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BONUS: How Is Iowa Preparing To Face Jeremiah Smith? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to a special bonus episode. In this one, you're
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: going to get to hear a little bit from Iowa
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: head coach Kirk Ferentz. He is not the most energetic
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: or charismatic guy necessarily, but he is kind of amusing
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: in his own way. A little bit of a modern
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: day Jim Trestle, maybe in terms of head coach and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: press conference and also kind of style of play when
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: you think about it with his team. And we're going
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: to start here with just some general thoughts from Kirk
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Ferentz on where his team is physically right now coming
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  Speaker 1: out of the win over Michigan and then a little
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  Speaker 1: bit of a look ahead to Ohio State.
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  Speaker 2: Injury-wise, you know, as a physical game, we've got a
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: couple guys that are nicked up right now and trying
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  Speaker 2: to work their way back through it. So maybe a
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  Speaker 2: little bit limited in practice, but all in all, it
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: came out of it pretty well. So we'll see what
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  Speaker 2: that looks like as we move forward here. And, you know,
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: that's where we're at right now. Facing an excellent team.
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  Speaker 2: They're ranked and certainly worthy of their rankings. Big, big team,
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  Speaker 2: very talented team, very well-coached team. No big surprise there
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: and not much that's not impressive. Starting on the offense,
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  Speaker 2: quarterback's an experienced player, really smart, very accurate, and just
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  Speaker 2: a really top-notch quarterback. A couple good running backs, a
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  Speaker 2: couple good tight ends, and a big veteran offensive line.
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  Speaker 2: They're playing really well right now. And then receivers, you know,
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  Speaker 2: they've probably had more top-notch receivers there, certainly in the
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  Speaker 2: last eight, ten years, and then probably go back well
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  Speaker 2: before that. They've always had what seems like a marquee
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: guy there, and no different right now. You know, number four,
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  Speaker 2: we saw him a couple years ago as a freshman,
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  Speaker 2: awfully impressive then, and now he's two years old or
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: more experienced, and probably, I'm guessing, would be in the
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  Speaker 2: argument for maybe the top player in the country. If
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  Speaker 2: he's not, he's certainly in the top. top handful. So
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  Speaker 2: he's really a good player, uh, defensively a little bit different. Uh,
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  Speaker 2: they lost a handful of guys. Uh, I think three
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  Speaker 2: of them were in the top 11 picks in the draft,
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  Speaker 2: just really outstanding players. And two more guys, second round
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  Speaker 2: off their defense. Uh, you know, some really good talent
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  Speaker 2: last year and they've replaced those guys without any, any hesitation. Uh,
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  Speaker 2: they're a big physical group, uh, front seven, especially really
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  Speaker 2: big and physical, uh, very aggressive in the back end. And, um,
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  Speaker 2: you know, they picked up a transfer safety who's, you know,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: that's a key position for them. And he's a very
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  Speaker 2: impressive player too. And then the special teams, you've got
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  Speaker 2: a guy, a punter who's been there for three years.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Doesn't get used much, but he's been there for three years.
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  Speaker 2: He's a really good player. And then they went out
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  Speaker 2: and got a field goal kicker who's very, very active
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  Speaker 2: on top of it. And he hasn't had a lot
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  Speaker 2: of opportunities either, but playing really well in special teams.
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  Speaker 2: And their coordinator's a guy that was with another Big
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  Speaker 2: Ten team. They went out and brought him in this
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  Speaker 2: past offseason. Coach Day has got a national championship on
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  Speaker 2: his resume, and rightfully so. He's done a great job
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  Speaker 2: at Ohio State now for quite some time. And then
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  Speaker 2: you look at their two coordinators offensively and defensively, and
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  Speaker 2: they're both former NFL head coaches and really good people
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: and outstanding coaches. So needless to say, it's a really
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: well-coached football team. And quite frankly, it's a little bit
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: easier to talk about them than go out and compete
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  Speaker 2: against them. I think it's interesting if you look back,
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  Speaker 2: the last 16 games now, last season, the games this year,
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  Speaker 2: four games this year, they've really only had two contests
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  Speaker 2: that were even close. Other than that, it's been a
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  Speaker 2: pretty wide margin of victory for them during the regular
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  Speaker 2: season games. And those two games, I think it was
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  Speaker 2: a seven-point differential and a one-point this year. So that
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  Speaker 2: just gives you an indication of how strong their team is,
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  Speaker 2: how strong the program has been. So a big challenge,
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  Speaker 2: and we'll have to be at our best. We're looking forward.
