September 24, 2025 • 21 mins
In this episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast, hosts Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr discuss Ohio State's preparations for their upcoming game at the University of Washington. The hosts cover various topics including the fast pace of the season, the health updates of key players like Lorenzo Styles Jr., and the challenges posed by Washington's high-energy home crowd. They delve into Ohio State's defensive strategies for containing Washington quarterback Demond Williams, the expected offensive tactics, and the importance of quarterback Julian Sayin's leadership in a hostile environment. Tune in to hear in-depth analysis and insights as the Buckeyes gear up for a crucial game.
00:00 Introduction and Season Overview
01:09 Health Updates and Team Readiness
01:47 Washington Game Strategy
03:07 Handling Crowd Noise and Road Games
04:59 Player Insights and Matchup Expectations
14:03 Scout Team and Defensive Preparations
20:15 Final Thoughts and Upcoming Content
00:00 Introduction and Season Overview
01:09 Health Updates and Team Readiness
01:47 Washington Game Strategy
03:07 Handling Crowd Noise and Road Games
04:59 Player Insights and Matchup Expectations
14:03 Scout Team and Defensive Preparations
20:15 Final Thoughts and Upcoming Content
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always the Tom or Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
How's it going, Tony, it's almost the end of September.
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Like these these Wednesday night interviews always kind of get
me thinking, like, boy, the season's moving really fast, because
it feels like the week just started.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And here we are done with the midweek.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Stuff, and then it feels like the season just started
and it's already the regular sh is already a quarter
of the way over and now about to take a
trip that is not going to feel like, oh wow,
that was that was a quick one.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
No, the trip to Seattle will feel like a quarter
of the season in and of itself. Definitely looking forward
to we hit the We hit the airports Thursday early evening,
well afternoon and then uh and then we will leave
in the evening. But definitely looking forward to getting out there.
We have a ton of stuff planned for you guys.
To make sure right now, off the bat, hit the
(00:55):
bell of be notified, subscribe to the channel if you're
watching on YouTube. That way, you won't miss what we've
got for you. So, as Tom said, we are just
getting done with interviews on a Wednesday night. Before you
know it, it's gonna be like now it's I can't
believe October is gone time. But before we get to
that point, it's a quick update. Health wise. Lorenzo Styles
Junior left the game a week and a half ago,
(01:18):
whatever it was with a perhaps a hand or an arm.
He's good to go. He's practiced all week, said he
Ryan Dasad. He said, really good practices, So no concerns there,
which then allows the secondary to go into this Washington
game with full health and not having to maybe not
play people out of position because Jermaine Matthews has several positions.
(01:39):
But they can go full strength and do whatever they
want to do.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Right, You have the flexibility to do what you whatever
you feel is the best for this particular matchup. And
Ohio State has played three very different offenses so far.
Brambling was just kind of a roll of your helmets
out there, and you're gonna you'll be fine. Ohio had
some playmakers and you know, but but very clearly talent
was not equated. Texas was a much closer talent level.
(02:04):
But did you know Texas does not have an Ohio
State level wide receiver room. Washington doesn't have any wider
ohigh state what level wide receiver room either, but they
do have a very big and talented wide receiver in
Denzel Austin. Who is it that feels like job one
in the past, defense and figure out where he is
at all times and how you're going to defend him.
Having Lorenzo Styles back means you have all your possible pieces,
(02:27):
all your possible combinations to figure out how you want
to go about attacking Washington's passage.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, and it means you've got your full dime package
as well, and you don't have to go a little
bit deeper and that one than you would want because
you for the dime. They just bring in Devin Sanchez
and remove somebody from the front seven. So that's really,
I think at this point the only health question.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Health wise, that was really it.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So yeah, fortunate time for the buck Eyes. They still
have obviously one more practice in Columbus before they head
off to uh that Allday night and then they'll have
best Fridays in football. But tomorrow is basically work week
done as they say, and then on the road. And
I don't know that there was a bunch of stuff
(03:11):
from Rian. They talked about dealing with the crowd. They've
been working on that. One of the things that Carson
Hinzman said, and that conjunction with that is that this
is an offensive line, and frankly an offense that has
played at a bunch of high level games. So these
are not new offensive lineman. So granted, these neutral site
games are not the loudest, but they are high level.
(03:33):
They are every snap is huge, so that is a
big thing. But also they've they have that experience and
then also they've been pumping into noise for over a week,
so they've they've been preparing for it well.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And all the guys on this line, with the exception
Philip Daniels, were at Alton Stadium last year.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
They were at Beaver Stadium last year. Some of them
were playing and some of them were.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
But you've been in the loud environment before, you see
how people have to deal with it. They've gone on
silent count before the Cotton Bowl, for example, I think
they were on silent count at point in the Cotton
points in the Cotton Bowl because you're playing Texas and
Texas it's a neutral site, but also it's kind of not,
so they've had to deal with some of that stuff already.
