Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / Tale Of The Tape: Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Friday, October twenty fifth.
- 0:03Speaker 1: I'm your host, tom Or. The Nebraska game is in
- 0:05Speaker 1: one day. The game against Michigan in thirty six days. Yeah,
- 0:10Speaker 1: that is five weeks away. The Michigan game is five
- 0:13Speaker 1: weeks away. This college football season is flying. Buckeyes will
- 0:17Speaker 1: play their seventh game of the college football regular season
- 0:20Speaker 1: on Saturday. They're going to be welcoming in the Nebraska
- 0:23Speaker 1: corn Huskers. I am going to be welcoming in Kevin
- 0:25Speaker 1: Noon of Buckeyhuddle dot Com, who just wrote his signature
- 0:28Speaker 1: Tale of the Tape piece previewing that Ohio State Nebraska game.
- 0:31Speaker 1: So I figured, Hey, who better to talk to to
- 0:34Speaker 1: break this all down?
- 0:36Speaker 2: Is it?
- 0:36Speaker 1: What can you expect from the Nebraska corn Huskers. Well,
- 0:39Speaker 1: the last time they were out they lost fifty six
- 0:41Speaker 1: to seven to Indiana. Not great, not what you're looking for.
- 0:44Speaker 1: Probably not also really representative of what this Nebraska team
- 0:47Speaker 1: really is this year. But Kevin, let's start at the
- 0:50Speaker 1: quarterback position for the Huskers. A name that Buckeye fans
- 0:53Speaker 1: are going to be very familiar with, Dylan Riola, former
- 0:55Speaker 1: Ohio State commit. Of course, five star freshman quarterback. And
- 1:00Speaker 1: it feels like you've seen some five star quarterback moments
- 1:04Speaker 1: and some freshman quarterback moments this year from Dylan Roola.
- 1:08Speaker 2: Yeah, Dylan Roola came out and lit teams up that
- 1:12Speaker 2: he should probably be lighting up. And I understand you
- 1:15Speaker 2: when you're a true freshman, especially a quarterback, that you
- 1:19Speaker 2: don't know what you're going to expect. Their true freshman
- 1:21Speaker 2: quarterback is going to make some great plays for you.
- 1:23Speaker 2: It's going to make them not so great plays for you.
- 1:24Speaker 2: But they came out and took care of business. When
- 1:27Speaker 2: you look at the teams that they were going against.
- 1:31Speaker 2: They have faced three teams in the bottom thirty nationally
- 1:35Speaker 2: in pass efficiency defense. And we are to the point
- 1:38Speaker 2: now where one bad game doesn't completely skew the numbers.
- 1:43Speaker 2: If we were looking at to tail the tape week
- 1:44Speaker 2: two or week four, be a little bit more hesitant
- 1:48Speaker 2: to really lock up on those numbers. I don't. I
- 1:51Speaker 2: go about my methodology changes at the halfway point of
- 1:54Speaker 2: the season. I do more spreadsheets and things along those
- 1:57Speaker 2: lines than what I do earlier. Earlier is more of
- 2:00Speaker 2: a looks test. Later is more of just of the
- 2:04Speaker 2: numbers tell the story. And they've gone against number one
- 2:06Speaker 2: eighteen pass efficiency defense, one fifteen and one twenty seven.
- 2:10Speaker 2: And when they did go against the one that was
- 2:12Speaker 2: inside the top twenty, Indiana, they got torched. So I'm
- 2:18Speaker 2: not going to say it's apples to apples or oranges oranges,
- 2:21Speaker 2: but Dylan Royola has taken a step back. He's been
- 2:25Speaker 2: his last eight quarters of football or nothing like his
- 2:27Speaker 2: first eight quarters of football. I think teams are kind
- 2:30Speaker 2: of figuring out where the hole is in his swing
- 2:32Speaker 2: to use a little bit of a baseball saying right there.
- 2:35Speaker 2: And Nebraska just does not necessarily have a go to
- 2:40Speaker 2: guy with Royola. They spread the ball around a lot.
