December 28, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast, hosts Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr discuss the five matchups between Ohio State and Miami that will decide the Cotton Bowl.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
How's it going, Tony?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
We did a show where we talked about Ohio State
how they were going to win, and I'm sure I
got a bunch of Miami fans mad.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
And then we did a show on.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Miami and how they might win and got a bunch
of I'm sure Ohio State fans mad. So now we're
going to do a show on five key matchups in
this game, which will hopefully get both fan bases equally mad.
Unless you have three of one and one of the other,
you know two of the others. So are you Are
we making people equally mad?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Or we know? Tom, I think we're appeasing the masses
because I think what you have here with Ohio State
and Miami are the two most understanding fan bases in
all of sports, and so I think that helps. And
we're well reasoned. We tell people how we think it is,
and then they agree with us or they don't with
their own reasoning. But today, yes, we're gonna look at
some key matchups. And there's more than five. And I
(00:58):
may have written more than five down, but we'll talk
about five and then if we have time, we'll talk
about fifteen to twenty more.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
We've got three more days till the game, so we
do have time.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
And when we do these, we've done these for further
big games. And it's easy to just combine Ruben Bain
and the key Messidor against Philip Daniels and Austin Seervel
to High State's left tackle and right tackle, so the
defense ends versus the offensive tackles. For Ohio State, this
is the one if you were to choose any matchup
(01:31):
to win, I think this is the one for Ohio State.
The past where I step Miami is one of the
best pass rushing teams in the nation. They get pressure
on the quarterback. They don't necessarily always get to the quarterback,
but they affect the quarterback. So if I'm Ohio State
and if there's one matchup that I think, boy, if
we can own this one, we are going to win three.
(01:53):
It's this one.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Well, if you're giving both head coaches, like if this
is a fantasy football draft and Mario crystal Ball and
Ryan Day are sitting down and then they're going to
flip a coin for who gets the first pick, and
who gets the second and third picks. Whoever wins the
coin flip and gets the first pick, they're taking this
one because Mario Chris Ball is taking this one as well.
You know, if fran Day takes this one because Ohio
State's offensive tackles win against Miami's edge rushers, that eliminates
(02:18):
one of the biggest areas that when we talk about
this being a matchup, you know, a challenging matchup for
Ohio State.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
This is the matchup. That's the real reason.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
That's the number one thing on my list in terms
of why I look at this and thought this could
be a challenging matchup for Ohio State.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
If Ohio State wins this.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
That's you know, that that takes this from you know,
whatever percentage you want to put on a sixty five
percent chance o Hio State wins, seventy percent chance so
o High State wins and takes that, that slideset to
about an eighty five or ninety percent. And conversely, if
Miami wins this one, boy, that turns seventy percent into
like a coin flip, because if Miami can win that
(02:54):
and if Miami can get Julian saying uncomfortable and get
him off the spot and make him have to rush
throws and all that kind of stuff that lowers the
point total for Ohio State to a point where it's
I look at that and go, okay, Ohio State going
from twenty four points, twenty eight points, whatever it is
to seventeen or twenty. Then I look at that and go, well,
now this is a game that Miami can win.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah, and Miami's looking at you know, how did Deanna
do this? This is how they won with the pass rush.
And if Miami can do that, anything can happen. And
so yes, that's the one, Tom. How about I go
a little bit off the board, one that I think
is still key, and that's Sunny Styles Ohio State linebacker
against Miami running back Mark Fletcher. Because not every one
(03:37):
of us expect either team to run the ball well,
but that's because we expect Sunny Styles to tackle well, yeah,
and Miami to tackle well. And this one Sunny Styles famously.
I think at this point no mistackles this season, and
so you're gonna want to keep that up. You're gonna
want to We're assuming that there's no running game, so
we have to assume that Sonny Styles is doing his job,
and if he's not, and then it allows a running game.
(03:58):
It's like, well, now that's a seri because then that
also opens up the play action and other things. So
I think this is not the most important, but Ohio State,
if Miami is winning this one, this also increases their
odds of winning this game because this is just assumed
to be a win for Ohio State in terms of
a tie for Ohio State. In a tie for Ohio State,
(04:20):
as we talked about in previous shows, is essentially a
win for Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yeah, if Miami can run the ball, boy, that changes
my view of how many points Miami is going to score.
I just I don't expect Miami to be able to
run the ball. It'll be okay, and there at some point,
Mark Fletcher's gonna have a twelve yard run and there's
going to be you know, Miami fans and our YouTube
comments going. You said they weren'ting able to run the ball.
He just ran for twelve yards a only Montroe. And
if you're if you're averaging three three and a half
(04:45):
yards to carry for Miami, you're not running the ball.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I'm expecting that.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
I'm expecting that from Ohio State too, and maybe maybe
we'll get to Bo Jackson versus you know, Motoure or
something like that on the Miami side of the ball.
But if Sunny Styles can be what Sunny Style has been,
Sonny Styles does not need to play.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
The greatest game of his life.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Sonny Styles needs to play like Sony Styles has played
all year long in the way that has landed Sunny
Styles on an All American team. You could sort of
throw rvel reesent here athough, although I feel like r
vel Race is probably a little more involved in the
pass rush probably and he's more in the mix there,
and so Styles is really more the run fit guy.
I think Ohio State is going to be looking to
(05:24):
spill and kill here in the running game you're trying
to Miami wants to run the ball between tackles. Ohio
State wants to use Caid McDonald and Edrew Houston and
those guys.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Just plug up those holes.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Make Mark Fletcher bounce it outside, make him go east west.
