Copyright cleveland.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2025 season are out, putting Ohio State Ohio State in a favorable place. The Buckeyes debuted in the No.1 spot in the first rankings of the new 12-team era. On this Wednesday Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik break down what that means going forward. Then Andrew Gillis joins in as the trio reacts to everything Ryan Day, said as OSU prepares to face Purdue on Saturday. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk and sign up to get text messages from experts Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis at 614-350-3315. Get the insider analysis, have your voice heard on the Buckeye Talk podcast and connect with the best Buckeye community out there. Latest Ohio State Buckeyes news Ohio State football’s Ryan Day has a month to address the one blemish on his résumé Ohio State football’s linebackers are competing for prestigious awards: Buckeye Breakfast Ohio State’s College Football Playoff ranking doesn’t matter, only one thing does: Stephen Means Where is Ohio State in the first College Football Playoff rankings? Here’s the bracket and full top 25 Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings. Stephen Means (00:05.73) first rankings of First college football playoff rankings of the 2025 season are out and Ohio State is number one in those rankings. I’m Stephen Means and that’s the Stefan Kreisnick. Andrew will join us later, unless you’re watching on YouTube, he’s not gonna join us later. You have to watch all of Buckeye, listen to all of Buckeye Talk, wherever you find podcasts and get the text 614-350-331-252, we feature out 399 after that. Here’s my biggest takeaway, Stefan. Beat Michigan and the world is yours. Stefan Krajisnik (00:39.14) Yes, exactly. mean, that’s, that’s often the case for your Ohio state, but you know, in this, in this new playoff era, think, you know, things can, can change and whatever, but that, that is, that’s the simple goal for Ohio state is if you beat Michigan, everything’s out in front of you, right? Cause if Ohio state goes undefeated in the regular season and Indiana goes undefeated in the regular season, these first rankings with Ohio state at one and Indiana to show us that the big 10 champ is going to be the number one seed. And that’s, that’s essentially. everything that’s at stake for Ohio State. Now, you know, they’re in a spot where if they go 11 and one, they’re they’re still in the playoff, right? And whatever all that’s, you know, still in place for Ohio State. But, you know, I’m going to write about it. If you’re listening to this Tuesday, right after the rankings, it’ll be out on Wednesday morning. If you’re listening to this Wednesday morning, then the story is already out of everything left for Ohio State is determined now by just beating Michigan, right? And These next three weeks are a builder for that. And if you’re listening to the pod, we’ll talk more about this in the second half, but Julian saying when the Heisman or Jeremiah Smith, when the Heisman relies on them beating Michigan, Ohio state being the number one seed in the playoff relies on them beating Michigan. And then obviously going to big time title game. But even then, you know, you look at where Michigan is, what’s left on their schedule. You probably have to be Michigan to make it to Indianapolis because they would have the tiebreaker over you. If you both are, you know, at one loss in the conference. yeah, everything for Ohio state right now. Stephen Means (01:35.245) Mm-hmm. Stefan Krajisnik (02:03.108) depends on Michigan and, you they got this three week buildup to get there. So, you know, really interesting first rankings, definitely some surprises, but I think at the top. At the top, I’m not surprised. We had, we had predicted, you know, Andrew and I for the last three weeks had said, thought Indiana would be one, Ohio state would be two. You had it flipped. And then this week you flip back just, just in time. you know, I I was wondering, cause you see where Oregon is at number nine. Stephen Means (02:24.27) I know, I know. Stefan Krajisnik (02:30.982) Indiana does have the best win in the country because the next best would be A &M’s win at Notre Dame and Notre Dame’s at 10 in the rankings. So Indiana’s got the best win and they’ve also got a top 20 win against Iowa, which I think helped Indiana’s case. But Ohio State has the win against Texas who’s at number 11. They Washington who’s in the top 25. So you can see, know, resume based. Stephen Means (02:45.653) I know. Stefan Krajisnik (02:55.664) They’re right there neck and neck with each other. Maybe Indiana has a slight edge, but you know, there’s an element of eye test to this as well. So not, you know, even though I predict that Indiana would be one, I’m not surprised to see Ohio State at one and good for the big 10 to have both teams in the top two. Stephen Means (03:09.518) I think it’s funny, it’s on ESPN, so if you have YouTube TV, you can watch it. I have Fubo right now, so I have YouTube TV as well, but I have Fubo for this. And they kept talking about how Texas A &M has the best win in the country at Notre Dame. The committee literally just told us that’s not true, because they have Oregon ahead of Notre Dame, which is I think why Indiana ended up ahead of Texas A &M. Here’s when I knew Ohio State was going to be number one. When I saw Washington pop up at number 23. Because it was like, Stefan Krajisnik (03:24.134) I’m Stephen Means (03:39.054) okay. So there’s something here like they they have there’s a resume point that I don’t even think any of us were considering at the time that Washington would be a part of the resume on the first rankings and then when they had Texas at 11th like Yale house date they’ve got the our test and they’ve got two wins in the top 25 with potentially two more by the end of the season right if they get Michigan and obviously if Indiana and Ohio State handle business they’ll both play each other in Indianapolis on a neutral field and that’ll be number one versus number two so that’s when I knew they were going to be number one in these rankings is because the committee has been viewing things a little bit differently. Stefan Krajisnik (04:14.0) me interrupt you. As we’re recording this, the committee chair is on ESPN and he just said that Indiana and Ohio State were close and the reason Ohio State got the edge was because he thinks Ohio State’s better on the offensive line than defensively. So there’s some ball talk that went into this. Stephen Means (04:18.925) Yeah. Stephen Means (04:30.209) So, okay, that’s what I wrote after the game, after the Penn State game, the idea of if Ohio State’s number one, it’s because the committee