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Everything James Franklin Said Today About Ohio State · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buck Eyes Tomorrow morning for Tuesday, October twenty ninth.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom Moore. No matter what you may
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: have heard, it is the Penn State game that is
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: here in four days, the game against Michigan in thirty
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: two days. Today, you're going to be hearing all from
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  Speaker 1: Penn State head coach James Franklin. He had his weekly
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: press conference on Monday, As always with James Franklin, lots
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: of long, thoughtful answers, interesting things to come away from.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: You're actually going to get one show, this one specifically,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: and all the stuff he talked about with Ohio State,
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State related topics like former Ohiostate wide receiver Julian Fleming,
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  Speaker 1: central Ohio native Ethan Gernkemeiers, one of the backup quarterbacks,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. You hear all about that
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: on today's show. And because it is a big game
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: week er be dropping some bonus episodes as well, and
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: have a whole separate episode coming just a little bit
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: later on with information on all the injury situations that
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Penn State is dealing with. So that's coming up a
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: little later on, But first let's start with the Buck Eyes.
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  Speaker 1: His thoughts on Ohio State, and just here was his
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: opening answer, just some quick early thoughts. He always does
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: this as a press conference, is he'll kind of page
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: through notes on the team and just kind of give
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  Speaker 1: some general thoughts. So here are some quick early thoughts
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  Speaker 1: from James Franklin on the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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  Speaker 2: We talk about Ohio State, what they've been doing and
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  Speaker 2: what they've done, and Ryan Day and his career there,
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  Speaker 2: and the program in general. Obviously a ton of respect
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  Speaker 2: of what they've been able to do for a long
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  Speaker 2: period of time under a number of different coaches, and
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  Speaker 2: then obviously how they're playing again this year.
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  Speaker 3: You look at them.
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  Speaker 2: Statistically playing really good football pretty much across the board. Offensively,
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  Speaker 2: you know Chip Kelly there. I think Chip kind of
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  Speaker 2: has a reputation of a guy with a spread background
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  Speaker 2: and throwing the ball around, and I get that, but
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  Speaker 2: if you really study Chip, he's always had a strong
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  Speaker 2: running game and you see that this year. It's a
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  Speaker 2: big part of what they're doing. Leven Schnell and twelve personnel.
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  Speaker 2: The quarterback Will Howard, who transferred from Kansas State, is
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  Speaker 2: a big guy and playing really good football for him.
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  Speaker 2: Touchdown interception ratio QBR all those things, doing some really
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  Speaker 2: good things. Obviously, a young man from Pennsylvania, so he'll
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: he'll have a bunch of support here from his family
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  Speaker 2: and friends. Traveon Henderson is explosive, one of the most
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  Speaker 2: explosive running backs in the country who we recruited out
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  Speaker 2: of high school and are very very familiar Quinn John
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  Speaker 2: Judkins who were also familiar with as well, two really
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  Speaker 2: good running backs. And then obviously there's a bunch of
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  Speaker 2: receivers you could talk about.
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  Speaker 3: The guy that's getting a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Of buzz right now is Jeremiah Smith, the freshman, but
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  Speaker 2: there's a number of receivers that we could be talking about. Defensively,
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  Speaker 2: Jim Knowles, who's also a PA guy, is doing a
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  Speaker 2: really good job with their defense and has now for
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  Speaker 2: the last couple of years multiple multiple scheme defense. Really
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: probably the thing that gets talked about the most is
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  Speaker 2: their three safeties that they play with how they do it.
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  Speaker 2: He's been doing that in some form all the way
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  Speaker 2: back to his time in Oklahoma State.
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  Speaker 3: But he's really doing a nice job.
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  Speaker 2: Their safety kleb downs so they got out of the
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  Speaker 2: transfer portal, is playing very well cornerback Denzel Burke number ten,
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  Speaker 2: and then obviously two defensive ends that are that are
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  Speaker 2: challenging in Jack Sawyer as well as Tuey mal Lowell.
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  Speaker 2: I hope I said that right.
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  Speaker 3: I mean that.
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  Speaker 2: With all due respect, but both of those defensive ends
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  Speaker 2: are playing extremely well and got a ton of respect
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  Speaker 2: for what they do and how they do it. And
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  Speaker 2: then on special teams, we think they do it by committee,
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  Speaker 2: by committee, which some which some programs do do that.
