Brendan Gulick and Anthony Moeglin get you ready for Rivalry Week seven days ahead of kickoff in Ann Arbor.
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00:00 [SOUND]
00:09 Saturday, November 18th,
00:11 the Buckeyes with a 37 to 3 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
00:16 And as fast as they've already turned the lights out in the stadium because the team
00:19 has left, the crowd is gone.
00:22 Turn the page, it's rivalry week, and
00:25 it is the biggest week in college football without question.
00:30 Here in 2023, it is certainly the biggest week for each of these two programs.
00:34 Brendan Gulick, Anthony Meglin with you.
00:36 We just wrapped up Ohio State's win in week 11.
00:39 Obviously, Michigan not playing here.
00:41 They went to College Park and they survived.
00:44 I wouldn't say they thrived, but they got it done.
00:47 And give Maryland some credit because for whatever reason,
00:49 the Terrapins have been pretty good at throwing themselves into the equation
00:55 just enough to make things interesting over the years in critical games.
00:58 And Michigan squeaked out a win, I guess, 31-24.
01:03 They were up 23 to 3 and certainly were susceptible to
01:07 Talia Tungabailoa throwing quite a bit in the second half.
01:11 Finished with 247 passing yards against that vaunted Michigan defense.
01:16 And now it's time for the game this upcoming week.
01:20 Anthony, I know it was quite an intro, but your initial thoughts here on
01:24 where the Buckeyes are now compared to where you wanted them to be
01:30 as they get ready for this game.
01:31 Yeah, it was funny listening to Ryan Day's post-game press conference.
01:36 As quick as you and I have turned the page, he didn't say it,
01:40 but felt like he turned it in the third quarter of the Minnesota game.
01:45 But in terms of this team, where are they at?
01:48 Where did I, in my opinion, want them to be?
01:51 I think you're right where you need to be.
01:54 We've referenced it a bunch.
01:56 Throughout this entire season,
01:58 this team hasn't been perfect at all throughout the year.
02:02 There's been, every week, there's been something that we've talked about,
02:05 whether it be the toughness of the offensive line or Kyle McCord playing better or
02:09 getting Marvin Harrison more involved or play calling or this, that, and the other thing.
02:12 But the beauty of a football season is that you need to be playing your best football
02:18 when it counts the most, and that's at the end of the year.
02:20 And thankfully for Ohio State, you go back to last week and you go back to today.
02:24 This team is playing very, very good football.
02:28 This defense is incredible.
02:31 I don't know that there's a better defensive group in all of the country.
02:34 And this offense has done what it needed to do to get to a point where
02:39 this is a national championship caliber offense.
02:41 It truly is.
02:42 Kyle McCord's playing good enough football to get the ball to his elite weapons everywhere.
02:48 Travion Henderson, now that they've discovered the run game and they've been executing it at
02:53 such a high level that this team, there's not a team in America that you're scared of
02:59 playing with the way that this Ohio State group's playing right now.
03:01 >> I agree.
03:03 Look, I'm not sitting here saying Ohio State's gonna win the national championship.
03:08 I think they got a heck of a chance to do it, and it obviously all starts this week.
03:13 I think it might have been week three, maybe week four, when we asked each other, okay,
03:19 gauge whether or not you think right now if this is a college football playoff caliber team.
03:24 And we wavered a little bit, kind of still feeling like, yeah, there's gotta be some
03:31 development here.
03:32 But there's enough of a track record and there's enough veterans on this team to feel like, yeah,
03:36 it's realistic, it's possible.
03:39 But let's see how the year unfolds.
03:41 And obviously, you wanna stay healthy.
03:42 And God, I hate that part about playing this amazing but also violent game.
03:50 Perfect example, man.
03:51 You look at what just happened to Jordan Travis down at Florida State.
03:53 >> Horrible.
03:54 >> His season's over, and God, I'm praying for him.
03:57 I hope he's okay.
03:58 Pretty tough injury.
04:00 And Florida State, I don't know how they win the national championship without that kid.