When he goes north south, he can pick up those
eight ten twelve yard runs if he's going east west,
and then you've got a share tackle or like Sonny
Styles going east west with him. That really limits what
I think Miami can do in the run game.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, he's one of the reasons our High State is
so good against the run. Perhaps the main reason is
another matchup I want to talk about, and that's Ohio
State nose tackle Caiden McDonald against Miami center James Brockermeier,
who's very good center, but Cad McDonald's unanimous All American
nose tackle for the Buckeyes. He's the guy that is
he's an active tackler I think roughly the same amount
(06:10):
of tackles as Caleb Downs, famously unanimous All Americans safety,
who is also a very good tackler, but a guy
that is able to control the line of scrimmage, control
the running game, impact the passing game as well. Basically,
when you talk about winning the line of scrimmage, he
is a cheat code with the line of scrimmage. This
year and perhaps his final year with the Buckeyes is
(06:32):
only year as a starter as a junior, But a
guy that is dynamic in terms of his athleticism, his strength.
Beside everything that you could want from a modern day
nose tackle, you're getting from Caden McDonald and he has
tackles for loss ys sacks, He has a he has
the wind now to stay in the game for forty
(06:54):
to fifty snaps and does not seem to wear down
in the fourth quarter, because I don't know that Ohio
State's numbers in the fourth are all that different when
the starters are out there than they are before the first.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
No, and he hasn't had to play a lot of
fourth quarters, but when he has, there has not been
that drop off you have not seen, you know, in
the past, there have been Ohio State teams that have
had you know, you get to the fourth quarter and
then the defense starts wearing down because the offense is not,
you know, because they're being asked to do too much.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
They haven't really.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Seen that this year, and they haven't been asked to
do all that much. But what they've been asked to do,
they've just been able to do.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I go back to what Indiana was able to do
on the ground in the run game in the Big
Ten Championship game. I mean, it was obviously enough for
indian to win the game, but they had thirty four
carries one hundred and eighteen yards three and a half
yards of carry. That's and both of their running backs
had essentially four yards of carry and Kaylon Black had
a thirty seven yard are in there. So even with
that long run, they really weren't able to do a
(07:49):
whole heck of a lot. And it wasn't even that
they had, you know, thirty yards of sacks for Fernanda Mendoza.
It was just Fernanda Mendoza finished with negative thre yards rushing.
They just they couldn't run the ball consistently. And I
think Caden McDonald was such an impactful piece of that
that defense for Ohio State, and he has been all season.
No one's really been able to run the ball against
Ohio State this year. The Buckeyes averaging pulled up the
(08:11):
wrong tab there. Buck guys are averaging, you know, in
the top top five nationally in terms of rush defense
in terms of yards per rush. They are sorry, number six,
two point eighty three yards per rush. And you know,
Miami fans are going, well, what about us, We've got
a good rush defensive, Yes you do. It's but it's
also a little bit behind Ohio States. And so this
(08:32):
is and Caden McDonald is such a big piece of
that because what Ohio State wants to do right exactly
what I said before.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
They want to spill and kill.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Well, you can't do the spill it outside if you're
not winning inside.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
And Miami's offensive line is very good.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
But Caiden McDonald has just been a consistent winner for
Ohio State all year where he's not just you.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Know he is. Yes, he's chewing up multiple blockers a
lot of times, but.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Also he's making plays, he's getting into the back field,
making tackles for a loss.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
He's just been so so impactful for Ohio State this year.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Four games of thirty eight or more snaps thirty eight
against Texas, thirty nine against Illinois, forty two against Penn State,
and then fifty one season high against Indiana. I would
expect to see between the forty two and fifty one
in this game because unless it's unless it's comfortable, if
it's not comfortable, he's going to be in this game
(09:24):
quite a bit. Tom. I'm almost I wonder if people
are tired of me talking about Knutey Scott, the Miami nickelback,
because this matchup Tom Kiante Scott against Julian saying where
is Miami's nickelback. He will move around, he will rush
the passer. Julian saying is gonna have to know where
he is and also know is he blitzing, because if
(09:46):
he's blitzing, I need to get rid of the ball.
I need to get out of here. I need to
know because he can come from a blindside, he can
force the fumble, he can create an interception. He's got
an Ohio state is gonna have to be They're gonna
have to know where the offensive slot is in every
single play. They're gonna have to know where the defensive
slot guy is and every single play, and he will
line up and he will be manned over a slot
(10:06):
receiver like Brandon Innis. But he's blitzing and Julian Sand
is gonna have to know it. He's gonna have to
be ready for it. And so you know Frankly so
well maybe the running back who has to pick up
that blitz or you know, somebody else. But he's a
guy that is going to be very involved in what
Miami does and this defense, and Julian Sand can't can't
(10:27):
take his mental eye off him, like he's going to
look at the entire field, but he has to know
where Scott is, whether he's in coverage or if he's
like where did never zero go? Yeah, Oh, he's probably
you know right behind me, behind me is a team.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, it's a little like you got to find R. L. Reast.
You got to find Caleb Downs in the High State defense.
This is the guy. One of the guys you know,
and Baine in Mason.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Or are a little bit more predictable in terms of
where they are, but you got to find them too.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Scott's guy, You've got it. You've got to know where
he is.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
And we talked earlier in the week about the fact
that Miami does not do as much of the twisting
and stunting as Indiana does, and that's a good thing
from Ohio States perspective because that's given Ohio State challenges.
This is sort of a different kind of challenge where
they haven't really seen. You know, Yeah, Miami doesn't do
this thing, but they do this thing which is really
different from what Ohio States had to do. You're probably
you know, you've got to find him, and you've got
(11:14):
to They're going to have to have kind of a
little bit of a hot read on some stuff because
you don't he's not coming thirty times a game, but
if he's coming eight times a game, you got to
know if he's coming, what am I.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Going to do with the ball?
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Because he is number two on the team and tackles
for lost, number three on the team in sacks, and
the other two guys who are top three, and both
of those are Bain and Messigor the defensive end. So
it's like, you know, job one is probably knowing where
those two guys are, but after that, you got.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
To know where. You got to know where Scott is.
Real quick to circle back to the defense.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I just wanted to pull the stats because you mentioned
how many snaps Kaden McDonald played in the Indiana game.
