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Ohio State vs. Texas: Everything Steve Sarkisian Said About The Buckeyes · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes Tomorrow morning for Wednesday, August twenty seventh,
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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom or the Texas game in three days,
0:07
Speaker 1: the game against Michigan in ninety four days. If you're
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Speaker 1: planning your next event, make it unforgettable with Grateful Griddle,
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Speaker 1: Columbus's favorite food truck serving up smashburger scoremet sandwiches and
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Speaker 1: good vibes booker catering today at gratefulgriddleoh dot com. On
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Speaker 1: today's show, you're going to get to hear everything Texas
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Speaker 1: head coach Steve Sarkisian had to say about the Buckeyes
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Speaker 1: and this weekend's monumental matchup in the Horseshoe. Number one
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Speaker 1: versus number two can't get much bigger than that. So
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Speaker 1: I'm going to start with just Sarks overalls, sort of
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Speaker 1: general thoughts on the game. This one goes on for
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Speaker 1: a little while most the rest of them, but who
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Speaker 1: sort of shorter answers in this.
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Speaker 2: As far as the ballgame goes, you know, pretty epic
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Speaker 2: matchup when you think about you know one verse two
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Speaker 2: in at least one of the two major polls for
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Speaker 2: the first game of the season is is great for
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Speaker 2: college football?
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Speaker 3: In my opinion.
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Speaker 2: You know, as much as you know I'm going to
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Speaker 2: talk about the rankings don't matter, which I believe that,
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Speaker 2: But I do think for college football, the fanfare, the
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Speaker 2: excitement around this game, I think is great for our sport.
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Speaker 3: And the fact that we have three.
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Speaker 2: Top ten matchups this weekend I think is great for
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Speaker 2: college football in general. But beyond the rankings, these are
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Speaker 2: two really good teams. Ton of respect for Ohio State,
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Speaker 2: ton of respect for Ryan Day and the job he's
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Speaker 2: done obviously defending national champs. I think coach Day is
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Speaker 2: like seventy to ten since he's taken over at Ohio State.
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Speaker 3: And you think about the quality of players in this game.
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Speaker 2: You know, if you look at last year's game, twenty
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Speaker 2: six players got drafted off of the two teams in
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Speaker 2: the NFL you include free agents, thirty two players that
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Speaker 2: were playing.
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Speaker 3: In that game a year ago are now in the NFL.
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Speaker 2: And the fact that both teams are coming back is
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Speaker 2: one and two in the country. I think speaks volumes
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Speaker 2: to the quality of programs that both of us have,
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Speaker 2: quite frankly, and so you know, we've got nine guys that.
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Speaker 3: Started in that game a year ago.
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Speaker 2: We had thirty players back that played in that game
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Speaker 2: a year ago, so we do have some experience from
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Speaker 2: that environment.
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Speaker 3: But it should be a heck of a day.
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Speaker 2: The fact that you know this is going to be
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Speaker 2: Lee Corso, Swansong and ESPN College Game Day is going
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Speaker 2: to be there. Obviously, Fox with their big new and
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Speaker 2: kickoff covering the game is going to be there. I
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Speaker 2: think sets for a great environment and a great stage
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Speaker 2: for this game.
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Speaker 3: You know. Naturally, it's a tall task.
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Speaker 2: We've talked about this at length before the season, but
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Speaker 2: we've got a tough road slate this year and this
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Speaker 2: is the first one of a few to come, and
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Speaker 2: so it serves us good to have to go on
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Speaker 2: the road early, find out about ourselves, find out where
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Speaker 2: we're at, where we're at as a program, where we
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Speaker 2: can approve, and where we can continue to get better,
2:45
Speaker 2: because we're going to travel more than any other SEC
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Speaker 2: team this year in our conference, and so this is
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Speaker 2: a great opportunity for us to go do that. Naturally,
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Speaker 2: we believe in our process on the road. We've won
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Speaker 2: eleven in a row on the road now and they
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Speaker 2: haven't been They're all been very difficult.
