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Ohio State vs UCLA: Can The Bruins Keep Things Competitive Against The Buckeyes? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Tuesday, November eleventh, I'm
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  Speaker 1: your host, Tom Or the UCLA game in four days,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the game against Michigan in eighteen days. If you were
• 0:08
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  Speaker 1: All right, we're going to be talking a little bit
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  Speaker 1: about that UCLA game, and you're gonna let you hear
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  Speaker 1: a little bit from Tim Skipper. He is the interim
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  Speaker 1: head coach of UCLA. Just to give you a little
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  Speaker 1: background on Skipper, he is forty seven years old. This
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  Speaker 1: is not his first time as an interim head coach.
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  Speaker 1: He got thrown into kind of a tough spot at
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  Speaker 1: Fresno State when their head coach Jeff Tedford had to
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  Speaker 1: step away for a sort of emergency health issues situation,
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  Speaker 1: and so then he got to coach. Skipper coached one
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  Speaker 1: game at the end of the twenty twenty three season,
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  Speaker 1: and then when Tedford had to step away permanently in
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  Speaker 1: the twenty twenty four season, Skipper served as the interim
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  Speaker 1: head coach there for the entire year, put together a
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  Speaker 1: solid season. They finished six and seven, including a law
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  Speaker 1: in a Bowl game, but then he was not given
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  Speaker 1: the permanent head coaching job, so then he went over
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  Speaker 1: to UCLA, took an assistant coaching position there at UCLA,
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  Speaker 1: and then when Deshaun Foster got fired after an oh
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  Speaker 1: and four start, there was Tim Skipper ready to be
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  Speaker 1: the new interim head coach. And immediately the Bruins won
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  Speaker 1: three games in a row before losing to Indiana and
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  Speaker 1: then Nebraska the last two weeks. But I think you're
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  Speaker 1: going to enjoy Tim Skipper a lot of energy there.
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  Speaker 1: Deshaun Foster always just was just kind of a little
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  Speaker 1: bit of a not the most energetic or inspiring guy.
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  Speaker 1: Tim Skipper. You listen to Tim Skipper, You want you
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  Speaker 1: like Tim Skipper. You want to play for Tim Skipper
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  Speaker 1: to get to hear a little bit from Tim Skipper
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  Speaker 1: today about the Bruins and the challenge they have coming
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  Speaker 1: up ahead against Ohio States. All right, let's start with
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  Speaker 1: that challenge. This is the second time in three weeks
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  Speaker 1: that the Bruins have had to get on an airplane
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  Speaker 1: fly across the country to play one of the very
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  Speaker 1: best teams in the nation. They had to do it
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  Speaker 1: at Indiana. That did not go great.
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  Speaker 2: They lost fifty six to six.
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  Speaker 1: Now they got to do it again. So what is
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  Speaker 1: that challenge like for the Bruins.
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  Speaker 3: It's always going to come back to us just doing
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  Speaker 3: what we're supposed to do. The big message from that
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  Speaker 3: game to this one will just be starting fast. That
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  Speaker 3: basically was our last road game, so when we get
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  Speaker 3: back on the road, we want to make sure we
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  Speaker 3: put a big time emphasis on starting fast. That's gonna
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  Speaker 3: be the big thing. But we have to take care
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  Speaker 3: of us. We can't worry about who we're playing things
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  Speaker 3: like that. Control the controllables and we can control what
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  Speaker 3: we do, So that's gonna be our focus.
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  Speaker 1: There are areas where UCLA has gotten substantially better since
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  Speaker 1: they fired Deshan Foster. Pass rush that has not really
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  Speaker 1: been one of them. The Bruins have not had any
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  Speaker 1: sacks the last three weeks, so what needs to improve there?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's always a thing, right and then sometimes we're
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  Speaker 3: dropping in the coverage and things like that and playing
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  Speaker 3: coverage and trying to just bull rush and keep quarterbacks
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  Speaker 3: in the pocket and things like that.
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  Speaker 2: It's all a.
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  Speaker 3: Combination of things, and then it always comes down on
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  Speaker 3: winning your one on ones, right, You got to win
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  Speaker 3: your one on one each individual battle and to get
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  Speaker 3: to the QB. We're doing some spy stuff in certain
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  Speaker 3: games also, so it just all has to work all together.
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  Speaker 2: There's always different challenges.
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  Speaker 3: Sometimes we're playing teams that have this slide in the front,
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  Speaker 3: so we have to read the slide and encounter the slide.
