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Everything Tennessee Coach Josh Heupel Said About Ohio State · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Tuesday to Stember tenth.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, tom Or. The Tennessee game is in
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  Speaker 1: eleven days, the game against Michigan in three hundred and
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  Speaker 1: fifty four days. That they're going to be talking about
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  Speaker 1: that Tennessee game. You're going to get to hear directly
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  Speaker 1: from Tennessee head coach Josh Hipel. He had a press
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  Speaker 1: conference after the first round matchups were announced. He had
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  Speaker 1: some thoughts on the buck Eyes, the weather, the first
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  Speaker 1: round matchup, the opportunity ahead, and much more. Negated to
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  Speaker 1: hear about all of that from him. Let's start with
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  Speaker 1: just some overall thoughts from Josh Hipel on the matchup
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  Speaker 1: with Ohio State.
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  Speaker 2: Good afternoon. Everybody certainly excited about, you know, being in
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  Speaker 2: the playoff and obviously playing a great program, had a
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  Speaker 2: ton of success in recent history, but throughout their program
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  Speaker 2: history and certainly what they've done on the field this year.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm excited that we get an opportunity to play
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  Speaker 2: an elite program like that. And you know, as we
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  Speaker 2: get ready here, understand you know what it's going to
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  Speaker 2: take to go on the road and uh, you know,
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  Speaker 2: play really good football against great football teams. So with that,
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  Speaker 2: I'll open it up.
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  Speaker 1: When the previous round of projections and rankings were announced
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  Speaker 1: last Tuesday, this was the matchup that was sort of
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  Speaker 1: laid out, so you sort of had the sense of
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  Speaker 1: this might be the matchup. A few days in advance
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  Speaker 1: of the actual selection. Has he had a chance to
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  Speaker 1: look at Ohio State film and maybe get some impressions
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  Speaker 1: on their defense.
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  Speaker 2: For for us, you know, last week, you know we
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  Speaker 2: were able to get on the grass and have a
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  Speaker 2: couple of practices, being intentional with our young guys. You know,
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  Speaker 2: felt like there were multiple scenarios still that that we're
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  Speaker 2: at place. So you know, today we kind of start,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the film study of our opponent, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: our guys are in the building here getting some treatment
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  Speaker 2: and rehab today. But we'll move forward tomorrow with with
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  Speaker 2: those guys. The little bit I've had an opportunity to watch,
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  Speaker 2: you know, via the season as a you know a
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  Speaker 2: Saturday afternoon your watching football or you know today getting
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  Speaker 2: a chance to digest the tape. This is you know,
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  Speaker 2: a roster that's full of elite players and you know,
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  Speaker 2: coach extremely well, they're smart, they're tough, They're physical both
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  Speaker 2: sides of the line of scrimmage and do a great
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  Speaker 2: job on special teams too. So for us understand the
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  Speaker 2: quality of the opponent we're getting ready to play. We're
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  Speaker 2: going to have to play at our best and need
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  Speaker 2: a couple of great weeks of preparation to give herself
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  Speaker 2: a chance to do that.
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  Speaker 1: In Columbus, for years, the anticipation around this has been
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  Speaker 1: oh boy, SEC teams coming north to play in big
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  Speaker 1: ten stadiums. And while that might be a big deal
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  Speaker 1: for a team like Florida or Mississippi or Alabama or LSU,
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  Speaker 1: Tennessee is sort of like, sort of south, but it's
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  Speaker 1: not really. It's only about six hours south of Columbus,
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  Speaker 1: so probably not quite as big of a weather adjustment
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  Speaker 1: for them as it might be for someone like LSU. Still,
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  Speaker 1: how is Tennessee planning to prepare for what could be
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  Speaker 1: a cold slash bad weather game in Columbus.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I'm not sure what the temperature will be
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  Speaker 2: up there at and I know it won't be uh,
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  Speaker 2: you know, sunny in eighty five. You know, we we
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  Speaker 2: played in thirty degree weather a week ago. You know,
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  Speaker 2: for us, you know a lot of our practices are
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  Speaker 2: in the morning, we're outside, it will be you know,
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  Speaker 2: similar temperatures to to what you're going to get up there.
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  Speaker 2: Our guys got to be able to handle anything that
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  Speaker 2: comes at them. That's you know, whether it's outside distractions,
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  Speaker 2: it's uh, you know, us getting ready to go be
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  Speaker 2: our best eleven on eleven between the white lines, and
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  Speaker 2: we'll be ready to handle that and operate at a
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  Speaker 2: high level.
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  Speaker 1: There's a lot on the line here for Tennessee, but
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  Speaker 1: a lot of opportunity as well. So how do you
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  Speaker 1: balance having your team understand what's possible, what could be
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  Speaker 1: ahead four games from now, but without putting too much
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  Speaker 1: pressure on themselves.