And no disrespect to Washington, but the Texas defensive line
(04:19):
last year is probably better than the Washington defensive.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Line they're gonna have to play this year.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
The Oregon defensive line from last year probably better than
the Washington defensive line they're gonna.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Have to play this year.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
So you've sort of seen high level talent in this
type of atmosphere.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Is maybe gonna be a little louder.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Sure, does that maybe balance out the talent discrepancy maybe,
But this is not brand new stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
This is this is not a team.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
That's played three terrible opponents and at home and is
now has to go on the road to play a
really top five team in a crazy environment.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
This is a team that's that has played, you know, the.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Former number one team in the nation, has played a
bunch of real quality teams last year. So this is
gonna be different, but not new ye.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And so then it comes down to how well Julian's
saying handles it because he has not been on a
road environment, let alone perhaps the largest, the loudest road environment.
And really it also depends on the opponent. So Ohio
State's always got that covered. In terms of I wonder
if this is the road crowd is gonna be loud. Yes,
they always will be. This is gonna be the loudest
(05:22):
place with the loudest team to cheer against. Ohio State
travels like that and everybody certainly this is not Grambling
coming in and it's gonna be like Born noon game.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, this is the defending national champions and the number
one team in the nation this year. This is this
is the Super Bowl. Congratulations, it is coming to your stadium.
You're going to be loud. You're going to be excited
about it. Washington sold out the stadium. They have been
very consistent with the arrive early, be loud messaging all week.
I saw Washington fans talking about you know, yes you
can stomp your feet and yes you can yell, but
(05:57):
also the metal bleachers. Make sure you're slapping your hands
on the metal bleachers to you know, create additional noise.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
And they have the.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Roofs overhead roof, metal roof to reflect all the noise
back down to the sidelines.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So very tacky, very tacky.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
It is a stadium that is made to be loud,
and it does its job.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Does its job. I can't wait to get there. Love
the open air press box. They they have garage door
types for in the press box. Loved it at Oregon.
You get to hear it all, you get to experience
it all the time you're down on the field. Doesn't
matter to you. No garage doors for me, Nope. I
just I like feeling it. And that was one of
the things Carson Hinsman say. It's like, yes, you can
feel it. It's like, you know, standing in front of
(06:34):
a speaker at a concert or whatever. He's you did
say at one point though, you tune it all out
because you know you're focused and you're you're you're a professional.
Basically you tune it all out. And he's like, besides,
you can't hear anything anyway. It's like it's too noisy
to even hear it.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Tom Well, I think Sunny Styles talked about that as well,
where during practice they've been practicing with the noise up
so much that you just kind of your brain sort
of filters it out. It's like living in the flight
path through the air boarder, living down the street from
a fire station at some point.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Road tracks, Yra road tracks, Yeah, you know, what what
fire truck? Oh? Oh was it? Okay?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
I guess you know, your brain just sort of filters
it out, and at some point that is kind of
probably true. Your brain can just sort of like its
noise canceling headphones almost and so it's going to have
an impact.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
It's going to have an impact.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Early Ohio State has the opportunity to make it really
not have an impact. You jump up twenty one nothing
in the first half, like congratulations. The crowd is probably
not gonna be quite as enthusiastic, so you know, o
Higo State is going to have something to say about
how long the.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Crowd is going to be potentially allowed.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I am fascinated to see how many Ohio State fans
are there. I whenever Ohio State goes in the road,
you're thinking, you know what, at least thirty percent. But
that wasn't the case at Oregon because says, I don't
recall it was maybe it was I don't.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Know, there were a bunch of Ohio State fans at all.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
And this is like crowd The crowd estimates are always
so unofficial, but the you know high state fans always travel, well,
it's you see more Ohio State fans at opposing games
than you do opposing fans at Ohio State games, because
Ohio State has a million fans everywhere and rather enthusiastic
(08:12):
fans who will show up and go just about anywhere
at any time. I'm expecting, you know, I don't know,
ten thousand Ohio State fans, fifteen thousand Ohio State fans
in a stadium of seventy thousand, so you know, twenty ish,
fifteen to twenty percent some of that.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Maybe it'll be more. I don't know, it's it's it's
going to be old.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
The Washington fans in purple, there vast for a purple out,
and then it'll you know, how many Ohio State fans
are in red. I do think there's probably a little
strategy there to purple and red are going to kind
of blend together a little bit, so the Ohio State
fans won't stick out as much as if it was,
you know, the High State fans and a white out
at Penn State or something like that.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah. No, And it's looked like big bruise all around
the stadium. But there are a lot of Ohio State
alums out in the Pacific Northwest, so this does and
just have to be people traveling from Ohio to get there.
Jeremiah Smith, we talked with him.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
The question that I wanted to ask.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Someone beat me to it, but it was basically, so,
you know, Ryan Wolters, former Purdue head coach, former Illinois
d C, current Washington d C plays a lot of
man defense.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
He is known for playing a lot of man defense,
and you know, what do you think about that?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
And he Jeremiah just kind of gets a smile on
his face, like, you know what I think about that?
