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9 Things We Learned From Luke Fickell's Press Conference This Week · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes Tomorrow morning for Thursday, October sixteenth. I'm
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Speaker 1: your host, Tom Moore. The Wisconsin game in two days,
0:05
Speaker 1: the game against Michigan in forty four days. If you're
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Speaker 1: planning your next event, make it unforgettable with Grateful Griddle,
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Speaker 1: Columbus's favorite food truck serving up Smashburger's gourmet sandwich is
0:14
Speaker 1: and good Vibes. Book you're catering today at Gratefulgriddle, oh
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Speaker 1: dot com. It's been a little bit of a weird week.
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Speaker 1: Get a little out of order. We had some stuff
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Speaker 1: earlier in the week that I wanted to get out
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Speaker 1: right away, and so this is a show that you
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Speaker 1: normally would have gotten a couple days ago. This is
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Speaker 1: a Luke Fickle press conference show. This is obviously one
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Speaker 1: I didn't want to skip because I knew Luke Fickle
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Speaker 1: has a real place in people's hearts around the Ohio
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Speaker 1: state fan base and around the city of Columbus. So
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Speaker 1: I want to let you hear a little bit from him.
0:42
Speaker 1: Don't worry, The Ross Fulton Defense Show is coming. If
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Speaker 1: you're a Buckeye Huddle member, you're gonna be able to
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Speaker 1: watch that on Thursday afternoon. Thursday evening, depending on when
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Speaker 1: I get that finished editing, but then it'll be out
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Speaker 1: for everyone else on Friday. So for now, let's look
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Speaker 1: you here a little bit from Luke Fickle, just some
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Speaker 1: opening thoughts on this weekend's game.
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Speaker 2: Obviously, we got a challenge in front of us, so
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Speaker 2: it's really hard to dwell upon the things from last week.
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Speaker 3: And that doesn't mean we didn't address them.
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Speaker 2: Doesn't mean we obviously haven't watched and you know, gone
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Speaker 2: about the corrections of the things that we have to
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Speaker 2: be able to do because we got to continue to
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Speaker 2: move forward. But with you know what sits in front
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Speaker 2: of us, in particular this week, it's it's really hard
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Speaker 2: to spend a whole lot of time dwell on upon
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Speaker 2: last week, and we put that to rest, put it
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Speaker 2: to bed Sunday, went out there on the field, ran
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Speaker 2: around not quite as much as we normally would. So
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Speaker 2: some of your questions on you know, guys' health and
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Speaker 2: things like that, I probably would have less of an
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Speaker 2: answer today than I would normally have on a on
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Speaker 2: a Monday, just because you know, just where we are
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Speaker 2: in the season and some of the injuries we've had
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Speaker 2: even coming out of the game, we weren't able to
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Speaker 2: do as much on a Sunday that we would normally
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Speaker 2: do to just see where some guys are. But nonetheless,
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Speaker 2: again this is this is a challenge, and we know
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Speaker 2: what it looks like moving forward. This week is going
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Speaker 2: to be an incredible challenge. But I think that's, you know,
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Speaker 2: something that our guys will help them kind of put
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Speaker 2: the pass behind them and make sure they're focusing on
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Speaker 2: the things that are in front of them.
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Speaker 3: The challenge is in front of them.
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Speaker 2: Because the challenge is really really big, and it takes
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Speaker 2: your focus away from the things that just happened. So
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Speaker 2: in some ways, this is a great opportunity for us.
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Speaker 1: Things have not been great for the Wisconsin Badgers this year.
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Speaker 1: They won against Middle Tennessee State, they won against Miami
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Speaker 1: University Oxford, not the one in South Florida, and then
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Speaker 1: that's it. And if you look at their schedule for
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Speaker 1: the back half of the season, there's not a lot
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Speaker 1: else on the schedule that looked real promising, especially after
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Speaker 1: losing thirty seven nothing to Iowa last weekend. So all right,
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Speaker 1: what gives Luke Fickle optimism? What is the feeling maybe
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Speaker 1: good about going into this game.
