July 28, 2025 • 9 mins
There was a lot to talk about with Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and Buckeye football stars Jeremiah Smith, Caleb Downs, and Sonny Styles at 2025 Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas. The Buckeyes answered questions about the battle for the starting quarterback position, the race to find replacements for 14 players who were selected in the NFL Draft and more.
But the Buckeyes also had a lot to say about their archrivals, the Michigan Wolverines, and this year's Big Ten conference favorites, the Penn State Nittany Lions. In this special bonus episode, you'll hear everything Ohio State players and coaches had to say about Sherrone Moore's Michigan football team and James Franklin's Penn State football team.
But the Buckeyes also had a lot to say about their archrivals, the Michigan Wolverines, and this year's Big Ten conference favorites, the Penn State Nittany Lions. In this special bonus episode, you'll hear everything Ohio State players and coaches had to say about Sherrone Moore's Michigan football team and James Franklin's Penn State football team.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey guys, it's Tom got a little bonus show for
you here. We are counting down to the start of
fall camp on Thursday, and still have a ton of
stuff from last week's Big Ten Media Days that we
have not put out as podcasts yet, so we're just
going to be putting a bunch of that in here
as bonus shows this week on this feed and the
buck Eyes tomorrow morning feed. This one is a look
at all the stuff that the Ohio State Buckeyes had
(00:22):
to say about Michigan obviously always a hot topic when
you talk to Ohio State players, but also Penn State,
the Nitney Allons picked to win the Big Ten this year,
so you're gonna to hear all the thoughts that Ohio
State players had about those two teams during Big Ten
Media Days. Welcome to twenty twenty five Big Ten Media Days.
(00:42):
Ohio State has now headed home. They were here for
Day one. I'm about to head into Day two, but
I want to let you hear a little bit about
what Ohio State had to say about some of the
other teams in the conference. Where it's a lot of
different angles to the questions, lots of questions about nil,
lots of questions about the upcoming season and the back battle,
all kind of stuff. But one of the interesting things
(01:02):
is you like get reporters, especially reporters from other teams
who want to know, Hey, what does Ohio State think
about my team? The team that I'm cover. So you
get questions about a bunch of different teams, and questions
about previous games, and questions about teams moving forward. I'm
gonna let you hear a little bit about some of
that on the show. We're going to start with Penn State.
Sunny Styles was asked about former Ohio State defensive coordinator
(01:26):
Jim Knowles. Obviously now is the defensive coordinator at Penn State.
So what can Penn State fans expect from a Jim
Knowles defense this year?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Coach Noley is a great coach. I say, he's a
very smart, intuitive thinker, so many great ideas with the
way he he thinks that different ways to do defense,
whether it's disguises or different blisses and stuff like that.
You know, I think he's very He's like a perfectionist,
but he understands you're not going to be perfect, if
that makes sense, So he's just striving to be perfect.
(01:58):
But knows we're not gonna always we're gonna come short
of that. But yeah, he does a great job. So
I think he's gonna do great job at Penn State
as well.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
The Ohio State Penn State series has been full of
close games, lots of games that went right down to
the wire. Last year's won in Happy Valley was no exception.
The game went right down to the final minutes before
the Bluck guys had a goal line stand and they
were able to run out the clock with an extended
drive on the ground. But obviously another classic in that series.
So going into that game, what was the scouting report
(02:30):
on Penn State's offense last year going into that game?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, I think the thing with the offense last year
was just so much different pictures, So you're getting so
many different looks. You know, you had the tight end
with the wild kind of stuff like that, so you
had just prepared for a lot and then you alsoknew
it was gonna be a physical matchup. They're gonna run
the ball right at you and stuff like that. They're
gonna take some shots down Phil with Drew. So I
think the biggest thing with them though, there's just so
much different stuff you have to prepare for, and I
(02:55):
think that they do that on purpose kind of you
get you off your game a little bit, but they're
a tough team to play.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Two years ago, Michigan was the Big Ten team that
brought back all of its veteran players seemingly and then
had the boy, if we don't do it this year,
I don't know when we're going to do it kind
of season, and they ended up winning the national championship.
Last year, that was Ohio State. They brought back a
whole bunch of their veteran players, had one of the
most experienced and talented teams in the country, and it
was sort of a national championship or bust season for
(03:24):
the buck Eyes, and they got there and won the
national championship. This year kind of feels like that might
be Penn State's turn this year. Doesn't mean they're guaranteed
to win the national championship, of course, but just if
they're going to do it, it feels like this might
be the year that they have their best opportunity. So
is Penn State in that kind of place where anything
short of a national championship is a disappointment.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, No, I think they're probably going to be you know,
they're probably Naty or Bus this year. That's how they're feling.