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  Speaker 2: to getting out there and having that opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: Iowa has been really dynamic on the ground against the
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  Speaker 1: two lesser opponents they played. But when they've played Iowa
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  Speaker 1: State or Michigan, they average just about 75 yards per game.
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  Speaker 1: So what do they need to do to get better
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  Speaker 1: there with Ohio State on deck?
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  Speaker 2: Just usually takes a little better blocking, a little better running.
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  Speaker 2: And that's everybody. You know, there's no mystery to it. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, there's ebb and flow in every season. That's right.
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  Speaker 2: You know, talk about statistics. It's week to week. Certainly
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  Speaker 2: we don't. That's not a goal. We want to be
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  Speaker 2: probably double that, if not more than that. Perfect. What
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  Speaker 2: would you like to be over 200? But, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we're just going to keep playing. We're a team in
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  Speaker 2: growth and progress right now. So we'll just keep pushing forward.
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  Speaker 1: Anytime an opposing coach is previewing the Ohio State team,
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  Speaker 1: there's always a lot of complimentary things. You heard Kirk
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  Speaker 1: Ferentz kind of run through things. But then Jeremiah Smith
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  Speaker 1: kind of gets his own separate conversation. Now, this question is,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: was from a reporter who asked about Jeremiah Smith, who
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  Speaker 1: was sort of in the context of Makai Lemon from USC,
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  Speaker 1: who Iowa played last year. But completely separate from that,
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  Speaker 1: how do you just prepare for a guy like Jeremiah Smith?
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  Speaker 2: Different kind of players. You know, Lemon just had a
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  Speaker 2: great game against us. You know, you talk about Smith.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there are several guys over the last 20-plus years.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: First guy comes to mind would be Saquon Barkley. Just
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  Speaker 2: different guys. They're at a little different level. The performance
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  Speaker 2: Barkley had against us out there is about as impressive
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  Speaker 2: as you're going to see. I thought we knocked him
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  Speaker 2: out of the game. He took a hit on one
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  Speaker 2: of those plays and came back in a couple plays later.
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  Speaker 2: It's amazing. A really good player plus great toughness. He's
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: doing the same thing in the NFL. This guy, I
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: remember two years ago getting ready a couple plays he
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  Speaker 2: had made the week before. He's perfectly defended and Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: he still makes the play, and sometimes that's the way
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  Speaker 2: it goes. I remember being up in New England's camp
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  Speaker 2: late 2000s and seeing Randy Moss do the same thing
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  Speaker 2: on a red zone play, sitting next to the secondary coach.
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  Speaker 2: He looked at me and just went like that, and
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  Speaker 2: that's what great players do. So you've got to try to,
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  Speaker 2: if you can find a way to maybe make them
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  Speaker 2: play a little bit off their rhythm, that's a good thing,
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  Speaker 2: but it's easier said than done. Then usually if you
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  Speaker 2: do one thing, you know, you're compensating somewhere else and just, or,
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  Speaker 2: you know, giving something else somewhere else. So it's a trick,
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  Speaker 2: tricky one.
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  Speaker 1: Kirk Ferentz kind of said all the right things about
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  Speaker 1: Ohio state being a well coached team. And you kind
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: of hear that from every coach about every other team
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: in advance of their games. But when you're looking specifically
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: at a Ryan day football team, what does it mean
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  Speaker 1: when you're facing one of those?
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  Speaker 2: Just, they're always prepared and they're always, they're talented, but
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  Speaker 2: they're well coached and well prepared and don't beat themselves
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  Speaker 2: very often. And that's, pretty much been the case since
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  Speaker 2: he's taken over. He's done a phenomenal job. And I
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  Speaker 2: know their fans aren't always happy. Imagine that. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: if they don't win by 20 every game, then I
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: guess that's a tough thing. But they do quite a lot.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: They do that a lot. And he's just an excellent coach,
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  Speaker 2: great person, excellent coach.
