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BONUS: James Laurinaitis Honored As Victory Bell-Ringer Vs. Illinois · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, we got another bonus episode. And this time
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: you're going to get to hear a little bit more
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  Speaker 1: from Ohio State head coach Ryan Day. He talked to
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  Speaker 1: us after practice on Wednesday evening. Had a lot of
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  Speaker 1: interesting stuff to talk about, shared some updates on a
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  Speaker 1: few things. But one of the things that he was
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  Speaker 1: asked about was something that's going to happen before the
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  Speaker 1: game on Saturday. And there's Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis.
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  Speaker 1: He's going to be ringing the victory bell in that
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  Speaker 1: pregame ceremony, sort of pregame hype up moment that they
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  Speaker 1: have right before the team comes out of the tunnel.
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  Speaker 3: That's quite an honor for Laurinaitis.
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  Speaker 1: Day was asked about Laurinaitis himself and his experience with Laurinaitis,
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  Speaker 1: what he knew about Laurinaitis before he came to Ohio State,
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  Speaker 1: and what made him decide that he wanted to add
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  Speaker 1: Laurinaitis to the Ohio State coaching staff.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, first off, I watched him as a player
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  Speaker 2: and had a lot of respect for him. Then I
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  Speaker 2: got a chance to know him in Columbus when he
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  Speaker 2: was doing radio and TV, and then got a chance
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  Speaker 2: to meet with him a few times. He was interested
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  Speaker 2: in sort of getting into coaching, and then He and
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  Speaker 2: I had multiple conversations. And then, you know, when he
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  Speaker 2: was out at Notre Dame, you know, we had something
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  Speaker 2: pop open here. And then once he was on staff,
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  Speaker 2: you quickly recognized that he was going to make the
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  Speaker 2: transition from being a player to a coach pretty quickly.
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  Speaker 3: It's the way he played the game.
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  Speaker 2: And then, you know, my challenge to him was, you know,
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  Speaker 2: when you're at Ohio State, you know, it should be
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  Speaker 2: linebacker you. And he obviously understood that in a big way.
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  Speaker 2: And then has gone about really taking that to heart.
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  Speaker 2: And you can see what's going on in that room
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  Speaker 2: starts off with the recruiting and then it goes to
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  Speaker 2: the coaching. So I just think it's a tremendous honor
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  Speaker 2: to be inducted in the college football hall of fame. And, um,
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  Speaker 2: and so I thought it was the right thing to
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  Speaker 2: do to have them be, uh, you know, have them
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  Speaker 2: ring the bell, even though he's coaching in the game,
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  Speaker 2: it's just, um, you know, he's one of the greats here, uh,
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  Speaker 2: at Ohio state and, um, and he's got a Buckeye
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  Speaker 2: tree here. So, um, you know, we're, We're honored not
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  Speaker 2: only to have him as part of our Ohio State family,
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  Speaker 2: but as a coach. And then the lessons that he's
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  Speaker 2: able to give to our young guys, that's why he's
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  Speaker 2: got into coaching. At least that's what he's relayed to me.
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  Speaker 3: He enjoys that part of it.
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  Speaker 2: So it's been great to watch him grow as a
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  Speaker 2: coach because there's a lot of things you still learn
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  Speaker 2: as a coach. It's different than playing, but he's obviously
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  Speaker 2: made the transition quickly.
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  Speaker 1: Three games into the season, you're 25% of the way
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  Speaker 1: through your college football regular season already, believe it or not.
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  Speaker 1: And this is the week when Ohio State is entering
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  Speaker 1: Big Ten plays. So it seems like a good time
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  Speaker 1: for sort of a check-in and a check-up on where
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  Speaker 1: things stand right now. So what does Ryan Day think
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  Speaker 1: about Matt Patricia and his defense and where things stand
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  Speaker 1: with them right now?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it's a progression.
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  Speaker 2: And I think we continue to evaluate each day and
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  Speaker 2: then obviously each week on Saturdays.
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  Speaker 3: But it is a new group.
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  Speaker 2: But I think they have momentum. I think they're growing momentum.
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  Speaker 2: They've had a really good week of practice. But now
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  Speaker 2: that we're getting into conference play, we're going to get
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  Speaker 2: more feedback. But some of the guys that, you know,
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  Speaker 2: came in through the transfer portal, even some of the
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  Speaker 2: younger guys like Timmons and Kari Wilder and some of
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  Speaker 2: the newer faces, you know, they're not new anymore. They've
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  Speaker 2: been in the system now, you know, since last spring.
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  Speaker 2: And and now have three games under their belt, so
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  Speaker 2: going into game four. They're gaining more and more confidence
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  Speaker 2: when they walk out on the practice field and then
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  Speaker 2: win the game on Saturday.
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  Speaker 3: Their goal is to be the best defense in the country.
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  Speaker 3: That's it. All their focus is on that part of it.
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  Speaker 2: I think the competition that we have in practice every
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  Speaker 2: day allows us to identify the things.
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  Speaker 3: That we've got to get better at. We'll see on Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: We'll have another data point there and keep going from there,
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  Speaker 2: but I think that's the thing that Matt has always
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  Speaker 2: done very, very well, which is the thing that attracted
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  Speaker 2: us to bring him here was his ability to adapt.
