September 5, 2025 • 9 mins
Mark Kunz from BCSN in Toledo joined Todd to reflect on Ohio State's win over Texas.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Buck Eys number one of the country after down in
Texas last week. This week everybody plays gramblings in town.
Mark Coonz joins us from BCSA and Toledo to talk
buck Eyes. Mark, how you doing good?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Todd, how are you very well?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
And the Buckeyes are well Buckeye Nation as well. The
win over Texas sets the buck Eyes up, as I said,
the number one team of the country. And now I
guess you could say, in many people's minds, favorites to repeat.
Do you have any wet blankets to throw on any
of this?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Mark, There's a long time between now and crowning and
national championship. A lot of football to be played, a
lot of things can happen, a lot of things will happen.
I think it's way too premature to call anybody the
favorite to win the national championship this season.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
We'll see there you go again. Besides the fact that
it's a long season. Were there parts of the game
were they are less satisfied with than others?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I guess let's start there.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Well, obviously you have to talk about the offense. Fourteen points.
That is the lowest point total in a Buckeye victory
since two thousand and seven when they beat Michigan fourteen
to three, just over two hundred yards of total offense.
That's basically the same offensive output they had in that
horrendous matchup and against Missouri and the Cotton Bowl a
few years ago. Now, part of that was by design.
(01:25):
They very much were limiting possessions for Texas. They wanted
to leave the clock as much as they could, particularly
after the first half when they saw how well the
defense was playing against the Longhorns. They just did not
want to give Texas opportunities to score, so they wanted
to run the ball and take time off the clock.
And Ryan they admitted that was the game plan and
that they have to be more explosive than going forward. Certainly,
(01:48):
you have to be concerned about the rushing attack. Yeah,
they had the fourth and goal from the one that
they finally scored on, but why did it take four
chances to run the ball into the end zone At
that point in time, the rush average was not very good.
And granted Texas isn't very good defense, and I think
Texas is going to be in the playoffs as well
very well. Could see in Ohio State Texas rematch down
(02:08):
the road at some point. But offensively, there's a lot
that you didn't like about that game. Julian Sayan's numbers
were very pedestrian. However, he did great out as a champion,
and Ryan da said when you look at his adjusted
completion percentage, he was quite pleased with. There are some
very uncharacteristic drops, particularly early in that game. Jeremiah Smith
(02:28):
had two drops. We outside of the first game last
year against Akron, I don't know if Jeremiah Smith had
two dropped in any games, and so if those drops
hadn't been dropped, Julian Sand's numbers are better. You get
a couple of first downs early in that game, you
start driving, a momentum gets going. Perhaps it turns out differently,
but at the end of the day, Ohio State's focus
(02:49):
was simply to win that game, and they won that game.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, the offensive game plan looked like it came out
of the Lieutenant Governor's office, did it not.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Almost looked like the game plan that did not work
the last couple of years in the last game of
the regular season, trying to run the ball, trying to
run the ball in between the tackles, and it didn't work.
But it worked enough to get the victory. And yes,
the Lieutenant Governor was in the shoe on Saturday, so
perhaps he was pleased with that. Don't get you know,
I'm sure Ryan Hartline first year playing calling in the
(03:21):
plays as the offensive coordinator former Jim Truffle wide receiver.
I don't think we're going to see that type of
offense going forward, No, but.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I think it does turn it back to the defense.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Of course, I'm sure everybody has seen a lot of
the x's and o's guys that love to show us
things on their iPad and their big screens and their
fancy studios, drawing up all these schemes that Matt Patricia
came up with, and he confused arch Manning and this,
that and the other. And I don't discount that. I
think it's clear from the analysis and they kind of
(03:53):
had Texas befuddled for a while. But on the other side,
I just kept being amazed many throws arch Manning missed.
