July 30, 2025 • 33 mins
In this episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast, hosts Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr take on a range of listener questions from Buckeye fans. They discuss the Ohio State quarterback competition, the defensive and offensive prospects for Penn State, and the potential impact of sanctions on Michigan's roster. Additionally, they delve into predictions, ranking likelihoods of various outcomes, and analyzing player performances, including a deep dive into the potential and expectations for Lincoln Kienholz and Drew Allar. Tune in for a comprehensive Q&A session filled with insightful analysis and entertaining banter.
00:00 Introduction and Banter
01:00 Listener Questions: Caleb Downs' Role
04:07 Penn State vs. Ohio State Analysis
09:31 Predictions and Rankings
12:14 Quarterback Competition Insights
16:01 Julian vs. Lincoln: The Quarterback Race
16:41 Bryce Underwood's Future Amid Michigan's Potential Sanctions
22:37 Debating Dylan Raiola's Freshman Year
26:32 Can Penn State Win the Big Ten?
32:15 Wrapping Up and Listener Appreciation
00:00 Introduction and Banter
01:00 Listener Questions: Caleb Downs' Role
04:07 Penn State vs. Ohio State Analysis
09:31 Predictions and Rankings
12:14 Quarterback Competition Insights
16:01 Julian vs. Lincoln: The Quarterback Race
16:41 Bryce Underwood's Future Amid Michigan's Potential Sanctions
22:37 Debating Dylan Raiola's Freshman Year
26:32 Can Penn State Win the Big Ten?
32:15 Wrapping Up and Listener Appreciation
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom. How's it going.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Just admiring your very nice Rose Bowl hat yesterday? I
should have commented on yesterday's show you had your Shi hat,
which was I don't want to say Pilford because Pilford,
well statute probably run out. Yeah, perloined from the press
box at Rutgers Stadium of the same name a number
(00:32):
of years ago, but again outside the statute of limitations.
So yeah, I think, yeah, boy, this is this is
very much a who or three people have never been
in my kitchen. We go from Rutgers to the Rose Bowl.
So boy, I can't wait to see what tomorrow's hat is. NASA,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
I don't believe stealing is actually illegal in New Jersey,
so I think I'm okay.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Not if it falls off the back of a truck.
That's that's enshrined in New Jersey state constitution.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Hey, so we are back. We've got another listener questions
show for you. Wrapping up a call that I made
out while we were at Big ten me d Days
and we were never able to actually get to all
of the questions, So we're going to knock them out today,
get and then and then clean slate. Then it's just
it's time for fall camp. And not that some of
(01:18):
this doesn't deal with fall camp. There's some quarterback talk here,
so in fact, that's probably going to be what the
title is, something about the quarterback and the first time
we have to talk about Caleb Downs.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
We know we don't have to talk about Caleb Downs.
We get to talk about Caleb Downs. That's one of
the fun things to talk about on this year's Ohio
State team. The first question is from at Buckeye AM
and this is a multi part so we'll break this
down one piece at a time. We'll kind of do
these sort of quick quick succession. First part, will Caleb
Downs see anytime on offense? Tony? I say no.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I say no. Also, and then if you want to
get into a longer discussion, what is the situation that
would require And it's probably a situation where you've got
some injured running backs who now you would rather would
you rather turn to a true freshman or turn to
Caleb Downs? And even then the answer is probably still
a true freshman given what he means for you on
defense or would you need him at a slot receiver?
(02:16):
O Higo, State's got a bunch of slot receivers, So
I don't. I just don't see, you know, knock Wood here.
It would take a lot to get him on the
field on offense.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah. The only scenario I could really see it outside
of a like you said, a real disaster scenario in
terms of injuries, would be he's up for fill in
the blank National Award and you you know, you're he
returns a punt for a touchdown and then he has
an interception return for a touchdown, and then you put
(02:45):
him out there in the second quarter against Rutgers and
you're gonna throw in the ball for touchdown or you
take an end a round for a touchdown or something
like that. So it's like, oh, look, he scored touchdowns
three different ways, and you know the most you know
this it worked for Travis Howard. Now, Travis Howard did
this like as a full time thing last year. But
it worked for Travis Howard last year. Hunter, So so
(03:07):
you know, maybe in that scenario, but even in that scenario,
the Rutgers game is the week before the Michigan game, Like,
can you imagine what would happen if Caleb Downs is
out there as a you know, in the Shotgin formation
and you know, Sprain's ankle or something like that, and
it's the week before Michigan and then you don't have
(03:28):
him because you were trying to run some gimmicky something
to you know, bolster his Heisman campaign or whatever it is. Like,
I that feels like a risk reward calculus that would
probably end up with like nah, we goold. But if
you could potentially see something like that, I'm I'm not
expecting it. Again, I think the answer is no. But
(03:49):
that's that's another scenario where you could theoretically see.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
It not just a sprained ankle. But if you do
that against Rutgers, there's a danger of getting a leg
broken or something of that. So just be careful how
you try to show up.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
How did he break his leg, Tony, he fell off
the back of a truck? Hey, forget about it. Next up,
why is Penn State picked ahead of Ohio State when
Drew Aller is clearly not very good? Again? This is
from at Buckeye Am and I think the answer is
Penn State has a whole lot of talent. State Penn
State is basically twenty twenty three, Michigan brought back all
(04:25):
sorts of guys veteran guys for one more run at
it and won the national championship. Ohio State twenty twenty
four brought like all sorts of veteran guys for one
more run at it, won the national championship. Penn State
this year kind of the same thing. You've got Nick Singleton,
You've got k Ron Allence, you got the incredible running
back duo that Ohio State had last year. They've got
their offensive line looks pretty good. They've brought in a
(04:46):
bunch of transfers at wide receiver. How will they play well? See,
I don't know, but it seems like they've brought in
you know, they have done their best to address the
issues they had at wide receiver last year. The defense
looks like it should be pretty good. You've got talented
players at all the different levels of the defense. You
got a couple of really good defensive linemen, linebacker they're
(05:07):
feeling pretty good about. You got Zachi Whetley in the
second area. You know, you've got a pretty well rounded team.
Are there questions? Yeah? Sure, Drew Aller, how good is
Drew Aller, Is he the five star number one quarterback.
We haven't seen it yet, but he really didn't have
wide receivers last year. So I think they can put
him in a position where he doesn't have to be
(05:28):
twenty twenty two c J. Stroud, he can just be
If he's twenty twenty four Will Howard, he can be fine.
Like that might be enough for him this year. He's
gonna have running backs that he can lean on. He's
gonna have a defense that they're not gonna have to
score thirty eight points a game. They're gonna be able
to score probably twenty eight points a game, and the
defense should be pretty darn good. I don't know if
(05:50):
it's going to be like ten points a game good
with under Jim Knowles, but I think it might be
fourteen points a game, seventeen points a game where you
know you get to twenty. That's probably enough to win
most of your games this year. So I don't think
he's going to have to do it. This is not
a guarantee that it's going to happen for Penn State.
There are no guarantees this time of year, but Penn
(06:11):
State is about as well situated as some of the
recent national champions have been, and is well situated in
the same kind of way that some of the recent
national champions have been. So you know, they don't they
have Oregon at home, they have Ohio State on the road,
everything else, They're going to be a decent favorite. Doesn't
mean they can't lose another one somewhere. But if they
(06:32):
split those two games, they can still lose another game
somewhere and then make it in. And then you're the
veteran team that's pretty deep and pretty talented and going
in potentially hot into a college football playoff, and we
have seen how that goes in the twelve team format.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Ohio State right now one of just a handful of
teams that are expected to be favored in every game,
five teams. One of five teams this year. Penn State
not one of those because they come to Ohio State.
