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Ohio State Football: Are The Buckeyes Considering A Big Change Up Front? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buck Eyes Tomorrow morning for Thursday, October twenty third,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom or the Penn State game in
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  Speaker 1: nine days the game against Michigan in thirty seven days.
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  Speaker 1: If you're planning your next event, make it unforgettable with
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: grateful Grite, Columbus's favorite food truck, surfing Cup, smash Burgers,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: girlmet sandwiches, and good VIBESO you'r kettering today at Great
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: felgridloh dot com. On today's show, you're going to get
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to hear a bunch from Ryan Day get a chance
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  Speaker 1: to talk to him for a little bit earlier on
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  Speaker 1: in the week. Buck guys are enjoying their week off,
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  Speaker 1: their second week off for the regular season, their final
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  Speaker 1: week off until either the week after the Michigan game
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  Speaker 1: or the week after the Big Ten Championship game. So
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  Speaker 1: we'll know a lot more the next time the buck
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  Speaker 1: Eyes have a week off. But one of the things
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  Speaker 1: that will determine what we find out and and will
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  Speaker 1: that week off will happen is their ability to run
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  Speaker 1: the ball. That has certainly been a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: a question mark for the team so far this season.
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  Speaker 1: There have really not been many question marks for this team,
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  Speaker 1: and again wisconsinant they were able to throw the ball
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  Speaker 1: quite well, nearly four hundred yards through the air, but
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  Speaker 1: they continue to ruggle on the ground. So when you're
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  Speaker 1: calling plays, how do you balance the fact that they
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  Speaker 1: were able to throw the ball all over a team
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  Speaker 1: like Wisconsin with knowing the fact that they will probably
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  Speaker 1: need to run the ball at some point when they
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  Speaker 1: have a bad weather game later on in the season.
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  Speaker 2: I think we look at what the opponent is, you know,
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  Speaker 2: what the matchup is, what we see for tendancy's and
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  Speaker 2: then take what you know they're giving you and based
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  Speaker 2: on the play call. You know, there's design runs, there's
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  Speaker 2: design passes, and there's decisions that are made posting that
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  Speaker 2: based on what the defense has given us. So those
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  Speaker 2: are all things that put stress on defenses. And we'll
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  Speaker 2: put the game plan together each week based on what
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  Speaker 2: the opponent does well, what we do well, and and
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  Speaker 2: then kind of go from there. But but the big
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  Speaker 2: question is are do you have the ability to do
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  Speaker 2: all the things you want to do? You know, and
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  Speaker 2: obviously running and passing at the top two, so we've
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  Speaker 2: got to be able to do both of them.
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  Speaker 1: The run game might not be exactly where the Buckeyes
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  Speaker 1: wanted to be with the passing game. That has got
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  Speaker 1: to be real, real up there with what they were
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  Speaker 1: hoping for. At the beginning of the season, Julian Say
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  Speaker 1: now considered one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy. Remember,
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  Speaker 1: he was a complete unknown coming into this season. He
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  Speaker 1: had just gotten a few reps as the number three
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  Speaker 1: guy last year. So this has all come quite a
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  Speaker 1: quite quite an impression so far early on in the season.
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  Speaker 1: So when Ryan Day looks at Julian Sane, has he
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  Speaker 1: exceeded all of Day's expectations up to this point? And
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  Speaker 1: then are you at the point now where you're maybe
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  Speaker 1: changing the game plan to take advantage of what Julian
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  Speaker 1: Sane has been able to do.
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  Speaker 2: I try not to have too many expectations, just not
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  Speaker 2: too sure how things are going to shake. I've learned that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you try to play the best you can,
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  Speaker 2: but you really just want to focus on one game
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  Speaker 2: at a time because you just don't know what is
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  Speaker 2: really going to happen, and weeks down the road you
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  Speaker 2: try to predict some things. But I think each week
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  Speaker 2: he's he's grown more and more. He's built confidence and
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  Speaker 2: I think this teammates believe in him now, and you
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  Speaker 2: could see it. Probably had his best game to date,
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  Speaker 2: you know, at Wisconsin. So now he's got to grow
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  Speaker 2: from that and continue to build. So, you know, just
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  Speaker 2: we're just halfway through the season, so we got a
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  Speaker 2: lot of football left. But the number one thing we
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  Speaker 2: got to do is continue to to take care of football,
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  Speaker 2: lead the.
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  Speaker 3: Team, command the game.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we're now getting it into the the you know,
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  Speaker 2: stretch around of the season and then obviously in the
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  Speaker 2: playoff football. So you know, all of these games, all
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  Speaker 2: these decisions, everything we're doing is going to be at
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  Speaker 2: a just ramped up and amped up at a higher level.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, it's good to see him get you know,
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  Speaker 2: some of these games under his belt as we make
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  Speaker 2: this run.
