Buckeye Talk: Ohio State Podcast By Cleveland.com

On this weekend episode of Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises breaks down Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley leaving Ohio State to become the head coach at Boston College. This episode was already planned as a postgame pod without a game, but news of this magnitude really demanded it. What does it mean for Ohio State vs. Clemson? What does it mean for Ohio State recruiting? How will Ohio State replace Hafley? Then there's a pre-planned visit from Matt Lindeman, an oddsmaker from Circa Sports, who breaks down the betting line for the Fiesta Bowl and why he has Clemson and Ohio State ranked as the top two teams in the country. We'll be back Wednesday with a full mid-week Buckeye Talk diving into Ohio State vs. Clemson, but for now, enjoy this weekend extra. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State football prepares for the College Football Playoff against Clemson and gets ready for National Signing Day See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Clemson are facing off in a College Football Playoff semifinal in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 28, but for now, discussion about that is delayed. Next week on Buckeye Talk, Doug, Stephen and Nathan will discuss every aspect of that game and the key matchups and what chance Ohio State has to win. This week, however, the focus is recruiting and a little relaxation. National Signing Day is a week away, so the OSU 25-man class is discussed, with a focus on the players who could contribute early. There's also talk of the recruiting strategy under Ryan Day and a look at why this class has more three-star players. There's also a little robot talk, some criticism of previous fast food takes on the Podcast and an examination of whether OSU assistant Jeff Hafley might take the Boston College job. Plus, OSU grad Robert Littal, the founder of BlackSportsOnline and a major OSU fan, stops by for a visit, as does loyal listener Chase. All that and more on another Buckeye Talk. See acast.com/privacy f

Ohio State football is the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff and will face No. 3 Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 28. After riding high on a perfect 13-0 season that ended with a Big Ten Championship, should all that turn to worry about facing the Tigers, the defending national champions on a 28-game winning streak? On this Buckeye Talk episode, Doug Lesmerises provides a pep talk and takes text subscriber questions. Why just Doug? Because Doug, Nathan and Stephen recorded an episode together and the audio program bombed before it could be saved. That's what happens when you're on three hours sleep after the Big Ten title game and a drive back from Indianapolis. Two podcasts a week ahead until cleveland.com gets to Arizona for coverage, and then prepare for daily pods from Dec. 23 until kickoff. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk ... and try a 14-day free text trial at joinsubtext.com/buckeyetalk. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

Previewing the Big Ten Championship vs. Wisconsin, as well as the final playoff rankings and the Heisman Trophy vote See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Ohio State is preparing for the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin on Saturday, but Buckeye Talk is kind of ignoring it. The Buckeyes are likely in the College Football Playoff win or lose, so the focus went elsewhere -- to the Heisman Trophy. A straw poll of text subscribers came up with how J.K. Dobbins, Chase Young and Justin Fields should be ranked just for the Ohio State version of the Heisman. Then Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Doug Lesmerises broke down the best running back, defensive player and quarterback Heisman candidates in the country, and how these Buckeyes fit in. Plus there's talk of Ryan Day as Big Ten Coach of the Year, some playoff discussion and a little recruiting, all while Doug pouted for two hours. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this postgame Buckeye Talk episode after The Game, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means look at Ohio State's eighth straight win over Michigan, as the Buckeyes won 56-27 on Saturday in Ryan Day's debut in the rivalry as a head coach. J.K. Dobbins ran wild and Justin Fields returned from injury, but Michigan did manage to make some plays on the Ohio State defense in the first half. That went away, though. The Buckeyes are now on to the Big Ten Championship against Wisconsin, but did the Wolverines do anything that the Badgers or any other future opponents could learn from? Or did Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, now 0-5 against Ohio State, just learn that he can't beat the Buckeyes, whether it's Urban Meyer or Day on the other side? Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previewing the Ohio State-Michigan Game See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 13 Michigan in the 116th edition of the rivalry on Saturday in Ann Arbor, and Nathan Baird, Stephen Means and Doug Lesmerises broke it all down on the latest episode of Buckeye Talk. There were more than 200 questions from text subscribers. The guys also asked them this question -- If you had to choose between just one, a win over Michigan or a national title, which would you pick? They discussed that topic and also dove into what the Wolverines might do to challenge the Buckeyes. Plus, Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune stopped by to offer a broad Big Ten perspective on the Buckeyes and on this game. Everything has been building toward this, so thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this Buckeye Talk episode from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means go through Ohio State's 28-17 win over Penn State, as the Buckeyes moved to 11-0 and clinched the Big Ten East division title. The game was close into the fourth quarter and was the first game this season the Buckeyes didn't win by at least 24. What does that mean for Michigan next week? Was Ryan Day too conservative with his play calling in the second half or was he just being smart with a game that included three lost fumbles by Ohio State? As usual, the text listeners came with a lot of questions, as the Buckeyes won but perhaps looked less than invincible for the first time this season. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State is 10-0 and facing the best team on its schedule so far on Saturday, and it's not close. The Penn State Nittany Lions are the more talented team the Buckeyes have played. The question is how close is Penn State's talent to Ohio State? On this episode of Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com, Nathan Baird, Doug Lesmerises and Stephen Means debate that question, and there's a lot of disagreement. The questions from the text subscribers are asking whether there's anything to worry about with this game, and the guys have different views on that. For a great in-depth view on Penn State, beat writer Bob Flounders of PennLive.com joins the show to talk about where Penn State can and can't compete with Ohio State. Then it's back to more questions from the texters, including, as always, playoff talk. It's a real game this week for Ohio State, and another real episode of Buckeye Talk. Thanks for listening. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone

Ohio State won 56-21 at Rutgers on Saturday as the No. 2 Buckeyes moved to 10-0 on the season. Was that impressive enough? On this postgame episode of Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means take many questions from fans who were worried about Ohio State's pass rush, offensive line and overall defensive performance against the lowly Scarlet Knights. Are there any reasons for concern as Ohio State hits a much tougher home stretch starting with Penn State next week? They talk playoff ranking compared to LSU, the OSU plan to try deep balls against Rutgers, and whether to order breakfast food or dinner food at 10:30 p.m. at a diner. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Fields has already changed Ohio State football and on this episode of Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means dig into the impact the sophomore has had on the Buckeyes in his first season. Nathan has a series of stories coming on Fields after a visit to Georgia, and the guys give you a look at how far Fields has come to be the quarterback of the No. 2 team in the nation. Plus, Ohio State announced that the Chase Young absence will end after two games, and Doug reacts to that. Also, OSU legend James Laurinaitis will call Saturday's Ohio State-Rutgers game for the Big Ten Network, so James stops by to talk about that game and to compare the 2006 Buckeyes to this Ohio State team. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State demolished Maryland 73-14 on Saturday without its best player -- defensive end Chase Young. On this postgame episode of Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means break down that big OSU win over the Terrapins and look ahead to how long Young might be out and what the Buckeyes can do with or without him. They chose not to do an emergency pod after the Young news on Friday, so this is your update on everything happening with the defensive end and what's happening with the No. 1 team in the country. As usual, questions from text message subscribers lead the way on another Buckeyes Talk. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State football is No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday night, and Nathan Baird, Stephen Means and Doug Lesmerises are here to break that all down. They are also here to eat pizza. On this edition of Buckeye Talk, they debate what will happen with next week’s rankings after the game between No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Alabama, and get into whether Ohio State is in such good shape, the Buckeyes could make the playoff even with a loss. There’s some talk of seniors that could be even better pros than they are college players, and they preview the Ohio State basketball season that starts on Wednesday night. They they get into pizza. This is the week of the long awaited pizza challenge, as Stephen will attempt to eat an entire large deep dish pizza from Giordano’s by himself. That’s in the last 20 minutes of the podcast. We appreciate you listening to all of, or any of, Buckeye Talk. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

The Ohio State Buckeyes are off this week for the second time this season, but at 8-0 they've made their case so far as maybe the best team in college football. How long will the Buckeyes keep up that level of play, this season and beyond? On this episode of Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises talks with Adam Rittenberg of espn.com to look at whether the rest of the Big Ten has missed its window in the post-Urban Meyer era, and whether Ryan Day will keep Ohio State at the top of the conference for years to come. Doug and Adam talk about Penn State's chances of competing with the Buckeyes this season, and look at where Michigan and Wisconsin are right now. Doug and Nathan Baird discuss whether other Big Ten programs can find their own Urban Meyers to reset their football worlds. And then Doug, Nathan and Stephen Means take text subscriber questions. This is NOT the pizza challenge podcast -- there wasn't time to make that happen. But Stephen will try to eat an entire large deep dish pizza next wee

Ohio State beat Wisconsin 38-7 and on this Buckeye Talk Podcast postgame episode, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means take your questions on the victory that moved the No. 3 Buckeyes to 8-0. Among them -- did No. 2 J.K. Dobbins or No. 2 Chase Young have a bigger game as Ohio State pulled away in the second half, led by their running back and defensive end? There's some Young Heisman Trophy talk, a comparison between Dobbins and Wisconsin back Jonathan Taylor and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joel Klatt of Fox Sports will call Saturday's game between No. 3 Ohio State and No. 13 Wisconsin, and he joined Buckeye Talk for a pregame chat about maybe the most important game of the Big Ten season. Klatt explained why he thinks the Buckeyes are the best team in the country, evaluated them against teams like Oklahoma and Alabama, described why Wisconsin might be able to make this a game, compared running backs J.K. Dobbins and Jonathan Taylor, and revealed his thoughts about the College Football Playoff selection committee. That was just part of the pod. The rest of the time, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means ran through the more than 150 comments and questions they received from text subscribers, and explained how they think this matchup will unfold. They also debated recruiting rankings again, talked about next season's offensive line, and prepared for Stephen's future challenge against a deep dish pizza. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com. See acast.com/privacy for

Ohio State drubbed Northwestern 52-3 in Evanston on Friday, and the Buckeyes can now look ahead to a home game with Wisconsin next week that will be the toughest test of the season to date. At 7-0,Ohio State handled the Wildcats easily but did give up a handful of runs early Friday. Is that any reason for concern? On this episode of Buckeye, Nathan Baird, Stephen Means and Doug Lesmerises took your questions about the Buckeyes after their bye week. The guys did their best trying to explain a team clearly caught in the boring awesome or awesome boring zone right now. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this Buckeye Talk episode, Cam Mellor, a senior college football analyst for PFF, joins the pod to discuss where Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields ranks among the best quarterbacks in college football. Is he ahead of or behind former Ohio State quarterback Joe Burrow, now at LSU? For the rest of the episode, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means take questions, a few of them addressing Friday's game at Northwestern, but most of them focused elsewhere. That includes a debate about how much the Buckeyes should play their best players against lowly Rutgers later this season; which Buckeyes are playing at an All-Big Ten level this season; and how Georgia's ugly loss to South Carolina last weekend compares to past Ohio State losses to Iowa and Purdue. All that and more on the latest Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices