We here at the Eleven Dubcast had been hoping to be in a more celebratory mood for our 500th episode, but damn, here we are, commiserating with you over yet another slightly less explicable loss to Michigan than the other three that preceded it.
As you might imagine, George and I spend the majority of the Dubcast this week talking about The Game. We focus on mainly on the things that went wrong and shouldn't have, and the things that went wrong because maybe that's just who Ryan Day and the Ohio State football program are at the moment. Will those qualities (poor playcalling in significant games, a desire to do simple things in the most difficult way possible, etc.) change anytime soon? Who knows!
But also: they'd better, if Ryan Day wants to keep his job. Before this loss I (Johnny Ginter) was dead certain that Day would keep his job no matter what happened at the end of this season. As per usual, my imagination wasn't big enough and didn't include something like what we saw on Saturday, so that's also a big part of this conversation.
But hey, 500 episodes! Thanks for listening and watching and being a part of the Dubcast for so long. Here's to 500 more and better days ahead.
A few of the topics from our freeflowing conversation:
- There was really only one kind of game that would allow for Michigan to win, and Ohio State was hellbent on making sure that it happened.
- Hopefully one of the things that results from the loss is a re-emphasis on winning in the trenches and building lines that can both function and sustain the loss of some contributors.
- Day is an incredibly stubborn coach, and it keeps costing him in critical moments.
- Replacing him is much, much easier said than done, however.
- If Will Howard was concussed and allowed to play, that might be a bigger problem than losing any game.
- The fight saw stupidity from both teams, but ultimately if the Buckeyes don't like flag-planting there's a very simple way to prevent that from happening.
- Ask Us Anything, which you can do by sending us questions to dubcast@elevenwarriors.com, has lots of questions in the aftermath of this loss. Also it wants to know a good joke!
- Episode 500! George gets me a gift, which I very much appreciate.
And that'll do it for this week.
Before my usual ending spiel, I just want to thank everyone who has been a part of the Dubcast, going all the way back to when it started over a decade ago. You, the listeners, and my co-hosts Luke Zimmerman, Sarah Hardy, Michael Citro, Beau Bishop, Andy Vance, and now George Eisner (I swear I'm not the worst person in the world to work with) are all incredibly awesome people.
There's no way in hell that we'd have done this for as long as we have if I didn't have such a great time talking about the Buckeyes with you, and that we're still here is a testament to how much fun it has been. Thanks for sticking around for the ride, and we hope that you'll be here for another 500 episodes!
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Thank you for listening, check out the Dry Goods store, and we'll see you next time!
