Just going to jot down some stuff from talking to Ohio State.
Ohio State practiced from about 9:30 a.m. to noon CT with the first 15 minutes opened to the media. So, mostly stretching. But that was still enough to see if some of Ohio State's key players who have been non-committal about their participation in the game this week were a part of practice.
The way they did media was the players were in one room and the coach was in the other. I talked to D.C. Jim Knowles, LB Steele Chambers, DL Ty Hamilton and DL Jack Sawyer. CB Denzel Burke may have came to his session late. I listened to the coach for 20 minutes and then the Chambers, Hamilton and Sawyer for about 20 minutes combined and never saw Burke. So, I don't know if he spoke or not.
Pretty much Ohio State's entire defense will be available on Friday. Something that comes as a slight surprise to most outsiders. The overarching theme of each Buckeye I got to speak to was they were 11-1 and were a couple of plays away from playing in the College Football Playoffs. Yeah, it sucks to not play in it, but this is the last time this roster will be how it is currently constructed. So, for the defense at least, it doesn't seem like it was the hardest decision to play despite every level of the defense having Day 1 or Day 2 NFL talent in it.
"You love to see a bunch of guys who believe in the brotherhood," said Jim Knowles, the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator. "You know they believe and how far our defense has come and they want to finish the job. So, no matter what their future is, they keep playing because they care about their brothers and they care about the silver bullets and it's kind of an old-school mentality."
I asked about the trenches and how the Buckeyes see the Tigers's offensive line. The Buckeyes have faced two Joe Moore Award Semifinalists this season (Notre Dame and Michigan) already, so I asked what ND and Mich did well and what Mizzou does well that Ohio State will have to prepare for.
"No, I see a lot of the same qualities," Knowles said. "I mean, they combined size and athleticism. So, big guys who can run, move and understand the offense. They seem to be in the right position all the time. And that's tough to go against. I mean, they're as good as anybody we've played."
“I think they worked really well as a unit," Sawyer said. "Just watching them on film, they do a good job of calling out their calls. You can tell they've got good continuity within them. And they're really a big group, but they're still athletic. And I think that when you got that mixed with the continuity within each other, I think that's when you get a good offensive line. We're really excited for the challenge we have against them. And obviously, they've got a couple of really good players on there. I think the left tackle (Javon Foster) was an All-American so whenever we got a chance to go up against players like that, it's super exciting and we can't wait to go out there and compete with them.
Luther Burden III was of course a trending topic, particularly his yards after the catch ability. He was top two or three in the nation in that statistic this season.
“You have to tackle him before he gets started. I mean, that's the key. Really breaking in on the ball and getting him before he gets started because like you said he's dangerous after the catch,” Knowles said.” So, you’ve got to be great in your breaks and leveraging him and owning your hip and doing all the right things that you're trained to do. But most importantly, you can't give him that much space because he will he will make you pay.”
“Once he gets the ball in his hands he does a lot with it," Chambers said. "Sometimes you’ve just got to stop him from getting the ball in his hands. You just got to have guys around him. I mean, sometimes he can break a tackle. You’ve just got to have guys always in pursuit of the ball.”
When Chambers was asked how much of that applies to the LB group as much as the secondary he alluded to it being a group effort to stop him.
“Absolutely. There are 11 guys on the field so it’s going to take 11 guys to stop him.”
This isn’t just limited to the LBs and secondary the guys upfront are impacted by Burden’s abilities too.
“I think when you’ve got a receiver who is really good after the catch, you’ve just got to be ready for them to throw quick screens and quick bubbles and be able to react to that,” Sawyer said.”Retrace and get down a line quickly and try to tackle him before he gets to the second level. I think that's really the big thing when you're facing the receiver like that, especially coming out of the slot.”
I asked Knowles how difficult is it to gameplan for a superstar WR and RB. At best, most teams have one. So, the fact that Mizzou has two in two facets of the game, I imagine would get teams in a pick-your-poison situation.
“It makes things really difficult. I mean, (Schrader is a) great runner downhill, hits the hole fast,” Knowles said. “He can make you pay so you better be sure in that first. And then, how much can you double the receiver? Those kinds of chances that you can take, you’ve really got to be judicious with that because you don't want to open yourself up with easy runs. Because he's a great back, and he'll take advantage of so. You know, it's just a constant game of back and forth, because you can't really focus on one area.”
Ty Hamilton on what the Buckeyes need to do to disrupt Brady Cook:
Just get him off the spot. Just confusing him a little bit and having him scramble with the coverages in the back,” Hamilton said. “Just have him thinking on his toes, don’t let him be too comfortable in the pocket, don’t let him be able to use his feet as much and just be able to slow him down and really keep him in the pocket and pass the ball.”
In one aspect, that makes sense. They know Cook likes to run the ball himself and being out of the pocket doesn’t scare him at all. He may have more comfort doing that. However, I think collapsing the pocket and making sure there is a contain at all times is probably what Ohio State is aiming for.
