Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / Will Denzel Burke Be Back For The National Championship Game After A Cotton Bowl Injury?

Transcript

Will Denzel Burke Be Back For The National Championship Game After A Cotton Bowl Injury? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

0:00
Speaker 1: This is the first of what will probably be a
0:02
Speaker 1: number of bonus episodes on the Buckeyes Tomorrow morning feed
0:05
Speaker 1: between now and the National Championship game against Notre Dame
0:08
Speaker 1: in seven days, just to check you in. Yes, the
0:10
Speaker 1: game against Michigan in three hundred and twenty days, but
0:12
Speaker 1: we're not here to talk about that right now. There's
0:15
Speaker 1: plenty to talk about. But first, before we talk about
0:17
Speaker 1: that National Championship game, we got to talk about Grateful Griddle.
0:20
Speaker 1: They are new sponsor. If you were planning your next event, like, oh,
0:23
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe a National Championship game party, well
0:26
Speaker 1: you should make that unforgettable with Grateful Griddle, Bumps's favorite
0:30
Speaker 1: food truck serving up Smashburgers, Cormet sandwiches, and good vibes.
0:33
Speaker 1: Book your catering today at grateful griddle oh dot com.
0:38
Speaker 1: All right, so we're gonna let you hear right now
0:39
Speaker 1: from Ryan Day. Earlier in the day in the feed,
0:42
Speaker 1: you got to hear from Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame's head coach.
0:45
Speaker 1: Ryan Day took his turn on Zoom on Sunday afternoon.
0:49
Speaker 1: A lot of interesting stuff, A lot of questions that
0:51
Speaker 1: we're asked were questions that We've been getting a bunch
0:54
Speaker 1: since the end of the Cotton Bowl game, including like,
0:56
Speaker 1: what the heck happened that's set Treyvon Henderson off, and
0:59
Speaker 1: what the heck happened that Denzel Burke didn't play in
1:01
Speaker 1: the second game of the second half of the game.
1:03
Speaker 1: But let's start with the penalties. What was the deal
1:07
Speaker 1: with all those penalties? Is Ryan Day concerned about turnovers
1:11
Speaker 1: penalties in the Cotton Bowl potentially carrying forward into the
1:15
Speaker 1: National Championship game.
1:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, we're disappointed in the fact that, you know,
1:21
Speaker 2: we we really let four drives get away five with
1:24
Speaker 2: the turnover in the game, with penalties so self inflicted
1:28
Speaker 2: and and so you know, we feel like we need
1:32
Speaker 2: to play our best game in this game.
1:33
Speaker 3: We know that.
1:34
Speaker 2: And so there's nobody that came back on offense and
1:38
Speaker 2: was pleased with the fact that we we had those
1:40
Speaker 2: those penalties, and so went back on the film and
1:44
Speaker 2: and identify them.
1:44
Speaker 3: And the issues are always there. I've said it all along,
1:47
Speaker 3: and you know that that you know, win lose, doesn't matter.
1:51
Speaker 3: The issues are there.
1:52
Speaker 2: And the fact that you know, we turned the ball
1:55
Speaker 2: over once and then and then had the four drives
1:58
Speaker 2: that really got behind the sticks to fifteen yarders and
2:00
Speaker 2: two olden calls, and we certainly have the right and
2:03
Speaker 2: opportunity to you know, persevere through those penalties, but certainly
2:08
Speaker 2: sets us way behind the sticks, and we cannot have
2:10
Speaker 2: that in this game. This is a this is a
2:12
Speaker 2: team here that we're about to play against. It has
2:14
Speaker 2: been unbelievable creating turnovers and then you know, creating scores
2:18
Speaker 2: after their turnovers. So efficiency is going to be something
2:22
Speaker 2: that we've got to do a much better job up
2:23
Speaker 2: in this game if we're gonna win it.
2:26
Speaker 1: The fifteen yard personal foul on sportsman like conduct penalty
2:29
Speaker 1: on Travion Henderson was way out of character for who
2:32
Speaker 1: Travon Henderson is right now, So did ran Day get
2:35
Speaker 1: an explanation for what set off that penalty?
