Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / BONUS: What Has Ryan Day Excited About The Buckeyes' Offense?
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: This is the first in what will be a series
- 0:03Speaker 1: of bonus shows this week, because there is a whole
- 0:05Speaker 1: lot to talk about as we count down the days
- 0:06Speaker 1: to Ohio State's season opener against Ball State, Saturday, 1230,
- 0:10Speaker 1: inside the horseshoe. If you'd like to talk to us
- 0:13Speaker 1: about all of that stuff, we would love to talk
- 0:15Speaker 1: to you about it at BuckeyeInsiders.com. That's where we've got
- 0:18Speaker 1: our whole team covering the Buckeyes, covering recruiting, covering X's nose,
- 0:22Speaker 1: covering basketball, plus a really, really fun community. Love to
- 0:26Speaker 1: see you there at BuckeyeInsiders.com. All right, done with the
- 0:29Speaker 1: sales pitch, on with the show. On this episode, you're
- 0:32Speaker 1: going to get to hear a bunch from Ohio State
- 0:33Speaker 1: head coach Ryan Day, some of the interesting stuff he
- 0:35Speaker 1: had to say about the offense during Tuesday's press conference.
- 0:39Speaker 1: Let's start with where new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is
- 0:42Speaker 1: going to make the biggest impact on this year's team.
- 0:45Speaker 2: All across the board. I think for me, when I
- 0:51Speaker 2: first knew of Arthur, I think I thought a lot
- 0:55Speaker 2: about his background of being an offensive lineman, what he
- 0:58Speaker 2: did in Tennessee with Derrick Henry, what he's done to
- 1:01Speaker 2: have seven straight running backs over 1,000 yards with different backs.
- 1:05Speaker 2: But the more I get around him, I mean, it's
- 1:08Speaker 2: an equal distribution of run and pass, his experience in
- 1:12Speaker 2: terms of putting game plans together. I think when you
- 1:15Speaker 2: talk to the skill guys and the offensive line, they
- 1:17Speaker 2: both speak very, very highly of him. So excited to
- 1:20Speaker 2: get to work and get on the field with him
- 1:21Speaker 2: this season. But I think just enhance in all areas,
- 1:25Speaker 2: overall efficiency, confidence. and bringing different things to the table
- 1:30Speaker 2: and also combining things that we've done that's been successful.
- 1:33Speaker 1: One of the big storylines this offseason has been whether
- 1:35Speaker 1: the Buckeyes have enough big play ability, and especially in
- 1:39Speaker 1: the run game. So does he feel like there are
- 1:41Speaker 1: home run hitters in the run game?
- 1:43Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's pretty well documented this offseason. We
- 1:46Speaker 2: talked a lot about our ability to get to the
- 1:48Speaker 2: second level and turn 10, 12-yard runs into big runs.
- 1:54Speaker 2: We've put a lot of work into that. And so, yeah,
- 1:58Speaker 2: we want to go get on the field and see
- 2:00Speaker 2: all the work that we put together in the offseason
- 2:03Speaker 2: get on the field. And I think it's not just
- 2:06Speaker 2: the running backs. It's everybody involved with it. But, yeah,
- 2:09Speaker 2: I think we've seen that in practice during the preseason,
- 2:12Speaker 2: and it's something that we want to see carry over
- 2:15Speaker 2: here to the games.
- 2:16Speaker 1: The middle of Ohio State's offensive line should be really,
- 2:19Speaker 1: really good this year. You've got Luke Montgomery at left guard.
- 2:22Speaker 1: You've got Carson Hinsman at center. You've got Austin Cereveld
- 2:25Speaker 1: at right guard. What does that trio mean, not just
- 2:29Speaker 1: to the offensive line, but to the whole team?
- 2:32Speaker 2: I think about it a lot. You start to have
- 2:34Speaker 2: different teams and you compare teams and you compare players.
- 2:37Speaker 2: And I think those three guys in particular are a
- 2:41Speaker 2: good example of guys that had their ups and downs
- 2:46Speaker 2: along the way, but now they're playing their best football.
- 2:50Speaker 2: And not only are they seniors, But they've been in
- 2:57Speaker 2: the program for multiple years. So it's one thing to
- 3:02Speaker 2: have somebody come in from a program that another program
- 3:06Speaker 2: sort of quote unquote raised them for two, three, four years.
- 3:10Speaker 2: They've been with us. They know what this place is.
- 3:13Speaker 2: They bleed scarlet and gray. So that is really significant.
