Ohio State: Previewing Week One Matchup Against the Akron Zips

well the Buckeyes are just two days away from kicking off the 2024 campaign against the akan Zips and we talked a little bit the other day when we were last with you about some of the things going on with the Buckey big picture finally had the the last starters uh officially named by Ryan Day there is a little bit of news today to discuss including where Ohio state will stay the day before the game uh because it's not going to be at the Blackwell as tradition typically has been but what do the pregame festivities look like for the bucks and who are the Akon Zips and what should we expect from an Akon team that well quite frankly has struggled at times here the last few years but hoping to shock the world and give the Buckey a good game all coming up next on Buckeye breakdown we've got the whole crew together as we cover Ohio state with our instant analysis from Ohio State there's something that doesn't feel right unbelievable effort from him today J Liddell going to crack the first team all big 10 I think he can be the guy I'm not trying to start a quarterback controversy he seems to have the durability he certainly has the toughness is the question on a lot of people's minds here welcome to Buckeye [Music] breakdown what's up Buckeye Nation welcome back to the Buckeye breakdown podcast I'm Brendan Gulick alongside our quarterback Anthony meglan and former Buckeye offensive lineman Kevin Wy and uh looking forward to talking bucks and Zips here Ohio State Buckey on SI our written coverage home and of course our YouTube channel we certainly would appreciate it if you'd subscribe to our content there boys we got a game coming up here this weekend against an Aran Zips team that is still building in some ways they've been building for a little while um and I I I know we're going to spend a little bit of time talking about what to expect from akan and who a couple key players are on both sides of the ball there but I think the biggest thing that fans are are talking about today is the news that Ryan Day revealed on his radio show this afternoon uh that Ohio state is not staying at the Blackwell anymore um and that they are not going to be wearing suits and ties the way they historically have been but instead the team will be in a in a track suit and uh basically have everybody you know looking exactly the same as they get up for game day still have the Buckeye walk still have skull session but a little bit different Kevin since you're the the former Bucky in the room we'll give you the first first crack at it how's it make you feel uh I I mean it's definitely it's definitely interesting we used to be all when when I was there everyone wore the same suit jacket same pant color at least Tred to be um and you know you had to express your drip in certain ways whether it be shoes or tie tie clips uh now they you know they're in a tracksuit but you'll see some nice shoes and stuff I think it's nice to have them back you know as one cohesive unit getting off the bus looking the exact same um I mean not having it the Blackwell has it goods and its bads it's its goods are when you're getting ready for the game there's less distractions because when you're in the black W you're walking around you're doing the the Buckeye walk through fiser you got fans around the corner kind of kind of chirping yelling at you saying hi you know everything and now you can be a little more focused if you're downtown at a hotel um the only downside is the unbelievable blackw grilled chicken that we used to have every day before the game um those were was always fantastic um but I think they'll be able to replicate that at the downtown hotel as well two questions Kevin you're staying on the big screen here two questions first question everyone out there listening is wondering what was your drip what was you you said that what was your little spice that you had on game day oh I I had the I had the leather Cole Hans going I had the tie clip with a with a Flor iron on it um you know just just try to try to try to in hey this is a guy who's always focused on the task at hand that's hitting a four iron hitting a iron why hit a we can hit a for we Brendan and I know why all right question number two what was what's the and it may be known but what is the Ohio state night before pregame meal it sounds like there's grilled chicken sounds like the black the pregame meal pregame meal there's two different ones there's a night before where you go to the golf course and get to uh get to sorry about that um threw me off uh you know best Fridays in football exactly best Fridays in football go to the golf course you know you sit in the nice uh I think it's the Jack Nicholas lounge and eat food there and then you bust to the hotel and then you wake up the next day and if it's a noon game you have your pregame meal at 8 AM and if it's an 8 PM game you have your New Year pregame meal at 5 and that's more of pasta more carb heavy with some protein as well to try and get you fueled up and ready for the game love it I I'm all about the carb heavy diet I probably shouldn't be but uh call me up when there's pasta chicken I'm in on that um all right Megs why don't we why don't we kind of turn our attention to you since I know you had a chance to pay a little bit of attention to the akan uh akan Zips here as we're getting ready what uh what do you think the Bucks are in for here this weekend yeah it's it's everything that that we kind of expect it to be right Akon's going to come to town with um with a hope and of prayer um and I don't know that that's going to be enough and obviously that's really not the goal of this weekend if you're Ohio State right when you're looking at games like this um and we've had a number of them in the past and frankly when it comes to me you're looking around all of college football you got Clemson and Georgia LSU versus USC you got Miami um taking on Florida all