Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis discuss the latest news around Ohio State football.
Listen to Buckeye Talk, your favorite Ohio State football podcast, five days a week with Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis.On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik break down everything they had to say heading into Week 2.
for a big stretch there and we all thought, know, what would it be that that important in terms of wins and losses, but maybe we’ll see, you know, a group maybe lacking some cohesion early in the season. And that’s what it looked like in that first game against Akron. you guys threw three new guys, three new starters, I should say, you know, along the interior of the line and, and, and there were struggles early on.
That Donovan Jackson was missing like did it feel like he was the difference between this offensive line? Maybe getting going a little quicker than it did or were there maybe more major problems that even if Donovan Jackson did exist those problems still would have maybe existed in week one.any science teacher that’s listening to this is going to lose their mind.
But I don’t think anybody would say the line was great. And we’re going to find out just kind of how much he can impact things one way or the other.Ryan day keeps using the term.
Watching them on Saturday whether live or in the rewatch Biggest takeaway from the first game of sunny styles of the linebacker CJ Hicks hitting real time and also our bell risk getting real timeBiggest takeaway? I think two takeaways. Number one, CJ needs more time. I think CJ, I think he definitely is very much like a C ball get ball defender.
or you have an injury or something along those lines, you’ve got to be prepared for those situations. And I think while the quality of competition is not going to get you there, I do think it matters to build that depth up now so that, Hey, when Gabe Powers has to step into a role against Nebraska in late October, he’s got a hundred snaps under his belt.
He looks like a dude who’s supposed to be outside linebacker in a three four. And so because of that uncomfortability, it was very noticeable now that we finally got a chance to see him play an extended snaps. Now that can probably get better over the next two weeks. It’s just even Sony styles, Andrew, I get what you’re saying. Yeah, he looked pretty good for a guy who was transitioning from safety, but our bell Reese just looked at us. Come on.
for what this scheme is, a 4 -2 -5 scheme, I don’t know if he fits the skill set for what you’re gonna be requiring from these linebackers, while Cody Simon clearly does when he’s healthy. And I think I saw enough from R. Valrice that lets me know that he should be getting more snaps going forward.
We’re back. Stephen means to find Christ, Nick and Andrew Gillis after talking with Ryan Day, Chip Kelly and Will Howard on Tuesday afternoon as the Buckeyes continue to prepare for week two opponent Western Michigan. AP Poll is out. They remain the number two. That’s the highest of any Big Ten school. And they’re also the only Big Ten school in top 10. All right. Oregon dropped down a little bit. Penn State and Michigan also in the top 11. But honestly, the only one in the top five.
on your first drive against accurate, you’re probably not feeling too great about about how the game went. But but it’s clear that, you know, Ryan is pretty comfortable with how chip kind of went about the game. And I think it’s it’s interesting because Chip made a clear effort to establish a run and not abandon it, which is, think, easy to do when you’re pretty confident that you’re going to win a game by 40 plus.
Right. And that’s, that’s, think where I’m curious to kind of hear maybe the difference of, how those things operate, because it’s one thing when it’s 70 and sunny and everything’s great. And it actually is like 70 and sunny today in Columbus, but it’s like everything’s everything was perfect today for that press conference. Right. They, just won the schedule looks good for a while.
And now we got to figure out how can we get these guys to execute for the last four to six? Like that’s how he’s talking about things. And it was just interesting because he was a play caller. And so we’re all wondering, okay, how are you going to handle not being the play caller? Well, this is how he handles it. He completely throws his focus into a whole nother unit and which in fact, Andrew was the problem unit last year.
Emeka Buka wave that hand in the air. He did have the one return for a touchdown, but he got called back for the penalty. But for the most part, that’s what it’s been is let’s just get the offense on the field and get rolling. No attack, leave no doubt. Everything, every single unit should be a threat to score. The defense just showed us they’re a threat to score, to put points on the board. I understand it’s Akron, but again, it’s never about the opponent with Ohio State.
Imagine what that’s gonna look like against Oregon on the road or against Penn State on the road or in a playoff game or against Michigan. That’s what I’m thinking about. So Thank you, Stephon. What you had to say just kind of led me in naturally to what I wanted to talk about because the special teams talk was fascinating to me because it was both complimentary of the punt return and critical of the kick return in a way that a head coach only notices if he’s really focused on it.
Like I just think you saw competency and you saw flashes of maybe a special teams unit, specifically the punt return that can be very good. Now, obviously we need to see this kind of in a larger sample size than one game, but we will. The most interesting thing that I heard today was Will Howard talking about watching the film and saying, man, there were times that I just looked at it and went, I could run it and.
To me, Ohio State’s offense this year is going to be most effective when Will Howard is a threat with his legs and with his arm. And I think you saw glimpses of it. I think you saw flashes of it. He had the one, I think it was 19 yards or 18 yards or whatever heck it was. He had the one big run against Akron. But I think the fact that he has recognized this, the fact that he has looked at this and went, I see.
He’s being used very differently at Ohio State than he was at Kansas State when they were using him in more design run situations. I think, Angie, that was the most important thing that Will Howard said all day. The fact that he saw more opportunities that he didn’t take. I think that’s a good thing. I would rather that than the other way around where he’s saying, there were some times I took off too quickly and didn’t let a play develop because you can always run more. You can’t back off.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ohio State Football Status Report: Middle Linebacker Cody Simon, Left Guard Donovan Jackson Out Against AkronStarting linebacker Cody Simon and left guard Donovan Jackson are out for Ohio State's season opener.
Read more »
‘Fight’: Why Cody Simon was meant to represent Ohio State football with Block ‘O’ jerseyWho was meant to wear the Block 'O' for Ohio State football this year? The answer has always been linebacker Cody Simon.
Read more »
Cody Simon Receives Ohio State’s “Block O” Jersey for 2024Fifth-year senior linebacker Cody Simon will wear Ohio State’s “Block O” jersey in 2024.
Read more »
Ohio State football injury report: Two starters out for Buckeyes vs. AkronOhio State football will be without guard Donovan Jackson and linebacker Cody Simon against Akron.
Read more »
Ohio State Buckeyes QB Will Howard Details Difference at Ohio StateWill Howard detailed the differences between playing at Kansas State and Ohio State.
Read more »
Ohio State football legend to receive a statue in front of Ohio Stadium: Buckeye BreakfastOhio State's two-time Heisman Trophy winner is about to be a two-time statue recipient.
Read more »