August 26, 2025 • 16 mins
Ohio State play-by-play voice Paul Keels joins the program to share insight about the Buckeyes ahead of Saturday's showdown with top-ranked Texas. From Julian Sayin to CJ Donaldson, Paul previews which new roster additions might make an immediate impact in the season opener.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is always a pleasure to visit with my good friend,
the play by play voice of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
They simply call him Big Daddy up in Columbus, but
Paul Keels is the legend that is the voice of
the Ohio State Buckeyes, and he joins us now from Columbus.
How you doing today? You need Dame Hire if you
think that's a legend. Help me out here, you know, better,
(00:23):
help me out here. How many years is this now
for you in the play by play chair?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This will be year number twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Okay, yeah, see that's what I'm saying. It's twenty five
for me, twenty eight for you. We've known each other
a long long time, even going back to that game
twenty years ago. But I want to ask you about
something that came out of the Cotton Bowl meeting back
in January. This was not the fact that you know,
(00:50):
obviously the buck Eyes won the game and went on
to win the national championship. No, this was because of
Jack Sawyer's eighty three yard fumble return to give the
buck Eyes at that point the separation and they and
they win it twenty eight fourteen. Apparently I've been told
that that Scoop and Score has been flavorized into a
(01:12):
new concession stand menu item called Scoop and Score Nachos
factor fiction fact I believe.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
I mean, we'll find out Saturday, but I saw that
in the game notes. Also, so there were Scoop and
Sawyer t shirts that were making their way around town
all summer, you know, And it certainly punctuated a great
career for a young man from right here in Columbus,
stayed four years, you know, did everything you want to
see a student athlete do it. And a great young
(01:42):
man as well that should have a nice opportunity to
play some for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But it certainly was an incredible moment.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
You know, that game, Craig, as you know, had so
many significant plays even beyond that one. There was the
play where you know, Will Howard gets the fourth down
conversion where really he could have into the end zone,
but he joked and said he stumbled because he knew
the defense still needed a little more rest. Uh, you know,
the Candle downs interception following the Sawyer score. So but yes,
(02:12):
we will find out together about the Scoop and Score
not jos.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, I'll look forward to that. I read a pretty
revealing piece. I've read two pretty revealing pieces about Ryan Day,
one on from ESPN and one from The Athletic, about
what he and his family had to endure and go
through through through some of the disappointments, most notably obviously
the game with Michigan and that sort of thing, and
how they they they were always able to stay the course,
(02:38):
even the youngsters and the family. And I think it
says an awful lot about him. Uh, but how aware
as close as you and and Jim Leche are to
the program. Uh, were you guys aware of how this
thing had been building and a lot of the tide
of unhappiness, I guess we'll call it from from a
(02:58):
lot of Ohio State fans that obviously then was able
to be blown away with what happened in the stretch
drive of the season and the Buckeyes capture and the title.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
You know, Craig, we became aware of some of it
in the weeks afterwards, at leading up to the Tennessee
game at the start of the playoffs, but to the
full extent, probably not until everything was over. We knew
that coach Day had had to have security put around
his house. And then the stories that have come out
about that meeting that the coaches and the players had
really kind of signified what brought them together.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And you know the thing that the Tennessee game.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Playing it in Ohio Stadium after losing that Michigan game,
there was a lot of concern what was the fan
base going to be like, especially with the onslaught of
Tennessee fans. It came to town that weekend, and with
that football team starting off the way they did, really
get Tennessee back on their heels. That football team played angry,
not only just that day, but then they got the
match up with Oregon that they had hoped to have
(03:55):
in the Big Ten championship game, and they didn't really
jumped all over Oregon. And I'm not so sure the
buy didn't hurt Oregon not getting a chance to continue
their momentum. But those things really kind of brought this
club together. And you know a lot of people that
are around Ryan day, we get a chance on a
limited basis to be around him. Just see what kind
of a wonderful guy he is. Now wonderful guys that
(04:16):
doesn't win you games, but it really allowed this team
to rally around him.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah. Interesting.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Indeed, as we visited with Paul Keel's play by play
voice for the Ohio State Buckeyes, let me get your
thoughts on how And I know this is a relative term,