2:39
Speaker 2: You know, just the fact that there was back and
2:40
Speaker 2: forth and that you know Trey you know, made contact
2:45
Speaker 2: with his helmet and so you know, Travion obviously feels terrible,
2:50
Speaker 2: terrible about it and that, but you know, it's a
2:52
Speaker 2: lesson a lot of lessons to be learned there, and
2:54
Speaker 2: every every game you learn, you know, in Travion is
2:57
Speaker 2: somebody that you know, certainly he has grown in so
3:01
Speaker 2: many different areas of his life, and so to see
3:03
Speaker 2: him respond the way that he did after that speaks
3:06
Speaker 2: to his maturity. But he knows that he's got to
3:09
Speaker 2: play with emotion. He can't let a motion play with him.
3:12
Speaker 2: And so, you know, even Austin's you know, you know,
3:15
Speaker 2: he's hustling the ball and you know, we talking about.
3:17
Speaker 3: Pushing the pile and it's a great effort play.
3:18
Speaker 2: We talk about plus two and you know, we get
3:22
Speaker 2: the penalty there, which is a fifteen yarder, which really
3:24
Speaker 2: hurt after I think it was a twelve yard game.
3:26
Speaker 2: And so you know, those type of things we've got
3:29
Speaker 2: to do a good job of, you know, I you know,
3:31
Speaker 2: the holding calls, you know, certainly set us back, but
3:35
Speaker 2: you know, we we've got to do a good job
3:36
Speaker 2: with our execution overall. And that's going to be important
3:39
Speaker 2: in this game more than ever.
3:42
Speaker 1: What a difference a year makes. We've talked about that
3:44
Speaker 1: at the Cotton Bowl, where Ohio State finished with a
3:46
Speaker 1: listless fourteen to three loss to Missouri a year ago,
3:49
Speaker 1: and this year one of the more exciting twenty eight
3:52
Speaker 1: fourteen wins to advance of the National Championship in the
3:55
Speaker 1: Cotton Bowl this year. But the difference, well, this time
3:58
Speaker 1: last year they were eleven and one and going into
4:02
Speaker 1: a four team playoff, Well they missed out. So this
4:05
Speaker 1: year at ten and two with a twelve team playoff,
4:07
Speaker 1: they are in. And now they're in the National championship game. So,
4:12
Speaker 1: first of all, how happy is he that the format
4:14
Speaker 1: changed this year to give them this second opportunity? And
4:16
Speaker 1: second of all, did they change their approach at all
4:19
Speaker 1: with the fact that hey, this is going to be
4:21
Speaker 1: a long run through the playoffs in mind?
4:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, very very grateful. I think everybody in the program
4:26
Speaker 2: is to be in the situation, you know, for a
4:29
Speaker 2: lot of reasons. But I do think the new format
4:31
Speaker 2: has allowed our team to grow and build throughout the season,
4:36
Speaker 2: and as much as loss is hurt, you know, they
4:39
Speaker 2: really allow us as coaches and players to take a
4:45
Speaker 2: hard look at the issues and get them addressed, and
4:48
Speaker 2: then you know, it's about the business of getting them
4:50
Speaker 2: fixed as time goes on. And so I think that's
4:54
Speaker 2: really been the biggest thing that I've learned about this
4:57
Speaker 2: this format, which is I think has been great for
4:59
Speaker 2: our players.
5:00
Speaker 3: I think it's great for college football along.
5:02
Speaker 2: The way you know, we looked at a lot of
5:05
Speaker 2: different things and metrics about playing this many games, playing
5:08
Speaker 2: our sixteenth game, what that was going to be like,
5:10
Speaker 2: We knew it was going to be a little bit
5:12
Speaker 2: of a battle.
5:13
Speaker 3: Of attrition at times.