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  Speaker 2: So there's a.
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  Speaker 3: Lot of different factors that go into it. But we'll
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  Speaker 3: keep doing we're doing. Just try to get keep getting
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  Speaker 3: better and try to apply some pressure to quarterbacks.
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  Speaker 1: This will be the first time UCLA has played in
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  Speaker 1: Ohio Stadium since nineteen ninety nine. However, some players on
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  Speaker 1: the UCLA team have played in the Horseshoe more recently.
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  Speaker 1: Let's start with starting quarterback Nico Iamaliava. You may remember
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  Speaker 1: him from when he was with Tennessee last December. Came
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  Speaker 1: to the Horseshoe, played very hard, did not win that
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  Speaker 1: football game. Really got hit pretty hard in that game.
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  Speaker 1: He really takes a lot of punishment. Never seems to stop,
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  Speaker 1: does he. You probably remember that from the from the game.
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  Speaker 1: In the playoffs last year, Skipper was asked about how
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  Speaker 1: tough Nico iam Aliava really is.
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  Speaker 3: I'll say to this, you know, you see quarterbacks that
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  Speaker 3: can run and everything like that, and they're usually bicker
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  Speaker 3: muscled up guys. It goes the first like tall, skinny
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  Speaker 3: dude that I know that like, well, lower the pads
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  Speaker 3: on you and is not afraid. He's gonna always be
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  Speaker 3: going forward and getting yards and things like that. And
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  Speaker 3: I mean he's got little skinny legs and little skinny arms,
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  Speaker 3: but has no fear at all.
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  Speaker 1: Mentioned earlier, the Bruins lost to Nebraska last Friday night.
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  Speaker 1: That was a twenty eight to twenty one defeat. Really
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  Speaker 1: solid performance overall, just didn't quite pull it out. So
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  Speaker 1: what kind of positives do the Bruins have coming out
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  Speaker 1: of that game that they can maybe build on coming
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  Speaker 1: into this week's game.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we did a lot of good things.
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  Speaker 2: We were able to run the ball. If you look.
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  Speaker 3: Statistically, the stats were like dead even like total yards,
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  Speaker 3: rush yards, pass yards, turnovers. Both teams had zero turnovers.
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  Speaker 3: Tome of possession was dead on thirty thirty. I've never
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  Speaker 3: seen that before. I've never been a part of that.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it was dead on thirty thirty, so we
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  Speaker 3: did a lot of really really good things. The thing
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  Speaker 3: that got us, that got us beat is how it
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  Speaker 3: all started. There are three possessions. They ahead and punched
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  Speaker 3: them in and got tds. We went punt td they
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  Speaker 3: stop us on fourth down, then we missed the field goal.
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  Speaker 3: And I think those those first four possessions three for
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  Speaker 3: them was the difference in the game. Second half, we
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  Speaker 3: settled down, we started playing a lot better, and just
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  Speaker 3: basically ran out of time.
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  Speaker 2: We couldn't get the ball back at the end.
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  Speaker 3: But if we start better, I think, and faster, I
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  Speaker 3: think the game would have win our way, but unfortunately
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  Speaker 3: it didn't. It reminds me a ton of the Northwestern game,
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  Speaker 3: same kind of thing. We started a little slow, it
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  Speaker 3: was after a bye, and then we've got going. So
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  Speaker 3: I have to figure that out as far as coming
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  Speaker 3: off of buys and starting fast.
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  Speaker 2: But that's kind of my take on the game.
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  Speaker 1: During their last couple of games, the defense has really
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  Speaker 1: been one of the big issues they give up. As
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  Speaker 1: we said, fifty six points to Indiana two games ago,
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  Speaker 1: twenty eight to Nebraska not terrible, but at least you know. So, So,
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  Speaker 1: so what are the keys? What do they need to
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  Speaker 1: improve to maybe be able to stand up this weekend?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you're always going to have to stop
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  Speaker 3: the run. You're gonna have to do that. And stopping
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  Speaker 3: the run is keeping your gaps and tackling. And in
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  Speaker 3: this last game, they gave us some extra old lineman
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  Speaker 3: looks in there. They had extra tackle in there, and
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  Speaker 3: it took us a while to get adjusted to it.