the word different, but I want to ask you how
quote unquote different things might be when you have two
new coordinators. Brian Hartline, of course, an Ohio State hero,
(04:44):
coordinating the offense, and then of course Matt Patricia, the
hired gun so to speak, coming in now is the
defensive coordinator. How has that evolved and how changed or
diversified or wrinkled so to speak. Are these two units
offensively and defensively with two new coordinators.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Well, that's the thing we're all curious to see, because,
as you know, practice is closed, so we don't get
to see a lot. You know, the former players can go,
but those of us in the media cannot. So I
think we're all anxious to see how different. The guess is,
it won't be terribly different too often, given the fact
that you've got so many key returning players.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yes, you lost your whole defensive starting line.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
The guys that will be starting were key backups last year,
but you still have sunny styles. You still have cattle downs,
you still have Davison Nigbuanosen. So I think that on
the hoof defensively, not sure there's going to be and
this is just guessing there'll be a lot of significant
differences offensively, you know, with a new quarterback, a young
(05:45):
man that played only four games, a new set of
running backs, and you saw how vital those running backs
were at Ohio State last year. The security blanket is
the fact that they've got experience in depth on the
offensive line, which came out of injury last year because
of two key injuries. Guys had to step up and
that's really helped, you know, an offensive lines and area
usually where teams don't have a ton of depth. Ohio
(06:07):
State feels like they have that and hopefully that can
help Julian saying kind of get his feet under.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Him, get into a rhythm.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
You've got an experience running back and ce j Donaldson
who came from West Virginia to kind of help things
when it comes to carrying the ball. And then there's
always Jeremiah Smith and Texas did a phenomenal job on
Jeremiah Smit but Carnel Tate had a career day because
of that. So, you know, I think, Craig, really we're
all anxient, just as anxious here to see how different
it'll be.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, well, you touched on a couple of guys who
want to ask you about one obviously, is Julian saying,
And I find it fascinating that this matchups. They has
the number one and number three teams in the AP Pole,
number one and number two in the coaches poll, a
defending national champion, a team that is a preseason number
one for the first time in its history.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And they both have.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Let's just say curiosities a little bit atquarter back simply
because of the lack of extensive experience. Arch Banning obviously
had to start two games when when quin yours was
down and came back and then and and played in
the uh you might say in limited duty. Well from
in the for the most part, but still you don't
have a full body of work for him. And then saying,
(07:18):
of course is a bit of an unknown commodity. And
I just I find that fascinating that a game of
this name brand magnitude has each of these guys going at.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
It and quarterback. Yeah, that is a real interesting part
of this. And you know, Julian San played only four
games and mop up duty last year. But one of
the things that we're hearing that has been a big
step of improvement for him is he needed to get
physically stronger, and it sounds like he has. He's a
young man that by those who watch a lot of
practice say he's got a quick release. You know, he's
(07:50):
a guy, you know, for whatever it's worth, you know,
the high school plot, it's only get you so far.
It gets you to a school, but you know, doesn't
keep you in a job or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
But he's a.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Guy that was really pushed by Lincoln Keyholts. Excuse me,
the Keynolts is in his third year. He's played limited.
He had two games last year but no stats, really
played in an emergency in the Cotton Bowl two years
ago against Missouri. But a guy that's very athletic, Craig.
This is a guy that averaged nineteen points a game
in basketball, he hit over four hundred in baseball, and
won three state titles in football. Yes it was the
(08:21):
state of South Dakota, but still that's the same something.
So he really pushed Julian Sand which you know from
this side of things, folks are hoping that what that
has done is had sand sharpened his skills.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Was there a point in the season last year where
you're calling a game in the booth and you turned
to Jim Leche and Jeremiah Smith had just made, you know,
one of his amazing catches, and you just turned to
him and said, the kid's a freak. Was there a
point when that dawned on you just how good it
was earlier in the season, When when did it really
(08:55):
strike you just how good especially for a freshman that
that young man was, you know.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Early and midseason. And I'll point out two examples to you, Craig.