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  Speaker 2: Were playing a great conference and play you know, elite programs,
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  Speaker 2: you know, really throughout the course of the season and
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  Speaker 2: understanding that again, you know, this is a great opportunity
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  Speaker 2: and when you get into the postseason, you're playing in
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  Speaker 2: a game like this, you got to do the ordinary
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  Speaker 2: things at a really high level. You got to do
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  Speaker 2: consistently for for four quarters. It's not about some magical
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  Speaker 2: play that that is going to be the difference in
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  Speaker 2: the football game. It's about the fundamentals, technique, I discipline,
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  Speaker 2: playing within the structure of what you're doing in any
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  Speaker 2: three phase of the game that takes you to the
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  Speaker 2: ability to go make plays and and you know, it's
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  Speaker 2: all about the preparation and lead up. Those are the
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  Speaker 2: same messages that our guys here throughout the season. It's
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  Speaker 2: been what this group has done, They've earned the right
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  Speaker 2: to play in a game like this. Now it's about
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  Speaker 2: our preparation and making sure that we're at our best
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  Speaker 2: when we get there.
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  Speaker 1: There's always a question about how do you message things
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  Speaker 1: to the team going into the playoff? Are you trying
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  Speaker 1: to kind of keep things in a routine and this
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  Speaker 1: is just sort of business as usual? Is this a
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  Speaker 1: brand new season in a fresh start? What's the message
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  Speaker 1: to the team.
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  Speaker 2: As business as usual? As far as man, You've got
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  Speaker 2: to be completely invested in your preparation. That's on the
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  Speaker 2: practice fields, in the meeting room. You got to take
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  Speaker 2: care of your body at an elite level to to
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  Speaker 2: make sure that you're at your best personally. You know,
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  Speaker 2: when we get to kick off, it is a different season.
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  Speaker 2: You got to play yourself into this, uh, And now
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  Speaker 2: it's it's about taking advantage of the opportunity that we
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  Speaker 2: have and and the only thing that matters is you know,
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  Speaker 2: Saturday night and inside of uh you know, the stadium
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  Speaker 2: in Columbus, Ohio, and and uh uh for us, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we've played in big games. You know, we got to
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  Speaker 2: be ready to go handle everything that that we're going
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  Speaker 2: to face on that night. But it's your preparation that
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  Speaker 2: takes you to that moment. And so being completely invested
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  Speaker 2: in what matters in the present is the most important thing,
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  Speaker 2: you know, day to day.
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  Speaker 1: I heard a question earlier about the Ohio State defense.
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  Speaker 1: Now let's get to the Ohios State offense. This question
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  Speaker 1: was actual specifically about Will Howard, the Ohistate quarterback, but
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  Speaker 1: the answer was really more about the Ohio State offense
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  Speaker 1: on the whole.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we'll get into the the tape today, but
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  Speaker 2: you know, look at them offensively. They got explosive playmakers
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  Speaker 2: out on the perimeter. Big strong, thick, physical offensive lineman,
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  Speaker 2: great skill at the running back position. Again, I think
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  Speaker 2: in a game like this, the line of scrimmage matters.
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  Speaker 2: You got to do a great job against the run.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to have to defend their explosive playmakers out
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  Speaker 2: on the perimeter, and we got to do a great
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  Speaker 2: job of bottling the quarterback up.
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  Speaker 1: The expansion from a four team playoff to a twelve
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  Speaker 1: team playoff has opened up the opportunity to be a
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  Speaker 1: part of the playoff to a whole lot more teams.
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  Speaker 1: This year, this is the first time that Tennessee has
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  Speaker 1: been a part of the college football Playoff. What does
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  Speaker 1: it mean to Joshipel and his program to officially be in.
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  Speaker 2: For us, It's the next step for our program. This
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  Speaker 2: is something that our players have worked towards since, you know,
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  Speaker 2: last January and again, and you earn the right to
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  Speaker 2: be in a game like this. Proud of what we've
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  Speaker 2: done throughout the course of the regular season. The new
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  Speaker 2: season starts here and you know, you know, there was
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  Speaker 2: an expectation inside of our program to earn the right
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  Speaker 2: to play in a game like this in the postseason.
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  Speaker 2: So a lot of excitement here, but also understand that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we're getting ready to go play a great
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  Speaker 2: team and we got to be at our best.
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  Speaker 1: The weather is obviously going to be a big part
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  Speaker 1: of the conversation heading into the game on December twenty. First,
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  Speaker 1: is Tennessee planning to just practice outside exclusively. They're going
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  Speaker 1: to practice in the mornings when it's a little chillier.