I don't know if that was more confusion or nerves
or or what, but he certainly was bamboozled by that
Buckeye defense.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yeah, without a doubt, I'm an arch did not have
his best game, and yeah, there were some poor throws
in there. There are also you look at the Jermaine
Matthews interception. Jermaine Matthews basically baited him into throwing that
pass knowing he could break on it, make the play
on it. Matthews almost had another interception. He broke up
a pass that Sonny Styles almost picked. So there were
some really good things done defensively, and absolutely matt Patricia
(04:33):
had a great scheme. There is a great execution of
that scheme. But it comes back to the players. As
much as you want to talk about the X of
the o's, it also comes back to the Jimmy and
Joe's and Ohio State. It's got some really good Jimmy's
and some really good Joe's. You look at a Caleb
Down too. If you watch that game casually, might not
buck keeled Downs had much of an impact, didn't have
a whole lot of tackles, but he was all over
(04:54):
the field. He was creating having that was confusing arch
Manning and they talked about both Ryan Day and Church
to talk about the intelligence of Caleb Downs and how
much Caleb downs impact is as a communicator on the field,
putting the other Ohio State defenders in the right place,
allowing the other Ohio State defenders to make plays. And
(05:15):
also another thing Ryan Day talked about was the unselfish
play of the defensive front, the defensive line, that there
weren't any wild rushes to the quarterback. They kept Arch
manning in the pocket, They kept a rush in the
pocket more or less, and were able to contain the
Texas rushing attack. So they didn't have a whole lot
of long yarded big plays that way. I mean, Arch
(05:36):
did get out of pocket once or twice I scrambles
to pick up first downs, but for the most part,
that defensive front four, they didn't have any gaudy stats
as well, just one TfL that was from the linebacker
rvel Reees. But the front four, the defensive line, did
the job they were assigned to, which was to contain
the Texas offense and allow the linebackers and the secondary
to make plays, and it worked a perfection.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
We're talking with Mark Coons from VCSA talking buck Eyes
as they take on Grambling tomorrow after beating Texas, And
of course you think about the way that game played out.
It was a noon game, and of course everybody wants
to have laws made about no more noon games because
the fans can't be a factor at a noon game.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I guess that has been debunked because that crowd was
fired up and a noon game and eight o'clock game
doesn't matter. If it's a big game, people will show
up and give you that support you need.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I think that was proven, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Absolutely. Texas had three false starts. They had another situation
where they needed to call a time out to avoid
delay of game penalty. Yeah, the Ohish State crowd over
the years has gotten nicked a few times. I've always
said it's a very intelligent, intelligent football crowd at Ohio State.
They know when they're supposed to be loud. They're not
always loud for sustained period of time, but they know
(06:55):
when they're supposed to be loud. And now certainly was
the case against Texas. And you know, it's was one
of the loudest sustained loudness I've ever heard felt experienced
at the Shoe. There's been times other games where it's
been louder for a peak or two, but that was
a constant loud buzz hum. Part of that also goes
(07:15):
back to some of the things they've changed with the stadium.
They've brought some speakers down to the field level to
amplify the band and moving where the band is, and
there are some cosmetic changes and some things at Ohio
State has done intentionally to help with that. But through
that first game, it's surely made a huge impact.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Mark before I let you go speaking of the new stuff,
but they've come up with this idea of new traditions,
which always makes me nervous. Traditions aren't new, and they
don't come out of brainstorming meetings with marketing schmucks, but.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
They're supposed to be organically developed exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I saw on TV they had people in the crowd
holding up their shoe.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Do you know what that.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Was going on for a while. That's been going on
for a couple of years. I think it's probably something
that started with the students. You're in the horseshoe, you're holding.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Up the shoe, right, the shoe.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
But yeah, that's been going on for a while.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It's it's kids that's that has eluded me before. On
the Fox telecast, they must have showed that eight times
in the pregame. I'm like, what is this deal? I
missed this and you know clearly I did miss it.
But hey, if the kids come up with it, that's
how traditions get started, is my point. It doesn't start
with guys in the boardroom or you know, chat GPT.
(08:31):
It starts with some student does something dumb like hey,
let's take off our shoe, and then you know, seventy
years from now people will still be doing it, calling
a great tradition. That's how they happen.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Good. Yeah, you throw an octopus on the ice because
it's you've been doing it for se because you need
eight wins to in the Stanley Cup. You get hold
up your shoes because you know how the stadium you're
in the.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Shoe exactly right.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
But we'll see what kind of traditions we can talk
about next week after the buck guys completely destroyed Grambling.
Enjoy the band tomorrow, Mark Ark, and we'll check in
again next week.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, the band very well is going to be the
highlight because not only is the Ohio State Band going
to be there, the best day of marketing band of
the land, the High State Alumni band is going to
be there, and yes, Grambling is bringing their band so
you're going to have a band spectacular Saturday afternoon in
the Horseshoe
Buck Eys number one of the country after down in
Texas last week. This week everybody plays gramblings in town.
