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Ohio State Football: The Most Surprising Buckeyes Of 2026 · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Tuesday, October 6th. I'm
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: your host, Tom Moore. The Maryland game in four days.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: The game against Michigan in 53 days. Today's episode presented
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: by Jeff Rubies of Columbus, proudly offering nationally acclaimed USDA
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  Speaker 1: prime steaks, seafood and sushi, impeccable service, live entertainment, and
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  Speaker 1: an attention to detail that is simply unmatched. Just go
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to jeffruby.com slash Columbus to check out the menu and
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: make a reservation today. All right, on today's show, I'm
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  Speaker 1: joined by Tony Gerderman of BuckeyeInsiders.com. Five games into Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State's regular season, we're going to take a look back
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  Speaker 1: at maybe some things that have surprised us a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: Players who have been either positive or negative surprises for
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State. And Tony, we're going to start this, just
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  Speaker 1: sort of set things in time. We're walking into the
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  Speaker 1: stadium for the Ball State game, game one of the season.
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  Speaker 1: And we have, okay, we know exactly what's going to
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  Speaker 1: happen this season. We followed the team all spring. We've
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  Speaker 1: got all summer, all fall camp. We know exactly what's
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  Speaker 1: going to happen. So then from that point on, who
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  Speaker 1: were we surprised about based on what we thought we
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  Speaker 1: were getting walking into State of Midday? So I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to go first. And I'm going to take what I
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  Speaker 1: feel like is the free space on the bingo card.
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  Speaker 1: It is defensive tackle Jason Moore. He had six tackles
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  Speaker 1: last season, two tackles the season before that. and was
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  Speaker 1: still kind of a little bit of a man of
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  Speaker 1: mystery in August, where you knew they had their top
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  Speaker 1: four defensive tackles, or you thought you knew they had
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  Speaker 1: their top four defensive tackles, and boy, is Jason Moore
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  Speaker 1: going to be able to be the fifth guy, because
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  Speaker 1: they might need a fifth guy, and it seemed like
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  Speaker 1: that was a little bit of an open question. Five
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  Speaker 1: games into the season, ten tackles, one and a half
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  Speaker 1: tackles for loss, half a sack, by far, already, in
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  Speaker 1: every category, solo tackles, assisted tackles, total tackles, tackles for loss,
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  Speaker 1: and sacks, Already career highs for Jason Moore this year.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, career highs for a reason. I'll say I had
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  Speaker 2: written him off, and when you talk about him before
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  Speaker 2: the season, he was always the fifth defensive tackle just
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  Speaker 2: because he's not a freshman. And so he's a fifth-year
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  Speaker 2: guy out of respect. He's been around. He's not gone
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  Speaker 2: anywhere yet. They've not chased him out. So just go
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  Speaker 2: ahead and humor the people and make him number five
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  Speaker 2: or one of the five. But now he is one
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  Speaker 2: of the five. in a much different way than just
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  Speaker 2: being one of the five. He's number one out of
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  Speaker 2: those five now and continues to play well and continues
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  Speaker 2: to prove Ryan Day right, that everybody has their own path,
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  Speaker 2: and the path he's on has taken a while to
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  Speaker 2: get where he is, but he's been effective and he's
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  Speaker 2: been a huge surprise because there were no expectations for
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  Speaker 2: him this season, and now he's starting and he's playing well. So, yes,
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  Speaker 2: very much a surprise. That was a positive one, Tom.
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  Speaker 2: So this is going to turn into a show of
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  Speaker 2: what maybe one of us was wrong about and who's
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  Speaker 2: to say which one, but I sure thought Terry Moore
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  Speaker 2: was going to be part of this defense in the spring.
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  Speaker 2: And then maybe it really wasn't until fall camp that
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  Speaker 2: we kind of started to get a hint of it.
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  Speaker 2: So maybe this is an unfair ruling of me being
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  Speaker 2: wrong because we did start to see hints of it,
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  Speaker 2: but I guess just how far back he was when
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  Speaker 2: you've got Leroy Roker and Simeon Caldwell playing in front
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  Speaker 2: of him. That was a surprise. But I guess we
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  Speaker 2: saw him. We basically only seen him for a starter
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  Speaker 2: in two weeks of spring. And when I say starter,
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  Speaker 2: running with the ones. But, man, the experience that he
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  Speaker 2: had and the production that he had, you thought you
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  Speaker 2: would see more from him. Maybe it's the injury. Perhaps...
