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Does A Blowout Win Over Western Kentucky Mean Ohio State Has Solved Its Biggest Issues? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Sunday, September seventeenth time, your host tom
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  Or. The Notre Dame game is in six days, the game against Michigan
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  in sixty nine days. Yes, it is Notre Dame week. Kevin noon,
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  chiming in a little early Notre Dame week. First, we got to
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  talk Before we talk Notre Dame, We're gonna talk a little bit about Ohio
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  State Western Kentucky, and boy there was a lot to talk about. Buckeyes
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  win sixty three to ten. That was you know, the first two games
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  of the season were they didn't look like what you've sort of come to expect
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  Ohio State football to look like against you know, look lesser opposition. This
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  was the first time that you kind of went, oh yeah, it was
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  like the Leo DiCaprio pointing at the screen meme was like, hey it's Ohio
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  State football, Yeah exactly. I mean, they were just able to really
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  impose their will. I think more impressive to me was the fact that they
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  were able to hold Western Kentucky to ten points. I mean, yes,
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  sixty three points is fantastic. A couple of defensive touchdowns, getting contribution up
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  and down the roster. All of that is very important. But being able
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  to hold Western Kentucky to less than three hundred total yards, ten total points,
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  and offense that return quite possibly the best quarterback receiver duo in the nation
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  in terms of returners with Austin Reid and with Malachai Corley. To be able
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  to do all of that, I think that answers more questions of they're going
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  to be the people are going to dismiss well sixty three points against a group
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  of five team big deal. But I think when you sit there and you
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  look at what Western Kentucky's numbers were and what they're going to be at over
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  the course of this season, to hold Western to what you did, I
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  think that's going to be very impressive, and I think is another indication that
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  this defense is starting to be what it is that Bryan Day and Jim Knowles
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  would like it to be. Yeah, I mean, you look at Austin
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  Reid's numbers, twenty one to thirty seven, two hundred and seven yards,
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  one touchdown, one pick, fifty seven percent completion percentage. They live in
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  the zero to ten yards for the most part, So those are the whole
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  point of their offense as Hey, these are easy short throws. You're going
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  to complete seventy five percent of them and keep those chains moving. When that
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  seventy five goes to fifty seven, all of a sudden, those chains stopped
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  moving. Malachai Corley, like you mentioned eight catches eighty eight yards, but
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  that's on thirteen targets only average eleven yards per catch. I mean, they
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  just sort of they didn't ever let Western Yu Tuckie get loose. I kept
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  waiting for the fourteen play eighty seven yard drive that choose up, you know,
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  in half of a quarter. They just keep it moving, They keep
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  it moving, keep it moving, and it just it never happened. The
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  defense just it was the coverage was good downfield. The pass rush they only
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  had two sacks, but the pass rush was so disruptive. They constantly had
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  hands and throwing lanes. I think they had six six passes deflected. One
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  of them got the flective right at the line and got caught for a three
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  yard loss. I mean, they just it was a very very disruptive Ohio
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  State defense. Ohio State held Western Kentucky three of sixteen on third down,
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  and that's why we never saw that fourteen play drive that you're talking about there,
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  because Ohio State really was able to do a good job there. Western
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  Kentucky did go for it on fourth down six times, converting three of them.
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  We talked on an earlier show about Tyson Helton coming in sid Well,
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  We're you know, we didn't come in here to, you know, to
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  pussy foot around. I mean, you know, my words, not his.
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  I think that that was really important for what Ohio State was able to
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  do. I mean, sure there were going to be people that are going
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  to be like yeah, but you still weren't able to get them off the
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  field, get them off the field as quickly as you'd like to. As
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  I'm sitting there and I'm looking for time and possession, I mean Western had
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  thirty two thirty four, Ohio State twenty seven, twenty six. Still,
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  I think, you know, if we would sit there and pull up numbers
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  of previous games, that feels a lot more in line with normality versus maybe
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  what we saw in the first couple of games. Yeah, and they had
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  fifteen first downs, but to twenty four for Ohio State and you got him
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  off the field was three of sixteen on third downs. They picked up three
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  of those on fourth down. But they also had three fourth downs they didn't
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  pick up. So you know, if you want to say, okay,
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  really they were six for sixteen because they picked up three of them on fourth
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  down. Okay, then you're adding then you're adding three more turnovers to the
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  line for Ohio State and they did just find in the turnover department two they
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  had two interceptions. Steel Chambers had one Jermaine Matthews, the true freshman corner
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  out of Cincinnati, he had to pick six. They had another force fumbled.
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  Denzel Burke gets in there, puts his helmet on the ball, and
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  Tyli Williams, after an incredible rugby scrum in the end zone where it was
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  like any of about nine different guys look like they were going to come out
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  with it. Tyli Williams comes out with it and looks like just about the
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  happiest human being on earth. Yeah, and let's not forget that there was
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  another they're fumble in the game too that Ohio State wasn't able to fall on.