04:04 And so thankfully, you stayed healthy, right?
04:07 That's a huge part of this.
04:10 Ohio State, in my opinion, has developed enough on the offensive end to give me confidence
04:16 going into this week.
04:17 And their defense has shown that, hey, those couple early good performances, and certainly
04:23 a good performance defensively against Notre Dame, not an elite performance, but good.
04:27 And what they've done here the last two months now, it's absolutely shown me they are capable
04:33 of going to Ann Arbor and playing a defensive game that will open your eyes.
04:38 So they are where I think they needed to be going into rivalry week.
04:43 >> And Brennan, there's two things that you said there that really kind of piqued my attention.
04:48 The first is the veteran leadership.
04:49 You got guys on this team that understood, especially on the offensive side, understood
04:55 the circumstance they were in with a rookie quarterback, right?
04:58 A guy who had never played before.
05:00 It's gonna take time.
05:01 It truly is.
05:02 And it's annoying early on, and especially for this fan base who's so used to great quarterback
05:07 play, it takes time.
05:08 And I think collectively, you could go in the parking lots right now and everyone's
05:12 gonna be happy with Kyle McCord, and that's just the way it is.
05:14 It takes time for quarterbacks and offenses to develop and all get on the same page.
05:19 And the second is the way that this offense is now built.
05:22 I would be concerned if you're going into this week and then into the postseason, if
05:26 it was like, hey, we've had to lean on Marvin.
05:30 He's needed 10 catches for 200 yards every single week, and we're doing it through the
05:34 air because when you get to good teams, they can scheme it up to take things away.
05:39 This offense is as balanced as it's ever been, or it's balanced as it's been all year.
05:44 And you have home run hitters through the air, you have home run hitters on the ground,
05:48 and you have a quarterback who's playing very, very confident.
05:50 Like, this is a hard offense to stop because, hey, you take the runaway, we're gonna throw
05:53 it.
05:53 You take the pass away, we're gonna run it.
05:55 And you can win.
05:56 This offense can win in both ways, which is very exciting to see.
06:00 So we're gonna spend some time this week, for sure, dissecting some actual football
06:07 stuff.
06:07 We try really hard on our show not to be overly hyperbolic, playing into the emotions and
06:15 all the things that everybody wants to talk about.
06:17 We want to give you real, actual good football content.
06:20 And we will do that this week.
06:22 But that's not gonna happen right now.
06:24 We literally just finished game number 11.
06:26 Michigan's probably still on the team plane ride home if they haven't just landed up back
06:30 in Ann Arbor.
06:31 So this show is not gonna be about that.
06:34 But we will try to give you some of that, too.
06:36 I think Ohio State has to-- how do I say this the right way?
06:47 Their focus this week was obviously good enough, right?
06:50 There's more noise around this game.
06:53 And by virtue of us having this show and talking about it, we're contributing to that.
06:57 OK, I get that.
06:59 There's more noise around this game and this rivalry than ever.
07:04 We live in a time, in a world, where information and video is at your fingertips on social
07:10 media.
07:11 And I truly hope that this group for Ohio State can figure out the discipline this week
07:22 to not get caught up in all of the other stuff that's going on.
07:25 Because it's impossible to ignore.
07:27 You're gonna hear it.
07:28 You're gonna see it.
07:29 They gotta figure out a way when they get inside the woody to just remember that nothing
07:33 else matters.
07:34 Because they are capable of going up there and winning this game.
07:37 And after having not played well enough the last two years, they got a lot to prove here.
07:42 A ton to prove.
07:44 And you're so right.
07:45 In the last two weeks, honestly, have shown me that at least they've done it to this point
07:51 where, hey, it's gotten very loud in Ann Arbor.
07:54 It's gotten very loud in Michigan.
07:55 Where in Ohio State and in Columbus, these guys have been, they come out against Michigan
07:59 State and play their best game, especially on offense, play the best game that they have.
08:03 They come out today.
08:04 Maybe it started a little clunky.
08:06 It wasn't right where you wanted it to be.