- 2:43Speaker 2: That's kind of more of their passing game. They don't
- 2:45Speaker 2: have an a Mecca Buca. They don't have a Jeremiah Smith.
- 2:48Speaker 2: They've got a handful of guys, which in some ways
- 2:51Speaker 2: is good for Nebraska because if you take one guy away,
- 2:55Speaker 2: you're not taking everybody away. But conversely, there's not that
- 2:59Speaker 2: you know they're there's not that safety net. There's not
- 3:01Speaker 2: that guy that you're just like, okay, we know when
- 3:04Speaker 2: in doubt they're going to this guy. They just they
- 3:06Speaker 2: don't have that guy.
- 3:08Speaker 1: Nebraska might not have a safety net in the past game,
- 3:11Speaker 1: but Ohio State might not have one of their safeties
- 3:13Speaker 1: in the past game. Lathan Ransom was officially labeled as
- 3:16Speaker 1: day to day by Ryan Day on Wednesday. Is a
- 3:20Speaker 1: lot of times to say the word day and that
- 3:21Speaker 1: close up a sequence moving on. My guess is that
- 3:25Speaker 1: day to day means week to week more than there's
- 3:29Speaker 1: a legitimate chance that Leathan Ransom is going to play
- 3:32Speaker 1: on Saturday. I have been wrong before it as possible,
- 3:34Speaker 1: but that's kind of an interesting potential twist on this
- 3:39Speaker 1: whole thing, because it doesn't feel like the Nebraska passing
- 3:41Speaker 1: attack is going to necessarily be a huge threat to
- 3:44Speaker 1: Ohio State, but if they have to shuffle some pieces
- 3:46Speaker 1: around that could complicate things a little bit.
- 3:50Speaker 2: It could. And I also agree with the week to
- 3:53Speaker 2: week sentiment. And I know a lot of people are saying, well,
- 3:57Speaker 2: just as long as he's back for Penn State. I
- 4:00Speaker 2: think that may be a little quick. I'm basing this
- 4:04Speaker 2: just as a guy who plays a doctor on TV,
- 4:06Speaker 2: not an actual real doctor. I don't have any details there.
- 4:09Speaker 2: One thing I will say about Nebraska's wide receiver corps.
- 4:13Speaker 2: They've got some big guys. They've got a couple of
- 4:14Speaker 2: guys that are six four two twenty, or at least
- 4:16Speaker 2: that's what it says in the press guide. Who am
- 4:19Speaker 2: I to doubt that? But yeah, what do you do
- 4:22Speaker 2: without Leathan Ransom? I mean, how do you go about this?
- 4:27Speaker 2: I mean, we've heard Jalen McLean's name mentioned as a
- 4:30Speaker 2: as a young guy. We've heard, you know, shifting some
- 4:32Speaker 2: things around on Lorenzo Styles Junior. I mean, obviously we
- 4:36Speaker 2: look at last year and Malie Hartford seemed like he
- 4:38Speaker 2: was going to be the next man up before Ohio
- 4:41Speaker 2: State went out and got Caleb Downs. I mean, you
- 4:43Speaker 2: sit there and do you slide Jordan Hancock into a
- 4:46Speaker 2: little bit more of a position? I you know, I
- 4:48Speaker 2: don't know if I have the answers right there. I
- 4:51Speaker 2: think that one of the biggest things that Ohio State
- 4:53Speaker 2: needs to make sure that it maintains, though, is a
- 4:55Speaker 2: level of physicality. Because while I'm not necessarily losing a
- 4:59Speaker 2: lot of sleep over the Nebraska passing game, they will
- 5:02Speaker 2: they will complete some passes. And whether it's Isaiah and
- 5:06Speaker 2: Ney or whether it's Jamorrow Banks, I mean, both these
- 5:09Speaker 2: guys again are listed at six four to two twenty
- 5:12Speaker 2: and if you're you know, if you're six foot on
- 5:16Speaker 2: a good day, one hundred and eighty pounds, you're gonna
- 5:18Speaker 2: have a hard time bringing these guys down.