I'm not surprised that Penn State is the popular pick.
I'm surprised that they are the absolute unanimous pick that
from every everyone I've seen, I have not seen anybody,
(07:09):
any outlet pick Ohio State, which is a little surprising
given that Penn State goes to Ohio State but as
you said, one of the things that we look for
is do I know your quarterback? Yes, Okay, he's a
returning starter, all right, and you've got some starters that
decided to come back. Okay. Well, we've saw what happened
in the past two years in Boom that this must
(07:30):
this is the formula. Nothing could possibly go wrong with
the formula. And I think I think there's it's a
little simplistic, but again, like we are all simple people
when we're just looking for us some preseason stuff. I
do think it's surprising how over the top favorite they are,
(07:51):
given their ability to be a favorite and not play
like it in big games.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, and I think you look at the the Big Ten,
media picked Penn State to win, but I think they
got picked by like one vote over Ohio State. It
wasn't unanimous that Penn State was the gonna win the
Big Ten. And when you're trying to sell magazines, something
that's a little different probably helped sell some magazine, so
that might be a little bit of a tiebreaker for you.
(08:18):
So but you know, like I said, there's also there
is a legitimate case that they are the best team
and that they have the best chance. And that's that's
I think how you kind of have to look at this.
You got to look at this as a probability thing,
not as a this is a black and white this
is either this or this the balance of probability. Maybe
it's Penn State is fifty two percent likely to win
(08:40):
the Big Ten in Ohio State is forty eight percent.
Obviously other teams have a chance to win, but it's
you know, forty two percent for Penn State and thirty
eight percent for Ohio State. And I don't know, I'm
not going to throw out the other numbers, but you know,
x percent for Oregon and y percent for Michigan and
z percent for Illinois or whoever else. And so it's
(09:00):
it's not a you know, yes, everyone's picking them, but
I don't know that that means everyone thinks this is
a lead pipe cinch lock. It's just of all the possibilities,
this is the most likely. But it's probably a plurality
and not a majority of you know, you do your
ten thousand scenarios, and Penn State wins thirty two percent
of the time and Ohio State wins twenty eight percent
(09:21):
at the time, and it's not Penn State, it's gonna
win one hundred percent at the time. That's not that's
not how people even if that's what you see on
the magazines, that's not actually what they probably think. We're
gonna hit. The last couple here from Matt Buckeye am
in quick succession. I predict Jaden Fielding will be the
first Team Big Ten kicker Ryan Day will not be
selected Big Ten Coach of the Year. It will be
(09:43):
Beilama and Ohio State wins in the Big House twenty
eight to twenty four. Tony rank those three in order
of likelihood.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
The least likely is nailing the exact score, so we'll
put that third. I also think that's a high score.
I would I then I think Bielima winning Coach of
the Year is more likely than field and so I'd
go Bielima Fielding than the twenty eight twenty four. I
do think Jane Fielding can be First team All Big Ten.
(10:12):
Certainly Brett Bielima. If he wins ten eleven games at Illinois,
he's gonna have a good job. I'd throw Matt Ruhle
in there as well, another guy who even maybe more
likely if he can get to ten wins, because nobody's
expecting it, as we know that's doing the most with
the least, and right now, Brett Bielima has some expectations,
which hurts his chances.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
And you know, picking an Ohio state coach do not
win Big Ten Coach of the Year is you know,
it's it's like betting on you know, betting on the
one seed on the money line against the sixteen seed
in the NCAA tournament. I think one Ohio state coach
has ever won, has won the Big Ten Coach of
the Year since nineteen seventy nine, is that right?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Did Ryan Dave finally win it in like twenty nineteen?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I think Ryan Day won it in twenty nineteen because
I haven't seen the not since ear Old Bruce in
nineteen seventy nine stat for a while, so I think
Ryan Day did win it one time.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Todd with PJ. Fleck.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah, well that's yeah, that's that sounds about right. So yeah,
so that's but yeah, so yes, it can be done,
but it has been done half of a time since
nineteen seventy nine, so yeah, that's uh. Bilama winning it,
I think is a good a good shout there. Jaden
Fielding winning first Team All Big Ten Kicker, does he
hit a fifty yarder in a really crucial spot, because
(11:28):
I don't think. I don't know that Jaden Fielding winning
first Team All Big Ten Kicker would be a good
thing for Ohio State because generally that's gonna be boy,
you hit a ton of field goals, you know, if
you're if he's five for six on field goals this year,
that's probably a very good thing for Ohio State because
it means they're punching the ball in the end zone.
But it's not a good thing for winning the Big
Ten Kicker of the Year. If he hits a fifty
(11:49):
yarder at the gun against Michigan, and you know that
that might push you over the over the line to
a certain degree. But it feels to me like, you know,
Iowa's kicker is going to be win the Big Ten
Kicker of the year just because you're going to have
seventeen made field goals out of twenty or whatever it is.
Because you're constantly settling for field goals. I don't know
that that's necessarily a good thing for your overall team.
(12:13):
So there you go, all right. Next up from at
Buckeye Kids zero nine does Lincoln Keenhols really have a
chance to win the job?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yes? Like one of the things that Ryan Day said
this past week at Big ten media days is he
was looking forward to seeing who comes out of summer
workouts as iron Buckeyes and who's gold and gold is
also really really good. And we saw Lincoln Keyholds this
week or this past week as one of the dudes
of the week, one of the three guys that had
a really good week in the weight room. I don't
(12:43):
know that we've ever seen Julian Sane as a Dude
of the week. Tom, Can you do you recall that?
Because I don't now Am I paying attention to the
dudes of the week?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah? Reallyously, I do not have an encyclopedia knowledge of
the dude of the week win, but I cannot recall
him winning one off the top of my head. And
I should have lumped this other one from at Shawn
thirty four in here as well. I'm starting to think
keen Holes has an actual chance. He's such an amazing
athlete and he swole up. Now you think he has
(13:13):
a fifty to fifty chance, I would say, saying came
out of spring ball a little ahead, So I'd put
it a little less than fifty to fifty for keen holes.
But you know, the idea of him being an incredible
athlete is absolutely true. Ryan Day talked about him a
bunch at Big ten media days and talked about just
he was a major league baseball prospect. He can win
(13:33):
mill dunk on the basketball court. He was I think
he was like a track star there in high school
as well. And then oh yeah, also was a state
championship winning quarterback on this high school football team. So
just one of those when he's like a three handicap
golfer or something like that. It's just one of those
people who you just hate because he's good at everything,
but then you can't hate because he's also a really
nice kid. So it just you know that he has
(13:57):
a lot of the stuff that you would want to be,
you know, to have as your quarterback. And I think
it's well liked on the team and all of that,
and so I think there is this is legitimately an
open competition for the quarterback. I would say, say in Heaven,
coming out of coming out of the spring ahead, I
would assume you would assume he's going into the fall
(14:19):
a little ahead, give or take. But yes, I do
think this is this is still an open competition. And
you know, I go back to twenty twenty three where
you went into fall camp and Kyle McCord was ahead
and calmic Cord was ahead, and then there was this
week where Devin Brad he colic coord just didn't have
a good week and Devin Brad had a really good
week and everyone kind of went whoa hey, and then
calm Acord ended up winning a job back. But there
(14:40):
was a point where it was like, is this going
to be Devin Brown after all this time thinking that
this was going to be comm Accord, and you know,
and that turned out the way it turned out, and
you know, so you ended up with the favorite winning
the job. But I think there was a little bit
of a legitimate question in the middle of the camp
that year, and I think there is going to be
at least a little bit of a legitimate question at
some point you're in camp this year as well.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, I would agree. And in terms of the athleticism,
Lincoln Kino's throw for nine thousand yards in high school
in rush for three thousand as a senior, he threw
for he rushed for like fourteen hundred yards to give
you an idea of what he can do. And so
he's a mobile guy, and would he be the better
(15:22):
fit behind an offensive line that was questionable? Maybe that way,
you know you've got somebody that can be mobile. But
back to the in terms of the summer that he had,
Ryan Day wants a leader, and the leaders show up
in those workouts, so we'll see if he makes it
gold or whatever, and the kind of starts taking the
(15:46):
step forward with his teammates. And that's something that both
quarterbacks were working on all summer as leading their teammates.
