Brendan Gulick and Anthony Moeglin share their thoughts after Ohio State spoke to reporters about their preparations for the Michigan Wolverines this weekend.
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00:06 Well, hi, everybody, and welcome to the Buckeye Report
00:21 here at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
00:23 We just had a fun afternoon after Ohio State head coach
00:27 Ryan Day, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles,
00:30 and five players spoke.
00:31 And let's be honest, the first two coaches and four players
00:35 probably didn't put on any heat.
00:36 And then Denzel Burke got to the podium
00:38 and had a little bit of a different tone.
00:40 And I think that's what everybody's walking away
00:42 from today with.
00:43 Denzel Burke is awfully focused and made it very clear
00:47 that this is a game that the Buckeyes want to win.
00:50 He said he doesn't want to let down the whole state of Ohio.
00:52 And Anthony, I think the entire state of Ohio
00:55 is ready to go to battle with him.
00:57 That was awesome, right?
00:59 Don't get to see that often.
01:01 We see these guys, and they're just a number on the field,
01:04 and they're a great cornerback.
01:05 And he shuts it down.
01:06 And learning their personalities more throughout the year
01:09 and seeing him come out, just--
01:10 I mean, he's fired up, man.
01:11 That was exciting to hear that and just to understand,
01:15 hey, that's a leader of this football team.
01:17 And that's the mentality that this group
01:19 has going into Saturday because they need it.
01:22 I think Ohio State did a pretty good job today
01:25 of generally staying focused.
01:28 Maybe didn't give any great, big, bad soundbites.
01:32 But I think you can also appreciate
01:34 how important and meaningful this game is to these guys.
01:37 And I actually don't believe that it's lip service when
01:40 they say every single week, look,
01:42 we're just focused on this week.
01:44 We're just trying to win this game.
01:46 Because I think they ultimately know
01:48 that if they win every game, they're
01:51 going to get in the playoff.
01:52 Or if they maybe lose one game, there's
01:55 a chance they can still get in.
01:56 But you're not allowed to lose a game around here.
01:59 That's what Ryan Day says all the time.
02:00 And so I think the thing I most took away
02:04 from Ryan Day's comments today were
02:07 that when you have bigger moments,
02:10 you tend to go back to your routine.
02:12 That's how you prepare for the biggest
02:14 moments on your schedule, in your season.
02:16 And obviously, that usually starts with this game.
02:19 And when you have the routine that the Buckeyes have created
02:23 for themselves every single week and how they prepare,
02:27 there isn't a nervousness or an anxiety
02:31 because you are prepared to play those big games.
02:34 And when you sprinkle in a little bit of what's
02:37 going on on the outside, whether they want to publicly admit it
02:39 or not, these guys are ready to go.
02:41 Yeah, and one thing that kind of comes to mind
02:44 when you say that is just something
02:46 old coaches used to say to me is that when moments get big,
02:49 you don't rise to the occasion.
02:50 You fall back to your preparation.
02:53 And that's just what it is.
02:55 There's no reason in week five or six or seven
02:59 to look forward.
03:00 We all know it's coming, and it'll come, and it'll be here.
03:03 But that doesn't help you.
03:04 You can't beat Michigan every week.
03:05 But now is the opportunity.
03:07 So now you understand that, hey, this team's prepared.
03:09 This team's ready.
03:10 From what they said today, they're ready to go.
03:13 Their mindset's correct, and it's right.
03:15 And now it's time to just go figure it out on Saturday.
03:18 Finish the week of prep.
03:19 Starts today.
03:21 Have a good week of practice.
03:22 Cancel out all the extra stuff.
03:24 And then just get ready to roll that ball out there on Saturday
03:27 and figure out what happens.
03:29 The reality is they don't have to be Michigan every week.
03:31 You didn't have to win the rivalry game when you were
03:34 in Bloomington to open the year or when you hosted Youngstown
03:36 State.
03:37 It's a progressive build throughout the course
03:40 of the season, and it's part of what
03:42 has made playing this game in the last game
03:45 of the regular season so much fun over the years
03:47 because both teams are building towards something.
03:49 And it might be the thing that could potentially
03:51 be disappointing if they move this game out
03:53 of the last spot of the regular season
03:56 with some of the changes going to the Big 10.
03:58 They're obviously protecting the rivalry,
03:59 but will they always play it the Saturday of Thanksgiving
04:02 weekend?