5:14
Speaker 2: So depth was certainly a critical part of roster management
5:18
Speaker 2: and Thailand acquisition, but also how we practice, how we play,
5:23
Speaker 2: and so we've taken all those things in consideration so
5:25
Speaker 2: that we're still really really fresh going into the end
5:27
Speaker 2: of the season.
5:29
Speaker 1: One of the most surprising developments from that Cotton Bowl
5:32
Speaker 1: was the Jeremiah Smith just one catch for three yards.
5:36
Speaker 1: Now that Ryan Day has had a chance to look
5:37
Speaker 1: at what Texas did to lock down Jeremiah Smith, how
5:40
Speaker 1: can they adapt to that for the National Championship game
5:43
Speaker 1: if Notre Dame try something similar.
5:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think when you look at it, it's a
5:47
Speaker 2: little bit more about execution than is anything else. You know,
5:50
Speaker 2: they really didn't play us any differently than some of
5:52
Speaker 2: the other teams that we played, but you know, we
5:55
Speaker 2: weren't able to sustain a few of those drives and
5:58
Speaker 2: connect on a couple other plays. So you know, we
6:02
Speaker 2: we know, you know, typically how teams are going to
6:05
Speaker 2: take a look at us and and play us. You know,
6:07
Speaker 2: they're going to play some man and they'll certainly you know,
6:10
Speaker 2: know where Jeremiah is, and then they'll play some one
6:12
Speaker 2: high and they'll play some two high, and they'll they'll
6:14
Speaker 2: mix it up. But ultimately, at the end of the day,
6:17
Speaker 2: you know, we've got to execute at a high level and
6:18
Speaker 2: continue to move the ball down the field. And so
6:22
Speaker 2: you know, we'll do the same thing this week. We
6:24
Speaker 2: put our game plan together. But you know, he's obviously
6:27
Speaker 2: a huge part of our offenses, you know, and so
6:31
Speaker 2: you know there's there's different ways that teams will adjust
6:34
Speaker 2: based on you know, what he's done and what he's
6:36
Speaker 2: capable of, and so you know, we'll identify what those
6:39
Speaker 2: are in this game and then go from there. But uh,
6:41
Speaker 2: to me, you know, the story of this past game
6:44
Speaker 2: for us on offense was you know, the you know,
6:47
Speaker 2: self inflicted wounds that that set us back and it
6:50
Speaker 2: allowed us to be in the game in the fourth
6:53
Speaker 2: quarter when I think we could have done a better
6:54
Speaker 2: job of executing and and certainly you know, made it
6:57
Speaker 2: a little bit of a bigger spread down and down
6:59
Speaker 2: down the stretch, you know, And.
7:01
Speaker 3: So that's going to be the focus this week. Always
7:03
Speaker 3: things to work on, and that's going to be it.
7:05
Speaker 3: This week.
7:05
Speaker 2: We've got a player best game against Notre Dame. This
7:07
Speaker 2: is a very very good team. You know, they are
7:10
Speaker 2: a very resilient team. They play well together. I think,
7:15
Speaker 2: you know, Ryle Leonard is a tremendous leader and a
7:17
Speaker 2: tremendous player and a winner. And you know, their their
7:21
Speaker 2: coaching staff does a great job. Got a lot of
7:23
Speaker 2: respect for their players and their coaches and so this
7:26
Speaker 2: is this is going to be a complete battle and
7:28
Speaker 2: we know that. So we've got to play our best
7:30
Speaker 2: game this season in the last one.
7:33
Speaker 1: One of the things that kind of got lost in
7:35
Speaker 1: the shuffle during the Cotton Bowl was at Denzel Burke.
7:37
Speaker 1: He didn't really play in the second half of the game.
7:39
Speaker 1: So what went into that decision and turning over to
7:43
Speaker 1: Jermaine Matthews to fill that corner spot.
7:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's he'll he'll be available for for the next game.
7:49
Speaker 2: I was dealing with, you know, an upper extremity issue
7:53
Speaker 2: that you know, we felt like at the time was
7:57
Speaker 2: the right thing to do to hold them. You know,
7:59
Speaker 2: obviously we listen to the doctors and we get the
8:01
Speaker 2: feedback from Denzel, and we felt like Jermaine was playing
8:05
Speaker 2: well at the time, so that was the decision that
8:07
Speaker 2: was made.
