Instant Analysis of The Buckeyes Blowout Win vs Minnesota
Brendan Gulick and Anthony Moeglin give their instant analysis and reactions to Ohio State's 37-3 win on Senior Day vs Minnesota.
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00:00 Hi everybody, welcome to the Horseshoe in Columbus. Brendan Gulick and Anthony Meglin
00:13 with you after Ohio State just wrapped up its final tune up before the game. It was
00:19 senior day and there were certainly some things to talk about related to the 60 minutes we
00:23 saw today. And I know everybody wants to talk about the 60 minutes that are coming up from
00:27 a week from today. We'll get to that too, don't worry. But in the meantime, let's focus
00:31 on the game that Ohio State just played against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, knocking them
00:35 off convincingly. 37-3. Anthony, there were some moments in the game that probably left
00:42 you banging your head on a wall early on. Maybe the offense wasn't quite as crisp early
00:46 as you'd like to see. But by the time the team came out of the locker room in the second
00:50 half and within the first, I think it was 67 seconds, they had outscored themselves
00:56 in the first half with what they did in the second half. Ohio State looked the part today.
01:00 They did a good job. Yeah, they definitely did. And just exactly to your point, like
01:05 first half was like, "Hey, get it going boys. Let's look a little bit better." And then
01:08 boom, that's the beauty of the Ohio State defense, right? You come out right out of
01:13 half, Draveon Henderson, boom, hits a home run and then strip sack and then another touchdown.
01:18 And it's like, that's Ohio State football and that's the brand of football that we're
01:22 so accustomed to, especially over the past couple of years. And you love to see that
01:26 this team has that big play, quick score ability because that avalanche there at the beginning
01:32 of the half was surely awesome to see and good for the Buckeyes that they know that
01:37 they have that and good for today's game to get a little bit of separation.
01:42 Some final numbers for you, Ohio State 434 yards of offense. They were within four yards
01:47 of splitting a dead even between passing and running the football, 219 and 215. The Buckeyes
01:53 were 10 of 16 on third downs throughout the game, 23 total first downs, averaged six and
02:00 a half yards per play. They were quite good on the offensive side if you look at the aggregate
02:07 numbers. On the defensive side though, that's really where I think Ohio State probably hangs
02:11 its hat on again. And it's not a new thing at this point. Here we are 11 weeks into the
02:16 season and this team is playing national championship caliber defense. It may look different than
02:23 it did a year ago, Anthony, but this upcoming week is as relevant as it is because Ohio
02:29 State's defense looks so much different than it did in big games the last two years.
02:34 I mean, just look at everything, man. This defense can suffocate teams. They've done
02:38 it from week one until today where they can just totally eliminate offenses. And you know,
02:44 when you have that defense and that ability on that side of the football, it doesn't really
02:48 matter what's going on on offense. It doesn't matter that you score only 13 points in the
02:52 first half or maybe some guys are struggling or early on in the year, maybe the run game
02:56 isn't going well. It doesn't matter because this defense has the ability to just completely
03:00 and totally shut teams down. And you saw that today again for now the 10th straight or the
03:06 11th straight time where this defense is just, you can't do anything. You drop back to pass,
03:11 someone's covered, you try to run it. Guys are in the backfield making tackles and linebackers
03:14 are running around. And it's just a fun, fun defense to watch. And they're playing some
03:19 of the best football in the country and some of the best football that, you know, Buckeye
03:22 fans have seen, you know, in the past two, three years.
03:25 So we didn't talk about this leading up to it. So this is pure like gut reaction from
03:29 you. Buckeyes had five offensive possessions in the first half. What would you guess roughly
03:36 was their average starting field position in the first half?
03:40 Oh, man, I would say roughly the 40, their 40 yard line on the back, you know, the minus
03:48 40.
03:49 You got a bad memory, bud. The five, the five possessions that Ohio State started with in
03:57 the first half were on the 15, 11, 13, three and three. They started on average on their
04:05 own nine yard line. And I think that had a lot to do with the fact that Ohio State only
04:10 scored 13 points in the first half. They had long fields to work with, long fields and
04:18 couldn't quite get something really going.
04:22 Kyle looked a little clunky. He didn't look terrible. He just didn't look like his normal
04:26 self when he was, you know, really locked in the last couple of weeks. And so Ohio State
04:32 comes out and takes a touchback on the opening kickoff of the second half. And by 10 yards,
04:39 that was their best starting field position of the game. First play, see ya, 75 yards
04:45 to the house.
