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BONUS: How Arthur Smith's Offense Is Growing And Changing This Season · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's time for another bonus episode. One of the people
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: we got a chance to talk to on Wednesday night
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: this week was Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinator of the Buckeyes.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Last couple weeks, we got Matt Patricia. Last week, the
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. This week, we got Arthur Smith. Always interesting
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: to get some insight from the guys who are calling
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  Speaker 1: the plays on each side of the ball. One of
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the things that has been a standout for Ohio State
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: so far this season on offense is the two-minute drill.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: They've actually scored in the final 15 seconds of the
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  Speaker 1: first half in all four games. That is a pretty
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: remarkable streak.
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  Speaker 2: We'll see.
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  Speaker 1: That is probably not one you can sustain forever, but
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  Speaker 1: they've done a pretty good job so far. How have
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  Speaker 1: they been able to do that? How much time do
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  Speaker 1: they work on that two-minute drill offense?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you know, the good thing is the results
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: have been there. We've put a lot of work into it.
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  Speaker 3: You know, when you play the schedule we're playing, the
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: one carry we have, I mean, situational football is everything.
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  Speaker 3: That's what these big games come down to. And so,
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  Speaker 3: you know, that started in the offseason, and we worked
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: it all the time, especially in camp. You work it
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  Speaker 3: every week, and it's, you know, we've found different ways,
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  Speaker 3: and the situation's been different, right? The ball state was,
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  Speaker 3: you know, a little similar to last week. We had
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  Speaker 3: a little more time.
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  Speaker 2: Texas.
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  Speaker 3: We actually got 10 points in the last two minutes
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  Speaker 3: because we got the field goal. Defense gets a big stop,
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  Speaker 3: and we march right down there. And then, obviously, the
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: Kent State one, and we finished off with the Aaron
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: Rodgers dash right Hail Mary. So it's been awesome. You
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: put a lot of work in to see it pay off.
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  Speaker 3: Now it's got to continue. It's going to come up
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  Speaker 3: again at the end of the game, four minutes, all
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  Speaker 3: that stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Those can be kind of panicky moments as the clock
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  Speaker 1: is ticking down. Maybe you're out of timeouts. You have
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: only a couple chances to try and get points on
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  Speaker 1: the board there right before halftime. So what actually goes
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  Speaker 1: into those moments and, you know, the communication back and
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: forth through the helmet with Julian San? And when you
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: hear the start of this answer, remember that he is
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: the son of the founder of FedEx.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: It's all logistics.
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  Speaker 3: You know, when you change your tempos up and we
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: have ways we communicate, again, it goes back to the
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  Speaker 3: practice and trying to create game-like environments and putting them
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  Speaker 3: in stressful situations. But yeah, that's what it is. It's
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  Speaker 3: probably like a NASCAR pit crew. I forget, years ago
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  Speaker 3: it was a bowl game and you rode around and
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  Speaker 3: you'll ever listen to one of those pit crews and
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  Speaker 3: you've got your spotters, you've got your things going on
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  Speaker 3: and it's got to be in sync and that's what's
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: going on down there and Julian does a great job with.
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  Speaker 2: It as well.
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  Speaker 1: One of the things that Ryan Day brought up earlier
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  Speaker 1: this week was the fact that when you move from
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: the NFL to college, it can be kind of challenging
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: because in the NFL, everyone kind of does sort of
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: the same basic thing. There's a few different defenses you
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: can run, but no one's doing anything really wacky. In college,
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  Speaker 1: it is a whole different thing every week. You can
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: face an entirely different defense every week because so many
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: people run so many different schemes. So when does Arthur
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Smith find out kind of what they're dealing with that
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: upcoming week?
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  Speaker 3: A lot of things are some offseason studies, you know,
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: when you're trying to get familiar. So you try to
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: get ahead of things. But obviously, when the season comes,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's you've got to turn the page. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: it's the same thing I've always done in football. You know,
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  Speaker 3: good or bad, you've got to get things corrected when
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: you win. I mean, there's always things you've got to
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: work on. So the quicker you can flip the page,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it's a race against the clock every week.
