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3 Keys For Michigan To Beat Ohio State · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes Tomorrow Morning for Friday, November twenty ninth.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom Moore. The game against Michigan is
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  Speaker 1: in one day. Always a game we look forward to
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  Speaker 1: every single year. It is almost here. It is going
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  Speaker 1: to be chilly. Buckeye's favored by about three touchdowns, give
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  Speaker 1: or take. Lines moved around a little bit this week,
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  Speaker 1: give or take three touchdowns. But we have seen upsets
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  Speaker 1: in this series before. Will we see another one on Saturday?
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  Speaker 2: Well, get a question.
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  Speaker 1: We put out a call for listener questions for the
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  Speaker 1: Buckeye Weekly Podcast earlier in the week. Did a couple
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  Speaker 1: of shows of that, but I had one I wanted
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  Speaker 1: to say for the morning show. This is from at
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  Speaker 1: MDH twenty nine to fifty nine. Question was, outside of
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  Speaker 1: Buckeye turnovers, what does Michigan need to do to have
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  Speaker 1: a chance to win? Well, I want to talk through
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  Speaker 1: that with Ohio State's Buckeye Huddle. Sorry, let me try
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  Speaker 1: that again. I know which website I work for. Buckeye
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  Speaker 1: Huddle dot com writer Tony Gerdaman also on the Buckeye
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  Speaker 1: Weekly Podcast. We don't say Ohio State on any of
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  Speaker 1: our things. I don't know anyway, it doesn't matter. Tony,
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  Speaker 1: when did walk through three different ways Michigan can beat
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State. Feels like there's a couple different paths here.
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  Speaker 1: Let's start on offense, where Michigan at the beginning of
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  Speaker 1: the year kept hitting these big plays and these really
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  Speaker 1: crucial moments. It was just, you know, they wouldn't be
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  Speaker 1: able to move ball, wouldn't be able to move ball,
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to move all of a sudden boom
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  Speaker 1: sixty yard run for Klo Mullings, and then they would
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  Speaker 1: that would be just barely enough to win. It feels
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  Speaker 1: like they're gonna have to find one of those plays
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  Speaker 1: where maybe more than one of those plays where someone
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  Speaker 1: breaks a tackle and turns six yards into sixty.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, it's even been a key play, as
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  Speaker 3: Ohio State fans know in this game over the last
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  Speaker 3: few years, where if you could just stop those runs,
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  Speaker 3: if you could just stop those two Donovan Edwards runs
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  Speaker 3: for one hundred and eighty yards, one hundred and seventy
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  Speaker 3: yards or whatever, you know, things would be different. And
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  Speaker 3: this one, it's not necessarily those two runs. It's just
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  Speaker 3: the fifty six yarder that gets them out of trouble
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  Speaker 3: or gets them into the red zone or is. If
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  Speaker 3: they don't have that, then they don't have the consistency
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  Speaker 3: offensively either running the ball or throwing the ball to move.
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  Speaker 3: They're not going to have a bunch of twelve play
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  Speaker 3: fourteen play drives. They need a nine play drive with
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  Speaker 3: one of those covering forty yards. That way they can
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  Speaker 3: just make things a whole lot easier for themselves, because
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  Speaker 3: this is not an offense that makes it easy for themselves.
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  Speaker 3: So if they can, you know, get one of those runs,
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  Speaker 3: and a lot of times when they have it's club
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  Speaker 3: bullings or Downovan Edwards getting out of the first like
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  Speaker 3: running into a wall and then bouncing out and there's
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  Speaker 3: nobody there, so you contain it'll be important or Ohio
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  Speaker 3: State as we've seen with Donovan Edwards in the past.