04:46 And they, you know, one of the things with Kyle too, and where I kind of noticed it,
04:50 like you, you, you go back to last week against Michigan State, he was just like very, everything
04:54 was crisp, everything was accurate. And I use that word when we were kind of texting
04:57 back and forth, you know, you got a couple, a couple of times into the red zone where
05:03 just, just a couple of misses. Like I'm thinking of one to Emeka where he missed it high, or
05:07 it was just, it's felt like it was, they were on two different pages where Emeka ran like
05:10 some kind of a slant and he threw some kind of like a more up the field. And, you know,
05:15 it just, a couple of times here and there where, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't like
05:19 horribly off, but it was just enough where it was like, Hey, you know, it wasn't his
05:23 sharpest performance. And, you know, the, you juxtapose that with last week against
05:28 Michigan State where he was like dead nuts on. So I was like, Hey, he played fine. He
05:32 played good. And they kept saying it on the broadcast. He's good. He wasn't great today.
05:37 And I think that that's where it falls and it's not a, it wasn't a problem for Kyle,
05:40 but just like you said, long fields, right. Make that really, really, really challenging
05:44 when you have to go 90 yards and you're used to looking at the entire field, it makes it
05:48 really hard to just kind of build those drives and do it consistently throughout the day.
05:54 I mean, look, his QBR was 148. Okay. He didn't play terrible, right? Yeah. He was, it was,
06:00 it was 20 of 30 through 10 incompletions for 212 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
06:06 There were a couple of throws that had you holding your breath because you thought maybe
06:09 they were going to get picked. And there were certainly some throws you're like that. What
06:12 was that? That wasn't the Kyle that we've seen the last couple of weeks, but it's not
06:17 like, I mean, let's not focus on overly negative stuff here. I thought he played fine. Was
06:23 not his sharpest game, not a big deal. Mostly because the Buckeyes ran the football as authoritatively
06:29 as they did. They dominated the line of scrimmage today on both sides. But certainly I thought
06:34 the offensive line now the last three weeks is proving to be the kind of line that Ohio
06:40 state is going to need in these upcoming big games. I don't know that they're the best
06:44 line in the country. In fact, I think you could probably confidently say they're not.
06:49 But the offensive line doesn't seem to me to be the black hole that it was frankly at
06:55 the beginning of the season. When you looked at this team in week one and went, Whoa, something's
07:01 going to have to grow here. If, if the Buckeyes are going to make a run.
07:05 And isn't that the beauty of an entire season, right? You think back to some of those early
07:09 games, it's like, man, you and I talked about it. Like, Holy cow, we got big problems here,
07:13 but now they've come around to, Hey, this is what we do well. And that's also part of
07:17 it too. Like coaches learn about their players too. Like, Hey, we're good at this, this and
07:21 this and you, and you realize, you know, that's how, then they start calling games to their
07:25 strengths. So, you know, you love what you saw on the ground today. And anytime you can
07:29 run the football the way that Ohio state has been doing and did again today, they're going
07:33 to be tough to beat. Travion goes 15 for one 46. And even if you take the 75 yard or away,
07:39 that's still 14 for 71. He's averaging five yards a carry. Like that's winning football.
07:44 That's winning. That's a winning run game. You know, in his limited carry. So you love
07:50 what you're seeing there. And that part of the offense is definitely trending. Like my
07:56 hands pointed like this, it's mostly trending like straight off, really, really good. The
08:00 past couple of weeks have been such an improvement from what we were used to seeing at the beginning
08:03 of the year.
08:04 Yeah. I mean, three weeks in a row now where, where Travion has been at full strength and
08:09 there is a clear difference between Travion healthy enough to play and Travion healthy
08:14 period. And the fact that he looks like this going into Michigan this upcoming week, and
08:22 hopefully several games beyond that. I mean, it's, it's a great feeling. I'll put it to
08:28 you that way. Because last year, the running back room was a little banged up toward the
08:31 end of the year. And, you know, it left you feeling a little queasy, not so much right
08:35 now. Okay. A little more defensive conversation here. Minnesota, 159 yards of total offense.
08:43 They were 89 through the year 70 on the ground, only three of 12 on third downs. They averaged
08:49 3.3 yards per play over the course of 48 plays. Obviously that's not particularly productive.
08:58 I thought the defense was excellent. And my number one takeaway thought in this game from
09:05 a defensive perspective was, did we watch Jack Sawyer play at home for the last time?
09:12 He's draft eligible. I have no idea if he's going to go pro. Jack Sawyer played his butt
09:18 off today. That was statistically his most dominant game as a Buckeye. And boy, I, I
09:26 don't know. Sure would be great to have him back next year. Again, I have no idea if he's
09:30 going to go pro, but if there was ever a game to, to, to stamp as like, Hey, I'm proud to
09:35 be a Buckeye and I'm, and I'm heading to the NFL. That might be it.