It was you know, you you know what I think
when I see man coverage and hit. What he's thinking
is six points in eight seconds. And this is going
to be exciting for him, I'm sure. And I talked
to Ross Fulton about this for an episode of the
Morning Show that's going to go up on Thursday. Tell
(09:48):
you about the Washington defense and how they're going to
potentially play the Ohio State offense. But when Jeremiah is
one on one, I think you're going to see them
take some shots. If they can give Julian saying time,
I think you're gonna see shots downfield, whether it's a
Jeremiah or if Washington.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
You know, Washington tends to play a very very deep safety.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Similar remember last year Purdue Dylan Theneman, the safety for Purdue,
who would the camera shot for the whole defense. You'd
only see ten guys in the field, and that was
because Dylan Thieneman was basically in punt return coverage more
or less as a safety. You're gonna see that probably
a lot out of Washington on Saturday. But he can
only go to one side of the field. That'say if
he can only pick one side of the field. So
(10:27):
whichever side of the field he isn't on, whether it's
Jeremiah Smith side or Cardinal Tates side or whoever else
is over there, I think you're gonna see some shots downfield.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I think Jeremiah Smith. You get the sense that Jeremiah
Smith is planning on that being part of the game
plan on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, And that safety this week will be Alex McLaughlan McLaughlin,
the number twelve that you'll see out there or won't see, yeah,
depending on the angle, because again he will lign fifteen
yards off the ball at least twenty yards and then
you know, either cover ground or come crash. And they
don't do that every time, but it does become noticeable.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
And he had two interceptions last week against Washington State, so.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yes, and uh, one was was one, one was a
tipped and one was like the receiver kind of fell
down and then he's like, oh, okay, I hit and
I'll take the I'll take the pick six. But yes,
he is very much looking forward to the the man
demand coverage and he said to Key, what's the key time?
Just twin you're one on ones. It's so simple, it's
like all you gotta do.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Just see see, But it is easy for him. It's
not as easy for other people, but for him, it's like, well.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
So this will be an interesting game to watch in
terms of Julian Saying and his eyes and how that
directs the safety and the way that he wants or
the way that he doesn't want. Julian Saying has been
doing some good things all season long, and I think
this is gonna be another step. This has be an
opportunity for a step to show, like, now, like what
(11:50):
else I can do in terms of manipulating a defense.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Well, and this is going to be the best defense
I've played since Texas. I don't think this defense is
incredible by any means, but they have some They have
some nice pieces on the defense. They have a pair
of corners who are six foot four, which is kind
of intriguing, indifferent, and Jeremiah Smith talked about getting a
good look from Davis and Aguenos and who's what six
two or so, so he said he's getting plenty of
(12:14):
work with Davis Nigbunosen this week to sort of prepare
for that.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
But you're gonna I think you're gonna see.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
You're gonna see them try to just get as much
as they can downfield. Stretch things out, because if they
can run the ball, that's probably the end of the story.
They may have to throw to open up the run
a little bit, because if you're Washington, you might be
trying to stop the run and try and prove make
Julian saying prove you know, Julian sans has. You know
(12:42):
they won against Texas, but Julian Say did not have
an incredible game against Texas. You haven't seen Julian say
and have to do it on the road. You're gonna
see them, you know, probably try and you probably try
and make Julian Say and beat you and you know,
can he do it. Yeah, probably, but you kind of
and you know you're gonna make him show it rather
than allowing Ohio State to just kind of run for
(13:04):
six yards to carry.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Well, Tom, sometimes playing with fire is pretty fun. Let's
admit it.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
You're going to get us an community stripe.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
One of the last things that Jeremiah talked about was
Julian's saying what you mentioned, just developing more as a
leader over these three to now fourth game and we
have yet to see him rattle. This is gonna be
the best opportunity for that to happen. And rattle doesn't
mean like, oh, you know, I'm actually literally rattling, But
how do you operate within the noise when you know,
(13:37):
what if when other players are struggling, how do you
get everybody together? This isn't just about him struggling. It's
also like, if the offenses is slow to progress and
get downfield to execute, what does he do to get
them together? Because he also is he's the quarterback, he's
the leader, so that'll be interesting to watch. Ohio State
does have a six or four corner on a team
(13:58):
that they can also throw in the scout team in
Jordan Woods, But again that's he's a true freshman. Let's
go to the other side of the ball, because I
want to talk about the Scout team quarterback this week,
which is Philip Bell, one of the Scout team quarterbacks,
because you know, you want to Philip Bell being freshman
wide receiver. You want to have that guy who is explosive,
tough to defend, and to simulate demand Williams who is
(14:22):
all of that. And so I was wondering because it's
not gonna be no offense. It's not Mason Mags or
one of the other three or four walk on quarterbacks.
It's not Eli brick Handler that is out there. Genuinely,
they have done this before. They'll grab a receiver or
running back to simulate this. And and I think it
was a Caleb downson also mentioned Daiquon Finn from Toledo. No, no, no,
(14:47):
because yeah, David Downs was here.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
He was asked, Sonny South has asked, you know who does.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Washingtons quarterback dem On Williams kind of remind you of
among the guys you've played, And he said, not exactly,
but just in terms of the athleticism and the elusiveness.
De Kwan Finn, who was at Toledo when Toledo played
Ohio State in twenty twenty two, right, yeah, twenty twenty two.
