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Does Penn State's Defense Understand Jim Knowles' Complex Scheme? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Saturday, October twenty fifth,
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom or the Penn State game in
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  Speaker 1: seven days the game against Michigan in thirty five days.
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  Speaker 1: If you're planning your next event, make it unforgettable with
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  Speaker 1: Grateful Gritte, Columbus's favorite food truck serving up Smashburger's corremet
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  Speaker 1: sandwiches and good vibes. Book your catering today at gratefulgriddele
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  Speaker 1: oh dot com. Today is a Saturday off for the
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State Buckeyes. It is also a Saturday off for
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  Speaker 1: the Penn State Nitney Lyons. Both teams get a week
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  Speaker 1: off heading into their game next weekend. And of course
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  Speaker 1: that was a game that was circled on everyone's calendar
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  Speaker 1: as one of the biggest on the college football calendar.
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  Speaker 1: And this season has not exactly gone the way Penn
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  Speaker 1: State hoped it would. They are three and four. They
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  Speaker 1: no longer have head coach Jims Franklin in charge. Now
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  Speaker 1: the new interim coach there is Terry Smith. On today's show,
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  Speaker 1: you're going to get to hear it for a little
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  Speaker 1: bit from Terry Smith. One of his press conferences this week,
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  Speaker 1: he add some interesting stuff to say. Also, just figured
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  Speaker 1: it might be nice for you guys to see him
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  Speaker 1: and hear from him a little bit before they come
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  Speaker 1: to town next weekend, So to let you know a
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  Speaker 1: little bit about Terry Smith. He is a former Penn
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  Speaker 1: State player, late eighties, early nineties. He's been assistant with
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  Speaker 1: the Penn State in Alliance since twenty fourteen. Now he
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  Speaker 1: is running the show there for the rest of the season.
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  Speaker 1: So one of the things he was asked about was
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  Speaker 1: the running back and finding the right balance of carries.
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  Speaker 1: All season long, it has felt like there has been
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  Speaker 1: sort of a steady drum beat for Kate Ron Allen
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  Speaker 1: to get more carries and Nick Segleton to get fewer.
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  Speaker 1: Allen has been a much more productive running back over
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  Speaker 1: the course of this season, but Smith has talked about
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  Speaker 1: the fact that he wants to get Nick singled in
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  Speaker 1: more touches. So how do you balance that with keeping
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  Speaker 1: Kate Ron Allen at the center of what they do
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  Speaker 1: and all of these answers in the video Purtesy of
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  Speaker 1: Penn State Athletics.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously Kate run's running a ball really well, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we want to try to get Nick the ball out
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  Speaker 2: in space. You know, he's a faster back, he has
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  Speaker 2: the home run capability, hitting capability, so just trying to
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  Speaker 2: be strategic and getting the ball to him in space,
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  Speaker 2: and that's that's going to be a focal point for us.
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  Speaker 1: The on the field stuff is just one of the
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  Speaker 1: concerns right now for Penn State. The off field stuff
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  Speaker 1: and recruiting that is a big one as well. They
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  Speaker 1: have had some decommitments in the wake of James Franklin's firing,
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  Speaker 1: So how much recruiting did they do during the off
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  Speaker 1: week and what is the message there to recruits right now?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we're going to recruit this week.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to touch base, especially with all our commits
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  Speaker 2: and the guys that are kind of on the fringe
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  Speaker 2: of you know, they were committed and now they're kind
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  Speaker 2: of looking around. We're going to touch base with all
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  Speaker 2: those guys. And our message is, you know, Penn State's
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  Speaker 2: had three coaches and I don't know, sixty years or whatever.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to hire a great coach and this place
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  Speaker 2: is still Penn State.
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  Speaker 1: So that's the message to recruits. What's the message to
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  Speaker 1: the team right now, coming off of four straight losses
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  Speaker 1: and frankly, just where is the team's emotional state right now?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, So the message right now is stay together.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we went and fought, and you know I
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  Speaker 2: told you guys last week we'll get those guys to
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  Speaker 2: play hard. They played extremely hard. They left it up there.
