on,
- 8:55Speaker 2: he just he knows what to do, how to do it.
- 8:57Speaker 2: And there's no flinching that got at all. There's no
- 9:00Speaker 2: you don't sense any type of freshman reservation from him.
- 9:04Speaker 2: So he certainly a guy that we're really really proud
- 9:07Speaker 2: of and looking forward to more great play from him.
- 9:10Speaker 1: Talked earlier about the milestone that this is for the
- 9:13Speaker 1: Miami football program. Is Mario Christball able to sort of
- 9:15Speaker 1: take a moment to appreciate a win like this?
- 9:18Speaker 3: You know, I think it's important.
- 9:19Speaker 2: I think it was important first to get in the playoffs,
- 9:24Speaker 2: then to go and win at a place like this,
- 9:27Speaker 2: right one hundred plus thousand people on the road, a
- 9:30Speaker 2: team that was arguably top two or three until their
- 9:32Speaker 2: last game, and to get it done in this type
- 9:35Speaker 2: of an environment.
- 9:36Speaker 3: I think that like we needed that. If you could
- 9:38Speaker 3: draw it up how we wanted it.
- 9:40Speaker 2: We wanted to go there, you know, we wanted to
- 9:42Speaker 2: come here and do it against a great football team.
- 9:45Speaker 2: So what does it mean for us? Continue to progress division?
- 9:49Speaker 2: And we've never altered the course or the turred from
- 9:53Speaker 2: despite all the challenges that come with it. But that's
- 9:55Speaker 2: that's part of it, you know. So again, really proud
- 9:57Speaker 2: of our players. It's all about them and that staff
- 10:00Speaker 2: because again, forty plus.
- 10:02Speaker 3: Days ago that was we were lower than low and.
- 10:06Speaker 2: Found a way to just bring a different level energy
- 10:08Speaker 2: every single day and lift each other on the program up.
- 10:11Speaker 2: And here we are with a chance to keep playing.
- 10:13Speaker 2: And that's all that matters now.
- 10:15Speaker 1: I want to know mentioned earlier the fact that it's
- 10:17Speaker 1: been a while that since Miami has been at this
- 10:19Speaker 1: level of the sport, and it's also been a while
- 10:22Speaker 1: since they've won a game on the road like that,
- 10:25Speaker 1: and they've been in a situation that as difficult as
- 10:29Speaker 1: that one was and come out with a win. So
- 10:31Speaker 1: how do they have the confidence to do that?
- 10:34Speaker 2: Well, they probably saw Andre Johnson and Edgren James and
- 10:38Speaker 2: Michael Ivan on the sideline and said, hey man, you
- 10:40Speaker 2: know those are great days. But now it's our turnment
- 10:43Speaker 2: and there's no flinch in these guys and the way
- 10:45Speaker 2: that they trained, the way that we train collectively as
- 10:49Speaker 2: a group, the belief in each other is extremely strong.
- 10:51Speaker 2: They we train and wire our team to be confident
- 10:55Speaker 2: and aggressive in everything that we do. And you know,
- 10:58Speaker 2: when you come into an environment like this, you have
- 11:03Speaker 2: to find a way to take the momentum one play
- 11:05Speaker 2: at a time, and it's probably going to be played
- 11:07Speaker 2: one seventive because they have a great team, They're going
- 11:11Speaker 2: to keep coming.
- 11:12Speaker 3: And we have.
- 11:12Speaker 2: Guys that are about that life, that are about that
- 11:15Speaker 2: type of training, that truly enjoy the situation that it
- 11:19Speaker 2: calls for them to be at their best against great players.
- 11:22Speaker 2: So a testament to them, a testament to recruiting development, right,
- 11:28Speaker 2: because that a lot of times gets lost in the
- 11:31Speaker 2: in the mix with some of you guys and just
- 11:33Speaker 2: flat out just toughness and resiliency.
- 11:37Speaker 1: If you watch the end of that game, you may
- 11:38Speaker 1: have seen Mario Christbaal getting a big kiss from Michael Irvin,
- 11:42Speaker 1: former Miami wide receiver, former Zali Dallas Cowboys wide receiver
- 11:46Speaker 1: on the sideline. Going to guess you're going to see
- 11:48Speaker 1: Michael Irvin on the sideline at Jerry World in nine
- 11:52Speaker 1: days as well. So what does it mean to the
- 11:54Speaker 1: Miami program. To have guys like Michael Irvin and some
- 11:57Speaker 1: other program grades on the sideline during a game like that.
- 12:00Speaker 3: I'm disgusting, you know. I mean, he's got a lot
- 12:03Speaker 3: of energy.
- 12:04Speaker 1: Man.
- 12:04Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I couldn't find enough wipeies, you know,
- 12:07Speaker 2: to claim myself.
- 12:07Speaker 3: But I mean, Mike is Mike is awesome.
- 12:10Speaker 2: I remember being in high school and coming over to
- 12:12Speaker 2: practice the University of Miami and going, man, I want
- 12:14Speaker 2: to be part.
- 12:14Speaker 3: Of those dogs. You know, those guys were dogs.
