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BONUS: Where Does Ohio State Still Need To Improve This Season? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: We're back with another bonus episode for you. Going to
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  Speaker 1: let you hear a little bit from Ohio State head
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  Speaker 1: coach Ryan Day. He had a lot of interesting stuff
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  Speaker 1: to say at his press conference on Tuesday. We want
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  Speaker 1: to let you hear a little bit about that. This
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  Speaker 1: is going to be a show. We've got one about
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  Speaker 1: the defense. We've got one about the offense. This is
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  Speaker 1: sort of the middle ground, sort of the more general
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  Speaker 1: stuff about the team on the whole. And we're going
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  Speaker 1: to start with a very general question about the team
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  Speaker 1: on the whole. Just sort of where things are right now.
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  Speaker 1: Believe it or not, a quarter of the way through
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  Speaker 1: the regular season already, done with the non-conference slate, about
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  Speaker 1: to enter Big Ten play. So this is a pretty
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  Speaker 1: good milepost to sort of take stock on where things are.
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  Speaker 1: And Ryan Day dives pretty deep on this one.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think when you play a game like we
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  Speaker 2: did in week two, it allows you to really recognize
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  Speaker 2: the things that get exposed and then you got to
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  Speaker 2: really dive into them. And then it's like that's really
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  Speaker 2: how the season works. You got to develop in those
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  Speaker 2: areas to get better. I think On offense, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we're always looking for a balance of run and pass.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's, you know, it's been inconsistent. I think
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  Speaker 2: that there's been times where it's been very good and
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  Speaker 2: then other times where it's struggled. I think that the
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  Speaker 2: situations in particular, you know, we've got stalled because we
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  Speaker 2: haven't been able to finish drives in a red zone.
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  Speaker 2: I think right now, you know, we finished, we're 12
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  Speaker 2: of 17 in the red zone, but in the Texas
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  Speaker 2: game is where we struggled the most. And that's, you know,
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  Speaker 2: where it matters the most. So, Got to do a
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  Speaker 2: better job there. As you know, third down is not
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  Speaker 2: where it needs to be right now. You know, thinking
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  Speaker 2: about where we are right now, I think, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we're 12 of 33 coming off of last year. I
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  Speaker 2: think we were like second in the country in third
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  Speaker 2: down conversion. So those things have got to get better
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  Speaker 2: and get better fast. And I think it's a combination
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  Speaker 2: of executing plays better, but also looking at other things
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  Speaker 2: because Um, I think it's, it's both of those. And
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  Speaker 2: as the season goes on, we're going to put things
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  Speaker 2: on film teams, do a good job. So we have
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  Speaker 2: to stay ahead of it, but then at the same time,
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  Speaker 2: you know, plays are plays and we got to do
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  Speaker 2: a good job executing them. Um, I think, you know,
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  Speaker 2: you guys saw the last couple of short yardage situations
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  Speaker 2: and where the breakdown was. And so we got to
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  Speaker 2: make sure we're solidifying that area. Um, and then we
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  Speaker 2: go from there on defense. Um, I think that we
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  Speaker 2: have found some guys that really have made a difference
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  Speaker 2: over there. I think you see what Christian Allegro is doing.
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  Speaker 2: You see what Jay Timmons is doing. Earl Little, those
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  Speaker 2: are guys going into the season that we weren't sure
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  Speaker 2: what exactly we had. We had an idea. So I
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  Speaker 2: think we're going to continue to build around those guys.
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  Speaker 2: I think you're seeing Jason Moore starting to play more
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  Speaker 2: for us and give us better minutes there. So I
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  Speaker 2: think as we continue to get into conference play, you're
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  Speaker 2: going to continue to see us build and grow. in
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  Speaker 2: all three phases, but, you know, I think that's kind of,
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  Speaker 2: and then the special teams, we've been getting some young
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  Speaker 2: guys out in the field. You know, there's, again, inconsistent overall,
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  Speaker 2: just there's been some good things, but then also things that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, obviously in the Texas game that are unacceptable,
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  Speaker 2: you know, and so when we have an opportunity to
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  Speaker 2: get the thing pooched inside the 10-yard line, we got
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  Speaker 2: to execute that. When we have an opportunity to make
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  Speaker 2: the field goal at the end of the game, we've
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  Speaker 2: got to make that. I think when you look at
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  Speaker 2: the effort in those phases, I think it's been good
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  Speaker 2: just seeing guys run around and make plays. But it's
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  Speaker 2: a good opportunity to get young guys into the game,
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  Speaker 2: and that's how you earn opportunities to play in all
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  Speaker 2: three phases. So that's it. And so now it's like,
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  Speaker 2: all right, we go into conference play here against Illinois.
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  Speaker 2: We've got to kind of put all that together, put
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  Speaker 2: the best plan together moving forward, and then go have
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  Speaker 2: a great week of practice. And that's what the focus
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  Speaker 2: has to be.
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  Speaker 1: Big Ten season is here. The Illinois fighting Illini coming
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  Speaker 1: into Ohio Stadium at noon on Saturday. Is there maybe
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  Speaker 1: a little bit of a different feeling around the building
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  Speaker 1: now that it is conference play time?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think when you had the Texas game, game two,
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  Speaker 2: you already kind of had it cranked up for that one.
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  Speaker 2: But now, yeah, you're right. I mean, now you're in
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  Speaker 2: the conference play. So now it's just a little bit
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  Speaker 2: of a focus on the next goal, which is to
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  Speaker 2: win the conference. And so you want to do that.
