Arch Manning vs. Julian Sayin - Why the Texas-Ohio State 2025 opener will be wild: Kings of Columbus

welcome back to Kings of Columbus Bill Landis Doug lay marce Landis I took down all the banners it's just an Ohio State Banner because we do kings of the north five days a week and we do kings of Columbus once a week this is foundational for us we're never going to stop doing Kings of Columbus We Are Who We Are we don't change our opinions but I understand that this is for Ohio State fans man and they don't want to look at a Purdue Banner well some of the Banners are pretty cool though I bet that there's some banners they don't mind looking at but there are certain banners they definitely don't want to look at so I'm glad that you just put the Ohio State one up there yeah so um I am so excited for this show because we're gonna do what you watching what you eating what you thinking at the end of it we're gonna I think like rotate week to week whether watcha is on Kings of the North or Kings of Columbus it fits on Kings of Columbus best this week but primarily what we are going to do is look ahead 11 months and three weeks you will not find another show doing it this week and I've had to hold myself back from doing this preview 13 months ahead of time so at least we're within the 365 day window because we are jumping forward to my 52nd birthday Bill Landis and on the day that I will turn 52 years old my gift will be Julian saan versus Arch Manning in Ohio State Stadium it is the opener of the 2025 season Texas at Ohio State it will be the game the entire sport is talking about it maybe could be a rematch of the national championship game and it will almost certainly feature the two quarterbacks from the classes of 2023 and 2024 who were the general consensus number one quarterbacks in their classes who most likely will be making their first starts against each other Bill I know you think this is crazy I know Ohio state has a game this week against somebody Texas is playing Michigan this week we get it we're covering all that on Kings of the north on this show we're doing saian versus Manning let's go does somebody's Western Michigan by the way in case anyone I could not be more excited for that game but let me just double check does arch Manning play for Western Michigan no that'd be cool if he did though wouldn't it he'd at least be playing Put yeah put arch in we're gonna be doing a huge Michigan Texas preview on our Wednesday Kings of the north so like we were watching the Texas game they put arch in the Texas game and like the stadium erupted oh my God I me the Colorado State game yeah yeah it was crazy um and I think I was thinking to I was thinking to myself as I watch that um will we hear something similar when Ohio State puts Julian saian into a game they did not do that against akan yeah I think I think Ryan day probably could have he basically just gave Devon Brown like most of the fourth quarter and that was it yeah I think this game this game and the Marshall game have a chance to get probably will get out of hand in similar fashion so and I think Julian saan will play in one of those two games so I'm I'm eager to see what the reaction to him is it's it is a you know Ohio State fans are lucky it will not be the first time Ohio State fans get to react to like a highly talented five-star freshman kind of guy getting into a game for the first time so so maybe maybe it won't be quite as Rocket as it was for Arch but I do think it'll be interesting how people react to Julian when he gets into the game for the first time everybody loves a backup quarterback man right especially when they're highly rated so and and again I don't know that any Texas Fan is wishing Arch Manning was the starter instead of Quinn yers because I actually thought I thought Quinn yers looked really in control week one and I think Quinn ERS is gonna give Michigan a lot of problems and I don't think any Ohio State fan is necessarily wishing that Julian saan was playing instead of will Howard because will Howard had a great camp and has a different skill set that really seems to fit what Ohio state is doing right now but 11 months and three weeks from now people will be jacked through the roof and part we're just getting this out here now search engine optimization let's just do like a quick 20 minutes on SEO because you know inside baseball the people understand this you just get it out there we're going to put Arch Manning in a headline we're going to put Julian sand in a headline and then we're going to get let the Google machine work its magic and it's gonna be out there for 359 days of us just being ready the future people love the future in sports it's why they love the draft it's why they love recruiting so we are leaning into what people want which is I know this is happening on Saturday but what might happen next right that's how Sports operates man it is and we're also on this show we're going to talk 2025 depth chart too for people who might be interested in that you're you're you have a depth chart and I'm going to react to it which I'm very much looking forward to uh you react means criticize yes criticize yeah um I I don't want to be hyperbolic about this game to open the 202 season well I guess I guess I mean I mean from from from this standpoint where where do you think this will rank in like the biggest non- Michigan games played in Ohio stadium like in the last I don't know 50 years let's go a step farther okay could it be the biggest regular season game in the history of college football I'm just asking no so we can put it in the headline Arch Manning Julian one verse two one verse two happened in Ohio stadium no oh yeah that was good that was big that was big and and by the way like yeah the very first game and and I might have an unnatural inclination towards Ohio State Texas because as I've said many times and I am in my old man repeating stories phase of my career the very first Ohio State game I ever covered was Ohio State Texas in 2005 and so like that and and then in 2006 I can very when Ohio State went to Austin I can very vividly remember doing just like a gigantic thing breaking down these two gigantic athletic apartments that have departments that have so much in common and you kind of maybe thought someday Texas could Texas wind up wind up in the Big 10 that was sort of a talking point for a while and Ohio State and Texas have so much in common and this Texas Michigan game again we'll do this on kotn live on Wednesday like and you guys can go back and watch that so like if you want to breakdown of a game that's actually happening this year and this week you could also find that but these gigantic Blue Bloods when you talk like Bill right when it comes to this when it comes to history winning tradition and still mattering right now I think there are five is that I think this is fair would you say name the five programs that have mattered the most historically while also mattering today who do you think those five are that I that I have in my head Ohio State uh Alabama Georgia Texas and Notre Dame so I don't have George in there because I think I mean George is close I don't think Georgia talking like Oklahoma Nebraska so Michigan Ohio State Michigan Texas Alabama Notre day would be my five do you think that's and again I mean if we want to have you're factoring yeah if you're factoring like yeah I guess so yeah yeah those like long-term tradition and history of winning I think those programs stand separate from Georgia yeah and so we we just had Ohio State Notre a for two years we get Ohio State Michigan every year Bama has been the program that has sort of hovered out there over much of what Ohio state has done for the last decade and we did get it in a national title game we did get it in Ohio State's biggest win of the last 20 years 85 yards through the heart of the South and so then the other thing is Ohio State Texas like how do you get Ohio State Texas and you get it like we're getting it to open next season so they've played three times before they played the regular season series in ' 05 and 06 where each team won as a visitor and then they played in the fiesta ball after after the 2008 season when Texas drove down the field and scored on the last series to beat him so this will only be the fourth time that they play this series was agreed to on October 10th 2012 which is what this is one of these things Bill where I think I am certainly capable of making fun of scheduling agreements that are 10 years out but then you just wait around 10 years and they happen and you're like tip of the cap to whoever scheduled this Banger yeah is there any is there any part of you that's worried about this getting altered or we too close to it now I think we're too close I was I was looking Ohio State TCU was supposed to be a home and home that was moved to a oneoff in Dallas and to in the 2018 season that was done in the spring of 2017 so you know year yeah a year and a few months prior to that game being played yeah I think it's probably too late but I'm like there's like one% of me that's like Ohio State Texas and Las Vegas anybody kind of thing Castle I don't I don't I don't I don't want it to happen um yeah I don't think it's going to happen I think we're probably too close anyway but I would be lying if I said I wasn't thinking that at least a little bit yeah no I think and they've done enough like you know washing they was posted by the Washington series the past couple years and that got cancelled like right before Washington came into the Big 10 anyway so it would have been weird like there's a couple teams that we've talked about on kotn who are playing non-conference games this year against teams that are now in their conference like Kansas State Arizona and Baylor Utah they're all in the Big 12 now but those are non-conference games because they're previously scheduled Ohio State could have been playing like a Washington Series right now as a non-conference game except now they're all the Big 10 except they canceled it like whatever it was 12 months ago so I think this is good they it originally was scheduled for 2022 and 2023 when they did it in 2012 so it was like 10 years out then in 2018 they moved it and they moved it from 22 and 23 to 25 and 26 and then in 2020 they flipped it so it was supposed to be at Texas first at Ohio State second now it's at Ohio State and this just fit everybody's schedule to open the season the one thing I remember talking to Jean Smith