How Did Ohio State Football Take Such A Big Leap In Week 2?

welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Monday September 9th I'm your host Tom Moore the Marshall game is in 12 days the game against Michigan in 82 days Buckeyes knocked off the Western Michigan Broncos 56 to nothing on Saturday night you probably heard a little bit about that about that on Saturday and then early Sunday morning from us now we're going to let you hear a little more from some of the Buckeyes after the game and instead of doing the usual Ryan day thing thought I'd do something a little different this time we're just going to let you hear from guys who are new to the team this year so you're going to get to hear from will Howard quinon Judkins you're going to get to hear from Seth mclaughin and you're also going to hear a little bit from Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor so let's start with Will Howard what was different about the approach of the offense against Western Michigan as compared to akan because the results were very different so was this just sort of the evolution of things from week one to week two every week's different and you know our game plan going into this game was definitely different than last week um you know and and I think you know the same can be said about you know whoever we play next Marshall um you know but you know I think I don't I don't think necessarily that we did anything different or anything new or tried to like open anything up you know I think we still had probably just as much in the first game you know really also is just you know how the game's going and you know sometimes some of the more exotic stuff's working you know this game we we ran the ball really well and you know we were able to establish a really good run game um you know and that that was great um but yeah I I I think part of it yeah you know we're evolving every week and we're we're taking the things that work and the things that don't and and learning from it whatnot um but yeah I think I think I think we did a good job evolving and I think just overall we just played cleaner you know to start the game so all right so if the offense evolved that much from Week 1 to week two is there a ceiling to just how good this this offense could be if it keeps evolving I really I I truly I I don't think there is you know I think I think we played well tonight but the thing is there's still some plays that we left out there you know um still some some plays that you know some meat we left on the bone you know and I think that's the exciting thing about this team is that you know we have so much talent and so many guys that are doing so many good things um you know but we we still can build on it and grow and and become a better team and I think that's the exciting thing is that we're we're never satisfied after the akan game will Howard talked about how everything just felt very new it was the first time he' played inside Ohio stadium in a real honest goodness football game so did he feel a little more comfortable it wasn't quite as new and uncomfortable as it was maybe week one did he feel a little more comfortable week two against Western Michigan so much more comfortable like I just felt settled into the routine of everything you know the routine was was set and I knew what it was I didn't I didn't feel surprised by anything and I think you know the same could be said about a lot of us you know last week being new guys quote unquote even coach Kelly you know like there's some new coaches you know everyone's kind of figuring you know Finding their their way and and finding their feet um you know but this week was was a lot better cuz we got the same routine and it's great to get into a routine and know you know I'm a big routine person whether it's day-to-day or on a game day or whatever like I just like to have a routine and when when you can settle into that routine and know what what's what to expect what's coming like it it just settles your mind down a little bit and you don't have as many like Jitters and you know I think I think he saw that today will Howard certainly looked very comfortable coming right out of the gate he started hot the first four plays of the game four straight completions and then that offense just kind of kept rolling all light night long so what is it like does he like to come out throwing the ball like that I think it was good you know I I like to get early completions and you know easy completions and I think we did a good job of getting me a couple of just easy completions you know and just letting letting the guys you know just facilitating getting the ball out of my hand you know I think the first one I probably could have just gave to Trey and and let him run but um you know it's all it's all it's all good and and you know I think I think we started off really fast you know got some got some good plays um and we're able to we able to move the ball down the field well this is going to be a season full of Firsts for the Buckeyes one of the firsts on Saturday night was it was Will Howard's first rushing touchdown as a buckeye he did that out of a heavy set a lot of tight ends on the field and that's something you normally think of more as a Kansas State thing his former home than necessarily A Ryan Day type of offense like he's playing in now at Ohio State so is that something he likes running around with all those tight ends out there I love it I love I love getting in that heavy stuff and and running the ball and especially because that usually means we're in either short yardage or in the red zone and we were in that a lot today which is great um and we made made some good plays but I always say you know it's great to throw a touchdown it feels awesome it's a you know it's a great feeling but there's nothing quite like running a touchdown in and and feeling the crowd and and celebrating with your teammates in the end zone like there's no feeling like that and it was pretty awesome now on to another guy who knows what it feels like to run in the touchdown inside Ohio stadium Quinn Shan Judkins he had a breakout day more than 100 yards a couple touchdowns only nine carries on the day and that's taken away the fact that he had an 80 yard touchdown called back on a penalty so what did he think was this a breakout day for him and what did he think about that 80 yard getting cold