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BONUS: Is USC's Offensive Line Tipping Plays? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: We are back with another bonus episode and you're going
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  Speaker 1: to get to hear from USC head coach Lincoln Riley
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  Speaker 1: for the second time this week. The first one was
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  Speaker 1: his early week press conference and boy, it was a
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  Speaker 1: little bleak. Not going to lie about that. A lot
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  Speaker 1: of conversations about sort of big picture stuff about, so
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  Speaker 1: how would you say your job status is and stuff
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  Speaker 1: like that. You can find that wherever you're finding this
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  Speaker 1: same feed. You just go back a day or two.
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  Speaker 1: You can find that one. On Thursday, he had a
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  Speaker 1: Zoom press conference with the media and had a lot
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  Speaker 1: of stuff looking sort of forward now at sort of
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  Speaker 1: what to expect this weekend as they take on the
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State Buckeyes. And whenever you talk about the Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State Buckeyes, you start talking about Jeremiah Smith. So one
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  Speaker 1: of the first questions he got was sort of his
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  Speaker 1: impressions of Jeremiah Smith and where Jeremiah ranks among the
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  Speaker 1: very best players that he's seen in his time in
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  Speaker 1: college football.
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  Speaker 2: Jeremiah's a tremendous player, I would say.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I haven't been on the field with him yet,
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  Speaker 3: but certainly just watching him through the years and then
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  Speaker 3: getting a chance to study him a little bit more
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  Speaker 3: in depth this week, you see, you know, a really
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  Speaker 3: unique player. And I think he's gotten better this year,
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  Speaker 3: you know, playing obviously very consistent.
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  Speaker 2: You know, he's explosive. He's good after the catch.
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  Speaker 3: So, yeah, I mean, you know, I think great players
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  Speaker 3: like that, you know, I don't know that you're ever
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  Speaker 3: going to, you know, just completely shut somebody down or out.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 3: But you got to try to minimize the damage. I
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  Speaker 3: think that's really important with him. You know, trying to
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  Speaker 3: obviously trying to stay on top of them, you know,
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  Speaker 3: because he's so good down the field. And then the
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  Speaker 3: other thing he's really good at is after the catch.
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  Speaker 3: And so you got to do a great job of
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  Speaker 3: surrounding him, you know, making the catches or touches that
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  Speaker 3: he does get tough and then get him on the ground,
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  Speaker 3: which that's going to be super important. In terms of
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  Speaker 3: anybody I've seen, I mean, The most dominant player that
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  Speaker 3: I've ever been around or coached was Michael Crabtree. And
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  Speaker 3: there's been a lot of great receivers in college football
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  Speaker 3: over the last 20, 30 years. Crabtree is the best
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  Speaker 3: one that I've ever seen in person and just in
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  Speaker 3: terms of being just dominant at the college level. And
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  Speaker 3: Jeremiah may be the closest thing to that that I've
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  Speaker 3: seen in a while. So he's you know, give him
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  Speaker 3: his credit. He's a really good player. You know, we
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  Speaker 3: got to do a good job of making things tough
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  Speaker 3: for him on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: When Lincoln Riley looks at Ohio State's defensive scheme, how
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  Speaker 1: much are they doing different stuff and mixing and matching
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  Speaker 1: things versus kind of just doing a few things and
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  Speaker 1: doing them very well? And sort of what shows up
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  Speaker 1: on tape when you watch the Buckeyes and Matt Patricia's defense?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. You know, Patricia's come in there and done
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  Speaker 2: a really nice job.
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  Speaker 3: You can certainly tell the the influence of him over
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  Speaker 3: the last couple of years and what they've done schematically.
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  Speaker 2: And they, you know, they, they certainly have the ability
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  Speaker 2: to vary it up.
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  Speaker 3: You know, they're not a group that looks exactly the same,
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  Speaker 3: you know, down in and down out or game in
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  Speaker 3: and game out. There's definitely some variability to, to how they,
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  Speaker 3: how they want to attack and use their, their skill sets.
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  Speaker 3: And like you said, they've got, they've got good skill sets, obviously,
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  Speaker 3: but you can certainly see, you know, his influence coming
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  Speaker 3: from the professional level and, and a varied attack that,
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  Speaker 3: you know, from the outside looking in, it looks like
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  Speaker 3: they try to keep offenses guessing and they've done a
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  Speaker 3: nice job of that so far. So yeah, very well
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  Speaker 3: coached group and a lot of talented players.