08:07 But boom, you have this huge avalanche in the third quarter and you just totally take
08:11 care of business and it looks good.
08:13 Looking at just the last two weeks, you feel really good about what the coaching staff
08:18 has done to really focus these kids and what the kids have done to just stay locked in
08:23 on the task at hand.
08:24 And guess what?
08:25 The task at hand isn't listening to all the crazy stuff this week and hearing all the
08:30 court hearings, this, that, and the other.
08:32 It is, let's go up to Ann Arbor for 60 minutes, take care of business.
08:36 And then all of that stuff goes away and you never have to hear about, well, they don't
08:40 have to hear about specifically to them ever again.
08:43 So I think there's a crisp task at hand and these guys are going to be able to handle
08:47 it.
08:47 Michigan is really, really good.
08:49 And so is Ohio State.
08:52 I think the Buckeyes have proven it a little bit better and maybe that's why they've
08:55 been ranked higher than Michigan in these first few CFP polls.
08:58 Buckeyes strength of schedule has unquestionably been tougher than what Michigan has seen so
09:03 far.
09:03 But Michigan has proven that they're a very good team and I don't think that their ranking
09:08 is a fluke.
09:09 I don't know that I'm at the point quite yet where I feel like Ohio State's going to
09:14 go up there and run away with the game.
09:17 But I do think the Buckeyes are going to win next weekend and we'll dive into why along
09:21 the way.
09:22 I am most interested at this point here on Saturday evening, I'm most interested to
09:30 see how Kyle McCord is going to stamp his legacy on this game.
09:33 Because obviously he was here the last two years, right?
09:36 But he didn't play.
09:37 It was CJ Stroud's team the last couple years when Michigan ultimately walked away with
09:42 a couple of wins.
09:43 So you have the experience of prepping for the rivalry.
09:48 You have the experience of being in a home game and a road game where you're one snap
09:54 away and you've got to be ready and your preparation has to be at its highest peak.
09:58 But he wasn't on the field to go out and try to lead a game-winning drive in the biggest
10:03 game of the year with everything at stake.
10:05 And I think the fact that Kyle has had some big moments throughout this season, particularly
10:10 what he did at the end of the Notre Dame game, can really help him lower that blood pressure
10:16 just a little bit and stay focused on what they need to do when they get up there next
10:20 weekend.
10:21 Well, and also too, he has the perspective of what the reaction is if you don't get this
10:26 thing done.
10:26 CJ Stroud's going to potentially win the NFL MVP as a rookie.
10:31 He's playing that good of football.
10:32 But when you think about his Ohio State days, it's all really, really good.
10:36 But he's 0-2 against Michigan.
10:37 Kyle has that understanding of, hey, how important that this one is.
10:42 And you're just excited to see it, man.
10:45 This is one of those, and everyone knows it, but rivalry games, you throw everything out
10:49 the window.
10:49 You throw records, you throw numbers, you throw it all out.
10:52 It's going to be one football on the field, and it's going to be two teams that really,
10:54 truly dislike each other.
10:56 And they're going to go at it for 60 straight minutes.
10:58 And the best is going to come out on top.
11:00 And it's so fun, and it's so exciting.
11:03 I can't believe it's already here.
11:04 It feels like the season's gone by like this.
11:06 But this is what you do it for.
11:08 And Coach Day said it in this presser after the game.
11:11 He goes, hey, the time is now.
11:12 Someone asked him, how do you feel?
11:13 You feel like the offense is in the right spot?
11:15 And he goes, it doesn't matter what I feel.
11:17 It's here, it's now, and we're going.
11:19 And it's really, really exciting to think about.
11:21 So the Buckeyes have always leaned into the fact that they're prepping for this game 365
11:29 days a year.
11:29 So it's not like it's going to creep up on them, and they're not ready to go for it.
11:33 Ryan was asked, hey, I don't know what your pregame rituals or habits look like for a
11:38 mid-afternoon game.
11:39 But Michigan was playing the noon kick.