a couple years ago when Ohio State right after Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the opener in 2022 and then like last year they played Notre Dame in whatever week three it was and Jee was saying like he would never he he would try to avoid that in the future he does not like having your Banger non-conference game in week one he would rather let you get your feet under you and then play that in week two or three but here we are it's gonna be week one with revamped rosters and we assume guys who have not started before what do you think of when games like this are week one um I mean I I like it as a way to like really start the season with a bang but uh I think to Jean Smith's Point like you don't you're not getting the best of either team in that scenario so it is it is a little bit of a let down like some sometimes I think teams deliver like I I thought USC LSU was pretty good right um yeah but the the Notre Dame Ohio State game though like two years ago was not a good football game it was a close football game but it wasn't a it wasn't a fun game to watch necessarily so so you run you run the risk of of that anytime you play these kind of games even like Clemson Georgia this year like Clemson clearly was not ready for that maybe Clemson would have been more ready for if the game was you know two weeks from now so um I I guess like as a college football fan I'm still generally in favor of it because I just love the idea of like grabbing five or two of your best six helmets and putting them on the field together in week one to really start the season right foot it is one of those where if like if you're gonna do that then you it would now that's I think for the sport right I like the idea of that but then I think you enter the realm of then can we start to have something maybe it's a closed scrimmage maybe it's an open scrimmage but yeah you start having something like a preseason game two weeks before the season starts where a Mac team comes down to Ohio State and you you get some of that going if then I think that that makes more sense to start with the banger but otherwise I agree with you like it's sometimes you don't get the best game so anyway that's how we got also on campus too yeah just like this this one is thankfully on campus it's not it's not in Vegas like USC Ela not in Atlanta like uh Clemson Georgia I do think the sport and by the sport I mean Alabama like the sport is moving more toward campus stuff we made a big deal about this when Bama started doing it and scheduling these home and home series for instance they're starting to do it this year with Wisconsin in week three and they have Ohio State and other teams like that I think Notre Dame on the schedule for future home in homes it's just better for the sport to play it on campus Alabama was the leader in these oneoff neutral sight games games that became The Fad for 10 or 12 or 15 years and I agree with you it's better for the sport I want Texas fans in Columbus I want Ohio State fans in Tuscaloosa right so by the way so we're excited about this we're glad it's happening it's just a reminder future Series right this is what's ahead so by the way Ohio State schedule non-conference schedule this season is terrible and the reason it's terrible because it was supposed to be Washington and originally that's why it was going to be Washington and Southern Miss and then they whacked those and put in Marshall and akan instead so it's like okay that's why they don't play anybody good in non conference but in the future 2025 and 2026 is Texas 2027 and 2028 is Alabama 2030 and 31 is Georgia bill it's a dream brother it is a dream don't isn't there there's a isn't there a Boston College mixed in there too which is like I get like not the caliber of these programs kind still kind of cool bet you jumping on the Boston that'll be a banger with Bob right a bob Banger up BC yes it is out there I think that's 32 and 33 maybe or 34 and 35 that's way out there it was closer it got pushed back but that'll be fun but like that's right yeah I thought it was before the Georgia series but yeah it's after um but these are I mean these are the three biggest Southern Brands and Ohio State's they're the next three non-conference foes for them so you know they've had times in the past where they played Washington or Miami I mean Miami was a good one then he schedule it Virginia Tech right Cal but like those are good but this is it brother like this is this is as good as it gets so suffer through what is not a great home slate all Ohio State fans with season tickets we we've we've criticized that we've been with you like it's not good other than the last one it is it is not a great home slate but hold on to your butts because it's coming holy moly I'm so excited for this stuff so generally we're excited for the idea of Ohio State playing Texas but specifically we're excited for the idea of Julian saan versus Arch Manning Julian saan in the 2024 recruiting class so he's a freshman was the composite number one quarterback he was overall number one by Rivals number two by ESPN number two by on three number three by 247 and then again composite he was number one in the class of 2024 Arch Manning in the class of 2023 he was number one one he was the number one composite quarterback Rivals he was number one 247 he was number one on three he was number two ESPN he was number three so Bill like this idea and the the crazy thing here the interesting thing here is that Arch Manning has stayed at Texas he did not transfer pton Manning was talking about it this week Drew Brees said something about like he hopes Arch Manning stays in college for five years which is like I don't know what we're talking about now although it does seem to be a thing now bill when you hear some of the NFL stuff there was a time and like the time was like up until last year when all in anybody in the NFL wanted was a young quarterback they want to get you young if you're an older quarterback they're less interested in you I don't know just if it's because of the portal and the covid year and like that it's the reality so now people are accepting of it but now it feels like like Bo Knicks is gonna start as a rookie for the Denver Broncos right and like Michael pennx and he's super old now JJ was was much younger Drake Maya's much younger Jaden Daniels who's going to start in Washington has been around forever Caleb Williams is a is a unicorn so but I do think maybe with nil and maybe with the NFL being more open to it right I maybe we a couple of these guys will stay longer that maybe Arch and Julian Saiyan aren't necessarily three years in college and out guys what do you think about like how this will play out with the top QB recruits I I think you could be on to something because Quinn yers could have left right Quinn yers came back I don't know I don't know based off how the draft won I think Quinn had a reasonable chance of being a first round pick and he decided to come back to school for for another year and keep developing because he also makes a decent chunk of money doing nil stuff that's not nearly the same amount of money you make obviously being a first- round NFL draft pick but I think it's enough to kind of make you think about it um and a lot of these quarterbacks will be in similar positions so I I I I guess I would say like I have more of an open mind toward that now when before I was just like what are you talking about they they're going to go to the NFL as soon soon as I can go to the NFL um it does seem like maybe there's a little bit of a shift I I don't know I mean shoot Quinn was Quinn is like the best quarterback prospect ever and he stayed for an extra year when no one thought he would so I guess if he can do it anyone's capable of it um I I don't know that I'd bet on guys like Julian S and Arch Manning sticking around for one year longer than you're anticipating obviously baring like injury or something like that but um I do think we are in a new world that invites that opportunity so that's where jacked up about as Bill said we're going to get into the depth charts and like that it's going to be a really different Ohio State roster but part of the issue is this this whole Natty or bust thing for Ohio State that I just think I've I've I was been trying to sort of push back against that for months but part just because I don't think it makes it fun I just think like why again why is Talent an opportunity why does that automatically equal pressure why do you start thinking about the what if they fail what if they don't get it done idea but I propose the slogan Natty or bust your butt trying instead of Natty or bust because I don't think and I was gonna say the a word do we say the a word on the show yet or no do you know better for the shirt you can sneak one in every now and then yeah you can we want we want kids here we want parents to be able to listen with their kids and I think that does happen and we don't want to be can you imagine the story that a kid would tell of what's the first time you ever heard a curse word and it was like I was listening to Kings of Columbus do we want that story is that a memory we want to be part of my first curse word I kind of want to be a part of that yeah it's kind of you do all right yeah then moment anyone's life oh so I don't I was at a high school football game on Friday night and there was a person working the concession stand I think often it's like the athletic booster parents who work the concession stand and somebody in the concession stand at the high school football game was wearing a t-shirt that said in very very large letters game effing day but it didn't say effing in the concession stand so I guess if it's good for the concession stand it's good for the podcast yeah a t-shirt that would say Natty or bust our ass trying I think is a better way of doing it because the thing to me is Ohio State is not an orust place I do think there can m Washington especially was more of like an orust kind of thing with the roster they had last year and I think Michigan not that Michigan's not a great program but I think Michigan is in more of a orust kind of place because it felt like maybe it would be Harbaugh last year there was a group of guys who stayed in pursuit of something after two previous playoff appearances that kind of thing right and the other part of this is Natty or Sayan Smith and downs in 2025 right that it's like well what's your or it's not like that they are going to be