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Ryan Day's Thoughts On Defense, Jeremiah Smith, Julian Sayin's Running · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Monday, September 28th. I'm
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  Speaker 1: your host, Tom, or the Iowa game in five days,
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  Speaker 1: the game against Michigan in 61 days. We're sponsored today
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  Speaker 1: by our friends at Jeff Ruby's Columbus, proudly offering nationally
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  Speaker 1: and make a reservation today. All right, on today's show,
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  Speaker 1: you're going to get to hear a little bit from
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State head coach Ryan Day. He had a lot
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  Speaker 1: of interesting things to say after the Buckeyes 42-19 win
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  Speaker 1: over Illinois. And normally, you've heard these shows before, I
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  Speaker 1: will set up each soundbite with a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: context maybe, or in case you can't hear the question,
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  Speaker 1: sort of spelling out what question Ryan Day is answering.
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  Speaker 1: In this case, I'm just going to play the very
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  Speaker 1: first question of the press conference because Ryan Day's immediate
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  Speaker 1: response to it is pretty funny.
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  Speaker 2: Ryan, you got some late stops there, but the defense
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  Speaker 2: in general today. What was your impression? I figured that
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  Speaker 2: would be the first question, yeah, after Jeremiah has four
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  Speaker 2: touchdowns for 217 yards and Julian runs for 367. I
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  Speaker 2: knew the first question would be that. Yeah, I think
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  Speaker 2: there was too many big plays today. There was, you know,
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  Speaker 2: as you saw, you know, we brought a little more pressure,
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  Speaker 2: played a little more man-to-man, and some of those balls,
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  Speaker 2: you know, squirted out and created explosive plays, so We
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  Speaker 2: got to get on the film and make the corrections.
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  Speaker 1: All right. So after that answer, Ryan Day did get
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  Speaker 1: the question about Jeremiah Smith. Here was his answer on
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  Speaker 1: what it's like to have an absolute cheat code of
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  Speaker 1: a wide receiver.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, if there's a better player in the country,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure there's really good players out there,
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  Speaker 2: but just to watch him out there the last couple
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  Speaker 2: of games, you know, it's hard to imagine or even
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  Speaker 2: just watching him play every game this year. But that's
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  Speaker 2: how he practices. every day. And so he's just built
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  Speaker 2: so much confidence in Julian because when they practice, they're
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  Speaker 2: throwing with each other. He's out there taking those reps.
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  Speaker 2: And so you've got to pull him back. But I
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  Speaker 2: think he's taking his game to the next level this year.
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  Speaker 2: I think when you looked at him the first couple
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  Speaker 2: of years, it was hard to say, OK, how can
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  Speaker 2: he get better? But you're seeing it because of the
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  Speaker 2: run after catch. And he kind of did it in
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  Speaker 2: a variety of ways today. You saw a couple of
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  Speaker 2: balls where he caught the ball on the line of scrimmage,
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  Speaker 2: made a guy miss for 12 yards. Then he catches
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  Speaker 2: the ball and makes a spectacular catch in the corner
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  Speaker 2: of the end zone. wins on a fade, wins on
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  Speaker 2: a home run post, wins on a double move. But
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  Speaker 2: I thought we did have balance on offense. I thought
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  Speaker 2: the offensive line played well today. It was good to
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  Speaker 2: see other guys get involved. I thought Nate Roberts had
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  Speaker 2: a big fourth down catch in the game. Devin had
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  Speaker 2: a catch. Good to see Brock Boyd. That was a
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  Speaker 2: big catch. Phil Bell came in in the two-minute drill.
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  Speaker 2: That was good. Bo was used early in the passing
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  Speaker 2: game to kind of get us going. I think they
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  Speaker 2: said we averaged just under five yards a carry in
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  Speaker 2: the run game, so that was more consistent. But there
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  Speaker 2: was a lot of movement up there today, and so
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  Speaker 2: I thought for the most part the offensive line handled
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  Speaker 2: that pretty well in the run game and the pass game.
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  Speaker 2: And I thought the 97-yard drive was big, or 97 yards,
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  Speaker 2: 19 plays, I think. And then we had the two-minute drill,
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  Speaker 2: so I think that was important. But then we also
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  Speaker 2: wanted to finish the game the right way with a
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  Speaker 2: couple scores in the fourth quarter. So positive there.
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  Speaker 1: One of the things that's been talked about a bunch
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  Speaker 1: this year is the fact that, boy, if Julian Sane
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  Speaker 1: could just run a little bit more, the Ohio State
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  Speaker 1: offense would be so much more dangerous. And, well, good news.
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  Speaker 1: Julian Sane, seven rushes, 29 yards, and a touchdown against Illinois. Now,
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  Speaker 1: those numbers do not seem overwhelming, but that's kind of
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  Speaker 1: the point. Here's the impact he had on those seven rushes.
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  Speaker 1: Five of the seven either converted first downs or scored touchdowns,
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  Speaker 1: and one of the two that didn't turned what could
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  Speaker 1: have been a second and 10 into a second and six.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to be Michael Vick to impact the
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  Speaker 1: game with your legs as a quarterback. And that seems
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  Speaker 1: like something that Julian saying is starting to figure out
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  Speaker 1: and starting to put on the field. So is that
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  Speaker 1: something they challenged him to do more of last week?