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  Speaker 1: Ryan Day has not officially named a starting quarterback. Wink, wink.
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  Speaker 1: We all know who it's going to be, but, Lincoln Riley,
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  Speaker 1: they have to sort of prepare for either of two
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  Speaker 1: quarterbacks because they could theoretically play both. They could theoretically
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  Speaker 1: play either guy. So they have to sort of be
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  Speaker 1: prepared for both Luke Twahy and Tavian St.
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  Speaker 2: Clair.
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  Speaker 1: So how are they approaching having to prepare for two
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  Speaker 1: different quarterbacks? And how would he say his defense has
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  Speaker 1: looked in past coverage?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, on the quarterbacks, I mean, obviously, you know, we
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  Speaker 3: know they've got two guys, obviously, that we could see
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  Speaker 3: whether it's, you know, one or the other, you know,
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  Speaker 3: in total or they have packages for either one. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: obviously after the combination of them having a bi-week and then,
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  Speaker 3: you know, we know they're going to have a new one, right.
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  Speaker 3: Regardless of who it is. And so, you know, you've
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  Speaker 3: got to be ready for all those things. Certainly weather
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  Speaker 3: could be a factor as well. So yeah, I mean,
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  Speaker 3: there is an element to this, not, not as much,
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  Speaker 3: but there is an element to that part of it
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  Speaker 3: that almost feels like a, like a first game of
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  Speaker 3: the season, right? Like I think there's an expectation that,
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  Speaker 3: there'll probably be some sort of adjustment in some way
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  Speaker 3: and we'll have to do a good job handling that.
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  Speaker 3: And I think, you know, that'll be one of the,
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  Speaker 3: one of the keys I'm sure to this matchup is,
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  Speaker 3: you know, they're going to have a new guy back
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  Speaker 3: there and we've got to make life really tough on them. And,
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  Speaker 3: and then our ability to adjust to anything that they
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  Speaker 3: try to do differently with these new quarterbacks, you know,
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  Speaker 3: will be the way we'll be tested.
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  Speaker 2: So, you know, I think that'll.
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  Speaker 3: Go a long ways in determining how that, you know,
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  Speaker 3: SC defense, Ohio State offensive matchup goes. And yeah, in
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  Speaker 3: terms of our past defense, I mean, I think we've,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I think we've done a good job, you know,
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  Speaker 3: getting more pressure on the quarterback, which that's always a
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  Speaker 3: past defense's best friend. I think we have gotten stickier
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  Speaker 3: and tighter in coverage. I think as our guys have
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  Speaker 3: gotten more settled in, as we've gotten a little bit
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  Speaker 3: more healthy back there, you know, and I just think we've, Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: we've kind of eliminated some of the mistakes in the
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  Speaker 3: passing game. We've played more sticky even when there's been completions. Typically,
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  Speaker 3: we've had people there and pass rush has gotten better.
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  Speaker 3: And when you do all those things, you're going to
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  Speaker 3: defend the pass better.
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  Speaker 1: Last week, USC's offensive line gave up five sacks at Wisconsin.
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  Speaker 1: Not great. They also had an injury to their starting
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  Speaker 1: left guard. Also not great. So how big of a
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  Speaker 1: concern is the offensive line right now just in terms
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  Speaker 1: of their confidence as much as anything?
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  Speaker 3: You know, we're fortunate that Well, we did not play
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  Speaker 3: to our standard last week offensively. We got a long,
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  Speaker 3: long list of games where we've been pretty dominant and
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  Speaker 3: gotten after people and played pretty good on that side
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  Speaker 3: of the ball and played pretty good up front. So
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  Speaker 3: I think, you know, with a lot of the guys
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  Speaker 3: that we've had that played a lot of football, it's
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  Speaker 3: not hard to find, you know, obviously good examples and
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  Speaker 3: success and good players. Positive memories, right? All that stuff.
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  Speaker 3: That's not hard to find around here. So we're, you know,
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  Speaker 3: we got to play better there.
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  Speaker 2: Our group knows it.
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  Speaker 3: We got to play better all over the place offensively.
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  Speaker 3: But if this group responds anyway, like I think they will,
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  Speaker 3: then we'll play well. And this group has a long
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  Speaker 3: history of doing that.