Indiana ran the ball in the first quarter. For I'm
going to do this sort of off the top of
my head, about five and a half yards to carry
in the first quarter, two yards to carry in the
second quarter, four yards to carry in the third quarter,
two yards of kerry in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
So they really did.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Not wear down, you know, in the way that you
have in the past. So he was able to sort
of stand and stand in there pretty well. And they've
got a decent rotation between Taiwan Malone and Edward Houston.
Now at that three tech spot where you've got you've
got some quality depthy can shuffled room. We certainly have
seen Will Smith and they are a bunch of Ohio
State this year as well. But if you can have
Kate McDonald out there, there is a reason Kate McDonald
(12:24):
is getting a tree this year.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Yeah. Yeah. Also some Kat and Curry sometimes that uh
huh regularly on third and longs in passing situations. So
let's talk about the other side then of this this
line of scrimmage and the one of perhaps the second
biggest matchup, and that is cayd and Curry, Kenyanta Jackson,
r Vel reese Ye against Miami tackles Mark hal Bell
(12:45):
and Francis Manoa, who Mamino I think is first team
All Big Ten Bell acc and then Bell is third team.
So they've gotten their accolades. And for me, I was
listening to a Miami podcast and the only person they're
talking about on the High State defensive line basically is
(13:07):
kad and Curry because of the stats, right, So you
see the stats, you see the sacks, and he leads
the team in sacks and one of the top tackle
for lost guys in the nation. So yeah, he's going
to stand out and that's going to be fun to watch.
We know, I think maybe Kenyata Jackson the Miami guy
being overlooked a little bit. But then the other guy
(13:30):
that maybe being very overlooked in all of this is
r vel Reeves, who has spent the last month spying
and now doesn't necessarily need to spy Carson Beck random
ball more than he has. It was the SMU game
that we watched. He was like, oh, this is kind
of effective. He pulled it once and he did this
or that, but you don't need to spy him, and
(13:52):
so you can get after him if you want. And
they know that the more they impact Carson Beck, the
better off their chances are. And it's been a while,
frankly since r vel Reese has been able to impact
the quarterback through his pass rush, and he's impacting through
whatever else he's being asked to do, whether it's at
the edge or a spy, all those things. The Owi
(14:15):
State defense has still been very, very good, but I
don't think he's had a tackle for loss or a sack.
Sin's maybe like the first of November, like he may
have gone the bulk of the last month without any
of that, but that's because they've been kind of passive
with him. They don't need to be passive with them
in this game. So I'm interested to see how those
three pass rushers all operate together at the same time,
(14:39):
and how the Miami offensive line those tackles and whoever
else deals with them, because I feel like this is
the game where you let rvel res go and prove himself, yes,
he is a top five pick.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, this is a game where you might have the
oh yeah, rvl Reese kind of thing because rvel Reas
had one tackle in the Big Ten championshipime.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
He had a couple.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Quarterback hurries, but he had one. And that's just kind
of how the last month or so has been. But
as you said, this is not a game where Carson
Beck can make some plays with his legs. Carson Beck
is not going to beat you with his legs. There's
a difference, you know. That's the difference between Marcel Reid
from Texas A and M and Carson Beck. Where Carson
Beck can pick up six yards and get your first down.
He's not going to run for forty yards. He's not,
(15:19):
and so you're not super worried about that, which means
then you can kind of unleash rvel rees to a
certain degree, and then r vel Reese has the opportunity
to maybe win a game for you, because all it's
going to take is you get a turnover, get you
get a crucial fourth down stop, you get a strip sack,
whatever it is. You just get pressure in his face
and you make him throw one up and into into
(15:41):
some coverage. That might be all it takes to swing
the outcome of the game.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, this is this is.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Definitely a game where you could see a lot more
you know, a lot more stat sheet impact from r
vel Reese as opposed to just sort of you know,
they no one has no one has had the quarterback
really running on them, you know. And in Windoza finished
with negative three yards in the Big Ten championship game.
That's that's the where our showed up on the stat
sheet in that one. He could show up in sort
of the more traditional columns in this one.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, no sacks against Washington. Did you have an impact
in that game? Yeah, yeah, he certainly did.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
And we should mention real quickly during all these games
where we do rewatches. We're always going, oh, yeah, this
is the guy on the offensive line, where like, oh man,
this is the Khalil Benson, the right tackle from Indiana
was like, oh boy, he has been a mess. And
they have they balanced, they found pressure off that right
tackle spot.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
We haven't.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I think that might be the first time we've specifically
you know, singled out in Miami tackles all week and
they have been pretty yeah you know, and that and
that that was in a you know, not in a
oh boy, watch out for this.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
That's a you know, hey, you're these guys.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
This is as solid an offensive line as I think
we've seen in terms of there's not one guy that
you look at and go, oh boy, I see a
big problem there. It's just it's, you know, they don't
have five first team All Americans, but they're not the
Joe Moore Award.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Winning offense one. But it's a really solid offensive line left.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Right, which then you know, if Miami can you know,
if Ohio State can neutralize Miami at the line of scrimmage,
that's good for Ohio State. But if Miami can just
neutralize Ohio State at the line of scrimmage in terms
of their defensive front that potentially maybe you can find
some success in the run game, potentially finds some success
in the past game.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, because if the State defensive line is being neutralized
and that helps Carson back, then he's not feeling the heat,
he's not seeing ghosts. He's just comfortable and he can
throw it around. No win Jerry World. So that will
be something else. A couple more. This is going to
be in sting one for me, maybe for you, probably
(17:43):
not for you. Malachai Toni versus the Renzo Styles junior
High State snickelback versus Miami's freshman All American slot receiver who.
I don't know how often they're actually going to be
matched up against each other though, just because of all
the different areas that Malachi Tony lens up. What he's
at running back, you know what's Lorenzo Styles doing. He's
probably playing whoever the slot guy is, or he's over
(18:06):
a tight end. They're like, I don't know that this
is one where you just follow him around. This is
going to be like, oh, Malakay Toni is the running back. Okay,
Well then unfortunate for Sunny Style. Yeah, make sure there's
a safety over there, which could also make it Caleb
Downs versus Malachay Tony. And so I'll say Matt Patricia
versus Malakay Tony, and how you deal with him? And
(18:30):
then how does how does Miami make more of him?