in week one and while those are awesome matchups those are tough starts of the Season sometimes you know you obviously want to come out with the win in those situations but obviously tougher games for Ohio State you're not going to be worried about much of anything and in these games it's really important to um have the right f focus and I remember I always used to hate these games and I'm sure Kevin you uh you can kind of um Echo this because coaches were the most on edge um in in these weeks because they didn't want the star players you know taking a week taking a week off not preparing the proper way not having the right mindset so they always coached these weeks like not just a little bit harder like as hard as they possibly could nothing you couldn't do anything that was right um during the week because they just wanted your mind um and your mindset to be right so going to be the approach you never play these games these types of games to the scoreboard you always play them to your expectation and that expectation on Saturday if you're wearing the scarlet and gray is perfection it's 100% on grade sheets and anything less than that um is going to uh not be not be smiled upon uh from the coaching staff so uh just looking for a CL a crisp operation uh from Ohio State and when Ohio State's defense is on the field a total lock down a total shutdown um of the uh of the zip offense because they really don't bring much to the table that should threaten the Buckeyes um on Saturday Kev were you more of a let's start the season with a game like this or n I'd rather open up against a big 10 team even you know even if it was in Indiana well uh it's a good question I would get in in games like this so I'm a little biased where I'd prefer to play these sooner even though my first action was against Indiana so a could pull there um but you know the the thing that to kind of echo what Anthony just said the the coaches are hard but it's also because they know that they know their starters are going to go in there and do their job but they want to make sure that when the twos or threes get in that it isn't a drop off that you know like teams don't see it as hey you know they're a little banged up now they got to sub in some guys and this is how they performed like they want you to not embarrass yourself and go out there and you know dominate the same level the starters are because when push comes to sh if you're a two Ohio State you're probably starting at one of these other schools that you're playing in these first few weeks yeah no that's uh I think there's pros and cons to both of it for sure all right where do you guys want to take this you want to talk akan offense you want to talk akan defense you want to talk matchups what's on your mind let's let's start akan defense I know Kevin you had you had c one of the one of the there's defense alinan um that we got to keep our eyes out uh from the akan zeps and you had kind of researched him a little bit and found some stuff on him so I'll turn it over to you to talk a little defensive line yep uh you know their best defensive player based on everything I've all the research I've done uh is CJ and I hope I'm not butchering the name here Nali um he's he's their best player it looks like on paper on film um he's usually the right end and then you know they have a transfer in safety from Cornell that should make some big impacts he was pretty he was pretty good in the Ivy League last year um and then they got another defensive vent on the other side of the ball uh true senior Bennett Adler who's you know is one of those Ohio guys that might have gotten overlooked by Ohio State and he's looking to make an impact in a game like this and has a little extra motivation that uh could maybe drive him to have some have some plays have some stops in the back field we'll see what happens it kind of looks like the defensive line for akron's got some size um you know their defensive tackle 300 315 between Lea and Murphy uh Kango and Moore 285 and 310 uh on the outside I mean defensive end not only you mentioned him 63 240 benett Adler 63 265 so I don't think that those guys are necessarily undersized when I look at a game like this my first thought becomes okay you know Ohio State's probably going to control the line of scrimmage but because there's so much discussion about the Ohio State offensive line I think it's putting Akon's defensive line under the under the microscope early and I think that it'll be a good first test um you know it won't be georg's defensive line but I think these are ball players that can that can make plays and if you if you think you're going to roll the ball out there and just steamroll them I don't think that's going to happen you know Akon's got a good program and you know they've had good defensive linemen in the past they've had they have good defensive lineman now it should be I think it's going to be a good first test to see how the offensive line on the Buckey side of the ball works together and meshes and is able to grow and see what we got for to go on for the rest of the year yeah and Kevin one of the things you you had mentioned on Tuesday's show um and just just something for fans to keep an eye out for um is just how the the communication and really the teamwork is up front right you you talked about how and I can't wait to watch this game with you and really watch it in depth because you know when you talk about an offensive line especially the one that Ohio state has and that's going to be a little bit under the microscope this year these are five guys that are going to have to be on the same page at all times right you know they they're from left tackle to right tackle you got to be speaking the same language speaking same communication and operating at a at a very high level and like you guys said this is a really good test to start right because Akon's not going to threaten you if you make a mistake here or there right you sure