asks themselves a question of who they think is better if everything else is equal. They ask the question. So they’re number one in the rankings. It’s obviously, I don’t think that anything can happen that can have these two flipping. back and forth over the next couple of weeks. I think this is what it’s going to be. I think Ohio State and Indiana will be number one. think Texas A will be number three because I don’t think there’s any resume points over the next four weeks that like drastically change that. they continue to play the way they’re playing. Stefan Krajisnik (05:06.072) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ohio State, I think is pretty much a lock to be at number one. Indiana plays at Penn State. You know, if A goes to defeat, I think they have a chance to jump Indiana because A has games. I know they at least have a game against Texas left. They play at Missouri, you know, this upcoming weekend that is a ranked team, regardless of what you think about Missouri. So there are going to be opportunities, I think, for Texas A to jump Indiana. But I don’t really see Ohio State move it out of that top spot. Stephen Means (05:36.438) And it’s, and the thing is they don’t just have to jump Indiana. They got to jump both because, even sure they could jump Indiana, but then if Indiana beats Ohio state and Indianapolis, Indiana is going to get the number one seed. So that’s, I said this to our Texas six one four three five, all three or three one five before it started. Like that idea of, doesn’t really matter where Ohio state’s going to be. They’re going to be anywhere from one to three. And at the end of the day beat Michigan and you’re probably going to be the number one seed anyway. Stefan Krajisnik (05:36.73) Boring as surprise. Stephen Means (06:04.565) Right? Because assuming that Ohio State and Indiana are undefeated playing in the Big Ten Championship game, that’s the only way that there is a conference championship game between two undefeated teams. So that alone is going to push one of them up to the number one seat, whoever wins that game. The committee just told us on November 4th that the Big Ten’s gonna get the number one seat as long as nothing goes crazy. Right? Good. Ohio State was here. A year ago too, right? Coming off of a Penn State win where it’s like, okay, you’re number two behind Oregon. If you avenge that loss, you’re the number one seed in the playoff. And last year they weren’t even able to get back on the stage. I don’t think anything’s going to keep them off of the stage this time, but it’s a difference between beat Michigan and the world is yours versus beat Michigan. And you can still win a national championship, but you’re going to feel like you left something on the table. One last thing. What did you think of the amount of big 10 teams? Seven big 10 teams. Stefan Krajisnik (06:58.523) Yeah. Stephen Means (06:59.053) 8 SEC teams make the bracket. Is the fourth Big 10 team still alive in this? Stefan Krajisnik (07:05.126) Yeah, very much so. I will say too, I do have one more point after this. It’s yes, but it’s interesting because you’re outside of Ohio State and Indiana, your top Big 10 teams, if I, if I got to remember, me pull it up just to make sure. Your top Big 10 teams after Indiana, Ohio State are Oregon, USC and Iowa and Michigan. So Oregon, USC, Iowa, all three of them. play each other. Oregon’s at Iowa this week. I USC, I don’t know where the game is at, but they play Iowa and then USC plays Oregon. So it’s like, it’s, it’s hard to predict. Cause if, if one of Iowa or USC moves up, then that could move Oregon out. thought Oregon was going to be a little higher than they are. So there is, it’s going to be risky. It’s going be risky. What I will say though, conference-wide this, this rankings was a win for the big 10. When I saw Washington pop up, I was like, okay, that’s good. you know, Michigan, I expected to be in there. Stephen Means (07:49.549) Yeah. Stefan Krajisnik (08:04.07) And then when I saw Iowa pop up at number 20 and you know, the people on ESPN were kind of like, Oh really? Like I was, I was playing well. Iowa should have beat Indiana. They probably feel like they should have beat Indiana. Right? So like I was a good team. So this, I thought these rankings were good for the big 10. It’s just interesting how the schedule sets up. Um, I think the clearest path to the big 10 and getting a fourth team look away Ohio state fans is Oregon takes care of business against Iowa and USC and they stay in the field. Stephen Means (08:09.867) Mm-hmm. Stephen Means (08:32.257) Mm-hmm. Stefan Krajisnik (08:33.83) And Michigan beats Ohio State and is a 10 and two team in the field. I think that’s the best route just because I’m not overly confident right now about a two loss Oregon getting it. Stephen Means (08:43.821) No, because their resume’s not great. I think a fourth Big Ten team is alive, but they also kinda need the SEC to cannibalize itself a little bit. I think the ACC’s already done that. Georgia Tech took a bad loss, and them being down at, what was it, 17 or something like that in a world where I think Georgia Tech would have been like seven or eight, had they stayed undefeated. The ACC’s probably getting one team in, and now it’s kind of the Big 12. Can the right big 12 team can be why you run the table in the big 12 quite frankly. Cause if that happens, then you open your right. Cause then then there’s an element of like one big 12, one ACC, and then maybe you can get forward four from the other two conferences. And then obviously the G five, I don’t even know if that math is right or not, but it’s, it’s going to be difficult because Oregon doesn’t have a great schedule. Stefan Krajisnik (09:17.645) of time. Stephen Means (09:37.613) That’s the end. we’ll see, right? Yeah. Stefan Krajisnik (09:37.744) Yeah. And they have chances down to stretch here, right? Cause they do play Washington still, they play USC still. But that’s the thing is if Oregon wants to safely be in, they probably have to win out. That means beating USC, which probably knocks out USC. So, and then again, it’s like, I guess the clearest path is now that I’m talking through it, like if Iowa beats USC and Oregon, there may be a two loss Iowa and a two loss Oregon can both get in because Oregon, whatever wins against USC in Washington. So, but I think Michigan is somehow your clearest path, even though, you know, USC and, and Iowa ranked ahead of them. One more point I want to bring up is you talked about the ACC there. And I think we know, you know, where the big 12 and the ACC stand in comparison to the big 10 and SEC, right? They’re, they’re a tier below. Stephen Means (10:08.407) Possibly. Stefan Krajisnik (10:27.758) The