To Do Lists for Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State & Wisconsin welcome in it is Big Ten today great to have you with us on this Thursday as we inch closer to the football weekend Dave rebson Jake butt got a couple games tomorrow lot to get fired up about here and we talked last week about going into the first week and you know you go through camp and you you think okay this is going to be our identity I'm actually really excited about week two because you now have a one single point of data to say okay here's who we thought we were going to be this part of it works maybe this didn't it's that big jump you know they call it the sophomore leap it's same going week one to week two these teams can now go back watch the film and show some type of growth I want to ask you to dive into that in just a moment but first it is our big story and that is of course the week's schedule in the Big Ten everyone is playing I mentioned Hoosiers and Illini tomorrow you got five teams facing power five foes Nebraska Purdue Iowa and Wisconsin joining Illinois four games in prime time Saturday including both Minnesota and Rutgers in action here on the Big Ten Network I do want to ask you a little bit I want to get into some specifics here we'll deal with the ranked teams first and then dive into some other Big Ten teams but what you were talking about there like week one to week two right you always hear okay this is when you make the most Improvement do you believe that do you buy that and if so like why is that what is it about week one that allows you to improve in week two well I I absolutely I absolutely buy and Ryan day had a great quote this week and he talked about how you just don't feel the consequences throughout Camp of missed opportunities so you structure your practice and you have a third down specific practice say it's third and short well you'll run 110 straight third and short plays so if you miss one you don't feel what that's like going over to the sideline you don't feel the true consequences and I'm calling the Ohio State game this week and this is why I'm talking about this is you you now go into that game and you had some missed opportunities across the offensive line they feel those consequences you go back into tape and say Guys these are all correctable correctable errors let's get this thing back on track so you have that actual in-game data point to make Corrections off of so with that in mind with those data points let's get into some of the Big Ten teams like what's on the to-do list if you're coming out of week one and heading into week two let's start with the highest ranked Big Ten team the second ranked Michigan Wolverines look pretty good in the opener but what's on the to-do list for them after week one they look pretty good and I think some people might say that what's on the to-do list is get this offensive line to the elite Joe Moore award standard I don't think they were last week you know Blake Quorum didn't have 150 yard they didn't rush for you know 350 yards on the ground but to me what what I would Challenge and Sharon Moore's back on the sideline their offensive coordinator also their offensive line coach don't fall into the Trap of just running the football because you know you can and you know you're going to win this week just by doing that you'll win regardless what happened last week is I think you just planted a seed of belief into JJ's psyche and into this passing game psyche Michigan can compete for a Big Ten title running the football but their goal we've heard it this is their words is to win a National Title and if that's the case you need JJ to continue to build off of that performance last week the passing game receivers tight ends build off that performance so what's on the to-do list don't pivot now and just run the ball you know you can do that do what you have to do but continue to plant these seeds in JJ in the Michigan passing game it's interesting because the last couple of years in the openers we have seen in the first few games we've really seen Michigan rely so heavily on the Run game and they said coming out of this game that ECU had just packed the box and had put them in a position where it made sense to throw the ball and JJ what can you say 26-30 the second highest single game completion percentage in Michigan history only Elvis gerbach had a better one all the way back in in 1991 so it's a long time ago again we're going to see Michigan not this week but the next two weeks on our air you'll be calling those games they got Bowling Green and Rutgers as for this week on the Big Ten Network it does include Ohio State in action that's the game I know you're going to be calling Jake they take on Youngstown State you see the rest of the Big Ten teams playing on the network Michigan State Northwestern Minnesota and Rutgers but let's focus on Ohio State you mentioned you've been focused in on that game because you are calling it so what's on the to-do list for the Buckeyes coming out of I think what some people found to be at least offensively not an underwhelming performance but not quite the performance they were expecting yeah it'd be underwhelming if you go back and say look at how CJ Stroud the number two over overall pick and you know three NFL offensive linemen how the how the offense operated with those pieces but this is a new thing you have a new center you have two new tackles you have a new quarterback so my eyes aren't even on McCord this week I think he's going to be fine I don't think the tape last week was necessarily that bad my eyes are on the offensive line and to me specifically I think about the communication and I look I think of their Center their new center um hinsman all communication starts from the inside out all Five Guys the the center two guards two tackles they get up to the line of