Ohio State is ready to take on the Youngstown State Penguins in the first home game of the year. Here are our final pregame thoughts.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Well, hey, everybody, and welcome to the Buckeye Report.
00:15 Brendan Gulick and Anthony Meglin with you
00:17 as we get ready for Ohio State and Youngstown State.
00:20 It is game day in Columbus.
00:22 We're excited to be on site here at the SHU
00:25 and looking forward to a game that I think should be a get
00:28 right game for the Buckeyes.
00:29 We've talked a lot about it throughout the course
00:30 of the week.
00:31 Anthony, the number one objective here
00:33 is to get in a rhythm and get out of this thing healthy.
00:36 But who do you want to see something special from today?
00:39 Yeah, I think the easy answer is Kyle McCord, right?
00:45 We want to see him look good.
00:47 But I think from seeing something special,
00:49 I'd love to see something from the running back room.
00:52 I'd like to see maybe Chip Trainum either take
00:55 the position over or Trey Henderson have a great day.
00:59 Or even Mayan Williams.
01:00 One of those guys I'd love to see have a great afternoon
01:04 and really cement themselves as--
01:07 I think they're already an elite running back room,
01:09 but really cement their whole entire group
01:13 as a force to be reckoned with, not only in the Big 10,
01:15 but a national force of, hey, this running back room
01:18 can bring this team and lead this team
01:20 to where they want to go.
01:22 I don't think that too many Ohio State fans were paying
01:26 attention to the Indiana Hoosiers last night.
01:29 You're expected to win that game handily.
01:32 And then we've talked about it ad nauseum all week.
01:34 A 20-point win on the road in conference
01:36 is usually a good thing, but apparently not
01:38 good for everybody or in everybody's opinion.
01:41 Indiana last night didn't give up a defensive touchdown.
01:45 They won 41 to 7 over a team that's not very good,
01:48 but they looked like a competent football team.
01:50 And so I think maybe there are some fans in the Big 10 that
01:54 are saying, OK, maybe Indiana is a little bit better than we
01:56 wanted to give them credit for.
01:58 Now let's see if Ohio State can build on the fact.
02:00 Because if the Buckeyes go out today
02:02 and do what they're supposed to do,
02:04 I don't think anybody's going to really care what
02:06 happened last week anymore.
02:09 No, and that'll be way in the past if they look good today.
02:13 And that's the thing.
02:14 We said it yesterday.
02:15 As fans, let's have some really good expectations
02:18 going into today.
02:19 It's not going to be 100% perfect,
02:21 but you want it to look really good.
02:23 You want the quarterback play to be really good,
02:25 whether it's Kyle getting a lot of the snaps
02:26 or whether it's Devin getting some in the later in the game.
02:29 But also, you want to see the offensive line
02:31 take that next step forward.
02:32 Ryan Day referenced it a number of times this week,
02:34 that, hey, we need to be more physical.
02:36 We need to move people.
02:37 We need to really execute at a higher level.
02:40 So you want to see those three things on offense.
02:42 And then on defense, hey, let's just see
02:43 these boys continue to roll.
02:44 Continue to be an elite group.
02:47 Continue to keep big plays off the board.
02:49 Let's try to pitch a shutout as best we can.
02:51 And limit explosive.
02:52 So explosive plays, keep those down.
02:55 No big plays at all.
02:57 And then try to keep the Penguins off the board.
03:00 I think those are your big three goals, at least in my eyes,
03:02 what I'm looking for on this afternoon.
03:04 And for me, from an offensive line perspective,
03:07 a stalemate isn't quite good enough.
03:10 I want to see the offensive line and, frankly, the defensive
03:13 line the same way.
03:13 I want to see the Buckeyes dominate
03:15 the line of scrimmage on a day where they should.
03:17 They're going to be a bigger, stronger, faster team,
03:21 certainly at skill positions.
03:22 But this is the kind of day where
03:24 you shouldn't have an issue putting out the offense
03:28 that you want to put out.
03:29 And so there's going to be a lot of eyes on Kyle McCord
03:32 because he has to make the right decisions.