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Speaker 3: Going on the road is tough, but this is going
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Speaker 3: to be a heck.
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Speaker 2: Of a matchup for a great environment against a really
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Speaker 2: good team who's really well coached, who's had a ton
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Speaker 2: of success. And you know, I think a little bit
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Speaker 2: too about some of the epic games that that Texas
3:15
Speaker 2: and Ohio State have been part of. Obviously last year's
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Speaker 2: National semi final game, this is the twenty year anniversary
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Speaker 2: of the five season and and v Y and and
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Speaker 2: going there and getting a win at the Shoe. So, uh,
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Speaker 2: the two programs are not uh, you know, they're they're
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Speaker 2: they're very kind of aware of one another. There's been
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Speaker 2: great games and that you know, the goal is I
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Speaker 2: think for for both teams and for both fan bases, uh,
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Speaker 2: that this game can can live up to some of
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Speaker 2: those expectations of the games in the past.
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Speaker 3: So with that will open it up.
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Speaker 1: This next one is one of those questions that you
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Speaker 1: hear the question and you assume, Okay, I know exactly
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Speaker 1: what he's going to say, and he did not give
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Speaker 1: the answer that I was assuming he was going to say. Normally,
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Speaker 1: when you get asked, you know, would you prefer to
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Speaker 1: have this game a week or two later on the
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Speaker 1: schedule if it was up to you, you'll get the
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Speaker 1: coach saying, well, you know, it's not up to me.
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Speaker 1: I don't want to get into hypothetic goals. Nope, that
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Speaker 1: wasn't Sark's answer. Here was his actual answer on whether
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Speaker 1: he would prefer to have this game maybe a week
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Speaker 1: or two later on the schedule.
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Speaker 2: We would always, I guess, want it to be. You know,
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Speaker 2: you'd like to get something, you know, some footing underneath
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Speaker 2: you with some new players, some guys that maybe haven't
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Speaker 2: played with you, even if they're transfers. But I think
4:22
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, it's like, if it's
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Speaker 2: both of ours first game, you feel okay, where I'd
4:27
Speaker 2: be really uncomfortable if this was our first game and
4:30
Speaker 2: they had already gotten a game under their belt. So
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Speaker 2: it just is what it is. You try to prepare
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Speaker 2: your team as best you can. You try to minimize
4:37
Speaker 2: the self inflicted wounds, and so you can play as
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Speaker 2: clean of football as possible come Saturday at noon.
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Speaker 1: Every coach has their own little pet sayings that you'll
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Speaker 1: hear over and over again. What if Sarks is you
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Speaker 1: get what you emphasize. So, okay, what is Sark emphasizing
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Speaker 1: with his team this week, well.
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Speaker 3: I think details.
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Speaker 2: You know, we obviously start in preparation a week ago
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Speaker 2: and we kind of, you know, incrementally got through that preparation.
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Speaker 2: You know, I think this week is about the details
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Speaker 2: and the style of play that that we think is
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Speaker 2: unique to us. You know, naturally, we want to remain
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Speaker 2: enamored with what we do and not get caught up
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Speaker 2: in the environment of you know, the crowd, the opponent,
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Speaker 2: the kickoff time, whatever that is, and just focus on
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Speaker 2: what we need to do so we can be the
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Speaker 2: best of our ability, and that starts with the details.
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Speaker 3: The little things are going to matter in this game.
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Speaker 1: Here's an impressive stat the Texas Longhorns have not lost
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Speaker 1: a true road game since October of twenty twenty two. So, okay,
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Speaker 1: that's pretty impressive. What's the key to their success on
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Speaker 1: the road?
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Speaker 2: You know, I think I think we trust our process.
