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Tennessee Football Notebook: "It's All About How You Finish" · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Friday, December twentieth.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom Moore. The Tennessee game is tomorrow,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the game against Michigan.
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  Speaker 2: In three hundred and forty four days.
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  Speaker 1: We have reached almost the end of game week for
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  Speaker 1: the first college football playoff game ever played inside Ohio Stadium,
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  Speaker 1: Buckeyes and Tennessee Volunteers kicking off at eight pm on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: The game will be on ESPN, but before that, we
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  Speaker 1: are going to have a ton of coverage for you
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  Speaker 1: at YouTube dot com, Slash Bucke Huddle, Bunny of coverage
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  Speaker 1: throughout the day on Saturday, Bunny of coverage after the
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  Speaker 1: game on Saturday early Sunday morning, Boy, oh boy, is
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  Speaker 1: there going to be a lot to talk about either way.
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  Speaker 1: After that game, we will have a ton of coverage
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  Speaker 1: for you. We'll get into a little more detail on
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  Speaker 1: that a little bit later on in the show, but
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  Speaker 1: first wanted to kind of wrap things up on the
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  Speaker 1: Tennessee side of things. We've kind of talked this damn
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  Speaker 1: game to death in a bunch of different areas, but
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  Speaker 1: I did want to let you hear one more time
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  Speaker 1: from the Tennis Volunteers consider this like a video notebook
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  Speaker 1: of sorts, just kind of wrapping up what we learned
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  Speaker 1: from the volunteers during interviews that you hear from a
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  Speaker 1: couple players you haven't heard from yet. Let's start though
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  Speaker 1: the Tennessee head coach Josh Hypel. He did his last
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  Speaker 1: press conference on Wednesday this week did it audio.
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  Speaker 2: Only, which is a little weird, but whatever. So you're
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  Speaker 2: going to get.
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  Speaker 1: Josh Hipel's audio. The podcast folks will not know any different.
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  Speaker 1: The video folks, you're just gonna get a little graphic.
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  Speaker 2: It'll be fine.
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  Speaker 1: But here's Josh Hypel getting asked about Tennessee and their
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  Speaker 1: ability to kind of win some of their clunkers. They
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  Speaker 1: did not always play their best. They played a more
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  Speaker 1: close games than the Buckeyes did during the course of
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  Speaker 1: the season, and they won a decent number on them.
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  Speaker 1: They beat Alabama and a game where their offense wasn't
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  Speaker 1: really playing very well. They beat Florida in a game
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  Speaker 1: where their offense wasn't really playing very well. And they
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  Speaker 1: might have to win a game on Saturday where their
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  Speaker 1: offense doesn't put up a ton of points.
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  Speaker 2: So what is it about this team that makes that possible?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there was a stretch there in their
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  Speaker 3: earlier part of the conference schedule were offensively. You know,
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  Speaker 3: we didn't perform our best in the first half, and
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  Speaker 3: you know, as coaches and players together, at the end
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  Speaker 3: of the day, it's always about how you finish and
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  Speaker 3: being on the right side of the scoreboard.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 3: I think this group as a whole, one of the
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  Speaker 3: things that I really appreciate them about them is how
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  Speaker 3: they how mature they are as competitors, the ability to
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  Speaker 3: play the next play independently, play for each other, got
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  Speaker 3: a great mindset, and you know as you get into them,
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  Speaker 3: two games like this against great opponents, and you know,
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  Speaker 3: they got good scheme, good coaches, and really good personnel.
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  Speaker 3: Understand you know there's gonna be 's and clothes in
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  Speaker 3: the ballgame, and you got to continue to play and compete.
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  Speaker 3: So I think, as much as anything, that's a real
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  Speaker 3: credit to the guys that we have in the locker room.