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  So they were out there hitting. I mean that Tyler Williams, that
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  was a good moment there. I mean, seeing those defensive scores, I
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  think that I saw on the telecast that it's the first time they've had two
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  defensive scores in a game since twenty eighteen. So, I mean a lot
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  of people are probably still fixated on sack numbers. She talked about that,
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  But it is about havoc. It is about being able getting a guy uncomfortable.
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  I don't think that Austin Reid really was all that comfortable back there with
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  the pressure that was coming in. And sure Ohio State was you know,
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  a fingertip away one or two times. I mean, just couldn't get to
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  him. But you're speeding him up, you're creating, you're making him move
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  the pocket. All of that stuff is very important. Yeah, he looked
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  very uncomfortable. They were just constantly hands in passing lanes. There's was one
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  where he was like a started going right and then it was like a throwback
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  to the left. But I think it was Jack Sawyer was right in his
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  face and he's, you know, throwing the ball on an angle and he
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  somehow completed it. But you know, you're talking about him not looking comfortable.
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  That did not look like a comfortable throw. That was not He did
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  not have time in the pocket. They didn't have time to do run anything
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  down field. For the most part, they were just kind of like getting
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  the ball out and try and have a guy make someone miss in space,
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  and Ohis State did a pretty good job getting guys to the ground so yet
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  defensively, that was a very, very impressive performance. Tony and I talked
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  towards the end of the week about on one of the shows about you know
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  that we were sort of both expecting, you know, twenty four twenty one
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  point something like that for Western Kentucky, and boy, if they held them
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  under fourteen, we would be pretty impressed. Well, they held them under
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  fourteen, so and Western Kentucky was not playing it cautious. They were taking
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  that extra swing with fourth down six times. He was going for it.
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  He was playing really, really, really aggressively, and Ohio State still held
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  him the ten points. Yeah, that was really impressive. Kyla McCord also
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  pretty impressive. And his first you know, okay, officially he was the
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  starter before, but it was only you know, wor case starter. Now
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  he's the All Caps starter, officially, the starter. It's really his job.
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  And he looked like a guy who has been you know, better every
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  week. He was better from the second half to the first half of the
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  second half. Week one, better, Week two, better, Week three,
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  just looks like a guy who's kind of taking on like, Okay,
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  now this is my team, and now this is you know, now I'm
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  going to start acting like it. At the end of the first half,
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  he had more touchdown passes than in completions and ended up finishing the day with
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  four in completions and three touchdowns. Urgency was gone a little bit in the
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  second half. You're just trying to kind of all right, let's just get
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  through this. I mean, when are you're bringing Devon in? I mean,
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  it was one of those types of things. But yeah, I think
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  it's really important for him to have that success, especially going into Notre Dame
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  because he had the two weeks of the competition and giving a lot of points
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  on the field and a lot of you know, oh, this thing just
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  feels like they're you know that they're driving with the parking break on or something
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  like that. So for them to come out and really connect and he only
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  threw twenty three passes for what it was worth, and you know, still
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  had three eighteen yards, three touchdowns, eighty three percent completion percentage. All
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  of that it's going to be very important because I think one of the things
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  and maybe to turn the page a little bit to Notre Dame. One of
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  my big questions about Notre Dame is what it's secondary is going to be.
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  And you want to have a quarterback that's coming off of an eighty three percent
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  game, because you know, I think that it's going to be somebody that's
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  going to trust his arm, is going to trust his decision making, and
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  he's going to feel a little freer to throw the ball. Yeah, it
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  feels like this is you know, I mean, this is the first real
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  road test, like no disrespect to Indiana, but also sorry, if you
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  need me to explain the history of Indiana football as compared to the history of
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  Notre Dame football, we can do that, but that's probably a separate show.
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  This is going to be the first truly hostile crowd, prime time national
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  TV. You know, we'll we'll see whether it's seventy twenty five Notre Dame
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  fans or eighty twenty or fIF sixty five, thirty five, whatever the number
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  is, it is going to be majority Notre Dame fans. They're going to
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  be loud, They're gonna have all day to get you know, into pre
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  game and get ready. And this is you know, this is a big
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  game. This is a game where this could be a statement game for Ohio
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  State. This could also be a statement game for Notre Dame. I mean,
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  Notre Dame. Texas had their Texas's back game a couple of weeks,
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  you know, last week against Alabama. If Notre Dame can beat Ohio State,
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  something they haven't done since the nineteen thirties, this becomes you know,
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  this becomes okay, maybe Notre Dame really, maybe this time really is different.
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  Maybe this is not just the oh, you know, so the Tyrone
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  Willingham is six and oh and therefore we're you know, or Charlie Weiss is
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  six and oh like it's been. They've gotten back to a certain point.
