Latest / The Craig Way Show / Ohio State Broadcaster Paul Keels talks College Football Playoff Semifinal with Craig Way

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Ohio State Broadcaster Paul Keels talks College Football Playoff Semifinal with Craig Way · The Craig Way Show

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: We're back. It's the Craig Way Show with Hall of
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Fame broadcaster and voice of the Texas Longhorns, Craig Way.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Get ready for it, playing marching band music on both sides,
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  Speaker 2: Texas and the Buckeye marching band scrypt Ohio and all
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: of the history and tradition that goes along with that,
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  Speaker 2: and by the way, the pretty good football team as well,
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  Speaker 2: joining us on the hotline. Good friend with whom it's
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: been almost two months to the day when you and
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I were in Las Vegas, Nevadas, Texas played Ohio State
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  Speaker 2: and Basketball, a game the Buckeyes won in the season
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  Speaker 2: opener there in Las Vegas, and at the time I
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  Speaker 2: think I said to you, hey, see you in the
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  Speaker 2: playoff and you were like, eh, yeah, it was kind
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  Speaker 2: of did that.
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  Speaker 3: Paul Keels joins us. Now, it's great to visit with you, Paul.
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  Speaker 3: How are you well? Likewise, and remember we even talked
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  Speaker 3: about this back during the summer done in North Carolina too.
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  Speaker 2: That's right, we were both in North Carolina for the
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  Speaker 2: National Sports Media Convention and warning us the respected honors
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  Speaker 2: for being Sportscaster of the Year and I respected States
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  Speaker 2: and we said hey, look, and at the time, if
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  Speaker 2: I remember correctly, you weren't one hundred percent certain that
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  Speaker 2: you could make the basketball game because we're coming off
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  Speaker 2: Penn State. How ironic because that since there's two other
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  Speaker 2: teams in this playoff for manning him, one of them
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  Speaker 2: is Penn State.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I wasn't certain that I was going to be there,
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  Speaker 3: And you know, unfortunately for Ohio State, unfortunately for Texas.
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  Speaker 3: That turned out to be a good night in Las Vegas.
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  Speaker 3: And as I'm sure you're dealing with with all the
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  Speaker 3: things you do, Craig, we're doing the same thing, dancing
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  Speaker 3: around basketball, all of that. Yeah, right now in Minneapolis
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  Speaker 3: for a game tonight with the Golden Gophers. So here
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  Speaker 3: you'll like this. There's more snow that came today in
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  Speaker 3: Columbus than there is in Minneapolis.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. And I'll tell you what coming up fast on
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  Speaker 2: those two is Arlington, Texas. They've had some snow, when
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  Speaker 2: there's gonna be more snow as the week progresses.
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  Speaker 3: I know you're used to it.
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  Speaker 2: But as I zip up and down, I thirty five
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  Speaker 2: with second rank to Auburn in here tomorrow night, and
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  Speaker 2: then there's a women's game on Thursday night, against Alabama
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  Speaker 2: and in between that Rodney Terry's coaching show. So it's
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  Speaker 2: gonna be a little bit, a little bit interesting on
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  Speaker 2: all of this. But we we always liked this over
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  Speaker 2: lap time of year, right when you when you're doing
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  Speaker 2: football and basketball, keeps us out of trouble and occupied.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we say that publicly, don't we. It's a good
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  Speaker 3: way to describe it.
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  Speaker 2: Let me ask you about this that this team I
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  Speaker 2: see a few similarities, not so much in the teams themselves,
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  Speaker 2: but in the way they are perceived by folks. And
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  Speaker 2: you know, both teams were held in pretty high esteem
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  Speaker 2: and high regard during the Lion share of the season. However,
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  Speaker 2: Texas lost not once but twice to Georgia, so they
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  Speaker 2: were kind of looked at as being, well, they're not
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  Speaker 2: even the best team in their own league. And Ohio
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  Speaker 2: State was cruising long, and then along comes the Michigan game,
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  Speaker 2: and then there's there's that kind of stuff, and and
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  Speaker 2: and so they wind up not in Indianapolis for the
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  Speaker 2: Big Ten championship. And I've heard this theorize. I don't
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  Speaker 2: know how you feel about it, Paul, but I've heard
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  Speaker 2: this theorize. Some folks say it might have been the
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  Speaker 2: best thing in the world that happened to the Buckeyes
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  Speaker 2: because it got them rest and rested and recharged, but
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  Speaker 2: also kind of put them back on center to get
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  Speaker 2: ready for the playoff itself. I'm curious to get your
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  Speaker 2: thoughts on that.