So you know that was a game where Ohio State
really had their way with Toledo, but d kwan Finn
(15:15):
was able to despite being completely outmatched around the rest
of the offense, was able to make two players with
his legs, make them, you know, extend some some plays
and make some throws down field.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
But they thought that was an interesting camp.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
He went to Baylor last year and it didn't go well.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
No, he's back in the MAC. I think he's at Miami.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I believe so.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
He's back in the MAC for sure.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
But you know, in terms of the types of quarterbacks
they've seen, they've faced quarterbacks who are mobile, maybe not
quite as mobile arch Manning.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
You saw him make plays with his legs.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
You saw, I think both the Graham Links quarterbacks sort
of try to extend plays with the legs and be
able to kind of dodge the rush a little bit.
You saw Parker Navarro against Ohio a couple weeks ago
be able to do that to a certain degree. This
is probably going to be sort of leveled up to
the next to it, probably a higher level of elucidness,
and you've seen Demand Williams be able to throw the
ball down field as well, so you do need the
(16:05):
quarterback half.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Of the of the scout team piece as well.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I asked kayten Curry where he compares to the rest
of the guys they've played, and understandably he said, he's
the quickest and the most slippery, which is that is
all accurate.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah, you've seen him not only be able to avoid
tackles and run for twenty yards, but also there's a
guy coming clean right in the a gam and it's like, well,
he is dead, and then all of a sudden, it's
it's not that he's sprinting away, it's just kind of
it's like a little shuffle and all of a sudden
the guy just goes flying by and then you're you're
(16:39):
back in a clean pocket again.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
So they'll be spying Demand waives not constantly, but at times.
I asked Sunny Styles, what's the key to spying. Well,
he's like, well, one of the things is when the
quarterback drifts back, like drops back into the pocket, you
don't want to get closer to the line of screverer.
You just want to stay where you are so that
you can maintain the ability to get that angle. Then
(17:02):
I ask him, so, how do you think our val
Reese has done as a spy? And he's like, he
might probably the best spy in America at this point.
He said he's an elite spy, and I would agree
with that as well.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Yeah, he's he's done a very good job with everything
he's been asked to do.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
And he's been asked to do a lot of stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
You know, he'll be asked to spy and kind of
mirror the quarterback and just sort of keep things in
front of you and don't let them get past you.
And he's had a really good job with that. He's
done a really good job with the guys and coverages.
You've seen him coming off the edge, You've seen him
coming up up in the middle. You've seen him be
very strong on the run game. He's been asked to
do a lot of different things, sometimes very different things
(17:39):
on back to back plays, and you've just been able
to just handle it all and no problem.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I think we've even seen him spy start out on
the edge and then drift to a spy and like
all of these things that quarterbacks is like, Okay, that's
wherever al Reese is. I know he's gonna be coming
from that angle. Yeah, let me drop back. I better
take off. What's he doing there? He was just over
there that sort of thing. And a lot of that
also has to do with Cale Downs talked about being
able to what does he like about this defense. It's like, well,
(18:06):
I like, I can go play here, I can play there,
I can play a bunch of positions if you can
handle it. It's fun and it's good and he can
obviously do all that. Tom were you over there? I
think you were when Jamand Williams was described to him
where somebody said that, well, you know, it's kind of sure,
he's kind of little, what do you think about him?
(18:28):
And you know he's like, well you said it, you
described him. I mean he is less than five to eleven,
so you know what that means, right, But he is
so much more than that. And this is a it's
going to be a big thing for Camp Downs, for
all of these Ohigh State Buckeyes to be aware of
(18:49):
where he is, aware of where he is at the
point of just like different times throughout the snap or
the play, because like Sonny Styles said, in terms of
his running ability or cale downson it as well, Like
the longer the play goes on, you have to be
aware that you might need to come off your man
and go get in because there's gonna be a scramble
on whether that's you, whether you're in man, whether you're
(19:10):
in zone, like, you have to stay in your zone
as long as you can before breaking to go get him,
or else you could give up a play. So it's
very difficult. That's why coaches. Offensive coaches love quarterbacks that
can run. The defensive coaches hate them.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well, and you know you're talking there, and I think
we talked earlier about the fact that Washington plays a
ton of man. I wonder if the demand Williams being
as much of a runner and being a threat to
run even three seconds after the snap. Wonder if that
impacts the mix of zone and man that Ohio State plays,
Because of course, when you're playing man, you're turning your
back to the quarterback and running with the receiver. If
(19:44):
you're in zone, you're kind of all you got your
eyes on the on the quarterback and hey, you know,
Matt patric you're going to mix things up, obviously, but
it does it would make sense, and potentially maybe you're
playing a little more zone just to make sure you
don't have your back turned and running the other direction
what he may be running right towards you.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Anything else today that you wanted to touch on.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I think that was the big stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Just thinking through I think yeah, I mean yeah, I
think I think we've covered all the all the kind
of notes that I had, all.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
The pretinent stuff. So there you go. We, like I said,
we've got a lot more coming this week. Can't wait
to get up there. Finally check check the Washington Stadium
Husky Stadium off of the bucket list there and we
will have stuff pregame, postgame. We still have our bold
predictions that we have to do. Yes, no time we
(20:36):
get to do yes, also have to do. And then
you know, as you guys know, when we're on the road,
we're gonna do as much stuff for you as we can.