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  Speaker 2: We've seen it before where guys come in from the
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  Speaker 2: ACC or other conferences and it's just, or, you know,
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  Speaker 2: from North Carolina, from North Carolina schools alone, it's just
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  Speaker 2: different in Ohio State trying to get on the field.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it definitely is. You wonder, this was a spring
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  Speaker 1: thing where we came into the spring, we had heard
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  Speaker 1: positive things. We came into the spring thinking, okay, this
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  Speaker 1: is a guy who's almost certainly going to be starting
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  Speaker 1: and they'll have Earl Little at the nickel. And then
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  Speaker 1: At no point during fall camp did you have the
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  Speaker 1: sense that that was what was going to happen. If
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  Speaker 1: we're taking the starting point to this back to August 1,
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  Speaker 1: I think Jay Timmons is number one with a bullet
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  Speaker 1: on this list. I think by the time we got
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  Speaker 1: to the season, you kind of had a sense that
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  Speaker 1: Jay Timmons was going to be a bigger guy. So
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  Speaker 1: I didn't have him on my list. Maybe you'll get
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  Speaker 1: to him later. Terry Moore is certainly someone who has
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  Speaker 1: not ended up in the spot that I thought he
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  Speaker 1: was going to be on the depth chart this spring.
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  Speaker 1: I'll go. I will say positive, Tony. I know you're
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  Speaker 1: constantly trying to drag everyone down with your negativity. I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to go with QB to Luke Fahey because he
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  Speaker 1: was someone who in fall camp, we kind of kept hearing, boy, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's a real competition. And, you know, sometimes it's a
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  Speaker 1: real competition and you're doing the air quotes like Matt Foley.
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  Speaker 1: But this was you kind of got the sense. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it really is a real competition. And then even so.
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  Speaker 1: Going into the Ball State game, I think I said
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  Speaker 1: to you, look, there's no way. There's no way they're
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  Speaker 1: playing Luke Fahey over Tavian St. Clair. You're going to
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  Speaker 1: play both of these guys. You give Tavian St. Clair
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  Speaker 1: every opportunity to stay ahead as QB2 because you're going
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  Speaker 1: to play both of those guys. And as soon as
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  Speaker 1: you play Luke Fahey, it's like he has jumped over
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  Speaker 1: Tavian St. Clair. And once you're in season, it's very
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  Speaker 1: hard to jump back the other direction. So you know,
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  Speaker 1: at that point, Tavian St. Clair feels like he's QB three.
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  Speaker 1: So like, of course, Luke Fahey is going to be
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  Speaker 1: the third guy out there. And then Julian Sands day
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  Speaker 1: is done. And there goes Luke Fahey. And he's been
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  Speaker 1: really good in the times that we've seen him. You can,
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  Speaker 1: you can see what they like about him. He, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: he feels pretty entrenched as QB two at this point
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  Speaker 1: where this is not something where there's going to be going,
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  Speaker 1: there's going to be a lot of going back and
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  Speaker 1: forth this Saturday against ball against Maryland. I'm assuming you're
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  Speaker 1: going to see backup quarterback or backup quarterbacks. And I
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  Speaker 1: have almost no question that Luke Fahey is going to
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  Speaker 1: be the first guy off the bench.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you there. And even in camp watching,
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  Speaker 2: he was able to move the ball and make plays
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  Speaker 2: and there'd be some nice throws. He's got a big
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  Speaker 2: arm and he's confident. And everybody saw him able to
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  Speaker 2: run the ball in the spring. But I was with you.
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  Speaker 2: The only reason to put him out there first as
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  Speaker 2: the backup is if everybody knows he's the backup and
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  Speaker 2: you're okay with the repercussions of essentially having a fresh
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  Speaker 2: move ahead of somebody who's older, because we know once
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  Speaker 2: that happens, you basically said everything that you need to
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  Speaker 2: say about the status of both players. And so now
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  Speaker 2: you've got Luke Fahey, who is, you know, is the backup.
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  Speaker 2: And until we hear different, then he's going to be
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  Speaker 2: the backup until we see different. And again, like you said,
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  Speaker 2: I don't expect to see different because he's been getting
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  Speaker 2: backup reps and, That's just the role that he has now.