So that's something where Ryan Day said, you know, in
terms of naming a starting quarterback, he'll know like when
the locker room knows, Like when the locker room has
adopted one of them, you'll have a pretty good idea.
So fifty to fifty, I you know, I would I
think Julian Saying is still the guy that is more
(16:07):
likely to win the job, So I would would say
no to that, But again I think he has a
real shot because Julian Saying has not done enough yet
to win the job.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Right, I think you're at the point where Ryan Day
kind of has A. You know, there is a finish
line in Ryan Day's head and it's just a matter
of which guy gets there first. And they're both they're
both running for it right now, but neither of them
is there, and so it's still it's still anyone's race,
regardless of whether Julian Sayan's potentially a step or two
ahead right now. So there's that. And then we have
(16:42):
a three parter from at Old Pete nineteen twenty six. Boy,
there is some spice here. Number one Will Underwood, Bryce Underwood,
Michigan quarterback bolt if Michigan gets a multi year bowl
band and boy, this one, Tony, there's so many Well
it depends in this that I feel like we should
(17:02):
start qualifying with if they get a multi year bullban
And you know, how likely is that it's possible. I
don't know that I would call it particularly likely, but
it's certainly possible. And there's not a ton of precedent
to look at in terms of punishments for this specific thing.
And how serious is it going to be? You know,
how serious is the punishment going to be? And how
(17:24):
you know, do they want it to be backward facing
punishments or forward facing punishments, and you know, so there's
just a there's a lot there to get through. But
let's just hypothetically say they get a multi year bullban,
they're ineligible for the postseason in twenty twenty five and
twenty twenty six, So then that's the first two years
of Bryce Underwood's career. So then my question would be,
(17:46):
can I see his NIL contract and is he locked
in there for two years? Is there a clause that
if they get a postseason ban he can get out?
Is there a clause that you know, he has to
pay back all of the money that he's taken if
he leaves it. Like, I haven't seen the contract, so
that would make it a very difficult thing for me
to judge. You know, It's it's not like he was forever.
(18:11):
He and Michigan were love at first sight and he
was forever betrothed to Michigan, and that you know that
he never considered anywhere else. He was committed to LSU
until very very late in the in the process. So
you know, could could LSU or someone else say, hey,
remember us when it come down to play for us,
(18:33):
and and you know we have we also have bags
with dollar signs on them like you could. I mean
potentially sure in terms of the likelihood of that happening.
If he's if he's got, if he's happy where he is,
and he's you know, and there's stability with the rest
of the program. Is Sharon Moore still the head coach
(18:54):
or does Sharon Moore? You know, does Sharon Moore have
to depart for one way or another as a result
of this stuff? Is there stability with the other players
or is there a mass exodus with other guys because
Bryce Underwood has another year after that where he could
be you know, you sit through two years and then
you can play in twenty seven, twenty seven, and you
can play for the national championship potentially that year. That
(19:16):
might be enough to keep him around. But if everyone
else leaves, you lose your you know, they brought in
a five star tackle in twenty five, right or is
it twenty six? One of those guys, so one of
those years. So maybe if that guy bolts, well, then
there's that change thing. So there's just a lot of
moving pieces here. I would not say yes, I think
this exact sequence of events is likely. Is it possible? Sure,
(19:40):
But there are so many different. Well, if this then
that that I would say, bright, you know, the specific
sequence of events laid out here mult of your post
he has made from Michigan and Bryce Underwood bolts before his.
You know, as a result of that is not super
likely you could. This is like the Swiss cheese thing
(20:01):
where Swiss cheese has lots of holes in it and
you can the holes sometimes will line up and then
it's like a real long hole kind of thing. That's
that's This is like an explanation for how air crash
has happened. So this is not exactly a exactly head
to head, but you know, it's like you need all
these different things to go wrong in order for a
plane to crash. This is the kind of thing where
(20:23):
you need this to happen, and then this to happen,
and then this to happen, and this happened. So I
will say no, but yeah, I mean it's possible.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, it's definitely an if this then this type of thing.
Like you said, I would like to see the deal
that the third uncle got signed. Now I assume this
is a real agent because of the numbers we're talking
what you know, was it twelve million or something like that.
So that's a lot and I do wonder if an
agent is able to put a clause in there about
(20:54):
the NCAA. It's not like this is a secret in
terms of possible sanctions coming, be sanctions coming. Do you
want to protect yourself or is it the don Don
Draper thing that we talked about, that's what the money's for.
I'm sorry, you're only playing twelve games this year. You
know that's what the money's for. Or does it become
also a situation where a team is willing to pay
(21:16):
the buyout and is the buy out the entirety of
that contract or is it a fraction of it because
now Michigan no longer has to pay him because you
know whatever has been paid upfront, maybe is what? So yeah,
without knowing it, but I would say if there's a
two year postseason ban and it's cheap enough for him
to transfer, yeah he's gone, because then you're you're talking
(21:40):
about he's only planning on being there three years. He's
planning on being college of football for three years, so
only one of those years he's gonna be playing in
the postseason. And the other thing, Tom if he's okay
with if he's Okay with not playing in the postseason,
isn't that a big red flag as well?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Yeah, well you have you have the tag, the will
to win, you know questions, and we're delving into a
first take kind of take ay right here, but you know,
it is it is. You know, you'll you'll have people
who will definitely make that argument, and you know, then
the the opposite argument there as well. Then he just
(22:18):
get quite on his team. He quit on his teammates,
and so you can you know, you can be you
can be Skipp and I can be steven A or
the other way around. But you know, we're we're we're gonna,
if we're gonna do this, we're gonna have to do
a little more hollering, which you know, the next question,
the next question, we can do some hollering about the
next question. Once again from at Old Pete nineteen twenty six.
Is it too soon to call Dylan Rayola a bust?
(22:40):
This is this is the first take question if ever
I've seen one.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Yeah, I read that. I'm like, what's he what's he done?
He started as a true freshman through for twenty one
hundred yards, more than any true freshman in the Big Ten.
And recent use probably maybe ever And maybe that's something
I could just go look on his Nebraska Huskers biopage,
it would say through for the most yards for a
true freshman quarterback in Big Ten history, because it's more
(23:07):
than Chad Henny in two thousand and four. It's more
than the I think forty five yards that Anthony Murelli
threw in in two thousand and four. As well, it's
more than Dreell prior Braxton Miller. I guess go look,
go check out Nathan Sheelhouse or Adam Weber. Maybe Adam Weber.
You know, is so like these are the vaunted names,
but no, like, I don't think thirteen touchdowns and eleven
(23:29):
interceptions he did not have a ton of help around him.
But I don't think anything he did was enough for
or less than whatever to be named a bust. I
think he's going to be pretty darn good and everything
that he learned last year is going to be applicable
to this year. So I'm expecting a better year this year.