Because just throwing it behind the line of scrimmage is
it's not going to get it done. I don't believe
it's going to get it done. They're going to need
to go downfield with him, or at least upfield. You know,
it doesn't need to be forty yards, but make it seven,
make it thirteen. Don't make it three yards behind because
(18:51):
that's where o High State's defense will just eat it.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Up right Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
You know, we watch a lot of the All twenty
two of Caleb Downs just watching Downs react to plays,
and it's, you know, Caleb Downs knows where the quarterback
is going before the quarterback knows where the quarterback is
going half the time.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
And so he crashes hard.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
And you know, I don't know that Miami's going to
be able to really hit the deep bowl consistently enough
to make Ohio State play, you know, back the safeties
up and play conservatively. So then you're gonna have to
you cannot rely on yards after the catch against Ohio State.
You'll get some sometimes it's not you know, it's not
that you're gonna have zero yards after the catch. But
Ohio State has been a very sure tackling team all season.
(19:31):
That been a very disciplined team all season. You've not seen,
you know, the absolutely cataclysmic busts that you have seen
at times in the past. They've just been very solid,
very disciplined. And so if you throw the ball to
malachay Toni behind the line of scrimmage, you're going to
get three yards. If you throw them the ball of
malakay Toni three yards down field, you might get five yards.
(19:52):
You're gonna have to, as you said, you're gonna have
to get into that sort of intermediate range.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
And Carson Beck's been okay there this year.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
It's not been he hasn't been terrible this year, but
it feels like he's been throwing a lot of screens
and tunnel screens and you know, little little flares and
quick hitters, and I think they're going to try and
get the ball out quickly to avoid some of that
Ohios State pass rush. But then he's going to have
to win his one on ones, whether that's with Lorenzo
(20:18):
Styles or Caleb Downs or whoever else is out there.
I do you mentioned Sunny Styles in coverage, and that's
one area where he does not necessarily excel. Last year
against Texas while we were in this very same, this
very same state, I think both Texas touchdowns.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Were throws to their running back.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Both I think I believe at least one and maybe
both were passes to a running back where an Ohios
State linebacker was covering them out of the backfield. I
would assume that Ohio State is going to not have
not be that something that they're going to.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Be relying on consistently.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
But you know, again, this is one of these if
you can set up the matchups. Maybe maybe Miami can
do stuff by formation to set up a matchup like that,
but that's.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Not something you're able to consistently. That might be a Okay,
you hit.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
One there and then now now you're gonna find something
else to another way to do it.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And two last ones for me, first gave Van Sickle.
Presumably Ohio States do starting right guard against whatever Miami
wants to throw at him, So that's gonna be something
to keep an eye on and then all four of
Miami's corners in their rotation against Jeremiah Smith and Carnel Tate, and.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
They'll put they'll put them all out there, they'll rotate
them all is does Ohio State see a fish and
any of those guys and if so, does Miami also
see a fish when they are like, okay, when he's
out there, we need to make sure he's not alone
with Jeremiah Smith, like there needs to be a safety
over top.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
So they'll be interesting to see do they feel like
they need to protect any of their corners and if so,
why play that guy? And so it just be interesting
to see how they operate with their corners against Ohio
States receivers, who you would presume that's one of the
advance it just a state has in this game, is
their receivers over Miami's corners. And I know, yeah, Miami
(22:07):
has very good athletes at corner, but also so does
a high state a receiver.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Right, I mean, Ohigo States wide receivers are going to
have an advantage over pretty much anyone all season just
because if they when they've been healthy, they've been pretty
pretty much unstoppable. And that's i mean, this again goes
back to why that pass rush.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Is such a crucial thing, because I don't think the.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Miami corners are going to hold up if if Julian
Sane has four seconds in the pocket, I don't think
that's I don't think Miami's corners are just going to
be able to hold up all night long with that
kind of thing, with that kind of time. So that's
why that that first piece of this was so important.
But you know, the corners have been good. They've been
you know, the Miami secondary and the whole has been
pretty solid. You know, Bryce Fitzgerald, the safety. We've been
(22:48):
super super impressed with him. I mean, he came in
as a true freshman over the summer and has been
an impactful player as a true freshman, non early en
rollie this year.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
That is enormous.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
That's also not you know, that's also probably not a
winning matchup if he you know, he's a safety, but
you can get him lined up over someone again used
like we just talked about with Tony, you can use
formation to maybe create some of these mismatches. And you know,
the other safety for safety for Miami, Jacoby Thomas. We
saw SMU find some success, getting him sort of isolated
in coverage.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So again, can you set up matchups like that?
Speaker 3 (23:24):
You feel like there's going to be something out there,
and then it's just a matter of do you connect
on that one? And if you do have a guy deep,
do you lead him enough that you don't have him
you know, have allowed the defensive back to catch up?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yeah, because big difference between touchdown and first intended to
nineteen uh uh, you know, and then it's like, wow,
now the battle just begins. So there you go. Some
matchups that will decide the Cotton Bowl between Ohio State
and Miami, and of course the winner will go on
to the Fiestabo to face somebody from.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
The SEC Georgia let's be adult.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Somebody could be anybody. It could be all miss it
could be Georgia. Nobody knows nobody, there's no way to tell.
So if you could just go ahead and it comes up,
it's about to be notified. Subscribe to the channel. I
know you already have appreciate all of that. Of course,
if you listen looking for some looking for some podcasts,
listen to of course, go to your podcast platform choice.
Subscribe to Buckeye Weekly. Subscribe to Tom's Buckeyees tomorrow morning.
(24:21):
Daily Ohio State Fix for you, right there for you.
And if you're a Miami fan, daily Ohio State Fix
right there for you. What more could you ask for?
And of course you can find us at buckehaddle dot
com talking about all of these things and much much more.
So that will do it from here. Thank you all
for tuning in, and we'll talk to you all later
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
How's it going, Tony?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
We did a show where we talked about Ohio State
how they were going to win, and I'm sure I
got a bunch of Miami fans mad.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
And then we did a show on.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Miami and how they might win and got a bunch
of I'm sure Ohio State fans mad. So now we're
going to do a show on five key matchups in
this game, which will hopefully get both fan bases equally mad.
Unless you have three of one and one of the other,
you know two of the others. So are you Are
we making people equally mad?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Or we know? Tom, I think we're appeasing the masses
because I think what you have here with Ohio State
and Miami are the two most understanding fan bases in
all of sports, and so I think that helps. And
we're well reasoned. We tell people how we think it is,
and then they agree with us or they don't with
their own reasoning. But today, yes, we're gonna look at
some key matchups. And there's more than five. And I
(00:58):
may have written more than five down, but we'll talk
about five and then if we have time, we'll talk
about fifteen to twenty more.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
We've got three more days till the game, so we
do have time.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
And when we do these, we've done these for further
big games. And it's easy to just combine Ruben Bain
and the key Messidor against Philip Daniels and Austin Seervel
to High State's left tackle and right tackle, so the
defense ends versus the offensive tackles. For Ohio State, this
is the one if you were to choose any matchup
(01:31):
to win, I think this is the one for Ohio State.
The past where I step Miami is one of the
best pass rushing teams in the nation. They get pressure
on the quarterback. They don't necessarily always get to the quarterback,
but they affect the quarterback. So if I'm Ohio State
and if there's one matchup that I think, boy, if
we can own this one, we are going to win three.
(01:53):
It's this one.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Well, if you're giving both head coaches, like if this
is a fantasy football draft and Mario crystal Ball and
Ryan Day are sitting down and then they're going to
flip a coin for who gets the first pick, and
who gets the second and third picks. Whoever wins the
coin flip and gets the first pick, they're taking this
one because Mario Chris Ball is taking this one as well.
You know, if fran Day takes this one because Ohio
State's offensive tackles win against Miami's edge rushers, that eliminates
(02:18):
one of the biggest areas that when we talk about
this being a matchup, you know, a challenging matchup for
Ohio State.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
This is the matchup. That's the real reason.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
That's the number one thing on my list in terms
of why I look at this and thought this could
be a challenging matchup for Ohio State.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
If Ohio State wins this.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
That's you know, that that takes this from you know,
whatever percentage you want to put on a sixty five
percent chance o Hio State wins, seventy percent chance so
o High State wins and takes that, that slideset to
about an eighty five or ninety percent. And conversely, if
Miami wins this one, boy, that turns seventy percent into
like a coin flip, because if Miami can win that
(02:54):
and if Miami can get Julian saying uncomfortable and get
him off the spot and make him have to rush
throws and all that kind of stuff that lowers the
point total for Ohio State to a point where it's
I look at that and go, okay, Ohio State going
from twenty four points, twenty eight points, whatever it is
to seventeen or twenty. Then I look at that and go, well,
now this is a game that Miami can win.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah, and Miami's looking at you know, how did Deanna
do this? This is how they won with the pass rush.
And if Miami can do that, anything can happen. And
so yes, that's the one, Tom. How about I go
a little bit off the board, one that I think
is still key, and that's Sunny Styles Ohio State linebacker
against Miami running back Mark Fletcher. Because not every one
(03:37):
of us expect either team to run the ball well,
but that's because we expect Sunny Styles to tackle well, yeah,
and Miami to tackle well. And this one Sunny Styles famously.
I think at this point no mistackles this season, and
so you're gonna want to keep that up. You're gonna
want to We're assuming that there's no running game, so
we have to assume that Sonny Styles is doing his job,
and if he's not, and then it allows a running game.
(03:58):
It's like, well, now that's a seri because then that
also opens up the play action and other things. So
I think this is not the most important, but Ohio State,
if Miami is winning this one, this also increases their
odds of winning this game because this is just assumed
to be a win for Ohio State in terms of
a tie for Ohio State. In a tie for Ohio State,
(04:20):
as we talked about in previous shows, is essentially a
win for Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yeah, if Miami can run the ball, boy, that changes
my view of how many points Miami is going to score.
I just I don't expect Miami to be able to
run the ball. It'll be okay, and there at some point,
Mark Fletcher's gonna have a twelve yard run and there's
going to be you know, Miami fans and our YouTube
comments going. You said they weren'ting able to run the ball.
He just ran for twelve yards a only Montroe. And
if you're if you're averaging three three and a half
(04:45):
yards to carry for Miami, you're not running the ball.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I'm expecting that.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
I'm expecting that from Ohio State too, and maybe maybe
we'll get to Bo Jackson versus you know, Motoure or
something like that on the Miami side of the ball.
But if Sunny Styles can be what Sunny Style has been,
Sonny Styles does not need to play.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
The greatest game of his life.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Sonny Styles needs to play like Sony Styles has played
all year long in the way that has landed Sunny
Styles on an All American team. You could sort of
throw rvel reesent here athough, although I feel like r
vel Race is probably a little more involved in the
pass rush probably and he's more in the mix there,
and so Styles is really more the run fit guy.
I think Ohio State is going to be looking to
(05:24):
spill and kill here in the running game you're trying
to Miami wants to run the ball between tackles. Ohio
State wants to use Caid McDonald and Edrew Houston and
those guys.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Just plug up those holes.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Make Mark Fletcher bounce it outside, make him go east west.
When he goes north south, he can pick up those
eight ten twelve yard runs if he's going east west,
and then you've got a share tackle or like Sonny
Styles going east west with him. That really limits what
I think Miami can do in the run game.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, he's one of the reasons our High State is
so good against the run. Perhaps the main reason is
another matchup I want to talk about, and that's Ohio
State nose tackle Caiden McDonald against Miami center James Brockermeier,
who's very good center, but Cad McDonald's unanimous All American
nose tackle for the Buckeyes. He's the guy that is
he's an active tackler I think roughly the same amount
(06:10):
of tackles as Caleb Downs, famously unanimous All Americans safety,
who is also a very good tackler, but a guy
that is able to control the line of scrimmage, control
the running game, impact the passing game as well. Basically,
when you talk about winning the line of scrimmage, he
is a cheat code with the line of scrimmage. This
year and perhaps his final year with the Buckeyes is
(06:32):
only year as a starter as a junior, But a
guy that is dynamic in terms of his athleticism, his strength.
Beside everything that you could want from a modern day
nose tackle, you're getting from Caden McDonald and he has
tackles for loss ys sacks, He has a he has
the wind now to stay in the game for forty
(06:54):
to fifty snaps and does not seem to wear down
in the fourth quarter, because I don't know that Ohio
State's numbers in the fourth are all that different when
the starters are out there than they are before the first.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
No, and he hasn't had to play a lot of
fourth quarters, but when he has, there has not been
that drop off you have not seen, you know, in
the past, there have been Ohio State teams that have
had you know, you get to the fourth quarter and
then the defense starts wearing down because the offense is not,
you know, because they're being asked to do too much.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
They haven't really.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Seen that this year, and they haven't been asked to
do all that much. But what they've been asked to do,
they've just been able to do.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I go back to what Indiana was able to do
on the ground in the run game in the Big
Ten Championship game. I mean, it was obviously enough for
indian to win the game, but they had thirty four
carries one hundred and eighteen yards three and a half
yards of carry. That's and both of their running backs
had essentially four yards of carry and Kaylon Black had
a thirty seven yard are in there. So even with
that long run, they really weren't able to do a
(07:49):
whole heck of a lot. And it wasn't even that
they had, you know, thirty yards of sacks for Fernanda Mendoza.
It was just Fernanda Mendoza finished with negative thre yards rushing.
They just they couldn't run the ball consistently. And I
think Caden McDonald was such an impactful piece of that
that defense for Ohio State, and he has been all season.
No one's really been able to run the ball against
Ohio State this year. The Buckeyes averaging pulled up the
(08:11):
wrong tab there. Buck guys are averaging, you know, in
the top top five nationally in terms of rush defense
in terms of yards per rush. They are sorry, number six,
two point eighty three yards per rush. And you know,
Miami fans are going, well, what about us, We've got
a good rush defensive, Yes you do. It's but it's
also a little bit behind Ohio States. And so this
(08:32):
is and Caden McDonald is such a big piece of
that because what Ohio State wants to do right exactly
what I said before.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
They want to spill and kill.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Well, you can't do the spill it outside if you're
not winning inside.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
And Miami's offensive line is very good.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
But Caiden McDonald has just been a consistent winner for
Ohio State all year where he's not just you.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Know he is. Yes, he's chewing up multiple blockers a
lot of times, but.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Also he's making plays, he's getting into the back field,
making tackles for a loss.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
He's just been so so impactful for Ohio State this year.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Four games of thirty eight or more snaps thirty eight
against Texas, thirty nine against Illinois, forty two against Penn State,
and then fifty one season high against Indiana. I would
expect to see between the forty two and fifty one
in this game because unless it's unless it's comfortable, if
it's not comfortable, he's going to be in this game
(09:24):
quite a bit. Tom. I'm almost I wonder if people
are tired of me talking about Knutey Scott, the Miami nickelback,
because this matchup Tom Kiante Scott against Julian saying where
is Miami's nickelback. He will move around, he will rush
the passer. Julian saying is gonna have to know where
he is and also know is he blitzing, because if
(09:46):
he's blitzing, I need to get rid of the ball.
I need to get out of here. I need to
know because he can come from a blindside, he can
force the fumble, he can create an interception. He's got
an Ohio state is gonna have to be They're gonna
have to know where the offensive slot is in every
single play. They're gonna have to know where the defensive
slot guy is and every single play, and he will
line up and he will be manned over a slot
(10:06):
receiver like Brandon Innis. But he's blitzing and Julian Sand
is gonna have to know it. He's gonna have to
be ready for it. And so you know Frankly so
well maybe the running back who has to pick up
that blitz or you know, somebody else. But he's a
guy that is going to be very involved in what
Miami does and this defense, and Julian Sand can't can't
(10:27):
take his mental eye off him, like he's going to
look at the entire field, but he has to know
where Scott is, whether he's in coverage or if he's
like where did never zero go? Yeah, Oh, he's probably
you know right behind me, behind me is a team.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, it's a little like you got to find R. L. Reast.
You got to find Caleb Downs in the High State defense.
This is the guy. One of the guys you know,
and Baine in Mason.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Or are a little bit more predictable in terms of
where they are, but you got to find them too.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Scott's guy, You've got it. You've got to know where
he is.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
And we talked earlier in the week about the fact
that Miami does not do as much of the twisting
and stunting as Indiana does, and that's a good thing
from Ohio States perspective because that's given Ohio State challenges.
This is sort of a different kind of challenge where
they haven't really seen. You know, Yeah, Miami doesn't do
this thing, but they do this thing which is really
different from what Ohio States had to do. You're probably
you know, you've got to find him, and you've got
(11:14):
to They're going to have to have kind of a
little bit of a hot read on some stuff because
you don't he's not coming thirty times a game, but
if he's coming eight times a game, you got to
know if he's coming, what am I.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Going to do with the ball?
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Because he is number two on the team and tackles
for lost, number three on the team in sacks, and
the other two guys who are top three, and both
of those are Bain and Messigor the defensive end. So
it's like, you know, job one is probably knowing where
those two guys are, but after that, you got.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
To know where. You got to know where Scott is.
Real quick to circle back to the defense.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I just wanted to pull the stats because you mentioned
how many snaps Kaden McDonald played in the Indiana game.