They were playing at in Michigan State and actually Will
Howard had to leave the game briefly and Devin Brown
came in as a backup, and he threw a ball
in the end zone the Jeremiah Smith went up and
snatched like he was picking an apple off the tree.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
It was incredible.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
And then in the Iowa game at home, he had
a similar type of play. Raay to go way up
in the air, almost palming the ball to catch at
the end zone and with his other hand shoving the
defender away from him. Those were two instances where you thought,
this kid is different. He's not like a typical freshman.
He kind of reminded you of some of the plays
that Chris Gamble made back around two thousand and two.
(09:39):
He just seems to be a game changing type of
player that even and let's exclude the Texas game because
of what the long runs did last year, but even
when people know he's coming, he's still able to make
incredible plays.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
No doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Talking about the Ohio State Buckeyes with the Buckeyes play
by play voice Paul Keels here on thirteen hundred the Zone,
I'm gonna shift to the defense.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And examination.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Of the of the Buckeyes defensive line is much like
my examination of the Texas offensive line.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
For example, the.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Logruns, of course, only return one started from the offensive
front in DJ Campbell. However, they've got a lot of
guys who rotated in and saw a lot of action.
I look at the fact that all four starting defensive
linemen from the past two year seasons have been selected
in the NFL draft, and then I look at what
you got in Kenyana Jackson and Katon Curry and Kate
(10:32):
McDonald and Edric Houston and U see guys who've had
extensive experience, even though they weren't regular down by downstarters
and Craig their role last year was to.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Be able to give the four guys that went into
the NFL to give them a blow so that late
in the game they were fresh enough to make plays
like what Jack Sawyer made in the Cotton Bowl, like
some of the plays we saw Jalen Touey Molowow making
the Rose Bowl against Oregon. So these are guys when
you think about them, as well as you know Taiwan Malone,
who who is an experienced player who started his career
at Ole Miss, you add Bo Atkinson, a transfer from
(11:06):
North Carolina who comes in and seemingly can give them
some quality play. The guy that really this summer has
turned some heads from what we're being told, is Will
Smith Junior, playing at defensive tackle, the son of Will Smith,
who tragically died while he was in New Orleans, but
was part of the two national championship team. So you're right,
they're guys that have played a lot. They didn't have
(11:26):
the starter's role, but their purpose was to give those
other guys enough of a breather. The question regarding them
is are there people behind them that can do the
same as what these guys did last year.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Okay, I'm curious to get your thoughts on this because
I know Sark has been asked about it at length,
and I would imagine also the coach Davis asked about
it as well.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
And that is.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
The gravitas of this matchup. And Sark, while quick to
talk about how great it is that two teams of
this HILK can get together and play, you know, play
this year in Columbus and next year in Austin to
have that type of big time matchup in this day
and age of the twelve team playoff in college football
(12:12):
and who knows maybe expanding in the relatively near future.
That that it's not a crusher, it's not a season
killer if you don't win. And yet if you do win,
obviously it kind of puts you out in front, as
they like to say in NASCAR and clean air, running
ahead of the pack.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
How about your thoughts on this, well, I would agree
with that.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
You're not going to get the coaches to talk about
that because you know, just like Sark, you Ryan Day
today and as press guard said, it's about this game.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
It's about winning this game.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
And he's talked and embraced it, and how because this
is the first game on the schedule, it's got the
players edgy. It's got them with a point of urgency
of being ready. Not to say that they wouldn't have
been just as urgent or not as ready if it
was going to be Ohio University or Grambling State in
this week as opposed to name two weeks. But I
(13:02):
would agree with Craig one hundred percent. This is not
a death knell to the team that loses the football game.
