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Ohio State vs. Michigan: Everything Ryan Day Said About Michigan · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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Speaker 1: This is a special bonus episode of the Buckeyes Tomorrow
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Speaker 1: Morning Podcast. This episode, you're gonna be hearing from Ryan Day.
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Speaker 1: Always a popular topic of conversation among both the Ohio
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Speaker 1: State and Michigan fan bases, Day had a lot to
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Speaker 1: say about the Michigan wolverenes this upcoming weekend's game, what
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Speaker 1: it all means to his team and himself, and much
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Speaker 1: more so. This is going to be everything Ryan Day
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Speaker 1: had to say about Michigan and the game and the
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Speaker 1: week leading up to the game, all that kind of stuff.
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Speaker 1: We'll have a suffer show a little later on with
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Speaker 1: some of the more specific stuff about certain Ohio State
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Speaker 1: position groups and that kind of stuff, but for now,
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Speaker 1: this is just everything Ryan Day had to say about
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Speaker 1: Michigan this week. So let's start with Michigan's defense. How
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Speaker 1: is Wink Martindale the new defensive coordinator? How is his
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Speaker 1: scheme different from what Jesse Minter was running there?
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Speaker 2: Very similar, a little bit more pressure, but he's got
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Speaker 2: his own flavor to it. But you know, similar to
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Speaker 2: what they've done in the past, same philosophy in terms
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Speaker 2: of the structure of the coverage is but a little
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Speaker 2: bit more aggressive in terms of pressure.
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Speaker 1: There is always a ton of emotion around this game
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Speaker 1: on both sides. Knowing what's on deck on Saturday is
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Speaker 1: Ryan Day trying to manage his emotions and the emotions
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Speaker 1: of his players right now.
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Speaker 2: I think this part of the week, you're putting the
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Speaker 2: plan together and you really try to make sure you're
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Speaker 2: focusing on the process right now, because you only can
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Speaker 2: really control what you can control, and every time you
1:32
Speaker 2: can start getting focused on things that don't matter, you've
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Speaker 2: got to get right back into your work. And that
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Speaker 2: was the message of the guys on Sunday, and so
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Speaker 2: that's it. We're going to really focus on the process,
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Speaker 2: the same process that we've been working on all year.
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Speaker 2: Everything that we do in the off season, every decision
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Speaker 2: that's made in terms of the coaching staff, the roster,
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Speaker 2: how we practice schematics, is all working towards this moment
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Speaker 2: right here. So let's just go to work, trust the
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Speaker 2: process and focus on you know what we're going to
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Speaker 2: get done today.
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Speaker 1: When you're bringing guys into the program, especially through the
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Speaker 1: transfer portal, what does Ryan Day tell them about the
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Speaker 1: Ohio State Michigan rivalry?
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Speaker 2: Well, in the recruiting process, you know, you make sure
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Speaker 2: that that's when they commit that that's the number one goal.
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Speaker 2: Understand that, you know, for everybody in a program, that
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Speaker 2: is the number one goal when you come here is
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Speaker 2: to win this game, and that needs to be embraced.
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Speaker 2: And then you go on from there and we live
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Speaker 2: all We live it every day of the year in
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Speaker 2: our workout the way that we structure everything. And then
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Speaker 2: you know, just the fact that like if you know,
2:34
Speaker 2: you know, If you don't know, you don't know. So
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Speaker 2: lean on the guys around you that have been in
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Speaker 2: the game before, players, coaches, everybody else in the building.
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Speaker 1: When you look back at last year's Ohio State Michigan game,
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Speaker 1: Ryan Day was maybe a little more conservative on fourth
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Speaker 1: downs than he has been for a lot of this year. Now,
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Speaker 1: he's talked about the fact that they did a bunch
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Speaker 1: of study of analytics and that decision making process. Did
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Speaker 1: this year Did that study of analytics change his approach
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Speaker 1: to those choices?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you take every situation as it comes
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Speaker 2: and you try to make the best decision you can.
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Speaker 2: Certainly the analytics will tell you what to do, but
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Speaker 2: you also have to, you know, figure out what can
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Speaker 2: best win the game. And so we'll do the same
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Speaker 2: thing in this game right here. We always want to
3:16
Speaker 2: be aggressive, but we also have to do it's smart,
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Speaker 2: you know, you have to take the emotion out of
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Speaker 2: those decisions and do what's best for the team.