gap between Notre Dame and Miami tells me that there is no respect for the ACC in these rankings because you didn’t even have it like Louisville’s in the bracket because the ACC champ has to get in right now. Right. Where I, whereas last year the ACC got two teams in cause SMU was ranked high enough to where Clemson beating them in the title game. Then it knocked them out. And now you’re looking at being like, all right, whoever wins the ACC, you’ll get in. It’s it’s tough, man. Like I know it’s. Stephen Means (10:33.666) Nope. Stephen Means (10:40.736) Mm-hmm. Stefan Krajisnik (10:57.862) It’s irritating to hear because, you know, Texas is in a good spot right now in Ohio State, Texas. That was such a great game with such high stakes at the time. If you’re Miami, what was the point of adding a tough Notre Dame to your schedule? Right. Like sometimes these rankings come out and I wonder what is the point? Because they beat them and it’s still not benefiting them. Right. Like if Miami was with one loss right now, let’s say that, you know, I mean, they would both be ACC losses. I get that. Stephen Means (11:22.317) Yeah. Stefan Krajisnik (11:27.898) But I don’t know, like, what’s the point of playing some of these games if the result doesn’t actually matter? Stephen Means (11:34.658) I think it’s because you would probably... They played and I’m hearing you the ESPN thing. I think people would take Notre Dame on a neutral field Unfortunately, but also Notre Dame’s losses are one was literally on the last possession and the other one was pseudo last possession while Miami has a really bad loss. And it’s not a terrible loss, but it’s a bad loss. It’s a bad law. And I do think in this world where the two teams who made the national championship last year had losses that were able to improve, especially Notre Dame last year. I do think maybe that’s probably in the committee’s head as well. And we’re gonna actually go talk with them. So get the text 614-35-03315, two week free trial, 399. After that, those are the rankings. Ohio State, number one, Indiana, number two. And the conclusion is simple. Keep doing what you’re doing and then end this losing streak against your rival. And you’re gonna be the number one seed. You’re gonna probably, you’re gonna be playing for the Big Ten Championship with a chance to go win the Big Ten, probably win the Heisman Trophy, every trophy you could possibly think of. Is out there for Ohio State to go get as long as they beat Michigan because that’s what this game comes out to that’s the fun I’m Stephen. We’re gonna take a break If you’re listening to the podcast if you’re watching on YouTube go listen to the podcast go listen to Buckeye Talk wherever you find podcasts and also we go live Every single Wednesday at 11 a.m. This week gonna be talking Heisman Trophy stuff. See you have to break Stephen Means (00:04.259) And we’re back here on Buckeye Talk. Andrew Gillis has joined us as we recap what we learned from Ryan Day as the Buckeyes prepare to face Purdue on Saturday in the second to last home game of the season. Here’s what we’re going to do very quickly. Most interesting thing you learn from Ryan Day on Tuesday. Andrew, you first. What’s the most interesting thing you learned from Ryan Day? Andrew Gillis (00:30.126) I mean, this is maybe a basic like football brain go brr moment, but I thought it was really cool when he was explaining the carnel tate play. I thought that that I think that like, does it what does it mean? Like that’s like the whole kind of point, right? But like, I thought that carnel tates like touchdown pass, like the way that like Bill Landis tweeted out and I think was like the first one to notice like Ryan Day just went got him. and Ryan Day yelled and you could hear it on the broadcast and Carnell Tate got basically like thrown open by Julian. You know, and Ryan saying that they put that in at halftime and they hadn’t practiced it and they got the look that they wanted and they did it like I thought that that was really interesting because it tied into something else where it was like, I think it was Patrick Murphy asked like, what makes a good deep ball thrower, like what makes a good passer of somebody that throws a ball deep. And Ryan Day was like, you know, I don’t want to do this and blah, blah, blah. He kind of danced around in a second and then he was like, well, it’s good footwork. And, and he, and he talked about Julian having really good footwork and, know, elsewhere in the press conference, he talked about his decision-making and his accuracy. And, you know, he, he did mention, I believe in that answer where it’s like, you know, you got to throw somebody 30 yards down the field into a very small kind of square window. where that ball is gonna be. you know, it was really impressive to hear him, you know, to hear him say just kind of how that play came together. I think it was like a pretty good indication of what Julian has done and kind of is continuing to do because, you know, they’re putting that stuff in at halftime and that’s not exactly new in the sphere of football. People do that all the time. People will make a change at halftime. People will change up something at halftime, change a look, change a play, put something in, whatever. But the fact that they’re able to go out there and just do that so seamlessly, that was really cool just to kind of hear him talk about it. And I thought it was cool to just kind of hear what he thinks of Julian, throw the ball deep and how well he’s done so far. Stefan Krajisnik (02:39.184) What? And you probably, you’re maybe even sell a short there a little bit. Like Ryan Day said, this is something they do a few times a year. So to say like this happens all the time, like it might sell how rare it is. it was obviously very impressive. it goes back a bit to what Steven and I talked about on the leave, no doubt pod of just, it felt like a masterful game by Brian heartline. And this kind of adds to it. Like they, they gave heartline credit. you know, for some of this and calling it when he did and implementing it at halftime, you know, play that Ohio state. I think Ryan Day said like that play in that formation. They had not practiced like maybe ever, right? Like there’s elements to it that they’ve worked in the, the spring and, and, and fall camp and things of that nature. like that play, that formation, he thinks they might’ve never even practiced it ever. So that, that tells you how impressive it is. I thought Bill, the answer he gave to Bill Landis, his question kind of furthered some of what you’re talking about with Julian saying of this kind of like notion of, playing big, playing tall when Julian saying isn’t right. think everyone knew. You know, the