03:34 When Devin Brown gets his chance,
03:36 given how infrequently he played last week,
03:40 Devin's got to make the most of his opportunity
03:42 if he has any shot at winning over Ryan Day.
03:47 So I'm looking for clinical execution on a day
03:51 where I think the Buckeyes need it.
03:52 And last week, I thought they kind of
03:55 aced the test defensively.
03:56 I mean, you had a really, really good effort
03:58 defensively in week one.
04:00 It's time to replicate that now two, three, four times here
04:03 at the beginning of the year to kind of convince everybody
04:06 that, hey, this Buckeye defense that the last couple of years
04:09 was the problem and the reason they ultimately
04:11 didn't win the national title, that's
04:13 not going to be the problem this year.
04:14 And maybe even if it's good enough,
04:16 your offense doesn't have to be quite as elite
04:18 as it's been in years past.
04:20 I totally agree with that last point.
04:22 As the offense figures itself out,
04:25 this week, next week, the week following,
04:27 this defense is elite enough where it's
04:29 going to keep you in ballgames.
04:30 Like, we're not too worried about today, maybe not
04:32 so worried about next week.
04:33 But the defense is good enough where
04:35 they will keep you in a game against Notre Dame
04:37 or keep you in a game against Penn State, Wisconsin,
04:40 Michigan, whomever.
04:41 So that group, I think, like you said, aced the test last week.
04:44 And now let's see the offense take that step forward.
04:46 We talked about it yesterday.
04:48 Let's see an efficient offense today.
04:50 Let's be ahead of the sticks on second down.
04:52 Let's stay out of third down as best we can.
04:55 And if we do get third down, let's
04:57 be third and manageable, third and four and less.
04:59 So that way we're executing.
05:00 And then see what goes from there.
05:02 But I'm excited about the afternoon.
05:03 I'm just looking at you in the shoe with the background.
05:06 It's the best.
05:06 That's awesome.
05:07 It's the Cathedral College football.
05:09 It's great that you're back there.
05:10 It looks awesome.
05:11 It's going to be an awesome day at the shoe.
05:13 Yeah, I was walking around a little bit
05:15 to tailgate last just to try to get a feel to soak in game day
05:18 again.
05:18 And look, it's obviously Youngstown State Week.
05:22 And I think you can sense that a little bit in the fan base.
05:25 But it sure is cool to see Ohio State tailgating
05:28 and know that in a couple hours right behind me here,
05:30 we're going to have a chance to go watch the Buckeyes go
05:32 do their thing.
05:33 So the atmosphere is not that of Penn State or Michigan,
05:37 I can tell you that.
05:37 But it's certainly fun to see everybody out here.
05:41 Stress free, but it's a great day.
05:44 Stress free, because I don't think
05:45 there's too many people worried about the ultimate outcomes
05:48 tonight, that's for sure.
05:49 All the latest is over on BuckeyesNow.com.
05:51 Check out the website all day.
05:53 We'll have you covered wall to wall with great coverage
05:55 here from Columbus.
05:57 Of course, postgame, we're going to stream live Ryan Day's
06:00 press conference.
06:00 We'll hear from him as well as one of the coordinators.
06:03 And typically, we hear from a quarterback.
06:05 Did not hear from Kyle last week,
06:07 but I anticipate that things might be
06:09 a little different at home.
06:10 So we'll stream that live for you right here
06:12 on our YouTube channel.
06:14 And of course, Anthony and I will do our normal postgame
06:16 show immediately after the press conferences wrap up.
06:19 And we'll give you our immediate reaction, our instant analysis
06:22 from Ohio State.
06:23 So stay tuned for that.
06:25 And of course, if you want more coverage during the week,
06:27 we're live every single weekday morning at 7 AM
06:31 talking Ohio State football.
06:32 And looking forward to breaking this one down after the fact.
06:35 So for Anthony Meglin and Brendan Gulick,
06:37 we'll see you here in a couple hours, either at the shoe
06:40 or enjoying it from home.
06:41 Hawkeyes and Penguins coming up shortly.
06:44 [WATER SPLASHING]
06:49 [WATER SPLASHING]