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BONUS: Buckeyes' Defense Dominates In Season-Opening Win · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: All right, we are back with another bonus show, and
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  Speaker 1: this is going to be Ryan Day and a couple
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  Speaker 1: of the other guys talking about the Ohio State defense,
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  Speaker 1: some of their takeaways from the Ohio State defense on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: And there was less conversation about the defense than there
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  Speaker 1: was about the offense in the postgame interviews, but that
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  Speaker 1: was probably because the defense was just kind of good
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  Speaker 1: for the whole day. There wasn't a lot of nitpicking
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  Speaker 1: to do. There wasn't a lot of, oh, are you
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  Speaker 1: worried about this? It was just kind of, they were
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  Speaker 1: just good. all day long, really held Ball State in
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  Speaker 1: check in the way that you would sort of expect
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  Speaker 1: an Ohio State defense to hold a team like Ball
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  Speaker 1: State in check. So one thing that did stand out, though,
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  Speaker 1: was the fact that the Buckeyes rotated a ton of
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  Speaker 1: guys defensively. I think we might have seen close to
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  Speaker 1: two dozen guys playing just in the first half alone. Now,
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  Speaker 1: is that going to be the plan moving forward? Is
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  Speaker 1: that just a function of you're playing Ball State and
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  Speaker 1: they're a 50-point underdog? How deep are they really going
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  Speaker 1: to go in closer games this year?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a question that we have to
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  Speaker 2: continually evaluate. I think when you watch the film, I
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  Speaker 2: think there's been times in the past where you've seen,
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  Speaker 2: you know, maybe when the starters came out, there was
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  Speaker 2: a dip in the level of play that was significant,
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  Speaker 2: that was almost palatable on both sides. From my point
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  Speaker 2: of view, being on the field, they didn't feel that
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  Speaker 2: way out there today. So that's a good thing. But
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  Speaker 2: the question is, to your point, you know, how deep
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  Speaker 2: do we need to go? I think that's something we
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  Speaker 2: have to continually look at. But this gives us a
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  Speaker 2: good data point to move forward with.
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  Speaker 1: One of the spots that I think there were some
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  Speaker 1: questions going into the season was the top end of
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  Speaker 1: that defensive tackle area. James Smith, John Walker, some of
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  Speaker 1: the other guys as well. But this question was specifically
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  Speaker 1: about James Smith and John Walker. What Ryan Day saw
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  Speaker 1: from those guys on Saturday? Watching the iPad quickly, there
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  Speaker 1: was some disruptive plays. I saw John knock one of
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  Speaker 1: the offensive linemen back into the backfield. I saw James
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  Speaker 1: in the backfield a few times. And so that's great.
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  Speaker 1: you know, regardless of your opponent, you need to be disruptive.
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  Speaker 1: So that's good.
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  Speaker 2: I think for them, I think they'll tell you that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, they're going to, you know, want to do
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  Speaker 2: that against, you know, a little bit, you know, higher
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  Speaker 2: level of competition as time goes on. And certainly this week,
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  Speaker 2: they're going to get challenged in a big way. But
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  Speaker 2: I think you saw them flash. You saw their twitchiness.
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  Speaker 2: You saw their athleticism and power. It's a big part
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  Speaker 2: of our defense. You know, I will say this too.
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  Speaker 2: I know the score, you know, got a little out
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  Speaker 2: of hand at the end, but But I do feel
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  Speaker 2: like Ball State is going to have a good team
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  Speaker 2: this year. I think they played hard. I think they're
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  Speaker 2: well coached. I think they were disciplined in how they played.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's clear that they don't have the talent
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  Speaker 2: that we have. I think that's no mystery. But I
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  Speaker 2: think they're going to have a good team. And I
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  Speaker 2: think the coach does a really good job in what
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  Speaker 2: they do. So I think they're going to have a
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  Speaker 2: good season this year. And I got a lot of
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  Speaker 2: respect for their staff and the way the kids played.
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  Speaker 1: One of the players of the game was true sophomore
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  Speaker 1: linebacker TJ Alford. He was one of four guys who
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  Speaker 1: was getting rotated in there at linebacker. It was Peyton Pierce,
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  Speaker 1: Christian Allegro, Riley Pettyjohn, and TJ Alford who were rotating
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  Speaker 1: through those two to three linebacker spots, depending on what
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  Speaker 1: the opponent was doing and what Ohio State was anticipating
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  Speaker 1: that play. What is that flow like during the course
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  Speaker 1: of the game as you're sort of shuffling through four
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  Speaker 1: different linebackers?