11:42 You were playing the 4 o'clock kick.
11:43 Did you watch any of the game?
11:45 And he essentially said, well, yeah, I watched a little football, and it might have been
11:50 on.
11:50 Yeah, I may have.
11:52 But other than the tongue-in-cheek response there, I actually thought the most notable
12:01 thing in the entire press conference today probably happened off camera.
12:05 Ryan was at the podium, and they were starting to bring players into that room.
12:11 Jack Sawyer was the first player up.
12:13 So Jack is standing at the door, which was certainly off camera.
12:16 And Jerry Emig, the director of communications for the Buckeye football team, had made an
12:22 announcement.
12:22 Hey, Jack is going to go back to a table in the back of the room.
12:25 Ryan Day will stay at the podium and answer a few more questions.
12:28 And Ryan walked away from the podium for a second and said, hey, Jack, come here.
12:32 And he pulls him to the corner.
12:33 And whatever he said to him lasted all of three seconds.
12:36 And Jack said, don't worry about it.
12:39 No problem.
12:40 I'm sure, although I didn't hear it, I'm sure it was something along the lines of, don't
12:45 say anything you shouldn't say if you're asked about that game next week.
12:49 Don't pour any gasoline on the fire.
12:52 Don't do something stupid here.
12:55 And I am sure that other than that comment to Jack before every other guy walked in that
13:02 room, because everybody was asked about the game coming up this week, there was a concerted
13:07 effort to make sure that everybody said the right things.
13:10 And to my knowledge, I didn't hear every word of every individual interview, but the ones
13:15 that I caught and certainly who came to the podium, everybody behaved themselves and said
13:20 what they should say.
13:21 Didn't hear any of the Michigan postgame comments today because Ohio State kicked off.
13:26 I'd be stunned if any of their guys said anything provocative either.
13:29 There's going to be plenty to be talked about anyways.
13:32 But it's just fun to know that Rivalry Week is here.
13:34 And I love how locked in the coaching staff was, particularly Coach Day postgame, making
13:39 sure that when somebody sticks a camera in your face and starts to ask you about what's
13:44 going on next week, don't give in.
13:46 And you know that all week, the weeks leading up to this, like, hey, we're going to talk
13:50 about it in this room, in this meeting room.
13:52 These doors are shut.
13:53 We'll say what we want to say in here.
13:55 But once these doors open up, you don't say anything to provide any bullet support material.
13:59 My favorite part of the postgame presser was, I don't know the question that was
14:04 asked, but it was in reference to Kyle's performance today.
14:08 And he goes, we're not going to watch this tape.
14:10 We'll grade it out just so we can stay on rhythm.
14:12 But he goes, this tape's done.
14:13 We're going to get through it.
14:14 We'll look at maybe a couple third downs and we're done with it.
14:17 And it was very funny because just seeing the coach turn the-- I've never really seen
14:23 a coach turn the page like that.
14:25 It wasn't even anything about Minnesota.
14:29 It was like that press conference was the start of Michigan Week for him.
14:31 It was very, very cool to see, very fun to see.
14:33 >> Yeah, and Ryan was even asked, hey, at what point in the third quarter did you start
14:37 to think about next week?
14:39 And he's like, yeah, I'm not going to tell you.
14:40 Don't worry about it.
14:41 No comment.
14:41 He's probably thinking about it before the game started today.
14:45 And that's not any diss to Minnesota.
14:47 You got to go out and execute.
14:48 But you know--
14:49 >> How can you not?
14:50 How can you not?
14:51 >> How can you not?
14:52 Exactly, exactly.
14:53 Look, I realize you didn't play in a rivalry with quite this spotlight, but you certainly
14:59 played in a heated rivalry at Division III.
15:03 When you were preparing for that week, what was the atmosphere like as a team where you
15:09 were trying to stay healthy but also make sure physically you were ready to go?
15:13 I ask that question because the Buckeyes are largely healthy right now and certainly healthy
15:17 on the offensive side of the ball.