(23:52):
I'm not expecting a sophomore slump type of thing, and
certainly I would need to see more before I thought
he was a bust.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Skip that's where you're wrong. It's I mean, man, if
I had, if I could somehow weave Lebron in here,
I would, But I just I don't think I've got
it in me tonight. Sorry I do. I think you
have to look at true freshman and you got a
great true freshman on a curve, and we can go
back to the Bryce Underwood thing. Like I think Bryce
Underwood is an incredibly talented athlete. Bryce Underwood is going
(24:23):
to lose Michigan game at some point this year, like
single handed to lose Michigan game this year. That's what
true freshman quarterbacks do. You're going to have stuff that's like,
well this guy, listen, this guy was open on film
every time I watched it this week. I'm sure it's
going to be open today. And hey, where did that
safety come from? Like, you're gonna have that stuff happens.
(24:43):
That's what happens with true freshman quarterbacks. That's why the
list of true freshman quarterbacks that Tony was listing was
not a very long one because you don't generally throw
those guys in there. And as Tony said, he didn't
have great skill talent around him on offense last year
and even so, they had the best season that the
has had in what since twenty seventeen, twenty sixteen. I mean,
(25:04):
this is this is you know, the the bar for
a successful season at Nebraska is not well, they'd better
be eleven and one or better. It is they'd better
make a bowl game. And they did, and they won
their bowl game. They beat BC in the Pinstripe Bowl
last year, and Nebraska fans were thrilled because that was
the best season they'd have in a long time. I'm
expecting a step forward from Dylan Rail this year, a
(25:26):
significant step forward I think from Dylan Rail of this year.
That doesn't mean he's going to throw for five thousand
yards and fifty touchdowns against four interceptions. But if he
throws for if he goes from thirteen touchdowns eleven interceptions
to twenty four touchdowns and eight interceptions or six interceptions,
yeah that's a pretty good season. And then maybe your
thirty touchdowns and six interceptions in your third year and
(25:49):
you go from six wins to eight wins to ten
wins or something like that, and yeah, I think it's way, way, way,
way way too soon to look at him and make
any kind of a negative prognostication just based on the
fact that he had a rough true freshman year, because
that's what true freshman years look like for quarterbacks in
the Big Ten.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Adam Weber did through for a few more yards, but
I can't remember. He may have been a red shirt freshman.
Another big time true freshman quarterback in Big Ten history
Matt Barkley two thousand and nine USC. He threw for
a few yards twenty seven hundred and thirty five yards,
do for two more touchdowns three more interceptions as a
true freshman. Of course, had the big win in Ohio
Stadium as everybody remembers.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Classic Big Ten matchup. And finally, ken Penn State win
the Big Ten if their quarterback is not as good
as Ohio State's quarterback. And we got a question about
this on yesterday's show. So this is a little bit
of a different a little bit of a different spin
on it, I guess, But you know, I do they
(26:52):
need their quarterback to be as good as Ohio States quarterback?
I mean maybe, I think the Penn State defense is
going to be very very good this year. I think
the Penn State run game is gonna be very good
this year. I think if Penn State's quarterback is as
good as Ohio State's quarterback in twenty twenty four, I
think they can win the National Championship. I think, you know,
we can. Maybe maybe you can be a little not
(27:14):
quite as good as Will Howard and still win the
National Championship. But I think that Will Howard is kind
of the line to me rather than Julian saying, because
there's just there are areas where I think Penn State
probably has some advantages talent wise over Ohio State this year,
especially in terms of returning production and you know, some
some stuff in the trenches. I think they've got, you know,
(27:35):
you know, at least a push. So I don't know
that he needs to be better than Julian say U
or Lincoln Keenhols, but he, you know, he just needs
to be as because Lincoln keen Holts or Julian Saying
could be better than Will Howard that that's entirely possible.
But he needs to be he needs to be Will
Howard good. He needs to be you can win. You
can win. Lots of teams have won the National Championship
(27:57):
without having Joe Burrow as their quarterback, and so you know,
you just need to be that good not. I think
that's the measuring stick I'd use, rather than however good
Ohio State's quarterback.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Is this year well, and Will Howard was considerably better
at everything in every statistical measure than Drew Aller last year,
except that Howard through two more interceptions and Penn State
made it to the Big Ten championship game. Now, I
guess did they need a better performance from Aler? It
wouldn't have hurt. But I think you can win it
(28:31):
without being without doing better than Ohio State's quarterback, because
Penn State made it further in the Big Ten than
Ohio State did with a lesser quarterback, so certainly they
could have gotten a few snaps here there, even though
Oregon got out to a pretty big lead. I don't
think you need to have a quarterback as good as
Ohio States to win it, because you've got a lot
of you got some good running game, you've got a
(28:54):
good defense, and so I'd say no. I it's a
really interesting question though, because generally you need a pretty
good quarterback, and Ohios State generally has a pretty good quarterback.
But again with if there boy, if Drew Aller isn't
as good as Julian's saying, or Lincoln keenoles this year
(29:15):
do they have? That's not a great sign, even though
we have high expectations for the Ohio State quarterback Drew Aller.
I heard Adam Brenneman on the radio today talking about
how Drew Aller is the the best returning quarterback in
the nation. I'm like, I understand, you played at Penn State,
but that's a bold and false proclamation based on some
(29:37):
of the other quarterbacks that are returning nationally. But if
he's not as good as what Ohio State's got going
out there, boy, I don't. I don't think that's great.
And that's feels kind of a slam on the Ohio
State quarterbacks. But Drew Aller in his final years a
start is this is third and a half, third year
as a starter, you should be better than a first
year starter.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
He should, yes, and you know, I don't know that
they need him to be, but he should be. You
should be. You have the you know, you're you have
the five star pedigree, which means you have the strong arm.
This is not just well, it's the you know, the
guy who's been around for a million years and he's
he's just been around for a million years. Because he's
been around for a million years, and he wasn't gonna
get drafted last year like Aller was. You know, there
(30:19):
was a bunch of different kind of talking points on
where exactly Dreweller's draft gaide grade was, even from the
different Penn State people at Big ten media days. But
he was going to be you know, he was going
to be picked, and he probably would have been picked
ahead of Will Howard last year just based on some
of his his traits and arm strength and that kind
of stuff. If he can put it together, he kind
(30:40):
of has the pieces there. But we've seen so many
quarterbacks over the year, have you know when you weres
was going to boy, he had all the had all
the traits you want. He was the perfect, you know,
perfect rated quarterback prospect and then just kind of got
to a certain point and that was kind of it.
And so and that was working with Sark, who's a
(31:00):
pretty darn good quarterback coach. And you know, Penn State's
Penn State's offensive staff is good, but it's you know,
they don't have like super renowned Sark or Ryan Day
or Lane Kiffen or someone there working with with alor, so,
you know, I think it's a little bit of an
open question. I don't think he has to be perfect.
I don't think he has to be amazing, but I
(31:21):
think he can be I certainly think he can be
good enough. He just needs to take a step forward.
I don't think he needs to take four running leaps forward.
I think he needs to take like one or two
more steps forward. Their throws that you kind of watch
and you go, come on, you can't you know that
you're you're ten yards off on this throw, like you
got to you gotta be able to get a little
closer than that. But it doesn't. It doesn't have to
(31:44):
be an incredible overnight transformation. It just has to be
taking another step forward. And I think that would be
good enough.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
I do wonder if they need to if he needs
to be better than he was last year to win
the Big Ten. I think that would be a fair
statement as well, even though I think maybe without Oregon
potentially being in the way, maybe nobody needs to be
as good this year to win the Big Ten. But
if drere Aller doesn't take a step forward, then you know,
it doesn't matter if you win to Big ten. That's
(32:13):
about all you're gonna win. So there you go. We
have defeated the listeners once again. Thank you for all
those questions. We always do appreciate it, not just because
it makes it easier on us, but especially because it
makes it easier on us. So now that we'll drop
these two shows and this one in the previous one
that we've recorded, now clean slate, we're ready to talk
camp what we're seeing. Definitely take your questions once we
(32:35):
start getting the info out to you in terms of
what we're seeing and what you're hearing and reading. So
I want to thank you all for tuning in. Hit
that thumbs up if you've not yet done so, hit
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or choice, please leave us a five star writing interview.