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  Speaker 1: The week off is often a time for teams to
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  Speaker 1: sort of take stock of where they are with certain
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  Speaker 1: positional battles and if things need to be changed, either
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  Speaker 1: philosophically or personnel wise or something else. Are there questions
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  Speaker 1: this week about the right guard position because Higger Shibola
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  Speaker 1: has certainly not had a couple of great games recently,
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  Speaker 1: and we have seen Ohio State rotating Josh Padilla in
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  Speaker 1: at right guard for a few drives every game as well.
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  Speaker 1: So are they conversations about maybe making that a permanent change,
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  Speaker 1: putting Josh Biddy in over taker Shibola for the next game.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, we're looking at everything.
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  Speaker 2: We're looking at the stats, not only just coming off
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  Speaker 2: the last game, but of the first half of the
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  Speaker 2: season and figure out, you know who and what gives
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  Speaker 2: us the best chance to win.
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  Speaker 3: So all things that we're evaluating.
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  Speaker 2: Most of the coaches were on the road yesterday, went
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  Speaker 2: through the film this morning and grated everything. We'll have
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  Speaker 2: our champions meeting today at two thirty to go through
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  Speaker 2: the champions, give the guys the feedback on this game,
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  Speaker 2: but also on the first half of the season, the
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  Speaker 2: things they've done well with the things they need to
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  Speaker 2: improve on. And everybody's going to get that type of feedback,
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  Speaker 2: including including Tegra and you know, we need to improve
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  Speaker 2: in those areas. You know that everybody has to work on,
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  Speaker 2: but we will. We're going to evaluate everything and make
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  Speaker 2: sure we're doing what's right by the team.
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  Speaker 1: Another position where there's been some change over the course
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  Speaker 1: of the season is at running back. Game one, it
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  Speaker 1: was James People's and CJ. Donaldson against Texas the last
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  Speaker 1: game against Wisconsin to leading rushers in terms of carries
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  Speaker 1: Bo Jackson and Isaiah West. So quite a bit has
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  Speaker 1: changed over the course of the season. Has enough changed
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  Speaker 1: and are they at the point now where they're ready
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  Speaker 1: to sort of set a firm hierarchy at running back
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  Speaker 1: or is it kind of going to just continue to
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  Speaker 1: be a little bit of a bi committee thing.
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  Speaker 2: I think most of the guys are so young that
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  Speaker 2: I still don't think we're there yet. I still think
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  Speaker 2: that you know, each game they play, they're learning more
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  Speaker 2: and more, they're watching themselves on film, they're growing, and
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  Speaker 2: so they still got to continue to get better.
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  Speaker 3: Is this a lot to be learned about all of them?
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  Speaker 2: And when you watch them playing the games, you get
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  Speaker 2: more and more feedback, and that's it. So it's their
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  Speaker 2: job to take the you know, the feedback from the
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  Speaker 2: coaches and you try to get better. But I've said before,
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  Speaker 2: we're going to need them all. I think they all
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  Speaker 2: bring different things to the table. But I don't think
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  Speaker 2: we're in a position where right now, you know, we're
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  Speaker 2: going to make, like you said, a hierarchy. I think
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  Speaker 2: they all need to learn how to play in different
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  Speaker 2: areas and get better and keep growing from there. I
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  Speaker 2: don't think we're there right now, as much as I'd
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  Speaker 2: like to say we are, but we'll take this this
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  Speaker 2: bye week to continue to allow them to get better
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  Speaker 2: and keep evaluating it on a week to week basis.
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  Speaker 2: And then and then you don't know, I mean, maybe
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  Speaker 2: some guys start getting you know, hot, and that happened.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes they get a rhythm of the game that really
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  Speaker 2: weren't as many carries this past week because we're a
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  Speaker 2: little bit more in the RPO world, so some of
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  Speaker 2: the runs that were called end up being throws, so
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  Speaker 2: that that plays into it. But you also saw early
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  Speaker 2: in the season, you know, I think both James and
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  Speaker 2: CJ had over ten carries, you know, in the first game.
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  Speaker 2: So each game is a little bit different, and we'll
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  Speaker 2: keep evaluating it. But it was certainly a bright spot
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  Speaker 2: to see Isaiah with some of the runs that he made.
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  Speaker 3: I thought he made guys miss and ran hard.
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  Speaker 1: Next question went back to the running game, and that is, obviously,
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  Speaker 1: as I said earlier, kind of one of the big
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  Speaker 1: concerns for Ohio States.
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  Speaker 3: That makes sense.