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  Speaker 1: Iowa's quarterback play is not exactly always been stellar over
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the last 10 to 20 years. But Hank Brown, man,
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  Speaker 1: He had a drive for the ages, 11 plays, 91
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  Speaker 1: yards to beat Michigan on Saturday. What does it do
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: for Kirk Ferens' confidence in Hank Brown to see him
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  Speaker 1: do something like that?
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  Speaker 2: Kind of going back to that whole discussion all the
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  Speaker 2: way through it, whenever it started, you know, all we
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  Speaker 2: can do is evaluate what we see during practice. And
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  Speaker 2: then there's a lot of other factors that go into it.
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  Speaker 2: You watch guys do a lot of things, their academics,
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  Speaker 2: how they train in the off season, all those kinds
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  Speaker 2: of things, how they engage with teammates. But, The point is, like,
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  Speaker 2: you know, practice is probably the most important thing for
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  Speaker 2: evaluating a guy, although those things will usually overlap. But
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  Speaker 2: the one thing he can't do in practice is, you know,
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  Speaker 2: some of the things he did Saturday. And we don't
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  Speaker 2: let our guys get whacked in practice. In the real world,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: they do, and he certainly did Saturday. But he kept
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: playing and played through that. And that's a really good sign,
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  Speaker 2: positive sign. And then tough to simulate a situation like
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  Speaker 2: we were in where, you know, you've got a long
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  Speaker 2: way to go. Tough environment, tough opponent, you know, go
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  Speaker 2: right down the list of all the things that make
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  Speaker 2: it challenging. You know, I don't know how you simulate
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  Speaker 2: that in practice, kind of like, you know, trying to
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  Speaker 2: get ready to play in an environment like that. You
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  Speaker 2: can try, but it's not the same. So it's like
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  Speaker 2: anything in life, you know, when you experience something, typically
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  Speaker 2: you're a little better in that situation next time around,
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  Speaker 2: whether you do well or not do well. And the
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: key is how do you rebound if you don't do well.
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  Speaker 2: But this will help him a little bit. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: next time he's in that situation, he'll have that at
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  Speaker 2: least to draw confidence from.
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  Speaker 1: The reporter asked Kirk Ferentz a question about getting Iowa'd.
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  Speaker 1: And when you say getting Iowa'd, you kind of know
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  Speaker 1: what that means. You're getting dragged into a low-scoring, slow,
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  Speaker 1: kind of methodical game that's going to drag out for
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  Speaker 1: the full 60 minutes. So how does Iowa do that?
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  Speaker 1: How does Iowa manage to Iowa teams like that, where
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  Speaker 1: they got statistically dominated by Michigan, and yet they won
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  Speaker 1: the game? So You'll hear him sort of discuss that
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  Speaker 1: and the fact that that's not really a new thing.
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  Speaker 1: They did that to teams like Michigan all the way
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  Speaker 1: going back to the 1980s.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it kind of really started here probably, I don't
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  Speaker 2: remember how many years ago this has been, like 40,
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  Speaker 2: whenever Coach Fry, 78, 79. I've always been kind of
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: entertained and amused because everybody talks about, you know, Coach
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Fry had the white pants and sunglasses, exotics, you know,
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: little dumplings. I mean, he had all that stuff. It
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: was distracting. It's like motions, right? But in our big games,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, think about the Michigan game in 85, 12-10, right?
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: The one in 81-9-7. And the principles, I don't think, change.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: I really don't. I think Barry did the same thing. Wisconsin,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Bill did the same thing. K-State. You kind of assess
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: your situation and then, you know, find a way to
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: make it work where you're at. And we're all in
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: different situations, especially in college football. It's not the NFL.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: So I think you figure out where you're at, what
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: you can do, and what's realistic, and then go from there.