15:19 Do you think this week as they prep for Michigan that they should be as normal Tuesday, Wednesday,
15:25 as physical as you can?
15:27 Or would you pull back a little bit and say, all right, we got to this point.
15:30 We're healthy.
15:31 Let's make sure we stay healthy.
15:32 >> Yeah, no, so kind of peeling back the curtain there.
15:36 They've been honing it back for weeks now.
15:38 You get to the halfway point in the season when everyone starts getting banged up.
15:42 That's when you start practicing in shorts and you start, the hitting periods go out.
15:46 By this time, honestly, with the way it gets dark at 3 o'clock now in Ohio, it's crazy.
15:51 But practices are like an hour, 15 minutes.
15:54 They're really, really quick.
15:55 You get in, you get your work.
15:56 Because honestly, at this point in the year, if you can't complete a pass, you're not playing
16:00 quarterback.
16:00 So you get your arm warmed up.
16:02 You don't have to go through all the other stuff.
16:04 You get your work in, you get your reps in, you get out.
16:06 So the biggest thing this week is, and I remember from my days, was just an incredibly intense
16:15 just mental side of it.
16:16 Guys, extra time studying tape.
16:20 Text late at night, hey, what do we think about this route or this or that?
16:24 Just very, just an extra level of that mental side of things where it's like, hey, if we can
16:29 get an advantage, just why here, running our comeback at this depth instead of this.
16:34 Whatever small things you can do to tweak and change, that's where you see it.
16:38 So it's exciting.
16:39 I'm getting the jitters just thinking about it.
16:42 But it's such an exciting time, especially when we wanted it to be this story.
16:47 And you got these two teams playing the best football in the country, kind of locking arms.
16:50 And this is a playoff game on Saturday.
16:52 Yeah, and that's what it's all about, literally.
16:54 This is a playoff game.
16:55 With the way things are currently structured, this is a playoff game.
16:59 With the college football playoff structure moving forward,
17:02 things change.
17:04 The rivalry game will always be the rivalry game, OK?
17:08 It's always going to matter.
17:09 Boy, I'm glad you brought that up because I hadn't prepped this thought.
17:14 This is just how I feel in the moment.
17:16 This might be the last time that this game means what it means with everything at stake.
17:25 Because these two teams will absolutely be in the top three.
17:30 Where will they be on Tuesday?
17:31 It doesn't matter.
17:32 But there'll be some combination of one, two, or three.
17:35 There are only four teams that make the playoff.
17:38 Iowa has already punched its ticket with its incredible win today over Illinois, 15 to 13,
17:45 or whatever they did.
17:46 I did, too.
17:47 Yeah.
17:47 They're going to get shellacked, whoever they play.
17:51 But that's for a different podcast.
17:53 The way college football is shaking out right now, the team that loses this game,
18:00 I really don't think is going to get in the playoff.
18:04 I'm not going to say it's impossible, especially if Ohio State loses,
18:09 because they do at least have a non-conference win against Notre Dame.
18:13 That will certainly help them.
18:14 If Michigan loses this game, they've got one good win on their schedule against Penn State,
18:20 and that's it.
18:20 And I don't think it's going to be enough to get them into a 14 playoff,
18:23 not with the way everything else is shaking out.
18:25 So with all that's at stake, not just in the league, but for the playoff,
18:31 and with things moving next year to a 12-team playoff,
18:34 and with all the off-the-field stuff going on with Michigan,
18:36 and with the fact that these two teams are both 11-0 and both legitimate
18:41 national championship contenders,
18:42 might this be the last time that we ever see an Ohio State-Michigan game mean this much?
18:49 I don't know.
18:50 It certainly is going to be in that conversation.
18:52 And even think back to the BCS days, too, right?
18:54 The one and two, you know, the one and two, where it was like,
18:57 "Hey, the winner is going to the national championship."
18:59 And it's the same feel, because in 12 months from now,
19:03 you and I are going to be on this podcast saying,
19:05 "Hey, the winner's going to have a bye week, and the loser's going to have a home playoff game,
19:11 because there will be 12 teams."