3:24
Speaker 1: If you have looked at the forecast for this weekend
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Speaker 1: in Columbus, it is going to be a little chilly,
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Speaker 1: nineteen degrees in the morning on Saturday, maybe getting into
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Speaker 1: the low thirties by the end of the game, but cloudy,
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Speaker 1: a little bit of win going to feel like it's
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Speaker 1: more like in the load of mid twenties. How does
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Speaker 1: that impact the game plan for Ohios Day.
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Speaker 2: I just think that you know, when you get to
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Speaker 2: this time of year, you're going to deal with weather.
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Speaker 2: We've said that all along and you know it be
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Speaker 2: the same for both teams. But you know, this time
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Speaker 2: of year, you're expecting you know, cold weather, you're expecting win, rain, snow,
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Speaker 2: all the above, and you've got to have a plan
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Speaker 2: for it. So you know we'll be ready to go.
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Speaker 2: It'll be the same foot ball teams.
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Speaker 1: This is always again an emotional week in Columbus and
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Speaker 1: in ann Arbor. This week, perhaps a little more for
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Speaker 1: the buck guys is there are a whole lot of
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Speaker 1: seniors who could have left for the NFL and who
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Speaker 1: came back specifically to get a win over Michigan in
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Speaker 1: this game. So his Ryan Day had to talk to
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Speaker 1: some of those seniors about their emotions and keeping things
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Speaker 1: in check a little bit.
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Speaker 2: I think again, when you focus on the process and
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Speaker 2: you focus around your team and you you know you're
4:29
Speaker 2: you're with your guys in the woody, it certainly can
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Speaker 2: avoid distractions this week. And I think that's what we
4:36
Speaker 2: need to do, you know, to say that you know
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Speaker 2: this team and those leaders and these seniors want to
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Speaker 2: win this game. You know, it'd be one of the
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Speaker 2: biggest understatements of all time. So when they don't need
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Speaker 2: any extra motivation, what they have to do is do
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Speaker 2: a great job of preparing themselves their mind, their body,
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Speaker 2: and soul to go play the game and then trust
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Speaker 2: their training. And that's that's really what it comes down to.
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Speaker 2: All the work that's been done to get to this point,
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Speaker 2: now you have to go back to, you know, trusting
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Speaker 2: your training, because that's really how it works. You know,
5:08
Speaker 2: you hear about the Navy seal saying you fall to
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Speaker 2: level of your training all the work that's been done.
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Speaker 2: You've seen us talk about our bricks and our foundation
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Speaker 2: and all those things. It's all leading to this point
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Speaker 2: right here, and so you can't just all of a
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Speaker 2: sudden turn it on when you know in a few
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Speaker 2: days for one game. It doesn't work that way. The
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Speaker 2: way we play is going to be because of how
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Speaker 2: we've built our foundation up to this point, and everything
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Speaker 2: in the entire program has been built to win this game,
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Speaker 2: and so now we just have to trust that and
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Speaker 2: go play with confidence, with great energy, with great passion,
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Speaker 2: and playing for your brothers and everybody just doing their job.
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Speaker 2: Like I think, sometimes it's easy in a game like
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Speaker 2: this to try to do something, you know, extraordinary. The
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Speaker 2: only thing it needs to be extraordinary is their effort.
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Speaker 2: Everything else, they just need to do their job.
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Speaker 1: Different All sorts of trends that have changed over the
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Speaker 1: years in the Ohio State Michigan game, but one thing
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Speaker 1: has remained pretty consistent over the years, and that is
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Speaker 1: the team that runs the ball better wins the game.
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Speaker 1: Going back to I think it was two thousand and
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Speaker 1: two or two thousand and one something like that, the
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Speaker 1: team that has run for more yards per carry has won.
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Speaker 1: I think all but one game over that twenty something
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Speaker 1: year span. So with knowing that, how do you balance
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Speaker 1: that with just sort of wanting to run your offense.