scrimmage the center puts his hand on the ball and he says hey this is an even front this is an out front 55 is the mic and then off of that that's how you know where your double teams go who the guards pulling so I felt last week they were not on the same page and what there's a saying in football if you're all wrong as long as you're wrong together you're all right but you had one side of the offensive line blocking one thing one side block and the other thing and what that allowed Indiana to do Aaron Casey Free Runners on the running back constantly unblocked guys in the backfield and that hurt your ability to get a consistent Run game they had 31 rushes last week 11 of them went for one yard or less when you're introducing a new quarterback the best thing you can do is play a dominant Run game so going back to how we started the show you go back to film this week you go into the meeting you look at your Center hinsman you talk to your preseason All-American guard Donovan Jackson you say guys how can we improve this communication let's get on the same page Youngstown State this is a game you should win so you expect the only time you panic is if they don't dominate this game I'm not saying that's going to happen I expect them to dominate it I expect them to take that Leap Forward and then just to put a bow on The Stave defensively my challenge would be to them great great week get some turnovers start to put the ball back in your that's the next step for the defense pretty interesting though listening day talk about that offensive line your first point there his take on it was hey everything that happened in this game was correctable I don't look at any of my offensive lineman he said and think they're not good enough yeah they're not ready to play at this level and he got some transfers that you're working in there so that's a positive but then to your point how do you how do you fit those pieces together and I think that's been the question with Ohio State's offensive line coming into this year as they felt like they were talented enough they could get five who could really play but who fits where and and how does it all come together was the big issue they are absolutely talented or not this is Ohio State I mean there's there's very few if any teams that have recruited and brought talent in the way the Buckeyes have so in a sense this is maybe the other piece of this is this goes all the way back to the off season everyone's picking Michigan to win the conference for the past decade plus it's been Ohio State what you now want is that offensive line having to deal with all the media this week go play a little angry play a little pissed off B assignment sound and put that on tape get back to nastiness go back to the 24 National Championship team how talented they were remember week one how that looked the offensive line didn't look great but they improved throughout the season that's a challenge for this Buckeye offense and can you run it on Third and two or on fourth down where they shied away from running the ball against Indiana those are hey if you're Ohio State that's how you exert your dominance right just run the ball and get whatever it is two three yards how about Penn State this was certainly a very challenging game in terms of playing a power five team in West Virginia not a great power five team but one that James Franklin said after the game he thinks is going to give some problems to other teams especially with their offense this year so coming out of this Penn State they have a little bit lesser game this week to say the least in Delaware what's on their to-do list yeah it's it's a it's a game as you mentioned that they should win they should be dominant and I talk a lot about the mental side of football not just the X's and O's but when you turn on the tape what are you seeing from this team so Penn State that was a great performance we're all talking about Drew Aller you know the defense though they weren't perfect they got speed all over the field the sky's the limit for him the to-do list for Penn State is to not exhale in a game that you know you can win actually build on it specifically for the defense they had 14 missed tackles last week you got to cut that in half you got to get that to under five you have to be dominant against a team you should Dominate and as good as Drew Aller played I think the exciting thing is is there's some mistakes on tape there's some learning points start to minimize these errors he hits great home runs he made some excellent plays now you minimize the errors and all of a sudden the growth starts to explode and remember they have an early conference game coming up next week they go to Illinois next week that's an Illinois team to remember beat them a couple years ago so you got to get everything set here against Delaware because that's one of those games like if you look at the games that Penn State could lose yeah like where you could build an argument to say hey this could be a really challenging game that's the first one no doubt about it particularly on the road absolutely absolutely speaking of going on the road the last of four ranked Big Ten teams in action this week Wisconsin going to Washington State amazingly this is going to be the first time ever in the history of its program the Washington state has hosted a ranked team in non-conference play so you know they're going to be fired up on the police you know they're going to be fired up to take on a Big Ten team after a bunch of the teams from the Pac-12 are headed to the Big Ten including their rival the University of Washington so it's a huge game for Washington State not to mention they beat Wisconsin a year ago so what's on the to-do list here for Luke fickle what do they need to do going into what should be a very challenging environment that's you look at