Indiana ran the ball in the first quarter. For I'm
going to do this sort of off the top of
my head, about five and a half yards to carry
in the first quarter, two yards to carry in the
second quarter, four yards to carry in the third quarter,
two yards of kerry in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
So they really did.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Not wear down, you know, in the way that you
have in the past. So he was able to sort
of stand and stand in there pretty well. And they've
got a decent rotation between Taiwan Malone and Edward Houston.
Now at that three tech spot where you've got you've
got some quality depthy can shuffled room. We certainly have
seen Will Smith and they are a bunch of Ohio
State this year as well. But if you can have
Kate McDonald out there, there is a reason Kate McDonald
(12:24):
is getting a tree this year.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Yeah. Yeah. Also some Kat and Curry sometimes that uh
huh regularly on third and longs in passing situations. So
let's talk about the other side then of this this
line of scrimmage and the one of perhaps the second
biggest matchup, and that is cayd and Curry, Kenyanta Jackson,
r Vel reese Ye against Miami tackles Mark hal Bell
(12:45):
and Francis Manoa, who Mamino I think is first team
All Big Ten Bell acc and then Bell is third team.
So they've gotten their accolades. And for me, I was
listening to a Miami podcast and the only person they're
talking about on the High State defensive line basically is
(13:07):
kad and Curry because of the stats, right, So you
see the stats, you see the sacks, and he leads
the team in sacks and one of the top tackle
for lost guys in the nation. So yeah, he's going
to stand out and that's going to be fun to watch.
We know, I think maybe Kenyata Jackson the Miami guy
being overlooked a little bit. But then the other guy
(13:30):
that maybe being very overlooked in all of this is
r vel Reeves, who has spent the last month spying
and now doesn't necessarily need to spy Carson Beck random
ball more than he has. It was the SMU game
that we watched. He was like, oh, this is kind
of effective. He pulled it once and he did this
or that, but you don't need to spy him, and
(13:52):
so you can get after him if you want. And
they know that the more they impact Carson Beck, the
better off their chances are. And it's been a while,
frankly since r vel Reese has been able to impact
the quarterback through his pass rush, and he's impacting through
whatever else he's being asked to do, whether it's at
the edge or a spy, all those things. The Owi
(14:15):
State defense has still been very, very good, but I
don't think he's had a tackle for loss or a sack.
Sin's maybe like the first of November, like he may
have gone the bulk of the last month without any
of that, but that's because they've been kind of passive
with him. They don't need to be passive with them
in this game. So I'm interested to see how those
three pass rushers all operate together at the same time,
(14:39):
and how the Miami offensive line those tackles and whoever
else deals with them, because I feel like this is
the game where you let rvel res go and prove himself, yes,
he is a top five pick.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, this is a game where you might have the
oh yeah, rvl Reese kind of thing because rvel Reas
had one tackle in the Big Ten championshipime.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
He had a couple.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Quarterback hurries, but he had one. And that's just kind
of how the last month or so has been. But
as you said, this is not a game where Carson
Beck can make some plays with his legs. Carson Beck
is not going to beat you with his legs. There's
a difference, you know. That's the difference between Marcel Reid
from Texas A and M and Carson Beck. Where Carson
Beck can pick up six yards and get your first down.
He's not going to run for forty yards. He's not,
(15:19):
and so you're not super worried about that, which means
then you can kind of unleash rvel rees to a
certain degree, and then r vel Reese has the opportunity
to maybe win a game for you, because all it's
going to take is you get a turnover, get you
get a crucial fourth down stop, you get a strip sack,
whatever it is. You just get pressure in his face
and you make him throw one up and into into
(15:41):
some coverage. That might be all it takes to swing
the outcome of the game.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, this is this is.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Definitely a game where you could see a lot more
you know, a lot more stat sheet impact from r
vel Reese as opposed to just sort of you know,
they no one has no one has had the quarterback
really running on them, you know. And in Windoza finished
with negative three yards in the Big Ten championship game.
That's that's the where our showed up on the stat
sheet in that one. He could show up in sort
of the more traditional columns in this one.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, no sacks against Washington. Did you have an impact
in that game? Yeah, yeah, he certainly did.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
And we should mention real quickly during all these games
where we do rewatches. We're always going, oh, yeah, this
is the guy on the offensive line, where like, oh man,
this is the Khalil Benson, the right tackle from Indiana
was like, oh boy, he has been a mess. And
they have they balanced, they found pressure off that right
tackle spot.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
We haven't.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I think that might be the first time we've specifically
you know, singled out in Miami tackles all week and
they have been pretty yeah you know, and that and
that that was in a you know, not in a
oh boy, watch out for this.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
That's a you know, hey, you're these guys.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
This is as solid an offensive line as I think
we've seen in terms of there's not one guy that
you look at and go, oh boy, I see a
big problem there. It's just it's, you know, they don't
have five first team All Americans, but they're not the
Joe Moore Award.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Winning offense one. But it's a really solid offensive line left.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Right, which then you know, if Miami can you know,
if Ohio State can neutralize Miami at the line of scrimmage,
that's good for Ohio State. But if Miami can just
neutralize Ohio State at the line of scrimmage in terms
of their defensive front that potentially maybe you can find
some success in the run game, potentially finds some success
in the past game.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, because if the State defensive line is being neutralized
and that helps Carson back, then he's not feeling the heat,
he's not seeing ghosts. He's just comfortable and he can
throw it around. No win Jerry World. So that will
be something else. A couple more. This is going to
be in sting one for me, maybe for you, probably
(17:43):
not for you. Malachai Toni versus the Renzo Styles junior
High State snickelback versus Miami's freshman All American slot receiver who.
I don't know how often they're actually going to be
matched up against each other though, just because of all
the different areas that Malachi Tony lens up. What he's
at running back, you know what's Lorenzo Styles doing. He's
probably playing whoever the slot guy is, or he's over
(18:06):
a tight end. They're like, I don't know that this
is one where you just follow him around. This is
going to be like, oh, Malakay Toni is the running back. Okay,
Well then unfortunate for Sunny Style. Yeah, make sure there's
a safety over there, which could also make it Caleb
Downs versus Malachay Tony. And so I'll say Matt Patricia
versus Malakay Tony, and how you deal with him? And
(18:30):
then how does how does Miami make more of him?