It does help us, I'm told so we would appreciate that,
(32:56):
and of course find us at buckeyehaddle dot com. Love
to see you there. Join up now say hello to us.
At the the book I had a message board presented
by Jeff Ruby's Clumbus. Got a lot going on there
at Buckhead. Also, thank you all for tuning in and
we'll talk to you guys later
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom. How's it going.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Just admiring your very nice Rose Bowl hat yesterday? I
should have commented on yesterday's show you had your Shi hat,
which was I don't want to say Pilford because Pilford,
well statute probably run out. Yeah, perloined from the press
box at Rutgers Stadium of the same name a number
(00:32):
of years ago, but again outside the statute of limitations.
So yeah, I think, yeah, boy, this is this is
very much a who or three people have never been
in my kitchen. We go from Rutgers to the Rose Bowl.
So boy, I can't wait to see what tomorrow's hat is. NASA,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
I don't believe stealing is actually illegal in New Jersey,
so I think I'm okay.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Not if it falls off the back of a truck.
That's that's enshrined in New Jersey state constitution.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Hey, so we are back. We've got another listener questions
show for you. Wrapping up a call that I made
out while we were at Big ten me d Days
and we were never able to actually get to all
of the questions, So we're going to knock them out today,
get and then and then clean slate. Then it's just
it's time for fall camp. And not that some of
(01:18):
this doesn't deal with fall camp. There's some quarterback talk here,
so in fact, that's probably going to be what the
title is, something about the quarterback and the first time
we have to talk about Caleb Downs.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
We know we don't have to talk about Caleb Downs.
We get to talk about Caleb Downs. That's one of
the fun things to talk about on this year's Ohio
State team. The first question is from at Buckeye AM
and this is a multi part so we'll break this
down one piece at a time. We'll kind of do
these sort of quick quick succession. First part, will Caleb
Downs see anytime on offense? Tony? I say no.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I say no. Also, and then if you want to
get into a longer discussion, what is the situation that
would require And it's probably a situation where you've got
some injured running backs who now you would rather would
you rather turn to a true freshman or turn to
Caleb Downs? And even then the answer is probably still
a true freshman given what he means for you on
defense or would you need him at a slot receiver?
(02:16):
O Higo, State's got a bunch of slot receivers, So
I don't. I just don't see, you know, knock Wood here.
It would take a lot to get him on the
field on offense.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah. The only scenario I could really see it outside
of a like you said, a real disaster scenario in
terms of injuries, would be he's up for fill in
the blank National Award and you you know, you're he
returns a punt for a touchdown and then he has
an interception return for a touchdown, and then you put
(02:45):
him out there in the second quarter against Rutgers and
you're gonna throw in the ball for touchdown or you
take an end a round for a touchdown or something
like that. So it's like, oh, look, he scored touchdowns
three different ways, and you know the most you know
this it worked for Travis Howard. Now, Travis Howard did
this like as a full time thing last year. But
it worked for Travis Howard last year. Hunter, So so
(03:07):
you know, maybe in that scenario, but even in that scenario,
the Rutgers game is the week before the Michigan game, Like,
can you imagine what would happen if Caleb Downs is
out there as a you know, in the Shotgin formation
and you know, Sprain's ankle or something like that, and
it's the week before Michigan and then you don't have
(03:28):
him because you were trying to run some gimmicky something
to you know, bolster his Heisman campaign or whatever it is. Like,
I that feels like a risk reward calculus that would
probably end up with like nah, we goold. But if
you could potentially see something like that, I'm I'm not
expecting it. Again, I think the answer is no. But
(03:49):
that's that's another scenario where you could theoretically see.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
It not just a sprained ankle. But if you do
that against Rutgers, there's a danger of getting a leg
broken or something of that. So just be careful how
you try to show up.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
How did he break his leg, Tony, he fell off
the back of a truck? Hey, forget about it. Next up,
why is Penn State picked ahead of Ohio State when
Drew Aller is clearly not very good? Again? This is
from at Buckeye Am and I think the answer is
Penn State has a whole lot of talent. State Penn
State is basically twenty twenty three, Michigan brought back all
(04:25):
sorts of guys veteran guys for one more run at
it and won the national championship. Ohio State twenty twenty
four brought like all sorts of veteran guys for one
more run at it, won the national championship. Penn State
this year kind of the same thing. You've got Nick Singleton,
You've got k Ron Allence, you got the incredible running
back duo that Ohio State had last year. They've got
their offensive line looks pretty good. They've brought in a
(04:46):
bunch of transfers at wide receiver. How will they play well? See,
I don't know, but it seems like they've brought in
you know, they have done their best to address the
issues they had at wide receiver last year. The defense
looks like it should be pretty good. You've got talented
players at all the different levels of the defense. You
got a couple of really good defensive linemen, linebacker they're
(05:07):
feeling pretty good about. You got Zachi Whetley in the
second area. You know, you've got a pretty well rounded team.
Are there questions? Yeah? Sure, Drew Aller, how good is
Drew Aller, Is he the five star number one quarterback.
We haven't seen it yet, but he really didn't have
wide receivers last year. So I think they can put
him in a position where he doesn't have to be
(05:28):
twenty twenty two c J. Stroud, he can just be
If he's twenty twenty four Will Howard, he can be fine.
Like that might be enough for him this year. He's
gonna have running backs that he can lean on. He's
gonna have a defense that they're not gonna have to
score thirty eight points a game. They're gonna be able
to score probably twenty eight points a game, and the
defense should be pretty darn good. I don't know if
(05:50):
it's going to be like ten points a game good
with under Jim Knowles, but I think it might be
fourteen points a game, seventeen points a game where you
know you get to twenty. That's probably enough to win
most of your games this year. So I don't think
he's going to have to do it. This is not
a guarantee that it's going to happen for Penn State.
There are no guarantees this time of year, but Penn
(06:11):
State is about as well situated as some of the
recent national champions have been, and is well situated in
the same kind of way that some of the recent
national champions have been. So you know, they don't they
have Oregon at home, they have Ohio State on the road,
everything else, They're going to be a decent favorite. Doesn't
mean they can't lose another one somewhere. But if they
(06:32):
split those two games, they can still lose another game
somewhere and then make it in. And then you're the
veteran team that's pretty deep and pretty talented and going
in potentially hot into a college football playoff, and we
have seen how that goes in the twelve team format.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Ohio State right now one of just a handful of
teams that are expected to be favored in every game,
five teams. One of five teams this year. Penn State
not one of those because they come to Ohio State.
I'm not surprised that Penn State is the popular pick.
I'm surprised that they are the absolute unanimous pick that
from every everyone I've seen, I have not seen anybody,
(07:09):
any outlet pick Ohio State, which is a little surprising
given that Penn State goes to Ohio State but as
you said, one of the things that we look for
is do I know your quarterback? Yes, Okay, he's a
returning starter, all right, and you've got some starters that
decided to come back. Okay. Well, we've saw what happened
in the past two years in Boom that this must
(07:30):
this is the formula. Nothing could possibly go wrong with
the formula. And I think I think there's it's a
little simplistic, but again, like we are all simple people
when we're just looking for us some preseason stuff. I
do think it's surprising how over the top favorite they are,
(07:51):
given their ability to be a favorite and not play
like it in big games.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, and I think you look at the the Big Ten,
media picked Penn State to win, but I think they
got picked by like one vote over Ohio State. It
wasn't unanimous that Penn State was the gonna win the
Big Ten. And when you're trying to sell magazines, something
that's a little different probably helped sell some magazine, so
that might be a little bit of a tiebreaker for you.
