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Ross Fulton Analysis: How A New Ohio State QB Competition Changes The Buckeyes' Offense · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Wednesday, October 21st. I'm
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  Speaker 1: your host, Tom Moore. The USC game in 10 days,
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  Speaker 1: the game against Michigan in 38 days. We're sponsored today
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  Speaker 1: by our friends at Jeff Rubies of Columbus, proudly offering
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  Speaker 1: nationally acclaimed USDA prime steaks, seafood and sushi, impeccable service,
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  Speaker 1: Just go to jeffruby.com slash Columbus to check out the
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  Speaker 1: menu and make a reservation today. All right, on Tuesday night,
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  Speaker 1: Ryan Day announced that Julian Sane will be out indefinitely,
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  Speaker 1: so the Buckeyes will be in the market for a
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  Speaker 1: new starting quarterback. Luke Fahey seems like he is sort
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  Speaker 1: of the incumbent backup quarterback and therefore take one step
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  Speaker 1: forward and you're the new starting quarterback. But Brian Day
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  Speaker 1: did said they were kind of going to be looking
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  Speaker 1: at Tavi and St. Clair as well and sort of
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  Speaker 1: evaluating things there. I'm going to welcome in Ross Fulton.
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  Speaker 1: He is one of our scheme insiders at Buckeye insiders.com. Ross,
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  Speaker 1: when you look at what we've seen from Tavi and St.
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  Speaker 1: Clair this year, what we've seen from Luke Fahey this year,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I, Based on the game reps we've seen,
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  Speaker 1: Fahey has seemed like he's been a little better. That's
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  Speaker 1: obviously a very, very limited sample size. But it has
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  Speaker 1: felt like there's been a very consistent kind of trend
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  Speaker 1: towards Fahey passing Tavi and St.
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  Speaker 2: Clair.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like I would be a little surprised if
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  Speaker 1: it was not Fahey. Do you have any thoughts on
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  Speaker 1: who you're expecting to see take the first snap against USC?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm likewise expecting Fahey.
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  Speaker 3: He's obviously ahead between those two of them and came in.
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  Speaker 3: you know, in a critical situation against Indiana, he's been
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  Speaker 3: pretty clearly the number two. I think that, like you,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, in the limited reps, I think his processing
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  Speaker 3: and efficiency has been ahead of St.
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  Speaker 2: Clair's.
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  Speaker 3: I just think that, you know, both in the spring
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  Speaker 3: game and, you know, the limited we've seen from Tavion,
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  Speaker 3: his processing and his, you know, has been a little behind.
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  Speaker 3: And so that's resulted in putting the ball in harm's
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  Speaker 3: way quite a bit. And so I just I mean,
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  Speaker 3: my assumption is, you know, they've had weeks of making
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  Speaker 3: this determination with Fahey at two. And so I would
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  Speaker 3: assume that that would continue going forward.
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  Speaker 1: So now the question is, if it is Fahey, how
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  Speaker 1: different is the offense? Because Fahey is not exactly the
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  Speaker 1: same quarterback as Julian Sane by any means. So I
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  Speaker 1: guess let's start with what do they lose by not
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  Speaker 1: having Julian Sane out there before we get into what
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  Speaker 1: they gain by having Luke Fahey out there?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, they obviously lose a lot, a lot
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  Speaker 3: of experience, you know, starting from the fact of, you know,
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  Speaker 3: Julian getting them in the right play at the line
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  Speaker 3: of scrimmage, getting the run check to the correct side.
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  Speaker 3: I guess not to say that Luke Fahey can't do that.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it just, you know, how much do they
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  Speaker 3: trust a true freshman to do that? And then, you know,
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  Speaker 3: the processing, the, you know, making plays, the comfort level
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  Speaker 3: with the starting wide receivers.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Um, there's just a lot, obviously they're going to miss
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  Speaker 3: a lot with, with saying, um, you know, in terms
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  Speaker 3: of Fahey though, I think that I do think there's
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  Speaker 3: quite a bit of continuity in terms of like skillset between, uh,
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  Speaker 3: saying and Fahey, I think the one area, you know,
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  Speaker 3: just based on like a little bit sample where Fahey
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  Speaker 3: might help is like, you know, not to, not to
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  Speaker 3: excuse that the, the, you know, the Philip Daniels getting
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  Speaker 3: beat on that play or like other players, breakdowns and protection. Um,
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  Speaker 3: but like Julian has gotten hit a lot this year
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  Speaker 3: and obviously he was injured as a result of that.