It certainly affects your possible positioning. You know, last year
Ohio State didn't have a power for a game like
this because they had opted out of a scheduled game
with Washington. Once Washington came into the Big Ten, they
didn't want to, you know, have that kind of a
jumble there.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
So it's one that it's got.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Fans excited, even though you know, people are still washing
their hands over the twelve noons start. But to get
to see a game like this, to see a team
like Texas coming in you know, preseason number one doesn't
come to town very often, so coaches aren't going to
take the track that we can. It's great to see
this kind of a game because the loser is not
put out of the playoff picture. And a few years ago, yes,
(13:45):
it would have been, but not.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Now final question here you fill in the blank for me.
It is not even question just to fill in the blank, Craig,
it's been twenty years since you've called a football game
here in Columbus. So I've got to tell you Friday night,
you simply must have dinner at HM.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Well, I would tell you one of my favorite spots.
It's a sports bar, great bar food. It's called City Tavern.
It's on the edge of downtown, between downtown and campus.
And if you were to go there, you might run
into a familiar face there on Friday night.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Really, now, well, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
It's funny you mentioned that because my son, who tries
to stay ahead of me on all these things, my
old suden, who's also my spotter, he said he pinpointed
four spots to go to, and that was one of them.
Ye said, so yeah, he said one of these four spots.
And he said we could go to one of these four.
And I said, okay, I'll ask Paul about it. So
(14:47):
it sounds like the choice has been made. Then well
we will communicate further about that. Okay, Hey, I appreciate
you doing this. I look forward to coming up there
and this should be an awful lot of fun this weekend.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
As always, it's great to vis with you. Oh always
good to see him. Look forward to seeing you in person. Greg.
Thank you, Paul, take care all right.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
That is Paul Keels, the play by play voice of
the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
It's true story.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
My son did say he listed like four places and said,
uh and one of them was city Tavern on that
and it did kind of look intriguing. So now now
I've got endorsements, so I have to I'll have to
remember that, all right. Coming up next, we go back
to Will Matthews conversations with long worn football players. The
guy you're gonna hear from next could could have had
(15:36):
a really impactful sophomore campaign last year had he not
been injured in preseason and knocked out as a result
of that.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Cedric Baxter C. J.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Baxter, the Longhorns running back, and we'll hear from him
coming up in his conversation with Will Matthews that's up next.
When we continue on this Tuesday afternoon, here a text
to day on Sports Radio AM thirteen hunder the Zone
It is always a pleasure to visit with my good friend,
the play by play voice of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
They simply call him Big Daddy up in Columbus, but
Paul Keels is the legend that is the voice of
the Ohio State Buckeyes, and he joins us now from Columbus.
How you doing today? You need Dame Hire if you
think that's a legend. Help me out here, you know, better,
(00:23):
help me out here. How many years is this now
for you in the play by play chair?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This will be year number twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Okay, yeah, see that's what I'm saying. It's twenty five
for me, twenty eight for you. We've known each other
a long long time, even going back to that game
twenty years ago. But I want to ask you about
something that came out of the Cotton Bowl meeting back
in January. This was not the fact that you know,
(00:50):
obviously the buck Eyes won the game and went on
to win the national championship. No, this was because of
Jack Sawyer's eighty three yard fumble return to give the
buck Eyes at that point the separation and they and
they win it twenty eight fourteen. Apparently I've been told
that that Scoop and Score has been flavorized into a
(01:12):
new concession stand menu item called Scoop and Score Nachos
factor fiction fact I believe.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
I mean, we'll find out Saturday, but I saw that
in the game notes. Also, so there were Scoop and
Sawyer t shirts that were making their way around town
all summer, you know, And it certainly punctuated a great
career for a young man from right here in Columbus,
stayed four years, you know, did everything you want to
see a student athlete do it. And a great young
(01:42):
man as well that should have a nice opportunity to
play some for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But it certainly was an incredible moment.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
You know, that game, Craig, as you know, had so
many significant plays even beyond that one. There was the
play where you know, Will Howard gets the fourth down
conversion where really he could have into the end zone,
but he joked and said he stumbled because he knew
the defense still needed a little more rest. Uh, you know,
the Candle downs interception following the Sawyer score. So but yes,
(02:12):
we will find out together about the Scoop and Score
not jos.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, I'll look forward to that. I read a pretty
revealing piece. I've read two pretty revealing pieces about Ryan Day,
one on from ESPN and one from The Athletic, about
what he and his family had to endure and go
through through through some of the disappointments, most notably obviously
the game with Michigan and that sort of thing, and
how they they they were always able to stay the course,