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  Speaker 3: So we're just gonna have to play fast. We're gonna
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  Speaker 3: have to be ready to go. We've got to be
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  Speaker 3: ready to see any kind of new formations and things
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  Speaker 3: they give us and not let it just throw us
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  Speaker 3: out and emotionally hijack us. We have to just settle down,
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  Speaker 3: play a ball, go back to the funnelmentals, and then
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  Speaker 3: stop the run and fit the run. And then we
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  Speaker 3: need to create more third longs, Like we're not getting
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  Speaker 3: the third and lungs. We're getting the third and shorts
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  Speaker 3: when it's third down, and it's it's hard to live
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  Speaker 3: that way. So we're gonna have to win first and
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  Speaker 3: second down, create some third and lungs, and then we can.
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  Speaker 2: Go to work.
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  Speaker 1: Mentioned Nico IAmA Liiava, the fact that he got hit
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  Speaker 1: real hard a couple times in Columbus. Remember his helmet
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  Speaker 1: cracking at one point during that game. Does Tim Skipper
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  Speaker 1: when he sees Nico running around and he's not, As
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  Speaker 1: Skipper said earlier, the biggest guy in the world is
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  Speaker 1: Skipper kind of cringe when he sees Nico running around,
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  Speaker 1: maybe about to take another big hit.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, you could worry about injury all game for
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  Speaker 3: every one of the players if you wanted to. But
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  Speaker 3: with him, he's dangerous with the ball in his hands,
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  Speaker 3: and he wants the ball in his hands like he
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  Speaker 3: wants that, and I think the contact helps him settle down. Obviously,
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  Speaker 3: as your starting quarterback, you don't want him taking big
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  Speaker 3: hits and things like that. But if they're gonna give
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  Speaker 3: him running lanes, he might as well take them. I
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  Speaker 3: kid with him all the time, so every now and
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  Speaker 3: then you might want to slide a little bit. But
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  Speaker 3: you know, when you have a natural runner like he is,
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  Speaker 3: you kind of just let them go do their thing.
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  Speaker 1: Mentioned the lack of pass rush the offensive line also
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  Speaker 1: a little bit of a concern for UCLA coming into
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  Speaker 1: this game. Garrett de Giorgio he left in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of that Nebraska game last week, and update on him
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  Speaker 1: here real quick. And then where does that leave the
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  Speaker 1: offensive line? And there's some some struggles they've had, maybe
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  Speaker 1: in the run game.
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  Speaker 3: So Garrett spasmed up to where he was like struggling
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  Speaker 3: to walk at the game, and then so he did
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  Speaker 3: not return. He didn't come back into the game. And
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  Speaker 3: then I saw him yesterday he was walking a lot better.
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  Speaker 3: So today's a heavy treatment day, as you know, and
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  Speaker 3: we'll see where where it goes and progresses tomorrow. But
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  Speaker 3: we're gonna let him do all this stuff he needs
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  Speaker 3: to do today and hopefully we can get him out
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  Speaker 3: there tomorrow. But we'll see tomorrow how he's feeling and doing.
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  Speaker 3: Sticking to our blocks would be would be the main
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  Speaker 3: thing I would say, like we're getting up to where
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  Speaker 3: we need to be, just controlling who we're blocking. This
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  Speaker 3: Nebraska game, they did a lot of stemming, so they
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  Speaker 3: stem pre snapped to try to mess with our points
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  Speaker 3: and all our stuff and our aiming points on who
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  Speaker 3: we're blocking and things like that. So we just can't
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  Speaker 3: let all that type of stuff mess with us. We
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  Speaker 3: have to stay on our tracks and the ball carry
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  Speaker 3: State tight to the blocks and uh, just ten guys
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  Speaker 3: blocking so one can run.
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  Speaker 2: That's the bottom line of what we're doing.
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  Speaker 1: This is the point of the week where opposing teams
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  Speaker 1: media starts asking, so what makes Ohio State good? And
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  Speaker 1: you get a bunch of different answers. This was kind
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  Speaker 1: of an interesting one from Tim Skipper. What makes Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State so impressive when you watch them on film?
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  Speaker 3: I will say this, they have a lot of big
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  Speaker 3: time players, and the most impressive thing is they're playing
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  Speaker 3: complimentary football and playing as a team. I mean, it's
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  Speaker 3: good to see that that can still happen there. They're offense, defense,
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  Speaker 3: special teams. It's all tied into each other. The offense
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  Speaker 3: is ball controlling and getting the defense off the field,
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  Speaker 3: and the defense getting the ball back for the offense,
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  Speaker 3: and the special teams getting out there making a difference.
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  Speaker 3: Like it is good to just see team ball happening.
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  Speaker 3: So we'll have to have a good plan. We'll go
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  Speaker 3: up there. We're gonna have to be ready to go.
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  Speaker 3: We're gonna it's gonna take everybody on the trip, every
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  Speaker 3: single person, whether you're playing or coaching, to come up
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  Speaker 3: with a good plan.
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  Speaker 2: And by the time kickoff hits to be ready to go.
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  Speaker 1: Mentioned earlier the fact that they started with three wins
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  Speaker 1: under Tim Skipper and have now lost back to back games.
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  Speaker 1: So okay, as you're sort of trying to bounce back
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  Speaker 1: from that, what's the message.
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  Speaker 2: To the team.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I haven't even thought about that back to back.
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  Speaker 3: First person to hit me with that, but that's not
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  Speaker 3: gonna be the message. The message is getting back to
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  Speaker 3: the basics and doing what we're supposed to do. Starting
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  Speaker 3: fast is the first part of it, and then secondly,
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  Speaker 3: just finishing plays when we're out there, like, just finish, finish, finish, finish.
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  Speaker 3: I know y'all heard me talk about strain a lot,
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  Speaker 3: but it's that's football to me, and we're gonna need
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  Speaker 3: to strain to finish for four quarters. Every single play,
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  Speaker 3: every single play has a life and history of its own,
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  Speaker 3: and we're gonna have to live by that.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, we have to strain. It's what it is.
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  Speaker 1: You've heard Skipper talk about the fact that it's very
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  Speaker 1: important for them to start fast. So when that isn't happening,
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  Speaker 1: is that something you can fix.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you just remind everybody, Hey, we got to get going.
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  Speaker 2: We got to go.
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  Speaker 3: But to me, all that is set, all that tone
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  Speaker 3: set during practice, like how we practice is all about
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  Speaker 3: starting fast and things like that, and you're wanting it
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  Speaker 3: to carry over into the game. We just need to
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  Speaker 3: we need to just take care of what we.
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  Speaker 2: Need to do.
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  Speaker 3: We need to strain, and we need to finish plays.
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  Speaker 3: If we do that, we'll be all right. But the
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  Speaker 3: conversation is just like, just just get going this, remember
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  Speaker 3: to stray, remember to finish, concentrate on the fundamentals, concentrate
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  Speaker 3: and execute on.
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  Speaker 2: Every single call that we make. Like all those things
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  Speaker 2: are tied in together.
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  Speaker 1: And finally, Skipper has talked in the past about the
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  Speaker 1: fact that if he is not happy with what he
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  Speaker 1: sees at practice, he's gonna make guys just start over,
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  Speaker 1: even if it's just doesn't like the energy. Has he
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  Speaker 1: had to do that so far.
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  Speaker 3: I haven't had to do that. And in fact, our
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  Speaker 3: last week's practice was really really good. There was a
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  Speaker 3: lot of energy. Guys were flying around, Like I mean,
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  Speaker 3: if there was no indication of guys not wanting to
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  Speaker 3: play or practice or anything like that, we just came
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  Speaker 3: out the gates and they came out the gates better
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  Speaker 3: than us.
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  Speaker 2: That's the main thing, and you give them credit for that.
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  Speaker 3: And we'll get back to work this week and hopefully
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  Speaker 3: we can start faster this week.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So Skipper and the Bruins will be in
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  Speaker 1: Ohio Stadium Saturday night, seven thirty kickoff. We'll be there
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  Speaker 1: covering it for you at Bucky Huddle dot com. We'll
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: have coverage for you on Tuesday as well of Ryan
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: days press conference. Gonna give you a heads up that
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: is going to happen a little early on Tuesday. They're
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: shifting the schedule around a little bit for the Veterans
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Day holiday. Brian Day will be speaking at eleven a m.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Instead of his usual noontime, So if you want to
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: see that, you can hop on an hour early and
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: watch it for you live at YouTube dot com slash
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: bucke Huddle. We'll be there for it. Don't worry, we'll
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: get there early. We'll have your full coverage an hour
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: early eleven am Eastern on YouTube dot com slash bucke Huddle.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: And then Tuesday night we'll be back with Week two
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: of the College Football Playoff comtees live, rankings, reveal and
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: reaction again on our YouTube channel, YouTube dot com slash
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Buckeye huddle. That'll do it for today. Thank you guys
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: all for joining us. Have a great day. We'll talk
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: to you tomorrow.