19:12 So you're dead right.
19:14 I think you're spot on that the stakes of this one will be--
19:17 Well, and even beyond that, I mean, think about the fact that next year,
19:20 the conference is going to a non-divisionary format.
19:25 It could be Ohio State playing Michigan to then turn around and maybe play them again.
19:30 You never know how it's going to shake out.
19:33 I don't know what future schedules are going to hold,
19:34 where they will put this rivalry game.
19:37 Will it always be at this time of the year?
19:40 I don't know.
19:41 There's so many things in college football now that don't look like what they used to look like,
19:46 what they traditionally have been like.
19:47 I hope that they always keep this game the last game of the regular season,
19:52 but I could understand an argument why you'd rather play them a little bit earlier
19:55 so that you don't play the same team two weeks in a row, because that would almost feel dumb.
19:59 But if we get to that point, we'll all adjust, because that's what you have to do.
20:03 But could this be a different kind of animal moving forward?
20:08 Yeah, I think so.
20:09 And I think you're spot on.
20:11 I think Saturday is going to have the highest stakes at its
20:15 tad for this rivalry and the last time that the stakes were so high.
20:17 This is awesome.
20:18 It's going to be so good.
20:19 Can you believe how early College Game Day announced they were going there?
20:22 I'm shocked.
20:22 Where else would they go?
20:23 When they put out that tweet earlier today, they said,
20:29 "Hey, we're going to be in Ann Arbor next weekend."
20:31 I was like, "Really?"
20:31 Really?
20:32 You and every other person who likes football.
20:34 Bold strategy.
20:35 It was funny.
20:37 Hey, Big Ten Network was like, they were previewing next week's games.
20:42 Jake Butt had a comment.
20:44 It's like, "Yeah, if you'll be watching these," or something along those lines.
20:46 It was like Illinois versus Indiana at the same time as Ohio State-Michigan.
20:51 I think it's so funny.
20:52 Oh, man.
20:54 Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun.
20:56 Can't wait to preview it for you all week long.
20:58 There have been a lot of conversations around what's going on with Michigan football.
21:04 I don't want to say off the field, but it's also kind of off the field.
21:09 Jim Harbaugh is not going to coach.
21:11 Connor Stallions is no longer on staff.
21:14 They fired their linebackers coach, Chris Partridge.
21:17 There are some differences, for sure, with Michigan football now compared to where they
21:23 were in the beginning of the season.
21:24 The Buckeyes have to figure out how to beat the current iteration of the Michigan Wolverines.
21:32 It's going to be a lot of fun to try to dissect what we think from just a football standpoint
21:37 this matchup can be.
21:39 Because the last two years, Michigan has pounded Ohio State on the ground.
21:45 Absolutely pounded the Buckeyes running the football.
21:49 I don't get the impression that they're going to be able to do that this year
21:52 with the way Ohio State's playing defense, but I don't know.
21:55 We're going to find out.
21:57 We're going to find out.
21:57 This is going to be a fun one, man.
21:59 Both defense, I feel like looking at it seven days in advance, just from a high level as
22:05 we are right now, it feels like one that could be an old school, low scoring battle where
22:10 it's going to be two defenses going head to head, trying to battle it out.
22:14 But hey, you never know.
22:15 But it's going to be exciting regardless.
22:17 Can't wait, and we will cover it for you all week long.
22:20 Looking forward to being in Ann Arbor next weekend to continue our coverage of Ohio State
22:24 football.
22:25 Buckeyes are 11-0.
22:26 Wolverines are 11-0.
22:28 Rivalry Week is officially here after both teams took care of business today.
22:33 Buckeyes beat Minnesota 37-13, Michigan 31, Maryland 24, and so onward on.
22:40 For the next seven days, we get to talk about the game coming up in Ann Arbor.
22:44 For Anthony Meglin, I'm Brendan Gulick.
22:46 Plenty more coverage to come.
22:47 Check us out over at BuckeyesNow.com and certainly right here on our YouTube channel.