- 3:18Speaker 2: They know what they're walking into this season. And then
- 3:21Speaker 2: just the overall football IQ of those three guys is
- 3:24Speaker 2: really high. Combine that with some of the things that
- 3:28Speaker 2: Arthur's doing, what Tyler's doing. Man, those guys are walking
- 3:32Speaker 2: on water right now. They are. I mean, you see
- 3:34Speaker 2: them walk down the hallway. You see the way that
- 3:36Speaker 2: they're out of practice. They're highly energized. They're rocking off
- 3:39Speaker 2: the ball. So that's been fun to see. And you're
- 3:43Speaker 2: seeing the best version of those guys. And I think
- 3:46Speaker 2: that's where this offense is going to start right there
- 3:48Speaker 2: with those three guys on the inside. And then obviously
- 3:51Speaker 2: the Julian, the backs, the tackles, and then it kind
- 3:53Speaker 2: of goes from there.
- 3:54Speaker 1: One of the storylines we've been talking about a bunch
- 3:56Speaker 1: this fall is the receiver rotation and who's going to play,
- 4:00Speaker 1: how many guys are going to play. So this question was,
- 4:03Speaker 1: whose decision is that? Who decides who is going to play?
- 4:07Speaker 1: How many guys are going to play? When are they
- 4:09Speaker 1: going to play? Who decides that and how many guys are.
- 4:12Speaker 2: Going to play? Yeah, I think coming out of the game,
- 4:16Speaker 2: we should have another data point moving forward. But Yeah,
- 4:22Speaker 2: everybody's involved with the conversation. At the end of the day,
- 4:26Speaker 2: certainly it comes down to my final decision. But Arthur
- 4:29Speaker 2: has a lot of say in it. Cortez has a
- 4:30Speaker 2: lot of say in it. And we're going to put
- 4:34Speaker 2: the best guys on the field. But if guys are
- 4:37Speaker 2: playing at a certain level that they deserve to play
- 4:39Speaker 2: and be starters, then we can roll guys as well.
- 4:41Speaker 2: I think that is the case here. Some of the
- 4:44Speaker 2: guys are younger. So they're going to have to play
- 4:47Speaker 2: through some of the freshman the beginning growing pains that
- 4:54Speaker 2: come with it. But if they just practice or they
- 4:57Speaker 2: just play the way that they've been practicing, they're going
- 5:00Speaker 2: to get into a rhythm really, really fast. And so
- 5:03Speaker 2: I expect those guys to play. I expect Chris to play.
- 5:07Speaker 2: I expect Brock to play. I'm certain you're going to
- 5:09Speaker 2: see Devin play. You're going to see Brandon play. You're
- 5:11Speaker 2: going to see Phil play. You're going to see Jeremiah play.
- 5:14Speaker 2: I'd like to see Dez get in the game. So
- 5:18Speaker 2: you're going to see some guys, and then we kind
- 5:19Speaker 2: of continue to build from there. But The good news
- 5:22Speaker 2: is we have some good depth there. We have some
- 5:24Speaker 2: good youth in there. But we'll continue to figure out
- 5:29Speaker 2: how these guys actually play in the game. I think
- 5:31Speaker 2: it's one thing to do it in practice. Now it's
- 5:35Speaker 2: time to go put it on the field. And I
- 5:36Speaker 2: think that's something that, you heard me again say this before,
- 5:41Speaker 2: we practice a lot around here. We train a lot
- 5:43Speaker 2: around here. But what matters at the end of the
- 5:44Speaker 2: day is what happens in that stadium on Saturdays. And
- 5:47Speaker 2: so now it's time to go do that and we'll
- 5:51Speaker 2: grade it, we'll identify it, we'll come in here on Sunday,
- 5:55Speaker 2: recognize the guys that graded out well, and then we'll
- 5:57Speaker 2: get ready to go do it again. So that's sort
- 5:59Speaker 2: of the routine that we're looking to find right now.
- 6:01Speaker 2: And the other part of it is special teams. If
- 6:05Speaker 2: those receivers can find themselves on special teams, then we
- 6:09Speaker 2: can find ways to get them in the game.
- 6:12Speaker 1: One of the names we've been talking about all year long,
- 6:15Speaker 1: but haven't really gotten to see a whole heck of
- 6:17Speaker 1: a lot, is true freshman running back Legend Bay. Now,
- 6:21Speaker 1: he's someone Ryan Day has compared to Curtis Samuel, and
- 6:23Speaker 1: Curtis Samuel was kind of a running back, but also
- 6:25Speaker 1: played wide receiver some. So Legend Bay, he's identified as
- 6:29Speaker 1: a running back on the roster. Is he a running back?