size that Will Howard especially had and what he brought in from Kansas state, but there’s an element like, like Julian doesn’t have that. You can’t, you can’t implement that Julian is how big he is. And like that, you know, six one, six two, probably generous. but he, he, know, like Dave was talking about like posture and like arm angles and, know, looking over the offensive line, like everything like Julian handles himself in a way that for a short quarterback or shorter quarterback, should say to consistently make passes like that to carnell Tate, the 57 yard completion that you’re talking about, like that, that play now knowing what we know about that play, about it being implemented at halftime and all that, like that play almost summarizes like Julian Sands doing things that we expected him to do. And Brian Hartline is doing things that we expected him to do. And like the cherry on top is that Cardinal Tate is doing things that we expected him to do. And like Dave Prey is the protection on that play. Like that play almost feels like this encapsulation of like everything that went right offensively against Penn State. You can point to that play and be like, there it is. Check for Hartline, check for Sain, check for the offensive line, check for the receiver talent. Like it all kind of. Stefan Krajisnik (04:57.798) encapsulates what happened against Penn State. And I thought, I thought that explanation was, fascinating. it’s cool to kind of get a glimpse into like the mind of the coaches and also like what happens at halftime. Cause there’s so many times like, think Eli Manning or Peyton Manning on the Manning cast one time we’re talking about, like, it’s always funny when a reporter will ask a coach, like, what adjustments did you make at halftime? It’s like, I don’t know, by the time I use the bathroom and like drink some water and ate a peanut butter jelly sandwich, like halftime was over. there weren’t necessarily any adjustments to make. Andrew Gillis (05:18.22) Yep. Stefan Krajisnik (05:27.752) And Ryan Dacum was out there and he’s like, yeah, we decided to like throw this play into the playbook. And on the second play out of the half, we had a 57 yard bomb and ends up setting a pretty important setting up a pretty important touchdown that had the CJ Donaldson run a couple of plays later. So yeah, I thought, I thought that was fascinating because I thought it linked back to, you know, so many different elements of what we talked about on our leave, no doubt. Stephen Means (05:50.179) Having the iPad on the sidelines helping with that because it’s they’re not starting us conversation from scratch when they walk in the locker room the same way they were four or five years ago. But also, I mean, we talked about this stuff on because you were even on it. It makes sense why they were doing all that stuff in the first half. That’s why. They got an understanding of what knows was trying to do and were able to make adjustments and attacked it like immediately coming out. First time, is Julian Sand the best quarterback Ryan Day’s had? Stephen Means (06:24.138) If we just talk in like. Overall ability like Ryan Day. Like he has every he’s doing everything we need, he has everything we need for us to reach our goals. That’s what he said today about Julian Sand. I don’t remember him ever saying that about a quarterback on November 4th. Of the season. Stefan Krajisnik (06:24.486) I mean. Stephen Means (06:49.578) And that’s not to say he didn’t feel that way about CJ and about Justin and about Will and about Kyle at moments. But at this point, CJ was in 2021, CJ was just starting to turn the corner from being the guy that lost against Oregon and didn’t look good against Minnesota in week one. Justin had looked good all year, but their defense was just so ridiculous. And J.K. Dobbins was getting the ball so much and doing so much. I just don’t think we ever really thought about it with Justin. Like Justin’s Heisman Trophy case was almost so matter of fact that it was in the moment. Plus, Joe Burrow was happening down south. We were we were still having conversations about Will Howard throwing the deep ball 12 months ago right now. And with Kyle McCord, it was like. Andrew Gillis (07:31.182) Mm-hmm. Stephen Means (07:39.594) He’s good, but is he not like I don’t Ryan Day coming out and flat out saying yeah, we can win a national championship with Julian saying as I started quarterback without somebody asking him some variation of the question. Do you think you can still win with him as a starting court him just volunteering that information? Is this the best quarterback he’s had? Stefan Krajisnik (07:58.708) Definitely. mean, definitely this early in his career, right? Cause you could talk about, like you mentioned 2021 CJ where he was to this point. I think, you know, by the end of his career, CJ wound up being, you know, another improved version of himself too. But like to this point in Julian’s career, yeah, he’s, he’s ahead of, of any quarterback that was at this point, which would lend itself to he’s going to continue to improve and develop. And if he’s already ahead of the game now, why can’t he be ahead of where CJ Shroud was by the end of Andrew Gillis (08:02.573) Yeah. Stephen Means (08:12.652) For sure. Stefan Krajisnik (08:27.526) next season, whatever is. I think, I think absolutely. mean, he’s playing like a top five pick. I don’t think there’s much debate about that. He’s playing like a Heisman contender. He’s playing obviously like the quarterback who won a national title. I don’t think it’s outrageous to say that he’s up there with CJ Straub. Stephen Means (08:46.85) So what’s the most intriguing thing you heard, Stefan? Stefan Krajisnik (08:51.144) I don’t want, I really don’t want book. talked listeners to be annoyed with me. think over the next four weeks, I’m going to bring up Michigan a lot. And like, it is the job of Ryan Day, his coaches and his players to be focused on Purdue and to be focused on UCLA and to be focused on Rutgers because we talked about this right before we got hopped on. None of us think any of those three teams have a chance against Ohio state, but weird, weird things happen. Right. And if Ryan Day is thinking about how much Lincoln Keenholz is going to play, or if he’s thinking about, you know, how much Mylon Graham is going to play and garbage to like all those conversations, like they go out the window of something weird happens, right? Even Penn State, like something weird happened. It was a three point game at halftime. Like no one, I don’t know if anyone necessarily expected that either. So it’s the job of the coaches, players, the coaches and the players to focus on the task at hand. When you get to Michigan, you, you