Wisconsin last week and the Improvement was literally quarter over quarter half over half that's second half being settled in and they really opened up and started to play great football and that's to be expected with a new head coach new offensive system some new wrinkles on defense but here's what I know is is when you're going on the road what do you need to silence the crowd you know when you're when you're watching your team play at home when the opponent is just running the football in sustaining drives you can't stand on your feet and scream you can take the crowd out of it so Wisconsin get back to that Wisconsin football you found it you had two your two running backs both eclipsed 140 yards last week the other piece of this is we what we know historically with Washington State they are an air raid football team they are going to air this thing out they're not known for their run defense all that in mind tells you to put extra emphasis on leaning on your running backs Braylon Allen Jasmine Lucy hand them the football and let them continue to build on this week then once Washington State comes to take away the run then you can get to your to your passing game talk about complimentary football it doesn't have to be 50 50. it has to be emphasis on what the defense is giving you and then open up to the other side and again again they did that in the opener particularly when it became obvious that Buffalo wasn't going to pack the box against them they ran into the tuna 312 yards average better than seven yards per play it should be a fun game a couple teams that aren't going to be afraid to open it up you mentioned Washington State Cameron Ward can really Chuck it around so it should be an entertaining one Saturday here on the Big Ten Network a triple header kicking off with number Joel Klatt on Week 1 in the Big Ten - B1G Today five Ohio State against Youngstown State then Michigan State hosts Richmond or Northwestern faces UTEP and in Prime Time Minnesota takes on Eastern Michigan while some will see Rutgers battle Temple coverage begins with Big Ten tailgates Saturday only on the Big Ten Network in the Fox Sports app go to btn.com gamefinder for channel locations in your area join now as we will be every Thursday by Joel Klatt he is of course the lead game analyst for Fox Sports also the host of the Joel clack Show podcast he joins us now and Joel let's start at least from the big tens perspective with the highest ranked team it's the Michigan Wolverines AP has them number two you have them number two in your ranking as well it is not the most challenging early season schedule I think we can all agree on that so what would you focus on if you were Michigan here early on in the season to kind of refine as they then head into a meteor part of the schedule starting in October yeah it's interesting I think it's not actually what I'm watching on the field although it will manifest on the field my biggest question mark or or or level of Interest with Michigan is just about the internal standard that they can hold in particular on game day while their coach serves his you know self-imposed suspension obviously we saw some of the messaging with the shirts and everything in particular from the quarterback JJ McCarthy but you're going to find out a lot about the leadership of this team whether it's JJ himself at the quarterback position or others on that team Mike saner still comes to mind you're going to find out a lot about what their level what their expectation is and what their standard is internally in that locker room and that's going to tell me a lot about this program and what they can be at the top end because this is what I know about culture and we hear this all the time rev this talk about culture and team building I think falsely people think that the culture is set by the coach I disagree with that coaches can make rules and set expectations okay now some coaches set loftier goals expectations and standards and rules than others but you get great culture within your program when the leaders on the team meet those expectations and then hold others accountable on top of that when the leader's expectations and standards exceed the coaches that's when you've got great culture and we're going to see whether that manifests at Michigan over the next few weeks let's talk about Ohio State they face a much more challenging game coming up in a couple weeks against Notre Dame so certainly of the two schools what's the most challenging non-conference it is clearly Ohio State because of that game they of course open with a conference game and there was some consternation coming out of that game we saw Ohio State drop a couple spots in the polls questions about Kyle McCord and that offense and why they didn't get the ball to the big play receivers in Harrison and ibuca the way people expected them to do you share this concern about the Buckeyes coming out of week one well you can't watch the game film and and not be a little at least a little concerned okay so like that's that you cannot pass this off as just fine having said that they won by 20 on the road in League Play in the first week of the season when the opposing staff had all summer to just focus on them so in one respect you can say like Hey listen let's pump the brakes and calm down a little bit we're breaking in a new starter we're gonna be just fine in particular on offense when we know the track record under Ryan day is that we're going to be excellent on offense now having said that there are a few things that I was concerned with and it actually wasn't the quarterback to be honest with you rev it was more so the offensive line um their offensive line did not play well and in particular in short yardage they didn't give their offense or play caller or quarterback the opportunity to play an advantageous down in distance for