December 11, 2025 • 25 mins
In preparation for Ohio State's possible opponent in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Eve, Buckeye Weekly hosts Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr share their thoughts on Texas A&M and how they'd matchup with the Buckeyes after rewatching the Longhorns' 27-17 win over the Aggies.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Turn. Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm
Tony Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom. How's
it going, Tony?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Feel like we should be recording a show at midnight
and yelling and telling some corny jokes, but we do
get to talk about them Texas A and M fighting
naggies and how they looked against Texas. Tony, I know
we're gonna have some Texas A and M viewers for
this show, I'm guessing. So I'm going to start us
off on a real a note that I think everyone
(00:33):
can sort of agree on. I don't want to watch
arch Manning play football anymore, like ever again.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Ever, I got some news for you. Well, yeah, yeah,
Oia State Texas do play next year. I assume he's
going to be better next year, but this was a
rough one And welcome to everybody. We did a Texas
A and M Texas rewatch in preparation for a possible
o Higher State opponent in the Cotton Bowl. But yeah,
I don't. I haven't. Where's the improved been on this guy?
(01:01):
Because his best weapon, his best plays were just scrambling
QB draws running up the middle and then also maybe
a couple of deep shots maybe, and I don't even
think any of those it hit.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
He hit one to a wide receiver who was opened
by twenty yards and he very nearly threw it out
the back.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Yeah, and that was we saw. We were watching that live.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
It was the night before the Michigan game.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah, so we were watching that live in the hotel.
But boy, he makes life so difficult on his backs
on the swing, passes on tight ends, catching a ball
on their hip and having a turn, and so he
did a lot of things that played into Texas A
and M's hands. Unfortunately, he made enough plays and Texas
(01:46):
A and M loses. Texas wins this game with twenty
seven to seventeen and scored twenty one points in the
third and fourth quarter for Texas to get that done.
If I were on fourteen points in the fourth quarter. Kind
of a bizarre ending there, bizarre finish when Texas A
and M seems to be in control and Texas is
(02:07):
not doing all that well, but they did well enough
and then kind of just pulled it out in the end.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Well, this was one where you saw the shots at
the flags at the top of the stadium really blowing
and you know, we've been part of those games. We've
been on the field for those games where it's a
real wind game and that really messes with the quarterbacks.
And I don't know how much of this, like both
quarterbacks looked kind of shaky in this one, and I
don't know how much of that to chalk up to
the wind, because Arch has looked like that at times
(02:35):
the rest of the season, Marcel Reid has looked at
them like that at times. Marcel Reid is a sixty
two percent completion percentage in this game and his sixty
two percent completion percentage for the whole year. So I
don't know how much of that to really chalk up
to the wind, but the fact that they both looked
so shaky at times and I think Arch was under
fifty percent and it was just it was like, man,
(02:56):
oh man, I think I can take much more from
the Texas A and M offense than I can from
the Ohio. From the Texas offense against the Texas A
and M defense, because you look at Texas at Texas's
offense and it's Wella's quarterback isn't very accurate, but boy
can he run. And it's like, well, that's the exact
opposite of what Ohio State. And you know, the Texas
(03:18):
offensive line has not been particularly great this season, and
they had a stat on the broadcast where this was
they had not Texas had not had a player run
or a running back run for one hundred yards in
a game, and quintreyvon rott Weisner did.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Do that in this game.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
So of anything I'm looking at, I think I look
at that as Okay, that's something that would be I
think a little bit of a concern to me if
I'm Texas A and M that Texas, which has not
been able to run the ball at all, was able
to run the ball. Ohio State has shown if they're
going up against the just okay run defense and they
(03:51):
can run the ball, boy, that really opens up the
whole offense for them.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, And I'm just looking through some of these names
because when we do these games and we look at
look at him, and we look for players that pop out,
and if we want to start on the Texas A
and M defensive side of the ball, you've got some
of that on the defensive line. And I apologize normally
we do this at home, and I've got my laptop
and I'm just trying to read through my notes for
(04:16):
that for some names, and number eleven on the defensive tackle.
Number eleven, yeah, Tyler on Yadam. He is supremely quick,
and he is relentless and he gets after it and
he's the guy that stands out all game long. And
then number nine defensive end Powell Howell. Yeah, sorry, he's
he's another one. I was talking with an NFL guy.
(04:37):
He's like, yeah, that guy is probably a first rounder,
so be aware of him. So they've got some guys
that will penetrate on the defensive line. What I did
see also is like this is as straight ahead defensive
line as to a lateral defensive line like Indiana, which
is given Ohio State trouble. So I think if there's
any positives, it's that they've seen this kind of defensive
(04:57):
line attack before and held up relatively Well.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, this stylistically, this is not necessarily the type of
defense that really has given Ohio State huge fits. This
is one of the most talented defensive lines you've seen.
Howell entered the game lead in the SEC and I
think he may have had a sack in this one
as well against Texas, but you know, I just I
looked at him and he's lining up over the right
tackle a lot. And that's where Ohio State has had.
(05:23):
You know, if you were going to pick a side
of the offensive line where you're kind of going, well,
if there's a problem, it's going to be over here,
it's going to be on the right side of the
offensive line. And you know that's going to be a
real challenge for Philip Daniels at right tackle. And then yeah,
and Yadam was the other guy had written down in
terms of the defensive line where three tackles for loss.
He's a senior. I mean, this is a veteran group.
(05:43):
These are both These are both guys who are going
to be off to the NFL. I would guess after
this year. Very very talented defensive line. And man, oh man,
if you get into predictable passing situation, they are coming
in hot. They bring it. This is jab Amen who
if you remember Jay Bateman, they showed him on the
broadcast and I was like, oh yeah, Jay Bateman was
(06:07):
like seven years ago, like one of the absolute up
and comers. He was the Army defensive coordinator and was
phenomenal at Army. And then went to North Carolina and
under mac Brown and it didn't go great. But a
lot of stuff under mac Brown didn't go great at
North Carolina. Has it going since mac Brown left, Well,
we don't have done to talk about that, but he
he is now, you know, he has now sort of
(06:29):
landed on his feet at Texas A and M and
kind of is back to doing some of the same
stuff he was doing at Army, where they are going
to get you off the field and they are going
to you know, if they can do it with personnel, great,
but if they are going to, they are going to
make you try and make a mistake. Now that can
end up in some big plays the other way, but
they are going to be very, very aggressive. And one
(06:49):
of the great stats that I heard during this game
is that Texas A and M is the best in
the nation at getting off the field on third like
stopping the opposing offense on third and four longer. They're
worst in the nation or close to worst in the
nation at stopping you on third and three or shorter.
So it's like, if you're third and short, you're gonna
(07:13):
pick it up. If you're third and long, you know,
four or longer, you're probably not. And so you know,
this is kind of one of these like evergreen things
where it's like, well, whin the trnal for battle and
stay on schedule on offense. But man, oh man, you
need to stay on schedule on offense against Texas A
and M.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, and they'll send five or six on third and
long and just try to create some havoc in there
and speed things up. And they're doing that with guys
that can already succeed pass rushing all by themselves. I
think one of the first names that stood out to
me is number twenty one linebacker Tory in York, who
immediately blew up a double pass that.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Not working.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Blew up a double pass right away, and he was
reading things. He's all over place, stopped a wide receiver
screen at the line of scrimmage, and he just number
twenty one, Like I said, you'll see him. He'll just
continue to show up all over the place, very very
active defender. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
He had eleven tackles in this game. And it wasn't
just you know, he's the mic linebacker and when you
run up the A gap, he's there. I was like,
he's he's going sideline the sideline. He's all over the place,
as you said, active in the passing game as well.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
I was.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I came away impressed with him. I thought the corners
were pretty solid as well. And you know, I don't
know again how much credit to give them. They were
They didn't have many opportunities with accurately throwing passes in
this one, but when they did. Des Rix, who's number two.
He had really good coverage against Parker Livingston, who's the
guy who had the touchdown for Texas when they played
(08:42):
at Ohio State earlier in the year. He's very physical.
He's kind of there Davis Niguanosen where you know the
play's over and it's like you take us half a
second and you look around and then you celebrate because
you're not one hundred percent sure. Will Lee was another one.
He's the other corner, a number four. He's another guy.
He's physical as well. He got call for pass Intfrance
right after halftime. There was one where I thought, oh man,
(09:05):
he is toast like he got beaten and then caught up,
got his head around, made a great play to break
up the ball. I mean, these are two really solid
outside corners.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I think, Yeah, I had back to back notes of
des Ricks getting a PBu and then Willie great coverage
deep on the one where initially looks like he's beaten
and then does get his hand in there. And those
two guys, it's surprising to me that Texas kept throwing
deep on them, which tells you they like the matchups. Yeah,
(09:34):
so that's interesting to me. Where generally if you think, boy,
don't go here like then you're but they felt like
they could attack that, and so I'm interested to see
how Ohio State does the same thing provided you protect
the quarterback and give him, yeah, the opportunity to throw deep.
And it was interesting. I I thought, you know, Desrics,
(09:56):
I wrote down here one time, no PI, whereas what
of them after that where gets a little handsy and
that's the boy. We see that every single week from
every single cornerback. But yeah, I thought, there's all three levels.
There's guys that like on this defense, but there's still
(10:18):
this like well, but they still give up a lot
of points.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, they do give up a lot of points. And
I'm going to be interested to go back. This is
the first game where where we're watching. I am really
interested to go back and rewatch the Notre Dame game
from the beginning of the season, where we're going to
see the best and the worst of the best of
the offense and the worst of the defense probably in
that one. And then we can maybe watch the South
Carolina game where you'll see the best of the team
in the second half and the worst of the team
(10:42):
in the first half. They're very up and down in
some ways. One thing that I did write down is
watching arch Manning run Julian Sayan, Like that's not Julian
Sayan's game at all. I wonder if you have do
you remember the Ohio State at Tea game in this
same stadium and Jerry World in twenty eighteen. Dwayne Haskins
(11:07):
was a quarterback for Ohio State that year and always
would hand them all off, always would hand him off,
always would hand him all off. And then in that
TCU game that was a real shootout and think that
ended up forty to thirty four or something like that,
and he pulled it and just I mean I could
have scored yeah that one, because it was like the
whole defense is crashing. And if you go back and
(11:28):
watch even the Big Ten championship game, there are plays
where if Julian saying, keeps it, and you know, if
it's truly a Reid and he keeps it, he's walking
for a first down. And so you wonder if there's
gonna be some opportunities there. And in a game like
this where it is a win or go home game,
you might be a little more aggressive with those kind
of calls.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yeah, and at some point you do need you know,
you would think it just takes one or two where
then the defense is like, well there's a possibility, So
I need to be a aware of it. And this
defensive line and defense as a whole is so aggressive
that you wonder, how can you, you know, how do
you use it against them, whether it's some screens or
(12:09):
some reads, things of that nature. And again they'll just
look at another note here it's third and seven or
third and long. They are showing seven guys up on
the line of scrimmage and they bring five and two
guys dropp Now, so rarely I didn't charge of it.
Maybe I'll start charting it. How often do they bring
just four on third and four or longer?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Right, But the fact that you're showing seven and then
dropping a couple out, you don't know which ones are
going to be dropping out, and that really complicates things
for the offensive line. And this is an offensive line
that for Ohio State that was having major problems with
twists and stunts and disguised coverages and the disguised pressures
and all that kind of stuff earlier in the year
and then felt like they were getting better and then
(12:52):
a lot of those problems came roaring back against Indiana.