(02:38):
even the youngsters and the family. And I think it
says an awful lot about him. Uh, but how aware
as close as you and and Jim Leche are to
the program. Uh, were you guys aware of how this
thing had been building and a lot of the tide
of unhappiness, I guess we'll call it from from a
(02:58):
lot of Ohio State fans that obviously then was able
to be blown away with what happened in the stretch
drive of the season and the Buckeyes capture and the title.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
You know, Craig, we became aware of some of it
in the weeks afterwards, at leading up to the Tennessee
game at the start of the playoffs, but to the
full extent, probably not until everything was over. We knew
that coach Day had had to have security put around
his house. And then the stories that have come out
about that meeting that the coaches and the players had
really kind of signified what brought them together.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And you know the thing that the Tennessee game.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Playing it in Ohio Stadium after losing that Michigan game,
there was a lot of concern what was the fan
base going to be like, especially with the onslaught of
Tennessee fans. It came to town that weekend, and with
that football team starting off the way they did, really
get Tennessee back on their heels. That football team played angry,
not only just that day, but then they got the
match up with Oregon that they had hoped to have
(03:55):
in the Big Ten championship game, and they didn't really
jumped all over Oregon. And I'm not so sure the
buy didn't hurt Oregon not getting a chance to continue
their momentum. But those things really kind of brought this
club together. And you know a lot of people that
are around Ryan day, we get a chance on a
limited basis to be around him. Just see what kind
of a wonderful guy he is. Now wonderful guys that
(04:16):
doesn't win you games, but it really allowed this team
to rally around him.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah. Interesting.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Indeed, as we visited with Paul Keel's play by play
voice for the Ohio State Buckeyes, let me get your
thoughts on how And I know this is a relative term,
the word different, but I want to ask you how
quote unquote different things might be when you have two
new coordinators. Brian Hartline, of course, an Ohio State hero,
(04:44):
coordinating the offense, and then of course Matt Patricia, the
hired gun so to speak, coming in now is the
defensive coordinator. How has that evolved and how changed or
diversified or wrinkled so to speak. Are these two units
offensively and defensively with two new coordinators.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Well, that's the thing we're all curious to see, because,
as you know, practice is closed, so we don't get
to see a lot. You know, the former players can go,
but those of us in the media cannot. So I
think we're all anxious to see how different. The guess is,
it won't be terribly different too often, given the fact
that you've got so many key returning players.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yes, you lost your whole defensive starting line.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
The guys that will be starting were key backups last year,
but you still have sunny styles. You still have cattle downs,
you still have Davison Nigbuanosen. So I think that on
the hoof defensively, not sure there's going to be and
this is just guessing there'll be a lot of significant
differences offensively, you know, with a new quarterback, a young
(05:45):
man that played only four games, a new set of
running backs, and you saw how vital those running backs
were at Ohio State last year. The security blanket is
the fact that they've got experience in depth on the
offensive line, which came out of injury last year because
of two key injuries. Guys had to step up and
that's really helped, you know, an offensive lines and area
usually where teams don't have a ton of depth. Ohio
(06:07):
State feels like they have that and hopefully that can
help Julian saying kind of get his feet under.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Him, get into a rhythm.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
You've got an experience running back and ce j Donaldson
who came from West Virginia to kind of help things
when it comes to carrying the ball. And then there's
always Jeremiah Smith and Texas did a phenomenal job on
Jeremiah Smit but Carnel Tate had a career day because
of that. So, you know, I think, Craig, really we're
all anxient, just as anxious here to see how different
it'll be.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, well, you touched on a couple of guys who
want to ask you about one obviously, is Julian saying,
And I find it fascinating that this matchups. They has
the number one and number three teams in the AP Pole,
number one and number two in the coaches poll, a
defending national champion, a team that is a preseason number
one for the first time in its history.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And they both have.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Let's just say curiosities a little bit atquarter back simply
because of the lack of extensive experience. Arch Banning obviously
had to start two games when when quin yours was
down and came back and then and and played in
the uh you might say in limited duty. Well from
in the for the most part, but still you don't
have a full body of work for him. And then saying,
(07:18):
of course is a bit of an unknown commodity. And
I just I find that fascinating that a game of
this name brand magnitude has each of these guys going at.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
It and quarterback. Yeah, that is a real interesting part
of this. And you know, Julian San played only four
games and mop up duty last year. But one of
the things that we're hearing that has been a big
step of improvement for him is he needed to get
physically stronger, and it sounds like he has. He's a
young man that by those who watch a lot of
practice say he's got a quick release. You know, he's
(07:50):
a guy, you know, for whatever it's worth, you know,
the high school plot, it's only get you so far.