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  Speaker 3: Based on his personnel.
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  Speaker 2: This is not the same group we had last year,
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  Speaker 2: but there's some good players on defense, and these guys
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  Speaker 2: want to be the best in the country. That's their goal.
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  Speaker 2: They want to be the next great defense in the
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  Speaker 2: Silver Bullet history. Illinois brings in a great challenge for us.
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  Speaker 2: Brett you know, for a long, long time has done
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  Speaker 2: a really good job on offense, obviously with the offensive
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  Speaker 2: line and the way they run the ball. I think
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  Speaker 2: their quarterback's playing well. You know, they do some unique
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  Speaker 2: things and really do a good job in particular on
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  Speaker 2: second down, you know, the way that they attack you.
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  Speaker 2: So bring in some different things. You know, they ran
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  Speaker 2: some tempo against us last year. So it's going to
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  Speaker 2: be a great challenge for our guys going into the game.
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  Speaker 2: And so they're preparing hard and looking forward to noon
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  Speaker 2: kickoff on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: One of the hot topics online this week has been
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State's tight ends and personnel mixes. And should they
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  Speaker 1: be playing more tight ends? Should they be playing fewer
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  Speaker 1: tight ends? Should they be playing no tight ends? And
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  Speaker 1: Ryan Day was asked about playing no tight ends. And
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  Speaker 1: they've actually played no tight end personnel groupings more, it
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  Speaker 1: seems like, this year than in previous seasons in the past.
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  Speaker 1: That's something I actually talked about with Ross Fulton and
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  Speaker 1: Justin Whitlatch on the Scheme Insider Roundtable that we dropped.
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  Speaker 1: on friday you can find that on our youtube channel
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  Speaker 1: and you can find that on our board as well
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  Speaker 1: the insiders board at buckeyeinsiders.com but ryan day was asked
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  Speaker 1: about that and 10 personnel that would be 10 personnel
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  Speaker 1: is one running back no tight ends and four wide
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  Speaker 1: receivers what does ryan day think about that what are
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  Speaker 1: the benefits of having a 10 personnel package out there.
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  Speaker 2: Well as you can imagine when you when you have
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  Speaker 2: multiple tight ends in the game it can build bigger
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  Speaker 2: surfaces in the run game um when you have more
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  Speaker 2: receivers on the field, you get more athletic, you can
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  Speaker 2: spread it out, but the surfaces get, get shorter. So
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  Speaker 2: there's pluses and minuses to all of those things. I
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  Speaker 2: think when, um, I think any coach would tell you
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  Speaker 2: when you have, you know, multiple groupings that you can
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  Speaker 2: put on the field to make a defense, uh, work
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  Speaker 2: and change kind of their mindset, that's good. Um, it's
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  Speaker 2: not always the case because, you know, you want to
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  Speaker 2: put your best 11 on the field and be efficient.
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  Speaker 2: There's always not enough hours in the day to kind
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  Speaker 2: of work through all these personnel groupings. Um, But I
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  Speaker 2: think that there's certainly a place for us with 10
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  Speaker 2: personnel when appropriate. I think we'll start real small, but
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  Speaker 2: then we can grow from it if we have success,
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  Speaker 2: which we've already done it a couple of times and
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  Speaker 2: had some success doing it. So when appropriate, we will
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  Speaker 2: do it and continue to do that. And then also
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  Speaker 2: look at the other groupings as well.
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  Speaker 1: Last year, Ohio State had two of the best linebackers
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  Speaker 1: in program history in Arvell Reese and Sonny Stiles.
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  Speaker 3: This year, Those guys are.
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  Speaker 1: Both gone, and they've had to kind of replace them
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  Speaker 1: by committee a little bit. They've really played four linebackers
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  Speaker 1: pretty regularly so far this season. Peyton Pierce, Christian Allegro,
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  Speaker 1: Riley Pettyjohn, and TJ Alford. Was Ryan Day expecting to
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  Speaker 1: play four linebackers this year?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you think you know what you have, but you
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  Speaker 2: don't know until you get on the field. But the
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  Speaker 2: way that TJ kind of came on in the spring,
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  Speaker 2: Riley was out in the spring, but we saw the
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  Speaker 2: way he kind of finished last season. And then we
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  Speaker 2: had Peyton and Christian. So We felt like all four
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  Speaker 2: of those guys were going to be able to help
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  Speaker 2: us this season. They do some things all together the same,
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  Speaker 2: but then also things they do really.
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  Speaker 3: Well, unique to them.
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  Speaker 2: So that's been sort of the part that James and
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  Speaker 2: Matt have worked hard to try to put them in
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  Speaker 2: situations that they can utilize their strengths. But, you know,
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  Speaker 2: you see them on special teams. You see them being
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  Speaker 2: active in everything they do. So, yeah, they're a big
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  Speaker 2: part of our defense. And I'm not surprised that all
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  Speaker 2: those guys are playing. They're good football players.