- 5:21Speaker 1: And I guess the next question is how hard will
- 5:23Speaker 1: it be to bring down the Nebraska rushers in the
- 5:25Speaker 1: rushing attack? And that's an area where the Huskers have
- 5:28Speaker 1: not been great. They are ninety fifth in the country
- 5:31Speaker 1: in average yards per rush, just three point seventy one
- 5:34Speaker 1: yards per carry. Just for comparison's sake, the Buck eyes
- 5:39Speaker 1: five point nine to three, So you know, a couple
- 5:41Speaker 1: extra yards every time you run the ball that's going
- 5:44Speaker 1: to add up over the course.
- 5:45Speaker 2: Of the game.
- 5:47Speaker 1: Is that an area where I mean this is this
- 5:49Speaker 1: is an area where Ohio State has been okay this year,
- 5:52Speaker 1: they haven't gotten gashed on the ground. It feels like
- 5:54Speaker 1: that's going to be an area where Nebraska is probably
- 5:57Speaker 1: going to struggle to move the ball big chunks consistently.
- 6:02Speaker 2: Yeah. Dante Daldell allows a team maybe one carries three
- 6:06Speaker 2: hundred and fifty yards and five scores. He's about half
- 6:10Speaker 2: the production of the running game. I mean, you've you've
- 6:13Speaker 2: got Jacob Barney, Corey Barney. I'm sorry, who has three scores?
- 6:17Speaker 2: But that's all been a mop up. Time you wonder
- 6:20Speaker 2: about what does you know, what do you do with
- 6:22Speaker 2: with at least a physical quarterback that is Dylan Royola.
- 6:26Speaker 2: I'm you know, I'm not so sure on that one.
- 6:29Speaker 2: But the rushing numbers have not been there. You're exactly right,
- 6:32Speaker 2: I you know, I when I I put my numbers
- 6:35Speaker 2: together before games started this week, so some maybe some
- 6:38Speaker 2: of the MAC games did there. I had him at
- 6:39Speaker 2: ninety ninth in terms of yards per attempt, so or
- 6:44Speaker 2: not yards per attempt, I'm sorry, just the yards per game.
- 6:46Speaker 2: I don't think that they're going to have a lot
- 6:48Speaker 2: of success running the ball, and Ohio State will be
- 6:50Speaker 2: able to do what it wants to in regards of
- 6:54Speaker 2: being able to say, look, we are not going to
- 6:56Speaker 2: let you beat us running the ball. We're going to
- 6:58Speaker 2: take the run away and we're going to force you
- 6:59Speaker 2: to go to the and when you're doing that with
- 7:01Speaker 2: a true freshman, that just generally not good. And I
- 7:04Speaker 2: don't care who the true freshman is. That just we
- 7:06Speaker 2: don't see that happen all that often. So I think that,
- 7:09Speaker 2: you know, if I were saying plus plus or minus
- 7:13Speaker 2: for Ohio State in terms of what it's going to
- 7:15Speaker 2: do against that rushing game. I'm going to give Ohio
- 7:17Speaker 2: State two pluses because I think that it's it is
- 7:19Speaker 2: a mismatch.
- 7:20Speaker 1: Yeah, that does feel like an area where Ohio State
- 7:23Speaker 1: could have a significant advantage on Saturday. And if you
- 7:25Speaker 1: can put a true freshman in a spot where he's
- 7:27Speaker 1: got to try to win the game on the road
- 7:30Speaker 1: against a pretty good defense, that sets you up. You know,
- 7:33Speaker 1: it is, as I said earlier, five star true freshman.
- 7:35Speaker 1: If you get the five star performance, that's great. If
- 7:37Speaker 1: you get the freshman performance, things could get a little
- 7:40Speaker 1: out of hand. On the other side, Nebraska's rush defense,
- 7:43Speaker 1: they're actually pretty good this year and Ohio State's been
- 7:46Speaker 1: running the ball pretty well all year. But no Josh
- 7:49Speaker 1: Simmons now they replace him at left tackle Zen Mahalsky.
- 7:53Speaker 2: We'll see.