5:45
Speaker 2: You know, we we've got a real process that we
5:48
Speaker 2: believe in in our starting this morning and what our
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Speaker 2: practice plans look like, and the crowd noise that we
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Speaker 2: work with, and then to Friday's routine, to game day's routine,
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Speaker 2: and to really toning out what's going on outside of us.
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Speaker 2: And focus on what's going on between the white lines.
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Speaker 2: And to your point, we've been in some tough some
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Speaker 2: tough venues, you know, playing at Kyle Field last year
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Speaker 2: was it was a tough venue, Playing at Michigan last season,
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Speaker 2: defending national champs, going to Alabama the year before that.
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Speaker 2: So we've been in some tough venues. I think doing
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Speaker 2: it with confidence, knowing that adversity will strike and then
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Speaker 2: having a next play mentality, having the mental toughness to
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Speaker 2: persevere to get on the other side of some of
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Speaker 2: that adversity, I think is really important as well.
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Speaker 3: But mostly it's staying connected.
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Speaker 2: It's staying connected on that sidelines, being enamored with what
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Speaker 2: we need to do and not get so caught up
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Speaker 2: in what's going on around us.
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Speaker 1: This weekend's matchup is going to be a showdown of
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Speaker 1: two former five star quarterbacks, Julian Saying making his first start,
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Speaker 1: Arch Manning, not his first start, but his first start
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Speaker 1: against a really good opponent on the road. So all right,
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Speaker 1: what's the message to Arch this week when he's headed
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Speaker 1: on the road to Ohio Stadium.
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Speaker 3: I just it's go be him. You know that.
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Speaker 2: That's really are messaging to all of our players, though
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Speaker 2: you know, you don't have to do anything you've never
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Speaker 2: done before.
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Speaker 3: You don't have to.
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Speaker 2: We're not asking any superhuman efforts of you to do
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Speaker 2: anything that is extraordinary.
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Speaker 3: Just go be you.
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Speaker 2: What what you've done is good enough to get us
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Speaker 2: to this point and to get him to this point
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Speaker 2: in this juncture of his career. Now, now go play
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Speaker 2: the way he's capable of playing, to the style that
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Speaker 2: he's comfortable doing it.
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Speaker 3: And so I'm not a big The best way I speak.
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Speaker 2: To our players is me remaining consistent with who I am,
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Speaker 2: and I think you know one of the mistakes sometimes
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Speaker 2: coaches can make is having more talks, more conversations, more
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Speaker 2: one on one meetings than you would normally have. Well,
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Speaker 2: now I'm out of my I'm out of character for me,
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Speaker 2: which then in turn can get them out of characters.
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Speaker 2: So we'll stick to the routine and the plan of
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Speaker 2: when I meet with the quarterback individually and try to
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Speaker 2: put ourselves in position to go play well.
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Speaker 1: Ohio State has only played one game since the last
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Speaker 1: time they played the Texas law Horns. The last time
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Speaker 1: Texas went on the field that was in the Cotton Bowl,
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Speaker 1: and that twenty eight to fourteen loss to Ohio State.
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Speaker 1: So what is the balance between using that Cotton Bowl
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Speaker 1: loss as motivation for Texas this offseason versus you know,
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Speaker 1: at some point you kind of want to move on
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Speaker 1: with life. So how does how have they sort of
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Speaker 1: struck that balance between motivating and using that game and
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Speaker 1: not getting overwhelmed with that game.
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Speaker 2: That was last year's team. Different team, different people, different personnel.
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Speaker 2: You know, you use it when you need it. You know,
8:34
Speaker 2: I didn't major in it, but I used it when
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Speaker 2: I needed it, And I felt like, man, we're getting
8:39
Speaker 2: a little complacent training camps, getting a little mundane. You
8:42
Speaker 2: kind of always had that in my back pocket. But
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Speaker 2: it's a different team, you know, different leaders, They've got
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Speaker 2: a different team, everybody's you know, it's very different. You know,
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Speaker 2: at the end of the day, that stone walking out
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Speaker 2: of the Cotton Bowl, you know last year. But at
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Speaker 2: the end of day, this is a new challenge, new journey,
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Speaker 2: new mission that we're on, and so that's kind of
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Speaker 2: been our focus.
