Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Sunday, September twenty eighth.

I'm your host, tom Or the Minnesota game in six days, the game against Michigan in sixty two days.

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Buckeyes headed home with a twenty four to six win over the Washington Huskies.

I'm joined by Tony Gerderman here at Husky Stadium.

I think before we get into the game, Tony, I just want to throw this out there for all the Ohio State fans who maybe did not get an opportunity to make this trip.

There were plenty here, but I know there are plenty more back in Ohio.

This is a spot.

Put this on your list.

I don't know when Ohio State's back out here next, but put this on your list.

You know this is this is up there with Oregon and Nebraska and Penn State and Michigan and I mean the other places that are Yeah, you you should take a trip there because This is a really a unique venue and just I mean a really cool apptmosphere and worth worth the trip.

It was pretty loud for a noon game.

It sure was.

I didn't even think about that, it sure was.

It was.

But also Ohio State, Texas was loud for new game, Yeah for sure.

But yeah, because we we were talking about how was this as loud as organ that was, like I was that was a three thirty.

Kick, yes, yeah, because that yeah, that was.

State.

Yeah, yeah, so this was.

Yeah, for sure, come come check this game out or when Ohio State is back, and not just the game, because there's all sorts of stuff around.

Of course you get the city.

It would be interesting to see what this is like for a four o'clock, four thirty local.

Well you'll never you should never have to be here for a seven forty or eight o'clock kick local.

But even for just the twelve thirty kick, it didn't feel like, oh, sleepy.

Twelve thirty kick.

This was people were ready to go.

The boats were rolling in early in the morning and well into the game, and it was very very cool.

It's certainly it's a bucket less place.

Yeah, And if you want to see more about the stadium, about the salegating, about the outside of the stadium, the inside of the stadium.

We did a ton of behind the scenes stuff.

You can find that all on our YouTube channel YouTube dot com slash Buckeye Huddle.

We did our very best to capture as much of this as we can because I know this is a place that virtually no one has come.

Ohio State hasn't been here since two thousand and seven.

So again, if you haven't put just put it on your list.

I don't know when they're back here, probably a couple of years, but put it on your list.

Definitely worth the trip, all right.

So it was twenty four to six Ohio State, and this was it was.

A weird game.

I feel like we're talking about just yeah, this is a weird game.

And the pattern of the game was a little weird.

We're talking about that a lot at this point.

And this was another weird one where Ohio State had three possessions in the first half.

That's I'm sure that has happened and I'm just not thinking of it off the top of my head.

But boy, I can't remember the last time Ohio State had three possessions in a first half.

No and this feels like a projects to go and find the last time they did because this and really, well, let me just go look for the Army and the Navy games and see if that air Force back in ninety three or whatever, maybe.

Then the nineteen ninety Liberty Bowl is a real possibility.

So this was this game plan was played in two hours and fifty five minutes.

That's the shortest game since like twenty two or twenty three for Ohio State when thirty seven to nine over Minnesota, where probably Ohio State and Minnesota are just like this is planned.

Let's just get this game over with this one.

I I don't understand why it was so quick because I guess there wasn't enough scoring.

Basically, there are plenty of timeouts, but you know, you're both teams just there's no no reason to hurry.

Nobody wants to give the other guy more possessions, right, so you're just trying to lit it and like win it in the fourth quarter.

Problem was Ohio State won it in the fourth quarter, won it in the second half in Washington.

Didn't have enough.

This feels like a game where more possessions in the first half would have helped Washington like just or just run some time.

I'll do some things, just try to get as many possessions.

Well, Jedfish set out well, yeah, Jedfish said after.

The game that their idea was slowly down because you know, I think my sense this week was basically, if this game gets into the you know, if someone gets a thirty or Washington is like cooked, no chance and no one got to thirty.

And that was sort of a function I think partly of Washington's gameplay and being hey, limit possessions, keep you know, keep Ohio State's offense off the field.

Ultimately, when you when you're the underdog, you're always incentivized to limit the number of possessions because if you have Ohio State has a you know, you know, Ohio State has a talent advantage on every individual play and.

It's not enormous.

This isn't Ohio State grambling, but they have talent advantages in certain spots.

So the more plays there are, the more those advantages accumulate, and the more you see, you know, if this was a game where you had thirty extra snaps, Jeremiah Smith is getting loose at some point, Kronel Tate is getting loose at some point, and Washington, you know, maybe Joanah Coleman gets loose, or maybe demand Punk Williams gets loose or Denzel Boston maybe, but Ohio State's guys are better.

So therefore Ohio State, you know, the advantage shows up more for Ohio State.

So you know it's the drives.

Washington drives or Ohio States drives.