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  Speaker 1: So where does Brian Day really honestly feel the Buckeyes
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  Speaker 1: are right now with the run game, and what do
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  Speaker 1: they need to do to fix it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think it's about fixing it as much
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  Speaker 2: as there was, you know, some breakdowns in terms of
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  Speaker 2: technique in the game. I won't really get into, you know,
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  Speaker 2: pointing fingers, but we got to be more consistent in
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  Speaker 2: terms of identifying who we're going to and then using
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  Speaker 2: the technique to block them. There were some really good
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  Speaker 2: runs in the game, but then there was a stretch
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  Speaker 2: there in the third quarter where it was like four
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  Speaker 2: runs that went for nothing and on a couple of them,
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  Speaker 2: a couple of them we didn't identify right. But for
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  Speaker 2: the most part it was technique, and you know, we
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  Speaker 2: abandoned our technique. That's really what it came down to.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think that there was an issue in terms
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  Speaker 2: of the running backs and not reading the right hole.
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  Speaker 2: I think we always want to see the running backs
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  Speaker 2: make four yards for the team and then make some
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  Speaker 2: guys miss down the road and run physical and through contact.
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  Speaker 2: Some of that did happen in the game when you
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  Speaker 2: watch the film, to be fair, and we want to
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  Speaker 2: see it every play. But you know what we can
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  Speaker 2: have is have guys running free in the backfield, and
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  Speaker 2: then we had that a couple of times in the game,
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  Speaker 2: and that wasn't just one guy. But you know, the
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  Speaker 2: guys will get the feedback on their grades and figure
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  Speaker 2: out where they need to get better and get the
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  Speaker 2: feedback today. But to me, it was more of a
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  Speaker 2: technique issue, and maybe it was a lack of focus
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  Speaker 2: in that moment, but either way, it's unacceptable.
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  Speaker 1: On the other side of the ball, there has not
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  Speaker 1: been a whole lot that has needed to be fixed.
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  Speaker 1: Under new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, the Buckeyes are setting
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  Speaker 1: all sorts of historical marks. They have the best Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State defense on a points allowed through six to seven
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  Speaker 1: games since nineteen seventy five. They've allowed the fewest points
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  Speaker 1: of any defense in the country through seven games since
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  Speaker 1: the nineteen ninety three Florida State Seminoles. It's all pretty
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  Speaker 1: pretty good company to be in. So what is the
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  Speaker 1: biggest positive impact Matt Patricia has had this year on
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  Speaker 1: the Ohio State program, either on or off the field.
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  Speaker 3: It's well documented.
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  Speaker 2: When we went about trying to, you know, find a
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  Speaker 2: new defensive coordinator and work with Tim Walton and the staff.
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  Speaker 2: We wanted to make sure we had the right guy
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  Speaker 2: that fit the room, because you know, when you talk
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  Speaker 2: about you know, Tim and McCrary and James and Larry,
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  Speaker 2: you're talking about one of the best, in my opinion,
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  Speaker 2: the best defensive staff in the country. And we didn't
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  Speaker 2: want to just bring in somebody that was going to
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  Speaker 2: bring in their own their own guys.
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  Speaker 3: So that was the first thing. So I think chemistry
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  Speaker 3: is the first answer to your question. I think that the.
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  Speaker 2: Chemistry with the coaches and the chemistry with the players
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  Speaker 2: has been excellent. I think the next thing is we
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  Speaker 2: wanted to find somebody who could use multiple fronts and
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  Speaker 2: multiple defenses to put our guys in this situation to
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  Speaker 2: be successful. You know, we're not the same group of
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  Speaker 2: guys who were last year. As you know, we lost
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  Speaker 2: a lot of guys. We had to replace them, and
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  Speaker 2: I think Matt's background of using multiple fronts and multiple
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  Speaker 2: defenses to put guys in situations to be successful is
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  Speaker 2: probably the next thing that he's done well. And then
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  Speaker 2: I think the ability of our players to buy into
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  Speaker 2: the to the system and also build the guys around them.
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  Speaker 2: So what I mean by that is you know, although
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  Speaker 2: we lost a lot of guys, guys like Caleb Davison,
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  Speaker 2: Sonny r Bell, Kayden Curry, these guys who have played
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  Speaker 2: a lot of football kJ they were able to take
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  Speaker 2: some of the new stuff and communicate it to the
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  Speaker 2: guys around them to build confidence so that they can
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: go put it on the field for some guys that
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: hadn't played a lot of football. So I think all
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  Speaker 2: of those combined is what you're seeing the success we've
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  Speaker 2: had in the first half of the season. But the
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  Speaker 2: first half of the season is just prepped for the
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: rest of the run, and so we all got to
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  Speaker 2: look back on the first half of the season here,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: figure out the things that we've done well, and then
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  Speaker 2: figure out, you know, where we may have tendencies.
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  Speaker 3: We always said that, you know.
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  Speaker 2: Good offense and defenses have tendencies, but we've got to
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  Speaker 2: make sure we're ahead of it and that we're not
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  Speaker 2: getting nailed down.
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  Speaker 3: So all things are working on this week.