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  Speaker 2: So it's up to Tavian St. Clair to change that,
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  Speaker 2: and we'll see how he responds to that. So, yes,
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  Speaker 2: I'll stay in the backfield. I'll go with Jacoby Jackson
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  Speaker 2: as a very pleasant surprise. And I know the– I
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  Speaker 2: guess the comp was, well, it's the C.J. Donaldson role
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  Speaker 2: because that's what we know. Because we're not going to say, well,
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  Speaker 2: he's being brought in to play the Quinchon Judkins role
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  Speaker 2: because that's Quinchon Judkins and that's– C.J. Donaldson was not that.
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  Speaker 2: Don't expect Jacoby Jackson to be that. But Jacoby Jackson
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  Speaker 2: has been more Quinshawn Judkins than C.J. Donaldson by a
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  Speaker 2: long shot. So, like, the idea that you're talking about
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  Speaker 2: a guy who is the number three guy before the season,
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  Speaker 2: before that Ball State game, now you're like– I mean,
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  Speaker 2: he started the last game. He started the Iowa game.
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  Speaker 2: So you're wondering– is he the number one guy? Is
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  Speaker 2: he the guy? And I remember talking to you, talking
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  Speaker 2: to Jock after the game or during the game for
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  Speaker 2: Jock saying, I wonder what this running game would look
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  Speaker 2: like if he got 20 to 25 carries. Would that be,
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  Speaker 2: would that amount to 150 yards where the defense gets
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  Speaker 2: softer and softer or, you know, more broken down over
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  Speaker 2: the course of the game or the way he runs,
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  Speaker 2: or is he able to run the way he does
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  Speaker 2: because he's only getting eight to 14 carries.
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  Speaker 1: So.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And that feels like one of those things where you
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  Speaker 1: can do that once or twice. I don't think you
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  Speaker 1: can do that 12 times. 12 times, 24 carries a game.
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  Speaker 1: That feels like that's going to add up quite a
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  Speaker 1: bit and take a lot of that tread off that tire.
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  Speaker 1: But yeah, no, he for sure has been one of
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  Speaker 1: the guys who I think we came in... In the spring,
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  Speaker 1: we thought, oh, this guy's better than we thought he was.
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  Speaker 1: And he runs and he can catch the ball out
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  Speaker 1: of the backfield.
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  Speaker 2: A little bit.
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  Speaker 1: He He could have a little bit of a role
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  Speaker 1: on this year's team. And then just all of a
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  Speaker 1: sudden this fall, it was kind of like, oh, that
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  Speaker 1: role might be RB1. And if not, it's RB1A to
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  Speaker 1: Bo Jackson's RB1. So yeah, he's a very good one.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to stay in the running back room and
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to go the other direction. Going into the season,
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  Speaker 1: we had heard all the things about Legend Bay. and
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  Speaker 1: during the fall we saw little bits of legend bay
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  Speaker 1: and you heard all about legend bay and even walking
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  Speaker 1: out of the stadium after the ball state game it
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  Speaker 1: was like well you you saw that run you saw
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  Speaker 1: that that pass it's like okay there it is he's
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  Speaker 1: gonna get a bunch of touches against texas and then
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  Speaker 1: texas he gets one touch for zero yards and kent
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  Speaker 1: state he gets one touch for zero yards and then
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  Speaker 1: didn't play uh the last couple of weeks against illinois
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  Speaker 1: and iowa and this is not an on field thing.
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  Speaker 1: I don't think there's any question about the ability. It's just, okay,
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  Speaker 1: are you handling all the stuff, all the really boring
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  Speaker 1: off field stuff? Are you doing that? And you know,
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  Speaker 1: this is, this is not a, the player is disappointing.
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  Speaker 1: This is, you're disappointed to not be seeing the player
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  Speaker 1: but i think this is also a broader thing where
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  Speaker 1: it's like you got to handle your business if you
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: don't handle your business you don't play because you know
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  Speaker 1: there's there's an immediate response from a lot of people
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  Speaker 1: that well they they don't have anyone else like him
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  Speaker 1: they need him and it's like well you don't, you
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  Speaker 1: don't want to start bending the rules if you're not,
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  Speaker 1: you know, if, if people aren't meeting the expectations in
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  Speaker 1: other areas and you start bending the rules for people,
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  Speaker 1: then the, you know, the expectations stop getting met by
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people. And so it's just, this is
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  Speaker 1: sort of a function of, you gotta, you know, this is,
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  Speaker 1: this is a broader cultural thing and this is all
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  Speaker 1: still absolutely solvable. This is someone that we could see
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  Speaker 1: this weekend on the field against Maryland quite a bit.