- 6:32Speaker 1: Is he going to be a receiver? Is he both?
- 6:34Speaker 2: I think to your point, he has the ability to
- 6:36Speaker 2: do both. He's at running back right now. We felt
- 6:40Speaker 2: like it was important for him to learn one position
- 6:43Speaker 2: instead of trying to do both and not really mastering one.
- 6:47Speaker 2: So He's learning every day how to become a back,
- 6:50Speaker 2: and there's a lot that comes with that. But I
- 6:52Speaker 2: think we all recognize that when you can get the
- 6:54Speaker 2: ball in space to legend, good things are going to happen.
- 6:57Speaker 2: So it's our job to continue to develop him. It's
- 6:59Speaker 2: his job to come in with a good work ethic
- 7:01Speaker 2: every day, understand that he's got a lot to learn
- 7:05Speaker 2: because he really played quarterback in high school. So there's
- 7:08Speaker 2: a lot that comes with that. And when you're trying
- 7:11Speaker 2: to learn two positions, that's a lot. So we'll continue
- 7:14Speaker 2: to add to his plate as the season goes on,
- 7:16Speaker 2: as long as he's doing his part.
- 7:18Speaker 1: Julian Sane was a Heisman finalist in his first season
- 7:21Speaker 1: as a starter at Ohio State as a redshirt freshman. Now,
- 7:25Speaker 1: his third year, he's back as a returning starter. Where
- 7:28Speaker 1: has he improved on the field this preseason?
- 7:31Speaker 2: Man, in a lot of areas. I think his movement's
- 7:33Speaker 2: been better. I think his accuracy's even improved more. The
- 7:36Speaker 2: ball's coming out faster. His understanding of the offense, his
- 7:40Speaker 2: ability in the huddle to communicate, his ability to communicate
- 7:43Speaker 2: on the line of scrimmage. He's done a lot of
- 7:47Speaker 2: good things for us, I think. you know, probably like
- 7:49Speaker 2: if you just said, is there one thing I'd say, no,
- 7:51Speaker 2: it's probably like making incremental improvements across the board is
- 7:55Speaker 2: probably the best way to put it.
- 7:56Speaker 1: This next one was from our buddy Tony Gerderman of BuckeyeInsiders.com.
- 7:59Speaker 1: What does Ryan Day absolutely know about the offense and
- 8:03Speaker 1: what is he still maybe wondering about? You'll hear that
- 8:06Speaker 1: answer and then a quick follow-up from Tony.
- 8:08Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know what it's going to look
- 8:10Speaker 2: like in terms of like, all right, once we get
- 8:12Speaker 2: out there and just start playing games, I'm just excited
- 8:14Speaker 2: to get that part of it going. I think You
- 8:17Speaker 2: never really do. I think you recognize what you see
- 8:19Speaker 2: in practice. But I think we do have some guys
- 8:23Speaker 2: that have played a lot of football. So I think
- 8:27Speaker 2: they're going to play really, really hard. I think it's
- 8:29Speaker 2: going to be a fun offense to watch. I think
- 8:31Speaker 2: we're going to have an identity. But we've got to
- 8:33Speaker 2: go do it on the field. So that's part of
- 8:35Speaker 2: the first game. You just kind of want to get going,
- 8:37Speaker 2: get on there, and start to get to work on it.
- 8:38Speaker 2: But a lot of excitement around it. Fun to watch
- 8:41Speaker 2: for the fans or fun to watch for the coaches? Both. Both,
- 8:45Speaker 2: I think. Because I think you're going to see a
- 8:47Speaker 2: lot of balance. You're going to see good players. You're
- 8:53Speaker 2: going to see a physical run game. You're going to
- 8:56Speaker 2: see running backs running hard. You're going to see a
- 8:57Speaker 2: really good quarterback. I mean, it kind of has a
- 8:59Speaker 2: lot of balance to it. And then see where the
- 9:04Speaker 2: journey goes. See how it builds, how it adapts over time.
- 9:08Speaker 2: But I know one thing for sure. the identity of
- 9:12Speaker 2: everybody on the team, but including the offense is how
- 9:14Speaker 2: hard they play, how tough they are, and then guys
- 9:17Speaker 2: executing at a high level. So, um, how that all
- 9:19Speaker 2: shakes out and scoring a lot of points, you know,
- 9:21Speaker 2: we'll see.
- 9:23Speaker 1: Next up, a very short answer to a very significant question.
- 9:27Speaker 1: Has Ryan Day and the coaching staff made a decision
- 9:29Speaker 1: on who the backup quarterback's going to be? Is it
- 9:31Speaker 1: going to be Tavian St.
