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Tennessee vs. Ohio State: 10 Things We Learned From Josh Heupel · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: This is a special bonus episode of Buckeyes tomorrow morning.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Got a lot of stuff to talk about this week,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: not that many more days left to go until the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: game against Tennessee on Saturday, so we're going to cram
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: a little extra content in your podcast speed and on
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: your YouTube channel today. It's fine, we get it. This
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: is not the first big game we've covered. It probably
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: won't be the last one either, So here we go.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: This is going to be a chance for you to
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: hear from Tennessee head coach Josh Hipel in the lead up.
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: To this game.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: First question for Josh Hypel here, just some general thoughts
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: about Ohio State and the challenge ahead for the volunteers.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Great opportunity this week, playing a big game against a
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: great opponent. You know, a lot of works gone on
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: to get to this point, got started back in January,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: staff and players together, and they've earned the right to
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: play in a game like this, great opponent, great venue.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: You look at Ohio State and defensively they lead almost
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: every category in the country and offensively, got elite players
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: on that side of the ball, and they tie it
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: together well with special teams.
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: So a huge challenge for us. But one.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: We're really excited about preparations being good. You got to
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: continue that this week and get ready to go play
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: our best football when we get up to Columbus.
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: So great opportunity.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: Hope we see a bunch of our fans showing up
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: This first round game of the College Football Playoff is
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: just the next step for both of these teams in
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: the process of trying to win the national championship. Win
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: this one, win three more, and boom, you get a
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: nice shiny trophy, you get some confetti, everyone goes home happy.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: So that's sort of similar for these two teams. However,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: it's a little bit of a different spot for these
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: two teams because bur Ohio State, this is kind of
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: normal being in the College Football Playoff. They've been in
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: there multiple times. This is not anything new for them,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: other than the fact that it's going to be a
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: home game and it's a twelve team playoff this year
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: instead before team. For Tennessee, this is the first time
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: they've ever made the College Football Playoff. While you're seeing
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: a little more excitement from Tennessee fans than Ohio State
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: fans right now, one of the reasons anyway, So you know,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: This is sort of the big payoff for in some
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: ways for Tennessee where some of the senior class this year,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: including guys like running back Dylan Samson for example, they
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: came to Tennessee when Josh Hipel really didn't have anything
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: to point to. It was more of a vision rather
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: than here's some tangible signs that I'm not just completely
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: full of it. So now how much does it mean
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: to them to really be able to say, Okay, look
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the stuff we talked about now we're here.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: One of the goals for our program is to earn
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: the right to get into this tournament proud of what
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: our guys have done. You know, first week of this
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: preparation we got a lot of young guy work. We've
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: been intentional with that throughout the course of the season
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: as well, and they've tried to continue that as we've
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: you know, shifted our focus to Ohio State. But this
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: is you know, all the work and energy that you
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: put into it, this is this is where you want to.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: Uh, Josh, for the people that that believed in your
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: vision before you had anything to point to, you know,
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: dealing specifically, what does it mean for you to get
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: to this point, to be in the playoff and and
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: to have tangible results of things that they believed in
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: when you had just gotten here and they were coming
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: on board.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, next step for us as as a program. Uh,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: you know, two years ago, I think we finished sixth
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: in the country. You know, there's a lot of guys
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: that have been a part of building this. You know,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: you look at the senior class guy like Dylan that
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: bought into the vision. Before there was tangible proof on
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: the field of who we are, what we're about, and
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: how we're going to go play together. And it only
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: happens because of the guys inside of that locker room.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: It's a room field of guys that care about the
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: guys around them. Uh, they're elite competitors and you know,
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: really proud of what they've done again to re stamp
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: this program. It happens because of your staff and your
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: players all buying into a vision, competing towards that every
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: single day. We've continued to take steps. I'm really proud
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: of everybody that's involved in that. But this is the
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: next step that we had to had to take as
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: a program, and you know, it's a great opportunity. But
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: now it's about what are you going to do with
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  Speaker 2: the opportunity, And it starts long before you get to
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: kick off. It's preparation and practice the right way to
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: give yourself a chance to go play elite football.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: This is when the reporter set up with Now, this
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: is kind of going to be an odd question, which
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: is always a great way to start a question during
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: a press conference. Dash Hypel did end up agreeing you
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: it is a little odd, but this is the question was, so,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: is your roster basically set with the playoff game now
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: coming up? Do you know who you're going to have
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: and who you're not going to have given you know,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: the transfer portal and all that.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: Okay, that is an odd question.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Yes, obviously, the calendar, the way that it's set up,
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: it's unique. This might be the only sport that operates
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  Speaker 2: this way, you know, transfer portal, free agency, whatever you want.