the majority of the game I felt like that was a problem while the rushing numbers turned out to be okay a they really were a few runs that popped and a bunch of runs that didn't and so when you're constantly behind the chains that puts pressure on the quarterback it puts pressure on the offensive line to protect the quarterback it puts pressure on the play caller and because of that I didn't feel like they were aggressive enough nor could they be aggressive enough because of the situations that they found themselves in that all needs to be fixed and in particular that run game and by the way this is not the first time that we've said hey this run game is a little sluggish I would argue that last year that run game at times was a bit sluggish and they were trying to figure out what they were going to be in terms of running the football a couple of years ago during the coveted year you would say the same thing until Trey sermon popped and they kind of started to run more of that pistol set and really ran the ball effectively in particular in the Big Ten championship game long-winded answer to tell you that there is some concern for me it's up front with the offensive line but in an overarching sense should we really be concerned with a 20-point win on on the road in League Play and in particular when that sluggish start is on the side of the ball where they have a track record of being excellent you know maybe we should all calm down for a moment it's a fair point it's interesting too because I think back to our preseason camp tour and Jerry and Howard and I at practice in watching Ohio State's offensive line not long after we had seen Penn State's offensive line and that has been an issue for Penn State for years and it really felt like this year was the first time that you could look at Penn State and say they may have passed Ohio State there and and that's not as big a concern for them as it has been in recent years I'm interested kind of bigger picture as you compare those teams and this is kind of where we are right we're going to be comparing Michigan and Ohio State and Penn State all year until they play one another and we can sort it out on the field how would you evaluate Penn State relative to the other two right now boy if I was a Penn State fan I'd be really excited right now I'd be really excited right now and and because I think for the first time in a few years years it's it is legitimately the the big three in that Division and not just can Penn State get there and play with those other two teams I think that they're legitimate I was very impressed with Drew Aller I thought he was calm accurate their offensive game plan was solid I like their defense uh they're a little light up front which makes me nervous with their matchup against Michigan because of the way that Michigan likes to play in particular run the football but in their matchup against Ohio State boy like that's exactly the team I would build to go match up with Ohio State length athleticism and speed on defense and an offense that's got a big big armed quarterback and can also run the football I'm I'm very excited about Penn State this year I've got them right up there in my rankings in the top six and rightly so um this is a team that I think can can really make some noise and has a legitimate place within those top two three in the East vying for that division in I want to move ahead to this coming weekend with you and you've got a huge game Nebraska Colorado and yeah I would just say that if you would have told me a year ago right now that coming out of week one of the college football season next year Colorado will be the biggest story in college football frankly I would have laughed at you and I think anyone would have and even over the summer like you knew there was obviously a ton of hype with Deion Sanders but what was it going to be style over substance or was there something there and we learned this weekend you learned it firsthand a great call with you and Gus you learned firsthand that there is something there they're really good they knock off the defending national runner-up TCU what's the ceiling do you think for Colorado like how good is this team how good can they be this year that's a that's a good question actually you're the first one to pose that question to me everyone just asked me what are what were you most surprised about and so that's that's what I'm more prepared to answer what's the ceiling rev that's a great question and and based on what we saw I think that you can legitimately look at that schedule and you can see eight or nine wins with the way with the way that they played uh in their first week I don't think they're going to go undefeated you know and if Prime sees this video he's going to put it up for the team because this this dude like he believes that they're going to go out there and Win Every Game and I will say this their level of play was I mean they didn't cause five turnovers and score twice in special teams like they just beat TCU and I still like TCU is going to be fine like there they've got speed and Talent on that team the defending national runner-up like uh you suggested I think that the the ceiling for Colorado is is high eight nine winds I think we can honestly say like yeah that's definitely a bowl team and the reason is is because this game at its core regardless of level is still about quarterback play rev you and I both know this and shador Sanders looked incredible if he let's just put it to you this way if he plays at that level the entirety of the Season he's going to be talked about as a top 10 draft pick and and you generally are not a bad team if you've got a quarterback that can play at that level and so that's why I think that the ceiling drastically went up after week one for Colorado pretty amazing I mean throwing for more than 500 yards