a completely new program but this is what we're looking at we're looking at an opener where both these teams Texas and Ohio State in 2025 are gonna be in the top five they might be one versus two and Julian saan is gonna be throwing the ball to Jeremiah Smith in that game and Caleb DS and sunny styles are gonna be playing defense for oh maybe Sunny not right Sun maybe that'll be yeah he's maybe yeah but Downs has to be there so I don't think it's like that's the part of it that I think is like factually wrong because Ohio State as we've talked about a million times before when you try to game it out in your head when's the season they should win it all they typically win at a different season so I don't think there's a bust because we're talking about the number one quarterback recruit in his class being Ohio State starter in 2025 yeah n your bust I think suggests that like the expectations recalibrate after the year and they don't they don't they don't hear right they hear they don't that Georgia and that's probably maybe the only two places where that's true um at the moment I suppose Alabama although they did lose Nick saan um so I think I think that's right I I don't I don't think Ohio State fans should be like oh whatever happens happens at least what at Julian saying next year like you you should very much be locked in on on this year and Ohio State chasing a national title but yeah if you're if you're saying you know just you're just coming back and taking another run at it next year and then the year after that and the year after that like I I agree with that premise but I don't know that I agree with like oh whatever it's a hopefully they're good and if they don't get it done they don't get it done what about next year now I now I want to open a Nat your bus t-shirt stand right next to the whatever happens happens t-shirt stand and see what the lines look like hey I got an Ohio State shirt which one did you get I got the whatever happens happens yeah I don't think that's no Ohio State's own fan like you would be you would have you would be booed in Ohio stadium by Ohio State's own fans wearing a scarlet and gray whatever happens says I hope everyone has fun yeah do your best thanks for trying um but there's always opportunity all right and particularly this it's it won't be the greatest well I don't want to I don't want to preemptively take away I don't want to cut the legs out from under our own show it is not necessarily the greatest quarterback matchup of all time but it's pretty up there by the 247 alltime quarterback recruit rankings back the last 20 years or so Julian saan is 35th all time in those rankings which out of all history is pretty good like Rex kar's not in there but I mean like you know what I'm saying it's like the modern recruiting world yeah Arch Manning is eighth do you want to play a game Bill Landis do you want to play how many of the top 10 quarterback recruits of all time can you name and this is a tangent but I like it when people can play games along with us while they're watching and listening to the show so this is like the modern recruit modern internet era era of recruiting yeah I yeah I think it's all there might be can I ask for one one piece of clarifying information can you tell me like the earliest guy on like what year roughly the earliest guy on the list is yeah let me let me look real quick because I think it's it's late 90s or early 2000s and so so okay it is yeah it's like um yeah I think everybody's in the 2000s there there's somebody from like 2006 or seven and there might be somebody older than that but yeah okay okay all right here we go top 10 who you got Quin ers Quinn yers is number five so again like I don't it's this is yeah whatever it's just a list you see a list you write it down Quinn ERS is five uh Trevor Lawrence Trevor Lawrence is number one yeah uh Justin Fields Justin Fields is number two which is why we were so jacked when Justin fields and Trevor Lawrence played each other and they went to high school down the road from each other and they met in college they were they are one and two all time still so so I guess Arch and Julian saying it's not quite Justin Fields Trevor Lawrence but we're in the same range yeah uh so is Vince Young on this list he is number four for Vince Young well done okay um that gets a little more difficult because there just a lot of guys in my in my head at the moment um Caleb Williams he is not Caleb Williams is number 31 okay okay Matthew Stafford Matthew Stafford is an excellent guest he is number 21 uh this is gonna take a while so you can cut me off whenever you feel like it it's a couple couple more Super famous guys and then a couple Fringe guys and one guy I'm not exactly sure who he is uh Bryce young Bryce young is number three Well Done by you so you have the top five the top five is Lawrence Fields Bryce young Vince Young Quin okay um and Arch is eight Arch is so there's only four more to get six seven nine and 10 um do you want a hint give me a hint I give me a hint there's an Ohio State guy on here Terrell PRI Terrell prior is number seven interesting and I'll give you the there there's one more like super famous guy who was mid in college but he was like the most famous quarterback recruit of all time practically he had a limo uh yeah uh the the Notre Dame guy what the heck's his name Jimmy Clawson Jimmy Clawson is number 10 number nine is Matt Barkley at at USC and number six is Brock Berlin who I know that name but I'm not exactly sure who it is so anyway Berlin yeah our top 10 Trevor Lawrence Justin Fields Bryce young Vince Young Quinn ERS Brock Berlin Terrell prior Arch Manning Mar Matt Barkley Jimmy Clawson Julian saan is 35 other guys on this list 14 DJ uang 17 niiko yamala at Tennessee right now 18 Dante Moore at Oregon right now he'll be Oregon starter next year Matt Stafford was 21 22 is Bryce Underwood who's the Michigan kid who's the number one recruit in the current class who's committed to LSU 24 is DJ lagway who's probably gonna take over as the quarterback at Florida as a true freshman at some point this year Jackson Arnold is 30 the sophomore quarterback in Oklahoma Caleb Williams is 31 Julian saan 35 Tim TBO is 44 and Dylan riola is 50 so that's what we're talking about so if we're talking about a matchup in the opener next year Bill and they've never played as they've never started if that's the case we're talking about eight versus 35 number one recruits in each of their classes a third-year guy and a second-year guy who are the present and the future of two blue blood blue blood programs like again I think the I think the buildup around that will I mean like I can't say unprecedented but the quarterback talk around that it's going to be a month long it's going to be a month long building into it and I think it has a chance to set some kind of ratings record and I would it'll be a fight this will be really interesting to find out where it's what Network's gonna have it because Fox is still G to take Ohio State Michigan as their number one pick in the TV draft so does that mean that this winds up as like A8 o'clock Prime Time game on NBC could somehow CBS get it for the 330 window but this is going to be a mammoth TV rating yeah I think the way it works though is like Fox gets the first couple of weeks don't think they're taking this this is the number two pick then next year well yeah because Fox had well I don't know I'm assuming Fox had first pick in week one because it had Penn State West Virginia and it has Texas Michigan this week so I think when you when you like you pick the week that you want to have dibs I think in the draft is how it works so yeah yeah but but fox has more fox has more picks I think um this this will be would be shocked that this is not the the the big noon opener big noon opener okay yeah it's G to be through the roof right I mean the rating on this yeah you know it is and it would be I think it's gonna be largely art striven I actually think Julian sa's Place kind of in that conversation will be interesting because I I don't know I don't know how much the outside world like sort of knows about Julian S I think they know that he was a five-star quarterback who was going to go to Alabama who then transferred to Ohio State it doesn't have the same kind of fanfare following that that Arch Manning does nearly but but but I don't even think he has similar Fanfare to like a Trevor Lawrence or a Justin fields or even a nio maleva um like J Julian S is like is like for for as highly touted as he is feels like he's pretty under the radar so and and once it becomes clear that he's going to be Ohio State starter in 2025 obviously a lot more eyeballs will be directed his way but I don't know I don't know like how much of a quarterback Showdown this thing will be buil as going into the game or if it'll just be here comes Arch Manning I think it I think it will be the build as a quarterback Showdown but I think every discussion except here except on Kings of the north except on Kings of Columbus is gonna be arch with Julian saian as the sidekick as the but hold on a second like almost like like with Greg Odin and Mike Conley at Ohio State one guy is the biggest best high school recruit you ever saw and the other guy is also pretty good and then it turned out that Mike Conley was a monster in his own right it'll it'll be a super interesting like Julian Saiyan's gonna get to fly under the radar and then if Julian saian outplays Arch Manning in that game then it's Off to the Races but it's gonna it's an immediate Heisman Showdown as well because again the quarterback of Texas the quarterback at Ohio State are always in that conversation and I know I at times and then again the the greatest mistake of my career I've made so many mistakes it's hard to say which the greatest top 100 Doug mistakes the idea that I wound up with an Ohio state Georgia National Championship game that I didn't really want I really all thought I was going to wind up with an Ohio State Texas National Championship game I I really think we have a chance to get that and if we get that and then we get it in week one if it's the last game of this season and the first game of next season again Bill like that's why we're doing it 11 months and three weeks ahead of time because this game with the players and the programs and what they both might do this year right yeah yeah huge pretty good pretty huge and I and we're also like we we we ended up getting Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields twice um and there's more backstory there's more backstory to that than there is to this this potential matchup but like we're going we we know I guess we don't know we can reasonably assume we're going to get two Saiyan versus Manning regular season games right but then we're could also maybe get at least one playoff game out of that too right over the next two years I like jul we know Julian sa is playing college football 2025 and 2026 and I think Arch Manning even though he will be draft eligible after next season I think will probably probably be around 25 and 26 so we're going to get this again in 2026 in Austin and I I I would feel pretty good like placing a wager on an Ohio State Texas playoff game happening sometime in over the next two years too so um that that like kind of presents different Stakes for this too like this will be the first meeting between the two but this could be kind of like a triple header QB matchup that happens over the course of two seasons that like gets people really fired up their recruiting profiles Arch Manning 64 215 Julian saian 61 195 so Arch just is a little more imposing physically their overall composite quarterback ratings which is why Arch was eighth overall and Julian saan was 35th Arch is 99 995 again like the 1.0 Z that's like you're like a perfect quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Justin fields are 1.0 with other numbers they're like better than perfect so 9995 for Arch 9966 for Saiyan so this is the world that Julian San's gonna live in though is that he's going to come in as like the underdog all this stuff Ohio State at home it's it is going to be fascinating because you're right you're right it is not going to be equal hype and the idea that Texas will be on the road for it in Ohio stadium this this is one of those of like Get get your ticket now like find a way this is maybe why you got season tickets this year so you can make sure you get season tickets next year also you won season tickets this year because Ohio State's gonna host Michigan and maybe break the three- game losing streak but okay like I just but it's G to be like I I remember so when Ohio State opened the year against Notre Dame two years ago at home and like Joe burrow was there and LeBron was there and I was thinking to myself like how could this possibly get any bigger it's like well do that again but throw the Mannings in the mix yes throw Texas in the mix like it's G to be absolutely insane on that day even though it's it's not going to be a night game I don't think that'll really take anything away from it but like the every single football fan like on the planet is gonna be watching this game and it's going to be a a celebrity filled event in Ohio stadium too I think so you want to talk more about Western Michigan now or you want to keep talking about the biggest regular season game Western Michigan uh I think provides an opportunity for Ohio State to run the ball a little better this week so we'll see how that goes boo do it on another show um I'm see now I feel like the way this is broken down now is you and Austin and BM talk about football analyze football you're there for the fans you prepare them for what's right in front of them and I'm just over in the corner I'm just a hype man I'm just a crazy hype man hype man in the north where's my sword I got I'm not going to pull a sword out here wait can you see I'll lean there swords can you see the swords behind me back there yeah yeah so that's that's all I amend that wait here we go wh there's a sword there's a crown there's a sword now there's not a sword so I'm just a hype man of the north so also Texas can cram it so but the opportunity like the opportunity for Ohio State to welcome Arch Manning to the world of starting college football quarterback and then beat him right man yeah RL ree will be the one welcoming Arch Manning the college football and I very and I look forward to that can you ask that Wednesday night at interviews can the first time see you're I'm just not around as Ohio State as much you still your two jobs land us so like if you can try to find a way to start working in some Texas questions just the next couple weeks just we we could it actually would have been helpful if we had them Ahad of time do they even know because if you tried to if you try if there was an Ohio State guy who would go along with it and then you just said do you know that Ohio state is going to open next season against Arch Manning in the shoe I do think there would be guys who'd be like really and get excited I I would imagine that most of them probably haven't realized that yet because why would why would they like they know who Arch is they may even know that Ohio State opens against against Texas next year but I don't know even I like didn't put two and two together until like four weeks ago when you brought this topic up I was like oh my God Arch manic starting debut is GNA be in Ohio stadium I've been putting two and two together for nine months just walking around two and two is four two and two is four do you guys know the two and two is four I'm telling the whole world last question about this it wouldn't Ru it only would add Intrigue but also we do have a whole entire season to play injuries space alien abductions happen so you never know that we're not talking about that we're not talking about either of these quarterbacks playing by necessity we certainly have broached the idea of what if Julian Saiyan had to play this year I don't know how much people are broaching it in Texas I think at least a tiny bit if you had to pick which quarterback is more likely to play meaningful snaps this year in a non-injury situation would you pick Arch Manning as Quinn 's backup or Julian saan as will Howard's backup I would pick actually backup yeah I mean I'm would pick hars because of that because at the moment Julian's the third quarterback so I I I don't know I think that's fluid I said before the year that I that I think maybe Ryan day and Chip Kelly might kind of rotate who's number two week to week which is to say I'm on alert for Julian playing this week against Western Michigan after he didn't play against akan but it has to be Arch because Arch is already number two so Julian has to first get ahead of Deon Brown before he would play it all yeah and you how do you think Arch looked when he got in because again he wasn't the number last year Quinn got hurt at Texas and Arch wasn't the backup he was in the exact situation that Zulan saian is now Malik Murphy was backup and then he transferred to Duke because he saw the writing on the wall where I think he's going to be good he's gonna play against Northwestern this week when Duke goes to Evon on Friday night how did you think are like so Arch got backup SN snaps at the end of the Colorado State game he yeah he looked like he was ready right he looked pretty good yeah he's more athletic than I thought he was and I he's big he's bigger than I thought he he he is or yeah um so like he moved around really well the the the crazy touchdown pass where he like scrambled and like threw a little shuffle pass to I think syas Balden um our gu syus balt from Oregon State man yeah I think he I think he scored on a QB sneak too so he's like a big burly dude who can move around a little bit yeah yeah so this is this is all I want to accomplish out of this show we're gonna we're GNA get to the the depth charts for next year in a second but as Ohio state is opening the season with akan Western Michigan off week Marshall all I want is for you watching and listening to this show to say to your friend this week hey did you know Ohio State opens with Texas next year and is probably going to be Arch Manning's first career start against Julian saan and then have a lovely little conversation at lunch yeah I'm not saying Overlook anybody but it's just like I don't know that there's a I don't think we have four weeks of interesting Ohio State conversation to wrap around akan Western Michigan Marshall no offense to this actually take offense to the schedules they should never have this happen I understand why it happened but it should never happen this is a terrible start to the season so there's room make a little room room for Arch and Julian in your heart you know what I'm saying that's all I don't we're not we're not staring down another one of these anytime soon right no because the whole I don't know who the 29 is maybe that's like I'll do a oneof 29 so there's so 29 still needs a third team there's only uh Nevada and Charlotte right now for 29 but there's a yeah there's a power and well no and then there's a yeah Power five power five power five that is the only year between now and 2031 where there's not already a power five non-conference opponent schedule and so and I'm not against that just don't make it the the norm the regular thing but if they want to use that 29 for a oneoff to go play I don't know Tennessee and Charlotte you know or to go play um right who whomever like whatever like big time random game that go play Utah and Vegas or something right I'm up for that you know what I mean like go play go play like the TC just don't make it the norm so maybe there's a window there but otherwise yeah I just this is like in 19 when they didn't play anybody because again the the TCU thing had been a two- game series that was turned to a one game series and they're playing Cincinnati and Florida Atlantic and they didn't there wasn't anything fun in September so this is we are promoting the game that they should be playing and normally are playing and then there's people out there who are like a ripping Ohio State schedule but Ohio state is playing Michigan Penn State Oregon Iowa so that's still four bangers five Nebraska yeah and five of you include Nebraska so like that and I apologize I should have so that's five really good games there's just no good non-conference games so they're just off the radar in this week two window where week two in the north and across the sport is great right we're getting Michigan Texas we're getting Tennessee North Carolina State we're getting Iowa Iowa State and Colorado Nebraska and I'm jealous of that for the Buckey that's why we're looking ahead 11 months and three weeks and part of that is trying to figure out who else will play for Ohio State when we come back what will the Ohio State starting offense look like in 2025 we'll do that next on Kings of Columbus back on Kings of