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  Speaker 1: Like a lot of teams, Lincoln Riley likes to use
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  Speaker 1: the run game to set up the throw. And so
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  Speaker 1: that means when the run game doesn't get going, and
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  Speaker 1: it sure didn't for USC last weekend, they finished with
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  Speaker 1: negative 17 yards rushing. So how much does that impact
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  Speaker 1: the pass game when that run game isn't going? And
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  Speaker 1: then sort of looking forward, how important is it to
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  Speaker 1: get the run game going against the Buckeyes?
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  Speaker 3: Now, when we're at our best, we're able to do
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  Speaker 3: all those things and make people defend all parts of
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  Speaker 3: the field and all different styles of plays. And then,
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  Speaker 3: you know, that's typically in offensive football, in my opinion,
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  Speaker 3: when you can start to dictate the terms of the game.
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  Speaker 3: And so, Yeah, if any part of that's not working
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  Speaker 3: the way it needs to, then it puts strain on
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  Speaker 3: the other areas as well.
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  Speaker 2: So, no, it'll be super important. It's a very good defense.
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  Speaker 3: You know, they've obviously defended the run, you know, very
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  Speaker 3: well this year. And so, yeah, it'll be wildly important.
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  Speaker 3: We need to do a much better job of it.
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  Speaker 3: Our players know that. And, again, like you said, when
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  Speaker 3: we're kind of multifaceted, we're pretty tough to defend, and
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  Speaker 3: we've got to do that very well on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: Apparently earlier in the week, a number of USC players
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  Speaker 1: talked about sort of a lack of trust during the
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  Speaker 1: game at Wisconsin. How do you address that? And as
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  Speaker 1: you hear the answer note, this is sort of similar
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  Speaker 1: to the hero ball conversation that the Ohio State defense
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  Speaker 1: was having earlier this year.
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  Speaker 3: There's definitely an educational piece to that where, you know,
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  Speaker 3: and I think I would imagine what you're referring to
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  Speaker 3: and kind of what we see at times is, you know,
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  Speaker 3: you have a tough set of plays or something doesn't
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  Speaker 3: go your way.
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  Speaker 2: And right. What's your, what's your response to that, right?
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  Speaker 2: Is your response.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, now I'm going to go outside the framework of
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  Speaker 3: my job or the offense or defense or special teams
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  Speaker 3: to try to make a play, to try to make
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  Speaker 3: up for it. And typically, typically when you do that,
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  Speaker 3: it flips and goes the.
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  Speaker 2: Other direction, right?
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  Speaker 3: And it's, and it's not a positive result and you've
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  Speaker 3: got to, you've got to just stay with it. It's
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  Speaker 3: something that you certainly preach, but at the same time,
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  Speaker 3: I fully recognize that you get out in the arena,
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  Speaker 3: especially on the road, you feel some of those different
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  Speaker 3: emotions and the competitive juices, and you've got to stay
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  Speaker 3: true to it. And I think, especially for older players
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  Speaker 3: are guilty of it too. But I think, especially with
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  Speaker 3: as many young players as we're playing right now, right.
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  Speaker 2: That's, that's where.
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  Speaker 3: We need these guys to kind of really grow up
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  Speaker 3: in the second half of the season and understand that like, look,
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  Speaker 3: you've been in some of these different environments.
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  Speaker 2: Now you've been in good situations.
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  Speaker 3: You've been in worse situations and, when we stay true
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  Speaker 3: to who we are and we continue to do what
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  Speaker 3: we do, then we typically get good results. And when
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  Speaker 3: we don't, all right, we can actually, it can make
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  Speaker 3: it even worse. So I think you've got to educate them.
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  Speaker 3: You got to continue to teach. There's so many teachable
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  Speaker 3: moments across this. And when something that just from a
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  Speaker 3: team standpoint, you have to do a great job of
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  Speaker 3: in those tough moments. And we've had some examples of
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  Speaker 3: us doing that and doing it very well. You know,
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  Speaker 3: what's kind of ironic is we did it so well,
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  Speaker 3: you know, a couple of weeks prior. But this is
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  Speaker 3: a week-to-week season, man. And so all that matters is
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  Speaker 3: that day, that game. And so we've got to do
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  Speaker 3: a great job of applying those lessons here on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: Lincoln Riley was asked about a team maybe hitting the
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  Speaker 1: wall or just sort of burning out at this time
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  Speaker 1: of year. It's a thing that can happen when things
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  Speaker 1: aren't going right. So can he sense that?
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  Speaker 2: No.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I just think it's one of those things that, listen,
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  Speaker 3: when you don't win a game, you know, all these
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  Speaker 3: questions and all these things are going to come up.