(08:18):
So but you know, like I said, there's also there
is a legitimate case that they are the best team
and that they have the best chance. And that's that's
I think how you kind of have to look at this.
You got to look at this as a probability thing,
not as a this is a black and white this
is either this or this the balance of probability. Maybe
it's Penn State is fifty two percent likely to win
(08:40):
the Big Ten in Ohio State is forty eight percent.
Obviously other teams have a chance to win, but it's
you know, forty two percent for Penn State and thirty
eight percent for Ohio State. And I don't know, I'm
not going to throw out the other numbers, but you know,
x percent for Oregon and y percent for Michigan and
z percent for Illinois or whoever else. And so it's
(09:00):
it's not a you know, yes, everyone's picking them, but
I don't know that that means everyone thinks this is
a lead pipe cinch lock. It's just of all the possibilities,
this is the most likely. But it's probably a plurality
and not a majority of you know, you do your
ten thousand scenarios, and Penn State wins thirty two percent
of the time and Ohio State wins twenty eight percent
(09:21):
at the time, and it's not Penn State, it's gonna
win one hundred percent at the time. That's not that's
not how people even if that's what you see on
the magazines, that's not actually what they probably think. We're
gonna hit. The last couple here from Matt Buckeye am
in quick succession. I predict Jaden Fielding will be the
first Team Big Ten kicker Ryan Day will not be
selected Big Ten Coach of the Year. It will be
(09:43):
Beilama and Ohio State wins in the Big House twenty
eight to twenty four. Tony rank those three in order
of likelihood.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
The least likely is nailing the exact score, so we'll
put that third. I also think that's a high score.
I would I then I think Bielima winning Coach of
the Year is more likely than field and so I'd
go Bielima Fielding than the twenty eight twenty four. I
do think Jane Fielding can be First team All Big Ten.
(10:12):
Certainly Brett Bielima. If he wins ten eleven games at Illinois,
he's gonna have a good job. I'd throw Matt Ruhle
in there as well, another guy who even maybe more
likely if he can get to ten wins, because nobody's
expecting it, as we know that's doing the most with
the least, and right now, Brett Bielima has some expectations,
which hurts his chances.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
And you know, picking an Ohio state coach do not
win Big Ten Coach of the Year is you know,
it's it's like betting on you know, betting on the
one seed on the money line against the sixteen seed
in the NCAA tournament. I think one Ohio state coach
has ever won, has won the Big Ten Coach of
the Year since nineteen seventy nine, is that right?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Did Ryan Dave finally win it in like twenty nineteen?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I think Ryan Day won it in twenty nineteen because
I haven't seen the not since ear Old Bruce in
nineteen seventy nine stat for a while, so I think
Ryan Day did win it one time.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Todd with PJ. Fleck.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah, well that's yeah, that's that sounds about right. So yeah,
so that's but yeah, so yes, it can be done,
but it has been done half of a time since
nineteen seventy nine, so yeah, that's uh. Bilama winning it,
I think is a good a good shout there. Jaden
Fielding winning first Team All Big Ten Kicker, does he
hit a fifty yarder in a really crucial spot, because
(11:28):
I don't think. I don't know that Jaden Fielding winning
first Team All Big Ten Kicker would be a good
thing for Ohio State because generally that's gonna be boy,
you hit a ton of field goals, you know, if
you're if he's five for six on field goals this year,
that's probably a very good thing for Ohio State because
it means they're punching the ball in the end zone.
But it's not a good thing for winning the Big
Ten Kicker of the Year. If he hits a fifty
(11:49):
yarder at the gun against Michigan, and you know that
that might push you over the over the line to
a certain degree. But it feels to me like, you know,
Iowa's kicker is going to be win the Big Ten
Kicker of the year just because you're going to have
seventeen made field goals out of twenty or whatever it is.
Because you're constantly settling for field goals. I don't know
that that's necessarily a good thing for your overall team.
(12:13):
So there you go, all right. Next up from at
Buckeye Kids zero nine does Lincoln Keenhols really have a
chance to win the job?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yes? Like one of the things that Ryan Day said
this past week at Big ten media days is he
was looking forward to seeing who comes out of summer
workouts as iron Buckeyes and who's gold and gold is
also really really good. And we saw Lincoln Keyholds this
week or this past week as one of the dudes
of the week, one of the three guys that had
a really good week in the weight room. I don't
(12:43):
know that we've ever seen Julian Sane as a Dude
of the week. Tom, Can you do you recall that?
Because I don't now Am I paying attention to the
dudes of the week?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah? Reallyously, I do not have an encyclopedia knowledge of
the dude of the week win, but I cannot recall
him winning one off the top of my head. And
I should have lumped this other one from at Shawn
thirty four in here as well. I'm starting to think
keen Holes has an actual chance. He's such an amazing
athlete and he swole up. Now you think he has
(13:13):
a fifty to fifty chance, I would say, saying came
out of spring ball a little ahead, So I'd put
it a little less than fifty to fifty for keen holes.
But you know, the idea of him being an incredible
athlete is absolutely true. Ryan Day talked about him a
bunch at Big ten media days and talked about just
he was a major league baseball prospect. He can win
(13:33):
mill dunk on the basketball court. He was I think
he was like a track star there in high school
as well. And then oh yeah, also was a state
championship winning quarterback on this high school football team. So
just one of those when he's like a three handicap
golfer or something like that. It's just one of those
people who you just hate because he's good at everything,
but then you can't hate because he's also a really
nice kid. So it just you know that he has
(13:57):
a lot of the stuff that you would want to be,
you know, to have as your quarterback. And I think
it's well liked on the team and all of that,
and so I think there is this is legitimately an
open competition for the quarterback. I would say, say in Heaven,
coming out of coming out of the spring ahead, I
would assume you would assume he's going into the fall
(14:19):
a little ahead, give or take. But yes, I do
think this is this is still an open competition. And
you know, I go back to twenty twenty three where
you went into fall camp and Kyle McCord was ahead
and calmic Cord was ahead, and then there was this
week where Devin Brad he colic coord just didn't have
a good week and Devin Brad had a really good
week and everyone kind of went whoa hey, and then
calm Acord ended up winning a job back. But there
(14:40):
was a point where it was like, is this going
to be Devin Brown after all this time thinking that
this was going to be comm Accord, and you know,
and that turned out the way it turned out, and
you know, so you ended up with the favorite winning
the job. But I think there was a little bit
of a legitimate question in the middle of the camp
that year, and I think there is going to be
at least a little bit of a legitimate question at
some point you're in camp this year as well.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, I would agree. And in terms of the athleticism,
Lincoln Kino's throw for nine thousand yards in high school
in rush for three thousand as a senior, he threw
for he rushed for like fourteen hundred yards to give
you an idea of what he can do. And so
he's a mobile guy, and would he be the better
(15:22):
fit behind an offensive line that was questionable? Maybe that way,
you know you've got somebody that can be mobile. But
back to the in terms of the summer that he had,
Ryan Day wants a leader, and the leaders show up
in those workouts, so we'll see if he makes it
gold or whatever, and the kind of starts taking the
(15:46):
step forward with his teammates. And that's something that both
quarterbacks were working on all summer as leading their teammates.
So that's something where Ryan Day said, you know, in
terms of naming a starting quarterback, he'll know like when
the locker room knows, Like when the locker room has
adopted one of them, you'll have a pretty good idea.