So if you could hit the thumbs up on this one,
we would appreciate that. Subscribe to the channel, as I said,
if you've not yet done so, and continue to find
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absolute best wait support what we do so I thank
you all and Tom. We'll talk one. Talk to you
(21:00):
all later. I'm gonna edit that part. I'm not gonna
edit it. We'll talk to you all later. M
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always the Tom or Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
How's it going, Tony, it's almost the end of September.
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Like these these Wednesday night interviews always kind of get
me thinking, like, boy, the season's moving really fast, because
it feels like the week just started.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And here we are done with the midweek.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Stuff, and then it feels like the season just started
and it's already the regular sh is already a quarter
of the way over and now about to take a
trip that is not going to feel like, oh wow,
that was that was a quick one.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
No, the trip to Seattle will feel like a quarter
of the season in and of itself. Definitely looking forward
to we hit the We hit the airports Thursday early evening,
well afternoon and then uh and then we will leave
in the evening. But definitely looking forward to getting out there.
We have a ton of stuff planned for you guys.
To make sure right now, off the bat, hit the
(00:55):
bell of be notified, subscribe to the channel if you're
watching on YouTube. That way, you won't miss what we've
got for you. So, as Tom said, we are just
getting done with interviews on a Wednesday night. Before you
know it, it's gonna be like now it's I can't
believe October is gone time. But before we get to
that point, it's a quick update. Health wise. Lorenzo Styles
Junior left the game a week and a half ago,
(01:18):
whatever it was with a perhaps a hand or an arm.
He's good to go. He's practiced all week, said he
Ryan Dasad. He said, really good practices, So no concerns there,
which then allows the secondary to go into this Washington
game with full health and not having to maybe not
play people out of position because Jermaine Matthews has several positions.
(01:39):
But they can go full strength and do whatever they
want to do.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Right, You have the flexibility to do what you whatever
you feel is the best for this particular matchup. And
Ohio State has played three very different offenses so far.
Brambling was just kind of a roll of your helmets
out there, and you're gonna you'll be fine. Ohio had
some playmakers and you know, but but very clearly talent
was not equated. Texas was a much closer talent level.
(02:04):
But did you know Texas does not have an Ohio
State level wide receiver room. Washington doesn't have any wider
ohigh state what level wide receiver room either, but they
do have a very big and talented wide receiver in
Denzel Austin. Who is it that feels like job one
in the past, defense and figure out where he is
at all times and how you're going to defend him.
Having Lorenzo Styles back means you have all your possible pieces,
(02:27):
all your possible combinations to figure out how you want
to go about attacking Washington's passage.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, and it means you've got your full dime package
as well, and you don't have to go a little
bit deeper and that one than you would want because
you for the dime. They just bring in Devin Sanchez
and remove somebody from the front seven. So that's really,
I think at this point the only health question.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Health wise, that was really it.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So yeah, fortunate time for the buck Eyes. They still
have obviously one more practice in Columbus before they head
off to uh that Allday night and then they'll have
best Fridays in football. But tomorrow is basically work week
done as they say, and then on the road. And
I don't know that there was a bunch of stuff
(03:11):
from Rian. They talked about dealing with the crowd. They've
been working on that. One of the things that Carson
Hinzman said, and that conjunction with that is that this
is an offensive line, and frankly an offense that has
played at a bunch of high level games. So these
are not new offensive lineman. So granted, these neutral site
games are not the loudest, but they are high level.
(03:33):
They are every snap is huge, so that is a
big thing. But also they've they have that experience and
then also they've been pumping into noise for over a week,
so they've they've been preparing for it well.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And all the guys on this line, with the exception
Philip Daniels, were at Alton Stadium last year.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
They were at Beaver Stadium last year. Some of them
were playing and some of them were.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
But you've been in the loud environment before, you see
how people have to deal with it. They've gone on
silent count before the Cotton Bowl, for example, I think
they were on silent count at point in the Cotton
points in the Cotton Bowl because you're playing Texas and
Texas it's a neutral site, but also it's kind of not,
so they've had to deal with some of that stuff already.
And no disrespect to Washington, but the Texas defensive line
(04:19):
last year is probably better than the Washington defensive.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Line they're gonna have to play this year.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
The Oregon defensive line from last year probably better than
the Washington defensive line they're gonna.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Have to play this year.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
So you've sort of seen high level talent in this
type of atmosphere.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Is maybe gonna be a little louder.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Sure, does that maybe balance out the talent discrepancy maybe,
But this is not brand new stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
This is this is not a team.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
That's played three terrible opponents and at home and is
now has to go on the road to play a
really top five team in a crazy environment.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
This is a team that's that has played, you know, the.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Former number one team in the nation, has played a
bunch of real quality teams last year. So this is
gonna be different, but not new ye.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And so then it comes down to how well Julian's
saying handles it because he has not been on a
road environment, let alone perhaps the largest, the loudest road environment.