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  Speaker 1: One more spot where you're seeing younger guys maybe potentially
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  Speaker 1: getting ready to take on a bigger role. Is it
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  Speaker 1: wide receiver Quincy Porter. You saw him step up and
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  Speaker 1: make some big plays on the outside against Wisconsin. And
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  Speaker 1: when you combine that with what you saw Carnel Tate
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  Speaker 1: do when they slid him inside to the slot at
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  Speaker 1: one point when Brandon Innis was hurt, he caught that
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  Speaker 1: long touchdown pass down the middle for the first score
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  Speaker 1: of the game. Well, kind of an interesting question. Is
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  Speaker 1: Quincy Porter ready to take on a bigger role, especially.
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  Speaker 3: Given what that could open up for Cardell Tape.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought he handled that well, and you know
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  Speaker 2: that the pivot he caught was a really nice route.
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  Speaker 2: Then he caught and ran it and made it a
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  Speaker 2: I think it turned into explosive play and we were
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  Speaker 2: much more explosive on offense. I think we had double
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  Speaker 2: digits explosive plays and I think that was one of them.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, it was good to see him. You know,
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  Speaker 2: that was really his first big action in a conference game,
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  Speaker 2: and I don't I don't think he flinched. I thought
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  Speaker 2: he handled it well and did a good job and
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  Speaker 2: graded out pretty well. So that's exciting, and I think
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  Speaker 2: I think Carnell and and Jeremiah need some of that
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  Speaker 2: as the season goes on. It's a long season and
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  Speaker 2: then they need they need that depth. That's important. The
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: team needs it, so uh he and mylin and hopefully
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  Speaker 2: we're going to get Bryson Rodgers back this week. These
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  Speaker 2: guys can help because we need them.
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  Speaker 1: And finally, in previous years, sometimes you talk to players
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  Speaker 1: and here that the week off practices were way harder
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  Speaker 1: than a lot of a lot of the game week
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  Speaker 1: practices because you have time where you're not playing on Saturday,
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  Speaker 1: so you have time to able to be a little
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  Speaker 1: more physical during practice during the week. Now, is that
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  Speaker 1: still true at this point now that the college football
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: playoffs expanded and we know they're trying to manage number
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: of hits guys take and the number of snaps they
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: have and all that kind of stuff based in the
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: fact that it's potentially a much longer season. So are
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  Speaker 1: these off week practices still going to be very physical
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  Speaker 1: or is that something that maybe is going away now
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  Speaker 1: because of the expanded college football playoffs.
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  Speaker 2: Everyone's a little bit different. There's guys who played a
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: whole bunch of football who need maintenance, and there's some
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  Speaker 2: young guys that need a whole bunch of football and
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: a whole bunch of reps. So, you know, we'll use
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  Speaker 2: the formula that we've used in the past for the
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: bye week, but try to, you know, give everybody what
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: they need. Some guys need to heal, some guys need reps,
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  Speaker 2: some guys need more fundamental work.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: Everybody's a little bit different.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: But I think it is good, you know, for us
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: on you know, Sunday and on Monday, to get away,
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  Speaker 2: don't think about football for a little while, come back, regroup,
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  Speaker 2: put Saturday's game to bed, and then we have you know,
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  Speaker 2: some really good practices this week on what we need
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  Speaker 2: to get done, so we know during the bye week
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  Speaker 2: is a good opportunity to take a step back.
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  Speaker 3: We always try to stay focused on the week at hand.
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  Speaker 2: This is a good time to take a step back
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  Speaker 2: and realize that we need to get certain things fixed,
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  Speaker 2: address some things, and then you know, take a picture
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: at the run that we're about to make and what
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  Speaker 2: we need to get done during the run.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: Because one Sunday hits it's right onto Penn State.
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  Speaker 1: Well that'll do it for today. We will have much
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  Speaker 1: more coverage of course this week at Buckeye huddle dot com,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: covering Buckeyes, covering recruiting, covering x's and o's. We'll have
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: Rossvulton on on tomorrow's show talk about the Ohio State defense.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, guys, we'll enjoy that one. Haven't even talked
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: to Ross yet. I'm pretty sure though, it will be
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: a pretty positive show about the Ohio State defense. And
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: then we'll be back with a full full boat of
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  Speaker 1: coverage next week as the Buckeyes get ready to take
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: on new Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, old friend
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: in Columbus, and the Penn State Nitney Allons, who are
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: not exactly having the season that they were expecting to have,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: but certainly going to be a marquee national game anyway.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: That is big noon kickoff next Saturday, so we will
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: be there for that one. We'll be there for all
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: the coverage leading up to that, so make sure you
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: join us at bucke Huddle dot com and at YouTube
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: dot com slash Buckeye Huddle. That'll do it for today.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: Thank you guys all for joining us. Have a great day.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: We'll talk to you tomorrow.