you're gonna you're going to come away with a victory but this is a really really good opportunity to to kind of fine-tune some of that stuff um and work through it you know work through any communication issues work through any double teams or or any protection things uh because you know the these are still division one athletes and and and these guys can make a play a lot of them especially in today's world you know a lot of them are you know transfer guys who've played at Big level play who've played big level ball that can you know go in and make a play here and there so it's going to be really interesting to see you know from that off offensive line perspective how this where this Ohio State group is at you know and on top of that I mean they've got a head coach in Joe Morehead who the last time he came to Columbus was the offensive coordinator at Oregon and you know Joe's kind of a cool old ball coach right and uh shoots from the hip and isn't afraid of anybody any where at any time and and it's it is a fun mentality to be around I think he'd be a good guy to play for um Ohio State fans don't fondly remember that Oregon game because that was a tough day uh now granted he had an incredibly talented explosive offense and he doesn't have the same players at akan that he had at at Oregon but there was some creativity there it wasn't just that they bullied the Buckeyes all over the field that day so I I think you're probably going to have a group of guys that you know look that it's it's one of the four or five uh biggest buy games in the country this year it's a $1.8 million exchange for Ohio State to say hey akan come down and and play here in Columbus and let us get our we hope it's going to be a national championship season Akon's not supposed to win they're supposed to give Ohio State a good competitive fight uh and so Akon's going into this game no and this is the Super Bowl for them um you might as well go out and and try to take some chances why not swing uh and and Joe Morehead I don't think is going to be afraid to call some plays that might make you go okay A's here to play I would also yeah flipping it to that side of the football Joe Morehead is uh is is a just a cool coach to have studied from learned from i' I've I've been decently close to the akan program for the past couple years and just seeing what he's done since he took over just a total um you know different type of of of offensive attack it's more of that video game style style attack where he likes to really speed it up you know think back to the you know like you mentioned the Oregon days where they're going fast tempo lot of plays and if you match that to your personnel and you get your guys to buy into that you know you can do some cool stuff and and a guy like this in a game like this where hey like you said let's throw a couple punches you never know um what's going to be coming down the pipe um when akan does have the ball and when they do have the ball right we talked about this again on our show on Tuesday um just how awesome this Ohio State defense is going to be and and frankly the the the standard on Saturday is going to be a shut out uh but when you're when you're on the other side of the ball when you're acor you're like hey let's go try to score some points let's go put a couple Drives together um and see what's going to happen and their trigger man um on uh on Saturday is gonna be Taj Bullock who again like we mentioned a transfer guy spent a couple years at Virginia Tech um trying to be the be the starter there uh for the hokes and ended up coming to akan akan you know last season was his first season and ended up playing in 10 games had a little bit of a rushing presence had 163 yards on the ground not not too many uh scored a handful of touchdowns could throw it around a little bit um threw it for about 268 yards on the year so didn't have a ton of experience um while he did play and appear in a couple uh you know 10 games didn't throw up a bunch of stats so um you you don't really know what you're going to get uh from this red shirt Jr but like we said he spent some time um in uh in in big programs before and shouldn't and won't be afraid of this moment I was a little surprised to see that Taj was listed first on the depth chart that we got from akan I was kind of expecting it to be Ben Finley and quite frankly Kevin I mean you might see both guys right I mean there's no reason that Taj and Ben shouldn't both take snaps right no absolutely and that's kind of what I mean you look at Ohio State as this is a this is a tuneup game for them but I mean this is a game where Akon's in a win-win situation here like as long as barring any any injuries I mean they they can try everything against one of the best if not the best defenses in the country see if it works against Ohio State better to work against Miami Ohio like I mean that's just that's just how it goes I mean it's that's what you're going to be looking at and I think that you're going to see a lot of you might see some rotation quarterback I think you'll see a lot of rotation wide receivers as they're still trying to hone in on who they want to be their their core guys who they want to be their starters when they hit that Ma in Tuesday nights where the whole whole nation's watching them you know it's unbelievable unbelievable football to watch but I mean that's just what it is and it's going to be interesting to see I think you will see that both running back tight end wide receiver on the offensive side of the ball as they're trying to hone in because they are definitely a defensive stronger team Let's uh let's keep the conversation mostly Ohio State focused but um you know we can go on an akan uh akan tangent for here here for a second what do you what do you think this team is capable of in the mid- America conference this year I mean it it's it's been disappointing that they haven't really been able to get it going now for a little while personally I