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Speaker 2: Well, let's how you control the game on both sides
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Speaker 2: of the ball. So that's something that has to be done,
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Speaker 2: and you know, you just look historically, that's that's how
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Speaker 2: you win the game. But you know that's not the
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Speaker 2: only thing. There's a lot that comes with it. And
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Speaker 2: so you know, like every every game we go into,
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Speaker 2: you know, we'll work hard to do what we think
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Speaker 2: best help helps us win the game. But yeah, the
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Speaker 2: team who runs the ball and the team who stops
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Speaker 2: the run is going to win the game.
6:43
Speaker 1: Different coaches have different approaches to the big game week.
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Speaker 1: Urban Meyer, of course, used to just play It's time
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Speaker 1: for war over and over and over and over and
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Speaker 1: over and over again, thousands of times over the course
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Speaker 1: of the week inside the What he Hates Athletic, et cetera.
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Speaker 1: Brian Day has done away with that radition, But how
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Speaker 1: does he approach the week? Is he trying to does
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Speaker 1: he maybe increase his intensity around the team this week,
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Speaker 1: or is it just kind of keep things a little
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Speaker 1: more even, keel a little more normal.
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Speaker 2: Well, I think when you live at year round, you
7:12
Speaker 2: know you don't need to put any extra emphasis on
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Speaker 2: it this week. Our guys know, especially with a veteran team,
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Speaker 2: So what you do is everything that you've done leading
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Speaker 2: up to this point has to be about winning this game.
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Speaker 2: And so you know, we put a big emphasis on
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Speaker 2: the situations. You know, winning the situation. You heard me
7:27
Speaker 2: talk about the turnovers and the X plays and the
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Speaker 2: rushing yards, third down, red zone. We go through that
7:32
Speaker 2: after every single game when we do our champions grading
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Speaker 2: out a champion grading over eighty percent, being the hardest
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Speaker 2: playing team in a country, like, all of those things
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Speaker 2: come into play. So we've been training all year for
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Speaker 2: this moment and now we just need to go do
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Speaker 2: it again. And that's the idea, so that you're not
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Speaker 2: all of a sudden putting more emphasis or more pressure
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Speaker 2: on the guys. I mean, they know it's at stake,
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Speaker 2: and so again, focus on the process, focus on what
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Speaker 2: we've done up to this point, the foundation that's been built,
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Speaker 2: and then go play with our hair on fire.
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Speaker 1: And they played in some big games as a college
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Speaker 1: quarterback at New Hampshire, but this is a little bit
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Speaker 1: of a different thing there, he could go out in
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Speaker 1: the field and sort of have a hands on impact
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Speaker 1: on what happened in these games. In a game like this,
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Speaker 1: as a coach, well just have to get the guys
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Speaker 1: ready and then send them out and for us that
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Speaker 1: they're going to do it and you just have to watch.
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Speaker 1: So how hard is that? As a coach you just
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Speaker 1: have to stand on the sidelines and just trust that
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Speaker 1: stuff's going to work out on the field.
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Speaker 2: That's the difference between playing and coaching right there. Yeah,
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Speaker 2: when you're playing, as a coach, you try to control
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Speaker 2: everything you possibly can. And that's why I think I've
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Speaker 2: said to you before, I get more worked up right
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Speaker 2: now during the week than I do later in the
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Speaker 2: week because I know this is the impact that US
8:41
Speaker 2: coaches can have making sure we're putting the right guys
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Speaker 2: in the right spots to be successful, making sure our
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Speaker 2: best players are where they need to be training during
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Speaker 2: the week to make sure we're ready to go. And
8:50
Speaker 2: then as we get closer, you know this is it's
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Speaker 2: a player's game, and the player is going to play.
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Speaker 2: But you know, in this game right here, I'm going
8:56
Speaker 2: to be right there with them, swinging as hard as
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Speaker 2: I can with them, you know, given them confidence on
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Speaker 2: the field they're gonna play with great passion in this game,
9:04
Speaker 2: and just making sure that we have answers for them
9:05
Speaker 2: during the game. And that's that's what coaching is all about,
9:08
Speaker 2: given them answers and making sure they're an environment to
9:11
Speaker 2: be successful, and then identifying the things that you know
9:14
Speaker 2: didn't go right and get them fixed. But all in
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Speaker 2: a process to get to right right here, right now.