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: To call it.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Is right in the middle of your postseason play. But
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: we do feel like the rosters set. This group's ready
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: to go compete and ready to prepare the right way.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: They've had really good energy and focus last week. Is
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: we knew who our opponent was being was going to be,
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: and we could start our preparation and had great energy
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: today as well.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Ohio State usually doesn't need much help filling up Ohio
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Stadium for a Buckeye football game, but they're going to
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: get some help this weekend Tennessee fans. Based on what
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: you've seen online, Tennessee fans have bought a good number
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: of tickets. Whether that's ten thousand or twenty thousand or
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: some other number. We'll find out on Saturday. But was
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Josh HiPE a little bit surprised at the way Tennessee
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: fans seem to be very enthusiastically snapping up tickets.
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: Not with this fan base.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: It's a nice short drive up there, and Christmas is
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: right around the corner. It's a great Christmas present.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: So you probably think of Josh Hipel as an Oklahoma guy,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: that is, of course, where he played his college football.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Might think if it as a Tennessee guy that's where
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: he coaches his college football, or Florida guy. He actually
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: grew up in South Dakota. So when you look at
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: a forecast that calls for temperatures around twenty degrees, maybe
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: some ten to fifteen kind of a mile an hour wins,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: that's not really going to psych out Josh Hipel as
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: a guy who grew up in South Dakota.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a June day in South Dakota. It's gonna
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: be great football weather. You know, a couple of weeks
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: ago we played in you know, thirty degree weather. We
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: practiced in the morning, still chill, you know, as cold
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: as it will be around this area. And at the
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: end of the day, you know, you get between the
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: white lines, weather doesn't matter, you know, the temperature doesn't
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: and we'll be ready to go.
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: It'll be a lot of fun.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Both Tennessee and Ohios did obviously wanted to make their
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: conference championship game, but neither one did. Now, one of
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: the side benefits of that is you did get an
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: extra week to sort of rest and heal up. So
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: how much of a benefit has this time off been
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: for the volunteers as they try to get healthy before
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: they come to Columbus on side.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it typically happens in this league. As you go
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: through through all those games, every football team in this
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: league is going to be banged up, you know. Having
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: a couple extra weeks to heal up, I feel like
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: we'll have everybody ready to roll on me when we
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: get up there. The line of scrimmage is going to
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: be important in this one. It always is in big
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: football games. You got to be able to run the
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: football on the offense side of the ball. Defensively, you
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: got to control the line of scrimmage. That's you know,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: your first and second level and your safeties in particular,
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: but line of scrimmage will matter. You want to get
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: people into predictable third downs and then be able to
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: rush the passer and get off the field.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: One of the big pieces of Tennessee's rebuild under Josh
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Hipel is the addition of quarterback Nico Iamliava. He was
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: a very, very highly sought quarterback coming out of high school.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: When the volunteers got him, well that was a pretty
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: big deal. So what really stands out about iam Aliava's
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: game in Hypel's eyes.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: I just think his ability to reset and go play
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: the next play, next drive, next half. His ability to
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: continue to grow and compete throughout the course of the
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: football game as a young quarterback.
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: That's really hard to do. He's done a really good
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: job of that.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: I'm sure Ohio State fans right now are looking at
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Tennessee's roster and going I'm a little concerned about that.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: I'm a little concerned about that.
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: Not sure.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: I like that matchup. That's natural and the lead up
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: to a game like this, I can tell you based
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: on the questions that players and hypel got on Monday
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: down in Knoxville, there's a lot of concern about the
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Ohio State Wide receiver room, which, yeah, that makes sense too.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: So what kind of a challenge does that Ohio state
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: wide receiver unit present for the volunteers.
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that'll be a big part of it.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Got a.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: Now, I give up a bunch of big explosive plays.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Where they create momentum position ability to score points. So
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: it does start with the line of scrimmage for us.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: But we got to do a great job of playing
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: discipline and matching people out, playing with fundamentals and technique,
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: and then going and making plays. There's gonna be one
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: on one situations. We got to win the line's share
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: of those.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Tennessee has played some very talented teams throughout the course
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: of their schedule this year at Alabama Georgia. I mean, this
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: is not a new thing for them to play a
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: team at the top of the sport. But what is
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: what stands upout out about this Ohio State team in
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Hypel's eyes on both defense and offense.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, defensively, within the scope of the structure that they're playing,
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: they got great discipline, their eyes are in the right spot.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: They match things out, you know, their front seven making
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: it a.