- 9:32Speaker 2: Clair?
- 9:32Speaker 1: Is it going to be Luke Fahey? Or is that
- 9:34Speaker 1: still a little bit of an open question?
- 9:36Speaker 2: We're going to let those guys continue to split reps
- 9:38Speaker 2: with the twos this week and see how the week goes. Um, And,
- 9:42Speaker 2: you know, if we can get them both reps in
- 9:43Speaker 2: the game, we'll try to do that. We'll just kind
- 9:46Speaker 2: of see how the game goes.
- 9:47Speaker 1: This was kind of an interesting conversation, a little bit
- 9:49Speaker 1: of a back and forth. And this is, we credit
- 9:51Speaker 1: Jeremy Birmingham, Berm from Letterman Row, had a really good
- 9:55Speaker 1: question and an interesting conversation here. Is this a deep,
- 9:59Speaker 1: this is... a deeper wide receiver group this season. I
- 10:01Speaker 1: think everyone pretty much agrees this is a deeper wide
- 10:04Speaker 1: receiver group than in some previous years. So why is that?
- 10:07Speaker 1: Is that a function of the freshmen being ready to
- 10:10Speaker 1: go earlier than other guys maybe would have in the past?
- 10:13Speaker 1: Is it the fact that they brought in transfers this year?
- 10:15Speaker 1: And that's the impacted thing. Is that something Cortez Hankton
- 10:18Speaker 1: is doing differently than his predecessor, Brian Hartline. What, what
- 10:21Speaker 1: is the, what is to credit for the deeper wide
- 10:24Speaker 1: receiver group this year?
- 10:25Speaker 2: I think it's, yeah, I think it's probably all of
- 10:28Speaker 2: those things. Let's start with, you know, Brandon and Jeremiah,
- 10:33Speaker 2: kind of the two elder statesmen in the room. You know,
- 10:35Speaker 2: these are guys that have been around for a long
- 10:37Speaker 2: time and are obviously impact players. So we know we've
- 10:39Speaker 2: got that solidified, you know, then you bring in someone
- 10:41Speaker 2: like Devin McEwen, you know, Kyle's been out here for
- 10:45Speaker 2: a little while, so we're hopeful to get him back soon.
- 10:47Speaker 2: But Devin's someone that solidified himself pretty quickly as someone
- 10:50Speaker 2: that's going to play a lot of football at starter level.
- 10:53Speaker 2: So that was important. And making sure we identified him
- 10:58Speaker 2: in the portal as the right player. And so that
- 11:01Speaker 2: was big. So I think you're asking why. You get
- 11:05Speaker 2: those two guys, but then when you go in the portal,
- 11:07Speaker 2: it has to be the right fit culturally, but also
- 11:10Speaker 2: on the field. And I remember watching the film of
- 11:12Speaker 2: him against A & M, and he was just competing
- 11:16Speaker 2: his tail off out there. And then you saw him
- 11:18Speaker 2: come in in the spring, do some good things, but
- 11:20Speaker 2: then this summer he's taken off with his body and
- 11:23Speaker 2: just the way he's practiced. And I think a lot
- 11:25Speaker 2: of the guys would tell you that he's as good
- 11:29Speaker 2: as we've had here. Really excited about seeing him play.
- 11:32Speaker 2: But then I think you have the guys like Phil
- 11:34Speaker 2: and Dez who have been here for a couple years,
- 11:37Speaker 2: but now they're starting to take the next step.
- 11:41Speaker 1: And then this was sort of a follow-up to that
- 11:43Speaker 1: previous question. Is there a change in philosophy this year, maybe,
- 11:47Speaker 1: in terms of how many guys they're looking at playing?
- 11:49Speaker 1: Because Cortez Hankton, we've talked about this a bunch. You
- 11:52Speaker 1: go through the stats, you go through the snap counts
- 11:54Speaker 1: from his time at LSU, he played more guys at
- 11:57Speaker 1: LSU in wide receiver than Brian Hartline typically did at
- 12:00Speaker 1: Ohio State. So is this just sort of a change
- 12:03Speaker 1: in philosophy?
- 12:04Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think that the freshmen also came in
- 12:08Speaker 2: making a push. So- Yeah, I think it's a little
- 12:13Speaker 2: bit of just a makeup in the room. But they're
- 12:17Speaker 2: all good players. And I think Cortez is doing a
- 12:20Speaker 2: great job coaching them. I think Arthur is doing a
- 12:21Speaker 2: good job putting them in situations to utilize their skill set.