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Speaker 2: I mean, there's nothing to lose, and I think that
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Speaker 2: sometimes some of the things that hold us back is
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Speaker 2: just you know, our own selves in a way that like, look,
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Speaker 2: we try to be perfect in the recognition that if
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Speaker 2: you're going to go out there and you're going to
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Speaker 2: do anything against number one team in the country, you
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Speaker 2: can't be held back by you know, being perfect, because
3:02
Speaker 2: being perfect is not going to get us what we
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Speaker 2: need to get. And so I think some of that, hopefully,
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Speaker 2: you know, even the things that have happened the last
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Speaker 2: few weeks, at some point in time, you know, hopefully
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Speaker 2: some of the pressure comes off of recognition, recognizing like, okay,
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Speaker 2: what's holding us back and what's going to help us
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Speaker 2: move forward. So I think it's twofold. It's being up
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Speaker 2: for the challenge, to understanding the challenge, but then be
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Speaker 2: willing to understand like that this is a game of
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Speaker 2: imperfection and the only way to get better at the
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Speaker 2: game is to.
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Speaker 3: Play it faster.
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Speaker 2: And when you're you know, in the perfect mindset, it
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Speaker 2: doesn't allow to do that. And against a team like
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Speaker 2: this that you can't be perfect, it's gonna I think
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Speaker 2: give us.
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Speaker 3: A little bit of a you know, a little spark.
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Speaker 3: That's what I believe.
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Speaker 1: Luke Fikele has more than a little experience on the
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Speaker 1: Ohio State defensive coaching staff. He was the defensive coordinator.
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Speaker 1: He was the interim head coach at one point, as
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Speaker 1: you probably remember, So he's got a little bit of
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Speaker 1: insight on what it takes you run in Ohio State defense.
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Speaker 1: So when he watches Matt Patricia run this year's Ohio
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Speaker 1: State defense, how they're disguising things, what they're doing on defense,
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Speaker 1: what are his thoughts there?
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Speaker 3: I don't know.
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Speaker 2: I can't sit here and tell you that the way
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Speaker 2: they disguise things and the things that they're really doing,
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Speaker 2: I've I'm not to that point just yet. I know this,
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Speaker 2: They've got really good football players, and I think that
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Speaker 2: in particular, you know in the back end of things
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Speaker 2: where a lot of the disguise comes from. You know,
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Speaker 2: they can do a lot of different things with Caleb Downs,
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Speaker 2: and he gives you an opportunity to, you know, line
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Speaker 2: him up anywhere and know he's going to put himself
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Speaker 2: into a position that makes it harder for you to
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Speaker 2: read and recognize those things. So, uh yeah, again, I
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Speaker 2: the disguise is something that's really good, but I don't
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Speaker 2: think that overshadows the ability of the guys that line
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Speaker 2: up up front and really across the board.
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Speaker 1: This next one, it's one that you're gonna hear and
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Speaker 1: you're gonna think, why is he including this? We'll give
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Speaker 1: it a minute. So this is a question about the
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Speaker 1: decrease in the number of Wisconsin Natives on the Wisconsin
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Speaker 1: team over the past six years. Now that includes guys
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Speaker 1: like Carson Hinsman leaving the state to go to state
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Speaker 1: for example. So this is also something you hear a
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Speaker 1: lot about around the buck Eys. You know, are they
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Speaker 1: taking enough Ohio players, they taking too many out out
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Speaker 1: of state guys? How does that impact? I've agree with
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Speaker 1: Michigan and all that kind of stuff. These are these
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Speaker 1: are talking points to hear all the time, so I
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Speaker 1: thought it was kind of interesting to let you just
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Speaker 1: hear a little bit from Luke Fickle on his thoughts
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Speaker 1: and a number of Wisconsin players on the Badger's roster.
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Speaker 2: It's important and I think that more than anything that
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Speaker 2: you know, as you really dive into it, I mean,
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Speaker 2: your home base has got to be something that you're
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Speaker 2: going to establish some depth in your program. If you're
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Speaker 2: going to establish, you know, some longevity in your program,
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Speaker 2: you've got to have a home base and regardless of
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Speaker 2: where you are right and and so you know, is
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Speaker 2: there a is the is the number of Division one
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Speaker 2: football players increasing from the state of Wisconsin.
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Speaker 3: I don't know.
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Speaker 2: I can't say that that's with a fact, but I
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Speaker 2: will always say, like my own kids, like, there's still
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Speaker 2: developmental kids in this state in particular, and that's where
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Speaker 2: they've all always been right and that's where the walk
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Speaker 2: on program has been so phenomenal here to guys being
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Speaker 2: overlooked from you know, from here that all of a
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Speaker 2: sudden after two or three years in college, they're different
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Speaker 2: the generality of the Midwest. You don't play football year round.