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  Speaker 3: But if the long run in this game is seventeen
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  Speaker 3: or you know, twenty yards for Michigan, they better have
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  Speaker 3: seven or eight of them because if they if they
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  Speaker 3: don't have a big chunk that gets them moving, and
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  Speaker 3: really that's that's only going to be one drive. So
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  Speaker 3: Ohio State can overcome that for sure. But if they
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  Speaker 3: don't get those, then it's it's going to be very
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  Speaker 3: hard for Michigan to win. So they need those big
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  Speaker 3: runs and I don't know how many, but they need
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  Speaker 3: they need more positive than they've gotten of late. And
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  Speaker 3: they can't have as many zero to two yard rushes
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  Speaker 3: as they normally have if they're getting Honestly, if they're
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  Speaker 3: getting a bunch of fives and sevens, that's that's going
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  Speaker 3: to go a long way as well. But they still
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  Speaker 3: need one of those one or two of those big
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  Speaker 3: ones just to kind of make things easier to breathe
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  Speaker 3: and also create start to create some doubt with the
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  Speaker 3: Ohio State defense.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that would you know, you hit a
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  Speaker 1: couple big plays early, that does sort of create the
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  Speaker 1: uh oh, what's going on kind of vibe. And the
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  Speaker 1: reason I think that they really have to hit those
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  Speaker 1: big plays is just because I don't think they're gonna
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  Speaker 1: be able to string together a bunch of twelve or
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  Speaker 1: fourteen play drives, just because as soon as they get
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  Speaker 1: off schedule, like if they're getting five yards on first down,
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  Speaker 1: four yards on first down, and then three yards on
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  Speaker 1: second down, then it's manageable and then they maybe can
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  Speaker 1: stream together a few first downs as soon as you
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  Speaker 1: stop them for a loss, and as soon as you
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  Speaker 1: get them in third and seven, third and eight, they
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  Speaker 1: are pretty much a turtle on their back. They are
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  Speaker 1: just the Michigan was. There was a stat on the
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  Speaker 1: Northwestern broadcast last weekend where Michigan at that point was
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  Speaker 1: nineteen percent on converting third and seven or longer. That's
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  Speaker 1: just basically, maybe you steal won a game, maybe, but that.
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  Speaker 2: Is just it.
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  Speaker 1: Functionally, third and seven is get ready to punt, get
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  Speaker 1: the punt team on standby. So yeah, if they can't
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  Speaker 1: If they can't do that and they can't hit big plays,
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  Speaker 1: you're running out of ways to score. So that's why
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  Speaker 1: those big plays really really important for the Michigan offense.
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  Speaker 1: On the other side of the ball and defense, it
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  Speaker 1: feels like an awful lot of this game, this game
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  Speaker 1: always comes down to play in the trenches. But a
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  Speaker 1: lot of this game is going to come down to
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  Speaker 1: Michigan in the defensive line, which has been a very
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  Speaker 1: good defensive line, the matchup with the Olhouse offensive line,
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  Speaker 1: which has been shuffled a few times this year, and
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  Speaker 1: then exactly how well can Michigan get into the Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State backfield, How effective. Can that Michigan pass rush be,
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  Speaker 1: because that's another thing that could really if Michigan's gonna win,
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  Speaker 1: it feels like they're going to have to get a
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  Speaker 1: ton of pressure and get Ohio State off schedule.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. I mean you look at what they've
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  Speaker 3: done over their last four games. Three sacks against Michigan State,
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  Speaker 3: they won twenty four to seventeen, zero sacks against Dylan
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  Speaker 3: Gabriel and Oregon. They lost thirty eight seventeen, four sacks
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  Speaker 3: against Curtis Rourke. They lost that game, but it was
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  Speaker 3: close twenty to fifteen, and then six sacks last week
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  Speaker 3: against Northwestern. If they don't get to Will Howard in
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  Speaker 3: this game, that's another one where it's like, well, how
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  Speaker 3: do you win? So they need you get to him,
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  Speaker 3: and they can get to him, and they've got the
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  Speaker 3: ability with Josiah Stewart and TJ. Guys not a backup,
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  Speaker 3: he's in the rotation now, but he's another defensi ven
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  Speaker 3: that has come on. Derek Moore has been there for
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  Speaker 3: ever now is one of their starting defensive ends. So
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  Speaker 3: they've got some pass rushers and we know that Mason
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  Speaker 3: Grant can get in there as well, and Kenneth Grant
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  Speaker 3: can as well. They've not been superb in the pass
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  Speaker 3: rush this season, but they have that capability, especially against
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  Speaker 3: what we could consider an inexperienced interior of the offensive
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  Speaker 3: line when you're talking about even Taker Shibola has started
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  Speaker 3: every game at right right guard this year, but he's
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  Speaker 3: had his ups and downs. Carson Hinsman starting his second
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  Speaker 3: game at center this year, he's still growing into that.