Nine places forty five yards, six places fifteen yards the touchdown drives, but the.

Four scoring drives in a row.

Ten plays seventy three yards touchdowns, fourteen plays seventy five yards touchdown, eleven plays fifty nine yards field goal, eight plays forty five yard forty four yards touchdown.

But the middle eight of this game.

Ohio State was down three to nothing when they got the ball with four thirty nine left in the first half.

Three nothing Washington less than five minutes ago to a halftime.

Ohio State gets the ball.

Ten plays seventy three yards, boom boom, very methodical down the field, score a touchdown, steph Washington on their kind of abbreviated possession right before halftime.

And then when they get the win, Ohiers, they got the ball back fourteen plays seventy five yards.

More than half of the third quarter was gone.

So Washington went from hoay, were up by three with five minutes left in the first the first half to uh oh, we're down by eleven more than halfway through the third quarter and now.

Time is running out.

That was that was.

Such a crucial stretch for Yeah.

And then then you see Washington normally has three possessions in the second.

Half, right, yeah, then yeah, then then they're turning to.

Not have the ball, and it was this is what happens when nobody's in a hurry.

You're gonna shorten the game like this.

But this is as short as you will ever see it from two normal human being teams where you'res now like, we only run triple option, we only run run to flex bomb.

This is real offense, like not real offense, normal offenses.

And it's still like, yeah, but we're gonna huddle, We're gonn mosy to the line.

We're gonna you know, here we go start clapping it to five seconds on the play clock.

And Okay, if you're gonna do that, you need to execute very very well.

And that's one thing that Ohio State did much better in the second half is possessions are.

Gonna be limited.

That means every play is that much more important.

Twice is important because if you only have the ball seven times, like Ohio State did, like you need to make sure that you're making the most out of each of those plays.

And if you're not, then you're wasting valuable time because you're not just wasting a drive, you're wasting Well, that was five minutes that we could have had bag that you don't have now.

And really this is not a catch up kind of game for Washington.

Once it got to a two score game, it's like, wow, do you have two scores.

In you right?

Yeah, yeah, you're the hill.

The climb gets a lot steeper when you're not able to.

Put the ball in the end zone.

And it's you know, to you know, to Washington's credit, it's been very hard for anyone to put the ball in the end zone.

It's a high State defense this year, four games in the calendar is about to turn to October.

This team's given up two touchdowns, one against Texas in the kind of closing minutes of that game.

They went fifty six minutes without giving up a touchdown of Texas and then Ohio scores right out of the half on kind of a weird broken play where you had someone there and just couldn't get him to the ground.

That's it, end of list.

You know, this is this is like when you talk about, right, you know, the stat about Ryan Day losses, and it's like, I can, off the top of my head remember every Ryan Day loss and he's been the coach since twenty nineteen.

I mean, this is this is not someone who just took over the job three weeks ago.

You can remember all of it, every touchdown in the Matt Patrasci has given up and we're through a month of the season and you don't even.

Have to think about it.

Just won't one right before the game and at the end of the game against Texas and right after the half against Ohio, and that's it.

There was a lot that went into why this.

Defense was so successful against Washington on Saturday, but as always, it all starts up and starts upfront.

The defensive line for iOS date was credible.

They controlled the game and even when Washington would start to move the ball, they can only do that for so long before the defensive line would win again hold them to a field goal.

Whatever it took, like there would be good moments for Washington, but they were fleeting and the defensive line, whether it's Kaden Curry, Kate McDonald, Kenyana Jackson, whoever, or Rvel Reese and Sunny Styles cleaning up as spies or just making sure that Jonah Coleman didn't get loose out in the flats.

This was a complete game.

But yes, it very much started up front and that made everybody's job easier.

Although you know, also we could talk about the secondary, but the defensive line controlled the game and they would I think they would have done it with more plays as well, Like if I don't see the defensive line getting tired from another driver too, they were just going to continue to do this.

Well, Yeah, the defensive defensive line is winning as often as you know, as often as not.

And this is sort of the same thing.

The talent wins out the more you see it, the more the talent wins out, the.

More snaps Washington.

Yeah, they might have scored more, but they also you might you know, you might be throwing the ball up in Caleb Down's interception, you know, you might you might get hit at a time you're not expecting to get hit and fumble the ball.

I mean, Washington didn't turn the ball over.

They had they had a fake field goal that ended a drive, which is, you know, functionally a turnover, but not it doesn't show up on the statute as a turnover.

But yeah, the defensive.

Line, Caden McDonald, I mean Cat and Curry got a lot of the flowers after the game, and rightfully so.

Eleven tackles, three sacks, tied the school record with five tackles for loss.

That's that is a day and a half for Caden Curry.

But Kaden McDonald, he's been so good this year.

I mean he's he's not necessarily the biggest name player, and it's hard to be the superstar as the interior of the defensive line.

I mean, you can go through and goon Aaron Donald and don the can sue Big Daddy Wilkinson a string of about eight guys from Georgia.

But you know it's other than that, you don't you can name a whole lot more edge guys than defensive tackles.

But Cad McDonald, that is a name that a lot of Ohio State.

Fans should be saying pretty frequently, and with a lot of excitement.

In their voices.

Now that I think about it, I think he had eight tackles against Texas, which was the most for a nose tackle at Ohio State since twenty twelve or thirteen.

Wow, when Garrett Goebel did it.

And you know, yeah, and big Jonathan Hankins, who was not necessarily a nose tackle at at the time, also at eight.

But Garrett Gobile eight tackles the most for a defensive a nose tackle until Cad McDonald did this, so this.

Is not new.

Getting to the quarterback is always a new ish for a nose tackle, especially one.

He was as burly as Cad McDonald.

But those two guys, the Cadens, were outstanding.

I would call them not have nothing.

I'd say that aiden's but.

We've been doing this together long enough that I can usually tell where you're going with something.

I'm like, I'm interested to see where he goes with this, and no one who also were interested to see that as well.

So all right, fair enough, Yeah, solid day all around for the Ohio State defense, O high State offense.

I think we know who RB one is at this point for Ohio State.

That's that I feel pretty confident in saying that.

Bo Jackson was seventeen carries, the most forn O Higher State running backs since quinch On Judkins at seventeen.

That was the season high.

Last year, which gives you an idea of the trust they have in him, the belief that we need him to run the ball to win this game.

And he ran the ball.

They did win it.

He had some tough runs in there, carrying some tacklers picking up.

I wonder what his the efficiency the effectiveness of those runs are because he only had a couple where he was stopped short or you know, just maybe a yard or two.

Other than that, he had some seven yarders, eight yarders, and you can the more he gets, the more he's going to do.

And I wonder what we'll see next week against Minnesota, because it also feels like somebody's due for a big game.

Yeah, and you didn't.

You didn't break one against Washington.

Washington's defense held up pretty well against his Ohio State offense, but Ohio State obviously was able to put points.

On the board.

Just going through his list of rushes, first and ten three yards rush, that is that is you're not staying on schedule there.

First and ten four yard rush.

You are staying on schedule.

There, second and six five yard rush that's a win.

First and ten one yard rush that's not a win.

First and ten eight yard rush that's a win.

Second and two twelve yard rush.

That's a win.

First and ten two yard rush.

No second and eight two.

Yard rush, No second and two zero yeard rush, No second and ten six yard rush.

Yes, second and nine eleven yard rush.

Yes.

I mean you're going through I can.

Go through the rest of it, but it's he's winning more often than not.

As you kind of go through those numbers, and you know, seventeen carry eighty yards that's not in long sixteen, that is not those are not numbers that are gonna, you know, be hello Heisman numbers.

But if you can just sort of stay on schedule and you're running back, you're averaging four point seven and four point three and you're not getting sacked, and you're sort of staying on schedule and you're just sort of it's not exciting, but staying on schedule keeps both, you know, keeps the whole playbook open.

Staying on schedules basically, first and ten, you want four yards, you're in second and six, second and six, you want four yards and then you're in third and two and you know sec second and six, Yeah, you can run it or you can pass it.

Third and two.

Yeah, you can run it and pass it.

You're just trying to get yourself in a spot.

Where you can credibly plan, you know, credibly do either a run or a pass, and that makes you much tirer defense.

He's now averaging ninety nine yards rushing per game through through his pre games.

He did not play.

Against Texas, so yeah, that's where he's he's been just he's just getting started.

But you can see and it's so telling that the coaches and you know, Carlos Lock and Ryan Day were like, it's time.

Yeah, it's time.

It's a road game.

You never quite know what's going to happen when you go on the road in the Big ten and to and trust a true freshman.

It's always interesting in college football to watch the emergence of true freshmen or new stars.

And I don't want to say he's a new star yet, but he is a true freshman who has clearly they're putting a lot of care and energy.

Into Yeah, he's in the middle of that emergence for sure.

Another guy who did not have a real exciting game was Jeremiah Smith.

And I was in the Jed Fishcress conference off of the game, and I thought I should ask him, what did you guys do to really limit Jeremiah Smith?

And then you look at Jeremiah Smith's stats and it's eight catches for eighty one yards and a touchdown, and it's like nine targets, and then it's like, well, did they limit Jeremi Smith?