Mark Coonz joins us from BCSA and Toledo to talk
buck Eyes. Mark, how you doing good?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Todd, how are you very well?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
And the Buckeyes are well Buckeye Nation as well. The
win over Texas sets the buck Eyes up, as I said,
the number one team of the country. And now I
guess you could say, in many people's minds, favorites to repeat.
Do you have any wet blankets to throw on any
of this?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Mark, There's a long time between now and crowning and
national championship. A lot of football to be played, a
lot of things can happen, a lot of things will happen.
I think it's way too premature to call anybody the
favorite to win the national championship this season.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
We'll see there you go again. Besides the fact that
it's a long season. Were there parts of the game
were they are less satisfied with than others?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I guess let's start there.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Well, obviously you have to talk about the offense. Fourteen points.
That is the lowest point total in a Buckeye victory
since two thousand and seven when they beat Michigan fourteen
to three, just over two hundred yards of total offense.
That's basically the same offensive output they had in that
horrendous matchup and against Missouri and the Cotton Bowl a
few years ago. Now, part of that was by design.
(01:25):
They very much were limiting possessions for Texas. They wanted
to leave the clock as much as they could, particularly
after the first half when they saw how well the
defense was playing against the Longhorns. They just did not
want to give Texas opportunities to score, so they wanted
to run the ball and take time off the clock.
And Ryan they admitted that was the game plan and
that they have to be more explosive than going forward. Certainly,
(01:48):
you have to be concerned about the rushing attack. Yeah,
they had the fourth and goal from the one that
they finally scored on, but why did it take four
chances to run the ball into the end zone At
that point in time, the rush average was not very good.
And granted Texas isn't very good defense, and I think
Texas is going to be in the playoffs as well
very well. Could see in Ohio State Texas rematch down
(02:08):
the road at some point. But offensively, there's a lot
that you didn't like about that game. Julian Sayan's numbers
were very pedestrian. However, he did great out as a champion,
and Ryan da said when you look at his adjusted
completion percentage, he was quite pleased with. There are some
very uncharacteristic drops, particularly early in that game. Jeremiah Smith
(02:28):
had two drops. We outside of the first game last
year against Akron, I don't know if Jeremiah Smith had
two dropped in any games, and so if those drops
hadn't been dropped, Julian Sand's numbers are better. You get
a couple of first downs early in that game, you
start driving, a momentum gets going. Perhaps it turns out differently,
but at the end of the day, Ohio State's focus
(02:49):
was simply to win that game, and they won that game.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, the offensive game plan looked like it came out
of the Lieutenant Governor's office, did it not.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Almost looked like the game plan that did not work
the last couple of years in the last game of
the regular season, trying to run the ball, trying to
run the ball in between the tackles, and it didn't work.
But it worked enough to get the victory. And yes,
the Lieutenant Governor was in the shoe on Saturday, so
perhaps he was pleased with that. Don't get you know,
I'm sure Ryan Hartline first year playing calling in the
(03:21):
plays as the offensive coordinator former Jim Truffle wide receiver.
I don't think we're going to see that type of
offense going forward, No, but.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I think it does turn it back to the defense.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Of course, I'm sure everybody has seen a lot of
the x's and o's guys that love to show us
things on their iPad and their big screens and their
fancy studios, drawing up all these schemes that Matt Patricia
came up with, and he confused arch Manning and this,
that and the other. And I don't discount that. I
think it's clear from the analysis and they kind of
(03:53):
had Texas befuddled for a while. But on the other side,
I just kept being amazed many throws arch Manning missed.