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  Speaker 3: And I do think that just even like, this isn't
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  Speaker 3: just like scrambling, but even just like within the pocket,
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  Speaker 3: I think that, you know, Fahey has a little bit
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  Speaker 3: more mobility and just like, um, you know, ability to
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  Speaker 3: move subtly to, to sort of avoid some of that. And,
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  Speaker 3: and so maybe bring some extra, um, athleticism to the position.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. So when you are starting to put together an
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  Speaker 1: adjusted offense, they have essentially said they're going to look
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  Speaker 1: at what he's good at and then sort of go
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  Speaker 1: from there. Look at where his strengths lay and go
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  Speaker 1: from there. When you're putting something like that together, how
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  Speaker 1: much can they really put in? I assume this is
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  Speaker 1: not going to be the same playbook in terms of
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  Speaker 1: depth and maybe in terms of areas of focus as
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  Speaker 1: it might have been with Julian Sainz. How much can
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  Speaker 1: they really put in over the next couple weeks? Or
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  Speaker 1: do you just take what you ran before, because Fahey's
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  Speaker 1: been running it all year, and just sort of focus
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  Speaker 1: on specific areas?
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  Speaker 2: I think it's more focusing on specific areas.
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  Speaker 3: Just look back to what Brian Day's done with young quarterbacks,
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  Speaker 3: including with Julian Zane last year. Probably less... targeting the
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  Speaker 3: middle of the field. Um, you know, he's also short, right?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, Julian's saying it's not tall either for quarterback. Um,
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  Speaker 3: but Luke phase obviously even shorter. So I think more
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  Speaker 3: like quick thirst, the sideline, um, you know, I do
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  Speaker 3: think he has good arm strength. I mean, I still
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  Speaker 3: think they can take their, their shots out of field. Um,
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  Speaker 3: but I think, you know, quite a bit of bootleg
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  Speaker 3: getting him out of the pocket, you know, sort of high,
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  Speaker 3: low reads on a, um, you know, outside sale routes,
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  Speaker 3: smash routes, um, quick game and uh you know uses
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  Speaker 3: mobility but i do think they're gonna have to make
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  Speaker 3: sure without saying there that even more emphasis on manufacturing
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  Speaker 3: touches for jeremiah smith particularly early on you know like
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  Speaker 3: a lot in the room you know relief game bubbles
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  Speaker 3: you know some wide receiver sweeps pop passes like things
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  Speaker 3: to like you know slants things that are gonna get
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  Speaker 3: jeremiah smith the ball early um as they you know
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  Speaker 3: have to develop a rapport and you know you just
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  Speaker 3: they're going to be somewhat limited probably in some of
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  Speaker 3: the drop back concepts they do early on.
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  Speaker 1: And then so i mean so some of the stuff
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  Speaker 1: involving jeremiah smith there you know technically their passes but
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  Speaker 1: it also kind of feels like it's at least run
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  Speaker 1: adjacent i guess i'm wondering if fahey is maybe a
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  Speaker 1: little bit more elusive than julian sand what would you
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  Speaker 1: expect them to change? If anything, in terms of the
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  Speaker 1: run game, are we going to maybe see speed option
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  Speaker 1: or stuff, you know, maybe more reads or are they
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  Speaker 1: going to be a little bit reticent to do that?
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  Speaker 1: Cause you don't want to get another quarterback hit.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I have to say this is somewhat like
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  Speaker 3: dependent on how comfortable Faye is with that kind of stuff.
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  Speaker 2: And we haven't really seen it, at least at Ohio state.