Columbus we're so grateful for anybody who's here if you're new if you've been with us from the jump if you watch every Ohio State show on the podcast Channel whether it's in video or audio form if you only watch Kings of Columbus if you have no idea who we are and you're here by accident because you were trying to find a video of people trying on Fall attire right there's a lot of video I seem like there's a lot of videos of people like trying on like you'll see someone trying on a tire or like trying on jewelry that kind of thing it's very helpful um we could try to do that here but if you're here thanks and if you're here and you're not over at Kings of the north maybe give us a try that's all we would say bill in the break said he will not have a 25-minute Austin sahal conversation even though in his heart and in his loins he kind of wants to don't you you're like let's go we got George Fitzpatrick to talk about enough with Arch his name was Austin Manning we would all right let's start with the offensive line who will be Ohio State starting offensive line next year we have to start with who we who's gonna be gone Josh rer is gonna be gone right Seth mlin will be gone right yep Donovan Jackson will be gone right correct do you think Josh will be gone his eligibility will not be out but do you think he will depart for the NFL if you had to guess right now my guess right now is yes that he he will yeah okay so they will either be replacing three or four offensive line starters so here's I'll just run through my whole starting depth chart I have a bunch of slashes and you then will double back and you tell me where I'm right wrong at left tackle I have Ian Moore or George Fitzpatrick at left go I have Austin Sahel at Center I have Josh Padilla or Carson hinsman at Right Guard I have Josh Padilla or Carson hinsman and at right tackle I have Tegra chabola but also maybe Luke Montgomery but Tegra at the moment would be the only starter back so there's a lot of slashes I don't know how guys are going to move around I put Ian Moore there as a second-year guy who was a pretty big-time recruit getting into that tackle mix now you go no I I think if you if the exercise says you can only do guys who are currently on the roster that's probably more or less where where I would be um it's a little confusing because of like tiger could be guard or tackle Luke Montgomery could be any position any of the five um Carson Hinman can play guard or Center as you as you pointed out so and even Austin Sahel play like play tackle some this camp and people were like oh that looks kind of interesting so I I I don't know that they want to play him a tackle long term but I think they could potentially um I think my projected depth chart would have probably transfers of both tackle spots okay what do you think about Ian Moore what is your Ian Moore expectation at the moment it is not impossible for a highly rated second-year offensive lineman to play if he's ready to go Paris Johnson was more than ready to go Taylor Decker was ready to go like I understand that like what you're not you wouldn't pencil him in at a Tackle Spot um you could talk me into it I think pretty easily he he was fairly highly ated um he was one of the guys in Camp who was like thrust into some uncomfortable uh roles because they were missing guys and I think they like how he responded to that and he like lost his black stripe so and I I think he's probably like on paper in the two deep right now at tackle so definitely on the table for him to be a starter next year as a seconde guy um so if you want to say maybe one one transfer tackle I think they're going to have at least one transfer tackle I maybe maybe that's maybe I should say that instead of two and you figure out the other Tackle Spot between Ian Moore and George Fitzpatrick and or maybe teger if you want to kick T out the tackle list of all the guys that we've talked about so far give me your order of most likely to be a starter somewhere on Ohio State's offensive line next year is Tegra number one Tegra is number one um I think Austin selt is number two okay um I think I think Carson hinsman as long as he is around and doesn't transfer would be three okay and now so now we're in Josh Padilla Luke Montgomery Ian Moore range yeah who do you think is a more likely starter Montgomery or Padia next year Montgomery okay all right so if those if that's was your if those were your five if Tegra let's say teget right tackle sahal hinsman and Montgomery as your three interior guys and a transfer tackle and then Ian Moore in that mix somewhere right but if that's your if that was your starting five Tegra and a transfer tackle seral Hinman and Montgomery inside in some order how would you feel about that breath that was a deep breath well it's only I think you're you're just like it's okay in college like I try not get too hung up on it like I think Tegra is a guard like Tegra is gonna play guard in the NFL yeah so are you are you maximizing your offensive line by moving him to tackle or are you moving him to tackle to like patch a hole so right I I I think i' would be okay with it I I don't think it's my ideal situation like ideally I would like to keep Tegra at guard and go find a tackle in the portal or hope that or hope that Ian Moore yeah I think I would rather I think I would rather keep teger at guard hope that DM Moore is ready and go find another tackle in the portal I don't know that they are with you have to go by what they've done I would not count on two transfer tackles like I I almost can't imagine them pulling that off but absolutely focusing and throwing every nickel in nil transfer money they have at the best tackle out there and there's not a they gotta be ready in December they gotta jump they gotta be ready to go they cannot get well there might not even be a second window anymore right so it might be the which would be for them because like it's like well we'll see what happen I mean they got Josh Simmons in the second window and he's been their left tackle for two years also please stay Josh Simmons again is is a strategy that could be employed he could be your nil money tackle absolutely and I and I think that would that would be their preference um I think that there's probably there's a thought internally that he might become too good for that okay like if he's looking at being a second round pick potentially if Josh Simmons goes to the NFL and they do not get a transfer tackle in the December window we are preparing for we won't have time to talk about Arch Manning next August because we're gonna be doing tackle shows all Camp yeah because we're gonna have two wideopen tackle races and be like what are they doing they gotta protect Julian saian all right this is a very very up in theair situation for 2025 that fair to say they got to figure some stuff out yeah yeah yeah but also sarahv gy and Padilla were like Josh excuse me were Justin Fry's like big all Ohio recruiting class when he first got here and it'll be go time for those three guys so like that also if all of a sudden you're you're expecting at least two out of three of sarahel Padia and Montgomery to be ready to start in year three that is certainly not unreasonable in any form or fashion in terms of recruiting or development and then that's how this stuff's supposed to work yeah I don't think it's unreasonable and and I think they're in a pretty good spot with SEL especially um Montgomery I think they have to figure out what's the best position for him and it might it might actually be Center and let him Settle yeah they gotta let that guy settle right yeah yep okay is galani Thurman gonna be the starting tight end next year and have a chance to have a big year I think so willcast America has eligibility left so he'll be back next year but I think I think galani is your number one tight end next year all right I'm good with that starting receivers in 2025 Jeremiah Smith Carell Tate and Brandon inis with milin graham really working in are those the top four probably yeah Bryson Rogers I think is probably the fifth guy yeah okay how's that sound to you does that work for you that sounds AOK to me yeah I think I think they'll be pretty good do you think Quinn is there any so trayon Henderson this is last year for sure quinon Judkins could stay do you think there's any chance of that again with the nil making it happen no no let's not count of that so how does a running back combo next year of sophomore James peoples and freshman Bo Jackson sound to you I like it they really really really like James peoples like I don't there is not there is I don't think there is a single concern with anyone in Ohio State about James peoples being this team's number one running back next year as a sophomore it's the rest of the room that's probably a little more concerning because it's he peoples in Sam Williams Dixon who is like a tweener kind of like a slash receiver kind of guy and then you'll have the two the two freshman who are currently committ at Bo Jackson and Isaiah West you're I think they're going to have to get a portal running back like a veteran guy who is okay I think being number two to peoples but I think peoples is is absolutely number one running back next year you think Jackson can play is Jackman have the pedigree to play as a true freshman as the number two back maybe maybe I think it's I think that's position where it's easi to play as a true freshman so it's not like I'm I'm not alarmed by the proposition of it but they they need more experience in that regardless so they have to go get somebody I think and then you know at quarterback we just did 40 minutes on Julian saying Aaron Oland is here that will be a battle in the spring Devin Brown could still be here although I do think it probably would be time for Devon Brown to go be a starter somewhere else and that is not a criticism of Devin Brown it is a reality for Devon Brown I think he is a starting level quarterback in college football but Julian saian is Julian saan and so I I certainly am not uncomfortable talking about Julian S being the starter next year but I would love to see Devin Brown get a chance to play somewhere yeah the other guy there is Taven St Clair who will be a true freshman you do that yeah no I don't I don't I don't think stair I think tavan is gonna be great at Ohio State like I'm I'm super excited about a guy with that physical profile and his skills being the quarterback here um he does not he he plays a level