- 7:53Speaker 1: On Quinn Shawn Judkins availability, he were sort of a
- 7:57Speaker 1: public acknowledgment of the fact that yeah, he had a
- 8:00Speaker 1: thing going on, and you know he is available. But
- 8:04Speaker 1: we've seen that there's available and there's available.
- 8:11Speaker 2: Yeah. I saw quinchewn At coming off the field on
- 8:15Speaker 2: practice on Wednesday. He had a rap on his right hand.
- 8:19Speaker 2: You go back to the Oregon game. That was one
- 8:21Speaker 2: of the few times this season that Trevion Henderson had
- 8:23Speaker 2: more carries than Quinn Shawn Judkins. It was close. I
- 8:27Speaker 2: look at the Nebraska rushing offense or the opponent rushing offense,
- 8:31Speaker 2: and they have not faced an offense the same as
- 8:33Speaker 2: Ohio State's. Ohio State is twentieth in the nation. Indiana
- 8:37Speaker 2: again surprising everybody's twenty third, but they you know, they
- 8:41Speaker 2: started off the season playing against UTEP who is one eleven,
- 8:44Speaker 2: and then then Colorado who's won twenty ninth. I mean,
- 8:48Speaker 2: I mean Dallan Hayden. I just I feel bad for
- 8:51Speaker 2: the kid. He went to a place and bought some
- 8:53Speaker 2: fools gold or something like that. They're not giving him
- 8:55Speaker 2: a chance. I mean, then again, maybe at the line
- 8:58Speaker 2: isn't either. I think that Ohio State will have some
- 9:01Speaker 2: success running the ball. I think it's really going to
- 9:04Speaker 2: come down to what does Ohio State want to do.
- 9:06Speaker 2: I mean, we could look at fifty different things, like
- 9:08Speaker 2: Ohio State needs to work on running the BALLO needs
- 9:10Speaker 2: we're going to throw on the ball, they need to
- 9:12Speaker 2: do this, they need to do that well, it's only
- 9:13Speaker 2: four quarters. But I do think, and I did put
- 9:17Speaker 2: this in my preview, in my prediction that will be
- 9:20Speaker 2: coming out here, coming out here on the side of
- 9:21Speaker 2: the next couple few hours, that there is no time
- 9:27Speaker 2: for playing nice with anybody. You lost your margin for error,
- 9:31Speaker 2: and we can make we can argue and say Ohio
- 9:33Speaker 2: State still gets in as a two loss team if
- 9:35Speaker 2: it's the right to right two teams. But at this point,
- 9:39Speaker 2: you know, to hell with your feelings. We're gonna sit
- 9:41Speaker 2: there and go and do what we want to do.
- 9:43Speaker 2: And I think that Ohio State is going to try
- 9:44Speaker 2: and just put out there that it can run, and
- 9:47Speaker 2: it can throw, and it can do all of these things,
- 9:49Speaker 2: especially with Penn State in the offing the following week.
- 9:52Speaker 2: But I don't really see Nebraska having a ton of
- 9:55Speaker 2: success stopping a motivated Ohio State run team. Denvated. Are
- 10:00Speaker 2: they That's a million dollar question.
- 10:04Speaker 1: And they are. The Nebraska rush defense is better than
- 10:08Speaker 1: the Nebraska pass defense, then the Nebraska pass defense isn't bad.
- 10:11Speaker 1: They're thirty ninth in the country in yards per attempt,
- 10:14Speaker 1: and I saw in your piece that you had their
- 10:16Speaker 1: fifty fifth in the country in pass efficiency. Defense, so
- 10:20Speaker 1: not a disaster, but also not incredible either. If Ohio
- 10:24Speaker 1: State is able to run, it feels like that's really
- 10:27Speaker 1: going to open things up in the passing game. And
- 10:28Speaker 1: you know, you can say that kind of any week,
- 10:30Speaker 1: but if you're able to run, and that's the better
- 10:33Speaker 1: portion of the Nebraska defense, then you would think that
- 10:37Speaker 1: it might really open things up in the passing game.
- 10:40Speaker 2: It really should, and you know, I do, I do.