8:08
Speaker 3: But Denzel will be ready to play in this game.
8:11
Speaker 1: Jermaine Matthews has won a bigger role on the team
8:14
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the season and then played a
8:16
Speaker 1: huge role in the second half of that win over Texas.
8:18
Speaker 1: So what did ran Day think about how Jermaine Matthews played.
8:22
Speaker 2: I think everybody feels comfortable putting Jermaine in the game
8:24
Speaker 2: based on the way that he's played this this year,
8:26
Speaker 2: the way that he's practiced this year. You know, say
8:30
Speaker 2: this all the time. You have an opportunity to earn
8:32
Speaker 2: trust in your coaches and your teammates every day. And
8:36
Speaker 2: when you get to this point, you know in January,
8:38
Speaker 2: you know, this is from the whole off season, all
8:41
Speaker 2: of preseason and during the season, and you know, we've
8:45
Speaker 2: talked about how depth is going to be important in
8:46
Speaker 2: this moment. You know a ton throughout the season, and
8:49
Speaker 2: Jermaine's done a good job and I think everybody, you know,
8:54
Speaker 2: trust the fact that when he goes in a game,
8:57
Speaker 2: you know he's going to do his job, and that's it.
9:00
Speaker 2: I felt like he played well. He gritted out a champion.
9:03
Speaker 2: And see, he's a he's a very competitive player. You know,
9:07
Speaker 2: he loves the competition, he loves his teammates, and you
9:11
Speaker 2: know he's a gritty type of guy that loves being
9:14
Speaker 2: a buck guy.
9:15
Speaker 3: I loves his teammates, loves again to compete.
9:17
Speaker 2: So you know, when when his numbers called, he'll be
9:21
Speaker 2: ready to make a play in this game as well.
9:24
Speaker 1: Every time Ohio State goes more than about four or
9:26
Speaker 1: five players without throwing the ball to Jeremiah Smith, everyone
9:28
Speaker 1: on Twitter wonders why is Ohio State not getting the
9:30
Speaker 1: ball to Jeremiah Smith. More So, how does Ohio State
9:34
Speaker 1: balance wanting to get the ball into jeremiahs in the hands,
9:37
Speaker 1: knowing that he does the stuff that he does when
9:39
Speaker 1: the ball is in his hands, but also when the
9:42
Speaker 1: opponent is really focused laser focused on taking Jeremiah Smith
9:45
Speaker 1: a way, Well, how do you balance that with just
9:48
Speaker 1: taking what the opponent is giving you.
9:50
Speaker 2: The ultimate goal is to you know, score points and
9:54
Speaker 2: move the ball, and there's a lot of things that
9:57
Speaker 2: come into play. You know, we want balance, and that's
10:00
Speaker 2: why it's important to make sure that we have balance
10:02
Speaker 2: across the board. You did see Carnell get targeted a
10:06
Speaker 2: lot more. He was in a situation where you know,
10:10
Speaker 2: there was a couple of situations where you know, they
10:12
Speaker 2: were clouding to Jeremiah's side or giving him a little
10:15
Speaker 2: more attention that allowed Carnell to to you know, have
10:18
Speaker 2: more targets come his way. And so same thing with
10:21
Speaker 2: the Mecca Gee Scott had some big plays.
10:23
Speaker 3: So, uh, tray beon.
10:25
Speaker 2: And I think that's the key is that when you
10:27
Speaker 2: have you know, weapons across the board, it's a little
10:29
Speaker 2: bit harder, like you said, to just take one thing away.
10:32
Speaker 2: And then it's you know, our job, you know, in
10:35
Speaker 2: Will's job, to make sure that you know, we understand
10:37
Speaker 2: what what they're.
10:37
Speaker 3: Taking away and what they're giving up. And that's that's
10:40
Speaker 3: the key here.