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  Speaker 1: One of the reasons I was saying earlier that they
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  Speaker 1: might have to win with that scoring a lot of
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  Speaker 1: points is this is a matchup of two of the very
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  Speaker 1: best defenses in the entire country. So, for example, the
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  Speaker 1: buck Eyes have allowed the fewest forty yard plays of
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  Speaker 1: any team in the nation just to all season Tennessee. Well,
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  Speaker 1: they're tied for second in the nation with just three
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  Speaker 1: plays of forty yards are more allowed all season. Buckeys
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  Speaker 1: are the best in the nation in scoring defense, allowing
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  Speaker 1: just ten point nine points per game. Tennessee is fourth
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  Speaker 1: at thirteen point nine points per game. So what has
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  Speaker 1: defensive coordinator Tim Banks done to build this Tennessee defense
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  Speaker 1: into such a dominant unit since he arrived in twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty one.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we have taken steps every single year, and you know,
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  Speaker 3: we didn't talk much spot of them we first got here.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I think we have fifty five scholarship players
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  Speaker 3: are on campus, and as we rebuilt our roster navigated
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  Speaker 3: some of the things that we had to you know,
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  Speaker 3: we continued to take steps. Our players got great trust
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  Speaker 3: in what we're doing, but also our coaches, and when
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  Speaker 3: you have that, they're able to trust in the information
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  Speaker 3: that you're given on kind of continue to grow and
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  Speaker 3: push forward, continue to get better fundamentally, and you know,
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  Speaker 3: just added depth for our roster. The ability to play
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  Speaker 3: as many guys as we have this year has allowed
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  Speaker 3: us to you know, stay fresh d in the course
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  Speaker 3: of the ball game, but throughout the course of the
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  Speaker 3: season as well. And our depth, you know, in past
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  Speaker 3: years has been something that you know, kind of caught
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  Speaker 3: up with us at the end. But coach Banks does
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  Speaker 3: a great job of the leading that side of the football,
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  Speaker 3: does a great job with scheme and development.
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  Speaker 1: Our personnel obviously talking a lot about the college football
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  Speaker 1: playoff this week, but it is also a transfer portal
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  Speaker 1: season in college football, and you're seeing guys, even guys
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  Speaker 1: on playoff teams heading into the portal and off campus
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  Speaker 1: even in the middle of the season. So Tennessee, you
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  Speaker 1: heard him talking about the depth that they play. How
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  Speaker 1: difficult is it to maintain that kind of depth to
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  Speaker 1: play as many guys as they do in the era
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  Speaker 1: of the transfer portal roster management.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think there's anything easy as far as any
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  Speaker 3: of it goes in today's landscape. And you know, our
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  Speaker 3: personnel department has done a great job, our coaches evaluating
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  Speaker 3: and going and recruiting young men, and then you know,
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  Speaker 3: ultimately our players are a huge part of you know,
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  Speaker 3: the culture that we've built here which allows you to
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  Speaker 3: recruit guys. But it's a big part of being able
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  Speaker 3: to retain guys as well.
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  Speaker 1: That'll do it for Josh hypeol Now onto quarterback, you go,
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  Speaker 1: im Alaiava. He has improved quite a bit during the
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  Speaker 1: back half of the season, which is not really unusual
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  Speaker 1: for a first time starter like Aliva is. But heat
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  Speaker 1: does he really see Does he see that in himself?
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  Speaker 1: Does he feel that in himself as he gets through
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  Speaker 1: the end of his first full year as a starter.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think just game by game, man, make me
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  Speaker 4: continuing to get better with every rep I take, you know,
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  Speaker 4: just learning from every rep i's take, getting better from
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  Speaker 4: those rips. And yeah, man, we've been able to pull
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  Speaker 4: out some wins these uh, you know, the back end
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  Speaker 4: of the season, and yeah, look forward to going into
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  Speaker 4: this next game.
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  Speaker 1: One of the big milestones for Iamaliava came in the
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  Speaker 1: first quarter against Vanderbilt, their last game of the regular season.
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  Speaker 1: Vanderbilt ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: Tennessee's down seven to nothing like ten seconds.
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  Speaker 2: In the game.
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  Speaker 1: The volunteers get the ball on the second carry of
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  Speaker 1: the game. Dylan Samson fumbles, Tennessee picks, Vanderbilt picks it up,
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  Speaker 1: and a few plays later, they score another touchdown. So
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  Speaker 1: then Tennessee's down fourteen to nothing less than five minutes
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  Speaker 1: into the game.
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  Speaker 2: So at that point, you.
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  Speaker 1: Got a true you got a first year starter, red
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  Speaker 1: shirt freshman iam Aliava coming out there down fourteen nothing
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  Speaker 1: just five minutes into the game, feels like everything's spiraling
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  Speaker 1: out of control.
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  Speaker 2: What does he do? Well?
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  Speaker 1: He leads Tennessee right down the field to score a touchdown,
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  Speaker 1: cut it to fourteen to seven, and then the volunteers
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  Speaker 1: really just kind of rolled from there ended up winning
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  Speaker 1: the game pretty comfortably. So was that something that iam
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  Speaker 1: Aliava thought of as a big deal at the time.
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  Speaker 4: I didn't look at it that way. Awesome, but I've
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  Speaker 4: seen we were down fourteen zero, and we you know, I,
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  Speaker 4: you know, rallied the troops to go put a jow together,
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  Speaker 4: and you know it was start early in the game,
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  Speaker 4: so you know, we were never really worried, but we know,
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  Speaker 4: we knew we had to do coming out in. Our
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  Speaker 4: second job is to go put a jaw together.
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  Speaker 1: Iamaliava grew up in Long Beach, California, Southern California. If
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  Speaker 1: you're not familiar with Long Beach, with Long Beach or
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  Speaker 1: California geography. So this is, you know, not exactly the
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  Speaker 1: conditions that he's going to face Saturday night in Columbus
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  Speaker 1: where he grew up. So what is the coldest game
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  Speaker 1: that he has ever been a part of.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I played in the snow one time when I
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  Speaker 4: was in Chicago a couple of years ago with my
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  Speaker 4: seven H seven team, and that was probably the coldest
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  Speaker 4: I played.
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  Speaker 2: In But yeah, it was.
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  Speaker 4: It was pretty hard to play in the snow. It was.
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  Speaker 4: It wasn't too bad, but you know, it's just cold weather,
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  Speaker 4: and yeah, man, we'll be ready.
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State's pass rush has been pretty effective this season,
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  Speaker 1: and that's particularly true of defensive ends j T. Twou
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  Speaker 1: Molohaow and Jack Sawyer. So that makes the matchup of
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  Speaker 1: J T two, Molohaw and Jack Sawyer against Tennessee's tackles,
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  Speaker 1: who are maybe the weak links on the Tennessee offensive
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  Speaker 1: line to some degree, one that you're probably going to
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  Speaker 1: want to watch pretty closely on Saturday night. So if
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  Speaker 1: you're the quarterback playing behind those tackles and with those
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  Speaker 1: defensive ends just across the line, how does that impact
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  Speaker 1: your internal clock in terms of knowing when you got
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  Speaker 1: to take off or just get rid of the ball. Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Well, you know, my internal clock is always always you
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  Speaker 4: know there, and man, I got full trust in my
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  Speaker 4: all line and you know protection piece to pick all
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  Speaker 4: that up and you know, we'll be prepared when when
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  Speaker 4: that time comes.
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  Speaker 1: And the last one for Nico, what is it that
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  Speaker 1: he noticed about the Ohio State defense on the whole
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  Speaker 1: that makes them such an effective defense?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think they just do you know,
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  Speaker 4: everything at a high level. They playing sync together starting
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  Speaker 4: from you know front to their U you know d
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  Speaker 4: dbs and yeah, I think there's just very you know,
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  Speaker 4: technique sound and yeah, man I can't I can't wait
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  Speaker 4: for this, you know, dismas.
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  Speaker 2: And finally Tennessee safety Will Brooks.
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  Speaker 1: We talked about him a bunch at this week as well.
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  Speaker 1: Just the challenge that the Tennessee secondary is going to
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  Speaker 1: be facing matching up against Ohio States wide receivers. They've
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  Speaker 1: played some talented wide receivers this year, no question. They
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  Speaker 1: probably have not played a unit where three three wide
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  Speaker 1: receivers as talented as Ohio States. So what is the
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  Speaker 1: challenge going to be for the Tennessee secondary.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean they're really talented group. Of receivers. You know,
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  Speaker 5: they got weapons all over the field.
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  Speaker 4: They do.
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  Speaker 5: They just do a really great job of, you know,
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  Speaker 5: attacking the ball and it's in the air and making
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  Speaker 5: plays after the catch. So we just got to be
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  Speaker 5: able to contain that.