They got a lot of guys who came back for
the last year, and Drew and the two running backs.
I know they've got a few guys on the defense
that are in their last year as well, so I
know they're gonna be a great team.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Now onto Michigan and Ryan Day only got one question
about Michigan. It was a very different year, lots of
different stuff to talk about with him, let's say, nil
talk and all that, but there was only one question
about Michigan for that for Brian Day in his entire time,
and it was from a national reporter. I'll see if
we can get the audio. It was kind of quiet,
but I'll say we can get the audio of the
(04:18):
question there because this is going to be a very
short clip. The question was how do you beat Michigan?
And to say that Ryan Day no sold the question
is probably an understatement. How do you beat well? I
score more points on them. Next up a question for
Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles. They obviously won the national
(04:40):
championship last year, but did the year feel a little
incomplete because they didn't also beat their art rivals from Michigan.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, you know, the goals win that game every year,
plus the big ten in the National Championship. So you
know what went went one on three, one for three
on that one, but obviously we got the biggest one.
But my three years being here, we haven't compsos other
two goal. So I mean that's the goal this year
to go get that done, plus the National Championship. But
I think we're just excited, ready to go put it
all out there. You know, I think coach Day's done
(05:08):
a good job this year talking about like you know,
surrendering the outcome, not being afraid of losing, no fear
in not achieving the goal, just going out and doing
everything you can to achieve the goal.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Next up, Jeremiah Smith. And there is sort of talk
around college football that rivalries may not mean exactly what
they used to nationally because Alabama, they could lose to
Auburn and still make the College Football Playoff and we
win the National Championship. It doesn't necessarily ruin your season
the way it might happen previous years. We've seen Ohio
State make the College Football Playoff even in the four
(05:39):
team format in twenty twenty two after losing to Michigan,
and they made the College Football Playoff in twenty twenty
four after losing to Michigan and won the national championship.
But it doesn't sound like Jeremiah Smith believes that that
has really changed the meaning of the Michigan game for
Ohio State at all.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I feel like they're crazy. Rivy is a rivaly. I
don't care what you're talking about. You can say, oh,
we we lost, but we won that championship. I feel like,
still Robby, still Bill, you should win that game. So
to me, I take every game very seriously, don't care
what it is, so I just want to win.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
So what does Jeremiah Smith not like about Michigan?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
I feel like I feel like I feel the same
way about us. They don't. They don't like us, We
don't like them. So I mean, it's a right. That's
we're going on for one hundred plus years. So let's
go get to you to beat out Way. Even when
I'm done playing here at Ohio State.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
If you have been inside the what he Has Athletic Center,
you know there are reminders of the Michigan game all
over the place. So it's hard to not think about
it quite frequently. In there, Marianda has talked about the
fact that they work that game three hundred and sixty
five days of the year. So how often does Jeremiah
Smith find himself thinking about the Michigan.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Uh, I mean I see it probably every day. No,
just walking down the cafe and I look to my
right and I see the countdown to the game. Then
I see the place people made in the game and
everything I done in the goal pens. So I just
know I want a pair of goal pens, you know,
hopefully win the game this year.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Sometimes you get people who walk up later and ask
similar questions, and you sometimes get a little bit of
a different answer. So this is going to be a
little similar to a question you heard earlier in the show.
But the question is has the expanded college football Playoff
changed how much the Michigan game means to Ohio State?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yeah, They're important to me, Like I want to win
every game, So if it's on our roster, I want
to win it. So no matter if it's people think
it's not our rivalry. No more, people don't think it's
the same as it used to be. It's still a
riv VI in a day and I want to win.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
So no one on that Ohio State roster has been
part of a team that has beaten Michigan. So what
does this year's Ohio State team have to do to
change that? What did the Buckeyes have to do to
beat Michigan?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
No, just be Ohio State. Don't make the game harder,
know what it is as I should say about it.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed that show. I know,
these generally getting a decent number of clicks because people
are always interested in and if there's bulletin befoard material
coming out there, and certainly you could say there was
maybe a little bit there. And we'll have more on
the Buckeyes talking about some of the other upcoming opponents,
putting potentially a budding rivalry with Oregon and the season
(08:14):
opening game against Texas, there were lots of questions about that.
We'll have other videos with those, and then of course
all those teams they're also going to be talking not Texas,
but Oregon, Penn State, Michigan will be talking to those
teams about Ohio State and let you know what they
had to say about the Buckeyes. So make sure you
keep it here on YouTube dot com slash bucke Huddle.