So that's going to certainly be something to watch. Anything
else on the defensive side of the ball before we
moved to the.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Offense, you know, we can go ahead and move to
the offense because I think there's a lot there as well.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, Marcel Reid, I think is where you start on
this one. And this is one where he was twenty
for thirty two for one hundred and eighty yards, no touchdown,
two picks, two back to back picks right at the
end of the game, which is that that's a big oof.
But twelve carry, seventy one yards, five point nine yards
per carry. He was really really active. He was there
leading rusher in this game. That's certainly somebody's going to
(13:27):
really change how aggressive Ohio State can be. He was
not very accurate. There were a bunch of a bunch
of inaccurate balls. Again, I don't know how much of
that to chalk up to the wind without having been there,
but the fact that both quarterbacks look like this and
the fact that they're talking about the wind makes me
think it's probably at least partly that and you know,
which obviously is not going to be a factor in
the Cotton Bowl.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
But also even some of the just thirteen yard passes
into the flats or to the tight end over the middle,
they're just sitting in the zone. There's you got to
reach forward or it's behind you. And that's both quarterbacks.
I did see, and this is kind of in aside.
I saw Marcel Reid on the Robert Griffin podcast. I
saw a clip of this and I don't know how
(14:08):
recent it was, but it's Robert Griffin and his wife
and they're like, so, Marcel, what if what if say,
like Miami came to you with like a four million
dollar offer, Like what would be your you know, what
would be your reaction? He's like, well, I'd have to
talk to my parents, but very happy at text A
and m everybody expects him to be back, and I
(14:28):
if Ohista has to keep him contained, obviously, because his
when he's moving and he's getting out of the pocket,
then anything can happen when he's in the pocket. I
feel like that's the that's where Ohio State wants to
keep him the entire time, because if he's not the
biggest guy, he's not going to see the entire field
all that well, and he's not the most accurate guy,
and he starts to feel the rush getting a little
(14:49):
bit closer, a little bit closer, even if it's only
sort of getting closer, I think it feels like the
rush is getting closer to him than it actually is.
So if you can keep him, keep him contained, and
we know that they've done that very well with otherquarterbacks
like Marcel Reid, if he stays in the pocket, I
feel like that's a winning, you know, winning possibility for
Ohigo State, especially since really only one wide receiver really pops.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, And I think I look at Reid and he
is not, you know, he's not a true freshman like
Bryce Underwood. But I think I found myself thinking some
of the same things with Bright that I thought with
Bryce Underwood as we were kind of watching a bunch
of the Michigan games where if you can make him
stay in the pocket and make him go through his progressions,
that's where you probably have to you know, that's what
(15:32):
probably Ohio State's going to want to do because you
don't want him getting out. If he can get out,
he is every bit as dynamic of as Fernando Mendoza,
if not more. And you saw Mendoza pick up some
really crucial first downs for Indiana in the Big tench
Championship game, and you saw you saw me Marcel Reid
pick them up, pick up some crucial first downs for
Texas A and m here. But then if you can
make him sit back in the pocket or when you're
(15:54):
in a predictable passing situation, then you get to a
point where if you can sit in coverage and make
him try and read the defense, then that's that's not
necessarily his strongest suit, because there was the first interception
was there were four Texas defenders right there and he's like, yeah,
maybe I can wedge this in there, and he could
not wedge the ball in there. And then the second one,
(16:17):
the second one reminded me a lot of Julian Sayin's
interception against Michigan where he was like, I haven't gone
back and listened to the post game, but I bet
he was expecting a different coverage than he got, and
so then the underneath defender was there, you know, you know,
he was expecting the underneath defender to get pulled somewhere
else and they didn't, and so then he threw it
and went right to the right to the underneath defender,
(16:38):
a lot like Julian Sayin's interception early in that Michigan game.
But look at I look at Marcel Reid and think,
really dynamic player, really exciting player, might make big plays
for both teams.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yeah, and just depends on which half, right, like the
South Carolina game, which we will eventually get to you
now today. But yeah, with with the Texas at times
would just drop seven. And you know, I have the
eyes on the quarterback and like when you want to
throw around us, throw over us, whatever you want to
try to do, we're just we're here and if you
(17:11):
try to scramble, we're gonna be there, so just so
we see you. And I think that's the best way
to go with him, because it'll be interesting to see
how passive the defense Ohio State defense would be with him.
Although if you throw one guy, just if you throw
blitz on it with you know, you throw a fifth
guy in there, just make sure that you've got everything
(17:34):
covered up, because he's quick enough and he's dynamic enough
to find that and hurt you with that. But overall,
if you just keep him, keep him in the pocket,
which is maybe a strange thing to say for a quarterback,
you're gonna like your chances. Oh for Ohio State. Ohio
State would like their chances.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yeah. Run game wise, it was fine. Ruben Owens was
kind of just three and four yards every time they
gave it to him. I think as long was like
like it just was kind of okay, just just very
small chunks, just sort of you're running the ball just
because you feel like you have to run the ball.
E J. Smith, who is Emmett Smith's son. He came in,
(18:11):
he had a touchdown, had really good burst. He had
another one where he was dragging guys after that, but that,
you know, that might just be he was the fresh
legs on the field later in the game. But he's
you know, he is certainly someone to watch. He's number
twenty two. Owen's number four, but you didn't. I didn't
look at them and go one of these guys is
going to run for one hundred and fifty yards against
(18:32):
Ohio State. I mean, as I said, Reid was the
leading rusher for Texas A and M, which you know,
and this is this is the only game they've lost.