think they've got a a great facility I mean you know there are some things that maybe it you struggle to recruit to on campus and maybe it's difficult to to have all the right um you know the right strings being pulled everybody kind of pulling the rope in the same direction if you understand what I'm saying like not just hey does the football team want to want want to win it's sometimes as a university you got to sit there and say do we want to have a competitive team in this in this landscape and um I I think akan could be good if it's something they want um I'm I'm curious to see how bringing in a number of these transfer kids works for them because they they they needed an upgrade in Talent here from from where they were a year ago for sure uh but I'm I'm curious what you guys think about their their Prospect in the Mid-American Conference this year yeah it's it's it's interesting because you know all three of us are Northeast Ohio guys and like truthfully you know I'm I'm originally grew up in Canton right and now a Clevelander by trade so I've passed akan University I used to pass it every day on my way to work you know and it's like that would be the University of akan university of a there you go um but you know you just want that you want that to be you want this program to be so good and just for so many years they struggle to get it going um and it doesn't look like this year is going to be the year that it happens however the Mac is just always that what what makes it the best conference is that it's always chaotic it's just right now you look anywhere akan is projected to be the finishing 11th out of 12 you know 11th out of 12 teams right above Kent State but who knows who knows in the Mac you get a bunch of transfers these teams are all new if they mess right could they make a run hopefully it's this year it doesn't look like it's going to be the case they have a ton of young guys on offense and a couple transfers here and there but like you just really never know uh in the mac and you just love for that program to get it turned around absolutely and I mean it it aran's a aran's a school that people want to go to I mean you can look at it from even a basketball standpoint I mean they've won the MAC oh yeah two out of the last three years two definitely two out of the last four I was at the one that was a little while ago not last year's but I mean it you know coach gross is a good good program going on there for basketball who's to say they can't do the same thing for football especially in the state of Ohio where we're top 10 in the country and High School football like you can it's just a matter of if they're willing to put the time in and show that there is a good product down there in the Rubber City and they wanna they want to attack it well the more kids they can uh convince to cross the street from Archbishop hobin to akan the better they'd be certainly the Buckeyes know that from Damonte Trum chip Trum who uh has obviously transferred since then um all right let's wrap on a on a Chip Kelly thought here I'm just curious we kind of alluded to this a little bit the other day but maybe maybe didn't um you know really discuss it more at length what do you guys want to see from Chip Kelly you know version version one right I mean you might see different different styles throughout the course of the year you know they've made it clear they want a quarterback that can move that doesn't always mean he's gonna take the football and and keep it and run but somebody that can get out of the pocket get on the run and and you know get the defense moving um do do you have something in particular that when you walk away from Saturday you want to be able to Saye I saw this and this is exactly what I think Chip Kelly should do yeah I would say two things are on my mind the first and my f it's my favorite part of of college football and if I was a college football coach this is how I would run run my offenses and it's with Incredible Tempo because if you can Tempo people up and we remember the days when Oregon would go as fast as they possibly could when you can Tempo up you can always pull back but teams who are a slow moving team to start with can't go fast but when you can go fast you can use that as a weapon uh and it just has so many Ripple effects it's stuff the team has to prepare for all week it's something that's always on the back of their mind getting plays out quickly subbing guys in and out so I I want to see and I'm curious and I don't know that we'll see a ton of it on Saturday but I want to see where he's going to have this this version of his offenses fall is it going to be those Marcus Mariota Oregon teams where they're getting a playoff every 10 seconds and they're flying or is it going to be some of his uccl La teams that are a little bit more slower paced still faster in relative terms but little bit slowed down compared to his term so I'd love to see kind of where this team's gonna fall and then for me it's it's will Howard right it's everyone everyone's kind of got will Howard on their mind I think he's GNA be great he's gonna be a different type of quarterback one that we haven't really seen um you know who's gonna be that Jo I I see him as Josh Allen um in NFL terms but um you know just seeing how they're going to use him in the Run game how he's going to use weapons um I'm really excited to see that how they're going to spread it around because they have so much offensive Firepower but there's only one football at the end of the day what are they going to do to spread it around how's Will going to distribute um and how's chip goingon to run this offense those are the two things um that are on top of my mind absolutely I I'd say you know Chip Kelly hasn't had this type of talent at the college level at least I man obviously did the NFL but since he left Oregon I mean he he's got unbelievable he's got two unbelievable running backs unbelievable wide receivers I'm just