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BONUS: Ryan Day's Midseason Status Report On The Ohio State Program · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: All right, we got one more bonus episode for you
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  Speaker 1: coming out of Ryan Day's interview session on Wednesday night
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  Speaker 1: following the Buckeyes practice. Sometimes those interview sessions are just
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  Speaker 1: a bunch of real kind of quick answers, and he's
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  Speaker 1: just sort of providing some basic short updates on things.
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  Speaker 1: This week was different. I don't know what it was.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if it's the fact that they're kind
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  Speaker 1: of comfortable favorites this week or what, but he got
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  Speaker 1: some interesting questions, and he gave some really, really interesting answers.
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  Speaker 1: This show, this you're just going to get four answers
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  Speaker 1: from Ryan Day, and it's all kind of big picture stuff.
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  Speaker 1: So these are questions that you could give short answers
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  Speaker 1: to if you wanted to, but Ryan kind of took
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  Speaker 1: a little bit of a deep dive. And the first
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  Speaker 1: question was about all the new faces on this year's roster.
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  Speaker 1: It was a big story all offseason, 51 new players
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  Speaker 1: on the roster. So how has that changed things, having
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  Speaker 1: so many new guys in the program? How has that
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  Speaker 1: changed things during the offseason and And even at this
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  Speaker 1: point in the season where guys are still doing things
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  Speaker 1: for the first time in some cases. And is this
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  Speaker 1: just going to kind of be how it is in
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  Speaker 1: college football moving forward?
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  Speaker 2: It's different.
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  Speaker 3: When you have guys who have been in the program
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  Speaker 3: for three and four years, they know how things are run.
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  Speaker 2: They know the routine.
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  Speaker 3: They know what comes with the season. And when you
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  Speaker 3: don't have those guys, you know, they're learning all those things.
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  Speaker 3: And so you don't have time to learn on the
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  Speaker 3: job here. You've got to get them up to speed fast.
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  Speaker 3: And so, you know, that's really important. And, you know,
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  Speaker 3: all these guys come from different programs, whether it's somebody
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  Speaker 3: who comes in as a transfer or somebody who comes
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  Speaker 3: in as a freshman, and they have pride in where
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  Speaker 3: they've been and they have pride in what they've done,
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  Speaker 3: but they have to quickly jump in with two feet
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  Speaker 3: and say, okay, this is what we're doing and this
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  Speaker 3: is how.
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  Speaker 2: We do it. And Um, they're going to get pushed
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  Speaker 2: in a lot of different ways.
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  Speaker 3: And, um, and when you look at the guys historically
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  Speaker 3: in our program who, you know, are near three or
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  Speaker 3: year four, that's really when you see them take off
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  Speaker 3: because they've got a couple of years in the program.
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  Speaker 3: They understand how things go. Um, and the development really
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  Speaker 3: kicks in at that point. Um, we don't have the
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  Speaker 3: luxury of doing that anymore. So that, that is very,
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  Speaker 3: very different. Um, how we practiced, how we've organized things, um,
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  Speaker 3: we've adjusted in certain ways. I wouldn't say that there's
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  Speaker 3: major adjustments, but there are certain things that you got
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  Speaker 3: to do that are different for this group that, um,
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  Speaker 3: you know, are different than the past couple of years.
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  Speaker 3: And if it's working, you keep it going, but if
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  Speaker 3: it's not, you got to get some things fixed, you know,
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  Speaker 3: and obviously coming off of the loss we had in
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  Speaker 3: week two, we got to make some changes and figure
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  Speaker 3: out what's going on.
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  Speaker 2: Um, so yeah, you're right.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it is very different and I don't know
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  Speaker 3: if I've said this before, but you know, when you
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  Speaker 3: have a, when you have a child and you know,
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  Speaker 3: Like I think about 10 years ago when I got here,
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  Speaker 3: my son's eight years old.
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  Speaker 2: You look at him, you look at the pictures and every.
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  Speaker 3: Day you don't recognize that he's growing up until he's
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  Speaker 3: 18 years old and he's going off to college. It's
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  Speaker 3: kind of like that in college football right now. You know,
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  Speaker 3: they change this, they change that, they change this, they
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  Speaker 3: change that, they change this, they change that. And then
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  Speaker 3: 10 years later, you look up and you're like, wow,
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  Speaker 3: this is a completely different game. This is a completely
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  Speaker 3: different way to put a roster together. It's a different
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  Speaker 3: way to motivate your group. Coaching staff is, you know,
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  Speaker 3: is different. I mean, so much about it's different. So
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  Speaker 3: we have to continually adapt over time. And we've always
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  Speaker 3: talked about, like, if you don't adapt, you die. And
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  Speaker 3: so because nobody cares and we have to continue to
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  Speaker 3: have success. So that's our challenge. And we've embraced it.
