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2025 Cotton Bowl: How Can The Texas Defense Contain The Ohio State Offense? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Sunday, January fifth.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, tom Or the Cotton Bowl game against
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  Speaker 1: Texas in five days, the game against Michigan in three
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  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty eight days. Going to be talking about
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  Speaker 1: that Cotton Bowl game against Texas. Going to be letting
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  Speaker 1: you hear directly from Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, probably
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  Speaker 1: someone that Ohio State fans have not heard a whole
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  Speaker 1: heck of a lot from over the years. He's coached
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  Speaker 1: all over the place, but never in the Big Ten,
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  Speaker 1: so you get a chance to hear from him. He
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  Speaker 1: had some interesting stuff to say during the press conference
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  Speaker 1: previewing the Cotton Bowl game just a couple of days ago.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to let you hear from him about a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of different stuff. First thing, Ohio State's fast starts.
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  Speaker 1: The Buck guys have outscored their opponents thirty five nothing
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  Speaker 1: in the first quarter of their two CFP games. So
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  Speaker 1: what is Steve Sarkisian's takeaway on how they're doing it.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's probably credit to their coaching staff. First
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  Speaker 2: of all, game planning, putting together a nice plan on offense, defense,
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  Speaker 2: and special teams instill in that plan to the players,
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  Speaker 2: and the players playing with confidence. I think that's one
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  Speaker 2: thing that jumps out you watch it is how confidently
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  Speaker 2: they're playing. They're definitely calling it aggressively, but the execution
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  Speaker 2: is at a really high level. So that's what jumps
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  Speaker 2: out at us.
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  Speaker 1: The Texas Longhorns sometimes have one of the most explosive
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  Speaker 1: and diverse offenses in America. Sometimes they ran the ball
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  Speaker 1: forty eight times for two hundred and ninety two yards
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  Speaker 1: against Clemson. You able to run the ball, able to
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  Speaker 1: pass the ball, really really complete performance there. That was
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  Speaker 1: the first round of College football Playoff. Here's the problem.
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  Speaker 1: The game before that, in the SEC Championship Game, twenty
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  Speaker 1: eight carries for thirty one yards against Georgia. The game
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  Speaker 1: after that in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff
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  Speaker 1: and the peach Ball thirty carries fifty three yards versus
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  Speaker 1: Arizona State. So what's the deal there? If Texas can't
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  Speaker 1: run the ball, are they just going to have to
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  Speaker 1: lean on the pass and the cotton ball or are
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  Speaker 1: they going to have to just keep hammer under the
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  Speaker 1: rock and hope some breaks.
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  Speaker 2: Well I hope not, you know, I hope that we
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  Speaker 2: can find balance, and I think that that we're more
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  Speaker 2: than equipped to do that, you know. I think that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, in really evaluating last the last ball game was, man,
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  Speaker 2: we just we really couldn't get our backs free into
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  Speaker 2: the second level, you know. And I thought Arizona State
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  Speaker 2: did a nice job that their safeties and their secondary
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  Speaker 2: tackled well and got us on the ground, and and
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  Speaker 2: we didn't get a whole lot of reps to find
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  Speaker 2: the rhythm of it. And so there's everybody's kind of
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  Speaker 2: got to take some responsibility of that. But but we're
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  Speaker 2: at our best when we when we when we can
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  Speaker 2: run it, and that gives us balance, and so I'm
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  Speaker 2: hard pressed not to just kind of walk away from
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  Speaker 2: it and abandon it. So we've we've got to do
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  Speaker 2: a better great job as a staff of putting together
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  Speaker 2: a good plan and make sure that our players can
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  Speaker 2: execute it at a high level versus the myriad of looks,
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  Speaker 2: especially that Ohio State can give you.
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  Speaker 1: One of the big themes of the quarterfinals of the
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  Speaker 1: College football Playoffs was that all four teams that had
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  Speaker 1: a first round by all four conference champions, they all
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  Speaker 1: lost zero and four. So does that mean there's an
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  Speaker 1: advantage to playing early and not having that long layoff.
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  Speaker 1: Do they need to tweak something for next year? Here's
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  Speaker 1: Sarkesian's thoughts on that.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I don't know. You know, I've referenced this before.
