Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / Ohio State Football Insider: Buckeyes Aiming For More Explosive Plays

Transcript

Ohio State Football Insider: Buckeyes Aiming For More Explosive Plays · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Sunday, March twenty
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: ninth time, your host Tom wore the ball State game
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: in one hundred and sixty days the game against Michigan
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: in two hundred and.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Forty four days.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: If you're planning your next event, make it Underforgettable with
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Grateful Griddle, Columbus's favorite food truck.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: They are now on Uber, each, Scrubhub, and Ordash.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Just search for Grateful Griddle there or check out Gratefulgriddle
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: oh dot com. Four more Tom Moore joined by Tony
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Gerdaman here inside the Woody Hayes Athletics Center following practice
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: number five of the spring for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: They are one third of the way through spring ball
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: and now just under three weeks away from the spring game.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Hard to believe, but here we are.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: And we got a chance to talk after practice with
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Smith and Cortez Hanked in the new wide receivers coach.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Both had some really interesting.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Stuff to say, and I think this time of year,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: I'm always most interested in you know. We did a
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Buckeye Weekly episode on some of the young guys who
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: were sort of popping, and that's always of a lot
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: of interest, but I'm always always also interested in what
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: are they working on. Where did they feel like they
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: came up short last year? And one of the things
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: that we talked about some last year, but that has
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: certainly been a conversation inside this building as well, is
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: big plays, generating explosives in the passing game.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: And that's something that sounds like it's been a focus
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: this spring well.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: And as Courtus Acton said, last year, the downfield explosives fine, great,
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: but I think, as Jeremiah said, the overall the yards
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: after catch, they were almost last in a nation. So
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: Courtess Sanctans said, that's always something that he's focused on,
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: is the turning a six yard catch into a home run.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: And so you come to Ohio State and you see
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: like this is an area right away that can be
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: improved upon. Is also something that Ryan Day said, Look,
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: I want to do this. So it was, you know,
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: two great minds coming together on we both need to
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: you know, I want this improved, I improve this. So
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: that idea of and we've seen it talking with Brandon Innis,
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: who talked about his focus on being more explosive in
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: the short yardage stuff, breaking tackles. He mentioned running through
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: arm tackles and soft shoulders and things like that, So
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: that's gonna be a huge emphasis, which I think also
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: allows Juliet Saying to keep his seventy seven percent completion
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: percentage while also taking more shots downfield if they.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Want, Yeah and yeah, if he can hit, if you
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: throw shorter passes and he hit bigger throws down field, great,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: if you can, then that probably opens some stuff up downfield.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: So one person who will probably help with that is
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Kyle Parker, who we talked about a little bit on
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: the Buckeye Weekly episode, but he lost his black stripe
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: on Saturday. He is someone who sort of fits that
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: mold of someone who may you know, he's he will
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: probably be at least somewhat in the slot, and that
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: maybe exclusively or maybe largely.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: We'll see how that ends up sort of sorting out.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: But he seems like someone who maybe allows them to
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: do some of the things that they maybe weren't able
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: to do last year.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: Well, I've talked about this with other people, maybe you
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: as well. When you look at him, he looks like
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: he could fit into the running back room. He's listed
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: five eleven five ten five eleven one ninety five, who
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: is a type of receiver who can run through some tackles,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: and Hankton mentioned he's physical, got a great football IQ,
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: understands the commotion and the traffic inside very well. And
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: another guy who's working on the yards up to catch,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: making people miss. It's been such a focus that spring
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: is making people mess.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: The other guy who was a transfer in addition to
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Kyle Parker was Devin McEwan. And boy listening to Cortez Hankton,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Cortez Hankton is it sounds like very excited about what
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Devin McEwan could bring this year.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, his great kid wants to learn once to be elite.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: Has really embraced the culture here as Kyle Parker has
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: great speed. He talked about his acceleration after the catch
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: is Lee is Elee.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: It's very very good.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: And so that's again we've seen. You could watch his
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: college highlights, his college highlights, and you see a lot
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: of the short screen passes that he can take the distance.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: So it makes sense that they're going to try to
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: make more of that as well. But fast wants to
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: be great and has made the step from Texas San
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: Antonio to Ohio State to get that done.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: And someone who did not have to make a any
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: kind of you know, didn't have to pack up a
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: U haul truck, but does have to kind of take
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: another step this year is Brandon Innis. And this is
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: someone that Jeremiah Smith was talking about. And Jeremiah Smith
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: talks about him with a lot of respect, a lot
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: of you know, I mean, like game recognized game kind
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: of thing, but also said this is a do or
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: die year from him, like he's gonna take the leap,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: but he has to take the leap this year.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's senior year. Brandon Innis a set a goal.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: It wants to be a first round draft pick and
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: continue that legacy at Ohio State. And you know that's
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: it's gonna be. That's a massive jump from thirty six
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: catches or whatever last year seven a half yards of
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: catch to now you're a first rounder. A lot has
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: to happen in that, you know, in that year, and
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: he knows it, and he's working on it again, working
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: to make player, make defenders miss, working to be more
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: explosive after the catch, doing everything you can to be
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: able to make bigger plays. And you'll have also have
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: people tell you that, well, you know, he was opened
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: a lot in the slot downfield, and so that's seven
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: and a half yards per catch. Didn't have to be
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: seven and a half yards per catch if maybe he
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: was earlier in the progressions.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: And finally to the other guy, who I guess we
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: have to talk about, Jeremiah Smith himself. He had he
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: talked about the fact that today, you know, a lot
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: of the times of questions with him are boy, you
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: sure make football look.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Easy, huh, And he said football is not easy. Football
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: is very hard.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: And one of the keys to making football look easy
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: is he has always been the hardest working guy on
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: whatever team he's on.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and it doesn't matter how many All Americans, how
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: many awards, whatever, he's that's who he is. He's going
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: to be the hardest worker. He's going to set the tone.