So fifty to fifty, I you know, I would I
think Julian Saying is still the guy that is more
(16:07):
likely to win the job, So I would would say
no to that, But again I think he has a
real shot because Julian Saying has not done enough yet
to win the job.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Right, I think you're at the point where Ryan Day
kind of has A. You know, there is a finish
line in Ryan Day's head and it's just a matter
of which guy gets there first. And they're both they're
both running for it right now, but neither of them
is there, and so it's still it's still anyone's race,
regardless of whether Julian Sayan's potentially a step or two
ahead right now. So there's that. And then we have
(16:42):
a three parter from at Old Pete nineteen twenty six. Boy,
there is some spice here. Number one Will Underwood, Bryce Underwood,
Michigan quarterback bolt if Michigan gets a multi year bowl
band and boy, this one, Tony, there's so many Well
it depends in this that I feel like we should
(17:02):
start qualifying with if they get a multi year bullban
And you know, how likely is that it's possible. I
don't know that I would call it particularly likely, but
it's certainly possible. And there's not a ton of precedent
to look at in terms of punishments for this specific thing.
And how serious is it going to be? You know,
how serious is the punishment going to be? And how
(17:24):
you know, do they want it to be backward facing
punishments or forward facing punishments, and you know, so there's
just a there's a lot there to get through. But
let's just hypothetically say they get a multi year bullban,
they're ineligible for the postseason in twenty twenty five and
twenty twenty six, So then that's the first two years
of Bryce Underwood's career. So then my question would be,
(17:46):
can I see his NIL contract and is he locked
in there for two years? Is there a clause that
if they get a postseason ban he can get out?
Is there a clause that you know, he has to
pay back all of the money that he's taken if
he leaves it. Like, I haven't seen the contract, so
that would make it a very difficult thing for me
to judge. You know, It's it's not like he was forever.
(18:11):
He and Michigan were love at first sight and he
was forever betrothed to Michigan, and that you know that
he never considered anywhere else. He was committed to LSU
until very very late in the in the process. So
you know, could could LSU or someone else say, hey,
remember us when it come down to play for us,
(18:33):
and and you know we have we also have bags
with dollar signs on them like you could. I mean
potentially sure in terms of the likelihood of that happening.
If he's if he's got, if he's happy where he is,
and he's you know, and there's stability with the rest
of the program. Is Sharon Moore still the head coach
(18:54):
or does Sharon Moore? You know, does Sharon Moore have
to depart for one way or another as a result
of this stuff? Is there stability with the other players
or is there a mass exodus with other guys because
Bryce Underwood has another year after that where he could
be you know, you sit through two years and then
you can play in twenty seven, twenty seven, and you
can play for the national championship potentially that year. That
(19:16):
might be enough to keep him around. But if everyone
else leaves, you lose your you know, they brought in
a five star tackle in twenty five, right or is
it twenty six? One of those guys, so one of
those years. So maybe if that guy bolts, well, then
there's that change thing. So there's just a lot of
moving pieces here. I would not say yes, I think
this exact sequence of events is likely. Is it possible? Sure,
(19:40):
But there are so many different. Well, if this then
that that I would say, bright, you know, the specific
sequence of events laid out here mult of your post
he has made from Michigan and Bryce Underwood bolts before his.
You know, as a result of that is not super
likely you could. This is like the Swiss cheese thing
(20:01):
where Swiss cheese has lots of holes in it and
you can the holes sometimes will line up and then
it's like a real long hole kind of thing. That's
that's This is like an explanation for how air crash
has happened. So this is not exactly a exactly head
to head, but you know, it's like you need all
these different things to go wrong in order for a
plane to crash. This is the kind of thing where
(20:23):
you need this to happen, and then this to happen,
and then this to happen, and this happened. So I
will say no, but yeah, I mean it's possible.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, it's definitely an if this then this type of thing.
Like you said, I would like to see the deal
that the third uncle got signed. Now I assume this
is a real agent because of the numbers we're talking
what you know, was it twelve million or something like that.
So that's a lot and I do wonder if an
agent is able to put a clause in there about
(20:54):
the NCAA. It's not like this is a secret in
terms of possible sanctions coming, be sanctions coming. Do you
want to protect yourself or is it the don Don
Draper thing that we talked about, that's what the money's for.
I'm sorry, you're only playing twelve games this year. You
know that's what the money's for. Or does it become
also a situation where a team is willing to pay
(21:16):
the buyout and is the buy out the entirety of
that contract or is it a fraction of it because
now Michigan no longer has to pay him because you
know whatever has been paid upfront, maybe is what? So yeah,
without knowing it, but I would say if there's a
two year postseason ban and it's cheap enough for him
to transfer, yeah he's gone, because then you're you're talking
(21:40):
about he's only planning on being there three years. He's
planning on being college of football for three years, so
only one of those years he's gonna be playing in
the postseason. And the other thing, Tom if he's okay
with if he's Okay with not playing in the postseason,
isn't that a big red flag as well?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Yeah, well you have you have the tag, the will
to win, you know questions, and we're delving into a
first take kind of take ay right here, but you know,
it is it is. You know, you'll you'll have people
who will definitely make that argument, and you know, then
the the opposite argument there as well. Then he just
(22:18):
get quite on his team. He quit on his teammates,
and so you can you know, you can be you
can be Skipp and I can be steven A or
the other way around. But you know, we're we're we're gonna,
if we're gonna do this, we're gonna have to do
a little more hollering, which you know, the next question,
the next question, we can do some hollering about the
next question. Once again from at Old Pete nineteen twenty six.
Is it too soon to call Dylan Rayola a bust?
(22:40):
This is this is the first take question if ever
I've seen one.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Yeah, I read that. I'm like, what's he what's he done?
He started as a true freshman through for twenty one
hundred yards, more than any true freshman in the Big Ten.
And recent use probably maybe ever And maybe that's something
I could just go look on his Nebraska Huskers biopage,
it would say through for the most yards for a
true freshman quarterback in Big Ten history, because it's more
(23:07):
than Chad Henny in two thousand and four. It's more
than the I think forty five yards that Anthony Murelli
threw in in two thousand and four. As well, it's
more than Dreell prior Braxton Miller. I guess go look,
go check out Nathan Sheelhouse or Adam Weber. Maybe Adam Weber.
You know, is so like these are the vaunted names,
but no, like, I don't think thirteen touchdowns and eleven
(23:29):
interceptions he did not have a ton of help around him.
But I don't think anything he did was enough for
or less than whatever to be named a bust. I
think he's going to be pretty darn good and everything
that he learned last year is going to be applicable
to this year. So I'm expecting a better year this year.
(23:52):
I'm not expecting a sophomore slump type of thing, and
certainly I would need to see more before I thought
he was a bust.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Skip that's where you're wrong. It's I mean, man, if
I had, if I could somehow weave Lebron in here,
I would, But I just I don't think I've got
it in me tonight. Sorry I do. I think you
have to look at true freshman and you got a
great true freshman on a curve, and we can go
back to the Bryce Underwood thing. Like I think Bryce
Underwood is an incredibly talented athlete. Bryce Underwood is going
(24:23):
to lose Michigan game at some point this year, like
single handed to lose Michigan game this year. That's what
true freshman quarterbacks do. You're going to have stuff that's like,
well this guy, listen, this guy was open on film
every time I watched it this week. I'm sure it's
going to be open today. And hey, where did that
safety come from? Like, you're gonna have that stuff happens.