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  Speaker 3: And so what's good, what's great for me here, and
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  Speaker 3: I've said this to other people, coming here, if this
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  Speaker 3: was my first year, if I didn't have Coach Day,
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  Speaker 3: you're flying blind a little bit. He's got a lot
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  Speaker 3: of history with a lot of these coordinators, and it's
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  Speaker 3: awesome the time that Coach and I spend with everything
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  Speaker 3: we talk about, and that's certainly a huge benefit to me.
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  Speaker 1: Illinois took a sort of unconventional approach to defending Jeremiah Smith,
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  Speaker 1: which was throw one guy on him for a lot
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: of the time and just see how that works. And
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  Speaker 1: the answer was not great because they gave up 215
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  Speaker 1: yards and four touchdowns. And then their defensive coordinator hung
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: it up on Sunday morning. That is a sign that
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: your plan was not executed the way you were hoping
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  Speaker 1: it would be. But was Arthur Smith surprised at how
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Illinois decided to defend Jeremiah Smith and Did that make
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: it a game where they were really just sort of
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: feeding Jeremiah as much as they could?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it's, I mean, every game. I mean, I think
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: he's on a pretty good pace. And really, when you
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  Speaker 3: look at it, it's not, a lot of it's not
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  Speaker 3: your traditional stuff. So, you know, people do. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: that's not like they haven't tried. I mean, every team
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  Speaker 3: we've done, I mean, has tried something to do it.
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  Speaker 3: But that's the game you're playing. That's a chess match.
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  Speaker 3: And it'll be the same thing Saturday when you get
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  Speaker 3: to Iowa. But that's why you try to be creative.
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  Speaker 3: And it's just not the basic, hey, three by one
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: drop back. Let's get him 15 targets. And so that's
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  Speaker 3: the game that's going on. It's a credit to him
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  Speaker 3: and to all our players and staff and everything. And obviously,
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  Speaker 3: when you've got a player like Jeremiah, it's hard not
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  Speaker 3: to try to give him the ball every which way
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  Speaker 3: you can.
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  Speaker 1: One thing that Julian Sane gets asked about a bunch
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  Speaker 1: this year, and Arthur Smith here got asked about as well,
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  Speaker 1: is the relationship between those two guys and how they
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: work together and how Arthur Smith is growing in his
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: understanding of what Julian Sane will do and understanding what
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: he's thinking at any given moment.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's everything to it, right? I mean,
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  Speaker 3: you've got to understand, I mean, if you, as a
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  Speaker 3: matter of what, you know, idea you got, it's, it's
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  Speaker 3: the implementation of it. And that's built over time through trust.
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  Speaker 3: And that's what you spend so much time together and
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  Speaker 3: trying to problem solve things and getting understanding.
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  Speaker 2: Cause at the end of the day, those are the
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  Speaker 2: guys that are out there.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, you could have the best, I think you
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  Speaker 3: have the best play call ever and it doesn't matter
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  Speaker 3: if we can't implement it. And so that chemistry is,
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  Speaker 3: is to me in any team oriented, you know, high
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  Speaker 3: pressure environment, those are the guys on the ground. And, uh, Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: that naturally happens, but you put a lot of work
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  Speaker 3: into it. So we're about a quarter of the way
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  Speaker 3: through the regular season. And you just got to continue to,
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  Speaker 3: that's what's going to evolve. I always think the best
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: teams every year, you know, you've got new guys and
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: you never just repeat from the year before. And the
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: best teams are the ones that are improving. Even when
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: you're winning, like there's things we've got to fix and
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: we've got to get better. We've got to be the
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: best team standing at the end. And that's the goal
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: every season.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Next up, Arthur Smith. You're just going to hear some
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: general thoughts from him on Iowa's program in general and
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Kirk Ferentz as a program builder.
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  Speaker 3: I've got a ton of respect for Iowa and Coach Ferentz.
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  Speaker 3: You really look at Iowa and nobody talks about it
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  Speaker 3: because he's got such great humility, but he's established what
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  Speaker 3: everybody's chasing, which is kind of rare, especially in modern football,
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  Speaker 3: whether it's college or NFL. Think of the consistency he's
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: had and the team he's the teams he coaches. I mean,
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: clearly they've got a foundation. They have a system.