04:03 I don't know.
04:03 I don't know that anybody knows that for 100% sure.
04:07 There's obviously a lot riding on this game.
04:09 And what I thought was particularly interesting
04:11 when it was asked to Kyle McCord,
04:12 the players haven't necessarily thought about it in that light.
04:17 Kyle basically said, I hadn't really
04:19 considered that things could change moving forward
04:23 with the meaning of this game because you
04:26 got two undefeated teams that are playing for a spot
04:29 in a conference championship game.
04:30 And it was posed to him, hey, could you even
04:33 imagine playing them again the following week
04:35 in a Big 10 title game?
04:36 And he laughed.
04:36 He's like, I don't know.
04:38 But depending on how things change,
04:40 obviously that could be a possibility.
04:42 There's just so much uncertainty.
04:44 So I guess what I'm trying to say
04:45 is the players seem to have done a really good job of staying
04:48 focused on, look, what's happened the last two years
04:51 and the allegations, which at this point
04:54 may not be so much alleged.
04:57 They can't control it.
04:58 It's all behind them.
05:00 And they have to focus on trying to change
05:02 the narrative this weekend.
05:03 It goes back to that couple of weeks
05:05 back when you had said you had caught something
05:07 that on their video boards they always had their opponent's
05:12 logo, but they changed it to just the block O.
05:15 And--
05:16 I'll give you a little sneak peek.
05:17 There you go.
05:19 There it goes right there.
05:20 It's the block O. And they changed that
05:22 because that's what it's about.
05:23 It's about this group.
05:24 This group needs to continue to get better.
05:25 And they're at the pinnacle, man.
05:28 For what it's worth, this weekend
05:29 is potentially a playoff game.
05:31 And the way--
05:32 It is.
05:32 I mean, it's like this is a national quarterfinal.
05:35 I mean, let's just call it for what it is.
05:37 If you don't win this weekend, it
05:39 is really, really difficult to see a scenario where
05:43 either team, certainly Michigan, because they've
05:46 played such a weak schedule.
05:47 But I don't know that Ohio State feels
05:50 good about its chances to get in the playoff,
05:52 given the fact that there's only four teams,
05:54 and given what else has gone on around the country.
05:56 Maybe they are one of the four best teams in the country.
05:59 But I don't know that the loser of this game still gets in.
06:01 So yeah, this is your playoff game.
06:03 This is a national quarterfinal, in my opinion, for sure.
06:06 Yeah, absolutely.
06:06 And that just adds to it.
06:09 This is as good as it gets.
06:11 You always love-- this rivalry game would mean everything
06:14 if one team was 12-0 and the other team was 5-5.
06:17 But the fact that both teams are 11-0, going into it,
06:21 so much on the line, you just kind of love where it's at.
06:23 And you love-- I've loved the mentality of this Ohio State
06:26 team for the last couple of weeks.
06:28 Take care of what we can take care of.
06:29 Control what you can control.
06:30 And the chips will fall where they may.
06:32 It feels like they're prepared and feels like they're
06:35 ready to go for this one.
06:38 Look, I asked Ryan Day about the preparation
06:41 that they've had over the last couple of years
06:44 leading up to this game and how is
06:47 that part of the mental preparation
06:50 to get ready for this week's game.
06:52 And he essentially acknowledged, when you prepare for a team
06:56 365 days a year, you're never starting from scratch.
07:00 And yeah, you do go back and think, OK, what did we
07:03 do this week last year?
07:04 And what worked and what didn't?
07:06 But you'd be silly not to go back and try
07:10 to evaluate those kinds of things.
07:12 But he quickly also said, the routine is a big part.
07:17 And while you always have an eye on Michigan,
07:20 you respect the rivalry by having practice periods
07:23 specifically dedicated for the rivalry in spring ball,
07:26 in camp, each week of the year.
07:29 It's not like when they're getting ready to play Wisconsin,
07:32 like they're watching Michigan film intently.
07:36 But the respect for the rivalry is
07:38 what you do in the weight room, what you do every day
07:41 as you get ready for games.
07:43 So that when you are getting ready for that game that week,
07:47 the things feel a little bit normal,
07:49 although everybody knows there's a heightened focus.
07:52 Yeah, it was interesting.