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Speaker 1: He was asked about some of the differences in the
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Speaker 1: rosters between these two teams. You've heard him talk about
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Speaker 1: that a little bit already. How much turnover there has
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Speaker 1: been and how many guys went to the NFL. But
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Speaker 1: also is some of his specific thoughts at Ohio State
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Speaker 1: quarterback really insane?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think, you know, we both lost
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Speaker 2: some really good veteran players off of last year's teams.
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Speaker 2: You know, I think about a couple couple of guys
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Speaker 2: in our secondary, Macouba and John A at the front,
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Speaker 2: Alfred and Vernon obviously, Matt Golden, you know, some really
9:27
Speaker 2: good players.
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Speaker 3: Some guys on our own line, Calvin.
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Speaker 2: They lost some good players too, you know, and the
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Speaker 2: two backs were great players.
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Speaker 3: The receiver, you know, Julian.
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Speaker 2: Julian's a really good player, is a natural passer. You know,
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Speaker 2: he's got a quick release. He's a better athlete than
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Speaker 2: you think he can run. So he definitely need to
9:43
Speaker 2: be an alert to that and ready for that.
9:45
Speaker 3: But you know, at the.
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Speaker 2: End of the day, you know, this is going to
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Speaker 2: be one of those when you go into the ring
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Speaker 2: with somebody, what's the plan, and then you get you know,
9:52
Speaker 2: as the rounds go on, you got to have to
9:54
Speaker 2: be able to adjust. And we'll have a plan, they'll
9:56
Speaker 2: have a plan, but I think we're gonna have to
9:58
Speaker 2: be ready to adjust to maybe some of the new things.
10:00
Speaker 2: They've got a new defensive coordinator, they've got a new
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Speaker 2: offensive coordinator. You know, you know, Coach Day obviously is
10:06
Speaker 2: gonna have his fingerprints all over the offense. He kind
10:09
Speaker 2: of hired, in my opinion, a head coach for the defense,
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Speaker 2: and Matt Patricia. He's a guy's been an NFL head coach,
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Speaker 2: been with Bill Belichick, and the idea of that that
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Speaker 2: he can really be a head coach on the defensive
10:19
Speaker 2: side of the ball, where Coach Day can really focus
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Speaker 2: on the offense.
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Speaker 3: I think it was a great addition.
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Speaker 2: For them, But but ultimately there's so much new as
10:28
Speaker 2: much as what was old. It's I think we got
10:31
Speaker 2: to focus on what we need to do and then
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Speaker 2: be adjustable as the game goes on.
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Speaker 1: Zark has been a part of programs that have won
10:38
Speaker 1: it all before. You may remember he spent a little
10:40
Speaker 1: time in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a little while ago. But how
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Speaker 1: do you know if a team has what it takes
10:47
Speaker 1: to do what those Alabama teams and some other teams
10:50
Speaker 1: he's been affiliated with have done.
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Speaker 3: I don't know. That's the thing.
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Speaker 2: We're a long ways away from January nineteenth. I'm focused
10:58
Speaker 2: on August thirtieth, focused on the next five days. I'm
11:01
Speaker 2: focused on what do we need to do. I think
11:03
Speaker 2: that's one of the traps that we can fall into
11:06
Speaker 2: as a team is looking to the summit and not
11:09
Speaker 2: focusing on, you know, the first journey of this hike
11:12
Speaker 2: that we're on, this client that we're on, and so
11:14
Speaker 2: you know, our challenge the players on that this morning.
11:16
Speaker 2: You know, today is the most important day. Saturday is
11:19
Speaker 2: going to be here soon enough. You know, this weekend
11:22
Speaker 2: is the most important game. You know, down the road
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Speaker 2: is down the road. So I tend not to get
11:27
Speaker 2: caught daydreaming and I try to focus on the task
11:30
Speaker 2: at hand of what's right in front of us.