9:19
Speaker 1: This year's Ohio State team has played in some very
9:22
Speaker 1: big stages already, top five matchup at Oregon, top five
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Speaker 1: matchup at Penn State, top five matchup at home last
9:28
Speaker 1: weekend against Indiana. So does having that kind of big
9:32
Speaker 1: game experience helped prepare you for the big stage they're
9:35
Speaker 1: going to be on this weekend.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's nothing quite like this game or
9:40
Speaker 2: the stage, you know, and you know, but but it
9:43
Speaker 2: has been good for us to get tested this year,
9:46
Speaker 2: you know, to to work through some of those issues.
9:48
Speaker 2: You know, we've gone down in games, we've lost the game,
9:50
Speaker 2: we've been through some university you know, in big games,
9:54
Speaker 2: you know, early in the Penn State game, you know,
9:57
Speaker 2: even even last week. But I think all that, you know,
10:00
Speaker 2: adds to the character and resilience of your team. Knowing
10:03
Speaker 2: that no matter what comes at us on Saturday, well
10:06
Speaker 2: how to react. But you know, but this this one's different.
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Speaker 1: Those last three years against Michigan are a big part
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Speaker 1: of why a lot of that senior class is back
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Speaker 1: this year. So looking back on those last three games
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Speaker 1: against Michigan, how does that maybe motivate Brian Day and
10:24
Speaker 1: the buck Eyes heading into this week. You're gonna hear
10:26
Speaker 1: that answer, and then a quick follow up from Adam
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Speaker 1: King of WBNS.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's it's like I said, what's happened
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Speaker 2: in the past has really nothing to do with what's
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Speaker 2: going on right now, and I think the focus has
10:36
Speaker 2: to be on each other and playing so hard for
10:39
Speaker 2: the love of your teammate, not so much what's going
10:42
Speaker 2: on across the field. And that's that's what we're gonna do.
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Speaker 2: We're gonna focus on that this week because it's easy
10:48
Speaker 2: to get distracted with everything else. You know. We'll let
10:50
Speaker 2: the fans and everybody else, you know, kind of talk
10:52
Speaker 2: through all those things, like we're going to focus on
10:54
Speaker 2: each other, playing really hard for each other, focus on
10:57
Speaker 2: getting ready to go play in this game. So that
10:59
Speaker 2: we can executed at a high, high level, because ultimately that's
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Speaker 2: all that matters.
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Speaker 1: To be able to get that win on Saturday.
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Speaker 2: For this Day, well, I think you know what it means.
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Speaker 2: I mean, it means the world, and it's that's everything here.
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Speaker 1: I think most people probably know by now that Ryan
11:13
Speaker 1: Day lost his dad when he was just a kid.
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Speaker 1: So he is someone who has faced some real adversity
11:18
Speaker 1: in his life, which is one of the reasons that
11:21
Speaker 1: the third base thing was always particularly stupid, especially coming
11:25
Speaker 1: from a guy whose dad was a defense Division one
11:28
Speaker 1: head football coach. But either way, it was striking to
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Speaker 1: hear Day talk about losing the Michigan as some of
11:34
Speaker 1: the biggest adversity he's faced in his life.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say not to get into too much
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Speaker 2: of it. It's just you know, this, this game is
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Speaker 2: a war, and anytime there's a war, there's there's consequences
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Speaker 2: and casualties, and then there's the plunder and the rewards
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Speaker 2: that come with it. That's what it is. And and
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Speaker 2: I just think that that's really what it comes down to.
11:56
Speaker 2: And so as we all say, and it happened to
11:59
Speaker 2: my press conference, and one job is to win this game,
12:01
Speaker 2: and so you know, that's the focus right now, you know,
12:03
Speaker 2: and I don't want to get too much into the
12:04
Speaker 2: past because we're just focused on right now and we've
12:07
Speaker 2: worked really hard to get to this point. I think
12:09
Speaker 2: I'm excited with the fact that, you know, our guys
12:11
Speaker 2: are here now, because you know, when you go through
12:14
Speaker 2: the off season and you talk about this game, it's
12:16
Speaker 2: just like, all right, well, how many times are going
12:17
Speaker 2: to talk about this? We got to get to this
12:19
Speaker 2: game and go play it. We're finally here right now,
12:21
Speaker 2: so that'll be the focus, and then in the off
12:23
Speaker 2: season we'll figure out what's what.