in your debut it was it was a remarkable performance and I think everyone in college football may be outside of TCU fans and Nebraska fans was excited and enjoying it and now Nebraska my sense during this off-season was they felt like Colorado was a game they had a good chance to get right I mean there's all this turnover in the roster I mean Colorado was one in 11. they lost by an average of 29. if I was in Nebraska I would have thought absolutely we're going to go to Boulder and win and so now you're looking at it you're thinking oh my goodness like what what do we have here coming up this week you had a chance to see Nebraska against Minnesota they were right there had every chance in the world to win the game and give it go first a lot of credit they were able to to pull it out but you've seen them both in person what would it take for Nebraska to beat Colorado I mean listen there they're going to have a great chance to win this game make no mistake about it I know that they're now the underdog but not by much I think it's three and a half uh last time I checked um rev they won't make the same mistakes that TCU made you know TCU threw the ball over 40 times that's playing right to the teeth of the Colorado defense which is their defensive backs that's the strength of that that team they were not good stopping the run in fact they gave up almost 200 yards in the second half alone on the ground to TCU I was shocked that TCU didn't run the ball more think of one of their interceptions is on a third down inside the five why are they not running the football at that point I'll Never Know Travis Hunter intercepted that ball um Nebraska will run it 50 times or more I mean Sims 19 carries almost 100 yards I think Gabe Irvin will get a lot more run and he should he only got seven carries I believe in that game Thursday night against Minnesota um this is a team that's now going to feel like they're the ones being disrespected they get to learn from some of their mistakes and they get to go out there and play a physical brand of football and I don't know if Colorado is going to be able to handle that now that being said I think that we would all be delusional if we thought that Nebraska's secondary was going to be able to shut down Colorado based on what we saw last week their talent on the outside exceeds what Nebraska has on the outside so this could be a high scoring Affair and it might come down to who has the ball last and and likely will come down to turnovers this is the only concern for Nebraska and Jeff Sims is that he's been a turnover machine his whole career dating back to his time at Georgia Tech and then he was in the opener against Minnesota he's got to clean that up if they don't turn the ball over they're going to have a good chance to win yeah averaging the most turnovers per game of any active quarterback in college football Jeff Sims is throughout his career so can't do that again that was what cost him the game obviously against the Gophers should be an amazing atmosphere in Boulder on Saturday really looking forward to the old big eight rivalry yeah I know like this is the game I grew up on yeah absolutely but you expect to see a little bit later in the year then week two uh Joel Klatt really appreciate it we'll look forward to the call with you and Gus and Jenny coming up on Saturday thanks for your time and looking forward to another good season with you yeah you bet see you ref going for the end zone and then it's Week 2 Previews - Iowa at Iowa State, Purdue at Virginia Tech, Richmond at Michigan State, Eastern Michigan at Minnesota intercepted picked up by Cooper to Jean analog series I mean it's it's a battle for the state of Iowa it really just brings two teams together I feel like we did each other's best game typically I think people from outside our state really appreciate the intensity of the Rivalry and just what it means it's great for our state it's talked about border to border I think our state can be very proud to have two par five schools that have had such good programs in the same state I'm a Kirk this is one of the really fun games in college football Iowa and Iowa State the annual cyhawk battle it's in Ames this weekend what's your focus for the Hawkeyes heading into this one so we find out about a team during their rivalry games right this is where you really get to see what this team's made of and I think this is an inflection point for Iowa specifically across the offensive line you have to run the ball that's how Iowa wins right last week they gave up nine tackle for loss also only average 2.4 yards per carry that's not going to work throughout the season specifically in a rivalry game on the defensive side of the ball win the turnover battle Iowa State's starting a redshirt freshman his second career start rocker Rocco Beck take advantage of that and go ahead and put this on tape say this is who we're going to be the rest of the season remember Iowa State lost its starting quarterback over the summer in the gambling Scandal so uh again not not the guy they expected to have under Center this year but should be a good one there in Ames on Saturday another Big Ten team of the power five battle you got Purdue going to Virginia Tech the boiler's fresh off that close loss to Fresno State in Ryan Walters debut this is going to be a hostile environment in Blacksburg as it always is what are you looking for here from Purdue as they try to get in the wind column I think Fresno State's quarterback and passing attack it really challenged Purdue and I don't think they're ready I don't think Virginia Tech is going to quite challenge them and Purdue's defense last week was good against the Run they're playing a Virginia Tech team that only averaged 2.5 yards per carry against ODU so it starts with this win the battle in the trenches get Virginia Tech