09:39 Yeah. Six tackles, three solos, one sack and three tack, three and a half tackles for loss.
09:44 Like that's one year. That's when you put up on your board and you, you know, with the
09:47 forced fumble. Yeah. Yeah. With the forced fumble too. I mean, it's, was an amazing game
09:53 and you know, it was really, you know, in my perspective, like really the first time
09:58 you felt Jack Sawyer, like it almost was, it felt like to, to this point in the year
10:02 it was like, Hey, it was JT and then Jack, it was JT and then Jack. But tonight it was
10:06 Jack and Jack was making plays in the backfield. He was causing havoc in the run game. Like
10:11 he was unblockable. And he was just fantastic. His performance tonight was, was really, really
10:16 special. Like you said, you hope that you can get him back and convince him to come
10:19 back because him next year would be, would be something pretty, pretty special and pretty
10:25 hard to block. He'd be a dude that's tough to block for those guys, for that defensive
10:29 line.
10:30 Favorite post-game press conference quote comes from Ryan Day. Question number two about
10:35 Tommy, or I should say comment number two regarding Tommy Eikenberg. He says he's going
10:40 to have him back next week. Ryan cracked a little bit of a wry smile and says, Tommy
10:45 was ready to play in this one and I had to pull him back. It was almost a fistfight.
10:50 I won. He said, really, it was just too hard for Eikenberg, you know, not to play on senior
10:57 day. It, it killed him to not be out there and that he did everything he needed to this
11:01 week. He was ready to play. He was good to go. And Ryan Day basically said, it's my job
11:06 to make the uncomfortable decisions that are best for the future of this team. And there's
11:10 too much at stake. Tommy needs to be a hundred percent next week, not 99%, not 99.99% this
11:17 week. While he didn't use those words, he, you got the impression that Ryan basically
11:23 said there, we're not risking that. There's no reason. There's just too much on the line
11:27 going forward. So, not surprised that Tommy wanted to play today. In fact, I saw him warming
11:33 up and thought as he was moving both of his arms around him, like, man, there's this,
11:38 this dog's playing like there's, he looks like he's going to go. That must not have
11:43 been a fun conversation.
11:44 No, that's, that's a tough one. And that's one, especially on senior day where it's like,
11:48 really makes it really, really hard. But you know, the goal of the year isn't to beat Minnesota
11:53 on senior day. The goal of the year is to beat Michigan, win the Big Ten Championship,
11:57 and then do your best and try to win the college football playoff. You know, those are the
12:01 things. And if my guess is the conversation ended there, Hey, Tommy, we don't need you
12:05 to win today, tomorrow, today. We need you next week and for the weeks to come, because
12:11 they are going to need him. You know, that's, we're going to face a formidable run attack
12:15 from Michigan and you're going to need Tommy Eikenberg, you know, at his very, very best
12:19 next week. And it was good that he did sit out today.
12:24 Ryday did not give an update on Mike Hall, but he specifically said, I expect we're going
12:30 to have everybody back next week. I guess I've come to believe in these press conferences
12:36 that Ryan Day is the most optimistic guy in the world and he should be. And he's never
12:41 going to say, Nope, Mike's not playing next week, unless there's some exceptionally obvious
12:47 reason why he wouldn't play or why anybody else wouldn't play. I don't know if Ohio State's
12:53 going to have Mike Hall back next week. And actually I, deep down inside, I don't know
12:57 if they really know, but I'm sure they're going to do everything they can to get him
13:02 healthy and get him on the field. The good news is Ohio State's defensive line today,
13:06 I thought played well in his absence. Tyleek Williams has been an animal all year, but
13:10 Ty Hamilton played great. I thought Kenyatta Jackson looked good. Kaden Curry looked good.
13:16 Hiro Kanu, when he got in there toward the end of the game, looked good. Obviously JT
13:19 and Jack Sawyer both played really, really well. But you notice a little bit of a drop
13:25 off when Mike Hall's not in there because he is an elite player.
13:28 Yeah, and you want him to try to get back for next week. And like you said, not only
13:33 is Ohio State as a team going to do everything they can to get him back, I'm sure he's in
13:37 the training room now just like, Hey, let's go. Anything we can do that I can be back
13:42 and available for next Saturday at noon. I don't have to be healthy until then, but let's
13:46 do everything we can because he'll be a difference maker. You'll feel him either way. If he's
13:51 available, you'll feel it. And if he's not available, you'll feel it. So you hope that
13:56 he can come through and be available next Saturday for the Bucs.