So I'm really interested to go back and watch some
of the other games because I've seen like bits and
pieces of other games. I'm really interested to go back
and watch other games because you know, this is this
is a rivalry game. Sometimes weird stuff happens. It's a
little maybe a little bit of a weather game. So
(18:53):
I don't want to draw too many like firm conclusions here,
but in a day when they couldn't throw the ball
real well, they couldn't run on the ball real well.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I'm also interested to see how often discipline and penalties
come into play, because Texas A and M at two
fourth and ones in this game, one was got botched
by like a false start and the other one got
botched by I think a delay of game. So twice
they had fourth and one that they were going to
go for that turned into punts. And I wonder how
often that is the case for them. Also, right tackle
(19:22):
seventy eight, Demetrius crown Over, maybe some issues there. It'll
be interesting to see if that's is that the guy
we're always trying to find the guy on the offensive line,
like that's the guy you got to go after. We'll
see if that's him or not. But Ethan Burke, Texas
defensive end was given these guys all kinds of problems,
including crown Over just basically punishing him. And I think
(19:48):
there's a lot of Kayden Curry there in that comparison.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah. And then as far as the wide receivers, Casey Concepcion,
who was a North Carolina State transfer, he's number seven.
He is the a little bit of everything guy where
he'll make a miss, very hard to get on the ground.
They use him in the run game. Look, he had
a really nice punt return at one point in this game.
He's probably the receiver that I look at as probably
the biggest threat there. But Mario Craver number one. He
(20:15):
was solid as well, versatile, can make a miss and
catch the ball in traffic, not you know, not not
a All American and you're not gonna hear him from
the politanic cough or anything like that. But he is
a solid number two concepcio and is definitely the guy
that I would look at and say that's that's the
guy that if Ohio say can contain him, then you're
(20:35):
probably you're probably a decent way towards containing the Texas
A and M offense because THEO Melon Orstrom, the tight
end number seventeen, he is you know, he's a big dude,
a big target in the passing game, but he's you know,
he's he's not gonna put one hundred and fifty yards.
You're gonna You're gonna throw him three times for forty
two yards. And it's like, wow, that's a big game
(20:55):
for a tight end. But that that doesn't change the
game necessarily.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
And I know the name Casey concepts. You you watched
enough college fort while you know it. And really the
only reason I wrote him down is because of his
returning And I didn't write any receiver's names down. Like,
nothing stood out to me in this game. And maybe
it would have if Marcel Reed had been more accurate,
but nobody really stood out to me in terms of
the past catchers. And I know that's going to change,
(21:21):
but yeah, Casey conceptsy Oon a dangerous guy as well,
before we get into the special teams. I did want
to go back and was there somebody else that I
wanted to touch on. If I find it, I'll find it.
But have you ever said, when was last time you
saw this many pooch kicks in a game in terms
of the kickoffs.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, it was. It was weird because we watching Ohio State,
the kickoff feels like it's almost not a part of
the game. It was, you know, I think the pooch
kickoffs is probably a function of the wind where you're kicking.
If you're kicking into the wind, you know you're not
going to kick it out of the back of the
end zone. So I would assume that that was probably
a part of it. Again, this is the first Texas
(22:00):
A and M game we've watched. I'm really interested to
go back and watch the rest of the rest of that.
They did make a change at kicker for this game
for field goals, and they had one the head one blocked.
The guy who is the kickoff guy is no longer
their their field goal kicker, so they did make a
change there, which you know, I have not gone back
(22:20):
and looked the season stats. I'm guessing they didn't do
that because it was going too well. So you know this,
and in this one again you had a field goal blocked.
Ohio State has been pretty conservative on field goals in
these sort of matchup type games, where they will keep
the defense out there and not necessarily have the like
full field goal block out there because they're perfectly happy
(22:40):
to give up three points. They don't want to give
up a fake for seven. So you know, that may
not be something that necessarily comes into play. But you know,
Ohio State fans, I'm sure are going into this game
with a little bit of a jaundiced eye towards their
their special teams and their their place kicking in particular,
and I would guess Texas A and M probably is
to a certain yes.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Well, the last thing for me, and to go back
to the Texas A and M defense, surprised how well
Trey Wisner ran the ball. He went for one hundred
and sixty or something like that, and there's some very
big holes and he had a couple of long ones
in there. But I was this is a team that
had struggled running the ball, and they were they looked
just fine running it and when we're watching this, it's like, well,
(23:21):
I can see Bo Jackson doing all of these things
that Trey Wisner is doing.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Right, this was not running for five hundred yards, but
this was Texas had twelve yards per play, not just run,
but twelve yards per play in the third quarters. Like
eleven point nine yards per play in the third quarter.
If you give eleven point nine yards per play to
a team that's quarterback, whose quarterback is completing less than
fifty percent of his passes, like that's that's a red
flag to me. And again, I'm so interested to go
(23:47):
back and watch them the other games because you look
at the overall stats for Texas A and m's defense
and it's like, oh, they're not bad.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
They were.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I think they're seventeenth and spplus something like that on defense.
But then you see like forty two points against Notre Dame.
You watch this game where Texas is kind of playing
left handed, where they don't have a great offensive line,
they haven't been able to run the ball all year,
they can't complete any passes, and yet they put up
twenty seven points, and it's like how And so I'm
having trouble squaring that with where Texas A and m
(24:13):
is statistically nationally. So again, I'm very interested to watch
some more of those games. But it feels like this
was I don't know how much I really truly take
from this game because you look at what Texas is
doing on offense and it's like there's not a lot
of overlap between what they do and what Ohio State does.