in third and long and then you go back and you look at that tape last week and say guys just a little detail here pre-snap leverage pre-snap Alignment Little minor things and you can Elevate that passing defense and I think they got a real shot to come out of here with a win gave up 371 passing yards in that game but again you're going up against a Jeff Tedford offense we know how good he's been through the years that game uh of course that hosted big 10 tailgate before the game Big Ten tailgate this week all Big Ten all morning long in East Lansing in-depth previews of every matchup tons of fun from MSU Big Ten tailgate percent of itia it's Saturday 10 a.m Eastern only on the Big Ten Network and the Fox Sports app this is a game from Michigan state that clearly they should win they're taking on Richmond but next week is where it gets really interesting for MSU they have Washington coming to town prolific offensive team a Heisman candidate in Michael penick's what do they need to get straightened away against the spiders so they're ready for what will be the defining game of their non-conference I'll start with actually what they did well last week against CMU only 96 yards passing now Washington and Michael pennick's in that receiver room they're going to be a little bit more of a challenge but that's good for Michigan that's been one of their struggles it's good to put it on tape but I still think it comes back to the offensive rushing identity what you do when you're playing an explosive opposing passing attack you have to control the clock you have to run the ball you have to keep Michael penix and those guys on the sidelines so that's their that's their opportunity this week against Richmond is to build an offensive rushing identity that they can then carry in some momentum next week against Washington I'm fascinated though by that defense against the Huskies and the one real positive last week that you talked about they didn't give up a play longer than 17 yards in that game and this was a team that gave up the most yards of best place at 10 yards or longer in the Big Ten by a wide margin last year Washington is a big play attack so can you carry that over to that game again not to look ahead for the game from against Richmond another team with a challenging non-conference assignment next week is Minnesota they're going to go to North Carolina you've got a Heisman candidate there in Drake Bay what do the Gophers need to focus on after a narrow Escape against Nebraska it's a very similar storyline to what we just said about Michigan state is in in PJ Fleck told us they still want to run the ball that that's what he expected their identity to be they didn't get it done in week one against Nebraska they only averaged 2.2 yards per carry 55 yards on the ground that's not going to win and it's not going to win against North Carolina and it's not going to help you when you're playing a Heisman candidate I think Joe Rossi will have this defense ready I think he's one of the more underrated coordinators in probably all of college football but it's going to be on this Minnesota rushing attack step it up passing game looked all right get that running game going to play complimentary offensive football 55 rushing yards the fewest in a win this century and to your point you think about PJ Fleck and running the ball he has hinted that it might be a little different this year because of how much they like Athey and caliak Madness and maybe don't have a Bell cow like Mo Ibraham but need to be better than 55 yards only broke three missed tackles as a running back room against Nebraska those guys got to step up it's going to take a little bit of everybody and again don't want to look Overlook Eastern Michigan because remember last time they put him back team was Bowling Green a couple years ago Falcons actually beat Minnesota so Eastern Michigan's got a nice track record recently against the Big Ten so will not be a cakewalk by any stretch for the Gophers it is time for our big stat how about 46 Ohio State TE Cade Stover Previews Youngstown State in a row that's how many consecutive games Ohio state has won against teams from the state of Ohio heading into Saturday's battle with Youngstown State it has been more than a hundred years since anyone beat them the Oberlin Yeoman the last dude in 1921 a yeoman's effort and they quit while they were ahead they have not played since that gets us to our big interview it is Ohio State tight end Kade Stover at Team High 98 receiving yards in the win over Indiana Kate you are an Ohio guy before you became a buckeye did you have any allegiance to other schools in the state uh yeah I mean coming from Ohio it's really hard not to come here when you got the one of the best programs in the country in your backyard but yeah I mean you still get recruited by other schools and you take your trips there oh let's dive into this Buckeye team and this game one for you guys I mentioned you were the leading receiver on the team in terms of yards with all the receiving talent in this group was it a surprise to you at all to end up as the leading receiver in the game uh a little bit I guess but uh as we go through camp and we figure out a each day a guy would have a really good day and when you have that many weapons you just kind of have an opportunity to make a play and you make them when you can how would you assess the performance of the offense in game one that was our first time all playing together we came away with the win so we're really happy to do that and we're really excited to see our stride from week one to week two well let's talk about that where do you think you can get better as a group where can you make some strides in week two like I said earlier we had a lot of guys playing together for the first time so to be able to kind of simplify things and