10:40
Speaker 2: And you know, I think you'll find that most defenses
10:44
Speaker 2: are going to have different plans to take away what
10:45
Speaker 2: you do well. And that's you know, whether it's the
10:48
Speaker 2: run game, a certain player, a pass game, or whatever.
10:51
Speaker 3: It might be.
10:52
Speaker 2: And and and good teams and good offenses have tendencies.
10:55
Speaker 2: So you know, we'll try to identify what that's going
10:58
Speaker 2: to be in this game. And certainly as the game
10:59
Speaker 2: gets started, and gets going and then make sure that
11:02
Speaker 2: ultimately we're moving the ball down the field. And that's it,
11:04
Speaker 2: and you know, we've got to execute at a high
11:07
Speaker 2: level and continue to move the ball down the field
11:08
Speaker 2: because I thought, you know, other than the penalties that
11:12
Speaker 2: set us back, there was a lot of good play.
11:14
Speaker 2: So that's that's what's frustrating about coming off of the
11:17
Speaker 2: last game. But that's it, and that's football, and so
11:19
Speaker 2: we got to make sure that we're on our game
11:21
Speaker 2: and everybody's doing their job.
11:22
Speaker 1: There were a couple of plays during that Cotton Bowl
11:24
Speaker 1: that you look back on it and it's like, boy,
11:26
Speaker 1: if they had lost, this would be a play that
11:28
Speaker 1: goes down in Ohio State infamy. Instead they're just kind
11:30
Speaker 1: of footnotes. How About like the interception right after halftime.
11:34
Speaker 1: Ohio State gets the ball, They've got momentum following that
11:37
Speaker 1: Travon Henderson seventy five yard touchdown run. They get the
11:39
Speaker 1: ball to start the second half, have a chance to
11:41
Speaker 1: take control the game, and boom, interception. Texas gets the
11:45
Speaker 1: ball and gets momentum right back. So what was Ryan
11:47
Speaker 1: Day's view of what happened? What went wrong on that interception?
11:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was it was just a cover three, and
11:53
Speaker 2: I don't think we get great play action. I think
11:56
Speaker 2: we need to get our pads down lower up front.
11:58
Speaker 2: I think the mesh between the quarterback and a running
12:01
Speaker 2: back has to be better. We sold a counter on
12:03
Speaker 2: that play, and it was just it was a cover three.
12:06
Speaker 2: So there really wasn't anything done to be taken away
12:08
Speaker 2: with Jeremiah. You know, we gave a little bit of
12:12
Speaker 2: leakage there on the tight end, which forced Will to,
12:17
Speaker 2: you know, really speed up his decision. I think if
12:19
Speaker 2: he had a little bit more time, he would have
12:21
Speaker 2: worked his way out to the field. To your point,
12:23
Speaker 2: I thought Mecca ran an ice route right there, and
12:25
Speaker 2: I think he would have he would have worked his
12:27
Speaker 2: way over to a Mecca next. So his lot that
12:29
Speaker 2: went into that play, but that was that was just
12:32
Speaker 2: a cover three that we could have done a better
12:34
Speaker 2: job with our pads selling the play action which would
12:36
Speaker 2: open up the routes down the field better.
12:39
Speaker 1: Both Ohio State and Notre Dame are starting first year
12:42
Speaker 1: starters at quarterback, or at least first year at their program.
12:45
Speaker 1: Starters at quarterback. Will Howard, of course, transferred from Kansas State,
12:49
Speaker 1: where he was a multi year starter Riley Leonard transferred
12:51
Speaker 1: from Duke to Notre Dame where he was a multi
12:53
Speaker 1: year starter. So when Ohio State was looking at quarterbacks
12:57
Speaker 1: last off season, did they give Riley Leonard a look?
13:00
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think Riley made his decision pretty quickly.
13:03
Speaker 2: But he somebody that I've respected from afar and just
13:08
Speaker 2: the way that he competes, and he's a great athlete,
13:10
Speaker 2: He's got a great mindset and you know, again watching
13:14
Speaker 2: him play this year and the toughness in leadership that
13:18
Speaker 2: he brings, you can tell the offense and the entire
13:21
Speaker 2: team feeds off of him.