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Speaker 2: So there's a lot more developmental development to be done
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Speaker 2: as they get to college. And we've got to just
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Speaker 2: continue to palm the payment and making sure that we're
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Speaker 2: getting the right ones from inside the state and keeping
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Speaker 2: them here and then having the opportunity to be able
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Speaker 2: to develop them because the truth of the matter is,
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Speaker 2: you know, there's a lot of kids coming Most kids
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Speaker 2: come into college can't play right away. A lot of
6:33
Speaker 2: kids coming into college can't play even in their first
6:35
Speaker 2: or second year, but what they are in that third, fourth,
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Speaker 2: and fifth year is a lot different. You just you
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Speaker 2: got to establish some you know, some routes, and you
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Speaker 2: got to establish the ability to be able to develop
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Speaker 2: those guys. And it's going to be incredibly important for
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Speaker 2: us to you know, establish some more depth and to
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Speaker 2: grow what we need to grow.
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Speaker 1: One of the things that has gone wrong for Wisconsin
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Speaker 1: this year is they have had a ton of injuries,
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Speaker 1: including at the quarterback position. The status of their starting
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Speaker 1: quarterback is still a little bit up in the air
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Speaker 1: for this weekend's game, And I mean, let's better. They've
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Speaker 1: just had a bunch of injuries. And you know, that's
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Speaker 1: one of those things that coaches can't really talk about
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Speaker 1: because it sounds like you're making excuses. So, okay, what
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Speaker 1: else is playing into the fact that win lost record
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Speaker 1: but is heading the wrong direction? But also a bunch
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Speaker 1: of stats around this team offensive stats, defensive stats, advanced stats,
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Speaker 1: basic stats. Everything's kind of trending in the wrong direction
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Speaker 1: right now. So other than the injuries, what else is
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Speaker 1: playing into that?
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Speaker 2: Not exactly sure which exact ones other than the wins
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Speaker 2: and losses. That's obviously the easiest one to evaluate. There's
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Speaker 2: a lot of facts, is I mean, we can't shy away.
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Speaker 2: I'm not making an excuse, can't shy away from the
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Speaker 2: fact injuries hurt and the quarterback position injury more so
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Speaker 2: than any other position. But what it comes down to
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Speaker 2: ultimately is is still got to find ways to make
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Speaker 2: place whoever's in it, whether it's a true freshman kid,
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Speaker 2: whether it's a guy that like Kerry Kananka that's in
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Speaker 2: his sixth year that you know, has the greatest opportunity
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Speaker 2: that you know that that he's ever had. When those
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Speaker 2: guys go in there, we still have to have an
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Speaker 2: expectation that they can play, they can make plays, they
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Speaker 2: can sustain blocks, they can get off blocks, and that's
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Speaker 2: what it comes down to. And whether it statistically looks
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Speaker 2: better or it doesn't look better, I mean, the end
8:16
Speaker 2: result is what you're always looking for, and right now
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Speaker 2: that's that's just obviously the end result is hard to
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Speaker 2: you know, to try to find the positives as it grows.
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Speaker 2: But I can't pinpoint any one other thing other than ay, Yes,
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Speaker 2: injuries are a factor, in particular, the quarterback position is
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Speaker 2: a factor. And then our ability for guys to be
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Speaker 2: confident enough to be able to play fast and you know,
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Speaker 2: make plays.
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Speaker 3: I think that's what it comes down to, whether.
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Speaker 2: It's the first play of the game last week when
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Speaker 2: you know, babble a ball or if not. I mean,
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Speaker 2: like at some point in time, you know, we got
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Speaker 2: to build to come down with those things. The deep
8:52
Speaker 2: shots you know would be a great play on a
8:54
Speaker 2: catch is the guy dragging on him as he holds. Yeah,
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Speaker 2: But at some point in time, just like there's plays
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Speaker 2: in the open space that you know, we got to
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Speaker 2: make the place. We got to get off blocks. So
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Speaker 2: I think more so I would say as a coach,
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Speaker 2: it's there. It's it's you know, giving ours guys an
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Speaker 2: opportunity to be in a position that they can make
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Speaker 2: a play. But you know, we got to win in
9:14
Speaker 2: some situations too.
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Speaker 1: We have seen some Big ten fan bases get rather
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Speaker 1: surly this year. You have seen the fire Franklin Chance
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Speaker 1: go from the student section to the whole stadium to
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Speaker 1: reality at Penn State and things are getting a little
9:29
Speaker 1: uneasy up in Madison as well. So with the fan
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Speaker 1: base a little upset, what's the message to those fans
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Speaker 1: going into Saturday's game?