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  Speaker 2: And I just, you know, can you sense it if
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  Speaker 2: that's happening? Yes, I think you can. sense that. Do
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  Speaker 2: I sense this with our team.
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  Speaker 3: Leading into Wisconsin, leading into this? Absolutely not. Like, you know,
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  Speaker 3: you guys aren't out of our practices. If you guys
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  Speaker 3: were out of our practices, you would have absolutely zero.
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  Speaker 2: Thought about that.
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  Speaker 3: But, no, this team– I mean, you go turn on
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  Speaker 3: the tape, our guys played hard as hell. We have
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  Speaker 3: to play better. We have to play cleaner. And if
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  Speaker 3: we do that, then we're a pretty good football team.
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  Speaker 1: King Miller was the starting running back for USC last week.
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  Speaker 1: He finished with 11 rushes for seven yards. Not great.
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  Speaker 1: He has had a history of some explosive running plays
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  Speaker 1: in previous seasons. It really hasn't happened this year. So
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  Speaker 1: has there been a change to his running style? What
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  Speaker 1: has sort of happened to King Miller at running back
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  Speaker 1: this year?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't, I mean, I don't see a ton
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  Speaker 3: of differences in his game. I mean, I think he's,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I certainly feel a difference in physicality.
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  Speaker 2: You know, he's, he's.
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  Speaker 3: He's dealt with a few things physically this year, kind
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  Speaker 3: of in that middle part of the season from kind
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  Speaker 3: of right before the Oregon game. And for a couple
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  Speaker 3: of weeks there were, he was obviously still able to play,
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  Speaker 3: but wasn't quite his usual explosive self. I think he's,
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  Speaker 3: I feel like that's starting to kind of come back
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  Speaker 3: around in terms of his ability to pop it. But
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  Speaker 3: he's had a couple of big ones. I've said a
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  Speaker 3: big one against early in the Washington game. But no,
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  Speaker 3: it's something that, you know, I kind of spoke on
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  Speaker 3: that the other day. We missed some opportunities in the
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  Speaker 3: run game against Wisconsin in the first half that were huge,
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  Speaker 3: huge opportunities.
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  Speaker 2: It certainly wasn't all him, but yeah. We need to
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  Speaker 2: be better there.
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  Speaker 3: We need to create some explosive runs. I mean, that
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  Speaker 3: takes so much pressure off of the other parts of
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  Speaker 3: your offense when you can create that.
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  Speaker 2: And so we're here to get that done. He is too.
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  Speaker 2: And when we get those opportunities, we've got to hit
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  Speaker 2: those pitches.
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  Speaker 1: And finally, something that Tony has mentioned a couple times
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  Speaker 1: on shows this week, there have been clips floating around
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  Speaker 1: the internet about the offensive line from USC sort of
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  Speaker 1: tipping plays. One of the things that Tony's talked about
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  Speaker 1: is the left tackle. And when he's sort of standing
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  Speaker 1: up in his stance, that indicates pass. When he's sort
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  Speaker 1: of down a little further, that indicates either a run
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  Speaker 1: or an RPO. So is that something that Lincoln Riley
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  Speaker 1: is aware of? And what are they planning to do
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  Speaker 1: about it?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I got asked this a few weeks ago. No,
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  Speaker 3: something we're pretty aware of. I mean, we study our
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  Speaker 3: guys a.
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  Speaker 2: Lot.
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  Speaker 3: And so not something that I would really, I think,
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  Speaker 3: sit here and just over talk about, but it's something
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  Speaker 3: we're very conscious of.
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  Speaker 2: I can promise you that.
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  Speaker 1: So there you go. A little more football-focused and this
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: game-focused talk from Lincoln Riley. Thought that was worth another
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: bonus show for you. Definitely a different type of press
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: conference than he had earlier in the week. Both interesting,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: just a little different. So we are going to be
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: headed out to L.A. on Thursday night. Tony Juck and
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: I flying out there. We will be live in Los
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Angeles on Friday morning. We're going to try and do
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: a live show for you from our hotel Friday morning
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: out in L.A. The Buckeyes land out there Thursday night
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: as well. They'll be practicing out there on Friday, doing
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: their best Fridays in football. And then the game kicks
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: off Saturday at 730 Eastern. We will have all sorts
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: of coverage for you all day Friday and Saturday from
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Los Angeles. It should be a really fun weekend. And man,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: what a fascinating game this is shaping up to be.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: We would love to talk to you about it all
• 13:27
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