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  Speaker 3: I think our coaches are into it. I think the
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  Speaker 3: players are into it. And the biggest thing I keep
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  Speaker 3: talking about is how we have to keep challenging each other.
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  Speaker 3: And sometimes it's OK to challenge somebody and be wrong.
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  Speaker 3: because you care enough that you want, you want them
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  Speaker 3: to maximize who they are. So that's, that's, and we're,
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  Speaker 3: it's in a race against time right now. Like we've
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  Speaker 3: got to get better this week against Maryland. We got
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  Speaker 3: to take the next step and upgrade everything that we're doing.
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  Speaker 3: So those are some of the messages we have right now.
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  Speaker 3: Some of the thoughts I have about the team.
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  Speaker 1: He had a follow-up after that about some of the
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  Speaker 1: lessons they've learned this year. And after having brought in
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  Speaker 1: 51 new guys, is that something they want to do again?
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  Speaker 1: Or does this maybe change the approach for this upcoming
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  Speaker 1: offseason where maybe instead of being willing to say goodbye
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  Speaker 1: to someone who's on the team and bring in someone new,
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  Speaker 1: maybe they're going to wait a little longer to move
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  Speaker 1: on before they move on from certain guys? Or are
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  Speaker 1: they going to try and maintain a little more roster
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  Speaker 1: stability this offseason?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think those are all the questions that we ask.
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  Speaker 3: And you don't have great answers because there's certain guys
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  Speaker 3: that it takes a couple years to get going and
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  Speaker 3: then they're in the program and they're culture guys and
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  Speaker 3: like you you rally around them and they rally around
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  Speaker 3: you because they know how much it means to be
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  Speaker 3: a Buckeye and and then you know there's certain guys
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  Speaker 3: that you know like you said you know maybe they
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  Speaker 3: want to go somewhere else and you have to bring
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  Speaker 3: somebody in to make make an upgrade in that area
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  Speaker 3: because of you know what we need to get done
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  Speaker 3: here what our goals are so that that's the balance
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  Speaker 3: that we're we're striking here knowing um you know that
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  Speaker 3: that there's no blueprint to this and we got to
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  Speaker 3: do the best we can to continually talking it through
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  Speaker 3: and through Mark and our coaching staff, make the best decisions,
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  Speaker 3: you know, one at a time.
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  Speaker 1: One of the phrases you hear Ryan Day use a
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  Speaker 1: lot in these interview settings is he talks about challenging guys.
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  Speaker 1: So within Ryan Day's program and in Ryan Day's mind,
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  Speaker 1: what does that mean? What does that look like when
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  Speaker 1: they're challenging guys on the team?
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  Speaker 3: Just in general, maybe today's society, you know, Sometimes I
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  Speaker 3: think you feel like, well, I got to get my
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  Speaker 3: stuff right before I start challenging somebody else, whether it's
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  Speaker 3: a player or a coach, a coach to a coach,
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  Speaker 3: you know, player to a player. And when you challenge somebody,
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  Speaker 3: what you're doing is you're telling them you care. You know,
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  Speaker 3: like I try to explain to some of the guys
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  Speaker 3: or like if that was my son, I would challenge
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  Speaker 3: him every single way because I know what's best for
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  Speaker 3: him and I love him. Well, you know, it's the
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  Speaker 3: same way here with everybody in the building. You know,
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  Speaker 3: you have to build that trust. But, you know, I
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  Speaker 3: would rather, you know, have you, you know, feel a
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  Speaker 3: certain way about, what I'm saying in this moment, then
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  Speaker 3: look back in a few years and have regret over
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  Speaker 3: not maximizing who you are as a coach or as
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  Speaker 3: a player. And we have to build that trust within
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  Speaker 3: the organization that we're constantly challenging each other and we're
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  Speaker 3: not in our feelings. There's not going to be any
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  Speaker 3: resentment about it. Like we're all trying to do that
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  Speaker 3: because the only way you grow is by being uncomfortable
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  Speaker 3: and we constantly have to be that way. And so
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  Speaker 3: I just think that competitors respond to challenges and we
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  Speaker 3: have to keep doing that to each other.
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  Speaker 1: Here's one of these things that someone asked about and
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  Speaker 1: I thought that can't be right, but it is correct.
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  Speaker 1: After the Maryland game, the regular season for the Buckeyes
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  Speaker 1: is going to be halfway over. It feels like we
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  Speaker 1: just got started and already we're almost at the halfway
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  Speaker 1: point of the regular season. So now that you're about
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  Speaker 1: the halfway point, has Ohio State figured out its identity
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  Speaker 1: and It's identity on offense. It's identity on defense. It's
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  Speaker 1: identity on special teams. I'm going to tell you right
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  Speaker 1: up front. This is one of the best and most
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  Speaker 1: detailed answers I've heard from Ryan day all season long.