- 12:25Speaker 2: And I will give Cortez credit. I think the freshmen
- 12:31Speaker 2: have come in and been able to get on the
- 12:35Speaker 2: field quickly. And they don't make a lot of mistakes.
- 12:39Speaker 2: And they're playing pretty physical right now. So it's been
- 12:42Speaker 2: great to see those guys get the reps. I think
- 12:44Speaker 2: it helps to have someone like Julian, an older guy,
- 12:46Speaker 2: who can put the ball where he needs to with
- 12:48Speaker 2: those guys. I think when you look back on some
- 12:53Speaker 2: of the other rooms we've had, maybe the top of
- 12:55Speaker 2: the room was super, super talented, but maybe didn't have
- 12:57Speaker 2: this depth in here. So I just think we have
- 13:01Speaker 2: some talented dudes, a combination of guys who just got here,
- 13:04Speaker 2: but a combination of guys that have been in the program,
- 13:06Speaker 2: bought into what Mick's done, and you know, believe in
- 13:10Speaker 2: our culture.
- 13:11Speaker 1: Julian Sane had a very good first season as Ohio
- 13:14Speaker 1: State's quarterback, but he is someone who we keep hearing
- 13:17Speaker 1: about the amount of incredible work he's put in in
- 13:20Speaker 1: the weight room, in the film room, on the practice
- 13:22Speaker 1: field to get ready for his second season as a starter.
- 13:26Speaker 1: So what has driven him to keep improving like that?
- 13:29Speaker 2: Well, I think he knows that at the quarterback position,
- 13:31Speaker 2: you have to continue to evolve. And the more you play,
- 13:33Speaker 2: the more experience you have, the better you're going to be,
- 13:34Speaker 2: the slower the game is. Every time you take a snap,
- 13:37Speaker 2: it's an opportunity to get better and put that that
- 13:40Speaker 2: play in your library of plays and draw upon. And
- 13:42Speaker 2: he loves football. He loves playing. So he's embraced all that.
- 13:46Speaker 2: And he wants to have a great season. He's going
- 13:49Speaker 2: to start off by just looking to win the first
- 13:51Speaker 2: game and get off to a great start here. But
- 13:54Speaker 2: we all know that he has aspirations this season of
- 13:59Speaker 2: getting a lot of hardware around here and leaving a
- 14:02Speaker 2: legacy behind. That's what he wants to do. I know
- 14:03Speaker 2: that just by the way he's approaching it every day,
- 14:08Speaker 2: he's really taken a huge step in his leadership, you know,
- 14:11Speaker 2: to get voted captain the way he did and looking
- 14:13Speaker 2: at the number of votes he got. And I mean,
- 14:15Speaker 2: you know, these guys believe in him and he's established
- 14:17Speaker 2: himself as a leader.
- 14:18Speaker 1: Well, hope you guys enjoyed that. We are going to
- 14:20Speaker 1: be cranking out some of these bonus shows for you
- 14:23Speaker 1: pretty much all week long. Cause we've got plenty of coverage,
- 14:26Speaker 1: plenty of interviews. We're going to talk to, going to
- 14:28Speaker 1: get to talk to Ryan day again on Wednesday evening,
- 14:31Speaker 1: had a great interview with Carson Hinsman on Tuesday and,
- 14:34Speaker 1: Going to talk to some more players on Wednesday. We'll
- 14:36Speaker 1: try and get you as many bonus episodes as we
- 14:38Speaker 1: can this week because I know everyone is sort of
- 14:41Speaker 1: counting down the days, counting down the hours until that
- 14:44Speaker 1: first game and looking for anything they can to fill
- 14:47Speaker 1: that time between now and kickoff. We will do our
- 14:49Speaker 1: very best to fill as much of it as we
- 14:51Speaker 1: possibly can for you with some of these bonus shows.
- 14:54Speaker 1: But if you want to fill it even more time,
- 14:56Speaker 1: let me suggest BuckeyeInsiders.com. That's where we have a very,
- 15:00Speaker 1: very fun and active community You like talking football with
- 15:03Speaker 1: not just Ohio state football fans, but smart Ohio state
- 15:06Speaker 1: football fans, fun Ohio state football fans. That is the
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- 15:15Speaker 1: you see me a lot on Twitter, a lot less
- 15:17Speaker 1: than you used to and other social media platforms. That's
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- 15:53Speaker 1: that will do it for now. Thank you guys all
- 15:55Speaker 1: for joining us. We will be back with more content
- 15:57Speaker 1: a little later on.