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: Tough tough to run the football.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: And you know, then offensively for them, they do a
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: really good job in those situations, dynamic playmakers out on
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: the outside. So when you load the box, they got
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: guys that have the opportunity to go win in one
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: on once and when you don't, they're efficient and running
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: the football. Running backs are our elite, you know. So
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: you know, for us defensively, we've got to do a
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: great job. And you know, if you can hold in
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: the field goals, it changes the way the game's played. Offensively,
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: we've got to find a way to get seven down there.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Here's a great one. It's a question you get a
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: lot at these kind of press conferences when you've got
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: a couple of weeks between games. You know, what kind
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: of an opportunity is that to put in maybe some
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: new things, some new wrinkles. It's a very common question.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Josh Hipel's answer perhaps a little bit tongue in cheek.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we have nothing new defensively, offensively or special teams.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: It will be exactly what we've done.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: What does it mean to Hypel and the volunteers to
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: have an opportunity to play a game like this against
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: one of the most storied programs in the country in
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: one of the most storied venues in the country.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, you know, one of the goals you have is
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: to get into postseason play. You're in the tournament and
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: now it's about, you know, preparation and getting ready to
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: go play your best football. You can see the focus
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: and the guys and at the same time not making
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: it bigger than it is, meaning it's just eleven on eleven.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: We're playing a great opponent, great venue, but it comes
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: down to doing the ordinary things here.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: And we're going to wrap up with questions about a
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: couple of the big offensive players that you should know.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: We've been talking about a bottom a bunch over the
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. They're probably names you do know
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: by now, but we're gonna start with running back Dylan Samson.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: What makes Dylan Samson such an incredible player for Tennessee?
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Just Dylan super consistent and how he approaches everything inside
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: of our building. That's meeting room, it's you know, in
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: the weight room, on the practice field. Dynamic leader for
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: us as a program and then as a player. Just
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: his growth since he's gotten here, what he's done to
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: prepare himself to have the load that he's carried this year.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: You watch the tape. He's done a great job of
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: creating big plays, explode of plays making people miss. But
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: he's done a great job of understanding, you know, when
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: it's not clean, getting his pads down and going plus
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: two at the end of the runs. But he plays
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: great without the ball in his hands as well, and
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: a huge part of our success as a football team.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: And finally, one more about Niko iam Alieva. Yes, I
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: just like saying that name. Nico Iamaliava, the quarterback for Tennessee.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: What is it that has allowed him to maybe sort
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: of take on a bigger role as a leader on
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: this year's team despite being just such a young player.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, as a young player, everybody wants the quarterback to
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: be the leader immediately. Smart young quarterbacks understand that there's
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: a growth and an evolution to it. Nico has been
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: great in one on one situations. From the time that
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: he got here communicating with wide outs, he grew into
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: you know, communicating and challenging the five guys.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: In front of him.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: But now how you can feel, you know, as he
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: started to play, you can feel his presence in everything
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: that we're doing every single day. And Nicole's got a
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: great understanding of, man, you got to you.
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: Gotta be with the guys.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: You're not one of the guys when you're the quarterback,
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: but you got to be with the guys. You see
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: him at the hotel on Friday nights. He's eating dinner
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: with the offensive lineman, he's with the defensive lineman. He
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: does a great job of, you know, kind of getting
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: out of his quarter quarterback group or just the offensive
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: unit and developing relationships with those guys. And that's a
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: big part of leadership. Those guys having a relationship with you,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: understanding that you care about him allows you to lead them.
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: All.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Right, So that's your bonus show for today. I hope
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: you guys enjoyed that. We'll we have much more coverage
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: coming up. Buck Eyes Interviews, Tennessee interviews, all sorts of
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: stuff all week long, plus a bunch of preview shows,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: plus our pregame coverage, our postgame coverage are behind the
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: scenes coverage at the stadium on Saturday. We're gonna have
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: a ton of coverage for you all week long at
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: buckeyehuddle dot com and of course at YouTube dot com
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: slash Buckeyehuddle as well. That we'll do it for now.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: We'll see you guys a little bit later on