Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / Ross Fulton Analysis: Cotton Bowl Preview Ohio State vs Missouri

Transcript

Ross Fulton Analysis: Cotton Bowl Preview Ohio State vs Missouri · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:00
  Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Sunday, December twenty fourth. I'm your host,
• 0:03
  Tom Moore. The Cotton Bowl game against Missouri is in five days.
• 0:07
  The game against Michigan in three hundred and forty two days. I'm joined today
• 0:11
  by Ross Fulton, the ex's and No's guru at bucke Huddle dot com.
• 0:14
  And when I'm joined by Ross, We're sponsored by Jeff Ruby Steakhouse, the
• 0:17
  award winning upscale steakhouse in downtown Columbus, one of the top fifty steakhouses in
• 0:22
  America by Food Network. Just go to Jeffrubuy dot com slash Columbus to see
• 0:28
  the menu and make a reservation. Today, all right, Ross, we
• 0:31
  are taking a little bit of a preview of the Cotton Bowl game today.
• 0:34
  We're gonna take a little bit of look at the offensive side of the ball,
• 0:36
  a little bit of look on the defensive side of the ball. And
• 0:39
  my first note on the offensive side of the ball just says new QB who
• 0:43
  dis so Ross no more? Kyle McCord, It is the Devin Brown Show
• 0:48
  for the Cotton Bowl. How are you expecting this to impact what the Buckeye
• 0:52
  offense looks? Like and maybe can do against the Missouri Tigers. Yeah,
• 0:58
  I think I'll have a pretty sizeable impact. I mean, I think that
• 1:00
  probably most people can imagine. It'll be an extrapolation or building off of what
• 1:06
  we saw with Devin Brown this season when he played. So I think the
• 1:11
  first thing that jumps out is probably quite a bit more you know, run,
• 1:18
  read and design QB run game. You know, for instance, they
• 1:22
  showed a lot of desire to run like counter you know, QB countertrait with
• 1:29
  BASH. So you're running, you know, you're blocking countertrait with the guard
• 1:33
  and the tackle pulling to lead the quarterback and then the running backs basically running
• 1:38
  a backside sweep. The quarterback reads the at backside end to determine does he
• 1:42
  keep on the run play or does he give to the running back And so,
• 1:47
  you know, I think a lot of like particularly with Devin Brown,
• 1:49
  like as we saw in those goal line packages, like he's really much more
• 1:53
  of a big inside runner than he is like someone who you're trying to get
• 1:57
  on the edge, and so i'd expect plays like that, a lot of
• 2:00
  BASH sweeps, you know, get Trevon Henderson outside combined with with Devin Brown,
• 2:05
  handling the inside part of the run game. And so that's like obviously
• 2:08
  the biggest thing in particularly in goal on short yardage, uh passing game wise,
• 2:15
  I I think, you know, we saw probably enough to know that
• 2:19
  like what they're trying to do to his shrinks, which I think is probably
• 2:23
  a combination of like play action like short passing game like a mess shallow cross
• 2:28
  crossing concepts, you know, play action rest of the tight end, and
• 2:31
  then you know, probably a bigger emphasis on taking some shots downfield. You
• 2:37
  know, he seems comfortable with those routes. He had a couple of big
• 2:39
  slot fades when he got time later in the year, and so I think
• 2:44
  you'll see a little bit more combination of you know, emphasis and a mix
• 2:47
  of short passing game and throwing the football downfield. All Right, you got
• 2:53
  some Devin Brown fans there with you? Uh it is you know, this
• 2:57
  is going to be the first real full time opportunity that we get to see
• 3:01
  Devin Brown in a you know, a full start and basically having this be
• 3:07
  his offense. What are you looking for? This is also going to be
• 3:10
  the last time we really get to see him before you know, on the
• 3:14
  field or any Ohio State quarterback on the field before the spring game and then
• 3:17
  really in a meaningful game until the next the start of the next season.
• 3:23
  So what are you looking for in terms of evaluating Devin Brown as a quarterback
• 3:28
  in this first full game, because I think people are going to be probably
• 3:31
  drawing too many conclusions from this game one way or the other. But what
• 3:36
  should people be looking for in terms of, Okay, maybe this guy is
• 3:40
  the next guy at Ohio State, or you know, boy, maybe there's
• 3:45
  more questions or this is really going to be a wide open quarterback competition in
• 3:47
  twenty twenty four. Yeah, I think I'd like to see a combination of
• 3:53
  more consistency as a passer, particularly on you know, short intermediate routes,
• 3:59
  you know, more accuracy. I don't think you want to continue know,
• 4:01
  he had a couple of bad reps earlier in this year where had open receivers
• 4:06
  on short routes and through it behind them, you know, through to their
• 4:10
  feet. So I think you'd like to see his completion percentage higher than what
• 4:14
  he showed at somewhat this year. And then I think you'd also like to
• 4:17
  see his legs bring an extra dimension to the offense. You know, whether
• 4:23
  that's making plays outside of structure in the passing game or you know, on
• 4:27
  the in the run game, as we discussed. I mean, I think
• 4:29
  that has been something that we've talked about the last couple of years that has
• 4:33
  hindered the Ohio State run game somewhat is not having that sort of mobile threat
• 4:39
  from the quarterback position, you know, compared to what they had when they
• 4:42
  adjustin fields. And so I think if you can see sort of that open
• 4:46
  up things in the run game, I think as a structural concept, even
• 4:49
  beyond the person at quarterback, I think that that would sort of be a
• 4:55
  indication of where things would head. Because you know, Devin Brown obviously is
• 5:00
  different than Lincoln Keenholtz, but I think they both bring some athleticism to the
• 5:05
  position, and so I do think that'll be a part of Ohio State's repertoire
• 5:11
  next year either way. And the personnel for this game still a little bit
• 5:15
  up in the air. We know there's gonna be no Julian Fleming, we
• 5:18
  know there's gonna be no Chip Train, and we know there's gonna be no
• 5:20
  Mayan Williams. In terms of just sort of the skill talent at Ohio State.