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  Speaker 1: Is this a week where Tennessee is going in and
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  Speaker 1: just trying to keep things low key, not get anyone
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  Speaker 1: too excited too early, treat this like a normal game week,
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  Speaker 1: or is this a week when it's pretty clear inside
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  Speaker 1: the building there in Knoxville that there is a big
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  Speaker 1: game coming up on Saturday.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean we all kind of try to treat
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  Speaker 5: it just like a normal game, you know, like it's
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  Speaker 5: in the back of our head. We know it's a playoff,
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  Speaker 5: but you know, we know like just doing the ordinary
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  Speaker 5: at a really high level is going to be what
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  Speaker 5: at least the success in this game. So that's kind
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  Speaker 5: of where our focus is at.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure every Ohio State fan can give in a
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  Speaker 1: long and painful description some of the years when the
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  Speaker 1: Buckeyes have just missed out on the college football playoff,
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  Speaker 1: all the whys and the hows. But it's funny, you
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  Speaker 1: probably don't remember those stories about other teams.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Tennessee.
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  Speaker 1: Just two years ago, they were on the verge of
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  Speaker 1: potentially making the college football Playoff. Going into November, they
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  Speaker 1: were undefeated. They lost by a couple touchdowns to Georgia
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  Speaker 1: going into the first week of November, and then a
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  Speaker 1: couple weeks later they still were in the hunt for
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  Speaker 1: the college football Playoff and the SEC title game went
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  Speaker 1: to South Carolina on November nineteenth and lost sixty.
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  Speaker 2: Three to thirty eight.
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  Speaker 1: You might remember that was a game or head in
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  Speaker 1: Hooker Herders knee really knocked them out of the.
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  Speaker 2: College football playoff picture altogether.
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  Speaker 1: So for a guy like Willbrooks who was on that team,
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  Speaker 1: who knows who's been through this whole rebuild process with
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  Speaker 1: Josh Heipel, who knows how close they got a couple
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  Speaker 1: of years ago. How gratifying is it Brooks and the
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  Speaker 1: Tennessee volunteers to finally be here, ready to take the
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  Speaker 1: field in the college football Playoff.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, it's a great feeling to know just
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  Speaker 5: that we have the opportunity to play for a national championship.
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  Speaker 5: And now that's our goal when we start out the
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  Speaker 5: season to be able to get to that point. So,
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  Speaker 5: you know, it just means a whole lot to us,
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  Speaker 5: and we know we got to take advantage of this opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we are now just one day away from that
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  Speaker 1: college football playoff game in Ohio Stadium, but there is
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: still a lot more content coming for you. Going to
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: try and do one more show with Ross Fulton this week,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: bricking stuff down for an ex's nose perspective on things
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: heading into the game for the Buckeyes and the volunteers.
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  Speaker 1: Going to try and have a little more try and
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  Speaker 1: get you maybe hopefully another live show or so maybe
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: on Friday, we'll see what we can do, and then
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Saturday we are planning to get to the stadium early.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: We always get to the stadium early, but we're planning
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: to get the stadium a little extra early, trying and
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: get you a little live show from the stadium, gets
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: you maybe a little sense for what's going on around campus.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: The scene around Ohio Stadium should be a lot of
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: Buckeye fans, should be a lot of volunteer fans, should
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  Speaker 1: be a fantastic sea in Columbus. One of the biggest
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  Speaker 1: games in stadium history, it is almost here. Should be
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  Speaker 1: a great matchup. Score projected to be pretty close, should
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  Speaker 1: be pretty low scoring, should be potentially a sixty minute game.
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  Speaker 1: Really looking forward to that. Hopefully you guys are as well.
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  Speaker 1: But if you want to get all the action, get
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: an up close view of all of it, best place
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: to do that will be at buckeye Huddle dot com
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: and at YouTube dot com slash bucke Huddle. We will
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: have a live pregame show, we will have our live
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: postgame show, interviews, analysis, insight, all that good stuff all
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: coming up at YouTube dot com slash Buckeyehuddle. Make sure
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: you're subscribed. You have friends who don't know about us,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: make sure they're subscribed as well.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: Let them know.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: YouTube dot com slash bucky Huddle, bucke huddle dot com
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: check us out in both of those places.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: We have a lot more to tell you before this
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  Speaker 2: game kicks off. We can't wait. We will talk to
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  Speaker 2: you tomorrow