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  Speaker 2: They have a type. I mean, you put the tape on,
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  Speaker 2: it's like, is that Jack Greenway? Is that Jack Campbell?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it's just, I could go on and on,
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  Speaker 3: and the players I've been around, it's awesome. You know,
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  Speaker 3: it's going to be a heavyweight fight, and styles make fights,
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  Speaker 3: you know, to use a Coach Tomlin quote, and We're
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: a physical team.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: They're a physical team, and that's what you want. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: it's going to be an awesome environment.
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  Speaker 3: So I've loved the traditions and traditions we have here
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  Speaker 3: at Ohio State.
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  Speaker 2: We're excited.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: The tight end position has been something of a mixed
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  Speaker 1: bag this year, but it seems pretty clear to everyone
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: that second-year player Nate Roberts has been a breakout player
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  Speaker 1: there for the Buckeyes. Feels like he's taking on a
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  Speaker 1: much bigger role in the passing game. Had a crucial
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  Speaker 1: fourth down catch against Illinois. So what does Arthur Smith
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: think about what they're getting out of the tight ends
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  Speaker 1: and Nate Roberts' position? specifically?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think guys continue to work. Nate's a young player.
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  Speaker 2: And it's like, in.
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  Speaker 3: Every season, we've played a lot of different guys. And obviously,
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  Speaker 3: with the season Jeremiah has had, sometimes it kind of overshadows.
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  Speaker 2: But that's why you keep working. And sometimes you just
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: need one go through the hoop.
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  Speaker 3: So he scores the flat the week before, makes a
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  Speaker 3: heck of a play on a gotta-have-it situation. To me,
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  Speaker 3: that's how you build trust. When coach says, hey, go
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  Speaker 3: for it, And you've got to convert, and he makes
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  Speaker 3: a big play. And when we overcome the penalty after
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: the screen, he gets 20 yards. You're trying to get
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  Speaker 3: back on track. That was a huge moment in that drive.
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  Speaker 2: It's awesome.
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  Speaker 3: He's got to continue, but he puts a lot of
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  Speaker 3: work in, as that whole group does.
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  Speaker 2: It's cool to see.
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  Speaker 1: The coaching staff has put a little bit more on
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  Speaker 1: Julian Sainz's plate this year, trying to get him to
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  Speaker 1: make more decisions in the line, sort of freeing him up.
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  Speaker 1: to go to the line with a couple of plays
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  Speaker 1: and sort of decide what he wants to do there.
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  Speaker 1: So what has he seen from Julian saying pre-snap and
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: evaluating and deciding things so far and his growth in
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  Speaker 1: that area?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, you know, he's done a tremendous job.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it's, it's the hardest position in all the
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: sports to play as quarterback, quarterback of Ohio state or
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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  Speaker 2: That's why there's very few humans that can play that
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: position at that level.
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  Speaker 3: And, you know, he's a young player and there is a,
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: a lot that he's done, and he continued to work
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  Speaker 3: at it, and he does.
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  Speaker 2: He's another guy.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, that's what's awesome is not only, you know,
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: you get to be at Ohio State, but to coach
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: some of the guys that we have and the work
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  Speaker 3: they put in.
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  Speaker 2: Again, we just continue to prove his whole offense, and
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: I think that's what you have to see. So with Julian, yeah, certainly.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: Things as the season goes on, and it kind of
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: goes back to that chemistry question, as you continue to evolve.
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  Speaker 2: But he's done a nice job.
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  Speaker 1: One of the surprise standouts for Ohio State so far
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: this season has been running back to kobe jackson this
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: is his seventh year of college football he played at
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: florida the last couple of years when ohio state ended
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: up adding him in the transfer portal he was not
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: someone that most buckeye fans had heard of but arthur
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: smith who really was not working in college football until
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: very recently he actually had he actually noticed him while
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: watching film of another player in the draft process while
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: he was still working in the nfl.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: Because the thing is, when you're going and watching all
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: these draft guys, and when I got here, you make
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: these point of attack players, you know, just get to
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: know the roster. And I was like, I've seen this
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: guy before. And it was when I was looking at
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: a lineman Florida had a couple. I didn't know him well,
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: but I knew of him. You know, and what you saw,
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: I mean, he's been been a bright spot as well.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: What has made Jacoby Jackson such a valuable piece for
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: the Buckeyes this season?