get back to playing ball and just getting North and South help me understand what you mean by simplified things like for those who haven't been through a pre-season practice who haven't put a game plan in what does it mean to simplify things uh necessarily not necessarily simplify scheme wise but just uh you're back in you're back on your lights you're back under the eyeballs uh in that field with everybody watching you you kind of forget that when you get to practicing so when you don't practice uh when you don't play for a while and people start to figure out hey this is how I got to play this again or hey your assumptions are right that you are that good and or something are wrong that you're not that good you just kind of hone in on things and whatever those are for week one to week two as a pass catcher you obviously have some perspective into the quarterbacks that not many people have what did you make of Kyle McCord's performance in week one I thought I did well I thought he kept his composure a good play Bad play and that's really what you want you want somebody to study about back there I think the kid has all the talent in the world and I'm excited to see like I said his drive from week one to week two how tough is it when you hear people kind of second guessing and already talking about is this offense good enough are they good enough a quarterback certainly you guys are well aware that's been out there in week one what's it like to to hear that about your team one game into the season it's it sucks it does but then again it really doesn't matter what anybody else is saying outside that facility uh we know what we have in here and we're excited to see what we can do with here next week I want to dive into your background a little bit we talked about this when you were at Big Ten media days you're from a small town Mansfield Ohio you grew up on a farm how did that shape Who You Are I think growing up on a farm really I gave all the credit to the what I can do right now uh raising cows seeing the family seeing how close it makes your family and how appreciative everything and pure that lifestyle is really you can emulate every day here in college football in what ways does it make you closer to your family when you see all the opportunities and all the struggles that you go through on a daily basis there dealing with basically taught like a hundred toddlers which is just the hundred head of cows and like the rubble and stuff and Break Stuff you come together really as a family and you fix things you move them together and then now they're not all glorified great days but a lot of times you can take something from those bad days what's the most challenging Farm chore that you had to do as a kid a lot of people don't like to bail hay and to be honest with you I love baling hay as long as I'm not stuck in the hay mouth somewhere where it's hot and muggy and I can be on the wagon with a little bit of Breeze I can go all day can can you maybe turn uh farming into an nil deal here like in all seriousness is there a is there a tractor that you could promote or you know fertilizer like is there something you could do as a farmer for nil oh yeah to be honestly it's been a huge help for my dad and the farm back home AG pro has been really really good to us they sent us out a new combine last year on the bye week that we were able to run all our corn with uh while I was home on that bye week and that combine was about 30 years newer than the combine normally runs so it was like driving a brand new Mercedes car for me and I was like a little kid in the candy shop what are you doing in exchange like how does that work from an nil point of view I'll just kind of promote them and people see the high State logo and then a lot of country people look for a kid they can follow and somebody they can resonate with so I like to try and be that person and Branch out disconnect between the the way food gets on your table and then what people and how you think it really does that's great I know you have talked about buying a farm when you finish your career what appeals to you the most about that life what makes you say hey when I'm done with football this is what I want to do yeah there's a farm uh like two or three miles from my family's Farm that I've always I love driven my four-wheeler bites and trucks ever since I could drive oh that I've always wanted to buy so really to be able to have that and be that close to my family and hopefully Branch those Farms together and live that pure lifestyle that you can enjoy and with your family and raise your kids there I think there's nothing better well let's talk a little bit about football because I know you want to play as long as you can before that you were Mr Football in Ohio your senior year of high school you're also the all-time leading scorer in basketball at your high school tell us a little bit about your hoopscape I'm still a Hooper by heart I love playing basketball I think some of the best basketball games we've had I've been in the Woody and they're a little half court over there people really get after it there but now in high school we had a really good basketball team and I've always taken a love to that and football took off and I mean I love them both who's the best basketball player on the football team outside of you outside of me JT's a pretty good Hooper really yeah JT can play all right he seems like he'd be a tough guy to go into the lane against is that a fair he's not he's more of a shooter he's a real nice guy really surprising yeah he should he should throw his bulk around a little bit in there you've played several positions at Ohio State you of course started the Rose Bowl at linebacker a couple years ago what how did you compare playing defense to to playing tight end what are the pros and cons yeah I never played tight