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  Speaker 2: You know, my initial thought on all this was similar
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  Speaker 2: to the NCAA basketball tournament. That you know, if you
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  Speaker 2: win your conference championship, you get an automatic bid into
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  Speaker 2: the tournament, like like they're doing basketball, and then the
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  Speaker 2: committee seeds the tournament. You know, And I've referenced these
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  Speaker 2: two schools just because they're in the same conference, But
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  Speaker 2: how many times have have Duke and North Carolina both
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  Speaker 2: been number one seeds coming out of the the ACC
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  Speaker 2: for all those years? And so like in this instance,
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  Speaker 2: if this year were that way, we would have been
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  Speaker 2: the three seed and we would have gotten a buy
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  Speaker 2: and so, but because of the guaranteed spots as one seeds,
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  Speaker 2: we went in as the five seed and we had
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  Speaker 2: to play. And so I don't know if there's necessarily
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  Speaker 2: an advantage or a disadvantage to it that way. I
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  Speaker 2: know our guys were chopping at the bit to get
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  Speaker 2: back out there and play and compete, but I also
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  Speaker 2: know we're going into our sixteenth game here coming up,
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  Speaker 2: you know, this coming week, and you know, without a
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  Speaker 2: real significant rest. We've been finding our spots to get
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  Speaker 2: some rest and to get healthy, but we didn't get
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  Speaker 2: that massive rest that I think a lot of the
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  Speaker 2: other teams do. Now. I don't know if that's beneficial
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  Speaker 2: or not. You know, I think there is something to
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  Speaker 2: be said about playing football consistently and rhythm and routine
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  Speaker 2: and so on and so forth. So I'm not sure
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  Speaker 2: I have a great answer for what is best, but
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  Speaker 2: what I do know that would be my one recommendation
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  Speaker 2: to the seeding process.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of the questions on this press conference, especially
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  Speaker 1: from the Texas side of the media, all kind of
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  Speaker 1: we're along the lines of so, Ohio States offense looks
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  Speaker 1: really really good right now, what exactly do you plan
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  Speaker 1: to do about that? So here's Steve Circasian's thoughts and
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  Speaker 1: what they need to do to disrupt the Buckeye offense.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think we've got to be really good at
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  Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage against the run and the pass.
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  Speaker 2: You know that Ohio State's similar to us that way.
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  Speaker 2: When they have balance, they're very difficult and so got
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  Speaker 2: to be good against the run. We got to try to,
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  Speaker 2: you know, affect him in the pocket, and we need
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  Speaker 2: to disrupt timing in the back end. We need to
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  Speaker 2: disguise our coverage as well. We need to be sticky
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  Speaker 2: in coverage. We need to get hands on footballs. We
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  Speaker 2: need to make throwing lanes difficult. We need to get
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  Speaker 2: our hands up at the line of scrimmage. So there's
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  Speaker 2: a lot of factors to that. Not an easy task,
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  Speaker 2: I'll say that, but one that I think is going
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  Speaker 2: to be necessary if we want to be successful.
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  Speaker 1: One of the big storylines heading into this game is
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  Speaker 1: going to be Texas starting quarterback Quinn Ewers. He's been
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  Speaker 1: one of the biggest names in college football. He stars
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  Speaker 1: in those Doctor Pepper commercials, and he's been a multi
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  Speaker 1: year starter for the Longhorn is going to be a
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  Speaker 1: key part of how this game plays out. And of course,
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  Speaker 1: he started his college career at Ohio State in twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty one. He enrolled in college a year early, spent
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  Speaker 1: one season with the Buckeyes, took exactly three snaps at
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  Speaker 1: the end of the Michigan State game and that was it,
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  Speaker 1: and then went to Texas after that. So what how
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  Speaker 1: has Steve Circassian seen Quinn. You weres developed since he
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  Speaker 1: got back from Ohio State.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I like anything. You know, when when he went
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  Speaker 2: to Ohio State early on, he should have still been
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  Speaker 2: a senior in high school, you know, and and uh
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  Speaker 2: when we got him back, you know, he was still
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  Speaker 2: in our eyes, a freshman at that time. And so
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  Speaker 2: there's been a lot of development. I would say physical development,
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  Speaker 2: but I would also probably say mental and emotional development
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  Speaker 2: to watch him grow into a leader that he's grown
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  Speaker 2: into for us. His ability to to have the poise
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  Speaker 2: and composure he has, uh, not only on the field,
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  Speaker 2: but off the field, to to look into the face
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  Speaker 2: of adversity and get come out on the other side
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  Speaker 2: of it time and time again, whether it be injuries, whatever,
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  Speaker 2: that looks like, to be at his best when his
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  Speaker 2: best was needed, you know, similar to to the to
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  Speaker 2: the Peach Bowl, Uh there at the end of the
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  Speaker 2: game and in overtime. So I think that's all from
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  Speaker 2: a from a you know, a seismic shift from maturity standpoint,
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  Speaker 2: Like I said, physically and mentally.