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Speaker 1: Ryan Day has been at Ohio State long enough now
12:27
Speaker 1: that we have seen him in just about every possible
12:30
Speaker 1: mood he could be in. And we have certainly seen
12:33
Speaker 1: uptight Ryan Day at some of these press conferences before
12:36
Speaker 1: big games, and this wasn't it. So what is Ryan
12:40
Speaker 1: Day feeling right now? Is the anxious excited What's going
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Speaker 1: on in Ryan Day's head right now.
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Speaker 2: I'm excited. I'm excited about this game. I'm excited about
12:48
Speaker 2: this team. I love the look in their eye, I
12:50
Speaker 2: love I love coming to work every day. But this
12:53
Speaker 2: is not about me. It's about these seniors who decided
12:55
Speaker 2: to come back. They want to have a pair of
12:58
Speaker 2: gold pants, they want to have hardware. So that's what
13:00
Speaker 2: motivates me, and I'm excited for them so they can
13:02
Speaker 2: go out there and play this thing and go win it.
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Speaker 1: And finally talked about it already, We're going to talk
13:07
Speaker 1: about it again. You know that running the ball is
13:09
Speaker 1: a big part of the game this weekend. They haven't
13:13
Speaker 1: been able to do that in every game this year.
13:16
Speaker 1: Nebraska kind of control them, Indiana Times kind of control
13:19
Speaker 1: them on the ground. So is the Ohio State going
13:22
Speaker 1: to have to get a little creative and mix things
13:24
Speaker 1: up a little bit to do be able to run
13:26
Speaker 1: the ball this weekend against a pretty good Michigan defense
13:28
Speaker 1: and a very good Michigan defensive front.
13:30
Speaker 2: Well, I think we don't have a choice. We have
13:32
Speaker 2: to if we're going to win the game. So it
13:34
Speaker 2: will always do what we think is best. But you know,
13:38
Speaker 2: it comes down to everybody executing at a high level
13:40
Speaker 2: in physicality, and our running back's got to get downhill
13:43
Speaker 2: and find all those hitten yards. Our offensive line has
13:46
Speaker 2: got to get movement up front and and handle their front.
13:48
Speaker 2: They have a good front there's no question about that.
13:50
Speaker 2: But you know that that's not going to change our attack.
13:53
Speaker 2: I mean, we've got to do what we've done and
13:55
Speaker 2: trust our preparation and go get it. So yeah, I
13:58
Speaker 2: mean the team who runs the ball is going to
14:00
Speaker 2: control the game.
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Speaker 1: All right. So there it is everything that Ryan Day
14:03
Speaker 1: had to say about the Ohio State Michigan game. Boy,
14:08
Speaker 1: he's gonna have some stuff to say one way or
14:09
Speaker 1: the other after the game. We will be there for that.
14:12
Speaker 1: We'll have our postgame show live coming from Ohio Stadium
14:15
Speaker 1: at right after the game. Boy, is there going to
14:18
Speaker 1: be a lot to talk about. We'll have the Ryan
14:20
Speaker 1: Day press conference live. We'll try and get you some
14:22
Speaker 1: Sharon More press conference live as well if those are
14:25
Speaker 1: not going on at the same time. There's gonna be
14:27
Speaker 1: a lot going on this week at Buckeye Huddle dot com.
14:30
Speaker 1: We would love to see you there. Get access right
14:33
Speaker 1: now for just four ninety nine for your first month.
14:36
Speaker 1: Plenty of coverage, plenty of insight, plenty of analysis. It's
14:39
Speaker 1: a huge recruiting week as well, Early Signing Day coming
14:42
Speaker 1: up on December fourth, that is right around the corner.
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Speaker 1: This is going to be a very, very busy week.
14:47
Speaker 1: It's going to be a very very busy month. We
14:50
Speaker 1: would love to see you there at buckeyehuddle dot com
14:52
Speaker 1: and of course at YouTube dot com slash Buckeye Huddle.
14:54
Speaker 1: That'll do it for now, Thank you guys for joining us.
14:57
Speaker 1: We'll be back with more bonus content a little later
14:59
Speaker 1: on s