07:53 I was waiting for him to get to the point
07:55 where he said we would have Michigan
07:56 periods during practice.
07:57 And he was trying not to get there,
07:59 but it's the truth of the matter.
08:01 Any good team, any great team, any great program
08:04 understands that, hey, while we respect-- just like you said,
08:07 while you expect your current opponent, it's like, hey,
08:09 let's do a little-- let's keep sprinkling it in,
08:11 sprinkling it in.
08:12 Because at the end of the day, if we take care of business
08:15 week by week by week, the one at the end is the one you got.
08:18 So it was a great answer by him.
08:20 And obviously, with a lot of other things going on right
08:23 now, it's been--
08:24 I thought Coach Day, at least, did a really good job today
08:28 of just like, hey, we're going to talk Ohio State.
08:30 Didn't really talk much about anything else.
08:32 And it was cool to hear him discuss some of those details
08:36 like you mentioned.
08:39 I think the best thing this coaching staff can do
08:42 is give these guys a really good game plan
08:49 and then get out of the way.
08:51 Like, at some point, it's in here.
08:54 As players, you either want it or you don't.
08:56 And I know these guys want it.
08:57 The question is, on Saturday, do they
08:59 want it more than Michigan wants it?
09:01 And I think as a coaching staff, you
09:03 can scour over gobs and gobs of footage
09:07 trying to make sure that some way, somehow, you
09:10 don't miss something.
09:12 So you put together the best game plan you can,
09:14 and you empower your team to play as fast and as free
09:18 and as physical and violent as possible.
09:21 But you can't put too much in their head
09:22 and cloud their judgment.
09:24 And there were a couple of questions
09:26 asked a little bit earlier here to some of the players.
09:29 Like, how do you balance playing--
09:31 you want to be aggressive but not too aggressive.
09:35 I mean, you can speak to this because you've
09:37 played the game at a high enough level.
09:38 I don't think you can be cognizant of that
09:40 in the moment.
09:41 It's like, you have to just practice that way
09:43 and then trust your coaches to put the game plan in
09:46 so that when you do your job and you do it as fast as you can,
09:48 that's good enough.
09:50 All that comes from is, like I said earlier,
09:52 like your level of preparation.
09:54 If you're in practice for the last 11 weeks,
09:57 over-aggressive, spearing guys, doing this, doing that,
10:00 then that's where that comes in.
10:01 But they're not.
10:02 They're going to come in.
10:03 And if you're just ultra, ultra focused on what you got to do--
10:06 and one thing that you mentioned there
10:08 is that coaches do have-- especially young coaches,
10:11 and I'm not saying that this is the case.
10:13 But they have this sense of like,
10:14 we need to know everything at every point
10:17 and every second of every game.
10:18 And it's like that paralysis by over-analysis.
10:21 You just have too much that's going on.
10:23 And what you find is that some of the best game plans
10:26 are when it's just very simple.
10:28 Hey, that's what it's going to be.
10:29 Kyle, here's what you're going to get first down.
10:31 You're going to get this, this, or this.
10:33 Second down, it's going to be this, this, or this.
10:34 Third down, red area, all of it.
10:36 Let him know.
10:37 And then, hey, we're going to simplify this game
10:39 so you don't have to think.
10:40 Marvin, you don't have to think.
10:41 Trey, you don't have to think.
10:43 Just go out and play football.
10:45 And you get the feeling that, Brennan,
10:46 the past couple of years, it's been like Michigan or nothing,
10:49 Michigan or nothing, every week, this, that, and the other.
10:52 And they put so much focus on just this week.
10:55 And obviously, that's there.
10:56 But sometimes it feels like almost when I text this to you,
10:59 and we can maybe discuss it if we have a second here,
11:01 but it felt like Coach Day had this sense of calmness to him.
11:06 You thought focus.
11:08 I don't know what I remember what I said, but relax.
11:10 But it felt really calm.
11:12 And it was like, hey, that's a good way to approach this.
11:15 Not throw everything at these kids.
11:17 Just come in with a simple game plan
11:19 and just go play football and go get a big win.
11:23 I mean, Coach Day has said that this team thrives on emotion
11:26 maybe more than others.
11:27 And that's part of the reason why you've seen him
11:29 as animated on the sidelines as you have.
11:32 And even going back to the Georgia game last year,
11:34 I think every Ohio State fan on planet Earth
11:37 wants to see Ryan Day coach the way he coached against Georgia
11:40 last year.