- 10:42Speaker 2: Look here at Nebraska has faced a couple of top
- 10:45Speaker 2: twenty passing offenses, Colorado in Week two and then just
- 10:49Speaker 2: recently with Indiana, who you know, is averaging three hundred
- 10:53Speaker 2: and ten yards a game, who's number eleven in the nation.
- 10:55Speaker 2: So that's there, but they've also had some fool's bold
- 10:59Speaker 2: of up playing against Purdue, who's won nineteenth in the nation,
- 11:02Speaker 2: playing against Rutgers, who's one oh fourth, and then everybody
- 11:06Speaker 2: else is in the seventies and eighties and nineties. So
- 11:09Speaker 2: you know, I will be really curious to see what
- 11:12Speaker 2: happens again when you're going against a motivated team. And
- 11:15Speaker 2: that's not to say that Rutgers wasn't motivated and Purdue
- 11:18Speaker 2: wasn't motivated, but you know, I think I think, you know,
- 11:21Speaker 2: those teams are motivated to be Bowl eligible. Indiana's you know,
- 11:24Speaker 2: motivated to try and win the Big Ten and they're
- 11:26Speaker 2: undefeated at this moment. Ohio State's trying to win the
- 11:29Speaker 2: Big Ten as a loss, so no has no safety net.
- 11:32Speaker 2: So I like Ohio states chances there. But I really
- 11:36Speaker 2: do think, as you kind of said, this is going
- 11:39Speaker 2: to be more so a run to set up the
- 11:41Speaker 2: pass type of situation. You got to thin out, you know,
- 11:44Speaker 2: you've got to be able to make sure that you're
- 11:46Speaker 2: thinning out the box. Uh. And if you can do that,
- 11:50Speaker 2: then you're going to be able, you know, you'll be
- 11:52Speaker 2: a successful follow.
- 11:54Speaker 1: Well. And one area where neither team has really been
- 11:57Speaker 1: particularly successful this year is on special teams. You wrote
- 12:01Speaker 1: in you know this is this is an in depth
- 12:03Speaker 1: piece and you wrote at the bottom this week. I
- 12:05Speaker 1: don't know how many people make it all the way
- 12:06Speaker 1: down to the bottom of the story. I always make
- 12:08Speaker 1: it to the bottom of the story. It's always a
- 12:09Speaker 1: great read. The Tale of the Tape piece at bucke
- 12:11Speaker 1: huddle dot com. But Man, the special teams, Kevin, the
- 12:15Speaker 1: special teams. If you are the type of person who
- 12:20Speaker 1: likes to watch car crash videos. Man, is this the
- 12:23Speaker 1: special teams matchup for you? Nebraska one hundred and thirty
- 12:27Speaker 1: third in the country in net punting, they are only
- 12:29Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty four teams. Ohio State one hundred
- 12:32Speaker 1: and thirty third in the nation in kick return yard
- 12:35Speaker 1: age nine point twenty five yards per kick return, thirty
- 12:38Speaker 1: three point four to two yards per punt for Nebraska.
- 12:41Speaker 1: The Huskers four for nine on field goals this year.
- 12:46Speaker 1: This could be you know, I'm not expecting this to
- 12:48Speaker 1: be a game that comes down to special teams, but
- 12:49Speaker 1: oh boy, this could be uh, you know, get the
- 12:54Speaker 1: this could be a circus.
- 12:56Speaker 2: I'd like that you use the term car crash, but
- 12:59Speaker 2: I can assure you no. But he's going to get
- 13:00Speaker 2: hurt because neither of these special teams units are going
- 13:02Speaker 2: to be moving quickly enough for injuries to occur. Yeah,
- 13:06Speaker 2: it is. It is a mess. Ohio State had a
- 13:10Speaker 2: special team's snafoo that you know, everything kind of counts
- 13:14Speaker 2: up it, you know, drops in the bucket against Oregon
- 13:16Speaker 2: when after a penalty, Oregon was able to kick off
- 13:21Speaker 2: fifteen yards up and did the old line drive, the
- 13:23Speaker 2: old line drive special you know, on side tack to
- 13:26Speaker 2: kick and recovered it, and that you know, really could
- 13:28Speaker 2: have been the difference in the game. And not to
- 13:30Speaker 2: say that we know that Ohio State would have scored
- 13:32Speaker 2: on that drive and and changed the uh the geometry
- 13:36Speaker 2: of everything. But you know, it is it is real,
- 13:38Speaker 2: and uh, I was hard pressed to say, oh, I'm
- 13:43Speaker 2: going to find a team out there that's worse than
- 13:44Speaker 2: Ohio State just in terms of these metrics on special teams.