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  Speaker 1: The Ohio State defense is trying to find new ways
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  Speaker 1: to generate pressure on the quarterback, and they have to
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  Speaker 1: get a little creative at times to make that happen.
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  Speaker 1: One of the things that Matt Patricia has dialed up
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  Speaker 1: a few times is Jay Timmons blitzing off the corner.
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  Speaker 1: What does Ryan Day think about that?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so. And that was the plan.
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  Speaker 2: And so we'll figure out what's appropriate and try to
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  Speaker 2: identify the right guys that can speed up the game
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  Speaker 2: when appropriate. So but you have to be able to
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  Speaker 2: execute them. And that's the biggest thing. And that's the challenge,
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  Speaker 2: you know, is the challenge is, you know, we need
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  Speaker 2: to be able to get after the quarterback with a
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  Speaker 2: three-man rush, four-man rush, five-man rush, six-man rush, maybe seven-man rush,
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  Speaker 2: you know, when it's utilized properly. But, you know, we
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  Speaker 2: have to feel confident that when we call it in
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  Speaker 2: the game, it's going to get executed well. And so
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  Speaker 2: we've been working on all those different packages.
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  Speaker 3: And so.
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  Speaker 2: It's on the guys every day to go out there
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  Speaker 2: and put it on the field to build confidence. If
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  Speaker 2: you want to, be on the field and attend personnel
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  Speaker 2: on offense, or you want to be on the field
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  Speaker 2: in a dime package, or you want to be on
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  Speaker 2: the field when we're blitzing, then you got to make
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  Speaker 2: it look good in practice. You know, that's the challenge
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  Speaker 2: to our guys. And, you know, that was well done.
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  Speaker 2: You can see we can create some chaos, create some plays,
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  Speaker 2: but there's give and take in everything that we do. So,
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  Speaker 2: but it was definitely something that we're emphasizing, you know,
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  Speaker 2: right now and as we get into this conference play.
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  Speaker 1: This weekend's opponent, the Illinois Fighting Illini, they have a
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  Speaker 1: new defensive coordinator. It's Bobby Houck, if that name sounds familiar.
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  Speaker 1: He was the longtime head coach at the University of Montana,
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  Speaker 1: incredibly successful at the FCS level. And he kind of
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: did the Kyle Whittingham thing last season, where he retired
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  Speaker 1: after the season as the head coach and then immediately
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  Speaker 1: took another job. Whittingham, of course, took the head coaching
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  Speaker 1: job at Michigan. And Bobby Houck, the new defensive coordinator
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  Speaker 1: at Illinois. Now, Things haven't gone great for Illinois on defense.
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  Speaker 1: Tony and I rewatched that Duke game, and man, they
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  Speaker 1: had some missed tackles. They had some missed assignments. It
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  Speaker 1: was kind of a little bit of a mess. But
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  Speaker 1: Illinois is also showing a bunch of different new stuff.
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  Speaker 1: They're kind of trying to make things confusing on the
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  Speaker 1: opposing offenses as well. So what has Ryan Day seen
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  Speaker 1: out of that Bobby hauck defense.
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  Speaker 2: Well yeah when when every play is is a movement
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  Speaker 2: and the twists and a pressure um when you have
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  Speaker 2: linemen who have played before they at least have a
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  Speaker 2: reference point on how to handle that they all have
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  Speaker 2: to be on on on the same page and working
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  Speaker 2: together to handle some of that movement um if you're
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  Speaker 2: sort of one-on-one in that you know you can get
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  Speaker 2: yourself out of whack and they always try to get
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  Speaker 2: to an edge of a player and they do an
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  Speaker 2: excellent job of that and coaching his system and what
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  Speaker 2: he did at Montana and now creates a lot of havoc.
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  Speaker 3: We have to be really good in what we're doing.
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  Speaker 2: It does help to have a veteran line that's been
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  Speaker 2: through some of that before, but it doesn't make it easy.
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  Speaker 3: These guys are good. They play really hard.
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  Speaker 2: We've got to get vertical on these guys and have
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  Speaker 2: opportunities to get around the edge when appropriate, but But
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, we can't take negative
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  Speaker 2: plays because that's what they feed off of.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: All right. We are just one day away from the
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: next Ohio State football home game, Saturday noon on Fox.
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State and Illinois kicking off the Big Ten season
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: is about to get real, start to get a little
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: more exciting and done with the 50-point point spreads this year.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: That's probably a good thing for everyone involved. We will
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: have our usual pregame coverage, postgame coverage for you at youtube.com
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: slash at Buckeye Insiders. But man, we would really love
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: to see you at BuckeyeInsiders.com as a member. Our Insiders
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: board has been absolutely buzzing the last couple of weeks.
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  Speaker 1: We've had a ton of great content from our Scheme Insiders.
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  Speaker 1: They've had a lot of interesting questions that they've been answering.
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  Speaker 3: On that board.
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  Speaker 1: They are there to make you a smarter football fan,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: but we've also had some good recruiting coverage, had some
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: good basketball coverage, lots of good team coverage from Tony.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: We would love to see you there at BuckeyeInsiders.com. Be
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: a part of all of that with us. Thank you
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: guys all for joining us and we'll be back with
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: another episode soon.