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Speaker 1: One of these standard things when you go on the
11:34
Speaker 1: road to especially can we hostile environment like Ohio Stadium
11:37
Speaker 1: will likely be on Saturday during the week at practice,
11:40
Speaker 1: you pipe in some crowd noise. So, all right, are
11:43
Speaker 1: the Longhorns dealing with that?
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Speaker 3: So far they do well?
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Speaker 2: You know, I think I think one thing that crowd
11:48
Speaker 2: noise does is once you get over being overwhelmed by
11:52
Speaker 2: the noise, it forces the focus. It forces you to focus,
11:56
Speaker 2: and inevitably the way we operate when you're really focused
12:00
Speaker 2: better serves us. And so sometimes I'm wondering if we
12:03
Speaker 2: should be pumping crowd noise at home too. I feel
12:05
Speaker 2: like we have more penalties on pre snap stuff at
12:08
Speaker 2: home than we do on the road, and so, but
12:11
Speaker 2: but there's a reason for that, I think as we
12:13
Speaker 2: practice it and our guys feel comfortable with the crowd noise.
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Speaker 1: The book guys had a lot of turnover on the
12:18
Speaker 1: field in terms of players headed off to the NFL,
12:20
Speaker 1: but they also had turnover at both coordinator spots. Brian
12:23
Speaker 1: Hartline and Matt Patricia will both be calling plays for
12:26
Speaker 1: the first time as Ohio State assistant coaches. So when
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Speaker 1: your Sark and your Texas, how different is it to
12:34
Speaker 1: prepare for new players which you know you're going to get,
12:36
Speaker 1: but also potentially preparing for new schemes with those new coordinators.
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Speaker 2: Well, the scheme portion of it is, you know, what
12:46
Speaker 2: are you calling, how are you designing it?
12:48
Speaker 3: What are you blocking it? Versus the personnel the player is.
12:54
Speaker 2: How how are you going to how's that person going
12:56
Speaker 2: to make it more difficult or maybe less difficult for you,
12:59
Speaker 2: depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the player. I
13:02
Speaker 2: you know, my humble opinion is they're not going to change.
13:06
Speaker 2: Why would you change. They had the number one defense,
13:08
Speaker 2: you know in the conference, a great run in the playoffs.
13:10
Speaker 2: They had a really good offense last year. You know,
13:13
Speaker 2: Coach Day's fingerprints are all over that. They kept the
13:15
Speaker 2: entire defensive staff outside of the defensive play callers. So
13:19
Speaker 2: you know, it's kind of like, you know, yeah, they're
13:21
Speaker 2: gonna They're gonna evolve, just like we evolve every year.
13:24
Speaker 2: But I think the premise of who they are and
13:25
Speaker 2: all three phases is going to remain really consistent.
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Speaker 1: The first game of the college football season is always
13:31
Speaker 1: a little bit nerve racking for coaches and players and
13:34
Speaker 1: fans and alike. But what makes Sark feel that he's,
13:37
Speaker 1: you know, feel comfortable with the fact that his new
13:40
Speaker 1: starting quarterback arch Manning is ready for this kind of
13:43
Speaker 1: a challenge and this kind of an environment.
13:45
Speaker 2: He's just prepared well, he's practiced well, and he's had
13:47
Speaker 2: to go against our defense every day.
13:49
Speaker 3: He's been in these environments.
13:51
Speaker 2: You know, it's not like we didn't put him in
13:53
Speaker 2: the game in the semi final game last year. We
13:55
Speaker 2: put him in the game at Texas A and M.
13:57
Speaker 2: He's had to go in. S gets to play more snaps,
14:01
Speaker 2: which I know he's excited about.