of high school football where he is just like unsto so it's going to be a pretty big jump up for him and I'm not saying he can't handle it I'm just saying I don't know about really pushing for the to get on the field as a true freshman I think that's more of a 2026 conversation um but it'll be here it'll be interesting and people will be talking about him so I think it's worth saying his name saying his name say his name all right quarterback in 2025 feel good right feel good about that running back in 2025 feel pretty good like if the James peoples people are you know you're all in on James peoples I think they certainly would have the ability to get like the the portal running back that you're talking about probably feel pretty good about running back yeah my only question is whether or not they think they need to get two um okay two transfers because I guess they could get a third guy in the recruiting class but then you're like your room is two sophomores and three freshman um yeah I don't I don't think you want to be in that world necessarily so and and I I don't know I still don't know long term like what exactly Sam Williams Dixon is for this this offense in terms of position stuff so um I could see them looking for two transfer running backs but peoples is definitely I think rb1 okay receiver feel potentially great feel awesome about receiver okay yeah and still waiting for like the galani Thurman explosion to happen I don't I don't think we've given up on that idea of him being a real playmaker at tight end right no I haven't and I thought it was little telling at least in the opener against akan that g Scott wilas Merrick and gelani Thurman basically play the same number of snaps so which is which is I I'm reading that as they're looking they're gonna play you all equally and looking for somebody to take the job which means gelani has a chance to do it okay so assuming that quinon Judkins does not stay and assuming that Josh Simmons does not stay we are talking about three returning starters on offense MH it would be Jeremiah Smith and car El Tate at receiver and Tegra chabola on the offensive line so three returning starters on offense that is going to I think you could say tight end too I think you could I think you gilani's a co-starter we'll we'll we'll see we'll see how that winds up yeah but even if it's will K marrick like there I think they're both they're both back next year so okay I think between the two of those guys you can see you have one starter half a starter whatever okay or four but that's gonna be the kind of thing that we're going to be hearing like all offseason like oh only three or four returning starters on the offense it's going to be another summer another offseason of offensive line talk until like this is how it works you has some stuff in recruiting where it doesn't quite go how you want it to go and then two or three years later you're having conversations about are they good enough and are they deep enough so this is we had a lot of offensive line discussions this offseason and it feels like maybe the offensive line rounded into shape okay even though then week one wasn't great I think I think the offensive line conversation next year depending has a chance to be like even more heightened because you're GNA be so inexperienced unless they're just like Padilla Hinman Montgomery sarahel like they're Tegra they're all guys that have been in our plans like we're good they maybe haven't started a ton of games but like we're locked down like don't worry about it I don't know I don't think that'll be the case though we'll be talking about o line yeah I think we will I'm I'm I want to see how much those guys get to play this year yeah they really they really need to get those guys on the field this year all right so we're talking three or four starters back on offense we won't take a break we'll go straight into the defensive depth chart two starters back on defense next year the whole defensive line starting defensive line should be gone right yes JT and Jack on the edge Ty leak and thaam inside all gone right yep Cody Simon at linebacker will be gone Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock at corner will be gone right yep lean Ransom at safety will be gone right yep correct Davidson IG Mosen do you think he will be here or do you think he will be in the NFL draft NFL draft first rounder he and Josh Simmons are are basically the same conversation as guys who started their career somewhere else transferred here made impacts right away will be twoyear starters and then maybe out the door I think anticipate them out the door I think it I think it is a very good comparison that's nine that's nine starters that they should be replacing on defense next year we're talking about a world where the two guys who would be back are Caleb DS at safety for sure and now it's like would CJ Hicks or sunny Styles one of those two if who's the starter like would you guess that Sunny is back or gone that he early enrolled was here for year one but was kind of half a high school guy still played Safety last year playing linebacker this year do you think that will be his college career do you think he has a good chance to come back for year four I think he has a good chance to come back for year four because he's so young um if he left after switch yeah he switched positions so he'd have one year of linebacker play SL tape and he'd be playing most of his rookie NFL season at 20 years old if he left right after this year so I I think I think he'll stay as my lead I have him back I have him back even though acknowledging that he would be eligible to go yep that's a lot so now we're talking about a world like three or four starters back on offense two one or two starters back on defense this is the world that we are going to be living in next year for Ohio State here's my starting defensive line in 2025 Edge guys edric Houston on one side and then some combination of Kaden Curry and kinata Jackson at the other and Mitchell melt working in but those are the top four Edge guys does that sound right that does sound right Mitchell Welton does have an extra year of Eligibility he'd be very old maybe a yeah is that a sth 20 21 22 23 24 six year six year player but I I think he'll keep playing um okay yeah those are my four and I don't know I don't know that I look at any of the currently committed defensive and SL defensive line prospects and think like that guy's definitely going to push to be a starter as a true freshman maybe Zion Grady who's a defensive end commit top 100 guy um I don't even know if Zahir matthys is going to end up at Ohio State so I I think those are your four yeah okay inside Kaden McDonald hero canoe and Jason Moore as the three top names off the list does that sound right that sounds right and Taiwan Malone would still have some eligibility I think to be the fourth guy there um okay I could see because they'll want to play I think at least four tackles so if your top three are Hiro conu kayen McDonald and Jason Moore I could see them looking for tackle help in the portal too but I think I think they would feel good about those three being their top three all right so if those are our eight names that we just threw up there how would you feel about that group as a defensive line next year again edrick Houston festar recruit be a second year guy yeah we Kaden Curry and kinata Jackson have been waiting be they would be fourth year guys who have been kind of waiting in the shadow of Jack and JT what do you think about that group I think it's pretty good it's it's actually like for for an inexperienced group it's an older group you're talking fourth fourth year Kaden cury and kinata Jackson fourth year hero conu third year ktie McDonald and Jason Moore like it's not like you're traing out a bunch of freshman and sophomores so like those guys have to play this year and they will Ohio State played 16 defensive lineman against akan um okay so like they're they're G to get these guys reps because I think they know what's coming um but I feel okay about that yeah okay linebacker do you think CJ Hicks is in the same boat as Sunny styles that he could go after year three but it's quite likely he'd be here for year four I don't think CJ Hicks is staring down a decision an NFL decision no I don't I wouldn't put him quite in the same boat um I think there are more philosophical questions about how to use CJ Hicks yeah um so which could bring him back for sure but I'm not entirely I don't I don't know what to make of I I would not I would not project him as a starting linebacker in 2025 I think the two starting linebackers in 25 are Sunny Styles and arll REE and arvl reset the mic yeah probably okay um yeah it's one of those where it it might be that CJ Hicks just you know given the circumstances and the fit and all those kind of things may maybe it's not an NFL decision it's a go find a defense where you can be a primary focus of that defense and get used in a way that maximizes your skills and get on the field a ton so okay um if if you're if you have arll Ree and sunny Styles as your starters and then you have right the mix of gay pton Pierce and like guys like that behind him you okay with that yep and they have uh Riley pedon coming in as a commit who I I think will be a guy who can play early and and TJ Alfred as well provid they can hold on to him um I think has a chance to play early too okay linebacker feel good Corners Germaine Matthews Aaron Scott and Lorenzo Styles in the slot does that sound right Calvin Simpson Hunt is there too yeah um I would I think your top three like outside corners are Matthew Scott and Simpson hunt with Matthews I think definitely being number one and then maybe Aaron Scott pushing Calvin Simpson hunt to the second corner and then Lorenzo Styles is is the nickel yeah okay Caleb Downs for sure and your guy Jaylen mlan as the other safety uh I would probably go Malik Hartford okay um I don't know that's an interesting conversation I I would like I would like to see this season play out a little more to see who plays more between Malik Harford and Jaylen mlan um but I would guess Malik Harford is the starter next year right now okay how do you feel about that back seven with the linebackers and the corners and the safeties good um Jerm Matthews will played a decent amount yeah like Caleb DS obviously is very good um as long as they get Hartford and mlan some decent run this year as backup safeties I feel pretty