This to me was a little bit more like we'll
(24:35):
identify some broad trends, identify some names to know, and
then probably get things a little more dialed in as
we get a little closer to the.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Cotton Bolt yep. And we will also we're going to
be doing watching the Miami pit game, and we're not
just choosing one blowout versus one loss. We're just watching
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(25:04):
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(25:25):
Thank you all for tuning in and we will talk
to you all later
Turn. Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm
Tony Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom. How's
it going, Tony?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Feel like we should be recording a show at midnight
and yelling and telling some corny jokes, but we do
get to talk about them Texas A and M fighting
naggies and how they looked against Texas. Tony, I know
we're gonna have some Texas A and M viewers for
this show, I'm guessing. So I'm going to start us
off on a real a note that I think everyone
(00:33):
can sort of agree on. I don't want to watch
arch Manning play football anymore, like ever again.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Ever, I got some news for you. Well, yeah, yeah,
Oia State Texas do play next year. I assume he's
going to be better next year, but this was a
rough one And welcome to everybody. We did a Texas
A and M Texas rewatch in preparation for a possible
o Higher State opponent in the Cotton Bowl. But yeah,
I don't. I haven't. Where's the improved been on this guy?
(01:01):
Because his best weapon, his best plays were just scrambling
QB draws running up the middle and then also maybe
a couple of deep shots maybe, and I don't even
think any of those it hit.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
He hit one to a wide receiver who was opened
by twenty yards and he very nearly threw it out
the back.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Yeah, and that was we saw. We were watching that live.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
It was the night before the Michigan game.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah, so we were watching that live in the hotel.
But boy, he makes life so difficult on his backs
on the swing, passes on tight ends, catching a ball
on their hip and having a turn, and so he
did a lot of things that played into Texas A
and M's hands. Unfortunately, he made enough plays and Texas
(01:46):
A and M loses. Texas wins this game with twenty
seven to seventeen and scored twenty one points in the
third and fourth quarter for Texas to get that done.
If I were on fourteen points in the fourth quarter. Kind
of a bizarre ending there, bizarre finish when Texas A
and M seems to be in control and Texas is
(02:07):
not doing all that well, but they did well enough
and then kind of just pulled it out in the end.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Well, this was one where you saw the shots at
the flags at the top of the stadium really blowing
and you know, we've been part of those games. We've
been on the field for those games where it's a
real wind game and that really messes with the quarterbacks.
And I don't know how much of this, like both
quarterbacks looked kind of shaky in this one, and I
don't know how much of that to chalk up to
the wind, because Arch has looked like that at times
(02:35):
the rest of the season, Marcel Reid has looked at
them like that at times. Marcel Reid is a sixty
two percent completion percentage in this game and his sixty
two percent completion percentage for the whole year. So I
don't know how much of that to really chalk up
to the wind, but the fact that they both looked
so shaky at times and I think Arch was under
fifty percent and it was just it was like, man,
(02:56):
oh man, I think I can take much more from
the Texas A and M offense than I can from
the Ohio. From the Texas offense against the Texas A
and M defense, because you look at Texas at Texas's
offense and it's Wella's quarterback isn't very accurate, but boy
can he run. And it's like, well, that's the exact
opposite of what Ohio State. And you know, the Texas
(03:18):
offensive line has not been particularly great this season, and
they had a stat on the broadcast where this was
they had not Texas had not had a player run
or a running back run for one hundred yards in
a game, and quintreyvon rott Weisner did.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Do that in this game.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
So of anything I'm looking at, I think I look
at that as Okay, that's something that would be I
think a little bit of a concern to me if
I'm Texas A and M that Texas, which has not
been able to run the ball at all, was able
to run the ball. Ohio State has shown if they're
going up against the just okay run defense and they
(03:51):
can run the ball, boy, that really opens up the
whole offense for them.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, And I'm just looking through some of these names
because when we do these games and we look at
look at him, and we look for players that pop out,
and if we want to start on the Texas A
and M defensive side of the ball, you've got some
of that on the defensive line. And I apologize normally
we do this at home, and I've got my laptop
and I'm just trying to read through my notes for
(04:16):
that for some names, and number eleven on the defensive tackle.
Number eleven, yeah, Tyler on Yadam. He is supremely quick,
and he is relentless and he gets after it and
he's the guy that stands out all game long. And
then number nine defensive end Powell Howell. Yeah, sorry, he's
he's another one. I was talking with an NFL guy.
(04:37):
He's like, yeah, that guy is probably a first rounder,
so be aware of him. So they've got some guys
that will penetrate on the defensive line. What I did
see also is like this is as straight ahead defensive
line as to a lateral defensive line like Indiana, which
is given Ohio State trouble. So I think if there's
any positives, it's that they've seen this kind of defensive
(04:57):
line attack before and held up relatively Well.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, this stylistically, this is not necessarily the type of
defense that really has given Ohio State huge fits. This
is one of the most talented defensive lines you've seen.
Howell entered the game lead in the SEC and I
think he may have had a sack in this one
as well against Texas, but you know, I just I
looked at him and he's lining up over the right
tackle a lot. And that's where Ohio State has had.
(05:23):
You know, if you were going to pick a side
of the offensive line where you're kind of going, well,
if there's a problem, it's going to be over here,
it's going to be on the right side of the
offensive line. And you know that's going to be a
real challenge for Philip Daniels at right tackle. And then yeah,
and Yadam was the other guy had written down in
terms of the defensive line where three tackles for loss.
He's a senior. I mean, this is a veteran group.
(05:43):
These are both These are both guys who are going
to be off to the NFL. I would guess after
this year. Very very talented defensive line. And man, oh man,
if you get into predictable passing situation, they are coming
in hot. They bring it. This is jab Amen who
if you remember Jay Bateman, they showed him on the
broadcast and I was like, oh yeah, Jay Bateman was
(06:07):
like seven years ago, like one of the absolute up
and comers. He was the Army defensive coordinator and was
phenomenal at Army. And then went to North Carolina and
under mac Brown and it didn't go great. But a
lot of stuff under mac Brown didn't go great at
North Carolina. Has it going since mac Brown left, Well,
we don't have done to talk about that, but he
he is now, you know, he has now sort of
(06:29):
landed on his feet at Texas A and M and
kind of is back to doing some of the same
stuff he was doing at Army, where they are going
to get you off the field and they are going
to you know, if they can do it with personnel, great,
but if they are going to, they are going to
make you try and make a mistake. Now that can
end up in some big plays the other way, but
they are going to be very, very aggressive. And one
(06:49):
of the great stats that I heard during this game
is that Texas A and M is the best in
the nation at getting off the field on third like
stopping the opposing offense on third and four longer. They're
worst in the nation or close to worst in the
nation at stopping you on third and three or shorter.