It gets you to a school, but you know, doesn't
keep you in a job or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
But he's a.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Guy that was really pushed by Lincoln Keyholts. Excuse me,
the Keynolts is in his third year. He's played limited.
He had two games last year but no stats, really
played in an emergency in the Cotton Bowl two years
ago against Missouri. But a guy that's very athletic, Craig.
This is a guy that averaged nineteen points a game
in basketball, he hit over four hundred in baseball, and
won three state titles in football. Yes it was the
(08:21):
state of South Dakota, but still that's the same something.
So he really pushed Julian Sand which you know from
this side of things, folks are hoping that what that
has done is had sand sharpened his skills.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Was there a point in the season last year where
you're calling a game in the booth and you turned
to Jim Leche and Jeremiah Smith had just made, you know,
one of his amazing catches, and you just turned to
him and said, the kid's a freak. Was there a
point when that dawned on you just how good it
was earlier in the season, When when did it really
(08:55):
strike you just how good especially for a freshman that
that young man was, you know.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Early and midseason. And I'll point out two examples to you, Craig.
They were playing at in Michigan State and actually Will
Howard had to leave the game briefly and Devin Brown
came in as a backup, and he threw a ball
in the end zone the Jeremiah Smith went up and
snatched like he was picking an apple off the tree.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
It was incredible.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
And then in the Iowa game at home, he had
a similar type of play. Raay to go way up
in the air, almost palming the ball to catch at
the end zone and with his other hand shoving the
defender away from him. Those were two instances where you thought,
this kid is different. He's not like a typical freshman.
He kind of reminded you of some of the plays
that Chris Gamble made back around two thousand and two.
(09:39):
He just seems to be a game changing type of
player that even and let's exclude the Texas game because
of what the long runs did last year, but even
when people know he's coming, he's still able to make
incredible plays.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
No doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Talking about the Ohio State Buckeyes with the Buckeyes play
by play voice Paul Keels here on thirteen hundred the Zone,
I'm gonna shift to the defense.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And examination.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Of the of the Buckeyes defensive line is much like
my examination of the Texas offensive line.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
For example, the.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Logruns, of course, only return one started from the offensive
front in DJ Campbell. However, they've got a lot of
guys who rotated in and saw a lot of action.
I look at the fact that all four starting defensive
linemen from the past two year seasons have been selected
in the NFL draft, and then I look at what
you got in Kenyana Jackson and Katon Curry and Kate
(10:32):
McDonald and Edric Houston and U see guys who've had
extensive experience, even though they weren't regular down by downstarters
and Craig their role last year was to.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Be able to give the four guys that went into
the NFL to give them a blow so that late
in the game they were fresh enough to make plays
like what Jack Sawyer made in the Cotton Bowl, like
some of the plays we saw Jalen Touey Molowow making
the Rose Bowl against Oregon. So these are guys when
you think about them, as well as you know Taiwan Malone,
who who is an experienced player who started his career
at Ole Miss, you add Bo Atkinson, a transfer from
(11:06):
North Carolina who comes in and seemingly can give them
some quality play. The guy that really this summer has
turned some heads from what we're being told, is Will
Smith Junior, playing at defensive tackle, the son of Will Smith,
who tragically died while he was in New Orleans, but
was part of the two national championship team. So you're right,
they're guys that have played a lot. They didn't have
(11:26):
the starter's role, but their purpose was to give those
other guys enough of a breather. The question regarding them
is are there people behind them that can do the
same as what these guys did last year.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Okay, I'm curious to get your thoughts on this because
I know Sark has been asked about it at length,
and I would imagine also the coach Davis asked about
it as well.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
And that is.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
The gravitas of this matchup. And Sark, while quick to
talk about how great it is that two teams of
this HILK can get together and play, you know, play
this year in Columbus and next year in Austin to
have that type of big time matchup in this day
and age of the twelve team playoff in college football
(12:12):
and who knows maybe expanding in the relatively near future.