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  Speaker 2: Their kickoff coverage team has been really impressive. They've only
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  Speaker 2: allowed five returns this year. Lorenzo Styles really stands out
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  Speaker 2: on that unit. And then when you talk about their
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: punt coverage team, that's another thing that kind of stood
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  Speaker 2: out to us. They've only had three returns on the year,
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  Speaker 2: doing a really good job. Their punters do a really
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  Speaker 2: good job with pub location, hangtime, things like that.
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  Speaker 3: So obviously we all notice it's gonna be a challenge.
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  Speaker 2: We're gonna need a tremendous environment in that stadium on Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: Home Field advantage is going to be something that's going
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  Speaker 2: to be very very important for us. So we need
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  Speaker 2: this place rocking no matter what time the game is.
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  Speaker 2: We need a great environment, and we need everybody in
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  Speaker 2: the stadium early. We need that place rocking. We need
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  Speaker 2: everybody standing and screaming on third down and downs in possessions,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: and this is going to be an all hands on
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  Speaker 2: deck game, So appreciate everybody's support and opened up the questions.
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  Speaker 1: Franklin was asked about the perception that Ohio State might
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  Speaker 1: be a little more physical now than they were in
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  Speaker 1: previous years, for example in the run game and on
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  Speaker 1: defense as well.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if that's talk out there media, I
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  Speaker 2: don't know. I'm unaware of that conversation. All I can
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  Speaker 2: talk about is what I see on film, and obviously
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  Speaker 2: the last two years they've played really good defense.
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  Speaker 3: Really the last number of years, they've played really good defense.
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  Speaker 2: But I think since coach Knowles has been there, he's
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  Speaker 2: taken them to a whole other level. And then offensively
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  Speaker 2: this year, Like I mentioned in my opening statement, when
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  Speaker 2: you talk about Chip, there's a commitment to running the ball.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think there's any doubt about that, and I
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  Speaker 2: think that's always been the case if you look back
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  Speaker 2: at Chip over his history, and I think Chip has
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  Speaker 2: the experience and the ability to play the strengths of
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  Speaker 2: his team, and I think he is clearly doing that.
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  Speaker 3: Right now.
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State and Penn State have met every single year
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  Speaker 1: going back to the time the Nitney Lions joined the
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  Speaker 1: conference in nineteen ninety three, and the Buckeyes have really
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  Speaker 1: been a hurdles that the Nitney Lions have really struggled
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  Speaker 1: to clear over almost the entire time of that series.
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  Speaker 1: That's been especially true since Franklin arrived. Over the last
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  Speaker 1: ten games against Ohio State, Penn State has won just once,
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  Speaker 1: that was the twenty sixteen game in Happy Valley. Have
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  Speaker 1: there been any common threads from the last ten games
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  Speaker 1: between the Nitney Lions and the Buckeyes.
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  Speaker 3: They're a really good football team.
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  Speaker 2: There's talented of a roster as anybody in the country,
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  Speaker 2: and they're that way every single year.
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  Speaker 3: They are as well this year.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we have to play really well, we have
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  Speaker 2: to play really clean.
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  Speaker 3: We're going to need a great environment.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's it's a challenge, and I think our
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  Speaker 2: guys are ready for the challenge. We're gonna have to
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  Speaker 2: have a really good week of practice. But we don't
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  Speaker 2: need to change anything. We don't need to do anything
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  Speaker 2: more than what we've done each each week, which is
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: just trying to get better and refine our process. But yeah,
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  Speaker 2: that's that's that's the plan, is be prepared for a
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  Speaker 2: really good team.
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  Speaker 3: Uh.
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  Speaker 2: It's one of the most talented teams in the country
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  Speaker 2: and our year in and year out, and also in terms
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: of wins and losses, one of the most productive teams
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  Speaker 2: in the country. So we're fortunate to play and we're
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: excited about the opportunity. And that's what we're focused on
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  Speaker 2: is the Ohio State team from this year and the
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  Speaker 2: Penn State team for this year and what we have
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  Speaker 2: to do to find a way to get a win.
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  Speaker 2: And what I'm excited about is this team has showed
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  Speaker 2: all of our fans, all of our lettermen, are the students, everybody,
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  Speaker 2: that they're going to find ways to get the job done.
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  Speaker 2: And we're going to have to do that again this
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  Speaker 2: week against a really good team who's extremely talented.