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  Speaker 1: Well.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know so much about the rest part, Craig,
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  Speaker 3: but you know, I think certainly the lost of Michigan
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  Speaker 3: gave this team at edge. You know, you can politely
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  Speaker 3: say it hacked them off, and they're playing angry. And
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  Speaker 3: what has really been different in the two postseason games
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  Speaker 3: as opposed to the regular season. This was an Ohio
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  Speaker 3: State team that usually kind of started slow and finished strong.
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  Speaker 3: In these two playoff games, they've come out like a
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  Speaker 3: house of fire at the very beginning of the game.
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  Speaker 3: So and it has really put the opponent in a
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  Speaker 3: difficult position trying to play catchup. That they would like
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  Speaker 3: to have had a Big Ten championship, they would like
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  Speaker 3: to have certainly beaten Michigan. And losing that game to Michigan,
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  Speaker 3: especially the way it happened, what was so confounding, you know,
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  Speaker 3: losing to Oregon by one point in Eugene in a
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  Speaker 3: back and forth game. Yeah, that had its own concerns,
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  Speaker 3: but you know a lot of that spoked to the
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  Speaker 3: talented Oregon had. But losing to a Michigan team that
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  Speaker 3: you know you saw him early in the year. This
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  Speaker 3: is they weren't nowhere close to what they've been in
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  Speaker 3: the previous two seasons. Losing at home and just kind
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  Speaker 3: of I think what it did is it got the
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  Speaker 3: coaches and especially the offensive play calling a little back
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  Speaker 3: on center. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and they have certainly been back on center. And
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  Speaker 2: one thing that was noted and I know Sark was
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  Speaker 2: asked this in the media zom the other day, is
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  Speaker 2: about these fast starts the Buckeyes have had in both
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  Speaker 2: of the playoff games. The win over Tennessee and then
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  Speaker 2: just like an absolute tornado, every time I looked up
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  Speaker 2: during the host game of the Peach Bawl, the Buckeyes
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  Speaker 2: had scored another touchdown, it was like, my goodness. And
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  Speaker 2: I got to the airport and raised it. I saw
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  Speaker 2: thirty four to nothing. I was like, my goodness, I
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  Speaker 2: can't believe it. How much of that is the playing
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  Speaker 2: mad that you talked about, and how much it is
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  Speaker 2: they just have now with all of that incredible talent
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  Speaker 2: they have gotten back on properly executing well.
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  Speaker 3: Craig, I think what it was. It goes to the defense,
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  Speaker 3: and they were able to really get Oregon boxed in early,
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  Speaker 3: got him into a three and out their first possession.
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  Speaker 3: They were able to get pressure on Dylan Gabriel, something
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  Speaker 3: they didn't do in October. Didn't get a single sack
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  Speaker 3: in that game. Got eight of them in this game
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  Speaker 3: the other day. So defensively they were able to really
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  Speaker 3: get in Oregon's way and keep them from getting any
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  Speaker 3: kind of rhythm while Ohio State, you know, their first
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  Speaker 3: play from scrimmage, the tight end lines up in the
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  Speaker 3: backfield and they hit him down the sideline for thirty yards.
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  Speaker 3: So they were kind of able to get one to
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  Speaker 3: go right away, get out of any kind of early down,
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  Speaker 3: long situation, get out of any third down difficulty. But
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  Speaker 3: the defense was what as much as all of the
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  Speaker 3: points they scored, and as exciting as that was, it
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  Speaker 3: was the defense. The way they were really able to
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  Speaker 3: corral a very talented Oregon offense that kind of had
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  Speaker 3: everybody buzz.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Well, let me keep it on the defense for a moment,
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  Speaker 2: because there's plenty to discuss about the offense, and I'll
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  Speaker 2: get into that in a moment, But here's Jim Nole's defense.