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  Speaker 1: It's just what, what happens Monday to Friday that, that
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  Speaker 1: then results in whether you see him or not on Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: Either there's a standard or there isn't. And if you're
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  Speaker 2: going to say that there is, then you've got to
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  Speaker 2: hold people to it. That's foundation, that's culture, as you said.
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  Speaker 2: And I don't see that bending. And frankly, yes. Do
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  Speaker 2: they need him?
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  Speaker 1: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: Is he needed? He should feel needed. But also help
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  Speaker 2: your teammates out by doing what is necessary to get
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  Speaker 2: on the field. don't, don't expect the coaches to acquiesce.
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  Speaker 2: Don't expect them. Don't expect to get your way. It's
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  Speaker 2: going to be the coach's way and it's going to
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  Speaker 2: be the Ohio state way. And it's going to be
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  Speaker 2: the way that everybody else has had to do it
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  Speaker 2: to get on the field. Cause that's the best way
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  Speaker 2: to get the most out of people when they are
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  Speaker 2: on the field and, and all of the coach speak
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  Speaker 2: and out of life and all of this, you know,
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: stuff that is actually true. And we don't, we don't
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  Speaker 2: really talk about that side of things that much, but yeah,
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  Speaker 2: that still has to happen. So that is, certainly a
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  Speaker 2: surprise because we saw ball state, like, see, we told you,
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  Speaker 2: we told you he's going to play and that that's why.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, you can see that and think, boy, I
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  Speaker 2: don't understand why the coaches don't want them out there.
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  Speaker 1: They do.
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  Speaker 2: Cause they've, nobody's seen it more than them. Jeremiah Smith
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  Speaker 2: said he expects legend Bay to be a Heisman finalist
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  Speaker 2: by the time he leaves Ohio state. So everybody in
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  Speaker 2: there has seen it. And the fact that they can't
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  Speaker 2: see it now, it's, it's unfortunate for everybody, but it's
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  Speaker 2: up to legend Bay to get back out on the
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  Speaker 2: field and show that. So, um, I'll stay in the
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: backfield again, Tom. Isaiah West. This has been a surprising
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  Speaker 2: season for him based on, boy, the start of fall
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  Speaker 2: camp when he's running with the ones. And maybe that
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  Speaker 2: was more as much about Bo Jackson as Isaiah West.
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  Speaker 2: And really just, he's not been able to get going.
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  Speaker 2: He gets two or three carries a game. And how
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  Speaker 2: could anybody get going with that? But seeing what we
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  Speaker 2: saw early on and hearing good things all off season long,
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  Speaker 2: you're expecting more. And now it's clear, like, He is
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  Speaker 2: the third guy, and as long as– until Legend Bay
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  Speaker 2: is back on the field, then he's the fourth guy.
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  Speaker 2: So this is a situation that I did not expect.
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  Speaker 2: We were talking about– I'm going to delete the shows eventually,
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  Speaker 2: but we were talking about the Isaiah West contributions this
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: season in terms of what percentage of carries was he getting.
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  Speaker 2: It's like I need to scrub those from the record
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  Speaker 2: based on what we were talking about.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're telling you what we're hearing, and we
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  Speaker 1: were hearing, oh boy, it's a real competition. And then
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  Speaker 1: it turned out it was real competition, but not between
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  Speaker 1: the people that we were hearing at that point. Jacoby
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  Speaker 1: Jackson has kind of taken on the snaps that we
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  Speaker 1: were expecting Isaiah West to take, and Isaiah West has
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  Speaker 1: taken the snaps that we were kind of thinking maybe
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  Speaker 1: Jacoby Jackson would take. So kind of just guys kind
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  Speaker 1: of switching places in line in there. But yeah, definitely
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  Speaker 1: a surprise there as well. I feel like I've got
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  Speaker 1: a couple more that I could name both at the
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: defensive end position. But I'm going to say, frankly, a
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: defensive tackle as well. But I'm going to make my
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: last one, I'm going to say Kari Wilder. And I
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  Speaker 1: think it's kind of a similar conversation to Legend Bay,
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  Speaker 1: except with Kari Wilder, it has been both pleasant surprise
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  Speaker 1: and unpleasant surprise, where when he's been out there, man,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: he's been disruptive. And you've seen him get in the
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: quarterback's face basically every time he's played defensively. but then
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  Speaker 1: he didn't play against Iowa, did not play a snap
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  Speaker 1: against Iowa. That's, you know, again, and this is sort
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  Speaker 1: of a similar conversation to legend, but not the same issues.