- 13:48Speaker 2: But you know, here's Nebraska and they they're they're brutal.
- 13:51Speaker 2: They are brutal because you know, you mentioned one one
- 13:54Speaker 2: thirty third in net punt but they're you know, they're
- 13:56Speaker 2: one oh one and kick return and ninety five and
- 13:58Speaker 2: punt return and and yeah, so I think it would
- 14:04Speaker 2: be in Ohio State's favor just not to have to kick,
- 14:06Speaker 2: you know, to kick field goals or you know or
- 14:09Speaker 2: or or you know, just you know, on kick returns,
- 14:13Speaker 2: just beare catch it and just be on your way.
- 14:16Speaker 2: And as as the Nebraska, you know, maybe they get
- 14:18Speaker 2: a little maybe they get a little cute because you know,
- 14:21Speaker 2: with with where the line is and everything else, they're
- 14:23Speaker 2: gonna have to steal a possession or two. In my
- 14:25Speaker 2: opinion to be able to make this game close, so
- 14:27Speaker 2: they they may need to try and figure something out.
- 14:30Speaker 1: Well, if you were trying to figure anything else out
- 14:32Speaker 1: about this game, we're going to have you covered there
- 14:34Speaker 1: as well. We've had full coverage all week long at
- 14:36Speaker 1: bucket huddle dot com and of course at YouTube dot
- 14:38Speaker 1: com slash bucket Huddle. That will continue on Saturday noon
- 14:42Speaker 1: kickoff from the Horseshoe. We will be there early, right
- 14:45Speaker 1: and early. As always, you have your usual pregame show
- 14:49Speaker 1: and then of course as soon as the game's over,
- 14:51Speaker 1: we will have your post game show as well. Should
- 14:53Speaker 1: be lots to talk about as the Buckeyes will, you know,
- 14:57Speaker 1: we'll see if they you know, they are certainly hoping
- 15:00Speaker 1: will be improving two six and one and Bowl eligibility,
- 15:03Speaker 1: and then be taking a little bit of a look
- 15:05Speaker 1: ahead at what should be probably a top five matchup
- 15:09Speaker 1: against the Penn State Nitney Lyons in Happy Valley the
- 15:12Speaker 1: following Saturday, and of course also dependent on how things
- 15:16Speaker 1: go between Penn State and Wisconsin on Saturday night. But
- 15:19Speaker 1: then we'll worry about that when we get there, as
- 15:22Speaker 1: are now plenty of stuff to look forward to at
- 15:23Speaker 1: puckeheadle dot com. Bull coverage of the Buckeyes and Huskers,
- 15:27Speaker 1: and then full coverage of all the excitement to follow.
- 15:30Speaker 1: We have a deal running right now. We're your first
- 15:32Speaker 1: month four ninety nine, and I will do the math
- 15:35Speaker 1: where your first month right now gets you into the
- 15:38Speaker 1: week of the Michigan game. There's gonna be a lot
- 15:40Speaker 1: of stuff to talk about Penn State week, Guy's playing
- 15:43Speaker 1: at Wrigley Field, Indiana suddenly looking like they might be
- 15:46Speaker 1: a college football playoff contender, and yes, those Michigan Wolverines
- 15:49Speaker 1: as well. Let's talk about all at puckeheadle dot com.
- 15:53Speaker 1: We hope to see you there. That will do it
- 15:54Speaker 1: for today. Thank you guys all for joining us. Have
- 15:56Speaker 1: a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.