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  Speaker 3: Austin Seerveld starting his fourth game at left guard. So
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  Speaker 3: there's some inexperience and just some inexperienced cohesion, I would
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  Speaker 3: say on the interior there that could show up in
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  Speaker 3: the pass rush as well. But I'm fascinated to see that.
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  Speaker 3: Josiah Stewart versus Donovan Jackson. And maybe we don't talk
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  Speaker 3: about Josh Fryer enough either in terms of the matchup
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  Speaker 3: with him, because he's been relatively good and we haven't
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  Speaker 3: seen much from him. So that's why we don't need
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  Speaker 3: to talk about him because he's been okay. It's the
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  Speaker 3: concern where this is going to be a very Abdul
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  Speaker 3: Carter like matchup for down to Jackson against Penn State.
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  Speaker 3: We know Abdill Carter got him twice and they tried
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  Speaker 3: to help out a bunch, but that was a few
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  Speaker 3: games ago, so this is a different Downovan Jackson at
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  Speaker 3: left tackle then we saw the first game. So how
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  Speaker 3: much do they help him, how much do they need
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  Speaker 3: to help him, and how effective can Josias turt be.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think Ohio State goes into this game or
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  Speaker 3: leaves this game without giving up at least a couple
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  Speaker 3: of sacks in this one.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels like Michigan between you know, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: they've got good pass rushers all the way across that line.
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  Speaker 1: TJ Guy on you know, Joseis Juart has lined up
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  Speaker 1: on both sides, so I think you're probably going to
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  Speaker 1: see him more against Donovan Jackson. PJ Guy on the
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  Speaker 1: other side has been just it feels like he gets
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  Speaker 1: about one sack of game. You at least see him
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  Speaker 1: in there getting a lot of pressure one zacking games. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I think I think if Ohio State gets out of
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  Speaker 1: this with if you tolt Ohio State rand and right
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  Speaker 1: now you're going to give up one sack, I think
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  Speaker 1: they would They would take that so fast head would
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  Speaker 1: spin and they might even take two sacks as long
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  Speaker 1: as neither of them is a strip sack or has
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  Speaker 1: it probably at a little better at staying, you know,
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  Speaker 1: coming back from behind the sticks than Michigan is, just
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  Speaker 1: because of the more dynamic passing game and all that.
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  Speaker 1: So one sack doesn't necessarily throw a high State off
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  Speaker 1: schedule the way that it does for Michigan. But if
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  Speaker 1: Michigan can generate consistent pressure even without sacks get the
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  Speaker 1: ball out of Will Howard's hands, that probably helps that
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  Speaker 1: Michigan secondary quite a bit. So yeah, I think, you know,
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  Speaker 1: outside of outside of turnovers, which were sort of excluded
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  Speaker 1: by the by the question, yeah, that pass rush I
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  Speaker 1: think is definitely the answer there.
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  Speaker 2: Last thing, on special teams. We've talked a.
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  Speaker 1: Bunch of Dominic Zavada this this week and over the season,
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  Speaker 1: just a dynamite field goal kicker for Michigan. He might
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  Speaker 1: be worth He's going to be worth probably a couple
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  Speaker 1: points for them at some point. But we talked about
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  Speaker 1: this earlier in the week as well. I think the
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  Speaker 1: biggest opportunity for Michigan on special teams is the opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to potentially steal possession somewhere. And that's the kind of
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  Speaker 1: thing that if they can do some of the other
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  Speaker 1: if we talked about and keep it close, if they
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  Speaker 1: can steal a possession on special teams, that might be
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  Speaker 1: enough to swing it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, possessions are shorter than ever now, they're fewer than
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  Speaker 3: ever now, so every single one becomes more important. And
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  Speaker 3: if you lose one, you didn't just lose a possession,
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  Speaker 3: You lost seven points. That's what you're going to think about. Now,
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  Speaker 3: we just lost seven points, and so you can't afford
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  Speaker 3: to give any of those up. And you know, Michigan's
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  Speaker 3: got to do what they got to do to make
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  Speaker 3: something happen. Imagine Oregon not kicking that on sidekick. Do
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  Speaker 3: they win that game? You know, that's an interesting question,
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  Speaker 3: and so Michigan can they do something similar where it's
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  Speaker 3: a whether it's a fake punt or a block punt,
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  Speaker 3: anything like that. They're going to try to do what
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  Speaker 3: they can do. But even aside from just stealing possession,
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  Speaker 3: a special teams win for Michigan is just getting the
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  Speaker 3: field position that they got last week against Northwestern with
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  Speaker 3: the defense and the special teams. Michigan had eight scoring
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  Speaker 3: drives last week and two of them went more than
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  Speaker 3: sixty yards, like they had scoring drives of ten of
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  Speaker 3: twenty of twenty three yards. They had touchdown drives of
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  Speaker 3: forty five of fifty three fifty eight.