Ohio State practiced from about 9:30 a.m. to noon CT with the first 15 minutes opened to the media. So, mostly stretching. But that was still enough to see if some of Ohio State's key players who have been non-committal about their participation in the game this week were a part of practice.
The way they did media was the players were in one room and the coach was in the other. I talked to D.C. Jim Knowles, LB Steele Chambers, DL Ty Hamilton and DL Jack Sawyer. CB Denzel Burke may have came to his session late. I listened to the coach for 20 minutes and then the Chambers, Hamilton and Sawyer for about 20 minutes combined and never saw Burke. So, I don't know if he spoke or not.
Pretty much Ohio State's entire defense will be available on Friday. Something that comes as a slight surprise to most outsiders. The overarching theme of each Buckeye I got to speak to was they were 11-1 and were a couple of plays away from playing in the College Football Playoffs. Yeah, it sucks to not play in it, but this is the last time this roster will be how it is currently constructed. So, for the defense at least, it doesn't seem like it was the hardest decision to play despite every level of the defense having Day 1 or Day 2 NFL talent in it.
"You love to see a bunch of guys who believe in the brotherhood," said Jim Knowles, the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator. "You know they believe and how far our defense has come and they want to finish the job. So, no matter what their future is, they keep playing because they care about their brothers and they care about the silver bullets and it's kind of an old-school mentality."
I asked about the trenches and how the Buckeyes see the Tigers's offensive line. The Buckeyes have faced two Joe Moore Award Semifinalists this season (Notre Dame and Michigan) already, so I asked what ND and Mich did well and what Mizzou does well that Ohio State will have to prepare for.
"No, I see a lot of the same qualities," Knowles said. "I mean, they combined size and athleticism. So, big guys who can run, move and understand the offense. They seem to be in the right position all the time. And that's tough to go against. I mean, they're as good as anybody we've played."
“I think they worked really well as a unit," Sawyer said. "Just watching them on film, they do a good job of calling out their calls. You can tell they've got good continuity within them. And they're really a big group, but they're still athletic. And I think that when you got that mixed with the continuity within each other, I think that's when you get a good offensive line. We're really excited for the challenge we have against them. And obviously, they've got a couple of really good players on there. I think the left tackle (Javon Foster) was an All-American so whenever we got a chance to go up against players like that, it's super exciting and we can't wait to go out there and compete with them.
Luther Burden III was of course a trending topic, particularly his yards after the catch ability. He was top two or three in the nation in that statistic this season.
“You have to tackle him before he gets started. I mean, that's the key. Really breaking in on the ball and getting him before he gets started because like you said he's dangerous after the catch,” Knowles said.” So, you’ve got to be great in your breaks and leveraging him and owning your hip and doing all the right things that you're trained to do. But most importantly, you can't give him that much space because he will he will make you pay.”
“Once he gets the ball in his hands he does a lot with it," Chambers said. "Sometimes you’ve just got to stop him from getting the ball in his hands. You just got to have guys around him. I mean, sometimes he can break a tackle. You’ve just got to have guys always in pursuit of the ball.”
When Chambers was asked how much of that applies to the LB group as much as the secondary he alluded to it being a group effort to stop him.
“Absolutely. There are 11 guys on the field so it’s going to take 11 guys to stop him.”
This isn’t just limited to the LBs and secondary the guys upfront are impacted by Burden’s abilities too.
“I think when you’ve got a receiver who is really good after the catch, you’ve just got to be ready for them to throw quick screens and quick bubbles and be able to react to that,” Sawyer said.”Retrace and get down a line quickly and try to tackle him before he gets to the second level. I think that's really the big thing when you're facing the receiver like that, especially coming out of the slot.”
I asked Knowles how difficult is it to gameplan for a superstar WR and RB. At best, most teams have one. So, the fact that Mizzou has two in two facets of the game, I imagine would get teams in a pick-your-poison situation.
“It makes things really difficult. I mean, (Schrader is a) great runner downhill, hits the hole fast,” Knowles said. “He can make you pay so you better be sure in that first. And then, how much can you double the receiver? Those kinds of chances that you can take, you’ve really got to be judicious with that because you don't want to open yourself up with easy runs. Because he's a great back, and he'll take advantage of so. You know, it's just a constant game of back and forth, because you can't really focus on one area.”
Ty Hamilton on what the Buckeyes need to do to disrupt Brady Cook:
Just get him off the spot. Just confusing him a little bit and having him scramble with the coverages in the back,” Hamilton said. “Just have him thinking on his toes, don’t let him be too comfortable in the pocket, don’t let him be able to use his feet as much and just be able to slow him down and really keep him in the pocket and pass the ball.”
In one aspect, that makes sense. They know Cook likes to run the ball himself and being out of the pocket doesn’t scare him at all. He may have more comfort doing that. However, I think collapsing the pocket and making sure there is a contain at all times is probably what Ohio State is aiming for.
Last edited:
