BONUS: Buckeyes' Defense Dominates In Season-Opening Win

0:00All right, we are back with another bonus show and this is going to be Ryan Day and a couple of the guys talking about the Ohio State defense some of their takeaways from the Ohio State defense on Saturday and there was less conversation about the defense then there was about the offense in the post game interviews, but That was probably because the defense was just kind of good for the whole day. There wasn't a lot of nit picking to do. There wasn't a lot of Yeah, oh, where are you worried about this? It was just kind of they were just good all day long really held ball state and check in the way that you would sort of expect in Ohio State defense to hold a team like ball state and check. So One thing that did stand out though was the fact that the buck eyes rotated a ton of guys defensively. I think we might have seen close to two dozen guys playing just in the first half alone. Now is that going to be the plan moving forward? Is that just a function of your playing ball state and there are 50 point underdog? How deep are they really going to go in closer games this year? Yeah, I think that's a question that we have to continually evaluate. I think when you watch the field

1:03I think there's been times in the past where you've seen you know, maybe when the starters came out There was a dip in the level of play that was significant. That was almost palatable on both sides From my point of view being on the field they didn't feel that way out there today. So that's a good thing But the question is to your point, you know, how deep do we need to go? I think that's something we have to continue to look at but this gives us a good data point to move forward with. One of the spots that I think there were some questions going into the season was the top end of that defensive tackle area. James Smith, John Walker, you know, some of the other guys as well, but the question of this question is specifically about James Smith and John Walker. What Ryan Day saw from those guys on Saturday? Watching the iPad quickly, there was some disruptive plays. I thought John, you know, not one of the offensive linemen back into the backfield I saw James in the backfield a few times And so that's great, you know, regardless of your opponent you need to be disruptive So that's good. I think for them, I think they'll tell you that you know, they're gonna, you know

2:05Want to do that against, you know, a little bit, you know, higher level of competition is As time goes on and certainly this week, they're gonna get challenged in a big way But I think you saw them flash you saw their twitchiness you saw their athleticism and power It's a big part of our defense. You know, I will say this to I know the score, you know, got a little out of hand at the end But but I do feel like you know ball state is gonna have a good team this year. I think they played hard I think they're well coached. I think they were disciplined and how they played I think it's it's clear, you know, that they don't have the talent that we have. I think that's that's no mystery, but like You know, I think they're gonna have a good team and I think coach does a really good job in what they do so I think they're gonna have a good season this year and I got a lot of respect for their staff and the way the kids played one of the Players of the game was true sophomore linebacker TJ Alfred He was one of four guys was getting rotated in there at linebacker It was Peyton Pierce Christian Allegro Riley Petty John and TJ Alfred who were rotating through those two to three linebacker spots

3:07Depending on what they what the opponent was doing and what Ohio State was Inticipating that play what is that flow like during the course of the game as you're sort of shuffling through Four different linebackers. Oh, it was great, you know We've been practicing like that since fall camps has rather came back, you know Everybody been working with everybody just getting ready. We got a four-man rotation right now just All working together doing good things Now I know some of our scheme guys have talked in the past about the fact that you're rotating guys like that That can have some negative effects because then you're kind of getting pulled out of the game and they're gonna put back in the game You can kind of get out of the flow of the game something like that But are there also some positives to it especially this question was about that if you're rotating that many guys in Does that help keep people more engaged during the week? You maybe you're in the meetings maybe you're watching film Maybe you're paying extra attention to practice because you know Not just are you practicing you know you're gonna have got a very good chance of playing meaningful snaps on Saturday

4:08Yeah, definitely keep you in throes And also keep your body healthy, you know, it's gonna be a long season for us So being able to rotate guys in everybody stay fresh for this long run we've been going There was a lot to like about Ohio State's defensive performance on Saturday Buck guys allowed just 2.8 yards per play two yards per rush It was a really really impressive performance on the whole For the Ohio State defense and one of the things that was most impressive They limited there at the explosive plays from ball state the longest play all day for ball state was 15 yards And that one came in the final minute of the game when the threes were in there or maybe even the guys behind the threes So how much of a point of pride was that for the defense to keep ball state from getting any explosives? You know it's good. We've been working on that all offseason and trying to limit a big play and stuff going against our offense You know our office is a high-power office so Being able to play good against them when we go against other guys It should be like we should be able to keep them to a minimal big place

5:11One of the big highlights for the defense on Saturday was that Alfred himself He had an interception so our a tj offered walk us through what happened on that play You know, he was in cover one cover one so I just had to tie them and we run across the field and I see and curry get the pressure So I see in the quarterback written out. I know you either go and run it or try to get rid of it And he tried to get rid of it so I kept my eyes on them. He threw it and I just went up and got it And now the buck guys done with ball state now they are turning their attention to the Texas Longhorns What is the level of excitement around the program for that game? Yeah, we've been thinking about it's not so for a while now Had a great offseason for it and I just can't wait to go to Texas. It's a big atmosphere game. Yeah, go win the game All right, we're gonna have many more bonus shows for you this week We'll try and let you hear a little bit from the Texas Longhorns Steve Sarkeesian Some of their players as well because man there's gonna be a ton to talk about this week as the buck eyes get ready to head down To Austin to take on the Longhorns. It should be a top five matchup according to most folks

6:15It'd be a heck of a scene as well. It should be a great start to the season We're gonna be down there starting Thursday night our whole team from Buckeye Insiders We got a live event planned Friday evening in Austin. We would love to see you there You want to be a part of that? You can join us at BuckeyeInsiders.com Sign up for membership get access to our insiders board that really fun community It is a lively community really fun group of people as well We are looking forward to interacting with some of them down in Austin on Friday You can be a part of all that by signing up today at BuckeyeInsiders.com And thanks again for those who have been watching us on YouTube You can get you can find all of our shows at youtube.com slash at Buckeye Insiders Make sure you are subscribed there. That's a free subscription You hit the bell as well to get notified when we do live shows because we're gonna have a bunch of live content from coming for you all week long YouTube.com slash at Buckeye Insiders and BuckeyeInsiders.com