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  Speaker 1: Like.
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  Speaker 3: If Michigan is scoring without having to go seventy yards,
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  Speaker 3: sixty five yards, fifty five yards, like, that's a win
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  Speaker 3: for them. And honestly, over the course of a game,
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  Speaker 3: if they don't have to go eighty yards repeatedly, then
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  Speaker 3: that in itself is stealing a possession.
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  Speaker 2: Yep.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Again, lots of different ways to say the same thing,
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  Speaker 1: which is Michigan is not going to be able to
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  Speaker 1: do it on offense without either hitting some big plays
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  Speaker 1: or getting set up on short fields or stealing a
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  Speaker 1: possession here and there. It's just Michigan has to work
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  Speaker 1: around their offense this year, basically, and there are ways
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  Speaker 1: they can do that, and there are ways they can
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  Speaker 1: make this work and pull out a win. They kind
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  Speaker 1: of need to stack probably more than one of the
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  Speaker 1: things we just talked about. You probably need to hit
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  Speaker 1: a big play at some point, and you need to
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  Speaker 1: control the line of scrimmage on defense, and you might
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  Speaker 1: need to steal possession too. But there certainly is a
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  Speaker 1: way that Michigan pulls out the win in Ohio Stadium
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  Speaker 1: on Saturday. Will they Well, we will all find out
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  Speaker 1: together Saturday at noon game on Fox. Tony and I
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  Speaker 1: will be there very very early Saturday morning, trying to
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  Speaker 1: get you a live pregame show from inside Ohio Stadium
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  Speaker 1: Saturday morning as we count down to the twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: four Ohio State Michigan game and outwait. Should be a
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  Speaker 1: great day inside the stadium. Old Chili, definitely old chili.
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  Speaker 1: We're an extra layer, but you'll be fine. You've lived
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  Speaker 1: through colder than this, I'm sure. So going to be
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  Speaker 1: going to be a busy, busy week and busy busy
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  Speaker 1: weekend at bucke Huddle dot com. That's where Tony, Kevin
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  Speaker 1: and I cover the team, Mark covers recruiting recruiting weekend
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  Speaker 1: as well. This weekend, we've got our whole team of
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: ex's and nose gurus there as well to make you
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  Speaker 1: a smarter football fan.
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  Speaker 2: Hope to see you there at Buckeye Huddle dot.
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  Speaker 1: Com and of course, take a moment right now make
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  Speaker 1: sure you are subscribed at YouTube dot com slash bucke Huddle.
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  Speaker 2: We are going to continue. We've had a ton of
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  Speaker 2: content all week long.
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  Speaker 1: We are going to continue pumping out content all the
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  Speaker 1: way up to game time, and then of course we'll
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  Speaker 1: have our usual postgame show live after the game as well.
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  Speaker 1: Going to be a very happy Columbus, Ohio or a
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  Speaker 1: very sad Columbus, Ohio at about three thirty pm on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: Either way, we'll be there let you know what happened
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  Speaker 1: and what's coming next. Are we packing our bags for
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  Speaker 1: Indianapolis for a trip to the Big Ten championship game
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  Speaker 1: or is there going to be a long week waiting
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  Speaker 1: for the College Football Playoff selection show on Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: Either way, we'll be there for.
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  Speaker 1: You at YouTube dot com slash Buckeye Huddle as soon
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  Speaker 1: as the game is over.
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  Speaker 2: That will do it for today. Thank you guys all
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  Speaker 2: for joining us. Have a great day, gooble, talk to
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  Speaker 2: you tomorrow.