That that it's not a crusher, it's not a season
killer if you don't win. And yet if you do win,
obviously it kind of puts you out in front, as
they like to say in NASCAR and clean air, running
ahead of the pack.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
How about your thoughts on this, well, I would agree
with that.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
You're not going to get the coaches to talk about
that because you know, just like Sark, you Ryan Day
today and as press guard said, it's about this game.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
It's about winning this game.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
And he's talked and embraced it, and how because this
is the first game on the schedule, it's got the
players edgy. It's got them with a point of urgency
of being ready. Not to say that they wouldn't have
been just as urgent or not as ready if it
was going to be Ohio University or Grambling State in
this week as opposed to name two weeks. But I
(13:02):
would agree with Craig one hundred percent. This is not
a death knell to the team that loses the football game.
It certainly affects your possible positioning. You know, last year
Ohio State didn't have a power for a game like
this because they had opted out of a scheduled game
with Washington. Once Washington came into the Big Ten, they
didn't want to, you know, have that kind of a
jumble there.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
So it's one that it's got.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Fans excited, even though you know, people are still washing
their hands over the twelve noons start. But to get
to see a game like this, to see a team
like Texas coming in you know, preseason number one doesn't
come to town very often, so coaches aren't going to
take the track that we can. It's great to see
this kind of a game because the loser is not
put out of the playoff picture. And a few years ago, yes,
(13:45):
it would have been, but not.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Now final question here you fill in the blank for me.
It is not even question just to fill in the blank, Craig,
it's been twenty years since you've called a football game
here in Columbus. So I've got to tell you Friday night,
you simply must have dinner at HM.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Well, I would tell you one of my favorite spots.
It's a sports bar, great bar food. It's called City Tavern.
It's on the edge of downtown, between downtown and campus.
And if you were to go there, you might run
into a familiar face there on Friday night.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Really, now, well, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
It's funny you mentioned that because my son, who tries
to stay ahead of me on all these things, my
old suden, who's also my spotter, he said he pinpointed
four spots to go to, and that was one of them.
Ye said, so yeah, he said one of these four spots.
And he said we could go to one of these four.
And I said, okay, I'll ask Paul about it. So
(14:47):
it sounds like the choice has been made. Then well
we will communicate further about that. Okay, Hey, I appreciate
you doing this. I look forward to coming up there
and this should be an awful lot of fun this weekend.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
As always, it's great to vis with you. Oh always
good to see him. Look forward to seeing you in person. Greg.
Thank you, Paul, take care all right.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
That is Paul Keels, the play by play voice of
the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
It's true story.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
My son did say he listed like four places and said,
uh and one of them was city Tavern on that
and it did kind of look intriguing. So now now
I've got endorsements, so I have to I'll have to
remember that, all right. Coming up next, we go back
to Will Matthews conversations with long worn football players. The
guy you're gonna hear from next could could have had
(15:36):
a really impactful sophomore campaign last year had he not
been injured in preseason and knocked out as a result
of that.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Cedric Baxter C. J.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Baxter, the Longhorns running back, and we'll hear from him
coming up in his conversation with Will Matthews that's up next.
When we continue on this Tuesday afternoon, here a text
to day on Sports Radio AM thirteen hunder the Zone
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