back definitely I feel like today was you see the the o line that we played together together as a whole and not even just those guys but the team as a whole and we came out and perform as a team and everybody came together so we beat him pretty bad oh about the 80 yard I mean you know I believe in my teammate so it's nothing last week Judkins guy came out of the gate with just an okay kind of first start last week was more of a Tran Henderson game Saturday was more of a quinon Judkins game so was there anything different for him against Western Michigan as compared to the week before um I would say you know just the same routine that I have going into each and every week with you know my preparation and the tools that our coaches give us as far as when we game plan on these teams and you know looking at every team and the way that we prepare prepare the same so nothing different Judkins was not the only Ohio State back to have a big night on Saturday he had 108 yards and two touchdowns trayan Henderson 66 yards two touchdowns James peoples 51 yards and a touchdown Sam Williams dick three carries for 40 yards averaging averaging a smooth 13.3 yards per carry that'll do so what is it about this group of running backs that lets them Excel like this yeah I think just the way that we all believe in each other you know we know everybody in the room is special we know everyone in the room is talented and get to see everyone in the room work hard each and every day and teach each other different things about our game that we think others can learn and you know and it comes with experence especially for the younger guys but just the the way that we mesch together and go out on the field and execute I think is pretty special now on to Ohio State Center Seth mclaughin he has had a really solid start to the season really holding down the middle of that offensive line for the Buckeyes what is it like for him and the rest of the offensive lineman blocking for this group of running backs it does a lot when you know and you have faith in those guys that if I just block my guy really hard uh where I'm supposed to with the right targets that they're going to make a play um you know sometimes if you got a guy back there that you're not 100% confident in like okay if I make this block we may not get a good run but if you know as an offensive line if you're making your blocks and everybody's on the same page that there's going to be explosive runs it makes it really easy to keep going hard mentioned earlier that the Buckey did come out of the blocks throwing the first few plays but really this was night when they did a lot of damage on the ground as well 39 carries 273 yards six touchdowns on the ground averaging seven yards car when did the offensive line know that this was going to be a day that they were going to really make some big big noise on the ground um so we go through our opening plays like what we think we're going to call in the opening drives and you you see a lot of run plays in there and you kind of know that we're going to try to set the tone early with the run and when you do it's going to keep on coming downhill and um you have to be really successful on those first runs to get confidence the rest of the game and finally something that we have found that people are really interested in every week is the opposing head coach's thoughts on the Buckey after the game so made the Trek over to the other side of the stadium to get some video of the Lance Taylor press conference Western Michigan head coach here are his impressions of the Ohio State team after seeing them on the field Ohio State's a really good football team they've got Playmakers at all three levels in all three phases um and they're really well coached coache and his staff does an excellent job uh I was really impressed when I turn on the tape and and even more imp pressed in person they're a very disciplined football team and I think sometimes um when you're a very talented football team you're not always the most disciplined football team uh but they're both and that makes them very tough Taylor was also asked how Ohio State maybe look different in person after watching them on film did they look different from film to in person he said well they are bigger and scarier in person and that certainly is how that game played out on Saturday night they played of course Wisconsin in week one and played the Badgers very tough lost by only a couple of touchdowns so how does the Ohio State team and the Ohio stadium environment stack up against the Wisconsin Badgers and Camp Randle yeah I don't really like comparisons what I will tell you is is this is a really good football team um they're very well coached and this environment is you know one of the best that I've ever been in I've been in some great environments uh the fans doing excellent job you can hear you can feel the history and tradition of this place this is a really cool place to play and they love the Buckey uh and you could see that and feel that tonight um the energy here was was awesome I think our players came in ready to play uh but this place is is uh really special place the Buckeyes have this week off so we'll be off a little bit different on our schedule this week of course we'll you have our usual assortment of shows every day for you this week don't worry you you'll still get your morning show every day we'll have a bunch of Buckeye weekly podcasts as well plenty of stuff to talk about on the Huddle board at Buckeye hudle .c presented by Jeff rubies Columbus we are going to have a Ryan Day press conference on Tuesday May get a chance to talk to a couple other folks on Tuesday the only real difference this week no Wednesday evening press conference we will undoubtedly have more stuff for you this week G be a lot of recruiting stuff to talk about going to be a lot of scheme stuff to talk about try and get Ross Folton back on this week to do a show or two I know those are always very popular and the Buckeyes have the weekend off before they head into Marshall week next week so plenty of stuff coming up this week for you at Bucky hudle.com and what is shaping up to be potentially a pretty exciting season in Columbus Ohio we hope to see you there we hope to see you at youtube.com buuy huddle as well that'll do it for today thank you guys all for joining us have a great day we'll talk to you tomorrow