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  Speaker 1: Next up a question that's a little more Ohio State
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  Speaker 1: adjacent than truly in Ohio State question, but he was
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  Speaker 1: asked about Ethan Grunkeemeyer. He is a true freshman quarterback
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  Speaker 1: out of Olin Tangi High School in the northern suburbs
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  Speaker 1: of Columbus. Bernhameyer has not thrown a pass yet this
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  Speaker 1: season for the Ninny Lyons, but Franklin sounds like he's
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  Speaker 1: pretty high on him.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Gronk, and I think
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  Speaker 2: there's a ton of excitement in our program. Talk to
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  Speaker 2: our defensive coaches and talked to our defensive players about
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  Speaker 2: the respect that they have for Grunk. As you guys know,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we had a relationship with with Brad Medler,
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  Speaker 2: and I think he's done a phenomenal job. There's a
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  Speaker 2: lot of excitement in our program about Grounk. He's really
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  Speaker 2: kind of a nice blend between and Bow in some ways,
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  Speaker 2: and he makes some throws that are that are really impressive.
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  Speaker 2: So again, there's only so much time to go around.
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  Speaker 2: But I think, you know, I think Danny's doing a
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  Speaker 2: really good job. But I think Grunk is doing a
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  Speaker 2: really good job. Just like you heard the conversations about
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  Speaker 2: with Bow that those guys are preparing as if they're
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  Speaker 2: the starter, and that's one of those things that's easier
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  Speaker 2: said than done. But but Grunk's improvement has been dramatic,
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  Speaker 2: and I think he's got a special future.
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  Speaker 3: We are fortunate to have those guys here, but.
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  Speaker 2: I think, you know, watching what happened on Saturday, I
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  Speaker 2: think that doubles down and reinforces to those guys, hey,
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  Speaker 2: I better have my stuff together.
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  Speaker 3: But there's only so many reps to go around.
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  Speaker 2: So if if Drew is able to practice and we're
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  Speaker 2: gonna get rips, reps to bo Oh, it's hard to
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: now also get reps to the third guy because if
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  Speaker 2: you're not careful, you spend all his time getting all
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  Speaker 2: of them ready and you get none.
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  Speaker 3: Of them ready. Right, So that's the challenge.
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  Speaker 1: This is a year when there is a lot that
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  Speaker 1: is very different about college football, the Big Ten nationally,
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  Speaker 1: It's all over the sport. There's all sorts of new stuff.
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  Speaker 1: So how has the end of divisions in the Big
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  Speaker 1: Ten and the start of the twelve team college football
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  Speaker 1: Playoff maybe change some of the national perceptions around the
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State Penn State game.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not sure. I think it's been impactful.
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  Speaker 2: I was told for a long time it wasn't that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, it all levels out in the end, but
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  Speaker 2: I think we all know that that's not necessarily the case.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, I think it probably changes some things. I
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  Speaker 2: don't think there's any doubt. I think it probably changes
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  Speaker 2: some programs in the East. Maybe then it does change
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  Speaker 2: some programs in the West. I think some programs in
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  Speaker 2: East probably happy about the changes, and programs in the
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: West probably aren't happy about some of the changes. But
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  Speaker 2: I think I do think the expanded playoffs is a
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  Speaker 2: good thing for college football.
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  Speaker 3: I think I think the.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Going away from the divisions in the Big Ten, I
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: think is good for the Big Ten. I think one
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  Speaker 2: of the things that's interesting, right, whether it's questions like
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  Speaker 2: this or whether it's when I'm working with the AFCA,
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  Speaker 2: you ask people to vote or make decisions that are
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  Speaker 2: in the best interest to college football, not in the
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: best interest of Penn State. So I think sometimes when
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: you guys ask me these questions, I'm answering what's good
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: for college football, not specific to Penn State. But I
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  Speaker 2: do think those two things have dramatically changed our game,
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  Speaker 2: and I think there's a lot of things that probably
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: are still coming.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Do we stay at twelve teams in the playoffs?
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  Speaker 2: I don't know. I think it probably grows. But it
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter what the number is. Somebody's going to complain right.
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  Speaker 2: I think I've said that to you guys before. There's
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: what sixty four teams in basketball is the sixty four,
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  Speaker 2: sixty sixty eight, and sixty nine, seventy and seventy one
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  Speaker 2: are complaining, right, Like It's kind of always the case.