13:23
Speaker 3: And so a lot of respect for his game.
13:26
Speaker 1: In a game as filled with drama as the Cotton
13:28
Speaker 1: Bowl was, there are a million little plays that end
13:31
Speaker 1: up making a huge difference. One of them was the
13:34
Speaker 1: second down play, second in goal for Texas at the
13:37
Speaker 1: one yard line, kind of a toss play. Haleb Downs
13:40
Speaker 1: gets in, kind of blows it up, Lathan Ransom comes in,
13:42
Speaker 1: cleans it up. How big was that play by Caleb
13:46
Speaker 1: Downs just to blow up that play and then set
13:49
Speaker 1: up that Jack Sawyer interception and then he was sort
13:52
Speaker 1: of gets into his reaction as well to the play
13:54
Speaker 1: by Jack Sawyer.
13:56
Speaker 2: Now I want to spend too much time talking about
13:58
Speaker 2: the last game because our focus is on this next game.
14:00
Speaker 2: But you know, to make a stand down there like
14:03
Speaker 2: we did the balls on a one yard line, and
14:06
Speaker 2: you know, as a coach, like you know, you've got
14:07
Speaker 2: to plan.
14:08
Speaker 3: You got to see what's ahead.
14:09
Speaker 2: I think it's the job of the leader to look
14:10
Speaker 2: around along the horizon to figure out what's coming next
14:12
Speaker 2: and have a plan for it. So in your mind
14:14
Speaker 2: as a coach, you're thinking yourself, Okay, we got to
14:16
Speaker 2: go put a drive together to go win the game.
14:19
Speaker 2: But then we get a stop there on the on
14:21
Speaker 2: the first down play and the second down play when
14:23
Speaker 2: the ball gets to the edge, you just see both
14:25
Speaker 2: Caleb a and Latham run the run to the ball fast.
14:28
Speaker 3: You know, the defense recognize it quickly.
14:30
Speaker 2: And to your point, that's all the preparation and work
14:34
Speaker 2: that gets done, you know, in the meeting room and
14:36
Speaker 2: walk throughs in the film room, to make sure that
14:39
Speaker 2: you know you're anticipating as opposed to reacting. And to me,
14:42
Speaker 2: that's the key. And both of those guys are playing
14:45
Speaker 2: at a high level and fast, and certainly Caleb played
14:47
Speaker 2: a great game. I was able to finish it with
14:49
Speaker 2: that interception. But then you know, obviously to watch Jack
14:52
Speaker 2: make that play again, in your mind, you're going from
14:55
Speaker 2: you know, we got to go score to win the game,
14:58
Speaker 2: to the game that's got the field and you can.
15:00
Speaker 3: Almost see it happening in front of you.
15:03
Speaker 2: Just the fact that you know this is this is
15:05
Speaker 2: a play that will go down in Buckeye history, is
15:07
Speaker 2: one of the greatest. But and that's just how excited
15:09
Speaker 2: I think, just the elation of all of us, and
15:13
Speaker 2: it was, you know, yeah, as happy as I've been
15:15
Speaker 2: in a long time, just you know, watching the players
15:19
Speaker 2: enjoy that moment, and I think that's you know, as
15:21
Speaker 2: a coach, why you do this. But that being said,
15:24
Speaker 2: that's behind us. You know what, we can talk about this,
15:26
Speaker 2: you know, you know, in a couple of weeks. Right now,
15:28
Speaker 2: it's all focused on this game.
15:31
Speaker 1: This is the third year in a row that Ohio
15:32
Speaker 1: State and Notre Dame will play, and you may recall
15:35
Speaker 1: their twenty twenty three game at Notre Dame bring into
15:38
Speaker 1: a little bit of a referendum on Ohio State's toughness
15:40
Speaker 1: and could the Buckeyes beat a team as physical and
15:44
Speaker 1: tough in the trenches as Notre Dame, and the answer
15:46
Speaker 1: turned out to be yes. But what does Rian Day
15:48
Speaker 1: remember about that game?
15:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have tremendous amount of respect for Notre Dame
15:55
Speaker 2: and certainly what Marcus has done there. I think they're
15:59
Speaker 2: a gritty group, the tough group. There, a great program,
16:01
Speaker 2: and you know, last two years has been a battle
16:04
Speaker 2: playing against them, and.
16:05
Speaker 3: We know it's going to be the same way.
16:08
Speaker 2: Every year is a different group of guys in a
16:10
Speaker 2: different situation. This is a different situation and it'll be
16:12
Speaker 2: the same way. But no, I mean every game, you know,
16:17
Speaker 2: you're either trying to prove somebody right or prove somebody wrong.
16:19
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter, you know when it is, and it'll
16:21
Speaker 2: be the same thing in this game here.
16:23
Speaker 1: You probably remember after that game, Ryan Day saying he
16:26
Speaker 1: wanted to know where lou Holtz was. Now he was
16:28
Speaker 1: asked if he knew I had talked to lou Holtz
16:30
Speaker 1: at all since that He said no, So there you go. No,
16:34
Speaker 1: he never did find out apparently where who lou Holtz was.
16:36
Speaker 1: So now moving forward, they had the game against Cotton,
16:41
Speaker 1: the Cotton Bowl against Texas, where Jack Sawyer becomes the
16:45
Speaker 1: toast of the town. Do you maybe, as Ohio States
16:47
Speaker 1: head coach, use that moving forward to say to you guys, like, look,
16:51
Speaker 1: here's what's on the line. You could become a legend
16:53
Speaker 1: with one play, just like Jack Sawyer did. If you
16:57
Speaker 1: are one who makes that play in the National Championship.
17:00
Speaker 2: Mh, We're gonna, you know, maybe talk about that down
17:04
Speaker 2: the road. You know, we did going into the game,
17:08
Speaker 2: talk about how if you want to leave a legacy behind,
17:10
Speaker 2: the best way to leave a legacy has become your
17:12
Speaker 2: own legend. And that was something that it was told
17:15
Speaker 2: to me recently that I kind of grabbed onto and
17:18
Speaker 2: I think it was right on board with what just happened.
17:21
Speaker 2: And it'll be the same thing in this game. You know,
17:23
Speaker 2: these are the types of games where where that stage
17:26
Speaker 2: is set to become a legend. And and so I
17:30
Speaker 2: think these guys know that. But again, you know, all
17:34
Speaker 2: the focus and I know, you know, it sounds like
17:36
Speaker 2: a broken record when it comes to this has got
17:38
Speaker 2: to be on the on the next game. You know,
17:39
Speaker 2: if we think, you know, anything that we've done leading
17:43
Speaker 2: up to this point has anything to do with what's
17:44
Speaker 2: going to happen in this game, we are we are
17:46
Speaker 2: we are dead wrong. So wipe that slate completely clean.
17:50
Speaker 2: And then we've got to go back and have the
17:52
Speaker 2: discipline to continue to do the work that we've done
17:55
Speaker 2: in the last three games going into this game right here.
17:58
Speaker 2: But you know, I I can't tell you that there
18:01
Speaker 2: isn't you know, confidence coming off of the last game,
18:03
Speaker 2: coming off the last couple of games. That's good, but
18:06
Speaker 2: again it's got to be it's got to be moving forward.
18:08
Speaker 2: And this is a this is a very very good team.
18:11
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, they've only lost one game, and
18:15
Speaker 2: the teams that they've played in this playoff are tremendous
18:19
Speaker 2: teams and they play well together. They're tough, they're resilient,
18:23
Speaker 2: they find ways to win, and so you know, we
18:26
Speaker 2: we've got to do every We got to play our
18:28
Speaker 2: best game to win this game. I'm just telling you,
18:29
Speaker 2: we have to play our best game and that's going
18:31
Speaker 2: to be the focus. And that's that's where we're going
18:33
Speaker 2: moving forward. There'll be time to tell the story, you know,
18:37
Speaker 2: after the season, but the only way the story is
18:40
Speaker 2: told is if we win.