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  This is a chance to have a real statement game for Notre Dame. Going
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  into a game like that, you want you, you were quarterback to be
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  Okay, I'm not scared. I'm not you know, I'm not uncertain about
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  my abilities. I know my receivers. I trust my receivers, I know
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  my line, I trust my line to know my running backs, I trust
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  my running backs. I mean it feels like this is a kind of game
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  where you're going to go in and be a little bit more willing to sort
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  of let it all hang out next week. I mean, a very important
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  game. As you said, both teams have the opportunity to make a statement.
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  It's not going to hurt a conference race. It's not going to hurt
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  Ohio State because it's in a Big ten game. It's not gonna hurt Notre
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  Dame because they're not in a conference. So I think that it's a game
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  where you're going to go out there and you're going to be throwing haymakers and
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  you're coming because there is so much upside for winning this game. It's it's
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  something that will resonate very well in that room in Grapevine, Texas when they
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  start talking about the college football Playoff the last year or the four team playoff,
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  and having that type of win is going to be very important. And
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  let's be honest, Ohio State's first three games not necessarily national juggernauts. So
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  to sit there and be able to have three games against teams as of the
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  moment we're recording this that are in the top ten, all of that's very
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  important. It starts with Notre Dame, and I think at that point you
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  really have a you have a better idea of what this Ohio State team is.
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  And then on the other side of the coin, for Notre Dame plays
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  largely an ACC schedule. Really the best game outside of the Ohio State game
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  on its schedule I guess would probably be USC. Yeah, I mean,
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  so they need to make full advantage because I'll tell you what, Boston College
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  isn't going to get them across the line. Yeah, the Notre Dame.
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  If Notre Dame wants to make the College Football Playoff, they have to split
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  the Ohio State in USC games. And if you don't do that, well,
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  then the USC game becomes must win. And I think that one is
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  in LA this year. I think I don't remember for sure, but you
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  know that USC is no walk in the park this year either. So,
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  yeah, this is this is a big, big, big game that you
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  this Kevin said you were going to be hearing about a bunch by the time
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  we get to November. Whether we're talking about this is a quality win for
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  what you know, Notre Dame or Ohio State, it's going to be one.
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  We're talking about a lot later in the year, but I think Ohio
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  State fans maybe going into Notre Dame week feeling a little bit better about things.
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  After a sixty three to ten win over Western Kentucky Saturday at the Horseshoe.
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  Boy, I am already excited about that Notre Dame game. We talked
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  about this a little bit on the postgame buck Eye Weekly, but I we
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  have already been talking about the Notre Dame game plan because this is you know,
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  this is the kind of game that does not come around all the time,
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  and you know, you don't get a chance to go to you know,
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  this is one of the great venues in college football, and Ohio State
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  has only played there once since the thirties. They played once in the thirty
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  five or thirty six, they played there, played there again in nineteen ninety
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  six, and then now next weekend. You know, this is this is
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  going to be a spectacle. It's also going to be It's not just a
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  helmet game like this is a legit, two really good teams going head to
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  head with a whole heck of a lot on the line. So I don't
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  know about you, but I'm kind of excited. Yeah, I've you know,
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  I've been been everywhere. I've seen games everywhere. I've not seen a
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  game in Notre Dame. In the game in the nineties, I did not
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  get to go to that game. I was working in Columbus and I was
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  too valuable to the operation to leave the studio. So is that what they
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  told you? Yes, yes, I know it was. It was something.
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  But you know, this is going to be a really exciting game.
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  It's going to be a great backdrop, great uniforms, great helmets. I
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  mean, as part of a stellar weekend of games. But even with all
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  the great games that are that are slated for Week four. Maybe a little
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  biased here, but I think this is the game that that's at the top
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  of the of the pyramid. Yeah, there are some great games on the
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  schedule next week, but it's you know, this is this is one where
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  it's two teams this year who are great, but also two teams historically who
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  are great and too you know, fight songs and bands and everything you could
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  possibly want from college football. You're going to get it right between the eyes
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  next Saturday night. So, boy, as we count down those days to
• 14:07
  that game, which might be kind of fun and exciting, a great place
• 14:11
  to do. That would be at buckeyehuttle dot com, where we have a
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  fantastic human insiders covering the Buckeyes, the team covering the Buckeyes in terms of
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  recruiting, covering ex's nose, and scheme talk to make you a smarter football
• 14:20
  fan. I have a feeling we're gonna be talking a little bit about all
• 14:24
  of that stuff this week as we count down the days to that Notre Dame
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  game six days away. So we will make sure you join us there at
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  buckeyehttle dot com. Now that you know that the Ohio State twenty twenty three
• 14:35
  football team might be okay, now it's probably safe to plump down a few
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  you also check us out on YouTube YouTube dot com slash Buckeye Huddle. I'll
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  of sports betting, but also just on sort of football by the numbers.
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  Yeah. Yeah, it's a more analytical approach maybe to college football. And
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  then the Daily Huddle as well with Garrett Seewright. I mean, lots of
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  We would appreciate that. That will help other folks find those shows as well.
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  That will do it for today. Thank you guys all for joining us.
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  Up a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.