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  Speaker 2: So I think at the end of the day, we
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  Speaker 2: just got to find what the sweet spot is for
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  Speaker 2: the sport, what the sweet spot is for the universities,
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: what the sweet spot is for the model in general.
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  Speaker 2: You know that takes everybody's best interest, the student athletes,
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: the universities, the athletic departments, the other sports, all those things.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: But I do think.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: They're good changes because I just think it creates more
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: opportunities and more people to be involved year in and
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: year out. So it's not the same three to five
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: teams every year.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Kind of a weird coincidence, but penn State has had
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: quite a run of quarterbacks from the state of Ohio.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: Liam Clifford, Drew Aller, and now Ethan Gruckemeyer you heard
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: about earlier. Meanwhile, Ohio State starting quarterbacks the last couple
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: of years have both come from Pennsylvania. Hyle McCord out
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: of Philly and now Will Howard as well. So is
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  Speaker 1: that just a coincidence or is there something to that.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: We've had quarterbacks from the state of Ohio, they've had
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: quarterbacks from Pennsylvania.
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  Speaker 3: What that means, I'm not sure.
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  Speaker 2: Everybody across the country's going out and trying to get
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  Speaker 2: the best players they possibly can get. Sometimes that comes
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  Speaker 2: from your state, sometimes that comes from other states. I
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: think everybody knows we've put a huge emphasis on recruiting
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  Speaker 2: the state of Pennsylvania since I arrived here.
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  Speaker 3: We take a ton of pride in that. I want our.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Guys to take as much pride in Pennsylvania football and
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: our history and traditions as other states do. But you know,
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: more than that, I don't think there is more than that.
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  Speaker 2: I think I think at the end of the day,
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  Speaker 2: every program in the country, including ours, is trying to
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  Speaker 2: go out and get the best players they possibly can
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  Speaker 2: and if it comes from the state of Pennsylvania, there's
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  Speaker 2: nobody more excited about that than me. And then if
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: we have to go other places, then we'll do that
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  Speaker 2: as well.
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  Speaker 3: And I don't think it's a whole lot more than that.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: In the era of the transfer portal, you're going to
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: see this more and more. But you have a former
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: starter from Ohio State wide receiver Julian Fleming, now as
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: a starter for Penn State, about to take on his
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: former team. Fleming has had ten catches one hundred and
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: forty eight yards, has not yet scored a touchdown this
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: season for the Niitney Lions. But how big is this
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: game for Julian Fleming personally getting to take on his
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: former team.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously, whenever you you play an opponent, you know
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: that that a member.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: Of our team came from that school.
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  Speaker 2: Then you know for me to sit here and say
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: that it's not a big moment and a big game
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: for that individual, it is obviously. Uh, you know, we
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: don't want to spend time on that. I want I
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: want Julian and our team to approach it like we
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: do every single week, which every week it's the most
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: important game we play. We want to refine our process
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: and get better every single week individually and collectively. And
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: I want to do that again. And Julian is a
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: super mature guy. He's been really good in our locker room.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: I'm very very proud of him. I'm very glad he's here.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: But for for us, I don't want Julian to treat
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: this game any different than how he treated Wisconsin. And
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: when I watched Julian, he prepares as hard as well
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: as anybody, and I want him to do that again.
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  Speaker 3: That's really it. But for me, for.
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  Speaker 2: Me to sit here and say that obviously it's not
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: a big game for him and his family, it obviously is,
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  Speaker 2: and I think it's obviously magnified with him being a
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: kid from Pennsylvania that now is back home with us.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Well, that will do it for now. We'll be back
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: again a little later on. I'll give you a few
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: hours to let this one get into everyone's podcast feed
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: and then drop another episode with lots of other interesting
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: stuff from James Franklin. Injuries are a big topic around
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the Nitty Lions right now. They've got the starting quarterback,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: one of the defensive ends, starting right tackle all banged
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: up right now. That's going to be a big storyline
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: throughout the week. James Franklin said a little more than
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: I was expecting him to, honestly, with some of those
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: about some of those guys during that press conference on Monday.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: So we'll let you hear from him on all that stuff,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: plus a bunch of other stuff, including change at potential
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: change at quarterback, and a little bit of a change
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: for one of their defensive stars as well, so we'll
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: be back with that a little later on, but that
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: we'll do it for now. Thank you guys all for
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: joining us, have a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.