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  Speaker 3: I think we took a step in the right direction
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  Speaker 3: this past weekend. I think what you saw on offense
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  Speaker 3: was a team that combined, um, 11 personnel and 12 personnel, uh,
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  Speaker 3: under center and shotgun run game, RPO under center run
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  Speaker 3: and play action pass. Um, And I think the combination
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  Speaker 3: of zone scheme, outside zone, and gap scheme combined with
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  Speaker 3: all of those things really puts a lot of challenges,
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  Speaker 3: especially when we have someone like Jeremiah on the perimeter.
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  Speaker 3: I think when we're playing really good situationally and executing
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  Speaker 3: in those areas, we can put a lot of stress
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  Speaker 3: on defenses. I think on offense, I mean on defense,
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  Speaker 3: you're seeing multiple fronts. You're seeing multiple groupings. Now I
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  Speaker 3: think we have to continually try to figure out, um,
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  Speaker 3: how much of that we need to settle into. Um,
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  Speaker 3: I think, I think we're still working through that, but
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  Speaker 3: I do think we're getting an idea of, you know,
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  Speaker 3: who gives us the best chance, um, to win on
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  Speaker 3: first and second down and then who gives the best
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  Speaker 3: chance to win on third down against each grouping. Now,
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  Speaker 3: how can we make those, you know, somewhat hybrid, um,
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  Speaker 3: I think is, is an important step that we need
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  Speaker 3: to take, uh, as we continue to move forward, uh,
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  Speaker 3: through the middle of the season. Um, I think you're
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  Speaker 3: also seeing us play a combination of man and zone.
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  Speaker 3: And I think you're seeing his blitz, um, you know,
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  Speaker 3: more than maybe we have in the past. So I
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  Speaker 3: think we're, we're seeing us find that identity and we're
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  Speaker 3: having some success, which we did this past, past week. Um,
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  Speaker 3: so we've got to keep solidifying that as we go. Um,
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  Speaker 3: do I think it's done yet? No, absolutely not. I
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  Speaker 3: still think it's a work in progress, uh, but we
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  Speaker 3: are making some progress. Um, like I said before, to
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  Speaker 3: say we have an identity on special teams right now,
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  Speaker 3: I can't say that, um, we need to do a
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  Speaker 3: better job in the return game period. You know, uh,
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  Speaker 3: I think our kickoff coverage has been good. I think our,
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  Speaker 3: our coverage on the punt has been good. Like both
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  Speaker 3: coverage units have been good. Um, we got to make,
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  Speaker 3: you know, field goals and big spots, you know, and that's, again,
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  Speaker 3: I said it before Connor, um, you know, it's not
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  Speaker 3: his fault guys have missed field goals since, you know,
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  Speaker 3: since he got here, you know, but, but he's got
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  Speaker 3: to make those and we expect them to.
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  Speaker 2: So he's got to do that.
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  Speaker 3: Um, So it's all hands on deck this week on
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  Speaker 3: special teams.
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  Speaker 2: We've changed some things up.
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  Speaker 3: We've moved some things around to make sure that we're
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  Speaker 3: doing everything we can to justify what we're doing because
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  Speaker 3: that's probably the area right now that we've got to
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  Speaker 3: improve in the most in terms of finding our identity.
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  Speaker 3: But in all three phases, I hope as we come
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  Speaker 3: out of Saturday's game, we've taken a step in the
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  Speaker 3: direction of solidifying those identities more.
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  Speaker 2: So there you go.
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  Speaker 1: A little bit from Ryan Day. We are going to
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  Speaker 1: have plenty more coming for you all week long at BuckeyeInsiders.com.
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  Speaker 1: We'll have a bonus show with Marcus Hartman, our basketball insider,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: looking back at the Buckeyes' season opening scrimmage against Cincinnati
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  Speaker 1: down in Mason earlier in the week. Get a chance
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  Speaker 1: to talk to him about some takeaways from that.
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  Speaker 3: What matters?
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  Speaker 1: What doesn't really matter? What really doesn't tell us a
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  Speaker 1: lot about the season and what we might have learned
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: down there. So you can find that one in this
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: same feed. We've got plenty of scheme coverage as well.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: We've churned out four separate scheme insider pieces this week. Ross, Michael,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: and Justin, they just keep churning out great content that
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: is incredible. You can find that in the Buckeyes tomorrow
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: morning feed, but it is really better if you watch
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: it on our YouTube channel, youtube.com slash at Buckeye Insiders,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: because then you can watch the plays that they're talking
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: about and really take the time to understand. I learn
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: a lot every time I talk to one of those guys.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: I think you guys will too. And if you like
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: talking about that stuff, BuckeyeInsiders.com would be a great place
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: to do it. As we mentioned, we keep beefing up
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: our scheme team. Got some really, really smart football minds
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: there on the board. the insiders board at Buckeye insiders.com.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: You want to get a little smarter about Ohio state football.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: That is the place to do it. Buckeye insiders.com. Thank
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: you guys all for joining us. We'll be back with
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  Speaker 1: another episode soon.