(08:34):
I've coveraged all week long from Big ten media days,
putting interviews with players and coaches and reporters from other teams,
and lots of live shows and insight and analysis. That's
all at YouTube dot com slash bucke Huddle. Make sure
you're subscribe to our channel, make sure you get the
thumbs up on this video, and also make sure you
check us out at bucke huddle dot com. We do
more than video. We do a lot of writing, do
(08:56):
a lot of photography, but also really fun and active board,
The Huddle Board, presented by Jeff Ruby's Columbus. That is
all at buckeyhuddle dot com. We hope to see you there.
Hey guys, it's Tom got a little bonus show for
you here. We are counting down to the start of
fall camp on Thursday, and still have a ton of
stuff from last week's Big Ten Media Days that we
have not put out as podcasts yet, so we're just
going to be putting a bunch of that in here
as bonus shows this week on this feed and the
buck Eyes tomorrow morning feed. This one is a look
at all the stuff that the Ohio State Buckeyes had
(00:22):
to say about Michigan obviously always a hot topic when
you talk to Ohio State players, but also Penn State,
the Nitney Allons picked to win the Big Ten this year,
so you're gonna to hear all the thoughts that Ohio
State players had about those two teams during Big Ten
Media Days. Welcome to twenty twenty five Big Ten Media Days.
(00:42):
Ohio State has now headed home. They were here for
Day one. I'm about to head into Day two, but
I want to let you hear a little bit about
what Ohio State had to say about some of the
other teams in the conference. Where it's a lot of
different angles to the questions, lots of questions about nil,
lots of questions about the upcoming season and the back battle,
all kind of stuff. But one of the interesting things
(01:02):
is you like get reporters, especially reporters from other teams
who want to know, Hey, what does Ohio State think
about my team? The team that I'm cover. So you
get questions about a bunch of different teams, and questions
about previous games, and questions about teams moving forward. I'm
gonna let you hear a little bit about some of
that on the show. We're going to start with Penn State.
Sunny Styles was asked about former Ohio State defensive coordinator
(01:26):
Jim Knowles. Obviously now is the defensive coordinator at Penn State.
So what can Penn State fans expect from a Jim
Knowles defense this year?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Coach Noley is a great coach. I say, he's a
very smart, intuitive thinker, so many great ideas with the
way he he thinks that different ways to do defense,
whether it's disguises or different blisses and stuff like that.
You know, I think he's very He's like a perfectionist,
but he understands you're not going to be perfect, if
that makes sense, So he's just striving to be perfect.
(01:58):
But knows we're not gonna always we're gonna come short
of that. But yeah, he does a great job. So
I think he's gonna do great job at Penn State
as well.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
The Ohio State Penn State series has been full of
close games, lots of games that went right down to
the wire. Last year's won in Happy Valley was no exception.
The game went right down to the final minutes before
the Bluck guys had a goal line stand and they
were able to run out the clock with an extended
drive on the ground. But obviously another classic in that series.
So going into that game, what was the scouting report
(02:30):
on Penn State's offense last year going into that game?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, I think the thing with the offense last year
was just so much different pictures, So you're getting so
many different looks. You know, you had the tight end
with the wild kind of stuff like that, so you
had just prepared for a lot and then you alsoknew
it was gonna be a physical matchup. They're gonna run
the ball right at you and stuff like that. They're
gonna take some shots down Phil with Drew. So I
think the biggest thing with them though, there's just so
much different stuff you have to prepare for, and I
(02:55):
think that they do that on purpose kind of you
get you off your game a little bit, but they're
a tough team to play.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Two years ago, Michigan was the Big Ten team that
brought back all of its veteran players seemingly and then
had the boy, if we don't do it this year,
I don't know when we're going to do it kind
of season, and they ended up winning the national championship.
Last year, that was Ohio State. They brought back a
whole bunch of their veteran players, had one of the
most experienced and talented teams in the country, and it
was sort of a national championship or bust season for
(03:24):
the buck Eyes, and they got there and won the
national championship. This year kind of feels like that might
be Penn State's turn this year. Doesn't mean they're guaranteed
to win the national championship, of course, but just if
they're going to do it, it feels like this might
be the year that they have their best opportunity. So
is Penn State in that kind of place where anything
short of a national championship is a disappointment.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, No, I think they're probably going to be you know,
they're probably Naty or Bus this year. That's how they're feling.
They got a lot of guys who came back for
the last year, and Drew and the two running backs.
I know they've got a few guys on the defense
that are in their last year as well, so I
know they're gonna be a great team.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Now onto Michigan and Ryan Day only got one question
about Michigan. It was a very different year, lots of
different stuff to talk about with him, let's say, nil
talk and all that, but there was only one question
about Michigan for that for Brian Day in his entire time,
and it was from a national reporter. I'll see if
we can get the audio. It was kind of quiet,
but I'll say we can get the audio of the
(04:18):
question there because this is going to be a very
short clip. The question was how do you beat Michigan?