18:41
Speaker 3: And that's it.
18:42
Speaker 2: That's that's the sobering message to our team, and so
18:45
Speaker 2: we need to understand that. And you know this game
18:48
Speaker 2: is going to get on as fast, so we've got
18:50
Speaker 2: to get to work and make sure that we're having
18:52
Speaker 2: great meetings, great preparation, great practice, great walkthrough and you
18:57
Speaker 2: know that's that's it. I wish I could tell you
18:58
Speaker 2: there's some magic recipe, but that's that's the formula that
19:01
Speaker 2: we got to make sure we're just one enough to
19:03
Speaker 2: make sure we do again this week to finish it
19:05
Speaker 2: out strong.
19:06
Speaker 1: And finally, a little chat about the defensive line. Looking
19:09
Speaker 1: back at that twenty twenty three Ohio State Notre Dame game,
19:12
Speaker 1: it's important to remember important to remember that j T
19:15
Speaker 1: two moloow Jack Sawyer. They played every snap of that game.
19:19
Speaker 1: In the back half of this season, Ohio State has
19:21
Speaker 1: been rotating the defensive ends way more, the whole defensive line. Really,
19:25
Speaker 1: they've played much more depth. So how have those young
19:28
Speaker 1: guys and how is the Ohios de defense on the
19:30
Speaker 1: defensive line on the whole gotten so much better and
19:33
Speaker 1: so much more impact.
19:35
Speaker 2: I think when you've played as much football as these
19:39
Speaker 2: guys have played, the game slows down. You start to
19:41
Speaker 2: understand time, situation, score, and when you're young, you're just
19:46
Speaker 2: playing place you don't quite understand the adjustments in game.
19:50
Speaker 2: You don't always understand, you know, down in distance necessarily.
19:54
Speaker 2: You know, understand that this situation all the time. As
19:57
Speaker 2: you get older and you play more, you just become
19:59
Speaker 2: more of all those things, and you know, setting guys
20:03
Speaker 2: up for late or later in the game and all
20:05
Speaker 2: those things. And so if you look at our guys,
20:07
Speaker 2: they've played a lot of football. I think the second
20:09
Speaker 2: thing is I think Larry Johnson's done a great job
20:11
Speaker 2: at keeping those guys fresh. You saw, you know, guys
20:14
Speaker 2: rotating in the game, and that was important that the
20:16
Speaker 2: guys were able to play well down the stretch.
20:20
Speaker 3: And so you know, that's that's a big part of it.
20:23
Speaker 2: But we all know how big the you know, the
20:25
Speaker 2: offense and defensive lines are in these types of games.
20:27
Speaker 2: And it's gonna be the same challenge going into this
20:29
Speaker 2: because they have a great front on both sides of
20:31
Speaker 2: the ball.
20:33
Speaker 3: So there you go.
20:33
Speaker 1: You've heard from Marcus Freeman, You've heard from Ryan Day.
20:35
Speaker 1: We're gonna have much more coverage throughout the week. We're
20:38
Speaker 1: gon be talking to assistant coaches, gonna be talking to players.
20:41
Speaker 1: We should will be hearing from Notre Dame assistant coaches
20:43
Speaker 1: and players this week as well, and we head down
20:45
Speaker 1: to Atlanta on Friday, So to the Buckeyes, So to
20:48
Speaker 1: the Fighting Irish. It should be a full weekend of
20:51
Speaker 1: coverage for you at Buckey Huddle dot com and YouTube
20:54
Speaker 1: dot com slash Buckeye Huddle.
20:55
Speaker 3: We hope to see you there.
20:56
Speaker 1: That'll do it for now. Thank you guys all for
20:57
Speaker 1: joining us.
20:58
Speaker 3: Have a great day.
20:59
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you tomorrow.