focus on Michigan. That’s not our job. Like I can tell you right now, Ohio State’s gonna blow out its next three opponents. And basically, instead of Michigan week, it’s now Michigan month. And there was a sense of that last year, right? I’m trying to remember the schedule. It basically was, you had Penn State right around election day, and then you had a stretch of, was it Purdue, Northwestern Michigan? that what? Stephen Means (10:15.018) Yeah, the significant difference was all of a sudden Indiana was a playoff team and nobody expected them to be a playoff. Stefan Krajisnik (10:20.268) yeah, yeah, yeah. They had Indiana before Michigan. You’re right. You’re right. So, but yeah, that got, that got in the way of it. Like they had to, they had the focus on Indiana and worry about Indiana before they got the Michigan week. This year, you, you don’t have that. Like you, you do not have, like we do not have to worry about what’s going to happen against Purdue UCLA Rutgers, barring like injuries or anything like that, or something shocking happening. It feels like Ohio state is going to have four weeks to ramp up to Michigan. And we’ve already seen the way that they’ve. kind of change some things up. Last year they moved senior tackle, so it wasn’t during Michigan week. This year they moved the band coming to facility and they did it during the bye week so that they wouldn’t have to worry about it during Michigan week. And Steven, you made the point when we did our videos at the Woody just that these moves don’t happen if you don’t lose to Michigan, right? Like if they had won the last four meetings with Michigan, we’re not talking about, hey, you should change your approach during Michigan week, but it’s... I just think that like them moving the band, them talking about how, let’s treat Michigan week like every other week. You know, you don’t devalue the rivalry because when the game’s done, the winner is going to feel a certain way and the loser is going to feel a certain way like to the max. But in the lead up to that game and your preparation to that game treated how you would every other game. So don’t have the band come to a practice. If you wouldn’t do that against Purdue or leading up to Penn state or leading up to Texas or whatever, like. treat that game like every other game. It almost feels like that encapsulates maybe a bigger picture thing of this offseason. Has Ryan Day and his staff feel like they have to kind of change their approach in the way they talk about Michigan? I mean, yeah, he talked about like, if things are working, they’re working. And if things aren’t working, you tweak it. And the example he used was them traveling to Washington a day earlier this year, as opposed to like their trip to Oregon last year. Stephen Means (12:18.953) Yeah. Stefan Krajisnik (12:19.26) They about they went through 2024 schedule and every single week they said, what did we do? Did it work? What did we do? They got the Oregon week. They probably said, okay, that didn’t work. What can we fix? well, in the playoff, we traveled to the Rose Bowl a few days earlier. We traveled to Dallas a few days earlier. We traveled to Atlanta a few days earlier than we typically would for a road game. Okay, if we if we left earlier for LA, I Washington, Seattle is a far trip. Let’s leave a day earlier. Right. That’s an adjustment that they made. said, okay. Instead of doing exactly what we did against Oregon, let’s change it. Let’s kind of do what something that we saw worked with the Rose Bowl or whatever, whatever example you want to use. They got, they probably got to Michigan week and said, all right, this isn’t working. What’s not working. I’m not saying the band is to blame for the band coming in, but it’s like, I don’t know. That’s, that’s another thing you’re putting on the docket for Michigan week to make it feel like it’s something even bigger than every other game. And it is, but you don’t need to make it that way in. in the practices and post-practices or whatever. The magnitude of the game is always going to be the magnitude of the game, but the way you approach it doesn’t have to be something grandiose compared to in the past. I used the example when we were talking about national games a few weeks ago. Andrew, you were talking about someone getting up to play someone. And clapped back by being like, I mean, we thought Notre Dame was going to have this big emotional thing against USC, but like sometimes the game is the game. It’s like, sure. Notre Dame is ticked off that USC wants to do away with the rivalry, but what are you going to do when it’s 14 to 14? Like anger is going to get you through like the end of the game. So like at some point, like all those emotions, what does it get you against Michigan? If you’re, if you’re changing up, you know, the way you approach the game. I think them taking a step back and like evaluating that it shows that yeah, they know that they’ve lost. four straight in that rivalry and try to do something different, right? Change it up. And instead of having the band come in and give you a reminder of like, hey, this game is so big that we change how we go about the week. Just do it like you normally would and see if that gives you some kind of a result. Stephen Means (14:35.916) Just win the game, man. Stephen Means (14:40.33) Am I allowed to just have that reaction to that, to what he’s doing? Stefan Krajisnik (14:44.956) Yeah, but... Yes, but you can also say, hey, just prepare for the game. Stephen Means (14:53.826) If it works, we’re all going to say that was a really smart decision. If it doesn’t, we’re going to go, well, that’s not the problem. Stefan Krajisnik (15:04.488) It’s almost like randomly throwing in a play at halftime and being like, let’s see what happens. If it works, you’re a genius. If it doesn’t work, why the hell did you not practice a play that run it out of halftime and gets Penn State? Stephen Means (15:08.578) Thank you. Stephen Means (15:14.666) Yeah. And you know what? Maybe in that maybe isn’t the greatest analysis in the world, but you know, I don’t know, move, not moving that stuff off of the Michigan week. The last for the other three coaches seem to one, the last two, the other guy who was sitting in the Woody today, listen to Ryan day had the same problem right. They had, but no, no. Last two coaches didn’t have issues with senior tackle and the band coming in the last week of the season. So it’s, but again, the, the, the, the actual Contrary to what I’m saying, because it is I’m being very flippant about that is the last two coaches didn’t have to deal with the world. Ryan Day has to live with. And. Tim May, he goes last in. Y’all love Tim May, man. The thing is, Tim May asked seven questions in