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Speaker 2: I mean that they got to be just like us.
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Speaker 2: Like I mean, every every game is a new game.
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Speaker 2: And I know it's frustrating. I know it's disappointing. I
9:45
Speaker 2: don't blame you, but the truth of the matter is
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Speaker 2: is Saturday is Saturday, and we need our guys as
9:51
Speaker 2: best best effort. We need our coach's best effort, and
9:53
Speaker 2: we need the people's best effort too, And regardless if
9:56
Speaker 2: they're frustrated or not, like there's there's got to be
9:58
Speaker 2: a belief in the things that they're doing. And they
10:01
Speaker 2: can be mad at me, that's fine, don't be mad
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Speaker 2: at those those kids, and those kids need them. They
10:06
Speaker 2: need to feel that support, they need to see that support.
10:09
Speaker 2: You know that they know what the challenge looks like,
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Speaker 2: and it's got to be a challenge to all of us.
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Speaker 1: Here we are. It's barely the middle of October and
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Speaker 1: there have already been two big ten head coaches fired.
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Speaker 1: UCLA fired to Shaun Foster, Penn State fired James Franklin,
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Speaker 1: and now there's questions about Luke Fickle's job status at Wisconsin.
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Speaker 1: So with those questions sort of swirling right now, what's
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Speaker 1: his message right now that communicates that he believes that
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Speaker 1: he really is the right guy for this job.
10:37
Speaker 3: I don't know that that's my position, right.
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Speaker 2: I mean, first and foremost, I got to make sure
10:41
Speaker 2: that the locker room is the most important thing. Right,
10:44
Speaker 2: I'm not going to change people's minds outside of the
10:46
Speaker 2: results obviously change people's minds. So to go out there
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Speaker 2: and start some campaign of some sorts, like the truth
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Speaker 2: of the matter is.
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Speaker 3: You know, we got we got to go game by game.
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Speaker 2: We got to get the guys inside this locker room.
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Speaker 3: That's what I asked about, right.
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Speaker 2: I mean, like they could be mad at me, they
11:03
Speaker 2: can be down on me, that's perfectly fine, but don't
11:05
Speaker 2: be down on those guys in that locker room, those
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Speaker 2: guys that where the w the guys that go out there.
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Speaker 2: You know, they can scream and holler if they don't
11:14
Speaker 2: make a play that they wanted to make, but they
11:15
Speaker 2: got to be able to support them. And I think
11:17
Speaker 2: that's the most important thing, is recognizing what are you
11:20
Speaker 2: really supporting and what do you really love? And you know,
11:24
Speaker 2: for me to sit here and worry about all those
11:26
Speaker 2: other things, there's not enough time in the day, there's
11:30
Speaker 2: not enough energy in the day. So the focus for
11:32
Speaker 2: me and for our staff is on the guys in
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Speaker 2: the side that locker room and do what everything we
11:36
Speaker 2: can to make sure that we keep that thing rolling.
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Speaker 2: They've got the right mindset. They understand what we got
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Speaker 2: to do. We got to do together, and we've got
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Speaker 2: to put our best product out there on Saturday.
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Speaker 1: This is one of these saying the quiet part out
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Speaker 1: loud kind of questions where it is sort of the
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Speaker 1: elephant in the room. It is probably a good analogy.
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Speaker 1: One of the reasons Luke Fickle hasn't been able to
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Speaker 1: succeed at Wisconsin is they're not really competitive nash in NIL.
12:02
Speaker 1: So they're not really competitive nationally in recruiting, which means
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Speaker 1: you got a little bit of a Jimmy's and Joe's
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Speaker 1: problem for the Badgers, and that has translated into a
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Speaker 1: lack of success on the field. So a reporter as
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Speaker 1: Luke Fickle sort of teeing them up here, is Wisconsin
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Speaker 1: able to compete nationally in NIL.
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Speaker 2: I don't know if that's something we want to go
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Speaker 2: into right now. You know it would if I said no,
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Speaker 2: or if I said yes, I'd be sitting here making excuses.
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Speaker 2: And the truth of the matter is that's that's not
12:31
Speaker 2: going to affect anything right now, that's not going to
12:34
Speaker 2: change the trajectory of where this season is. It's not
12:37
Speaker 2: going to help us for Saturday. So it's kind of
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Speaker 2: hard to get off on a tangent and speak about
12:42
Speaker 2: something like that.