And really it also depends on the opponent. So Ohio
State's always got that covered. In terms of I wonder
if this is the road crowd is gonna be loud. Yes,
they always will be. This is gonna be the loudest
(05:22):
place with the loudest team to cheer against. Ohio State
travels like that and everybody certainly this is not Grambling
coming in and it's gonna be like Born noon game.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, this is the defending national champions and the number
one team in the nation this year. This is this
is the Super Bowl. Congratulations, it is coming to your stadium.
You're going to be loud. You're going to be excited
about it. Washington sold out the stadium. They have been
very consistent with the arrive early, be loud messaging all week.
I saw Washington fans talking about you know, yes you
can stomp your feet and yes you can yell, but
(05:57):
also the metal bleachers. Make sure you're slapping your hands
on the metal bleachers to you know, create additional noise.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
And they have the.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Roofs overhead roof, metal roof to reflect all the noise
back down to the sidelines.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So very tacky, very tacky.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
It is a stadium that is made to be loud,
and it does its job.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Does its job. I can't wait to get there. Love
the open air press box. They they have garage door
types for in the press box. Loved it at Oregon.
You get to hear it all, you get to experience
it all the time you're down on the field. Doesn't
matter to you. No garage doors for me, Nope. I
just I like feeling it. And that was one of
the things Carson Hinsman say. It's like, yes, you can
feel it. It's like, you know, standing in front of
(06:34):
a speaker at a concert or whatever. He's you did
say at one point though, you tune it all out
because you know you're focused and you're you're you're a professional.
Basically you tune it all out. And he's like, besides,
you can't hear anything anyway. It's like it's too noisy
to even hear it.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Tom Well, I think Sunny Styles talked about that as well,
where during practice they've been practicing with the noise up
so much that you just kind of your brain sort
of filters it out. It's like living in the flight
path through the air boarder, living down the street from
a fire station at some point.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Road tracks, Yra road tracks, Yeah, you know, what what
fire truck? Oh? Oh was it? Okay?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
I guess you know, your brain just sort of filters
it out, and at some point that is kind of
probably true. Your brain can just sort of like its
noise canceling headphones almost and so it's going to have
an impact.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
It's going to have an impact.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Early Ohio State has the opportunity to make it really
not have an impact. You jump up twenty one nothing
in the first half, like congratulations. The crowd is probably
not gonna be quite as enthusiastic, so you know, o
Higo State is going to have something to say about
how long the.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Crowd is going to be potentially allowed.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I am fascinated to see how many Ohio State fans
are there. I whenever Ohio State goes in the road,
you're thinking, you know what, at least thirty percent. But
that wasn't the case at Oregon because says, I don't
recall it was maybe it was I don't.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Know, there were a bunch of Ohio State fans at all.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
And this is like crowd The crowd estimates are always
so unofficial, but the you know high state fans always travel, well,
it's you see more Ohio State fans at opposing games
than you do opposing fans at Ohio State games, because
Ohio State has a million fans everywhere and rather enthusiastic
(08:12):
fans who will show up and go just about anywhere
at any time. I'm expecting, you know, I don't know,
ten thousand Ohio State fans, fifteen thousand Ohio State fans
in a stadium of seventy thousand, so you know, twenty ish,
fifteen to twenty percent some of that.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Maybe it'll be more. I don't know, it's it's it's
going to be old.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
The Washington fans in purple, there vast for a purple out,
and then it'll you know, how many Ohio State fans
are in red. I do think there's probably a little
strategy there to purple and red are going to kind
of blend together a little bit, so the Ohio State
fans won't stick out as much as if it was,
you know, the High State fans and a white out
at Penn State or something like that.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah. No, And it's looked like big bruise all around
the stadium. But there are a lot of Ohio State
alums out in the Pacific Northwest, so this does and
just have to be people traveling from Ohio to get there.
Jeremiah Smith, we talked with him.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
The question that I wanted to ask.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Someone beat me to it, but it was basically, so,
you know, Ryan Wolters, former Purdue head coach, former Illinois
d C, current Washington d C plays a lot of
man defense.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
He is known for playing a lot of man defense,
and you know, what do you think about that?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
And he Jeremiah just kind of gets a smile on
his face, like, you know what I think about that?