good about that that secondary there's G to be a lot of energy on this roster and Ryan Day a year from now and starting in Spring football is going to be talking a ton about how there's a different vibe and they're looking for leaders but they have a lot of guys who've been waiting for an opportunity are so excited to get on the field and this is their time to shine and it's time to go but compared to how many guys on this team right now have played so many snaps that that is absolutely going to be the talking point of year from now we talked about probably need a portal tackle on offense you mentioned a portal tackle on defense does it feel like when we're talking about building the starting defense for 2025 though that they need to do a bunch of portal work or do you feel like most of the pieces are here I think most of the pieces are here already yeah and I don't I don't know that even portal defensive tackle is a definite as as I look at it now I kind of feel like it's a necessity to get you like a fourth guy that you feel really good about unless time Malone's about to make a huge jump or Will Smith is going to make like huge offseason gains something like that Eric men is another young guy think that I guess could do something similar so I I would I would feel much better about a little more experience there to go with the the three that are coming back but otherwise I think they're pretty well set because even if Sunny Styles does go to the NFL um I think James laurenitis right now if you said hey you're next year your starting linebackers are gonna be pton Pierce at Mike and arvel Reese at will I think you'd be like okay like P and Ry P gay poers mixing in yeah so I I think they're okay one other guy we didn't we didn't mention in Corners um just trying to think about guys who are currently committed who could play or push the get on the field Deon Sanchez I think he w a corner to keep in mind and and Naim offer too if if Ohio State can keep him from flipping to Auburn I think either one of those guys were both could be in the mix so I think when you hear something like Ohio State should have between four and six starters back a year from now that is very few when there going to be offse in rankings of returning production that kind of thing Ohio State as often is the case right when you have a team that has a lot of experience one year then you have not very much experience the next year I think inti like people are going to hear that and be like what and then you start talking about well gelani Thurman's gonna play and you have Jeremiah Smith and they love James peoples and edrick Houston's gonna play and Germaine Matthews and arll REE like they don't have to go rebuild the roster here and this I said before it's like they almost two teams right now they had the team that would have been ready to play if these guys would have gone to the NFL and they're just all waiting and I I also don't think a bunch of these guys are going to be out the door in the portal because they've waited this long if they're if you're on the roster now and now okay like Kenyata Jackson and Kaden Curry stuck around for this I don't think they're gonna go in the portal in December because they've been waiting for Jack and JT to leave and get their opportunity so it it will be a very different VI to the season but there's a lot of obviously with way Ohio State recruits there's a lot of young Talent inexperienced but not that young talent that has been waiting and we will not have certainty but we will have potential and it will be a really interesting off season which makes the opener on August 30th 2025 the biggest regular season game in Ohio stadium since Ohio State Michigan one two in 2006 that's where I'll land on that that's where I'll land okay I'm okay with that I'm okay with that yeah yeah yeah okay that's our breakdown of a game 11 months and three weeks away I dare you I dare you to find that anywhere else and if you do find it they have copied us so I apologize for not I this is back back at cleveland.com bill um I really got into this world of when they were playing Mac teams in September I would literally go through a week and not write or say the name of the opponent for a week because that's just that's just not what it's about so that was probably wrong and and I have over time come around on the idea of fans are goingon to watch this game and go to this game and we owe it to them to prepare them in some way for what they're about to watch and tell them ahead of time what it might mean and what they should look out for so to be in a world where people could literally say I don't know who Ohio State's playing Saturday because Doug never said it and Doug never wrote it I apologize for that but I don't appla apologize for Arch versus Julian yeah we don't have to give an extensive breakdown of Western Michigan just say the name I think is is practically all you need to do that's who they're playing this week saying the name there's gonna be so much gear opportunity with that a lot of gear opportunity Buckeyes uh yeah like Ohio State backtack Champs you know what I'm saying like kind of stuff like that right it's gonna be all over the place you know who's gonna love that Gus oh man Gus is on Gus Gus Johnson's head will explode in a fiery in fiery flames of manness and puns if it's Arch versus Saiyan on August 30th 2025 all right that is the end of our preview M which means it's time for what you watching what you eating what you thinking after this all right Bill Landis what have you been watching I started watching um the on Amazon Prime uh fallout the series I don't know if you are familiar with it all it's like based off a video game that I actually have only ever played a very little bit so like I'm not I'm not like super into like the lore of the game itself um but the show's pretty good I'm a couple episodes in um it's like a post-apocalyptic thing oh um there's like people yeah it's like uh it feels a little bit like um like Mad Max kind of um there like people have just been like living in this post-apocalyptic world and the people who have been like living in shelters and then at least one of those people who have been living in a shelter gets out and is intermingling with the people who have been living in the real world for the entire time so it's good um and it has Walton goggin in it I'm a huge fan of that's that's like mostly why I'm watching it Walton gogin is the man so um but it's good it's pretty violent it's more violent than I was anticipating thus far again I'm I'm like two or three episodes in but uh I like it I'm I'm looking forward to getting into it more so Walton go I'm I'm still trying to get through Justified and people have said very good things about Justified I know it's bm's favorite show I'm just I'm having a little trouble with it it's your favorite show I'm I'm I can't say it I won't say it waler I I it's just I'm I'm SLO I don't want to say slogging I don't want to make you mad I'm I'm not quite all like I'm in the first season still and I'm just like I'm trying to get into it a little bit but W no no no I should like it it's kind of show I should like he's like the bad guy in there and that's like is that where he got famous like everybody thought like I remember yes but I remember the first time I saw Walton Goggins was in major league three okay back to the minors major league three yeah that's the first time I remember seeing him and he was in is he in hateful eight or he he's in other stuff where he's like he's usually like a kind of a mean evil guy with like a big like stuff eaten grin right yeah and that's what he is in this show yeah that's what he is he was in a show that was on about two or three years ago it was a traditional Network sitcom and he was a dad whose wife had died and he was out in the dating world and it was just him and his and his friends kind of talking about I'm going on a date and I loved him in that and then I was like this guy's usually evil what he's such a pleasant widowed father and then that show got taken off the air after it was like I was the only person who was watching that show so I like it when evil guys are Pleasant Bachelors so he seems like a very nice guy in real life from what I can tell I've watched a lot of interviews with with him over the years very good at being evil uh I was watching jousting again if you follow anything on kotn or our social media accounts I I went to the Ohio Renaissance Festival on Sunday it's all fall it's only on the weekends and I know there's a lot of football happening on the weekends and the fall but if you can find some time I think it's I think it's a fun time to go check out people are very into it again one of the things I have there is jousting Landis and I saw it two years ago when I went I saw it again now and they do a lot of jousting things where it's guys sticking wooden jousting poles through Rings like a little bit of that competition but then they do joust and they they jab each other a little bit and I said I think jousting should be an Olympic sport I would much rather have jousting than break dancing no offense to break dancing but jousting live is pretty cool man and I don't know I guess they do it at Medieval Times still which is when we have our kotn award show at Medieval Times we'll have jousting it is a very entertaining Sport and I understand that people get knocked off a horse by a big pole is probably dangerous but so is football so I am here for a jousting comeback I think people would watch it people would definitely watch it I would watch it I love the I used to go to the Pennsylania Renaissance Fair a lot when I was a kid and I love watching the Jing it's like pro pro wrestling almost right it's like play it's like play fighting with like like decent acting and it's like oh is this real it's like no it's not real but they're really good at what they do like it's it's not real what do you mean it's not real it's highing it's not think it's real well I mean they're actually hitting each other yeah yeah they're not I don't think uh I don't think like well because like when I was a kid and I went to the Renaissance Fair like you would watch the jousting but then the jousting would like turn into a full out sword fight oh okay did they not do that at the Ohio SS Fair it was like it was like a it was like a come watch the jousting like under the guys this is like this is a jing competition but then Bas practically like turned into a play where like