one, which I love that day is in on that because he said, because Tim went today, I got many questions. I’ll just stick with and they said three like Bill and I started laughing next to each other. Stephen Means (16:16.566) Tim asked Ryan just about, he essentially asked him, do you think you are the perfect person for this job? Given like you have lived in this chaos. What’s the main thing? You nearly adopted the darkness. I was born in it. I didn’t know light until I was already a grown man. And by then it was blinding. Like that’s kind of Ryan Day and his entire time at Ohio State has been. craziness to the point that he told us that he used to tell Jerry, man, this is crazy. And now he just looks as it is the job. And that’s true, right? He’s an interim head coach in 2018 because of urban Meyer and Zach Smith and some off the field issues, which have been well documented at this point. We don’t need to rehash that. And then he gets the job in 2019. That’s probably the most normal. That’s technically the last year of the old college football world. And it’s just normal. Ohio State’s good. Clemson’s good. Bama’s good. Oklahoma’s good. Right. Michigan’s OK. Penn State’s OK. And then COVID hits. So he’s trying to maneuver COVID while also trying to put together his first full recruiting class without ever being able to get a lot of those guys on campus. And then 2021 gets here and then like three days or something like three weeks before Big Ten Media Days, all of a sudden, the Supreme Court says, hey. Players can make money off of their name, image and likeness. And it just throws that bomb on college football without any structure. So now he’s trying to operate that. Meanwhile, the transfer portal is becoming more of a thing, right? Think about this. His first starting quarterback as the head coach, Justin Fields, when he first got here for like the first month and a half he was here, we were asking if Justin was actually going to get a waiver to be able to play football in 2019 because the portal didn’t exist in the one time transfer portal rule. didn’t exist either. So we’ve gone from Justin Fields needs a waiver because he’s not a graduate transfer to everybody can transfer once to you can transfer whatever you want. In fact, you can sign with a school in December, show up for 15 spring practices, and then hop in the portal and play somewhere else. Stephen Means (18:30.37) Oh yeah, and we expanded the college football playoff from four to 12 teams. Oh, we did that, but also we’re changing some things because at first, if you got a conference championship and you were one of the power four team, you got to buy not anymore. We’re going to straight seated. And also we’re thinking about going to 16. And I don’t even think that’s the start of the list of things that have gone crazy since Ryan Day became the head coach. So I thought that was intriguing. Just like thinking about it from that perspective of Ryan Day, why has Ohio State seamlessly maneuvered through the craziness of college football? Because it’s all Ryan Day knows. While everybody else is trying to adapt, he’s only he’s like his neutral setting is adapt versus. don’t know like Brian Kelly or James Franklin who have had success pre this having to adapt every 15 minutes error are trying to adapt to having to adapt That’s not my thing though. I just thought that was intriguing And I feel like that go went in with the Michigan thing. My thing is who’s good? Stefan Krajisnik (19:32.6) It is, it’s interesting too, because it’s like, Hugh Freeze just got hired and like, he’s, you know, supposed to be a good coach. Like he has not adapted. And it’s like when, when he, when he was at his best, like, you know, Ole Miss was playing well and that was what 2014, 2015, when they were beating Alabama and the game has changed since then. And like, he has not adapted, you know, like he’s, he’s stuck with Peyton Thorne when every other, when even Ryan Day was like, yeah, Kyle McCord is not working. I’m going to the portal and getting someone else. Stephen Means (19:42.015) at all. Stephen Means (19:53.867) I mean. Stefan Krajisnik (20:01.628) You know, and here’s Hugh Freeze bringing back like Peyton Thorn and going to get Jackson Arnold. not like, know, I know Hugh, Hugh Freeze at Auburn is working in a different world than Ryan Day at Ohio State. Like, yeah, that’s true. But, but he’s supposed to be like an offensive guru too. Stephen Means (20:19.625) I mean, think about how things have changed since Davos, Sweeney and Miranda played each other in a fiesta bowl in 2019. Like that’s like Davos Sweeney never adapted from a world where everything he stood for was technically correct. Why would I go for it? Why would I go looking at transfer? Why would I go add in transfers when they can’t even play right away? Why would you leave? Why would you do this? Why would we pay players like all these things that technically he was right? And then. Stefan Krajisnik (20:24.605) Yeah. Stephen Means (20:48.649) The world adapted, the world changed, and you didn’t change with the world, and now look at you. You’ve wasted another five-star quarterback. Stefan Krajisnik (20:56.743) It is crazy to wonder like if someone had told you in 2019 or 2020 like in five years, Ryan Day is significant. Ryan Day is going to be the not only the better coach but Davos Sweeney is going to be on the hot seat. You’d be like, what are you talking about? Stephen Means (21:09.919) like significantly the better. Like the only reason why Dabo is still getting to sit at the table with Ryan Day because he’s one of three people who won a ring. But he won his rings before the world changed. Stefan Krajisnik (21:23.516) Listen, Mac Brown ended up just being a trivia answer by the end of it. Stephen Means (21:28.339) You know? Who would thought Ryan Day would have more job security than Bill Belichick? Stephen Means (21:37.729) It’s insane. My interesting thing is this. I’m going to ask you guys a question. Andrew, with Matt Patricio on the freaking staff, are you kidding me right now? Gilles, who was starting guards on Saturday? Stefan Krajisnik (21:41.34) with Matt Patricia on Ryan Day’s staff. Andrew Gillis (21:54.99) Well, I mean, health depending. Ryan, yeah, no, I know, but I’m just, I’m letting the people know. Yeah. I’m the people know. Ryan day said, somebody asked, I think it was Dan Hope. Hey, looks like three year guards are hurt. Luke Montgomery, Tegra Shabola and Josh Padilla. What’s the update? Ryan said, well, two of them are going to practice. One of them we’ll see later in the week. And he did not put names on it. So with that. Stephen Means (21:57.94) No, no, no, no, no, just mark it down with all the information we have. Andrew Gillis (22:24.558) caveat understood, I’m gonna say that it’s Montgomery and Shibola. If if everybody’s able to go. I think the way that he talked about Tegra Shibola like we, we were kind of ready for a changing of the guard. And then Ryan Day talked about him today and was like, he played pretty well. He it’s not perfect, but he got better. So I think they’re just gonna stick with it. So I think it’s I think it’s Montgomery Shibola. And again, you know, Stefan Krajisnik (22:46.845) I thought it was one. Andrew Gillis (22:52.748) Maybe Chabola’s on the availability report, who knows. Stephen Means (22:55.167) No, see, no, no, just mark. No, you don’t get there’s no hedging. We’re marking down. You mark it down. That’s what we’re doing. It’s not about, if there’s no mark it down. Stefan Krajisnik (23:04.53) This is an unfair, this is an unfair market down. Because we’re not basing it off production. We’re basing it off of, do you want to guess which two are healthy and which one might not be? Andrew Gillis (23:07.821) Yeah. Stephen Means (23:08.862) So? Stephen Means (23:17.203) Yes. Stefan Krajisnik (23:20.151) I’ll go Montgomery and Shavola too. have no idea. have no idea. They both came out while I was in the elevator going down to the feet. Stephen Means (23:22.891) Welcome. Stephen Means (23:30.603) So Luke was walking around after the game. Stephen Means (23:35.499) And I think Josh Padilla was in the indoor at one point with us. Today on Tuesday, if you were like, he was in there for like a quick second, like you could tell he had been out on the field before we got in there. I think those two are going to start. And I think. It’s unfortunate. Because I agree, I thought Tegra Sarola played pretty well on Saturday. In fact, I think he responded well to the adversity. Right. I think there’s something I think Stefan you’ve been right this whole time, but but like wrong and the reasoning if that makes sense of I don’t think it’s because Tegra Shabola can’t it’s there’s something about like rise into the moment when you feel challenged and when all of a sudden you’ve been the starter for 12 straight games and then now they’re rotating your spot. There is like a competitive instinct that maybe kicks in and it probably brought the best out of Tegra. Stefan Krajisnik (24:07.284) challenge. Stephen Means (24:31.411) in the college football. He wasn’t perfect, right? He did have the play against Tennessee early in the game where he whiffed on a block and Will Howard got sacked. But because of a face mask, it ended up being a penalty for Tennessee. But he wasn’t perfect. But he was I thought he played his best ball in the playoff last year. And I don’t think that was on X. I don’t think that was like random. I think he probably felt challenged and rose to the occasion. And I do feel there’s probably an element if we were to talk to him and he was being honest and gave him some true serum, Josh Padilla. Being more than just, we’re to play you 15 snaps the way they were doing with Ethan and Yawa now, OK, you ready to go fight for your job? And he probably fought for his job the last two weeks and he won. He held on to it and then he played pretty well on Saturday. I don’t think he was the problem on the offensive line. It was the other side, ironically enough. That was more of the problem, even though I also think the left side is with Spurk. the 51 yard run by Bo Jackson. So it was like hit or miss with the left side of the offensive line. I don’t know if Tegra is healthy and he might lose his job because of health. Andrew Gillis (25:36.076) No, no, you’re not allowed to say that. You have to mark it down. Stephen Means (25:40.244) I am about the market now I’m talking that was a long term statement on Saturday. I think Josh Bedia starting at right guard because he’s healthy. I don’t think I don’t think Tegra is healthy for Saturday. That’s what they if I had to speculate and we’re going to be back in there today as people listening to this pod and that’s like the number one thing I’m looking for our Tegra Shabola and Josh Bedia and Duke Montgomery walking off of the field and they look like they practice but if I have to mark it down I think Josh Bedia starting at right guard on Saturday and I think Stephen Means (26:10.785) Sometimes injuries can open the door for somebody losing their job. It didn’t happen with Lorenzo So obviously that doesn’t mean it’s going to 100 % happen But sometimes losing your job because you got hurt at the wrong time. It’s not a night. It’s not an that’s not an unheard of concept Stefan Krajisnik (26:27.078) Yeah, but Padilla’s got to play at a better level than he was, you know, leading up to Penn State week, right? I thought he played okay. And the, and the opportunities that he got, I didn’t think he was, you know, excellent to the point where you completely write off Tegra. I think that was part of it too is like, when we were talking, going into the game, like how are they going to divide up reps and is it going to be Tegra? it going to be Padilla against Penn State? Like a big part of it was to like, Padilla wasn’t running away with the job either. Right. It’s not like they were sticking with Shibola when there was another obvious answer. Like they were sticking with Shibola because the next answer wasn’t necessarily emerging. Right. I mean, it happened with Ethan Owen Yawa too. Like Ethan Owen Yawa, he played stellar would be this team starting right guard. I, so yeah, if it is Padilla starting against Purdue, I could see a world in which, you know, inadvertently injury leads to Tegra losing his job, but Padilla better be ready to go then. Cause it sounded like Ryan Day wasn’t necessarily. Stephen Means (26:56.606) Right. Stefan Krajisnik (27:25.998) thrilled with what they got out of Padilla in the bi-week and going into Penn State. Stephen Means (27:33.951) Yeah, I just think I’m also open to the idea of like why you weren’t maybe weren’t thrilled with what you got from Josh Padilla. Maybe Tecra showed up, man. Stefan Krajisnik (27:44.902) Yeah, two things can be true. I also think like if it is Padilla starting and Tegra’s injured, then it’s a great opportunity for Padilla because it’s showing your worth in 20 game snaps is also difficult to do, right? Like it can take one or two bad ones, but it’s like, I don’t know, you give him 60 snaps and maybe you’re like, okay. Over the course of a game, like this guy gets better and better instead of, know, here you’re to come in for the third series and you’re going to come in for the seventh series or something like that. So I’m, I’m open to it. I’m open to it. But yeah, so it’s always tough to predict, I guess, the losing your job to an injury and how a staff might approach that. Stephen Means (28:22.791) And produce the entire other defensive line is not great. They got a guy on the outside. CJ Nunnally, who’s pretty good, but their interior is not anything to be worried about. So this is like a perfect game for him to get a full. It would be if a checker can’t go, it would be a perfect game if Josh Pettier can go to get a full plate’s worth of snaps and get a real idea of what he would look like in that role for you. And maybe he sees the moment, maybe he doesn’t. Stefan Krajisnik (28:48.388) Yeah. Yeah. The interior is not great. Produce had actually like quietly a decent recent history of like edge rushers and, um, defensive lineman. And one of them, think transferred to A &M ahead of last season and ended up having a pretty good year. Um, you know, obviously George Karloff is in the NFL is, I mean, he’s, I think on the second contract with the Chiefs now. So they’ve got a decent history there. So that’s, that’s to say something nice about Produce segment. Gillis, got anything? I think they are playing pretty well Saturday. Andrew Gillis (29:20.716) I think the train is cool. When they come out of the tunnel and they play the train. Stefan Krajisnik (29:25.672) The training school, I also, do think it’s creative when they do the like railroad tracks like on like painted on sideline. Yeah, really into it. Andrew Gillis (29:31.268) that’s all. yeah. Great. Except for the one I think. I don’t know if it was like they played Penn State maybe or Notre Dame, whoever it was last year, where like the Purdue receiver was like in the end zone. He caught it and he like started to celebrate and he realized he was standing out of bounds because like the paint’s different. Like it’s not just like a normal like green and white. It’s it’s it’s black or something in the end zone and it changes it up. So the dude the dude thought he was scoring he was like, yeah. I’m like the Defensive bag was like pointing at the ground. It was really funny. So it can lead to problems So if that does happen you heard it here first Stephen Means (30:06.145) I the problem is now we don’t know we’re gonna talk about on Thursday because you guys decided to Do the game preview part today Stefan Krajisnik (30:13.64) We can do, I mean, we can make us say something. You haven’t said anything nice yet. You gotta say something nice about Purdue. Andrew Gillis (30:15.374) We can talk about trans. Stephen Means (30:19.569) I don’t want to say anything nice. I don’t. It’s Andrew Gillis (30:20.118) Yeah. No, no, you have to. We just did. You have to mark it down. Stefan Krajisnik (30:23.238) Well, how about this? about this? Read Ryan Day’s quote about Barry Odom. That was nice. Andrew Gillis (30:29.194) Did you? Stephen Means (30:31.487) Why can’t I save that for when we record the game preview pod to actually have to talk about Purdue? That’s my question. Like you me to say it’s dark and dreary there. It’s. And this is with all due respect to the people who go to Purdue and live in West Lafayette, it’s just every time I’ve been to West Lafayette, which has been twice in my life. The weather and the environment looks dark and gloomy. Stefan Krajisnik (30:34.152) Ha Stephen Means (30:57.037) It’s the it’s the polar opposite of what it’s like covering a game of the Rose Bowl in every way imaginable Stefan Krajisnik (31:06.728) As Scott Van Pelt would say though, bang that big ass drum, they got that. Stephen Means (31:12.383) You think Ohio State’s gonna have a drum next year? Stefan Krajisnik (31:16.518) I just hope they have a husky. That’s what I’m rooting for. Stephen Means (31:20.157) random dog. They already have a dog. It’s Kirk Herbstreets dog. comes during the playoff every year now. He just can’t come during the regular season because the TV contracts. Stefan Krajisnik (31:25.297) Ha ha ha. Stephen Means (31:30.609) Also, you know what? I need Ohio State to not have a home game this year. Because the way this is going. It’s going to be very difficult to rewatch the game. And I’m not I’m not married to Fubo yet or slaying. Stefan Krajisnik (31:45.032) If they don’t get it figured out in time for the college football playoff, I will say the say something, say something nice about produce segment probably easier right now than to say something nice about ESPN segment. Stephen Means (31:58.161) I can say something nice about the sbn Andrew Gillis (31:59.488) If the playoff rankings get released on ESPN but no one’s able to watch it, are they really released? Stefan Krajisnik (32:04.87) I’m telling you, Tennessee’s not eliminated from the playoff because nobody saw it happen. Andrew Gillis (32:09.07) Hahaha Stephen Means (32:09.469) I can’t believe Roger Goodell just didn’t like pick up the phone and go on Monday night, yo, cut this out. Like, cut it out. Cut it out. Stefan Krajisnik (32:13.734) That was shocking. That was actually... Andrew Gillis (32:16.16) It was the Cowboys. Like it’d be one thing. It’d be one thing if they were like, Hey, it’s the Jets versus the Cardinals. You know, it’s the Bengals versus the Vikings and no disrespect to fans of those teams, but they’re not that good. Even it’s even the Cowboys are not that great. It’s the Dallas Cowboys and they didn’t Stephen Means (32:29.921) They’re not brands the way that cowboys are. their brand. Stefan Krajisnik (32:36.85) Stephen Smith was sitting in Jerry Jones’ suite. You don’t think they water that everywhere? Stephen Means (32:41.663) Yeah, that’s insane. I’m actually very shocked. Andrew Gillis (32:42.51) I think the Packers play the Eagles if I’m not mistaken on Monday night next week and like, uh-oh. Stephen Means (32:50.655) Yeah, there’s also like Stefan Krajisnik (32:50.76) Stephen A Smith being in the booth with Jerry Jones is honestly like Dave Portnoy watching with Ross Bjork. Andrew Gillis (33:03.938) I don’t want to think about that. Stefan Krajisnik (33:05.096) Thank Stephen Means (33:05.196) 614-350-3315 to win free trial through that in nine after that that’ll do it for your Wednesday pod talk with day the college football playoff rankings are out and the moral of the story is Ohio State needs to just beat Michigan and and then whoever wins between Ohio State Indiana is gonna be number one regardless of what the rankings we’re gonna say today that’s just That was my takeaway. I’m sure that’s Andrew and Stefan’s takeaway as well, is that they matter because like they’re official. They’re officially out. We are officially in college football playoff rankings world. All of this, as Ryan Day said, it literally does not matter unless they beat Michigan. He didn’t say Michigan directly because obviously, but that’s the whole point here. Beat Michigan and the world is yours. Don’t be Michigan and some of the world is yours.