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: He's got great instinct as a ball carrier, you know,
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: as a veteran player. Um, yeah, I just think, you know,
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: he's been in, you know, big games and big moments and, uh,
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: he's a steady player.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: So when given the opportunity, he makes the most of it.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: This next one, Arthur Smith, you can tell he has
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: been an NFL head coach and had the, you know, every,
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: all of his answers very closely parsed in press conferences
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: over the years because he's very cautious in what he says.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: And this is another example of where he's very cautious
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: in what he's saying, and he's trying not to say
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: anything really, but ends up kind of giving you more
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: of a broad strokes look at their thinking and what
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: they're trying to do as they build out the offense.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: I don't want to give away, like, it's not like
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: we're doing anything magical. It's just, it's just trying to,
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: there's things that you can package together. You know, you
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: kind of let them figure that out on Saturday. Something
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: may look like something we've, you know, That it's not,
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: I guess, is the best way to do it without
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: giving away information. And the only reason I always say
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: that is because they're going to have probably 10 analysts
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: that are going to break this press conference down and
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: see if I say anything worth noting. And they got
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: smart guys over there. It's not, you know, that staff's
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: first rodeo either.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: The packages that they run where they have six offensive
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: linemen on the field, they call that the Bison package.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: This year, Jake Cook is that sixth offensive lineman. How
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: much of that did they run when he was still
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: in the NFL?
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's old, new again. When I was a
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: tight end coach, we used to have some packages with
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: Dennis Kelly. And then last year, we kind of broke
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: it out in Ireland with Spencer Anderson and Darnell.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: A little heavier than Jake and Nate or Jake and Mason.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: I think we put like 1,000 pounds in the tackle
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: over with Spence and Darnell. But we broke it out
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: in Ireland against Minnesota, and there's some things you can
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: do off it. And Jake is a phenomenal athlete for
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: a guy that size, similar to Spencer. uh just spends
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: on the week but if there's something that we feel
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: gives advantage i mean you're always looking at it and
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: looking at the efficiency of it and what you can
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: do off it but uh creates it a role for
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: a guy that's that's a good player for us uh
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: now he's a good lineman but he's done a good
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: job in that role.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: And finally how has the run game and this the
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: run scheme that they're doing how has that evolved through
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: the first four games of the season and what is
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: he sort of seeing there yeah.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: I think you're always i mean it's everything even if
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: the passing numbers are what they are i mean things
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: that sometimes with the runs and it goes back to
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: without getting too much scheme I mean there's you look
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: at the run efficiency and sometimes you can bundle statistics
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: up but I mean you look at what's really going
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: on on the called runs trying to take advantage of
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: things and you know some games it's been pretty good
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: I mean you know the first game I mean again
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: it took us to the second half and we popped
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: some explosives I think it's just depending on who we're
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: playing But it's still the chemistry in the run game
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: is the same thing. Everybody's got to be in sync.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: And then depending on what we're trying to do with
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: all 11, you know, may not go down as a run.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: I guess another way to put it. But overall, it's
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: like everything, we've had some moments. There's things we need
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: to improve on. But the whole offense is you've got
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: to consistently look at yourself as a work in progress.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: So there you go, a little bit from Arthur Smith,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: the offensive coordinator of the Ohio State Buckeyes. He and
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Ohio State will be traveling to Iowa City on Friday,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: and so will the team from BuckeyeInsiders.com. Not on the
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: same plane. We'll be driving. But we'll meet them there
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: in Iowa City for the team arrival Friday night. We'll
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: be there live at the team hotel. We'll have that
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: broadcast for you live on our YouTube channel, youtube.com slash
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: at BuckeyeInsiders. We'll have that, and then, of course, we'll
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: have our usual pre- and post-game coverage. from Kinnick Stadium
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: on Saturday.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: No.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: 5 Buckeyes, No. 14 Iowa Hawkeyes. Should be a fun weekend.
• 14:38
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• 14:41
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• 14:43
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• 14:45
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• 14:47
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• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Thank you guys for joining us. We'll be back with
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: another bonus episode soon.