Buckeye Talk: Ohio State podcast by cleveland.com

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Does Ohio State football have a big game problem? May 22, 2023

Show notes

On this Monday Buckeye Talk, it's a deep look into how Ohio State football has done in big games in the four years under head coach Ryan Day. To analyze that, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means have to look at the evidence from a lot of different angles.

What is a big game?
How does Ohio State's big game record under Day compare to teams like Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Clemson, Penn State and more?
How does Day's record in big games compare to past OSU coaches like Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, John Cooper and Woody Hayes?

And there are four questions asked of text subscribers and discussed, looking at whether the Buckeyes have the necessary qualities to win games. Do they have enough:

Elite talent
Smart coaching
Fundamentals
Motivation

This conversation plays off the Friday episode that relived the biggest win of the Day era -- the 2020 semifinal win over Clemson. So make sure you listen to that episode to pair with this one.

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com.

Ohio State vs. Clemson 2020 semifinal -- The best OSU QB game ever? Buckeye ReTalkables May 19, 2023

Show notes

With revenge on their minds for a year, the Ohio State Buckeyes knocked off Clemson 49-28 in a College Football Playoff semifinal in the COVID-plagued 2020 football season, and Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means take you through it on the latest edition of Buckeye ReTalkables.

This is the 16th episode of the ReTalkables on Buckeye Talk, as the guys relive the best games from Ohio State history with their categories that highlight great players, unsung heroes, game-changing plays and fun and odd moments from the game.

This game, the biggest win over the four-year Ryan Day era, includes a career-making performance from quarterback Justin Fields.

That means the discussion starts with two questions:

Is this Ryan Day's perfect game?
Is this the greatest single-game quarterback performance in Ohio State history?

This is one for the history books, for reasons on the field and off, and that makes it a great return for the first ReTalkables episode in 11 months.

Thanks for listening.

Where's the line for Ohio State to fire a coach? Plus more rapid fire May 18, 2023

Show notes

This Thursday Buckeye Talk opens (0:30) with a long and hotly debated discussion about where Ohio State's line is for firing a coach, and how that may or may not change in the looming world of the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means discuss that for so long, there's no way this episode could be deemed a Rapid Fire. But they do take multiple interesting questions from Ohio State text subscibers.

Following that first topic are discussions about:

(43:23) What a Jim Harbaugh dream says about an OSU fan
(50:10) Whether Ohio State will play sophomore safety Sonny Styles or not
(57:07) The future of ESPN's College GameDay at Ohio State
(1:10:48) Why Ohio State revenge worked on Clemson and not against Michigan

Thanks as always for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com.

Ohio State recruiting risks -- What's worth it, what's not? May 17, 2023

Show notes

It's a deep dive into Ohio State recruiting strategy on this Wednesday Buckeye Talk as Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means drop a two-hour episode for the first time in a while.

There's a lot here, talking about the recruitments for players like Dylan Raiola, Quinn Ewers, Terrelle Pryor, Micah Parsons, Bronny James, Tate Martell and times where the Buckeyes did or didn't accept a certain amount of risk in a recruitment.

First (0:30) is a discussion comparing how much risk the Buckeyes should take in football recruiting compared to basketball recruiting.

Then it's on to five areas of potential risk in football recruiting and what Ohio State should do:

Players with a degree of celebrity (23:31)
Players who are focused on NIL (41:41)
Players who are national five-stars with no OSU connections who might easily change their minds (1:02:20)
Players with potential off-field issues (1;23:39)
Players who might create NCAA issues (1:38:29)

And last, a wrap up of fan thoughts and if the guys think Ohio State is handling risk correctly right now (1:46:55).

Ohio State text subscribers were surveyed to judge how they feel about each area of risk, and Doug, Nathan and Stephen dug into each one.

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk.

Ohio State mini rants: TV gouging, rooting for Iowa, OSU offensive line and more May 16, 2023

Show notes

It's a mini version of Ohio State football rants on this Tuesday episode of Buckeye Talk as Doug Lesmerises runs through some thoughts from Ohio State text subscribers.

First (0:30), Doug shares his own view on the Big Ten television plan for football games, now that some networks and game times have been announced for 2023.

Then (15:24), it's more on the transfer of Ohio State receiver Kaleb Brown to Iowa and how OSU fans should view the Hawkeyes this season.

A discussion about redshirting (25:15) and how it should be viewed then follows.

Next (30:05) is more reflections and feedback on the Ohio State offensive line based on the podcast episode from a couple weeks ago.