• 5:25
  I think I'm still assuming you're not going to have Marvin Harrison, but
• 5:28
  as of the time we're recording this, that is not official yet. But
• 5:31
  with some of the guys that they've been sort of leaning on to a certain
• 5:33
  degree throughout the course of the year, who they may or may not have
• 5:38
  or probably won't have for the Cotton Bowl, who are you looking to see,
• 5:43
  you know, step up? How does that maybe change what they are
• 5:46
  or aren't able to do during the game. How does that, you know,
• 5:48
  those personnel changes, how does that impact what they might be looking to
• 5:51
  do against Missouri. Yeah, I'm likewise for this assuming that Harrison does not
• 5:57
  play, And as a result, I think I'm pretty interested in how they
• 6:02
  use a Mecca Buka, you know, with the thought that maybe he is
• 6:06
  in fact coming back next year. Obviously we don't know, but you know,
• 6:11
  I think I'm what I'll be looking for as a result is do they
• 6:15
  play him outside more in less than the slot. Obviously they'll have Zager Johnson
• 6:19
  for the Cotton Bowl, they won't next year, but they do have Brandon
• 6:24
  Innis, who is you know who they also have in the slot, and
• 6:28
  so I you know, my thought would be that one way to feature a
• 6:31
  Buka more would be not to live in him so much of the slot.
• 6:34
  But it will be interesting to see, you know, as you said,
• 6:36
  no Fleming too. You know, I'm assuming Cardnel Tate will be at Z
• 6:42
  in Fleming's place, But it will be interesting to see sort of how they
• 6:46
  mix and match the receivers they have available at different spots. You know,
• 6:53
  it'll be interesting to see without Chip training him there. Obviously that gives some
• 6:57
  opportunities for Dallan Hayden. You know, how much of a role he has
• 7:01
  again next year depends on what Travon Henderson decides to do. And you know,
• 7:05
  to the extent that Trayvon Henderson's feature in the con Bowl like a book,
• 7:10
  I mean, I would take that as a positive indication regarding their planning
• 7:15
  for next year, at least what they're thinking of the time. But like
• 7:17
  regardless, it will be interesting to see, you know, how much they
• 7:20
  use Hayden, And obviously he's different than the way they use Trip train him
• 7:26
  just in terms of his skill set, and so it'll be you know,
• 7:29
  sort of interesting in how they mix them in and and feature them all right,
• 7:33
  And then on the other side of the ball. We've talked a bunch
• 7:36
  about what they've been doing on defense all year and then how that sort of
• 7:40
  changed a little bit during the Michigan game, not necessarily for the better.
• 7:44
  This is another one where we have not officially heard that Lathan Ransom is not
• 7:47
  playing, but I think it's sort of you're assuming that Lathan Ransom is probably
• 7:51
  not playing in this game. So what do you think they're you know,
• 7:55
  what do you expect from the Ohio State defense against Missouri? Because this is
• 7:59
  this is a pretty good Zouri offense. They've got some real skill talent in
• 8:01
  terms of running back end wide receiver, and Brady Cooks pretty good quarterback.