And to say that Ryan Day no sold the question
is probably an understatement. How do you beat well? I
score more points on them. Next up a question for
Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles. They obviously won the national
(04:40):
championship last year, but did the year feel a little
incomplete because they didn't also beat their art rivals from Michigan.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, you know, the goals win that game every year,
plus the big ten in the National Championship. So you
know what went went one on three, one for three
on that one, but obviously we got the biggest one.
But my three years being here, we haven't compsos other
two goal. So I mean that's the goal this year
to go get that done, plus the National Championship. But
I think we're just excited, ready to go put it
all out there. You know, I think coach Day's done
(05:08):
a good job this year talking about like you know,
surrendering the outcome, not being afraid of losing, no fear
in not achieving the goal, just going out and doing
everything you can to achieve the goal.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Next up, Jeremiah Smith. And there is sort of talk
around college football that rivalries may not mean exactly what
they used to nationally because Alabama, they could lose to
Auburn and still make the College Football Playoff and we
win the National Championship. It doesn't necessarily ruin your season
the way it might happen previous years. We've seen Ohio
State make the College Football Playoff even in the four
(05:39):
team format in twenty twenty two after losing to Michigan,
and they made the College Football Playoff in twenty twenty
four after losing to Michigan and won the national championship.
But it doesn't sound like Jeremiah Smith believes that that
has really changed the meaning of the Michigan game for
Ohio State at all.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I feel like they're crazy. Rivy is a rivaly. I
don't care what you're talking about. You can say, oh,
we we lost, but we won that championship. I feel like,
still Robby, still Bill, you should win that game. So
to me, I take every game very seriously, don't care
what it is, so I just want to win.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
So what does Jeremiah Smith not like about Michigan?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
I feel like I feel like I feel the same
way about us. They don't. They don't like us, We
don't like them. So I mean, it's a right. That's
we're going on for one hundred plus years. So let's
go get to you to beat out Way. Even when
I'm done playing here at Ohio State.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
If you have been inside the what he Has Athletic Center,
you know there are reminders of the Michigan game all
over the place. So it's hard to not think about
it quite frequently. In there, Marianda has talked about the
fact that they work that game three hundred and sixty
five days of the year. So how often does Jeremiah
Smith find himself thinking about the Michigan.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Uh, I mean I see it probably every day. No,
just walking down the cafe and I look to my
right and I see the countdown to the game. Then
I see the place people made in the game and
everything I done in the goal pens. So I just
know I want a pair of goal pens, you know,
hopefully win the game this year.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Sometimes you get people who walk up later and ask
similar questions, and you sometimes get a little bit of
a different answer. So this is going to be a
little similar to a question you heard earlier in the show.
But the question is has the expanded college football Playoff
changed how much the Michigan game means to Ohio State?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yeah, They're important to me, Like I want to win
every game, So if it's on our roster, I want
to win it. So no matter if it's people think
it's not our rivalry. No more, people don't think it's
the same as it used to be. It's still a
riv VI in a day and I want to win.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
So no one on that Ohio State roster has been
part of a team that has beaten Michigan. So what
does this year's Ohio State team have to do to
change that? What did the Buckeyes have to do to
beat Michigan?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
No, just be Ohio State. Don't make the game harder,
know what it is as I should say about it.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed that show. I know,
these generally getting a decent number of clicks because people
are always interested in and if there's bulletin befoard material
coming out there, and certainly you could say there was
maybe a little bit there. And we'll have more on
the Buckeyes talking about some of the other upcoming opponents,
putting potentially a budding rivalry with Oregon and the season
(08:14):
opening game against Texas, there were lots of questions about that.
We'll have other videos with those, and then of course
all those teams they're also going to be talking not Texas,
but Oregon, Penn State, Michigan will be talking to those
teams about Ohio State and let you know what they
had to say about the Buckeyes. So make sure you
keep it here on YouTube dot com slash bucke Huddle.
(08:34):
I've coveraged all week long from Big ten media days,
putting interviews with players and coaches and reporters from other teams,
and lots of live shows and insight and analysis. That's
all at YouTube dot com slash bucke Huddle. Make sure
you're subscribe to our channel, make sure you get the
thumbs up on this video, and also make sure you
check us out at bucke huddle dot com. We do
more than video. We do a lot of writing, do
(08:56):
a lot of photography, but also really fun and active board,
The Huddle Board, presented by Jeff Ruby's Columbus. That is
all at buckeyhuddle dot com. We hope to see you there.
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