14:03
Speaker 1: These two teams, as I mentioned earlier, have played each
14:05
Speaker 1: other pretty darn recently. So what did Sark learn by
14:08
Speaker 1: playing Ohio State last season that he can maybe use
14:11
Speaker 1: to carry over to this game.
14:13
Speaker 2: They're really good, you know, Ryan's done a great job recruiting.
14:18
Speaker 3: And they're very well coached.
14:20
Speaker 2: This is not They're not a gimmick team at all,
14:23
Speaker 2: you know, and I say that loosely, is like, I
14:25
Speaker 2: don't mean to offend anybody, but the things that they
14:28
Speaker 2: do are sound, and so you have to beat them.
14:31
Speaker 2: And inevitably, when two really good teams meet each other,
14:35
Speaker 2: that's where you're trying to minimize those mistakes, because good
14:38
Speaker 2: teams capitalize on those mistakes. And so we've got to
14:41
Speaker 2: be very detail oriented, minimize the self inflicted wounds, which
14:45
Speaker 2: I think we heard ourselves with last year. Got to
14:47
Speaker 2: take care of the ball, you know, I feel like
14:49
Speaker 2: the turnovers hurt us last year. And then to everyone's point,
14:53
Speaker 2: you got to score, and you have opportunities to score
14:55
Speaker 2: against good.
14:55
Speaker 1: Teams, no matter how touted. A true freshman is unless
15:00
Speaker 1: he's Jeremiah Smith. There's a little bit of a learning
15:03
Speaker 1: curve and a little bit of a growing up process
15:05
Speaker 1: that happens when you get on campus. So what has
15:08
Speaker 1: been the growth process been for Arch Manning to get
15:10
Speaker 1: to the point where he is now about ready to
15:13
Speaker 1: make a start on the road at Ohio State.
15:15
Speaker 2: Arch is a great kid man now he's an awesome
15:18
Speaker 2: young man. He's bought into every aspect of our program.
15:22
Speaker 2: He's been a great teammate, He's worked extremely hard. I
15:26
Speaker 2: think he's enjoyed college and he should. But at the
15:29
Speaker 2: end of the day, I just feel like he's normal,
15:34
Speaker 2: and that's what I love about him. It's not some
15:36
Speaker 2: guy who feels like he's untouchable he's better than everybody else.
15:39
Speaker 2: He doesn't go about he doesn't do life like that,
15:42
Speaker 2: never mind football like that. And to me, that probably
15:46
Speaker 2: the best part of his evolution is that he hasn't
15:49
Speaker 2: changed on that aspect of who he is, like he
15:52
Speaker 2: stayed true to who he is the way he was raised.
15:55
Speaker 2: And I think that that's really garnered a lot of
15:58
Speaker 2: respect from his teammates and the coach is by the
16:00
Speaker 2: way he conducts him and conducts himself. On a daily basis,
16:04
Speaker 2: and the way he represents all of us, because you know,
16:06
Speaker 2: as much as I get up here and talk.
16:07
Speaker 3: To y'all, you know, I can't.
16:09
Speaker 2: You can't go with that day without seeing somebody talking
16:12
Speaker 2: about Arch Manning. And so he's he's a direct representation
16:15
Speaker 2: of our football program in this university. And the way
16:18
Speaker 2: that he conducts himself is one that I think, you know,
16:21
Speaker 2: we're all proud of and one that we respect him
16:23
Speaker 2: for the way that he does it.
16:25
Speaker 1: What's it like going on the road as a head
16:27
Speaker 1: coach like Sark? What are these road environments whether it's
16:30
Speaker 1: playing at Alabama or playing at Texas A and M,
16:33
Speaker 1: or playing at Michigan last year or Ohio State? What
16:37
Speaker 1: are those road environments like for him? Does he enjoy that?
16:41
Speaker 3: I love him. I've never been to the Shoe, you know,
16:44
Speaker 3: I'd never been to Michigan. Last year. I had never been.