people were like there were like blood feuds and people swinging swords at each other and there's guys flying off with balconies and stuff like it was awesome so uh if the Ohio is not doing that they need to start doing that stuff because they do it at the PA Rance fa it's great brant okay maybe we can get him to bring that back all right uh what are you eating so I am uh I'm really bad about um just like cooking for myself on like making Smart Food decisions during football season especially so uh I like say you're only putting it during football season no well clearly generally but especially during football season um so I'm trying to counterbalance that a little bit with uh I I order I'm ordering these like Factor meals basically they they just send you a container that has a chicken breast prepar some type of way with a side of vegetables and you just pop in the whiteway for three minutes and like that can be your lunch or your dinner you don't think about it nice and I've done that stuff in the past and like they've not tasted very good these are pretty good I've been pretty pleased with them thus far yeah I've had a I've had a few different ones um they're not they're a little pricey um I should probably just be you know smarter about cooking for myself instead of paying for them but uh I thought like for the price you get a decent amount of food and the flavors are actually pretty good while while maintaining a decent level of healthiness like I don't think there's any meal that's more than like 600 calories or 700 calories um so I've enjoyed them um I don't know that I'll have I don't have them like every day because they are quite expensive but I like having them around as like a oh it's 4 o'clock and I haven't had anything to eat yet today I guess I'll pop one of these in the microwave instead of going Wendy's or something like that I will say you do a live show from noon to 1:30 it throws off your lunch plans so you do wind up scrambling late I does reassure me a little bit that there are people who are as lazy and incompetent as us out in the world because there are so many of these companies that make pre-made meals and send them to you in the mail and it's like I could make this it's like yeah you could are you right you're not I am not I am not so you really have to get past it and I've gone we have done versions of that most of those meal places advertise on podcast cast so it's like maybe we'll have an advertisement sometime but like I I am totally open to that and you just have to realize like well I theoretically could cook this for myself for cheaper but I haven't for 20 years yeah so the choice is pay for fast food that is not good for you and costs as much as this or pay for this the option of cooking healthy food for yourself in a manner that is not expensive is out there but is not really out there for people like us it's imaginary it is imaginary yeah and I mine my situation is compounded by every time I go near the stove my one-year-old thinks it's time for him to start playing with the pots and pans and wants to stick his hand way too close to the fire so it's just easier for me to throw stuff in a microwave I I don't blame you um my eating is that the Shake Shack down the road from us is closing because nobody went and it is another example to me of I have a very very specific memory of us my family we went on a little vacation to New York City I don't know how long ago 10 or 12 years ago maybe and we went to the Museum of Natural History where Ross Works where Ross from Friends works and we went to that for an afternoon and it's like a bunch of diaramas of cave people it's like are those real cave people it's like no they're not stuffed cave people it's just a life-sized diarama of a cave person and a woolly mammoth and it's like is this that good and then we got lunch at Shak Shack afterward and it was when Shak Shack I think was still only in New York City and we were like oh my God this is the greatest thing ever and then Shake Shack took over America and now Shake Shack is a mile and a half from me and I think I literally have not been to it in two years and if you would have told 10 years ago Doug that a Shake Shack is gonna be near him I would have been doing laps I was so excited and it's just the thing again of it's just the world now that if something is good locally it spreads everywhere and it's not cool anymore so I'm not sh saying that like Shake Shack should why don't you go back to New York Shake Shack I'm not saying that but it does like it does make me sort of as much as I love chain restaurants and again I'm a very complicated person I have very complicated chain restaurant feelings this is an example to me of like how much I enjoyed something and then as soon as I got it I didn't want it anymore I guess it's like relationships maybe people feel like this about the people in their life that they their lives that they love it's like that's how I feel about chain restaurants so probably I think I only I've only ever had Shake Shack one time I think yeah so it's good it's good I thought I would I thought I would eat it all the time now I don't so I'll go I'll go for my thinking by the way because I asked Mike to get this you may have noticed this red band on my arm and Mike I'm not sure what photo Mike got but he did get a photo because I'm GNA tell you that whenever I get blood drawn okay I get blood drawn and they put this colored band on my arm I think I'm the Ultimate Warrior and I love it it makes me I wish I could wear colored armbands every day of the week because I think they look super sweet I love the feeling of having like tension on my arm it feels good it looks good I don't follow professional wrestling anymore in a way that I know that you and Austin do Bill but every single time and I have to go I have to go to the doctor like a couple times a year to get my diabetes checked and to get I always draw my blood and I'm always like please let the band they put on be colorful I don't want it to be white and I I leave it on all day it's not like my arm would bleed if I would take this off but I am thinking to myself as a 51y old man today I am the Ultimate Warrior how much do you think I look like him you look a lot like him yeah you should paint face yeah yeah so like it doesn't it look cool I I actually hate that feeling when I like get blood drawn or give blood I take that thing off as fast as I can I I can't stand it I love it I love getting my blood pressure checked I love that pressure maybe this tells you something about me I don't know I might have some inclinations but oh this is what this is all I want to do today and if somebody would if you see me out in public when I'm wearing one of these if you would walk up to me and say excuse me are you the Ultimate Warrior because I think the Ultimate Warrior actually works or worked for the WWE and like wears a suit and stuff now like the real person he's he's no longer with us but he did yes for a time yeah okay well in appreciation I am I am rocking my red armband today so yeah I love the Ultimate Warrior yeah you don't there are you see some of like the Lucha Li Libre guys still rock those arm bands but you don't see it a whole lot any it's cool yeah all right what are you thinking about uh my thinking is also food related and also contradictory to me trying to eat uh healthier because we went to um we went to the Upper Arlington uh Arts Festival on Monday on Labor Day and I realize that uh I am at my happiest when I have a a big old lemon shakeup in one hand and the biggest bag of kettle corn you've ever seen in your life in the other hand and I was it was I I wasn't expecting it we like my wife was like oh we're going to go to the Arts Festival because they have food trucks we'll get some lunch or whatever I was like okay that sounds fine let's get out of the house at tonight nice day and then I saw the kettle corn and they were selling the lemon shakeups at the same place they were selling the kettle corn and it was just a really unexpected treat um but also but also yeah I was just very I was very made me very happy after like a you know was it was a long week at doing kotn and KOC and all that stuff and I was like oh yeah I get to have a lemon shake up and kettle corn to celebrate you earned your kettle corn yeah it was great I still have some in the count kitchen counter I'm gon to eat it later I'm excited I I like it's was did they have the option like getting it a little hot like the fresh made kettle corn at all was that at the stand like a little you know how like when just made it a little warm like oh yeah yeah that's all yeah that's what it was yeah she took it she took it right out of the thing and put it in the bag yeah right out of the kettle right out of the kettle yeah I guess that's what it is yeah what's the thing called um they had different flavors to I just go I go straight straight regular kettle corn but they had a couple different flavors you could put on it as well I would not be against you and I every Friday when we don't have a live show in the afternoon going to get kettle corn at the end of a long week and just being like cheers to another week that's right good shows and we could like how big the kettle corn is would be how depend on how well we think we did we go for our uh physical physicals at the end of every year and the doctor's like what happened he's like well I ate a bag of kettle corn every Friday for a year we did a lot of good shows sorry we earned the reward did you watch our Julian sand show we got a we got a huge tub of kettle corn that week all right that's it for this Kings of Columbus we will do it every week here because this is the foundation this is how it all started we uh will continue to serve this Ohio State audience because you guys freaking rock man so thanks for being here try us on kotn WE recap every Northern game we preview every Northern game we talk big picture stuff we break down the best and most interesting of Northern college football we do that Monday through Thursday from noon to 1:30 live and then catch us on our postgame show 11:00 p.m. on Saturdays Ohio state is always like in the mix for that because they're typically one of the most interesting Northern games so 11 to 12 on Saturday night we'll wrap up everything that happened in port on Saturday for now thanks to our Producer Mike owski for making us look good and sound good he's Bill Landis I'm dougl Maurice and that was Kings of Columbus