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  Speaker 2: It ranks number one in total defense and yards per
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  Speaker 2: game allowed, Number one in scoring defense, number one in
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  Speaker 2: pass defense, number five in rush defense. The defense has
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  Speaker 2: allowed merely eighteen touchdowns for the entire season. Number two
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  Speaker 2: in red zone defense. You got guys like Cody Simon
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  Speaker 2: and Sunny Styles with incredible tackle numbers as well. There's
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  Speaker 2: plenty to be said about this defense. So has this
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  Speaker 2: just been the rise all along? And other than the
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  Speaker 2: hiccup being that what it was against Michigan, this is
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  Speaker 2: pretty much how it's been throughout the course.
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  Speaker 1: Of the year.
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  Speaker 3: In some ways, yes, and the defense gave him a
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  Speaker 3: chance to win the Michigan game. It was really the
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  Speaker 3: offensive problems because of that. But ever since the loss
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  Speaker 3: to Oregon in October, you've seen this defense kind of
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  Speaker 3: play at a different level. And maybe the biggest thing,
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  Speaker 3: Greg is you see the pressure on the quarterback coming
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  Speaker 3: from different areas. The two defensive line, two defensive ends
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  Speaker 3: excued me, have played very very well here in the postseason.
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  Speaker 3: You mentioned Cody Simon. He's a guy that you know,
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  Speaker 3: he's a senior that's playing his best football at the
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  Speaker 3: end of his career. You've seen Candle Downs, a transfer
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  Speaker 3: that came in from Alabama that's playing at a high level.
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  Speaker 3: I think what it is is it's they're playing together
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  Speaker 3: can join at a high level. So if you're an
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  Speaker 3: opposing offense, yeah, you see what Jack Sawyer and you
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  Speaker 3: see what jan and Tooey Muddlehow have done on the ends.
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  Speaker 3: But you've got two tackles that have been very consistent.
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  Speaker 3: You've got linebackers that can disguise some things very well.
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  Speaker 3: So it's kind of been coming from all different points
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  Speaker 3: in all different looks.
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  Speaker 2: Visiting with Ohio State Buckeyes play by play voice Paul
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  Speaker 2: Keels here on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred. Okay, let
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  Speaker 2: me jump to the offense. Now, there's a lot of
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  Speaker 2: wow about Jeremiah Smith with the performance the other day.
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  Speaker 2: Now it's not like he just appeared on the scene.
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  Speaker 2: He's tied third naturally, but fourteen touchdown catches, he's he's
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  Speaker 2: a National Freshman of the Year on offense, that sort
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  Speaker 2: of thing. But yet with him and a Mecca Igbuka,
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  Speaker 2: those are two guys that I guess they're on opposite
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  Speaker 2: ends of the spectrum in terms of longing the tooth
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  Speaker 2: shortened tooth, but both very very effective and that's going
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  Speaker 2: to make a guy like Will Howard all the more effective.
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  Speaker 3: It certainly is. And you know you throw in Carnel Tait,
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  Speaker 3: who is the third receivers played very well. You get
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  Speaker 3: the production they've gotten out of the tight end position.
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  Speaker 3: And we talked about that catch that that g'scot Head
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  Speaker 3: at the beginning of the game. And then then add
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  Speaker 3: the rushing threats. I mean you've got Traveon Henderson and
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  Speaker 3: you've got quinch On Jepkins, and these are guys that
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  Speaker 3: are averaging, you know, over five yards per carry. So
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  Speaker 3: there's there's all of those elements of balance. You know,
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  Speaker 3: think about Jeremiah Smith. He has broken Chris Carter's freshman
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  Speaker 3: receiving records at Ohio State. Think about that for a second.