excited to see the one thing I want to see is how he shows the same thing but does it differently in terms of you could run the same play with the same pre-nap motion with the line doing the same thing four different ways and have four different plays come off that I want to see we have the explosiveness we have the uh ability just I want to see him be able to freeze that Defender for the half a second it takes to get those guys open to get those guys in space and watch them show out because they're not going to be able to double cover three guys tell you that much I mean that's how impressive this wide receiving core is and I think it'll be really impressive and I'm excited to see it might be wishful thinking but I'm excited to see if he can figure out a way to freeze defenses throughout the whole year especially this week against akan with multiple looks running with the same looking play run multiple ways I I'm even Reckoning back to like the spring game where you know he brings out a formation that felt like a nod to Woody Haze where it's just like nope we're not spreading anything out we're getting really tight we are running this way you know I want to see how much creativity and fun there is there too that that's one thing too Kevin that I think I would love to get your opinion on maybe on Monday when we when we kind of break down the film of like when you think of Chip Kelly you think of speed and and uptempo and big plays but what people don't really associate with him is a strong running game right and a re like a really actual commitment to the run to open up the pass and with this backfield like you mentioned this brought you know your point brought this to my mind like has he ever had a Back Field that's this this darn good trayon Henderson quinon Judkins like these are two of the best running backs in the entire country how's he gonna use those what what's their rotation going to be like because you know any any play anytime those two touch the ball that's home run that's home run potential right there as well absolutely and that that's kind of what I would agree with I'd agree with you on that one like I me they they had the Anthony Thomas they had the Garrett blunt there but I don't believe they were running the saint a twack package with them there together I don't even know if they were there together I got to do a little more research on that but um I mean they've had some talent but I don't think the same level of talent at the same time like they have this year and I mean that's why you saw people that played last year they they transferred out because you take one look at it and you're like I want to compete but am I spit in my wheels at some point I mean these two guys are one a and 1B in college football running backs this year I mean you you have Oly Gordon you've Neil in Kansas but I mean like these these two guys are top five easily and it'll be it'll be interesting to see how they utilize both of them at the same time whether it be a twack whether it be a one-two punch first down second down third down who knows but it'll be it'll be really fun to watch well and further punctuating this to kind of wrap it up I mean remember Chip Kelly basically said he wanted to leave UCLA where he was a head coach and a team that was coming into the Big 10 because he wanted to coach football he didn't want to have to do all the other stuff right and so theoretically he's got more time to spend coaching ball and drawing up plays and being creative and trying to figure out the schemes that should work uh and so I hope that we see you know the the uh the evidence of that you know as we get rolling here because it it should be a lot of fun he's you know he's he's got the pieces here to make something really really special uh and I hope this is an offense that can go out and play well but at the end of the day like you're really only going to go as far as your quarterback can take you and yes you need to see the offensive line play well and keep him upright but you know will Howard needs to play like he's the quarterback at Ohio State right and that doesn't have to be on Saturday he's allowed to develop as he's going along the way doesn't need to be CJ strout or Justin Fields when he first takes the field um but there's a reason why it is so competitive in that room and so difficult to win that job and so hard to be recruited by Ohio State as a quarterback because the expectations are the highest expectations in the country you're not allowed to lose ever can't turn the ball over uh and how does will Howard deal with that you know I think he's a nice kid I've been impressed with him from the little bit that I saw from him here in the fall looking forward to seeing how this this thing unrolls for him because if the reality is if he doesn't play well somebody else is going to step in and do it yeah and and we talked about it you know he's never had the weapons he's going to have he's never had this opportunity he's never had this expectation too everything you just said Brenan is is is going to be the story of the season right this team's loaded this team's ready to go see what he can do in the back field all right well that'll wrap it up here for uh our our pregame discussion here I guess this is Thursday but it's still technically pregame awfully excited for what is to come here this weekend and certainly we'll have plenty to talk to you about over the course of the weekend we'll be on site on Saturday and uh we'll certainly have some discussion for you Saturday Sunday and Monday as we break down what we hope is a really good way for the Buckeyes to start the season you can follow us on social media Ohio State ONN and certainly check us out si.com Ohio State for all things Ohio State Buckeyes on SI for Kevin Whitey for Anthony meglan I'm Brendan Gulick thanks for hanging out with us on the Buckeye breakdown podcast we'll see you Saturday when the Buckeyes take on the Zips to get things started