end until my sophomore here here at Ohio State uh so I it's a little bit of a struggle at first trying to learn the nuances and everything like that and really it took for me to come back in that Rose Bowl game to be able to come and tight end with a full heart and embrace it really you had a tough injury in the college football playoff last year you guys were seemingly in control of that game against Georgia you went out with an injury and and the tide really turned a hairline fracture in your back take us through that night from your perspective particularly once you got hurt that was just one of the hardest nights in my life really just to be able to put all that work in just to get to that opportunity with all your buddies that you've shared all that Blood and Tears with and then you get put out like that that hurt but that's why I'm here and that's why we're back because then on something like that I could never live with myself yeah what does it mean to to be back this year and competing and starting and playing well everything I just that's what that's what you look for you want to change your body in the off season you wanted to you wanted to change a narrative of who we're going to be this year and I think we're on a good step to do that yeah let's talk a little bit about that and and finish up with that on changing the narrative I mean everyone knows the goal at Ohio State right the goal is to make the college football playoff which you did a year ago to win the national championship I mean I think that's out there every year obviously to beat Michigan which hasn't happened these last couple years to win the Big Ten which hasn't happened these last couple years how much do you talk about with your teammates those goals that you did not achieve last year even in a season which for just about any other school would be an overwhelming success it's everyday we live that and we wear it honestly what happened to us whether we like or not we have to so going in every day to be able to figure out what you can hone in on that day to get better to not let that happen again that's really what we've tried to do and we've got a lot of really good receptive guys to get that message across with us well Kate Stover looking forward to watching the Buckeyes in action against Youngstown State here on the Big Ten Network on Saturday really appreciate your time congratulations on all your success have a good year thank you appreciate you for having me on tomorrow Indiana welcomes Indiana State Week 2 Previews - Indiana State at Indiana & Kansas at Illinois to Bloomington as they Square Off Under The Lights it's Big Ten football presented by Hampton by Hilton tomorrow seven Eastern only on the Big Ten Network and the Fox Sports app certainly an easy easier matchup I would say for Indiana than the opener against Ohio State after watching them against the Buckeyes what are you focused on for Indiana here moving forward I thought the defense played really really well we've talked about how quote-unquote poorly Ohio State's offense we didn't give enough credit to Indiana defense specifically Aaron Casey and Andre Carter those guys look like NFL Talent flying around out there so build off of it Indiana state is not a good football team go build off of it and then offensively I actually like the triple option offense that is a hard challenge for defenses to prepare for now get into some play action off of that run action start to play some complimentary football it is fascinating to wonder a little bit how much of this was situational trying to keep the game close against Ohio State lead the clock and how much of it was this is going to be their offense right especially when Dexter Williams comes back they're optimistic that might not be too long from now that offense suits him to a t so it's something to keep an eye on with the Hoosiers I love this Illinois Kansas game these are two teams that are on upward trajectory that have both had really tough Times Really since the the turn of this Century to be honest they're two of the five uh worst programs in the power five in terms of winning percentage but both feel like they've got the right coach now both feel like they got some momentum should be a good game Kansas does expect to have Jalen Daniels preseason Big 12 offensive player of the year back at quarterback what are you watching here as Illinois tries to escape Lawrence with a win that's going to elevate their offense but last week Kansas had a lot of success running the football nearly 250 yards on the ground averaging six yards per carry and we look at what happened with Illinois's defense in week one against Toledo I thought that was going to be the strong point of this defense but they gave up 186 yards on the ground you have the law firm Newton and Randolph I think Johnny Newton might be the best interior defensive lineman in college football you have to take a step in the right direction you have to make Kansas one dimensional because that's an explosive offense you can't have another poor day defending the run it's going to be on their defensive front Kansas struggled on defense last year they were last in the Big 12 of in Total Defense so opportunity there for the Illini particularly Luke Altmeyer played well in that opener allmeyer great but he led the team in rushing last week too to get the running back room going right and and again the defense to me is you wonder whether that was just a one-game aberration it would have been their worst game statistically last year we'll find out this four yards allowed yes we will find out Kansas gonna put a lot of pressure on it that's a sneaky good game been excited about that one for a while we'll preview it tomorrow get you ready for the whole weekend in the Big Ten Jerry dinardo Nicole our back set to join me see you then on Big Ten today