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  Speaker 1: This new postseason format is new for everyone this year.
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  Speaker 1: But there's some definitely some weird peak quirks to what
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  Speaker 1: Texas's postseason schedule could look like. They started the postseason
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  Speaker 1: playing in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta, then they
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  Speaker 1: played a home game in the first round of the playoffs,
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  Speaker 1: and they went back to Atlanta for the Peach Bowl.
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  Speaker 1: Now they're going to the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, very
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  Speaker 1: close to home, and then they could go back to
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  Speaker 1: Atlanta potentially for the third time in about a month
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  Speaker 1: and a half. Is there a benefit to playing in
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  Speaker 1: familiar places or playing in places multiple times.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's been really fun. I'll be honest with you,
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  Speaker 2: you know. I thought, you know, in our first year
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  Speaker 2: in the SEC, to play in Mercedes Benz Stadium for
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  Speaker 2: the SEC Championship in Atlanta, I thought was an awesome
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  Speaker 2: experience for our guys. Coming back home and being part
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  Speaker 2: of the first round of the College Football Playoffs and
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  Speaker 2: having a home game, I thought was another really cool
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  Speaker 2: ex experience. The fact that that we hosted one of
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  Speaker 2: the inaugural home home games in the CFP was was
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  Speaker 2: really cool. And then an opportunity to play in the
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  Speaker 2: Peach Bowl UH an iconic bowl, and and for us
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  Speaker 2: to to win that and and to be the first
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  Speaker 2: team to UH to win all the major bowls in
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  Speaker 2: that fashion I thought, I thought was fantastic. But now
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  Speaker 2: to be in the Semis and playing the Coppon Bowl
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  Speaker 2: in Dallas is huge. You know, we're we're gonna need
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  Speaker 2: our fans. We're gonna need our fans support. I need
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  Speaker 2: Longhorn Nation to show out in Arlington. We're gonna need
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  Speaker 2: everything we got to uh to try to win this game.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you know clearly we're we're massive underdogs and
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  Speaker 2: nobody's gonna give us a shot. So we're gonna need
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  Speaker 2: all that that we can to to try to win
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  Speaker 2: this game.
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  Speaker 1: Before Will Howard was to start in quarterback at Ohio State,
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  Speaker 1: he was the starting quarterback at Kansas State, and Kansas
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  Speaker 1: State and Texas were conference rivals but right up until
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  Speaker 1: the Horns moved to the SEC this year. So when
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  Speaker 1: Steve Sarkisian in Texas faced Will Howard at k State,
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  Speaker 1: what were his impressions of them? And also Howard on
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  Speaker 1: tape this year heading into this game.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say the first thing is he's a
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  Speaker 2: He's a much better athlete than people probably give him
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  Speaker 2: credit for. He snapped off a shoot about a seventy
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  Speaker 2: yard touchdown run against US a few years ago. So
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  Speaker 2: he has a good speed, he's got great poison composure
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  Speaker 2: in the pocket. You can tell he's very bright. You know,
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  Speaker 2: the system they ran at Kansas State put a lot
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  Speaker 2: on the quarterback and knowing coach Kelly and coach Day
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  Speaker 2: and what they do, so him managing you know, the
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  Speaker 2: offenses that way. So he's got he's got intelligence, he's
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  Speaker 2: got athletic ability, and then his ability to throw a
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  Speaker 2: catchable ball. You know, I've seen that now for a
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  Speaker 2: few years. You know, he throws passes where they need
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  Speaker 2: to be thrown and guys make plays for him. And
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  Speaker 2: his poison composure in critical moments is something that has
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  Speaker 2: been very impressive as well.
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State has put some potential difference makers on both
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  Speaker 1: sides of the ball. I say that, and of course
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  Speaker 1: everyone immediately thinks Jeremiah Smith, and yeah, that's probably true.
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  Speaker 1: But on defense, we also have Caleb Downs. He's someone
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  Speaker 1: who Texas faced last year when he was at Alabama.
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  Speaker 1: So how much does having to go up against Caleb
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  Speaker 1: Downs impact your game plan on offense?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Caleb's a fantastic football player.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously we played against him last year his freshman year
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  Speaker 2: at Alabama and made some impactful plays in that game.