Because just throwing it behind the line of scrimmage is
it's not going to get it done. I don't believe
it's going to get it done. They're going to need
to go downfield with him, or at least upfield. You know,
it doesn't need to be forty yards, but make it seven,
make it thirteen. Don't make it three yards behind because
(18:51):
that's where o High State's defense will just eat it.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Up right Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
You know, we watch a lot of the All twenty
two of Caleb Downs just watching Downs react to plays,
and it's, you know, Caleb Downs knows where the quarterback
is going before the quarterback knows where the quarterback is
going half the time.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
And so he crashes hard.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
And you know, I don't know that Miami's going to
be able to really hit the deep bowl consistently enough
to make Ohio State play, you know, back the safeties
up and play conservatively. So then you're gonna have to
you cannot rely on yards after the catch against Ohio State.
You'll get some sometimes it's not you know, it's not
that you're gonna have zero yards after the catch. But
Ohio State has been a very sure tackling team all season.
(19:31):
That been a very disciplined team all season. You've not seen,
you know, the absolutely cataclysmic busts that you have seen
at times in the past. They've just been very solid,
very disciplined. And so if you throw the ball to
malachay Toni behind the line of scrimmage, you're going to
get three yards. If you throw them the ball of
malakay Toni three yards down field, you might get five yards.
(19:52):
You're gonna have to, as you said, you're gonna have
to get into that sort of intermediate range.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
And Carson Beck's been okay there this year.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
It's not been he hasn't been terrible this year, but
it feels like he's been throwing a lot of screens
and tunnel screens and you know, little little flares and
quick hitters, and I think they're going to try and
get the ball out quickly to avoid some of that
Ohios State pass rush. But then he's going to have
to win his one on ones, whether that's with Lorenzo
(20:18):
Styles or Caleb Downs or whoever else is out there.
I do you mentioned Sunny Styles in coverage, and that's
one area where he does not necessarily excel. Last year
against Texas while we were in this very same, this
very same state, I think both Texas touchdowns.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Were throws to their running back.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Both I think I believe at least one and maybe
both were passes to a running back where an Ohios
State linebacker was covering them out of the backfield. I
would assume that Ohio State is going to not have
not be that something that they're going to.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Be relying on consistently.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
But you know, again, this is one of these if
you can set up the matchups. Maybe maybe Miami can
do stuff by formation to set up a matchup like that,
but that's.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Not something you're able to consistently. That might be a Okay,
you hit.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
One there and then now now you're gonna find something
else to another way to do it.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And two last ones for me, first gave Van Sickle.
Presumably Ohio States do starting right guard against whatever Miami
wants to throw at him, So that's gonna be something
to keep an eye on and then all four of
Miami's corners in their rotation against Jeremiah Smith and Carnel Tate, and.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
They'll put they'll put them all out there, they'll rotate
them all is does Ohio State see a fish and
any of those guys and if so, does Miami also
see a fish when they are like, okay, when he's
out there, we need to make sure he's not alone
with Jeremiah Smith, like there needs to be a safety
over top.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
So they'll be interesting to see do they feel like
they need to protect any of their corners and if so,
why play that guy? And so it just be interesting
to see how they operate with their corners against Ohio
States receivers, who you would presume that's one of the
advance it just a state has in this game, is
their receivers over Miami's corners. And I know, yeah, Miami
(22:07):
has very good athletes at corner, but also so does
a high state a receiver.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Right, I mean, Ohigo States wide receivers are going to
have an advantage over pretty much anyone all season just
because if they when they've been healthy, they've been pretty
pretty much unstoppable. And that's i mean, this again goes
back to why that pass rush.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Is such a crucial thing, because I don't think the.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Miami corners are going to hold up if if Julian
Sane has four seconds in the pocket, I don't think
that's I don't think Miami's corners are just going to
be able to hold up all night long with that
kind of thing, with that kind of time. So that's
why that that first piece of this was so important.
But you know, the corners have been good. They've been
you know, the Miami secondary and the whole has been
pretty solid. You know, Bryce Fitzgerald, the safety. We've been
(22:48):
super super impressed with him. I mean, he came in
as a true freshman over the summer and has been
an impactful player as a true freshman, non early en
rollie this year.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
That is enormous.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
That's also not you know, that's also probably not a
winning matchup if he you know, he's a safety, but
you can get him lined up over someone again used
like we just talked about with Tony, you can use
formation to maybe create some of these mismatches. And you know,
the other safety for safety for Miami, Jacoby Thomas. We
saw SMU find some success, getting him sort of isolated
in coverage.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So again, can you set up matchups like that?
Speaker 3 (23:24):
You feel like there's going to be something out there,
and then it's just a matter of do you connect
on that one? And if you do have a guy deep,
do you lead him enough that you don't have him
you know, have allowed the defensive back to catch up?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yeah, because big difference between touchdown and first intended to
nineteen uh uh, you know, and then it's like, wow,
now the battle just begins. So there you go. Some
matchups that will decide the Cotton Bowl between Ohio State
and Miami, and of course the winner will go on
to the Fiestabo to face somebody from.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
The SEC Georgia let's be adult.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Somebody could be anybody. It could be all miss it
could be Georgia. Nobody knows nobody, there's no way to tell.
So if you could just go ahead and it comes up,
it's about to be notified. Subscribe to the channel. I
know you already have appreciate all of that. Of course,
if you listen looking for some looking for some podcasts,
listen to of course, go to your podcast platform choice.
Subscribe to Buckeye Weekly. Subscribe to Tom's Buckeyees tomorrow morning.
(24:21):
Daily Ohio State Fix for you, right there for you.
And if you're a Miami fan, daily Ohio State Fix
right there for you. What more could you ask for?
And of course you can find us at buckehaddle dot
com talking about all of these things and much much more.
So that will do it from here. Thank you all
for tuning in, and we'll talk to you all later
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