11:41 And if you win, you win.
11:43 And if you lose, you lose knowing
11:45 that you left it out there.
11:47 But feeling pretty darn good about your chances
11:49 to win if you go out and play that kind of a game.
11:51 I agree.
11:55 I think Ryan was reasonably relaxed, loose.
12:01 But there was a sharpness to him today.
12:04 He was direct in answering questions.
12:07 The ones that he didn't want to answer,
12:09 he was direct in sidestepping those.
12:12 As opposed to maybe what we saw up in Ann Arbor
12:15 yesterday, some of the silliness to some of those answers.
12:19 Ryan obviously feels a certain way
12:24 about what's going on that he doesn't want to verbalize.
12:27 I think it's pretty clear that he doesn't
12:30 want to feed into the fire.
12:31 But when he was asked about historically
12:35 the respect between coaching staffs in this rivalry,
12:38 he delicately chose not to answer that,
12:41 kind of the same way it wasn't answered yesterday.
12:43 And I'm sure that that will eat at him.
12:45 He doesn't have to say it.
12:46 I think people understand it.
12:48 Yeah.
12:49 And you know that when we leave the room
12:53 and everyone leaves the room and it's just the guys in there,
12:55 they lock those doors.
12:56 And I'm sure he's gotten off his chest to the fellas.
13:00 Just know that those feelings and that stuff
13:02 stays with this team, stays inside those walls,
13:05 never gets out.
13:06 Because you can see it there.
13:09 He wants to let it out.
13:10 But it just won't happen.
13:12 Because again, there's no use to it.
13:14 Why stoke the flame?
13:15 You don't need to.
13:16 Just let's take care of it.
13:17 Let's get to Saturday and let the play do the talking then.
13:23 I'll tell you what.
13:24 This is my fourth year being around the team leading
13:27 into what we think is rivalry week.
13:29 And I say it that way because in 2020,
13:31 obviously, the game was canceled.
13:34 I don't know if this was a tradition earlier
13:38 that maybe I missed.
13:39 But I can't remember walking into the facility
13:43 on a Tuesday or Wednesday during rivalry week
13:47 and seeing red coat ushers at the facility, five of them
13:51 in different places throughout the building, and at least two,
13:55 if not three, security guards.
13:57 There was a sense of--
14:00 this is on lockdown this week.
14:02 There's a sense of seriousness around here and focus
14:05 that I think would probably amp up Ohio State fans.
14:09 So I mean, look, it's not like Connor Stallions was going
14:11 to walk into the building, right?
14:13 Let's not be dumb about it.
14:14 But there's never been security guards here.
14:18 I'll just put it to you that way.
14:19 There you go.
14:20 Yeah.
14:20 I'd say it's time, man.
14:22 This is what you do it for.
14:23 Coach Day said it.
14:25 And they all said it.
14:26 Kyle said it, too.
14:27 This is why you come to Ohio State.
14:29 This is why you go.
14:29 This is why both fan bases have this day
14:33 circled on their calendar every single year.
14:35 And it's just incredibly exciting.
14:37 And you love when it is the peak of the mountain
14:40 like it is this year.
14:41 It's 11-0 versus 11-0.
14:43 It's number two versus number three.
14:45 And this is going to be an instant classic.
14:47 And there's no reason why it shouldn't be.
14:48 This is two good football teams going
14:50 to roll that thing out there and may the best man win.
14:56 I feel as though this Ohio State team is going to be prepared
14:59 and they have the right mindset going into it.
15:01 Can't wait.
15:01 Saturday's going to be a lot of fun.
15:02 We've got plenty more to talk about here this week.
15:04 Hope you'll join us along the way on our Buckeye Breakdown
15:06 podcast.
15:07 Please subscribe to this YouTube channel if you're new.
15:09 We do this stuff all the time.
15:10 We would love to bring you more video content from the facility
15:14 when we're allowed in the facility here as media
15:16 and then certainly from our studios at home as well.
15:19 So look forward to seeing you soon.
15:20 And of course, for all the latest news and information
15:23 on the team, buckeyesnow.com is your stop.
15:25 For Anthony Meglin, I'm Brendan Gulick.
15:27 We'll see you real soon as Ohio State continues to get ready
15:29 for the game this weekend.
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