I mean, they kind of did, but eight catches for eighty one yards and a touchdown is like, also pretty much anyone would take that as a win in terms of a day.

Yeah, you'll need your excess and those guys to explain it fully, but nearly every snap the corners would start bailing big time and so trying to keep stuff in front of them.

But then in the second half, like they opened up, just started throwing the short stuff.

What you want to bail, We'll take eight yards, We'll take eight yards.

And that's why you see he have ten yards of catch.

Basically, we'll take that.

And his touchdown catch was throwing behind the line of scrimmage, essentially on the drag route.

So, yeah, if you're going to give up the short stuff, you take it, stay on schedule, you move.

It's not pretty.

Twenty two twenty eight for two hundred and eight yards for Julian Say, no interceptions, completing another seventy nine percent of his passes, which is what he does.

And it's and he was an effective Ish runner today.

He ran more because you know, he needed to.

Didn't quite pick up the first downs.

He came close, but he did have a key run on a third down to get them into a secure field goal range.

And that was a big move in this game early on.

Yeah, that was he had four carries and one of them was a sack.

Yeah, the twelve yarder was on third and seventeen and it got it to fourth and five, but it also got it from a.

Forty nine yard field goal.

The thirty two or you know, something like that.

It was a it wasn't quite that that traumatic, but it was it got it from a you know, certainly makable but long you know, medium to long field goals thirty four yards.

But it would it would have been a forty six yarder.

And or if he gets sacked, it's worse.

Yeah, right, And and a forty six yarder.

That's long enough.

It's not incredibly long, but it's long enough that you know, the trajectory might be low enough that maybe it gets blocked nerves.

Yeah, well, and did you see what happened to Jaden Fielding on that kick?

He kicked it and then his plant foot went out for under him and he got flat on his butt.

Which credit to Jaden Fielding for having the technique to get that through from thirty four yards that that you know, that could have been a disaster as well.

But the say in play again, not exciting, but it set it up.

It turned it into this is a makeable play, and it turned a fourteen to six lead into a seventeen six lead and then all of a sudden, now it's not a one score game.

It's this was just a very effective, not exciting, not you know that you can go through a whole bunch of stuff.

This game was not, but it was you know, it also wasn't a loss.

It was not a loss.

And you go on the road to a place that no one has won, No one has come in into this stadiumven won since what twenty twenty one, I think, and twenty two straight wins for Washington at home and the Black Eyes and that street with a twenty four to six win.

And they also ended the twenty one scoring possessions scoring drives in a row with an immediate three.

Now, yep, and that was it and impressive.

And this is not one of those games you rewatch because of the offense.

It's one of those games you rewatch because of the defense.

And I appreciate what they were able to do.

Yeah, so a lot to appreciate there.

And as you heard Tony say, we're gonna get with our exits those guys to get some more specific than that.

I have great news, friends, We're gonna have Ross on the show this to talk about what Ohio State was able to do to limit what Washington was doing in offense, what Washing was able to do to limit what Ohio State was doing an offense, and what it might mean moving forward.

As the buck Eye shift their focus now to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

They're going to be playing at Ohio Stadium.

That is a prime time game next week.

Worried about too many noon kickoffs, Well, not this, not against Ohio, not against Minnesota.

You get a couple of prime time games in a row, so you have that to look forward to.

I need the extra seven hours, eight hours to recover from this trip.

Yeah, we have a flight home we got to get to So thank you guys all for joining us.

This has been a one heck of a trip.

And again, if you have not been here before, this is worth a trip.

If you made this trip, I'm sure leave it.

Leave throwing the comments on YouTube let people know we're not kidding.

This is worth a trip, but if you want to check it out.

We did a ton of behind the scenes coverage all weekend long.

We had We did stuff on Friday, including eating a Seattle style which is a unique experience and worth worth watching.

But we also did a bunch of behind the scenes coverage outside the stadium here yesterday, inside the stadium here on you know what it looks like on a game day.

Also a the salegating scene outside on the lake.

Really really just a cool, very unique venue and worth worth checking that stuff out and then worth making the trip.

Out here whenever his Ohio State is back out.

Here, so well, we will have plenty plenty of games to talk about between now and remember, Ohio State is back out here next and we will be doing all that at bucke huddle dot com.

That's where we got Tony, Kevin and I covering the team.

We got our recruiting coverage, we got our extra's nose coverage.

That is all at bucke huddle dot com and of course at YouTube dot com slash bucke huddle.

If you enjoyed this, make.

Sure you hit the like button, hit the thumbs up, subscribe, hit the bell, all the all the YouTube things.

You know that, you know the YouTube things, do all the YouTube things.

So that'll do it for today.

Thank you guys all for joining us.

Have a great day.

We will talk to tomorrow