Finally (41:02) there's a brief follow on college sports betting as texters share their thoughts.

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com.

Ohio State's 10 most dangerous opponents for 2023 May 15, 2023

Show notes

Ohio State’s 2023 football schedule includes a handful of quarterbacks who can really throw the ball, one of the best edge rushers in the nation, a backfield combo to be reckoned with, and some head coaches and coordinators who will have some plans ready for the Buckeyes.

They are among those on the list of the 10 Most Dangerous Opponents for Ohio State’s 2023 season on this Monday Buckeye Talk.

Following two podcasts last week that laid out the 10 Most Important Buckeyes for 2023, as voted on by Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird, Stephen Means and the Ohio State text subscribers, Doug is back with this companion pod featuring those on the other side of the ball.

There are familiar foes from programs like Michigan, Penn State and Notre Dame, and there’s also an under-the-radar combo for OSU fans to keep their eyes on.

First (0:30), Doug runs through the 10 most dangerous players from Ohio State’s last 10 regular-season losses in normal years (excluding 2011). Nine of the 10 games had clear players and coaches that gave the Buckeyes enough trouble to knocl them off.

Then (11:34) it’s Nos. 10 through 6, starting with a quarterback, followed by (30:57) Nos. 5 through 1.

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com.

Ohio State football's future schedules -- Reasons to be curious, and maybe nervous May 12, 2023

Show notes

USC and UCLA are joining the Big Ten in 2024 and that means the Ohio State Buckeyes will be playing the Trojans and Bruins on a regular basis. Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means even see the slot in the schedule where they believe the Buckeyes will most likely visit the Trojans in the 2024 season.

But what about the long-range plans for Ohio State's schedules in this new world?

Will the Buckeyes have more tough games? Will that be good or bad for their playoff chances? And most importantly, what does adding USC and UCLA mean for Ohio State's major non-conference plans in future seasons with schools like Alabama, Georgia and Texas?

The guys look at the opponents officially added to Ohio State's future schedules this week, and there were several, and then theorize about what future schedules will look like -- and what could be changed.

Thanks for listening.

Can Ohio State win a national title if the QBs play like Stetson Bennett? May 11, 2023

Show notes

It's the five most important Ohio State Buckeyes for the 2023 football season on this Thursday Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com. No surprise, the quarterbacks and head coach Ryan Day are part of the top five, and that leads to some very deep discussions about the Buckeyes from Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means.

They run through the top five, which includes both coaches and players and hits both offense and defense. They covered the Buckeyes ranked 10 through six on the previous episode.

This importance discussion leads to a long debate about how good the quarterback play for Ohio State must be this season.

Must Kyle McCord and/or Devin Brown play at at a Dwayne Haskins/Justin Fields/C.J. Stroud first-round draft pick level? Or could something more like Georgia's Stetson Bennett, who was good but not the most important part of the Bulldogs during their two national titles, be enough?

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk.

The value of JT Tuimoloau, Brian Hartline and Denzel Burke to Ohio State's season May 10, 2023

Show notes

On this Wednesday Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means begin to unveil their rankings of the 10 most important Buckeyes to Ohio State's football season.

This podcast covers the players who just missed the top 10, plus Nos. 10 through six. The top five will be discussed on a separate episode.

Players and coaches are combined in this ranking, and it's not a best-of list. It's value. It's importance.

Doug, Nathan, Stephen and the Ohio State text subscribers each ranked their top 20 Buckeyes, and the lists were then combined to choose this top 10.

Thanks for listening.

What the Quinn Ewers saga meant for C.J. Stroud and Ohio State May 09, 2023

Show notes

C.J. Stroud said in a recent interview that he felt disrespected when Quinn Ewers arrived at Ohio State -- earlier than expected just before the 2021 season. On this Tuesday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises and Nathan Baird try to put that Stroud reaction into perspective and answer some questions now that Ewers is two seasons removed from the Buckeyes.

Was there any way Ohio State could have saved the Ewers situation considering how it went down?
What would have happened if Ewers had stayed on his expected timeline and arrived for the 2022 season?
Should Ohio State learn anything from Ewers that it can apply to quarterback recruiting?
Did the Ewers situation have a negative or positive effect on Stroud?
How should Ohio State stack quarterback recruits now?

It's not quite a BuckeyeFly Effect, but spurred by Stroud sharing his thoughts, it's a reason to revisit an odd chapter in OSU quarterback history.

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com.

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