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  Speaker 2: Now the key is finish. You know, there's plays on
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  Speaker 2: the offense to defense, the special teams where we're just
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  Speaker 2: leaving game changing plays out there.
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  Speaker 3: We've got to close.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, the defense has to get off the
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  Speaker 2: field when the offense scores and puts us up and
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  Speaker 2: the offense has to score touchdowns instead of field.
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  Speaker 3: Goals late in the game.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, we can't have bable miss mishandled punt return,
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  Speaker 2: kick return. So we got to get all that cleaned up.
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  Speaker 2: And those are all the little things that are keeping
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  Speaker 2: us from victory.
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  Speaker 1: Terry Smith has been a head coach at the high
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  Speaker 1: school level, but not at the college level. So what
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  Speaker 1: has it been like to be in the big chair
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  Speaker 1: and Happy Valley Because that is a big, big transition
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  Speaker 1: right in the middle of a college football season.
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  Speaker 2: I think the transition has been really good. This week
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  Speaker 2: has slowed down tremendously from last week.
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  Speaker 3: You know, this is this is a big job.
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  Speaker 2: This is a CEO job, and you know, it's so
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  Speaker 2: much more than coaching guys on the football field. It's
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  Speaker 2: all the organization, it's the media, it's you're running everything,
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  Speaker 2: and so all of that was kind of rehashing some
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  Speaker 2: old memories from when I was a head coach times
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  Speaker 2: ten thousand.
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  Speaker 3: I think this week is slowing down. This week.
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  Speaker 2: I've already watched more film on Ohio State than I
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  Speaker 2: watched on Iowa all the whole week last week.
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  Speaker 3: So we're ahead of the curve.
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  Speaker 2: And I think now we're going to settle on in
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  Speaker 2: and kind of get into a routine and you know,
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  Speaker 2: just keep putting our best foot forward.
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  Speaker 1: The commitments in recruiting are certainly one concern at Penn
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  Speaker 1: State right now. Potential guys entering the transfer portal after
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  Speaker 1: the season, well that is probably another one One of
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  Speaker 1: the names you hear quite a bit mentioned by Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State fans is Chas Coleman. He was a four star
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  Speaker 1: edge recruiting the twent twenty five class coming out of
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  Speaker 1: Harding High School and war in Ohio. And that's the
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  Speaker 1: same school that produced Maurice Claret lay back in the day.
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  Speaker 1: He's certainly a guy to watch in the portal. He's
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  Speaker 1: only had twelve snaps the last two weeks, So what
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  Speaker 1: is going on with Chas Coleman? Has he been nearly
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  Speaker 1: with an injury?
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  Speaker 2: Chaz was sick going into I think it was the
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  Speaker 2: UCLA game, and he's just now getting healthy. And then
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  Speaker 2: with the Iowa game, Chaz is more of a pass
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  Speaker 2: rusher and he didn't fit the game plan for what
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  Speaker 2: Iowa was.
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  Speaker 3: Going to bring. They were going to run the ball,
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  Speaker 3: and you know.
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  Speaker 2: He's a little thinner, and that's why you've only played
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  Speaker 2: a lot more in that game.
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  Speaker 1: After the Iowa loss, Smith mentioned that defensive backs have
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  Speaker 1: been sitting in on staff meetings recently just trying to
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  Speaker 1: get a better grasp of the defense. Of course, I
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  Speaker 1: probably don't need to remind you that Jim Knowles is
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  Speaker 1: the new defensive coordinator at Penn State after serving three
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  Speaker 1: years at Ohio State. That'll be something you probably hear
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  Speaker 1: about a few times over the course of the next
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  Speaker 1: week or so. And Knowles his defense has generally been
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  Speaker 1: very very effective where he's gone eventually, but generally there's
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  Speaker 1: a pretty steep learning curve for the first year or
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  Speaker 1: so just because it's kind of complicated. So where are
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  Speaker 1: those defensive backs with sort of understanding the full picture
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  Speaker 1: for the defense right now?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, those guys come in there.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes when we watch practice or watch the film after practice.
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  Speaker 2: There's a lot of combination calls. Right if the offense
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  Speaker 2: does this, we're going to do that. And there's like
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  Speaker 2: six different options to a single play. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: sometimes there's not really right or wrong. It's they got
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  Speaker 2: to just confirm a call so we're all on the
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  Speaker 2: same page. And then you all obviously want to be
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  Speaker 2: in the perfect call. And so those guys are trying
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  Speaker 2: to learn that. I think they have a good grasp
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  Speaker 2: of it, you know, but they're still learning it, and
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  Speaker 2: you know, it's still a work in progress, and we
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  Speaker 2: just got to get the mental thinking out of it
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  Speaker 2: where our guys can play fast and be more athletic
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  Speaker 2: in better players.
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  Speaker 1: Is that a process that they can find a way
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  Speaker 1: to speed up, getting those defensive backs up to speed
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  Speaker 1: with the Gymnals defense or is that just one of
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  Speaker 1: those things that you sort of shrug your shoulders and say, yeah, man,
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  Speaker 1: it just takes a while.
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  Speaker 3: Its complicated, It's very complicated. It's pro lighte.
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  Speaker 2: So this this is really good for our guys that
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  Speaker 2: the dream and wish to go to the NFL.
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  Speaker 3: This is what they're going to get.
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  Speaker 2: And they got to understand you you have to apply
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  Speaker 2: yourself right where football may have been so easy, where
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  Speaker 2: oh I can grab that, I can grasp that, I
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  Speaker 2: can grasp that, now all of a sudden you have
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  Speaker 2: to study this like education, going to math class. You know.
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  Speaker 1: One of the things that really sent Penn State spiraling
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  Speaker 1: was the fact that they went out to u c
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  Speaker 1: l A and lost, And of course one are the
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  Speaker 1: big pieces of a UCLA story is the fact that
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  Speaker 1: they change play callers and Jerry Neuheisel really sort of
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  Speaker 1: mix things up and really has given the Pens the
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  Speaker 1: u c l A offense a new life. So when
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  Speaker 1: you look at that as an interim coach, is there
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  Speaker 1: any temptation to maybe change the play callers on either
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  Speaker 1: side of the ball for Penn State.
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  Speaker 2: The play callers or the play callers. We do have
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  Speaker 2: opinions from everyone else. That's kind of been one of
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  Speaker 2: my roles here these this last week, just getting ideas
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  Speaker 2: of you know, how everyone thinks of the offense and
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  Speaker 2: what we think we should be doing and how everyone
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  Speaker 2: thinks of the defense and what we think we should
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  Speaker 2: be doing. There are subtle changes that are being uh
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  Speaker 2: being taken have been taken place. We're just going to
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  Speaker 2: continue to try to tweak here, tweak there. We're not
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  Speaker 2: trying to blow this thing up. At the end of
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  Speaker 2: the day, man, we've lost four games, and in any game,
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  Speaker 2: one play could make a difference. We're trying to close
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  Speaker 2: the gap for that one play difference, and that's what
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  Speaker 2: we're grasping on to.
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  Speaker 1: There hasn't been just one thing that has gone wrong
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  Speaker 1: for the Nitney Lions this season. When you have a
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  Speaker 1: season that goes from potential national championship to three and
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  Speaker 1: four and your head coach fired before Halloween, a lot
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  Speaker 1: of stuff has to go wrong. So is it possible
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  Speaker 1: still for this team to get on the same page
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  Speaker 1: and be able to play complimentary football.
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  Speaker 3: We have to.
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  Speaker 2: It's the only way to success, right and all three
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  Speaker 2: teams have to be clicking on all cylinders.
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  Speaker 3: You know. Obviously we go up to Ohio State.
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  Speaker 2: They're the best team in a country, They're the most
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  Speaker 2: talented team in a country. We have to be clicking
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  Speaker 2: on all cylinders to give ourselves a chance for that game.
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  Speaker 1: One of the big challenges for Penn State this year
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  Speaker 1: on offense has been the ability to really drive the
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  Speaker 1: ball down the field in the passing game. That's something
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  Speaker 1: that Smith talked about after the Iowa game, and so
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  Speaker 1: where does that stand now? You will hear him say
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  Speaker 1: a couple first names here, Tyser and Kobe. That as
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  Speaker 1: red shirt freshman Tysier Denmark, that's a name you may
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  Speaker 1: remember from recruiting for a high I stayed a few
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  Speaker 1: years ago. He came to small high state camps and
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  Speaker 1: was a target for Ohio State for a little while.
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  Speaker 1: And Kobe Howard, he's a true freshman.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we had those conversations last week and we continue
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  Speaker 2: to have those conversations. That's going to be a part
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  Speaker 2: of you know, tass hearing Kobe as a part of that, right,
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  Speaker 2: like how can we get the ball in different areas
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  Speaker 2: of the field.
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  Speaker 3: We've just got to.
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  Speaker 2: Continue to grow our pass game beyond the intermediate zone, right,
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  Speaker 2: so you know, that's your digs, your curls, your comebacks
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  Speaker 2: and then vertically deep and you know, just to with
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  Speaker 2: our run games starting to click and starting to hit
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  Speaker 2: on all cylinders, We've got to be able to play
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  Speaker 2: action off of that and go in behind the linebackers
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  Speaker 2: and develop that pass game. So we've been talking about
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  Speaker 2: that a little last week and a little more this week.
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  Speaker 3: We have to execute that to have a chance again.
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  Speaker 1: And finally, boy, isn't this just sort of the biggest
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  Speaker 1: question of the week for Penn State. A whole lot
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  Speaker 1: has happened this season. Your goal is to win the
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  Speaker 1: national championship, even the Big Ten championship, those are completely
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  Speaker 1: out the window right now. Head coach gone. So does
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  Speaker 1: this team still have any fight left in them?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they don't have a choice if they're going to
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  Speaker 2: play for me, Like quid isn't in my vocabulary, Like,
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  Speaker 2: we all have a job to do, and everyone's got
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  Speaker 2: to play to the end.
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  Speaker 3: You got to give your soul.
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  Speaker 2: And you know things aren't going our way right now.
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  Speaker 2: But the only way to get out the storm is
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  Speaker 2: to run through the storm. And we're gonna run through
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  Speaker 2: the storm until we get out the storm and we'll
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  Speaker 2: come out in the sun of shine on us and
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  Speaker 2: we'll all be better for it.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the Nitty Lions will be in town next weekend
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  Speaker 1: taking on the buck Eyes. That game is a noon
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  Speaker 1: kick on Fox next Saturday. We'll have full coverage for
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  Speaker 1: you at bucke Huddle dot com, YouTube dot com, slash
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  Speaker 1: Buckeye Huddle plenty coverage all week long as well. Old
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  Speaker 1: friend Jim Knowles coming back to town. Should be plenty
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  Speaker 1: of stuff to talk about all week long. It'd be
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  Speaker 1: a very fun, interesting game as well for the Buckeyes
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  Speaker 1: as they turn the page into November. Tim Tressel had
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  Speaker 1: a saying about that. I'm sure you remember it. So
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  Speaker 1: the final month of the regular season, it does end
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  Speaker 1: with the Michigan game, and yes, that is just five
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  Speaker 1: weeks away right now, so regular season flying by. This
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  Speaker 1: would be a great time for you to join us
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: at Buckeye Huddle dot com. That's where we've got our
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: whole team of insiders covering the Buckeyes, covering recruiting, covering
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: x'es and o's and more, plus a really fun and
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: active community on the huddle board presented by Jeff Ruby's Columbus.
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  Speaker 1: That is all at Buckeyehuddle dot com. We hope to
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  Speaker 1: see you 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,