16:47
Speaker 2: I've been to Kyle Field one time a year before that,
16:49
Speaker 2: and obviously I'd spent time in Tuscaloosa.
16:51
Speaker 3: But I love it.
16:52
Speaker 2: I think it's cool for college football. I kind of
16:56
Speaker 2: enjoyed people people telling me how terrible I am and stuff,
16:59
Speaker 2: you know, kind of fuels my fire a little bit,
17:01
Speaker 2: so No, but it should be a great environment.
17:03
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to it.
17:05
Speaker 1: This game is going to be an opportunity for one
17:07
Speaker 1: of these teams to get a real signature win right
17:10
Speaker 1: off the bat of the twenty twenty five college football season.
17:13
Speaker 1: So what does an opportunity like this mean to Sark
17:16
Speaker 1: and his team? And then you're gonna also hear him
17:18
Speaker 1: he sort of obliquely references the recent move from the
17:22
Speaker 1: SEC to go from eight to nine conference games in
17:25
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six.
17:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I think it serves us well in preparation,
17:30
Speaker 2: as I said, for the remainder of the season what
17:32
Speaker 2: we have to do, you know, and you look at
17:33
Speaker 2: some of these other road games that we have to
17:35
Speaker 2: go on, like I really think going to Michigan early
17:39
Speaker 2: in the year helped us and gave us a lot
17:41
Speaker 2: of confidence going to Kyle Field at the end of
17:43
Speaker 2: the year because our players got exposed to so much
17:46
Speaker 2: of what it was like to be on the road
17:48
Speaker 2: in a hostile environment. So, you know, the goal is
17:51
Speaker 2: that this can serve well for that as well as
17:54
Speaker 2: well as the speed of the game, the physicality of
17:57
Speaker 2: the game. You know, you're looking at two, you know,
17:59
Speaker 2: highly talented rosters with really good coaches, and so the speed,
18:03
Speaker 2: the physicality of which it'll be played at is going
18:05
Speaker 2: to be something that is going to be, you know,
18:07
Speaker 2: really replicated when we get into SEC play. How it
18:10
Speaker 2: affects the nine game, I don't know yet. I've spent
18:14
Speaker 2: about twenty seconds thinking about that when that announcement came out.
18:20
Speaker 2: But you know, so, I don't know if it affects
18:22
Speaker 2: that so much moving forward, but I know it'll affect
18:24
Speaker 2: us this year, which I think for in a good way.
18:27
Speaker 1: One of the great truisms of college football is that
18:30
Speaker 1: defense travel. So, all right, Texas has a pretty good
18:34
Speaker 1: defense this year. How much confidence do they have in
18:36
Speaker 1: the defense that they're bringing. You're going to hear him say, PK.
18:39
Speaker 1: He's talking about Pete Quickowski, who is the defensive coordinator
18:43
Speaker 1: for the Longhorns.
18:44
Speaker 2: Well, it's helpful, you know, And I said before throughout
18:47
Speaker 2: training camp, we've got a lot of talented players on
18:49
Speaker 2: the defensive side of the ball. We got a lot
18:52
Speaker 2: of continuity on the defensive staff.
18:54
Speaker 3: PK.
18:54
Speaker 2: Obviously year five, you know, all the players here know him,
18:58
Speaker 2: know how he likes to call it.
19:00
Speaker 3: We've evolved over the years.
19:02
Speaker 2: But the fact that we can go play quality defense
19:06
Speaker 2: on the road against a high quality opponent is going
19:08
Speaker 2: to be critical because you know, I don't know how
19:11
Speaker 2: the game is going to go. I'd love to fast
19:13
Speaker 2: start really fast on offense and be clicking on all
19:16
Speaker 2: cylinder cylinders. We may not, you know, And so if
19:20
Speaker 2: that's the case, you need your defense. You know, we
19:22
Speaker 2: may be clicking on all cylinders on offense and then
19:24
Speaker 2: you might have some turnovers that happens, then the defense
19:27
Speaker 2: has got to respond. And so to have veterans on
19:29
Speaker 2: the defensive side of the ball that are quality players
19:32
Speaker 2: with that coaching staff, I think is important in a
19:34
Speaker 2: game like this on the road to start the season.