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  Speaker 2: Um, we we've talked about it, but yeah, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: one of our job as coaches is a challenge, challenge coaches, coaches,
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  Speaker 2: challenge coaches, um, coaches, challenge players, players, uh, challenge players. Um,
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  Speaker 2: sometimes the players will challenge the coaches. Um, I thought,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I like it when that happens. I love
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  Speaker 2: it when players challenge coaches. I think we need that
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  Speaker 2: sometimes a little more. But, yeah, for sure, we challenged
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  Speaker 2: Julian this past week, and I thought he responded. I
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  Speaker 2: thought the scramble there to get the first down during
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  Speaker 2: that drive was big, and then to keep the play
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  Speaker 2: alive on the touchdown was big as well. And you
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  Speaker 2: could just see the reaction from the sideline and from
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  Speaker 2: the offense. And that's the X factor. And he has it.
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  Speaker 2: He has the quickness to do that, and I thought
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  Speaker 2: he competed well today.
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  Speaker 1: There've been a lot of substitutions and different packages on
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  Speaker 1: the field for the defense in different situations this year.
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  Speaker 1: And that's something you kind of have to do sometimes
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  Speaker 1: when you don't have just a conga line of superstars
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  Speaker 1: like they had on defense last year with Caleb Downs
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  Speaker 1: and Arvel Reese and Sonny Stiles and Caden Curry and
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  Speaker 1: Caden McDonald.
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  Speaker 2: All those guys are gone.
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  Speaker 1: So now you got to sort of piece it together
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  Speaker 1: a little bit more. So Are they now maybe trying
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  Speaker 1: to pair some of those substitutions and different packages down
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  Speaker 1: a little bit more, maybe limit the number of guys
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  Speaker 1: on the field for the defense as the season goes along?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I think we have to identify which is
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  Speaker 2: being the most efficient. If bringing guys in and out
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  Speaker 2: of the game and playing multiple packages is efficient and working,
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  Speaker 2: we'll keep it going. If it's not, then I think
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  Speaker 2: we need to consider that as well. So I think
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  Speaker 2: we have to evaluate that.
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  Speaker 1: Here is a crazy stat, and credit to Steve Hellwagon
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  Speaker 1: of Bucknuts for coming up with this one and asking
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  Speaker 1: this question. Ohio State has scored a touchdown in the
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  Speaker 1: final 15 seconds of the first half of all four
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  Speaker 1: games they've played this year. That is pretty wild. I
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  Speaker 1: have not gone back and looked. I would have to
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  Speaker 1: imagine that's probably the longest streak in program history. Is
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  Speaker 1: that something that is really valuable experience in those situations
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  Speaker 1: in the future?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we work at it. And we've talked about the
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  Speaker 2: middle eight before. And when Illinois had the ball there,
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  Speaker 2: we felt like we wanted to call those timeouts to
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  Speaker 2: give us enough time to get the ball back to
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  Speaker 2: see if we could get maybe a field goal or
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  Speaker 2: push it down the field. And we had really good
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  Speaker 2: rhythm there. But credit the defense, because they get to
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  Speaker 2: stop there, force the field goal. They get the incompletion
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  Speaker 2: on the third down. So we get to keep that timeout,
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  Speaker 2: which is always good to have in your back pocket,
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  Speaker 2: When you do, you saw us mix in maybe a
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  Speaker 2: run or a couple of things that maybe if you
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  Speaker 2: don't have a timeout, you got to be more thoughtful
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  Speaker 2: of that. So we were able to keep the timeout.
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  Speaker 2: And I think we had, what did we have, about
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  Speaker 2: a minute and 30 to go when we started that drive? Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So that's a long time.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So I think we started the 25-yard line after a touchback,
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  Speaker 2: got the completion of Jeremiah, and then kind of got
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  Speaker 2: that thing moving. And then when we got in rhythm,
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  Speaker 2: we just kept the gas down. And I think that's
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  Speaker 2: those are the decisions that you have to make, you know,
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  Speaker 2: if you're a quarterback there is knowing, all right, I
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  Speaker 2: have three points here. We can leave the half with
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  Speaker 2: points and, you know, and or the ball, but we
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  Speaker 2: have points. But when is it right to take that
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  Speaker 2: chance to push that ball into the end zone? And
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  Speaker 2: so the seam ball, the fill really got us into
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  Speaker 2: a situation where, you know, we could do that. And,
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  Speaker 2: and so, yeah, it gave us really, we were going
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  Speaker 2: to have three shots for, you know, for certain and
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  Speaker 2: maybe even go for it on fourth down. So. I
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  Speaker 2: think the two-minute drill has been effective so far, but
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  Speaker 2: we've got to keep building on it. We know that
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  Speaker 2: we're going to have to win a game in the
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  Speaker 2: fourth quarter, a two-minute drill here at some point.