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  Speaker 3: Um, I personally would, would use more of that with him,
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  Speaker 3: particularly as it helps any young quarterback, uh, if they
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  Speaker 3: can use their legs more. You know, one area where
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  Speaker 3: it might help them is in the red zone. You know,
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  Speaker 3: quarterback draw, league QB outside zone, things you not even
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  Speaker 3: read plays, but just like designed lead runs. And, you know,
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  Speaker 3: I would like to see them incorporate a little bit
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  Speaker 3: of the read game. I think that would help their
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  Speaker 3: run game. And as I said, sort of, you know, that,
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  Speaker 3: and then obviously the reliefs off of it, maybe less,
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  Speaker 3: you know, Again, you might see less second and third
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  Speaker 3: level run pass options just because, you know, again, putting
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  Speaker 3: the ball more in harm's way. Like we saw that
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  Speaker 3: on Saturday against Indiana where the first interception came off
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  Speaker 3: a RPO glance route. That, you know, may not have
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  Speaker 3: been the best read by Sand. And so that gets
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  Speaker 3: a little bit more complex. So, you know, if you're
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  Speaker 3: reading just like the outside Nick or defensive end, that's
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  Speaker 3: a little bit easier. But I do think it would
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  Speaker 3: help Fahey get his feet wet, you know, not just
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  Speaker 3: with like scrambling, but using some design cue run.
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  Speaker 1: And the last thing I want to ask you is
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  Speaker 1: about Gary Patterson, USC's defensive coordinator.
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  Speaker 2: I would assume.
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  Speaker 1: He looking ahead at a true freshman quarterback, you would
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  Speaker 1: as a defensive coordinator, much prefer to see that as
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  Speaker 1: opposed to a veteran quarterback who was a Heisman finalist
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  Speaker 1: last year. What do you, what do you, what do
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  Speaker 1: you expect Gary Patterson and USC's defense to try and
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  Speaker 1: throw at Luke Fahey to, you know, create turnovers or
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  Speaker 1: just kind of speed the clock up for him?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, you know, you think you disguise coverage.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I, I will say it's not like USC's
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  Speaker 3: defense has been a world beaters this year. Um, you know,
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  Speaker 3: and also like the, the playbook on saying was increasingly coming,
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  Speaker 3: like let's, let's as much as possible to speed him up, um,
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  Speaker 3: and make him uncomfortable. And obviously like Indiana brought a
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  Speaker 3: lot of different variety of pressures on Saturday. So I'm
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  Speaker 3: not sure they're going to see any more of that
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  Speaker 3: than they otherwise would have. Um, But I do think
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  Speaker 3: they'll obviously try to make him uncomfortable, which is why,
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  Speaker 3: you know, as I said, if I were Ohio State,
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  Speaker 3: I'd want to lean into some of the things, you know,
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  Speaker 3: I thought they should have done a little bit more
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  Speaker 3: of what Julian's saying, to be frank. But like, you know,
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  Speaker 3: more quick game, more outside stuff, like quick pitches, as
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  Speaker 3: I said, the bootlegs that were really effective against Indiana,
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  Speaker 3: get out of the pocket, you know, bubble screens, use
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  Speaker 3: some Q run, get the ball out of his hands
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  Speaker 3: and get him feeling comfortable.
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  Speaker 1: All right, there you go. A quick run through what
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  Speaker 1: we're looking at with Luke Fahey as Ohio State's new
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  Speaker 1: starting quarterback. How likely it is that it is Luke
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  Speaker 1: Fahey as Ohio State's next starting quarterback. We're going to
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  Speaker 1: have a ton more on this and a whole bunch
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  Speaker 1: of other stuff that's going on right now at BuckeyeInsiders.com.
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  Speaker 1: Our whole team of insiders has been working overtime to
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  Speaker 1: get you the access and the news that you need,
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  Speaker 1: the news that you want. and sort of a look ahead.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to have many more scheme shows, got a
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  Speaker 1: couple more planned over the next day or so with
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  Speaker 1: some of our scheme insiders, because there's a lot to
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  Speaker 1: reservation today. That'll do it for today. Thank you guys
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  Speaker 1: all for joining us. Have a great day.
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  Speaker 2: We'll talk to you tomorrow.