It was you know, you you know what I think
when I see man coverage and hit. What he's thinking
is six points in eight seconds. And this is going
to be exciting for him, I'm sure. And I talked
to Ross Fulton about this for an episode of the
Morning Show that's going to go up on Thursday. Tell
(09:48):
you about the Washington defense and how they're going to
potentially play the Ohio State offense. But when Jeremiah is
one on one, I think you're going to see them
take some shots. If they can give Julian saying time,
I think you're gonna see shots downfield, whether it's a
Jeremiah or if Washington.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
You know, Washington tends to play a very very deep safety.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Similar remember last year Purdue Dylan Theneman, the safety for Purdue,
who would the camera shot for the whole defense. You'd
only see ten guys in the field, and that was
because Dylan Thieneman was basically in punt return coverage more
or less as a safety. You're gonna see that probably
a lot out of Washington on Saturday. But he can
only go to one side of the field. That'say if
he can only pick one side of the field. So
(10:27):
whichever side of the field he isn't on, whether it's
Jeremiah Smith side or Cardinal Tates side or whoever else
is over there, I think you're gonna see some shots downfield.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I think Jeremiah Smith. You get the sense that Jeremiah
Smith is planning on that being part of the game
plan on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, And that safety this week will be Alex McLaughlan McLaughlin,
the number twelve that you'll see out there or won't see, yeah,
depending on the angle, because again he will lign fifteen
yards off the ball at least twenty yards and then
you know, either cover ground or come crash. And they
don't do that every time, but it does become noticeable.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
And he had two interceptions last week against Washington State, so.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yes, and uh, one was was one, one was a
tipped and one was like the receiver kind of fell
down and then he's like, oh, okay, I hit and
I'll take the I'll take the pick six. But yes,
he is very much looking forward to the the man
demand coverage and he said to Key, what's the key time?
Just twin you're one on ones. It's so simple, it's
like all you gotta do.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Just see see, But it is easy for him. It's
not as easy for other people, but for him, it's like, well.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
So this will be an interesting game to watch in
terms of Julian Saying and his eyes and how that
directs the safety and the way that he wants or
the way that he doesn't want. Julian Saying has been
doing some good things all season long, and I think
this is gonna be another step. This has be an
opportunity for a step to show, like, now, like what
(11:50):
else I can do in terms of manipulating a defense.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Well, and this is going to be the best defense
I've played since Texas. I don't think this defense is
incredible by any means, but they have some They have
some nice pieces on the defense. They have a pair
of corners who are six foot four, which is kind
of intriguing, indifferent, and Jeremiah Smith talked about getting a
good look from Davis and Aguenos and who's what six
two or so, so he said he's getting plenty of
(12:14):
work with Davis Nigbunosen this week to sort of prepare
for that.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
But you're gonna I think you're gonna see.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
You're gonna see them try to just get as much
as they can downfield. Stretch things out, because if they
can run the ball, that's probably the end of the story.
They may have to throw to open up the run
a little bit, because if you're Washington, you might be
trying to stop the run and try and prove make
Julian saying prove you know, Julian sans has. You know
(12:42):
they won against Texas, but Julian Say did not have
an incredible game against Texas. You haven't seen Julian say
and have to do it on the road. You're gonna
see them, you know, probably try and you probably try
and make Julian Say and beat you and you know,
can he do it. Yeah, probably, but you kind of
and you know you're gonna make him show it rather
than allowing Ohio State to just kind of run for
(13:04):
six yards to carry.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Well, Tom, sometimes playing with fire is pretty fun. Let's
admit it.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
You're going to get us an community stripe.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
One of the last things that Jeremiah talked about was
Julian's saying what you mentioned, just developing more as a
leader over these three to now fourth game and we
have yet to see him rattle. This is gonna be
the best opportunity for that to happen. And rattle doesn't
mean like, oh, you know, I'm actually literally rattling, But
how do you operate within the noise when you know,
(13:37):
what if when other players are struggling, how do you
get everybody together? This isn't just about him struggling. It's
also like, if the offenses is slow to progress and
get downfield to execute, what does he do to get
them together? Because he also is he's the quarterback, he's
the leader, so that'll be interesting to watch. Ohio State
does have a six or four corner on a team
(13:58):
that they can also throw in the scout team in
Jordan Woods, But again that's he's a true freshman. Let's
go to the other side of the ball, because I
want to talk about the Scout team quarterback this week,
which is Philip Bell, one of the Scout team quarterbacks,
because you know, you want to Philip Bell being freshman
wide receiver. You want to have that guy who is explosive,
tough to defend, and to simulate demand Williams who is
(14:22):
all of that. And so I was wondering because it's
not gonna be no offense. It's not Mason Mags or
one of the other three or four walk on quarterbacks.
It's not Eli brick Handler that is out there. Genuinely,
they have done this before. They'll grab a receiver or
running back to simulate this. And and I think it
was a Caleb downson also mentioned Daiquon Finn from Toledo. No, no, no,
(14:47):
because yeah, David Downs was here.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
He was asked, Sonny South has asked, you know who does.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Washingtons quarterback dem On Williams kind of remind you of
among the guys you've played, And he said, not exactly,
but just in terms of the athleticism and the elusiveness.
De Kwan Finn, who was at Toledo when Toledo played
Ohio State in twenty twenty two, right, yeah, twenty twenty two.
So you know that was a game where Ohio State
really had their way with Toledo, but d kwan Finn
(15:15):
was able to despite being completely outmatched around the rest
of the offense, was able to make two players with
his legs, make them, you know, extend some some plays
and make some throws down field.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
But they thought that was an interesting camp.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
He went to Baylor last year and it didn't go well.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
No, he's back in the MAC. I think he's at Miami.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I believe so.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
He's back in the MAC for sure.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
But you know, in terms of the types of quarterbacks
they've seen, they've faced quarterbacks who are mobile, maybe not
quite as mobile arch Manning.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
You saw him make plays with his legs.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
You saw, I think both the Graham Links quarterbacks sort
of try to extend plays with the legs and be
able to kind of dodge the rush a little bit.