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  Speaker 1: You heard Ryan Day read off Jeremiah Smith's stat line
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  Speaker 1: at the beginning of the show. There was plenty of
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  Speaker 1: talk about the need for Jeremiah Smith and everyone else
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  Speaker 1: on the team to get more yards after catch, yards
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  Speaker 1: after contact in the run game, just more yards after catch.
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  Speaker 1: initial contact, initial catching the ball, whatever it is, get
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  Speaker 1: the football and then do something remarkable with it. So
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah's second touchdown, that feels like that sort of fit
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  Speaker 1: that mold exactly. Caught it relatively short, weaving around defenders,
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  Speaker 1: finding a way to get himself into the end zone.
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  Speaker 1: Here were Ryan Day's thoughts on that one.
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  Speaker 2: You know, he's a really good route runner. And so
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  Speaker 2: the challenge that Cortez really hit him with, again, challenging guys,
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  Speaker 2: trying to push them to their limits, is how can
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  Speaker 2: we better with run after the catch? And just to
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  Speaker 2: catch a ball is important. You've got to secure the ball.
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  Speaker 2: You've got to come up with the ball at the
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  Speaker 2: end of the play. But even there, you could see
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  Speaker 2: the effort, like, no, I'm getting into the end zone
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  Speaker 2: on this play. And so the more we can put
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  Speaker 2: him in those situations, we're going to try to do
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  Speaker 2: that because God knows that not only is he fast,
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  Speaker 2: but he's big and he's hard to get down in
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  Speaker 2: the open field. And now he is long, and so
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  Speaker 2: a lot of guys like to cut tackle him. So
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  Speaker 2: he has to treat it a little different, and we've
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  Speaker 2: trained him a little different. We know that guys aren't
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  Speaker 2: going to try to tackle him up high. They're going
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  Speaker 2: to try to cut his legs out. So we do
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  Speaker 2: drills to make sure that he's prepared for that. You
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  Speaker 2: see him use different tools in his tool bag to
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  Speaker 2: make sure he can work right after the catch. So
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  Speaker 2: it's been a big emphasis. So far it showed up,
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  Speaker 2: but obviously we need it more the rest of the season.
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  Speaker 1: And as always, the final question of the press conference
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  Speaker 1: went to the legendary Tim May, who compared Jeremiah Smith...
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  Speaker 1: to a train picking up steam as that game went along.
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  Speaker 1: What has that been like to see Ryan Day, just
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  Speaker 1: see him grow during the course of that, not just
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  Speaker 1: a game, but his whole career?
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  Speaker 2: I agree. I think his routes have become more refined.
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  Speaker 2: The double movie hit, he spun the guy around. That
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  Speaker 2: was really well-timed and thought out. You're just seeing a
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  Speaker 2: lot of those routes really become even more precise. His
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  Speaker 2: body language is even better and stronger and And when
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  Speaker 2: that happens with a quarterback, you can recognize exactly where
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  Speaker 2: he's going to be. And then for him with the
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  Speaker 2: catch radius, you just throw it up enough. He's going
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  Speaker 2: to go make that play. Even the first corner route,
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  Speaker 2: I thought he caught him. He ran the top of
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  Speaker 2: the route. He stuck that, and the safety spun around.
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  Speaker 2: In the past, he's so fast sometimes, he would run
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  Speaker 2: the route and still do a great job. But you're
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  Speaker 2: seeing a little bit more definition on the route. And
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  Speaker 2: so now those guys are having a hard time staying
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  Speaker 2: with him. So that's, I think, something he would tell
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  Speaker 2: you that he's also worked on real hard.
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  Speaker 1: All right, we're going to be turning our attention to
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  Speaker 1: the Iowa Hawkeyes shortly. There's going to be a lot
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  Speaker 1: to talk about this week. Iowa just had a dramatic,
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure you saw this, but I'm sure you don't
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  Speaker 1: mind hearing about it again, a dramatic final second win
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  Speaker 1: over the Michigan Wolverines up in Ann Arbor, 20-19. And now,
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  Speaker 1: college game day, going to Iowa City this weekend. The
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  Speaker 1: crew from BuckeyeInsiders.com, we will be there as well, covering
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  Speaker 1: that game tonight. Should be a fascinating matchup against a
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  Speaker 1: really talented Iowa defense and a sort of steadily improving
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  Speaker 1: Iowa offense. We'll be there to talk about that all
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  Speaker 1: week long, heading out to Iowa City. We'll be there
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: for the team arrival on Friday. We'll be there for
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  Speaker 1: the usual pregame show, the usual postgame show, and all
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  Speaker 1: the other kind of fun stuff you've come to expect
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  Speaker 1: from us at BuckeyeInsiders.com. There should be a lot to
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  Speaker 1: talk about this week on the board there as well
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: with our scheme insiders. Going to be a lot to
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  Speaker 1: break down. about the Ohio State offense and its performance
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  Speaker 1: against the Illinois Fighting Illini, and of course the Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State defense and its performance against the Illinois Fighting Illini.
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  Speaker 1: You are going to want to be there. Be a
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  Speaker 1: to the most information and the deepest dives with our
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: scheme guys there. That'll do it for today. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: guys all for joining us. Have a great day. We'll
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  Speaker 1: talk to you tomorrow.