So it's like, if you're third and short, you're gonna
(07:13):
pick it up. If you're third and long, you know,
four or longer, you're probably not. And so you know,
this is kind of one of these like evergreen things
where it's like, well, whin the trnal for battle and
stay on schedule on offense. But man, oh man, you
need to stay on schedule on offense against Texas A
and M.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, and they'll send five or six on third and
long and just try to create some havoc in there
and speed things up. And they're doing that with guys
that can already succeed pass rushing all by themselves. I
think one of the first names that stood out to
me is number twenty one linebacker Tory in York, who
immediately blew up a double pass that.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Not working.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Blew up a double pass right away, and he was
reading things. He's all over place, stopped a wide receiver
screen at the line of scrimmage, and he just number
twenty one, Like I said, you'll see him. He'll just
continue to show up all over the place, very very
active defender. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
He had eleven tackles in this game. And it wasn't
just you know, he's the mic linebacker and when you
run up the A gap, he's there. I was like,
he's he's going sideline the sideline. He's all over the place,
as you said, active in the passing game as well.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
I was.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I came away impressed with him. I thought the corners
were pretty solid as well. And you know, I don't
know again how much credit to give them. They were
They didn't have many opportunities with accurately throwing passes in
this one, but when they did. Des Rix, who's number two.
He had really good coverage against Parker Livingston, who's the
guy who had the touchdown for Texas when they played
(08:42):
at Ohio State earlier in the year. He's very physical.
He's kind of there Davis Niguanosen where you know the
play's over and it's like you take us half a
second and you look around and then you celebrate because
you're not one hundred percent sure. Will Lee was another one.
He's the other corner, a number four. He's another guy.
He's physical as well. He got call for pass Intfrance
right after halftime. There was one where I thought, oh man,
(09:05):
he is toast like he got beaten and then caught up,
got his head around, made a great play to break
up the ball. I mean, these are two really solid
outside corners.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I think, Yeah, I had back to back notes of
des Ricks getting a PBu and then Willie great coverage
deep on the one where initially looks like he's beaten
and then does get his hand in there. And those
two guys, it's surprising to me that Texas kept throwing
deep on them, which tells you they like the matchups. Yeah,
(09:34):
so that's interesting to me. Where generally if you think, boy,
don't go here like then you're but they felt like
they could attack that, and so I'm interested to see
how Ohio State does the same thing provided you protect
the quarterback and give him, yeah, the opportunity to throw deep.
And it was interesting. I I thought, you know, Desrics,
(09:56):
I wrote down here one time, no PI, whereas what
of them after that where gets a little handsy and
that's the boy. We see that every single week from
every single cornerback. But yeah, I thought, there's all three levels.
There's guys that like on this defense, but there's still
(10:18):
this like well, but they still give up a lot
of points.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, they do give up a lot of points. And
I'm going to be interested to go back. This is
the first game where where we're watching. I am really
interested to go back and rewatch the Notre Dame game
from the beginning of the season, where we're going to
see the best and the worst of the best of
the offense and the worst of the defense probably in
that one. And then we can maybe watch the South
Carolina game where you'll see the best of the team
in the second half and the worst of the team
(10:42):
in the first half. They're very up and down in
some ways. One thing that I did write down is
watching arch Manning run Julian Sayan, Like that's not Julian
Sayan's game at all. I wonder if you have do
you remember the Ohio State at Tea game in this
same stadium and Jerry World in twenty eighteen. Dwayne Haskins
(11:07):
was a quarterback for Ohio State that year and always
would hand them all off, always would hand him off,
always would hand him all off. And then in that
TCU game that was a real shootout and think that
ended up forty to thirty four or something like that,
and he pulled it and just I mean I could
have scored yeah that one, because it was like the
whole defense is crashing. And if you go back and
(11:28):
watch even the Big Ten championship game, there are plays
where if Julian saying, keeps it, and you know, if
it's truly a Reid and he keeps it, he's walking
for a first down. And so you wonder if there's
gonna be some opportunities there. And in a game like
this where it is a win or go home game,
you might be a little more aggressive with those kind
of calls.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yeah, and at some point you do need you know,
you would think it just takes one or two where
then the defense is like, well there's a possibility, So
I need to be a aware of it. And this
defensive line and defense as a whole is so aggressive
that you wonder, how can you, you know, how do
you use it against them, whether it's some screens or
(12:09):
some reads, things of that nature. And again they'll just
look at another note here it's third and seven or
third and long. They are showing seven guys up on
the line of scrimmage and they bring five and two
guys dropp Now, so rarely I didn't charge of it.
Maybe I'll start charting it. How often do they bring
just four on third and four or longer?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Right, But the fact that you're showing seven and then
dropping a couple out, you don't know which ones are
going to be dropping out, and that really complicates things
for the offensive line. And this is an offensive line
that for Ohio State that was having major problems with
twists and stunts and disguised coverages and the disguised pressures
and all that kind of stuff earlier in the year
and then felt like they were getting better and then
(12:52):
a lot of those problems came roaring back against Indiana.
So that's going to certainly be something to watch. Anything
else on the defensive side of the ball before we
moved to the.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Offense, you know, we can go ahead and move to
the offense because I think there's a lot there as well.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, Marcel Reid, I think is where you start on
this one. And this is one where he was twenty
for thirty two for one hundred and eighty yards, no touchdown,
two picks, two back to back picks right at the
end of the game, which is that that's a big oof.