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Speaker 3: Maybe that's something I can answer in January.
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Speaker 1: And finally, a couple questions about the Buckeyes in particular.
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Speaker 1: This is one where you could kind of go any
12:53
Speaker 1: number of directions, and Fickle kind of acknowledges that a
12:55
Speaker 1: little bit. What stands out about this Ohio State team, Well.
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Speaker 3: You see a confidence building.
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Speaker 2: Not that people would say, oh, they were not returning
13:03
Speaker 2: national champs, how they don't have confidence. But I think
13:05
Speaker 2: when you have a new quarterback, when you have some
13:07
Speaker 2: new pieces, you can see a growth. And I think
13:12
Speaker 2: what you do see is even the growth from game
13:14
Speaker 2: one to where they are now. And so it's hard
13:18
Speaker 2: to get past some of the you know, just a
13:20
Speaker 2: talent level that they have and the ability to make plays.
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Speaker 3: Both offensively and defensively.
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Speaker 2: But I do think you see a uniqueness of complimentary
13:29
Speaker 2: football that maybe at the start of the season, I'm
13:32
Speaker 2: not sure that maybe they thought they would have or
13:35
Speaker 2: did have. I mean, obviously we all want it, but
13:37
Speaker 2: you're really seeing that kind of grow as you watch
13:40
Speaker 2: them and evaluate them to the season.
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Speaker 1: Luke Fickle has hit the trifecta. He played at Ohio State.
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Speaker 1: He was an assistant coach at Ohio State, then he
13:48
Speaker 1: was the head coach at Ohio State for one season.
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Speaker 1: So is it maybe a little bit extra special to
13:53
Speaker 1: face the buck Eyes this weekend?
13:56
Speaker 2: I'd say maybe in the development, just as being a
13:59
Speaker 2: player and things like that, spend a lot of time there.
14:02
Speaker 2: Now it's like anything, right, I mean, it's it's like
14:04
Speaker 2: playing your big brother, you know in some ways, and
14:06
Speaker 2: so yeah, deep down inside, that's something you know, burning,
14:09
Speaker 2: It's quite a you know, can be a little bit different.
14:11
Speaker 2: But to be honest with you and where we are
14:14
Speaker 2: and what we're doing, it's hard to overshadow, you know,
14:17
Speaker 2: every single day of us finding ways to get better.
14:20
Speaker 2: You know, we know the task that's going to be
14:22
Speaker 2: in front of us on Saturday. We have to be
14:24
Speaker 2: prepared for that. I have to be prepared for that.
14:27
Speaker 2: But I think in the in the midst of where
14:29
Speaker 2: we are, it allows me not to focus on some
14:32
Speaker 2: of those things that you know, whether you've had history there,
14:34
Speaker 2: or how long you spent there, or maybe even some
14:36
Speaker 2: of the relationships you have there. It's pretty easy to
14:40
Speaker 2: just kind of stay focused on the day to day
14:42
Speaker 2: things right now and making sure we're pushing forward and
14:44
Speaker 2: worrying about these hundred and so guys that we've got
14:46
Speaker 2: inside this locker room.
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Speaker 1: As I mentioned, we will have the Ross Fulton Defense
14:51
Speaker 1: Analysis show coming up for you. That'll be on tomorrow's
14:54
Speaker 1: episode of Buckeyes tomorrow morning. If you can't wait, and
14:57
Speaker 1: I understand if you can't, because it is a good one.
14:59
Speaker 1: This would be a great time to become a member
15:00
Speaker 1: at bucke huddle dot Com. Members always get those shows
15:03
Speaker 1: a little early, get a little sneak preview, and perhaps
15:06
Speaker 1: more importantly, get a chance to talk to Ross about
15:08
Speaker 1: it on the huddle board presented by Jeff Rubis, Columbus.
15:11
Speaker 1: You have questions, He's right there to answer them all.
15:14
Speaker 1: That is the place to do it. So if you
15:15
Speaker 1: want to talk to Ross about all the stuff that
15:17
Speaker 1: we're talking about about the Ohio State defense, how they
15:20
Speaker 1: faced tempo and how Illinois made that work, and a
15:23
Speaker 1: bunch of other stuff, you can find that all on
15:26
Speaker 1: the huddle Board presented by Jeff Rubies, Columbus. Sign up
15:28
Speaker 1: today at Buckeye huddle dot com. That'll do it for today.
15:31
Speaker 1: Thank you guys all for joining us. Have a great day.
15:33
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you tomorrow