14:00 Two more things to kind of put a bow on this one. Number one, Cade Stover scoring a touchdown
14:06 on, by the way, what I thought was an awesome play design because Dallin Hayden doesn't
14:11 get in twice. They bring Chip Trainum off the bench as if they're screaming, Okay, this
14:17 is our bruising running back. We're going to run and we're going to jam it down your
14:20 throat with a guy that we know can get in. They fake a handoff to him to the right hand
14:23 side. Kyle flips his back, throws a floater to the left corner of the end zone where Cade
14:28 burned his guy and catches a touchdown on what was his final play as a Buckeye at home.
14:37 I'm pretty sure he didn't play after that. And Kyle McCord kind of insinuated that he
14:43 also didn't think Cade got on the field again after that. What a special walk off for a
14:48 guy that will absolutely, for me personally, will go down as one of my favorite Buckeyes
14:53 of all time. Cade Stover is an incredible player.
14:55 Yeah, and as I've talked about him all year long, I really appreciate what he is as a
15:02 player, what he means to this team. He's so good. You can see how this year, at least
15:07 for even a new quarterback like Kyle was, how much he leaned on him. It was really cool
15:11 to hear Kyle talk about that. Like, Hey, it was awesome that Cade's last play in the shoe
15:16 on this field, I was able to throw him a touchdown. He had a very great answer in the press conference.
15:21 You could feel in his heart that it was something that was really, really special to him. So
15:25 it was great to send Cade off with a touchdown catch for sure.
15:29 It was a long drive. 16 plays, 84 yards, took 9.18 off the clock. Ohio State had six first
15:36 downs on that drive. And at that point of the game, Minnesota had six first downs in
15:42 the whole game. And that drive was like mid third quarter and ended a little bit toward
15:48 the back half of the third quarter. So important, I think, when you have a drive that long,
15:53 you got to get in the end zone anyways. But that was pretty awesome. So well done there.
15:57 And then I think the last thing that is really important coming out of this game that a lot
16:01 of folks are asking about, talking about is Dallin Hayden. So Dallin Hayden played today.
16:06 You're allowed to play four games and keep your red shirt. If you play a fifth game,
16:10 you burn your red shirt. Ryan Day was asked about it postgame. And I spoke with Ohio State
16:15 Athletic Communications about this. The rule is that you're allowed to play four games
16:22 plus the postseason. So Dallin can play today. He can play next week and keep his red shirt.
16:28 And if he wants to play in the college football playoff or in the Big Ten championship game,
16:32 it's Ryan Day's understanding that he is allowed to do that while keeping a red shirt. So maybe
16:39 that was part of the reason why the team held Dallin as long as they did. I don't know that
16:44 Dallin Hayden would need to use that red shirt. I mean, he has shown enough already. And when
16:51 the time comes that he's running the show here, you don't come to Ohio State thinking,
16:56 "I'm going to be a five-year player when you have that kind of caliber anyways." But it's
17:00 nice to know that he has that available. And in terms of roster management, the responsible
17:05 thing to do is to try and make sure that you can maintain as much eligibility as you can.
17:10 So I think the Buckeyes handled that well, despite the fact there were plenty of people
17:13 calling for Dallin Hayden to be playing earlier in the season. Nicely done there. And the
17:17 good news is he can continue to play here moving forward without burning that year.
17:21 Yeah, no question. And he's going to be a stud. He's got it all. He's got everything
17:25 you want. He's going to be really, really good. So well done. Well done by the coaching
17:31 staff making sure that, "Hey, we're going to use him as much as we can. Keep him for
17:34 as long as we need to in the future."
17:37 It carries 34 yards for Hayden, including a 15-yarder along the way. They turned out
17:41 the lights in the stadium, but the lights in the press box are going to be on for several
17:44 more hours. There's plenty more to come here from Ohio State. Big win, 37-3. The Buckeyes
17:49 are 11-0. You know what that means. Heading to Ann Arbor with everything still in front
17:54 of them. And we are going to start our conversation about the Buckeyes and the Wolverines coming
17:58 up on our very next episode of the Buckeye Breakdown Podcast. That's the end for this
18:02 video where we recap this game, but don't worry because we're about to start another
18:05 live show and focus ahead here with Ohio State and Michigan coming up one week from today.
18:12 There is an awful lot to talk about with these two teams, and we'll be sure to break it all
18:15 down for you. For Anthony Meglin, I'm Brendan Gulick. 37-3. The Buckeyes beat Minnesota
18:20 today, wrapping up the penultimate game of the regular season here at Ohio Stadium.
18:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]