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  Speaker 2: And um i just heard uh i guess coach kelly's
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: on that that college show and what's what's today tuesday
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: bill pulling's not any on hasn't been on the last
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: four weeks so i'm addicted to him so i bounced
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: out bounce over there and i heard him say this
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: morning this is entertainment business it is a billion dollar
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: industry and all that stuff but i talked to our
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: players about that sunday i said you know this we're
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: not in the entertainment business we're trying to win We're
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: trying to find a way to win, and that's where
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: statistics really get. I think statistics are important, but which
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: ones really matter, which ones really count? I think you've
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: got to understand, again, given the situation, whether it's where
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: you're at or what the situation may be, how you
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: want to play. And if you're way ahead, it's an
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: easy thing. If you're way behind, it's real easy, too.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: You've got no choice. But those in-between areas, you've just
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: got to figure out what's the best way to win
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: and Long story short, I guess, you know, every game
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: is different and every season is different and every team
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: is different. And those things change during the course of
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: a year or two. So it gives you something to do.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Just keep figuring out, like, you know, what can we
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: do here and what will give us a chance. And,
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: you know, so then you just got to do what
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: you think is best. I think that's all any of
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: us try to do, really, quite frankly.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Yep. Last week's game against Michigan not only improved Iowa
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: to 4-0, it also gave them really a signature win,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: and you would think maybe it would build some confidence
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: among this year's Iowa roster and maybe create some additional
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: buy-in from the team moving forward with a team like
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Ohio State on deck.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, really got to compartmentalize two things from Saturday.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: First of all, I want the guys to enjoy it.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: If they went all through Sunday, I'm okay with that.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: We looked at the film. um and then you know
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: you start on your opponent coaches are jumping in real
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: hard and the players look at a little different level
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: probably but i was okay with them enjoying it sunday
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: too but monday morning which was yesterday right we full
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: speed ahead on the next opponent you just have to
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: do it no matter who you're playing um you know
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: didn't have to give a talk about trap game because
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: i mean you know and just look who we're playing
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: so that that you know that kind of took took
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: care of that that made it easy uh didn't have
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: to work too hard to get everybody back to just
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: reality because the reality is on that screen anytime they
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: look at those guys in any three phases um but
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: yeah you just have to compartmentalize it and then whether
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: you know you have a really good outcome if it
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: had gone the other way you know we could have
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: gotten stopped on the one yard line too and um
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: you know you still get you got to live on
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: you got to move on you got to put it
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: to bed whenever it's appropriate and uh after a loss
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: probably sooner the better and If you don't, you're going
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: to really hurt yourself the next time out. And just
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: everybody has to have the maturity to understand that. And,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: you know, that's really what football teaches you, I think,
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: is like, you know, you better time and place for everything.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: And then, you know, whatever it is, 11 days, and
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: then we can go back and reflect a little bit
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: about what happened here the first six weeks.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: And finally, he was asked about who was playing Jeremiah
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Smith on the scout team and how on earth you
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: simulate someone like Jeremiah Smith playing who is really kind
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: of a one-of-one.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Jeremiah Payne, you're talking about? That's what the players are
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: calling him right now? It's a joke. I mean, it's
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: sort of, you know, and he's trying. He's a really
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: impressive young guy. He's doing a great job, but it's
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: still not the same. We'd have to get him platform shoes.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: I don't know if they still make those. Certainly don't
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: in spikes, but, you know, he's a great young guy,
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: and he's going to play football for us. There's no
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: question in my mind, based on what I've seen the
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: last year and a half. But, you know, It's like
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: Randall L, 28 years ago, you can't. I mean, how
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: do you duplicate that guy? Unless you get a guy
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: off the basketball team, maybe, who's got that kind of
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: quickness and mobility. So it's just, it's hard. It's hard. And,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: you know, we just got to work on our technique.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: And like I said, I'll go back to what I
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: was just saying a little while ago. Sometimes you can
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: have him perfectly defended and he'll still make a play.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: And that's what great players, you know, that's what puts
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: him in a really separate category.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: All right, hopefully you guys enjoyed that one. We're going
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: to be back at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Wednesday evening talking to Ohio State head coach Ryan Day,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, and a couple of players as well,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Devin McEwen and Earl Little. We've also got Basketball Media Day.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: We'll try and get you a little bit of content,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: some bonus content out of that as well with the
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Ohio State basketball season. Getting ready to tip off with
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: an exhibition game next Wednesday down in the Lindner Family
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Tennis Center down in Mason. An outdoor game against Cincinnati.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Lots of exciting stuff coming up. all week and into
• 14:28
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• 14:32
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  Speaker 1: by Jeff Rubies Columbus. That'll do it for now. Thank
• 14:45
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• 14:47
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