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  Speaker 3: But certainly with what Will Howard has done and Craig,
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  Speaker 3: this was maybe the thing that was talked about the
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  Speaker 3: most when Will Howard came to Ohio State. He didn't
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  Speaker 3: have to be great. All he had to be was good,
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  Speaker 3: and he's been very efficient. He's had I think it's
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  Speaker 3: what six or seven games this year where his completion
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  Speaker 3: percentage has been over eighty percent. The biggest thing he's
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  Speaker 3: brought also is the threat of a run, which they've
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  Speaker 3: not had since justin Fields. And they've done all of
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  Speaker 3: this with three different season ending injuries on their offensive
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  Speaker 3: line and having to rework the offensive line. So it's
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  Speaker 3: been an offense that at times has been like a
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  Speaker 3: successful circus show. Yeah, no doubt about it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, certainly the Loghorns are familiar with Will Howard, and
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  Speaker 2: I know Will mentioned in the press conference the other
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  Speaker 2: day he said Texas the one team I I didn't
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: beat in my time at Case Tate. But I'll tell
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  Speaker 2: you what he did everything just about he could to
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  Speaker 2: do it. He played really really well for the Wildcats,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: and that how about the transition for him into the
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  Speaker 2: program and what he ultimately was able to do and
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: not only uplifting his level of play, but that of
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  Speaker 2: the offense.
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  Speaker 3: Well, Ryan Days told the story that when they were
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: talking to Will Howard about coming to ives date, they
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: got him on the phone with him Achabuka, And they
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: also did the same thing with quit John Jutkins talking
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: to Trevion Henderson. They wanted to make sure that the
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: players already there could get a good feel for the
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: guys they wanted to bring in. And Will Howard has been,
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  Speaker 3: you know, just a class young man. He's been a
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  Speaker 3: great leader from what everybody says on the field and
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: the practices, but he's he's been a good fit because
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: of who he is personally, and you know, I think
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: a lot of that's a reflection of his family. Obviously
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: it has to do with the coaching staff too, but
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: he's a guy that is just understood. He didn't have
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: to come in here and be all world. He just
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: had to take advantage of the talent around him, and
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: that's what he's done.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: You, while you're in the ballpark of my age, I
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: don't think you were not on the play by play
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  Speaker 2: call of that January first, eighty seven Cotton Bowl.
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  Speaker 3: Correct, No, I was not. I was doing games at Cincinnati, Okay,
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  Speaker 3: all right.
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  Speaker 2: The reason why I say that is because I was
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: actually at that game, because I worked in Dallas and
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: KRLD at the time, and I remember Earl Bruce's team
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  Speaker 2: winning that and dominating Texas A and M in that
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: contest as well. And the reason why I bring this
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  Speaker 2: up because this is the fourth game for the Buckeyes
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  Speaker 2: to play in the Cotton Bowl, and so I'm curious
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  Speaker 2: as to your thoughts on Buckeye Nation. And I know
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: they sold out there a lot man of tickets of
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  Speaker 2: thirteen thousand, and how many more you think will show
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: up for this game because they've gotten accustomed to playing
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: in Arlington over the past few years.
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  Speaker 3: They did and there's been some good Now last year
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: didn't go very well when they lost to Missouri, but
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: they also won their last national championship in that stadium
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  Speaker 3: when they beat Oregon in twenty fourteen. I'm curious to
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: Craig because a lot of them went to the Rose Bowl,
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: and as you know, and you've been there, the Rose
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: buls a destination place. It was about sixty forty Oregon
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: fans to Ohio State fans. The Ohio State alumni base
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: strong all over the country. Now playing Texas in the
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: state of Texas, I don't know what that's going to
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: be like. But I'm curious because this has kind of
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: been one of those when you think about how the
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: Michigan game ended, you still knew they were going to
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: get in the playoffs, but how would they respond after that?
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: Now with the way they've played, there might be a
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: little more room on the bandwagon. So I would suspect
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: we're going to see a good showing, but you know,
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: certainly not what's going to compare to the Texas fans.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: It'll be there.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: He's Paul Kill's a great guy and the play by
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: play voice of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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  Speaker 3: Stay out.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Let's know if he can, because I have a feeling
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: both of us are going to see it in Arlington
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: this weekend. But I'll look forward to seeing you Jerry World,
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: and I appreciate the time. Paul, thanks so much. That
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: is always good to do it. Graig all right, that's
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: Paul Keel's big daddy as they know him up there
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: in Columbus, the voice of the Ohio State Buckeyes. We'll
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: hear more from Coat Sark coming up when we continue
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: on Sports Radio AM thirteen under the Zone.