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  Speaker 1: But are they planning to just be outside exclusively leading
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  Speaker 1: up to the game.
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  Speaker 2: I feel like during the course of the lead up
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  Speaker 2: to kick off, you know, we'll be outside as much
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  Speaker 2: as we possibly can, and you know, typically the temperatures,
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  Speaker 2: you know, at some point during this preparation, we'll mirror
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  Speaker 2: what we think we'll have on Saturday night up there
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  Speaker 2: we typically get outside us. Uh, you know, something's not
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  Speaker 2: right with the grass fields here, you know, as far
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  Speaker 2: as you know, wet, damp, frost, whatever it might be.
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  Speaker 1: The transfer portal opened on Monday officially, and a whole
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  Speaker 1: bunch of guys, even some on the current College Football
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  Speaker 1: Playoff teams, have entered the portal. We've seen four buck
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  Speaker 1: Eyes already stay that they were going to go into
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  Speaker 1: the portal. Has Josh Hypel been surprised by the number
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  Speaker 1: of players on CFP teams who are already throwing their
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  Speaker 1: names in there?
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  Speaker 2: To me, you know, individuals are gonna make, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the decision that that they feel is you know, right
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  Speaker 2: for them, their family, whatever it might be. I just
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  Speaker 2: know this as a competitor, doing this a long time
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  Speaker 2: as a coach, But also in my playing experience, man,
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  Speaker 2: I can't imagine you know, not wanting in participating, And
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  Speaker 2: what I think is is one of the most unique
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  Speaker 2: opportunities and your playing career, but also in your life.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you've put pored a lot of work into
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  Speaker 2: it and you know this is a unique opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: Much like Ohio State, Tennessee was hoping to be part
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  Speaker 1: of the conference championship game weekend, but they weren't. They
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  Speaker 1: missed out just like the Buckeyes did. So is that
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  Speaker 1: in some ways maybe a benefit long term to at
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  Speaker 1: least get a week off leading up to what could
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  Speaker 1: be a month long grind through the college football playoff.
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  Speaker 2: You know, for us inside of this program, playing in
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  Speaker 2: Atlantis one of the first goals that we have as
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  Speaker 2: a program. Disappointed that we weren't able to be there,
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  Speaker 2: but you know, for us last week we were able
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  Speaker 2: to get some good work, in particular for our young
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  Speaker 2: guys Orvet's got some work too, but some of those guys,
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  Speaker 2: you know, just through the duration of the season, you know,
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  Speaker 2: trying to get those guys healthy. Here is we start
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  Speaker 2: our preparation this week.
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  Speaker 1: And finally, one of those questions that always comes up
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  Speaker 1: this time of year as you're seeing new teams matching up.
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  Speaker 1: Last year, Missouri coach Eli Drinquitz and Ryan Day talked
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  Speaker 1: about the fact they've been friends for years and really
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  Speaker 1: good buddies just on the coaching circuit, going back a
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  Speaker 1: long time, and they faced off in the Cotton Bowl
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  Speaker 1: last year. So has Josh Hipel had a chance to
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  Speaker 1: meet Ryan Day already?
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  Speaker 2: I have not had an opportunity to pass across with him.
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  Speaker 1: Very much.
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  Speaker 2: Great respect, you know, for what he's done in his
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  Speaker 2: coaching career, what he's done there on Ohio State, the
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  Speaker 2: success that they've had, you know, a year in and
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  Speaker 2: year out. Great appreciation for how he's he's done it
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  Speaker 2: and what he's been able to accomplish there.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Hypel and the Balls. We'll definitely get a chance
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  Speaker 1: to meet Day and the Buckeyes coming up Saturday night,
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  Speaker 1: December twenty first, inside Ohio Stadium. We will be there.
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  Speaker 1: It is going to be a heck of a scene.
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  Speaker 1: It should be a great scene. Great matchup looks like
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  Speaker 1: a relatively close game. Buck Guy's favored by give or
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  Speaker 1: take about a touchdown depending on where you're looking at it.
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  Speaker 1: The closest of the four first round matchups, so should
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  Speaker 1: be a great game, should be a great week. A
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  Speaker 1: couple of weeks leading up to there in Columbus, Ohio
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  Speaker 1: and Knoxville, Tennessee. We'll be covering it all for you
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  Speaker 1: at Buckeyheadle dot com. That's where Tony, Kevin and I
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  Speaker 1: over the team, Mark covers recruiting. Got our whole team
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  Speaker 1: of x's nose gurus there to make you a smarter
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  Speaker 1: football fan, all at Buckeyehuddle dot com. That'll do it
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  Speaker 1: for today. Thank you guys all for joining us. Have
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  Speaker 1: a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.