I don't know if that was more confusion or nerves
or or what, but he certainly was bamboozled by that
Buckeye defense.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yeah, without a doubt, I'm an arch did not have
his best game, and yeah, there were some poor throws
in there. There are also you look at the Jermaine
Matthews interception. Jermaine Matthews basically baited him into throwing that
pass knowing he could break on it, make the play
on it. Matthews almost had another interception. He broke up
a pass that Sonny Styles almost picked. So there were
some really good things done defensively, and absolutely matt Patricia
(04:33):
had a great scheme. There is a great execution of
that scheme. But it comes back to the players. As
much as you want to talk about the X of
the o's, it also comes back to the Jimmy and
Joe's and Ohio State. It's got some really good Jimmy's
and some really good Joe's. You look at a Caleb
Down too. If you watch that game casually, might not
buck keeled Downs had much of an impact, didn't have
a whole lot of tackles, but he was all over
(04:54):
the field. He was creating having that was confusing arch
Manning and they talked about both Ryan Day and Church
to talk about the intelligence of Caleb Downs and how
much Caleb downs impact is as a communicator on the field,
putting the other Ohio State defenders in the right place,
allowing the other Ohio State defenders to make plays. And
(05:15):
also another thing Ryan Day talked about was the unselfish
play of the defensive front, the defensive line, that there
weren't any wild rushes to the quarterback. They kept Arch
manning in the pocket, They kept a rush in the
pocket more or less, and were able to contain the
Texas rushing attack. So they didn't have a whole lot
of long yarded big plays that way. I mean, Arch
(05:36):
did get out of pocket once or twice I scrambles
to pick up first downs, but for the most part,
that defensive front four, they didn't have any gaudy stats
as well, just one TfL that was from the linebacker
rvel Reees. But the front four, the defensive line, did
the job they were assigned to, which was to contain
the Texas offense and allow the linebackers and the secondary
to make plays, and it worked a perfection.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
We're talking with Mark Coons from VCSA talking buck Eyes
as they take on Grambling tomorrow after beating Texas, And
of course you think about the way that game played out.
It was a noon game, and of course everybody wants
to have laws made about no more noon games because
the fans can't be a factor at a noon game.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I guess that has been debunked because that crowd was
fired up and a noon game and eight o'clock game
doesn't matter. If it's a big game, people will show
up and give you that support you need.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I think that was proven, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Absolutely. Texas had three false starts. They had another situation
where they needed to call a time out to avoid
delay of game penalty. Yeah, the Ohish State crowd over
the years has gotten nicked a few times. I've always
said it's a very intelligent, intelligent football crowd at Ohio State.
They know when they're supposed to be loud. They're not
always loud for sustained period of time, but they know
(06:55):
when they're supposed to be loud. And now certainly was
the case against Texas. And you know, it's was one
of the loudest sustained loudness I've ever heard felt experienced
at the Shoe. There's been times other games where it's
been louder for a peak or two, but that was
a constant loud buzz hum. Part of that also goes
(07:15):
back to some of the things they've changed with the stadium.
They've brought some speakers down to the field level to
amplify the band and moving where the band is, and
there are some cosmetic changes and some things at Ohio
State has done intentionally to help with that. But through
that first game, it's surely made a huge impact.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Mark before I let you go speaking of the new stuff,
but they've come up with this idea of new traditions,
which always makes me nervous. Traditions aren't new, and they
don't come out of brainstorming meetings with marketing schmucks, but.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
They're supposed to be organically developed exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I saw on TV they had people in the crowd
holding up their shoe.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Do you know what that.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Was going on for a while. That's been going on
for a couple of years. I think it's probably something
that started with the students. You're in the horseshoe, you're holding.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Up the shoe, right, the shoe.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
But yeah, that's been going on for a while.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It's it's kids that's that has eluded me before. On
the Fox telecast, they must have showed that eight times
in the pregame. I'm like, what is this deal? I
missed this and you know clearly I did miss it.
But hey, if the kids come up with it, that's
how traditions get started, is my point. It doesn't start
with guys in the boardroom or you know, chat GPT.
(08:31):
It starts with some student does something dumb like hey,
let's take off our shoe, and then you know, seventy
years from now people will still be doing it, calling
a great tradition. That's how they happen.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Good. Yeah, you throw an octopus on the ice because
it's you've been doing it for se because you need
eight wins to in the Stanley Cup. You get hold
up your shoes because you know how the stadium you're
in the.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Shoe exactly right.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
But we'll see what kind of traditions we can talk
about next week after the buck guys completely destroyed Grambling.
Enjoy the band tomorrow, Mark Ark, and we'll check in
again next week.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, the band very well is going to be the
highlight because not only is the Ohio State Band going
to be there, the best day of marketing band of
the land, the High State Alumni band is going to
be there, and yes, Grambling is bringing their band so
you're going to have a band spectacular Saturday afternoon in
the Horseshoe
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