But twelve carry, seventy one yards, five point nine yards
per carry. He was really really active. He was there
leading rusher in this game. That's certainly somebody's going to
(13:27):
really change how aggressive Ohio State can be. He was
not very accurate. There were a bunch of a bunch
of inaccurate balls. Again, I don't know how much of
that to chalk up to the wind without having been there,
but the fact that both quarterbacks look like this and
the fact that they're talking about the wind makes me
think it's probably at least partly that and you know,
which obviously is not going to be a factor in
the Cotton Bowl.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
But also even some of the just thirteen yard passes
into the flats or to the tight end over the middle,
they're just sitting in the zone. There's you got to
reach forward or it's behind you. And that's both quarterbacks.
I did see, and this is kind of in aside.
I saw Marcel Reid on the Robert Griffin podcast. I
saw a clip of this and I don't know how
(14:08):
recent it was, but it's Robert Griffin and his wife
and they're like, so, Marcel, what if what if say,
like Miami came to you with like a four million
dollar offer, Like what would be your you know, what
would be your reaction? He's like, well, I'd have to
talk to my parents, but very happy at text A
and m everybody expects him to be back, and I
(14:28):
if Ohista has to keep him contained, obviously, because his
when he's moving and he's getting out of the pocket,
then anything can happen when he's in the pocket. I
feel like that's the that's where Ohio State wants to
keep him the entire time, because if he's not the
biggest guy, he's not going to see the entire field
all that well, and he's not the most accurate guy,
and he starts to feel the rush getting a little
(14:49):
bit closer, a little bit closer, even if it's only
sort of getting closer, I think it feels like the
rush is getting closer to him than it actually is.
So if you can keep him, keep him contained, and
we know that they've done that very well with otherquarterbacks
like Marcel Reid, if he stays in the pocket, I
feel like that's a winning, you know, winning possibility for
Ohigo State, especially since really only one wide receiver really pops.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, And I think I look at Reid and he
is not, you know, he's not a true freshman like
Bryce Underwood. But I think I found myself thinking some
of the same things with Bright that I thought with
Bryce Underwood as we were kind of watching a bunch
of the Michigan games where if you can make him
stay in the pocket and make him go through his progressions,
that's where you probably have to you know, that's what
(15:32):
probably Ohio State's going to want to do because you
don't want him getting out. If he can get out,
he is every bit as dynamic of as Fernando Mendoza,
if not more. And you saw Mendoza pick up some
really crucial first downs for Indiana in the Big tench
Championship game, and you saw you saw me Marcel Reid
pick them up, pick up some crucial first downs for
Texas A and m here. But then if you can
make him sit back in the pocket or when you're
(15:54):
in a predictable passing situation, then you get to a
point where if you can sit in coverage and make
him try and read the defense, then that's that's not
necessarily his strongest suit, because there was the first interception
was there were four Texas defenders right there and he's like, yeah,
maybe I can wedge this in there, and he could
not wedge the ball in there. And then the second one,
(16:17):
the second one reminded me a lot of Julian Sayin's
interception against Michigan where he was like, I haven't gone
back and listened to the post game, but I bet
he was expecting a different coverage than he got, and
so then the underneath defender was there, you know, you know,
he was expecting the underneath defender to get pulled somewhere
else and they didn't, and so then he threw it
and went right to the right to the underneath defender,
(16:38):
a lot like Julian Sayin's interception early in that Michigan game.
But look at I look at Marcel Reid and think,
really dynamic player, really exciting player, might make big plays
for both teams.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yeah, and just depends on which half, right, like the
South Carolina game, which we will eventually get to you
now today. But yeah, with with the Texas at times
would just drop seven. And you know, I have the
eyes on the quarterback and like when you want to
throw around us, throw over us, whatever you want to
try to do, we're just we're here and if you
(17:11):
try to scramble, we're gonna be there, so just so
we see you. And I think that's the best way
to go with him, because it'll be interesting to see
how passive the defense Ohio State defense would be with him.
Although if you throw one guy, just if you throw
blitz on it with you know, you throw a fifth
guy in there, just make sure that you've got everything
(17:34):
covered up, because he's quick enough and he's dynamic enough
to find that and hurt you with that. But overall,
if you just keep him, keep him in the pocket,
which is maybe a strange thing to say for a quarterback,
you're gonna like your chances. Oh for Ohio State. Ohio
State would like their chances.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yeah. Run game wise, it was fine. Ruben Owens was
kind of just three and four yards every time they
gave it to him. I think as long was like
like it just was kind of okay, just just very
small chunks, just sort of you're running the ball just
because you feel like you have to run the ball.
E J. Smith, who is Emmett Smith's son. He came in,
(18:11):
he had a touchdown, had really good burst. He had
another one where he was dragging guys after that, but that,
you know, that might just be he was the fresh
legs on the field later in the game. But he's
you know, he is certainly someone to watch. He's number
twenty two. Owen's number four, but you didn't. I didn't
look at them and go one of these guys is
going to run for one hundred and fifty yards against
(18:32):
Ohio State. I mean, as I said, Reid was the
leading rusher for Texas A and M, which you know,
and this is this is the only game they've lost.
So I'm really interested to go back and watch some
of the other games because I've seen like bits and
pieces of other games. I'm really interested to go back
and watch other games because you know, this is this
is a rivalry game. Sometimes weird stuff happens. It's a
little maybe a little bit of a weather game. So
(18:53):
I don't want to draw too many like firm conclusions here,
but in a day when they couldn't throw the ball
real well, they couldn't run on the ball real well.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I'm also interested to see how often discipline and penalties
come into play, because Texas A and M at two
fourth and ones in this game, one was got botched
by like a false start and the other one got
botched by I think a delay of game. So twice
they had fourth and one that they were going to
go for that turned into punts. And I wonder how
often that is the case for them. Also, right tackle
(19:22):
seventy eight, Demetrius crown Over, maybe some issues there. It'll
be interesting to see if that's is that the guy
we're always trying to find the guy on the offensive line,
like that's the guy you got to go after. We'll
see if that's him or not. But Ethan Burke, Texas
defensive end was given these guys all kinds of problems,
including crown Over just basically punishing him. And I think
(19:48):
there's a lot of Kayden Curry there in that comparison.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah. And then as far as the wide receivers, Casey Concepcion,
who was a North Carolina State transfer, he's number seven.