- 12:16Speaker 2: And and I signed with him. I'm like, holy crap,
- 12:19Speaker 2: these guys are really good. I'll never play here, you
- 12:20Speaker 2: know what I mean? They I means so much of
- 12:23Speaker 2: the program, to its fan base, to our community, and
- 12:25Speaker 2: then to see other guys show up as well, and
- 12:27Speaker 2: all week long, to see the the pride returning to
- 12:31Speaker 2: so many former players, to our administration that's worked so
- 12:34Speaker 2: hard to put this all together, to our fans that traveled,
- 12:36Speaker 2: you know, they I know, you know, these games are
- 12:38Speaker 2: kind of tricky. They give you, like, you know, five
- 12:40Speaker 2: tickets and your guys, your people got to be stuck
- 12:42Speaker 2: up in the corner.
- 12:43Speaker 3: But they traveled, They traveled well, they were felt you know.
- 12:47Speaker 3: But yeah, the smooch I don't know about the smooch man,
- 12:50Speaker 3: you know something, but God bless him. Glad he's here,
- 12:53Speaker 3: and glad he's here supporting us.
- 12:55Speaker 1: And finally, now that the first round is over, everyone
- 12:58Speaker 1: wants to sort of relitigate. Okay, what did we learn
- 13:00Speaker 1: and what did it mean about whether the committee got
- 13:02Speaker 1: it right or got it wrong? So, okay, Miami was
- 13:05Speaker 1: the last team in the field. They won their games,
- 13:07Speaker 1: So what does that win say about whether Miami deserved
- 13:12Speaker 1: to get into the field.
- 13:13Speaker 2: Look this, regardless or irregardless of what the result was today,
- 13:17Speaker 2: they made the right decision. I mean, and I said
- 13:19Speaker 2: it a lot of times before last year we had
- 13:22Speaker 2: to go to court, I felt because we had a case.
- 13:25Speaker 2: Other teams had a case, but it was it was fuzzy,
- 13:27Speaker 2: it was muddy. And this year, there's what was fuzzy
- 13:30Speaker 2: about it, you know, I mean, we're looking we come
- 13:32Speaker 2: down to the end. We had common opponents with another
- 13:34Speaker 2: great football team that I'm sure would do great in
- 13:37Speaker 2: the playoffs, but we did better against those.
- 13:39Speaker 3: Common opponents, and we won the head to head.
- 13:41Speaker 2: And God forbid we should ever get away from the
- 13:43Speaker 2: meaning of head to head because just look it out
- 13:46Speaker 2: there today. How many guys were helped off the field right?
- 13:49Speaker 2: How many guys had to be carried or how to
- 13:51Speaker 2: limp off or get on crush? How many guys are
- 13:53Speaker 2: you know seeing the doctor right now? For competing head
- 13:56Speaker 2: to head? Let us never ever de Valley, all right,
- 14:00Speaker 2: the importance of head to head competition?
- 14:02Speaker 1: Please, Well you want to talk about head to head?
- 14:05Speaker 1: The buck Eyes and Miami will be going head to
- 14:06Speaker 1: head nine days from now in the Cotton Bowl.
- 14:09Speaker 3: We will be there.
- 14:10Speaker 1: Covering all of it, covering all the excitement and all
- 14:13Speaker 1: the festivities in the lead up to that game as well,
- 14:15Speaker 1: starting with those interviews on Monday. Have lots of those
- 14:18Speaker 1: for you at YouTube dot com, slash bucke Huddle and
- 14:21Speaker 1: bucke huddle dot com, and we will have we'll kind
- 14:23Speaker 1: of try and treat this like we did the Michigan
- 14:25Speaker 1: week during Thanksgiving Week, where we will try and frontload
- 14:28Speaker 1: as much stuff as we can in your podcast feeds
- 14:31Speaker 1: over the next couple of days, sort of get you
- 14:33Speaker 1: through the next few days. I'm sure a lot of
- 14:35Speaker 1: people are to be traveling for Christmas and all that
- 14:37Speaker 1: kind of stuff. We'll try and get a ton of
- 14:39Speaker 1: stuff for you in the Buckey Huddle, Buckeye Weekly podcast Feed,
- 14:42Speaker 1: the buck Eye Tomorrow Morning podcast feed, and of course
- 14:45Speaker 1: on the bucke Huddle YouTube channel as well YouTube dot
- 14:47Speaker 1: com slash Bucket Huddle. Going to be a lot of
- 14:50Speaker 1: content in all those places, so make sure you subscribe
- 14:52Speaker 1: to all of those and also take a second to
- 14:54Speaker 1: join us at Buckeye Huddle dot com as well. Got
- 14:57Speaker 1: lots of coverage there, written coverage, podcasts, video, all that
- 15:02Speaker 1: kind of good stuff, plus a really fun and active community,
- 15:04Speaker 1: the huddle Board presented by Jeff Ruby's Columbus.
- 15:06Speaker 3: That is all at.
- 15:07Speaker 1: Buckeyehuddle dot com. That'll do it for today. Thank you
- 15:10Speaker 1: guys all for joining us.
- 15:11Speaker 3: Have a great day. We will talk to tomorrow.