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  Speaker 3: It was great. We've been practicing like that since fall camp,
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  Speaker 3: since Riley came back. Everybody's been working with everybody, just
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  Speaker 3: getting ready. We've got a four-man rotation right now, just
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  Speaker 3: all working together, doing good things.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I know some of our scheme guys have talked
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  Speaker 1: in the past about the fact that you're rotating guys
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  Speaker 1: like that. That can have some negative effects because then
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  Speaker 1: you're kind of getting pulled out of the game and
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  Speaker 1: you're getting put back in the game. You can kind
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  Speaker 1: of get out of the flow of the game, something
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  Speaker 1: like that. But are there also some positives to it?
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  Speaker 1: Especially this question was about if you're rotating that many
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  Speaker 1: guys in, does that help keep people more engaged during
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  Speaker 1: the week? Maybe you're in meetings, maybe you're watching film,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you're paying extra attention to practice because you know,
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  Speaker 1: not just are you practicing, you know, you're going to
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  Speaker 1: have got a very good chance of playing meaningful snaps
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  Speaker 1: on Saturday.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely keep you enthused. And also keep your body healthy.
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  Speaker 3: You know, it's going to be a long season for us.
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  Speaker 3: So Being able to rotate guys in, everybody should stay
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  Speaker 3: fresh for this long run we finna go on.
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  Speaker 1: There was a lot to like about Ohio State's defensive
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  Speaker 1: performance on Saturday. Buckeyes allowed just 2.8 yards per play,
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  Speaker 1: two yards per rush. It was a really, really impressive
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  Speaker 1: performance on the whole for the Ohio State defense. And
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  Speaker 1: one of the things that was most impressive was they
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  Speaker 1: limited the explosive plays from Ball State. The longest play
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  Speaker 1: all day for Ball State was 15 yards, and that
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  Speaker 1: one came in the final minute of the game when
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  Speaker 1: the threes were in there, or maybe even the guys
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  Speaker 1: behind the threes. So how much of a point of
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  Speaker 1: pride was that for the defense to keep Ball State
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  Speaker 1: from getting any explosives?
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  Speaker 3: You know, it's good. We've been working on that all offseason,
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  Speaker 3: trying to limit the big plays and stuff going against
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  Speaker 3: our offense. You know, our offense is a high-power offense,
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  Speaker 3: so Being able to play good against them when we
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  Speaker 3: go against other guys, it should be like we should
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  Speaker 3: be able to keep them to minimal big plays.
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  Speaker 1: One of the big highlights for the defense on Saturday
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  Speaker 1: was that Alford himself, he had an interception. So, all right,
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  Speaker 1: TJ Alford, walk us through what happened on that play.
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  Speaker 3: You know, we was in cover one, so I just
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  Speaker 3: had to tight end. And we run across the field,
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  Speaker 3: and I seen Kari get the pressure. So I seen
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  Speaker 3: the quarterback running out. I know he was either going
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  Speaker 3: to run it or try to get rid of it.
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  Speaker 3: And he tried to get rid of it, so I
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  Speaker 3: kept my eyes on him. He threw it, and I
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  Speaker 3: just went up and got it.
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  Speaker 1: And now the Buckeyes done with Ball State. Now they
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  Speaker 1: are turning their attention to the Texas Longhorns. What is
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  Speaker 1: the level of excitement around the program for that game?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we've been thinking about this matchup for a while now.
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  Speaker 3: Had a great offseason for it, and I just can't
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  Speaker 3: wait to go to Texas. It's a big atmosphere game,
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  Speaker 3: and yeah, go win the game.
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  Speaker 1: All right. We are going to have many more bonus
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  Speaker 1: shows for you this week. We'll try and let you
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  Speaker 1: hear a little bit from the Texas Longhorns, Steve Sarkisian,
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  Speaker 1: some of their players as well, because, man, there's going
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  Speaker 1: to be a ton to talk about this week as
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  Speaker 1: the Buckeyes get ready to head down to Austin to
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  Speaker 1: take on the Longhorns. It should be a top five matchup,
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  Speaker 1: according to most folks. It'd be a heck of a
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  Speaker 1: scene as well. It should be a great start to
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: the season. We're going to be down there starting Thursday night,
• 6:21
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