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  Speaker 2: You can you can sense and feel his his football
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  Speaker 2: i Q, his awareness, but yet the athletic ability to
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  Speaker 2: to cover ground to make plays, but then the physical
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  Speaker 2: ability to to get people on the ground to take
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  Speaker 2: on blocks. So he's a complete player. He's all around player.
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  Speaker 2: And again we're we got to look at the scheme
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  Speaker 2: first when we start building the call sheet. And coach
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  Speaker 2: Knowles is a fantastic defensive coach, been doing it a
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  Speaker 2: long time, very good, very good at developing plans UH
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  Speaker 2: that that put his best players in position to have success,
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  Speaker 2: Caleb being one of those. And so we got to
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  Speaker 2: look at the schemes before we even really start dialing
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  Speaker 2: into the specific players and then try to put our
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  Speaker 2: players in the best position to have success. So that's
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  Speaker 2: always a process, that's a it's a fun process to have.
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  Speaker 2: But again us to opportunity for our guys to go
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  Speaker 2: against our defense UH every day, which we think is
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  Speaker 2: pretty good. That that, you know, that always helps our
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  Speaker 2: guys kind of prepare for the speed, the closing ability
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  Speaker 2: on the ball that that is going to be necessary
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  Speaker 2: on game day.
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  Speaker 1: And finally, Sarkishan has talked a few a bunch this
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  Speaker 1: year about the obsession about winning a national title. So
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  Speaker 1: has that changed at all now that they're just two
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  Speaker 1: games away?
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  Speaker 2: You know, we didn't come this far just to come
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  Speaker 2: this far, I guess would be what I tell you.
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  Speaker 2: It's how it's manifested itself. It's like the journey's not done,
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  Speaker 2: the mission is not complete. It's still a driving force
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  Speaker 2: behind you know, what we do every day while we
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  Speaker 2: wake up so early, while we stay so late, while
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  Speaker 2: our players are you know, come in on an off
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  Speaker 2: day when they're when we were asking them not to
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  Speaker 2: be here, and they're in here watching tape, working out, stretching, striding,
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  Speaker 2: getting rehab. It's all that, you know, it's all that
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  Speaker 2: continues to push you, you know, because none of this
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  Speaker 2: is guaranteed. Today is not guaranteed. But none of this
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  Speaker 2: is guaranteed. It's not like, well, we'll just get back
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  Speaker 2: here again next year. You know, we're back in the
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  Speaker 2: final four for the for the second consecutive season. And
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  Speaker 2: those other three teams that were here a year ago
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  Speaker 2: with us didn't make the twelve team playoff, never mind
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  Speaker 2: the final four. So nothing's guaranteed it's difficult to get
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  Speaker 2: to this spot, and we will want to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that we maximize this opportunity and put our best foot
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  Speaker 2: forward and see what happens.
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  Speaker 1: Hope you guys enjoyed that. One always like to hear
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  Speaker 1: it from new coaches, new players, different programs. That's kind
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: of been one of the fun things about this college
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: football postseason. Got a chance to learn a lot about
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: the Tennessee Volunteers, and then a lot about the Oregon Ducks.
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  Speaker 1: And this week we're gonna be learning a lot about
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  Speaker 1: the Texas Longhorns, Sarkesian and quinn Ewers, the whole team.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Tony Gerdabin and I have already done our first game
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: rewatch show that's in the Buckeye Weekly podcast speed breaking
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: down what we learned watching the SEC championship game. We're
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: gonna watch the two college Football playoff games that the
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: Horns have played as well, so you can look for
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: that in the Buckeye Weekly podcast feed and on our
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash Buckey Huddle. Got
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: a couple of Ross Fulton analysis so analysis shows coming
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: up as well for you. Breaking down in the Buckeye's
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: offense and defense in the Rose Bowl, what that might
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: mean moving forward against the Longhorns. And we're gonna have
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: a ton more coverage coming up all week long. Down
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: in Texas, Tony Kevin and I headed down to the
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Lone Star State Tuesday. Evening coverage will start in Earnest
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: on Wednesday. There's gonna be a lot to talk about.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: That place to talk about all of it is at
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: buckeyehuddle dot com. That's where Tony Kevin and I cover
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: the team, Mark covers recruiting. We got our whole team
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: of exus and nosguru that grews there, make you a
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: smarter football fan all at bucke huddle dot com. That'll
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: do it for today. Thank you guys all for joining us.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Have a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.