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  Speaker 1: This is not the same. It's, it's a separate, it's
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: a separate conversation, but in the bigger picture, it's the
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: same conversation. It's you've got to do your one 11th.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: And if you don't do your one 11th, then they
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: don't trust you to be out there no matter how
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: good you are. And, This is, again, a very similar
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: conversation to Legend Bay where people are saying, well, I mean,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: he does stuff that other people can't do. I go
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: back to the end of the Urban Meyer era. And,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: you know, the phrase that we heard over and over
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  Speaker 1: again is no person is bigger than the Ohio State
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  Speaker 1: football program. And you can be a great football player
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  Speaker 1: if you don't do your 111th, you don't meet the standard,
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  Speaker 1: you don't do what you're supposed to do. then there
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  Speaker 1: are other guys who are there who will play. And
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  Speaker 1: when you figure it out, then great, you can figure
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  Speaker 1: you can play, but not until that time. And this just,
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  Speaker 1: you know, this is, you know, again, a different situation
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: than a legend based situation, but also you sort of
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  Speaker 1: end up in the same general spot.
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  Speaker 2: They can do stuff that other guys can, but aren't
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  Speaker 2: doing the things that everybody can. And until you're doing
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: the things that everybody can, you're not going to be
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: on the field because that's, those are the fundamentals. Those
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: are the things that have to happen. And so, Ryan
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Day talks about skill and effort and all of those things.
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  Speaker 2: The stuff that requires no talent, if you can't do that,
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  Speaker 2: then it doesn't matter how much talent you have. You're
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: not going to be consistent enough. You're not going to
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  Speaker 2: be where you need to be. You're going to be
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: more of a liability than a help. I think that's
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: true of, I'd say, 92.7% of all freshmen. It is
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: what it is with freshmen. You get to see glimpses
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  Speaker 2: and that's the great thing about it, but you think
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: the glimpses would be the entire, like the entire plane
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: is made out of glimpses. No, like this is a,
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: trust me, you don't want that. And it is not
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: a suitable for flight, but just, you want those glimpses
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: to be just grow and build, build off of that.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: And then by November, then you're out there and we'll
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: see if that's the case for any of the freshmen
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: that we haven't really seen or the ones that we
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: have just a little bit to this point. Cause I,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: I'd say Simeon Caldwell is a pleasant surprise. We expect
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: to see him, his role to continue to grow. Jay
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Timmons will be back soon enough and he is what
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: he is. He's already a starter, but can any of
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: the other freshmen turn a little bit of a role
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: into a larger role? And we always use the Chris
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Olave example, and maybe that's what we can see from
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Legend Bay or Kari Wilder.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And, you know, I think you could, you could
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: throw Chris Henry Jr. and Brock Boyd sort of in
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: that conversation where they're not showing up in terms of
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: the stat sheet, but they're showing up in terms of
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: playing 20, 21 snaps and, against Iowa on the road
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: as true freshmen, that's pretty impressive as well. So there
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: you go. A run through, I don't know, I lost count.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Was that 8, 10, something like that? Eight-ish players who
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: have been pretty surprising for the Ohio State Buckeyes in
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: one direction or another so far this season. We'll be covering,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: we'll have plenty more surprises still to come as Buckeyes
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: play their sixth regular season game after Saturday. Regular season
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: will be halfway done at halftime on Saturday. The home
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: schedule will be halfway done. Cannot believe we're already halfway
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: through the Buckeyes' 2026 regular season. So if time is
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: flying by and you're thinking, I wish I could make
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: more of this. Well, friends, the best place to do
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: that would be at BuckeyeInsiders.com. That's where we've got our
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: whole team of insiders there covering the Buckeyes, covering recruiting,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: covering X's and O's. We'll have Justin Whitlatch on tomorrow's
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: morning show to talk about the offense against Iowa and
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: some of his key takeaways. We'll have plenty more scheme
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: shows coming for you all week long. at BuckeyeInsiders.com and
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: at YouTube.com slash at Buckeye Insiders. And thanks again to
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: our friends at Jeff Ruby's Columbus, the award-winning upscale steakhouse
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: in downtown Columbus. Name one of the top 50 steakhouses
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: in America by Food Network. Just go to JeffRuby.com slash
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Columbus and check out the menu and make a reservation today.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: That will do it for today. Thank you guys all
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: for joining us. Have a great day. We'll talk to
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: you tomorrow.