• 8:05
  This is this is going to be a decent test for this defense. What
• 8:09
  are you expecting Ohio State to try and do? Yeah, I mean similar
• 8:13
  again, as you said, without Ransom. I mean you have to kind
• 8:16
  of, I guess assume that they'll continue with with some of what they did
• 8:20
  against Michigan and even earlier in the weeks before that, once Sunny Styles had
• 8:26
  to play full time at that boundary safety spot in place of Ransom, you
• 8:30
  know, some more of the those soft cover four looks, maybe less Mann
• 8:35
  coverage that said, I am intrigued. You know, again, we all
• 8:39
  probably overread tea leaves from you know, one Bowl game in terms of it's
• 8:45
  what it means for next year. But I will you know, I am
• 8:48
  still sort of do wonder, you know, was some of what they were
• 8:50
  doing Michigan specific or was it Ransom injury specific or some combination there of,
• 8:56
  because it was just was such a such a change over the last week or
• 9:01
  two of the season from what they had done earlier in the season. So
• 9:05
  you know, again, I'll just be looking at is like do they continue
• 9:09
  down that path or do they go back to playing you know, more cover
• 9:13
  one man mixing some cover too different looks, because I do think that that
• 9:18
  may give some indications for next year. And obviously, you know, with
• 9:22
  whether again lak Abuka, like Henderson, you know, Ransom, you know,
• 9:28
  potential return would would make a big difference probably in the direction of the
• 9:31
  defense going next year. All right, and Tony Gerdaman and I got a
• 9:35
  very interesting question on a Buckeye Weekly listener question show that we are going to
• 9:39
  be dropping either today or tomorrow, I don't remember which day this is all
• 9:43
  going out, but the question was essentially, you know, there have been
• 9:48
  rumors, reports, you sort of have heard that Trevion Henderson and Mega Abuka,
• 9:52
  JT. Twemloo all seriously considering returning for the twenty twenty four season.
• 9:58
  And the question was which of those guys ranked those three guys in order of
• 10:03
  the most important to return for the twenty twenty four Bluck guys to the least
• 10:07
  important. And you know, I don't. I think that's not quite the
• 10:11
  same question as who would have the biggest season or who would have the best
• 10:13
  season, but who is the most important to you know, one, two,
• 10:18
  three of those three guys, Trevian Henderson to mekabuk A, JT.
• 10:20
  Twy molooo to return for the twenty twenty four Bluck guys. You know that
• 10:26
  it's a tough question, obviously, because I want to say, why not
• 10:30
  all three? They would all make a huge difference, But I think I'd
• 10:35
  have to go with Henderson just because the room itself is pretty depleted at this
• 10:41
  point with Hayden and then you know, two freshmen, if that would be
• 10:46
  the only running back slopt if Henderson leaves, And obviously I think we all
• 10:50
  saw in the second half of the season the potential impact that Henderson can have
• 10:56
  in terms of being an explosive playmaker. So you know, I think a
• 10:58
  healthy a boot Cut can bring that in his own ways. And obviously a
• 11:03
  JG. Tumuloa would make a gigantic difference too. So you know, there's
• 11:07
  there are a lot of those guys. I think that in this kind of
• 11:11
  position right now where it's like, you know, day two, maybe Day
• 11:15
  three picks potentially or come back and so but I think you do have to
• 11:20
  say Henderson just because of the overall depth situation. All right, Well that's
• 11:24
  good news because that's the answer I gave, because that is the correct answer.
• 11:28
  What answer did Cony Gurdama give? Well, you will have to listen
• 11:31
  to the Buckeye Weekly podcast to find that out. Is one of the mini
• 11:35
  find podcasts offered by Buckeyehuddle dot com. You can find all of them just
• 11:39
  by searching Buckey Huddle or just looking for us on YouTube at YouTube dot com
• 11:41
  slash Buckeye Huddle. Thanks to Rosster joining me today thanks to Jeff Ruby.
• 11:46
  Steakhouse probably offering nationally acclaimed USDA Prime Stakes, seafood and sushi and peckable service
• 11:50
  live entertainment and an attention to detail that is simply unmatched. Learn more,
• 11:56
  check out the menu and make a reservations day at Jeffruby dot com slash Columbus.
• 12:00
  All right, before we let you go, just a little housekeeping.
• 12:01
  No show tomorrow. It is Christmas. We all get to take one day
• 12:05
  off a year. That is our day off. We're taking Christmas off,
• 12:07
  and we're not even really taking Christmas off because Tony and Kevin and I will
• 12:11
  be on an airplane on Christmas afternoon heading down to Dallas to go start covering
• 12:16
  the Cotton Bowl. We'll be down there on Christmas Night or the morning show
• 12:20
  for the twenty sixth, unless Southwest does to me what they did last year
• 12:24
  on Christmas Night, the morning show for the twenty sixth will be coming to
• 12:28
  you from Dallas, Texas. As we're talking about the Buckeyes the Missouri Tigers.
• 12:33
  We will start covering practices and press conferences on the morning of the twenty
• 12:37
  sixth. Should be a big, full day of coverage on the twenty sixth
• 12:39
  and the twenty seventh, and then another day of press conferences on twenty eighth,
• 12:43
  and then of course the game on the twenty ninth, So a very
• 12:46
  busy few days. Rather short bowl week for the Buckeyes and for Buckeye Huddle
• 12:50
  this year, but will be a busy few days down from down from I
• 12:54
  guess Arlington, Texas and not just Dallas, Texas. We'll be down there
• 12:58
  covering it all. We'll be in the right city, I promise. Uh
• 13:01
  So make sure you check out pucke huddle dot com and YouTube dot com slash
• 13:03
  pucke Huddle. Hope you guys all have a wonderful Christmas and we'll talk to
• 13:07
  you on the twenty sixth.