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  Speaker 2: you have to win these conference games. We want to
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  Speaker 2: make it to the CFP. We know the last one
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  Speaker 2: is the biggest one of the season. But all that
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  Speaker 2: being said, yeah, we're about to go on a run here, what,
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  Speaker 2: nine games. And it starts right here with a really
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  Speaker 2: good Illinois team. And I think that's what, you know,
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  Speaker 2: tribute to our conference. You know, every time you're in
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  Speaker 2: this conference, you're going to be playing against really good
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  Speaker 2: coaches and really good players. And this one's no different.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I think What Brett's done at Illinois is
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  Speaker 2: in line with what he's done everywhere he's been. You know,
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  Speaker 2: he's not only well-respected in the conference, but nationally for,
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  Speaker 2: you know, how he coaches and the staff and the
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  Speaker 2: players he recruits and the scheme is always very, very sound.
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  Speaker 2: And this team's no different. So, you know, they have
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  Speaker 2: playmakers on the perimeter. Their quarterback's playing very well. So
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  Speaker 2: this is kind of how it's going to go. And
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  Speaker 2: we've got to put a really good game plan together
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  Speaker 2: and prepare at a high level and then go put
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  Speaker 2: it on the field. And that's what it's going to
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  Speaker 2: take this week.
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  Speaker 1: Illinois and Ohio State are historic rivals. It doesn't really
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  Speaker 1: feel like that necessarily anymore, but they do play for
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  Speaker 1: the Illabuck Trophy. Yes, a wooden turtle. That is a
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  Speaker 1: pretty college football thing for two teams to play for
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  Speaker 1: a wooden turtle. Is this something, the Illabuck, is that
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  Speaker 1: something that Ryan Day enjoys, one of those goofy college
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  Speaker 1: football traditions?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it's It's tradition. It's history. I'll talk quickly
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  Speaker 2: to the team about that before we have our 2.30
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  Speaker 2: meeting today or during our 2.30 meeting today. What's at stake?
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  Speaker 2: I think guys know what's at stake. There's a lot
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  Speaker 2: at stake when you play conference games, but it's just
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  Speaker 2: the pageantry and tradition of college football. I think that's
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  Speaker 2: what makes college football great.
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  Speaker 1: When you were at this point of the season and
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  Speaker 1: you're trying to figure out, okay, who's going to play?
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  Speaker 1: Who really can you trust now? in the big moments,
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  Speaker 1: what is the balance between just laying it out to
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  Speaker 1: a guy that, listen, man, you got to get better
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  Speaker 1: right now versus trying to be patient and sort of
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  Speaker 1: waiting for the guy to figure it out?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, because we're trying to maximize everybody in the building.
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  Speaker 2: That's coaches and players included. And I think one of
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  Speaker 2: the things for a good coach is you communicate. You
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  Speaker 2: communicate exactly what the expectations are. And if somebody's not
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  Speaker 2: living up to that expectation or it's not in line
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  Speaker 2: with what you're seeing, you need to sit the person
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  Speaker 2: down and let them know. Or you let them know
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  Speaker 2: that things are going well and you need to continue
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  Speaker 2: to do what you're doing. But Yeah, I think that's
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  Speaker 2: really important, and it's the coach's job to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that we're challenging everybody. You know, this is what's expected
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  Speaker 2: of you, and when it's not happening, when you're not
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  Speaker 2: grading out, when you're not reaching that expectation, you need
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  Speaker 2: to be told why that is, and then is there
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  Speaker 2: something that the coaches aren't giving you? And that's it.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I think that's like that in any organization,
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  Speaker 2: you know, and so a big part of a coach's
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  Speaker 2: job is to communicate and not just, you know, blame, complain,
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  Speaker 2: and defend. That's what everybody wants to do, blame, complain,
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  Speaker 2: or defend, you know, really good coaches, what they do
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  Speaker 2: is they solve the problems, they get them fixed. And
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  Speaker 2: that's when you don't get something fixed, obviously, that's frustrating.
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  Speaker 2: And you got to identify whether you got to look
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  Speaker 2: at things from a different angle, whether it's through personnel
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  Speaker 2: or how you're coaching it, or schematically, we got to
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  Speaker 2: look at it from a different angle. But that's the
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  Speaker 2: grind that we're on right now. All right.
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  Speaker 1: Hope you guys enjoyed that bonus episode. We're going to
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  Speaker 1: have many more coming up this week. Lots of content
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  Speaker 1: for you. We've got lots of scheme coverage this week
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  Speaker 1: as well. We are going deep, deep on scheme. We
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  Speaker 1: just added another scheme insider, Justin Whitlatch, to our team.
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  Speaker 1: He and Michael Pettit and Ross Fulton all have segments
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  Speaker 1: for you this week. Our board has been absolutely humming
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  Speaker 1: this week with content, trying to make you a smarter
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  Speaker 1: football fan. Those guys are there answering your questions every day,
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  Speaker 1: giving you more and more information about how things are
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  Speaker 1: going on why things are working, why things aren't working,
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  Speaker 1: and what Ohio State might try to do next. So
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  Speaker 1: if you enjoy that, that would be a great place
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  Speaker 1: to find us at BuckeyeInsiders.com. You can find us, of course,
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  Speaker 1: also at YouTube.com slash at Buckeye Insiders. That'll do it
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  Speaker 1: for now. Thank you guys all for joining us. We'll
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  Speaker 1: be back with more content soon.