(24:43):
That's what happens with true freshman quarterbacks. That's why the
list of true freshman quarterbacks that Tony was listing was
not a very long one because you don't generally throw
those guys in there. And as Tony said, he didn't
have great skill talent around him on offense last year
and even so, they had the best season that the
has had in what since twenty seventeen, twenty sixteen. I mean,
(25:04):
this is this is you know, the the bar for
a successful season at Nebraska is not well, they'd better
be eleven and one or better. It is they'd better
make a bowl game. And they did, and they won
their bowl game. They beat BC in the Pinstripe Bowl
last year, and Nebraska fans were thrilled because that was
the best season they'd have in a long time. I'm
expecting a step forward from Dylan Rail this year, a
(25:26):
significant step forward I think from Dylan Rail of this year.
That doesn't mean he's going to throw for five thousand
yards and fifty touchdowns against four interceptions. But if he
throws for if he goes from thirteen touchdowns eleven interceptions
to twenty four touchdowns and eight interceptions or six interceptions,
yeah that's a pretty good season. And then maybe your
thirty touchdowns and six interceptions in your third year and
(25:49):
you go from six wins to eight wins to ten
wins or something like that, and yeah, I think it's way, way, way,
way way too soon to look at him and make
any kind of a negative prognostication just based on the
fact that he had a rough true freshman year, because
that's what true freshman years look like for quarterbacks in
the Big Ten.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Adam Weber did through for a few more yards, but
I can't remember. He may have been a red shirt freshman.
Another big time true freshman quarterback in Big Ten history
Matt Barkley two thousand and nine USC. He threw for
a few yards twenty seven hundred and thirty five yards,
do for two more touchdowns three more interceptions as a
true freshman. Of course, had the big win in Ohio
Stadium as everybody remembers.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Classic Big Ten matchup. And finally, ken Penn State win
the Big Ten if their quarterback is not as good
as Ohio State's quarterback. And we got a question about
this on yesterday's show. So this is a little bit
of a different a little bit of a different spin
on it, I guess, But you know, I do they
(26:52):
need their quarterback to be as good as Ohio States quarterback?
I mean maybe, I think the Penn State defense is
going to be very very good this year. I think
the Penn State run game is gonna be very good
this year. I think if Penn State's quarterback is as
good as Ohio State's quarterback in twenty twenty four, I
think they can win the National Championship. I think, you know,
we can. Maybe maybe you can be a little not
(27:14):
quite as good as Will Howard and still win the
National Championship. But I think that Will Howard is kind
of the line to me rather than Julian saying, because
there's just there are areas where I think Penn State
probably has some advantages talent wise over Ohio State this year,
especially in terms of returning production and you know, some
some stuff in the trenches. I think they've got, you know,
(27:35):
you know, at least a push. So I don't know
that he needs to be better than Julian say U
or Lincoln Keenhols, but he, you know, he just needs
to be as because Lincoln keen Holts or Julian Saying
could be better than Will Howard that that's entirely possible.
But he needs to be he needs to be Will
Howard good. He needs to be you can win. You
can win. Lots of teams have won the National Championship
(27:57):
without having Joe Burrow as their quarterback, and so you know,
you just need to be that good not. I think
that's the measuring stick I'd use, rather than however good
Ohio State's quarterback.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Is this year well, and Will Howard was considerably better
at everything in every statistical measure than Drew Aller last year,
except that Howard through two more interceptions and Penn State
made it to the Big Ten championship game. Now, I
guess did they need a better performance from Aler? It
wouldn't have hurt. But I think you can win it
(28:31):
without being without doing better than Ohio State's quarterback, because
Penn State made it further in the Big Ten than
Ohio State did with a lesser quarterback, so certainly they
could have gotten a few snaps here there, even though
Oregon got out to a pretty big lead. I don't
think you need to have a quarterback as good as
Ohio States to win it, because you've got a lot
of you got some good running game, you've got a
(28:54):
good defense, and so I'd say no. I it's a
really interesting question though, because generally you need a pretty
good quarterback, and Ohios State generally has a pretty good quarterback.
But again with if there boy, if Drew Aller isn't
as good as Julian's saying, or Lincoln keenoles this year
(29:15):
do they have? That's not a great sign, even though
we have high expectations for the Ohio State quarterback Drew Aller.
I heard Adam Brenneman on the radio today talking about
how Drew Aller is the the best returning quarterback in
the nation. I'm like, I understand, you played at Penn State,
but that's a bold and false proclamation based on some
(29:37):
of the other quarterbacks that are returning nationally. But if
he's not as good as what Ohio State's got going
out there, boy, I don't. I don't think that's great.
And that's feels kind of a slam on the Ohio
State quarterbacks. But Drew Aller in his final years a
start is this is third and a half, third year
as a starter, you should be better than a first
year starter.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
He should, yes, and you know, I don't know that
they need him to be, but he should be. You
should be. You have the you know, you're you have
the five star pedigree, which means you have the strong arm.
This is not just well, it's the you know, the
guy who's been around for a million years and he's
he's just been around for a million years. Because he's
been around for a million years, and he wasn't gonna
get drafted last year like Aller was. You know, there
(30:19):
was a bunch of different kind of talking points on
where exactly Dreweller's draft gaide grade was, even from the
different Penn State people at Big ten media days. But
he was going to be you know, he was going
to be picked, and he probably would have been picked
ahead of Will Howard last year just based on some
of his his traits and arm strength and that kind
of stuff. If he can put it together, he kind
(30:40):
of has the pieces there. But we've seen so many
quarterbacks over the year, have you know when you weres
was going to boy, he had all the had all
the traits you want. He was the perfect, you know,
perfect rated quarterback prospect and then just kind of got
to a certain point and that was kind of it.
And so and that was working with Sark, who's a
(31:00):
pretty darn good quarterback coach. And you know, Penn State's
Penn State's offensive staff is good, but it's you know,
they don't have like super renowned Sark or Ryan Day
or Lane Kiffen or someone there working with with alor, so,
you know, I think it's a little bit of an
open question. I don't think he has to be perfect.
I don't think he has to be amazing, but I
(31:21):
think he can be I certainly think he can be
good enough. He just needs to take a step forward.
I don't think he needs to take four running leaps forward.
I think he needs to take like one or two
more steps forward. Their throws that you kind of watch
and you go, come on, you can't you know that
you're you're ten yards off on this throw, like you
got to you gotta be able to get a little
closer than that. But it doesn't. It doesn't have to
(31:44):
be an incredible overnight transformation. It just has to be
taking another step forward. And I think that would be
good enough.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
I do wonder if they need to if he needs
to be better than he was last year to win
the Big Ten. I think that would be a fair
statement as well, even though I think maybe without Oregon
potentially being in the way, maybe nobody needs to be
as good this year to win the Big Ten. But
if drere Aller doesn't take a step forward, then you know,
it doesn't matter if you win to Big ten. That's
(32:13):
about all you're gonna win. So there you go. We
have defeated the listeners once again. Thank you for all
those questions. We always do appreciate it, not just because
it makes it easier on us, but especially because it
makes it easier on us. So now that we'll drop
these two shows and this one in the previous one
that we've recorded, now clean slate, we're ready to talk
camp what we're seeing. Definitely take your questions once we
(32:35):
start getting the info out to you in terms of
what we're seeing and what you're hearing and reading. So
I want to thank you all for tuning in. Hit
that thumbs up if you've not yet done so, hit
the bell to be notified. If you're watching on YouTube,
and of course if you're listening via your podcast platform
or choice, please leave us a five star writing interview.
It does help us, I'm told so we would appreciate that,
(32:56):
and of course find us at buckeyehaddle dot com. Love
to see you there. Join up now say hello to us.
At the the book I had a message board presented
by Jeff Ruby's Clumbus. Got a lot going on there
at Buckhead. Also, thank you all for tuning in and
we'll talk to you guys later
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