You saw Parker Navarro against Ohio a couple weeks ago
be able to do that to a certain degree. This
is probably going to be sort of leveled up to
the next to it, probably a higher level of elucidness,
and you've seen Demand Williams be able to throw the
ball down field as well, so you do need the
(16:05):
quarterback half.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Of the of the scout team piece as well.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I asked kayten Curry where he compares to the rest
of the guys they've played, and understandably he said, he's
the quickest and the most slippery, which is that is
all accurate.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah, you've seen him not only be able to avoid
tackles and run for twenty yards, but also there's a
guy coming clean right in the a gam and it's like, well,
he is dead, and then all of a sudden, it's
it's not that he's sprinting away, it's just kind of
it's like a little shuffle and all of a sudden
the guy just goes flying by and then you're you're
(16:39):
back in a clean pocket again.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
So they'll be spying Demand waives not constantly, but at times.
I asked Sunny Styles, what's the key to spying. Well,
he's like, well, one of the things is when the
quarterback drifts back, like drops back into the pocket, you
don't want to get closer to the line of screverer.
You just want to stay where you are so that
you can maintain the ability to get that angle. Then
(17:02):
I ask him, so, how do you think our val
Reese has done as a spy? And he's like, he
might probably the best spy in America at this point.
He said he's an elite spy, and I would agree
with that as well.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Yeah, he's he's done a very good job with everything
he's been asked to do.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
And he's been asked to do a lot of stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
You know, he'll be asked to spy and kind of
mirror the quarterback and just sort of keep things in
front of you and don't let them get past you.
And he's had a really good job with that. He's
done a really good job with the guys and coverages.
You've seen him coming off the edge, You've seen him
coming up up in the middle. You've seen him be
very strong on the run game. He's been asked to
do a lot of different things, sometimes very different things
(17:39):
on back to back plays, and you've just been able
to just handle it all and no problem.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I think we've even seen him spy start out on
the edge and then drift to a spy and like
all of these things that quarterbacks is like, Okay, that's
wherever al Reese is. I know he's gonna be coming
from that angle. Yeah, let me drop back. I better
take off. What's he doing there? He was just over
there that sort of thing. And a lot of that
also has to do with Cale Downs talked about being
able to what does he like about this defense. It's like, well,
(18:06):
I like, I can go play here, I can play there,
I can play a bunch of positions if you can
handle it. It's fun and it's good and he can
obviously do all that. Tom were you over there? I
think you were when Jamand Williams was described to him
where somebody said that, well, you know, it's kind of sure,
he's kind of little, what do you think about him?
(18:28):
And you know he's like, well you said it, you
described him. I mean he is less than five to eleven,
so you know what that means, right, But he is
so much more than that. And this is a it's
going to be a big thing for Camp Downs, for
all of these Ohigh State Buckeyes to be aware of
(18:49):
where he is, aware of where he is at the
point of just like different times throughout the snap or
the play, because like Sonny Styles said, in terms of
his running ability or cale downson it as well, Like
the longer the play goes on, you have to be
aware that you might need to come off your man
and go get in because there's gonna be a scramble
on whether that's you, whether you're in man, whether you're
(19:10):
in zone, like, you have to stay in your zone
as long as you can before breaking to go get him,
or else you could give up a play. So it's
very difficult. That's why coaches. Offensive coaches love quarterbacks that
can run. The defensive coaches hate them.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well, and you know you're talking there, and I think
we talked earlier about the fact that Washington plays a
ton of man. I wonder if the demand Williams being
as much of a runner and being a threat to
run even three seconds after the snap. Wonder if that
impacts the mix of zone and man that Ohio State plays,
Because of course, when you're playing man, you're turning your
back to the quarterback and running with the receiver. If
(19:44):
you're in zone, you're kind of all you got your
eyes on the on the quarterback and hey, you know,
Matt patric you're going to mix things up, obviously, but
it does it would make sense, and potentially maybe you're
playing a little more zone just to make sure you
don't have your back turned and running the other direction
what he may be running right towards you.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Anything else today that you wanted to touch on.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I think that was the big stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Just thinking through I think yeah, I mean yeah, I
think I think we've covered all the all the kind
of notes that I had, all.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
The pretinent stuff. So there you go. We, like I said,
we've got a lot more coming this week. Can't wait
to get up there. Finally check check the Washington Stadium
Husky Stadium off of the bucket list there and we
will have stuff pregame, postgame. We still have our bold
predictions that we have to do. Yes, no time we
(20:36):
get to do yes, also have to do. And then
you know, as you guys know, when we're on the road,
we're gonna do as much stuff for you as we can.
So if you could hit the thumbs up on this one,
we would appreciate that. Subscribe to the channel, as I said,
if you've not yet done so, and continue to find
us at bucke huddle dot com. Sign up, become a member,
absolute best wait support what we do so I thank
you all and Tom. We'll talk one. Talk to you
(21:00):
all later. I'm gonna edit that part. I'm not gonna
edit it. We'll talk to you all later. M
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