He is the a little bit of everything guy where
he'll make a miss, very hard to get on the ground.
They use him in the run game. Look, he had
a really nice punt return at one point in this game.
He's probably the receiver that I look at as probably
the biggest threat there. But Mario Craver number one. He
(20:15):
was solid as well, versatile, can make a miss and
catch the ball in traffic, not you know, not not
a All American and you're not gonna hear him from
the politanic cough or anything like that. But he is
a solid number two concepcio and is definitely the guy
that I would look at and say that's that's the
guy that if Ohio say can contain him, then you're
(20:35):
probably you're probably a decent way towards containing the Texas
A and M offense because THEO Melon Orstrom, the tight
end number seventeen, he is you know, he's a big dude,
a big target in the passing game, but he's you know,
he's he's not gonna put one hundred and fifty yards.
You're gonna You're gonna throw him three times for forty
two yards. And it's like, wow, that's a big game
(20:55):
for a tight end. But that that doesn't change the
game necessarily.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
And I know the name Casey concepts. You you watched
enough college fort while you know it. And really the
only reason I wrote him down is because of his
returning And I didn't write any receiver's names down. Like,
nothing stood out to me in this game. And maybe
it would have if Marcel Reed had been more accurate,
but nobody really stood out to me in terms of
the past catchers. And I know that's going to change,
(21:21):
but yeah, Casey conceptsy Oon a dangerous guy as well,
before we get into the special teams. I did want
to go back and was there somebody else that I
wanted to touch on. If I find it, I'll find it.
But have you ever said, when was last time you
saw this many pooch kicks in a game in terms
of the kickoffs.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, it was. It was weird because we watching Ohio State,
the kickoff feels like it's almost not a part of
the game. It was, you know, I think the pooch
kickoffs is probably a function of the wind where you're kicking.
If you're kicking into the wind, you know you're not
going to kick it out of the back of the
end zone. So I would assume that that was probably
a part of it. Again, this is the first Texas
(22:00):
A and M game we've watched. I'm really interested to
go back and watch the rest of the rest of that.
They did make a change at kicker for this game
for field goals, and they had one the head one blocked.
The guy who is the kickoff guy is no longer
their their field goal kicker, so they did make a
change there, which you know, I have not gone back
(22:20):
and looked the season stats. I'm guessing they didn't do
that because it was going too well. So you know this,
and in this one again you had a field goal blocked.
Ohio State has been pretty conservative on field goals in
these sort of matchup type games, where they will keep
the defense out there and not necessarily have the like
full field goal block out there because they're perfectly happy
(22:40):
to give up three points. They don't want to give
up a fake for seven. So you know, that may
not be something that necessarily comes into play. But you know,
Ohio State fans, I'm sure are going into this game
with a little bit of a jaundiced eye towards their
their special teams and their their place kicking in particular,
and I would guess Texas A and M probably is
to a certain yes.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Well, the last thing for me, and to go back
to the Texas A and M defense, surprised how well
Trey Wisner ran the ball. He went for one hundred
and sixty or something like that, and there's some very
big holes and he had a couple of long ones
in there. But I was this is a team that
had struggled running the ball, and they were they looked
just fine running it and when we're watching this, it's like, well,
(23:21):
I can see Bo Jackson doing all of these things
that Trey Wisner is doing.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Right, this was not running for five hundred yards, but
this was Texas had twelve yards per play, not just run,
but twelve yards per play in the third quarters. Like
eleven point nine yards per play in the third quarter.
If you give eleven point nine yards per play to
a team that's quarterback, whose quarterback is completing less than
fifty percent of his passes, like that's that's a red
flag to me. And again, I'm so interested to go
(23:47):
back and watch them the other games because you look
at the overall stats for Texas A and m's defense
and it's like, oh, they're not bad.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
They were.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I think they're seventeenth and spplus something like that on defense.
But then you see like forty two points against Notre Dame.
You watch this game where Texas is kind of playing
left handed, where they don't have a great offensive line,
they haven't been able to run the ball all year,
they can't complete any passes, and yet they put up
twenty seven points, and it's like how And so I'm
having trouble squaring that with where Texas A and m
(24:13):
is statistically nationally. So again, I'm very interested to watch
some more of those games. But it feels like this
was I don't know how much I really truly take
from this game because you look at what Texas is
doing on offense and it's like there's not a lot
of overlap between what they do and what Ohio State does.
This to me was a little bit more like we'll
(24:35):
identify some broad trends, identify some names to know, and
then probably get things a little more dialed in as
we get a little closer to the.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Cotton Bolt yep. And we will also we're going to
be doing watching the Miami pit game, and we're not
just choosing one blowout versus one loss. We're just watching
the last two games that both teams have played. And
so we'll have that for you guys here in the
coming days as well. But if you're watching on YouTube,
go ahead and it the thumbs up, subscribe to the channel.
That way, you'll know when we drop all of our
(25:04):
other shows, and there will be plenty coming as you know,
and you can follow us at the bucke Huddle dot
com as well. Sign up say hello to us there.
Become a member. We'd love to see you and Buck
us tomorrow morning. Tom his podcast Bukay Weekly, our podcast
go Ahead. If you're not subscribed to them on the
audio platforms of your choice, please do so. Always helps us.
We would appreciate that. That will do it from here.
(25:25):
Thank you all for tuning in and we will talk
to you all later
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