19:37
Speaker 1: And finally, I thought this was a good answer a
19:40
Speaker 1: good question as well. Just it starts overall thoughts of
19:43
Speaker 1: games like this in just the big picture for college
19:47
Speaker 1: football under the guise of the changing College Football Playoff structure?
19:53
Speaker 1: What does it mean? What are games like this mean
19:55
Speaker 1: for college football? With the College Football Playoff sort of
19:59
Speaker 1: going through another metamorphosis.
20:02
Speaker 3: I think I think about the CFP.
20:05
Speaker 2: And as we continue to evolve from two teams to
20:09
Speaker 2: four teams to twelve teams and God knows where we're
20:12
Speaker 2: gonna go next.
20:15
Speaker 3: My thought is.
20:16
Speaker 2: Almost that you get rewarded for playing these games, you know,
20:20
Speaker 2: because I think you probably ask the majority of the
20:23
Speaker 2: coaches around the country. They're thinking, man, that that's really
20:25
Speaker 2: hard thing to do is play that game week one
20:28
Speaker 2: on the road.
20:29
Speaker 3: Or at home, depending on the year.
20:32
Speaker 2: And so I think from a from a CFP standpoint,
20:35
Speaker 2: it's almost like, you know, check mark the box for
20:39
Speaker 2: a positive that they were.
20:40
Speaker 3: Willing to play the game. Maybe they maybe they want it, maybe.
20:42
Speaker 2: They didn't, but surely they put themselves out there were
20:45
Speaker 2: willing to do it, you know.
20:46
Speaker 3: And I see so many.
20:47
Speaker 2: People talk about like SEC scheduling and you know, not
20:51
Speaker 2: playing power for teams in this conference, it's real, like
20:55
Speaker 2: we're playing real teams every we all are, and on
20:58
Speaker 2: top of our own schedule, and on top of next year,
21:00
Speaker 2: we're going to nine games, and so you're looking at it,
21:04
Speaker 2: you're looking at a real schedule. And so the goal
21:06
Speaker 2: is to be rewarded for playing in these games. Obviously
21:08
Speaker 2: you can reward yourself by winning. That's helpful, But I
21:13
Speaker 2: just don't think either US or Ohio State for that matter,
21:15
Speaker 2: is going to get punished for playing in this game.
21:17
Speaker 3: From a CFP standpoint.
21:19
Speaker 1: Hope you guys enjoyed that these shows are generally pretty popular.
21:22
Speaker 1: Everyone likes to hear what the other coach is saying.
21:25
Speaker 1: We'll try and do one with Ryan Day all the
21:27
Speaker 1: stuff that Ryan Day said about Texas. I'm going to
21:29
Speaker 1: be talking to him on Tuesday at Ohio State and
21:33
Speaker 1: going to let you get a one of those shows
21:34
Speaker 1: a little later on in the week with all the
21:36
Speaker 1: stuff that Ryan Day said about Texas for you. Now,
21:39
Speaker 1: make sure you guys are joining us at Buckeye Huddle
21:41
Speaker 1: dot com. We've got our whole team working overtime this week,
21:45
Speaker 1: counting down to kick off buck Guys and Longhorns at
21:48
Speaker 1: noon on Saturday. We will be there, full pregame coverage,
21:52
Speaker 1: full postgame coverage, all the coverage you've come to know
21:54
Speaker 1: and expect from us at Buckeye Huddle dot com and
21:57
Speaker 1: YouTube dot com slash Buckeye Huddle. That'll do it for today.
22:00
Speaker 1: Thank you guys all for joining us. Have a great day.
22:02
Speaker 1: We will talk to you tomorrow.