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: He's going to be the example for everybody else. But
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: even if nobody else is watching, or if you're not
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: setting in a example for anybody else, I'm still going
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: to do me. And that's just that's the baseline, and
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: whatever else happens happens. But yeah, there's no changing that.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: That's who he's going to be. And talking with other
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: people here today, like he could be this arrogant you know,
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: short answer, like, that's not who he is at all.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: He'll give you his thoughts and it always goes back
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: to football because he was asked, you know, what's your
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: hardest class is like, I don't know. I got good grades,
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: so that's all pretty easy. But football is hard and
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: it's not meant to be easy. And if it is
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: easy for you, you're probably not working hard enough well.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: And he kind of fits into that.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: That's sort of the culture in here where every time
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: I walk in here, I'm always like mildly surprised that
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Marvin Harrison Junior isn't on the monarch machine at the
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: other end of the of the indoor field. It's like,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: are you really where did he go? Right, He's been
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: gone for like three years.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: I forgot he's got one back in Arizona.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: I'm sure he's on the monarch machine wherever he is now.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Yes, but you know, he that's sort of what the
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: culture is.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: But that doesn't mean you're always successful.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Because one thing Jeremiah talked about was practice on Saturday.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: It's not it's not you know, he may make it
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: look easy, but it's not always easy.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he said, it was a frustrating day. He and
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: Julian were just having trouble connecting, and just sometimes happens.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: It happens in games where just things, the timing isn't right,
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: defense is a little too good, or just whatever, something
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: is off, and this is one of those days. So
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: it's good that you can have frustrating days, because if
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: every day was worked just fine in the spring or whatever,
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: you like, I guess we're good. Yeah, I guess for
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: a set, But no, when you have some frustrating days,
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: it's like, what was the what was the problem? Let's
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: fix that, Let's keep that from happening again.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: What is the issue? What was the issue?
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you've gotta you can't play the whole spring on
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: junior versity level.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: You've got to get.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: You've got to work. You know, you've got to make
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: yourself work a little harder because you're going to be
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: playing better competition at some point during this fall.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: If you look at the schedule, they're gonna be playing
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: good competition quite a bit this fall.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: So, last thing from Cortez Hankton. You talked about Jeremiah
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Smith being a generational talent, but also a great kid.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Almost started of doing a drill with him and just
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: he said he just like tried kind of like bumped
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: into him and said, Jeremiah Smith basically ran him over,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: which you know, I guess that's more acceptable in this
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: type of a work environment than a typical office setting.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: And you know, Terry Tate office linebacker works a little
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: better in the football building. But again, a lot of
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the stuff that makes Jeremiah Smith is not just he's
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: a physical freak.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: It's all the other stuff.
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'm thinking that, you know, should HR get
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: involved for that. But the coach has also hit the
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: players with baseball bats, So there's some give and take here.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: There's foam on the baseball bats, to be clear, but to.
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: Be clear, but yeah, he's everything that you would want.
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: And as Cortest Hankton said, it's it's a blessing to
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: be able to coach him like he he is thankful
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: for being here and for a number of reasons. But
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: to be able to coach somebody who is wants to
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: be a finished product but knows they never will be,
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: I think it's a blessing for a coach.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: All right, So there you go.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: Wrap up from practice number five of the spring for
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: the Ohio State Buckeyes. They'll be back in here a
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: couple of times this week, and then next Saturday we'll
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: be the student appreciation practice.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: We'll be inher you to watch probably most or all
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: of that.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: So that's always that's always a good, good sort of
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: check in with where guys have grown and what has
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: changed since the first week of spring ball. So we'll
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: have coverage with that all week long at bucke huddle
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: dot com and of course at YouTube dot com slash
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Bucky Huddle.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: That'll do it for today. Thank you guys all for
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: joining us. Have a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.