Buckeye Talk: Ohio State podcast by cleveland.com

On this Tuesday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means are looking ahead to the start of Ohio State spring football practice, which begins in a week. To do that, they are drafting the nine Buckeyes that intrigue them the most for spring, from early-enrolled freshmen, to veterans battling for jobs, to players who might be ready to take a step toward stardom. There will be a l...

On this Monday Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises and Nathan Baird are joined by Max Chadwick, the college football analyst from PFF, to preview the eight Ohio State Buckeyes taking part in the NFL Combine this week. Nathan and Doug will be two of the cleveland.com reporters in Indianapolis to cover the combine, so get ready for more combine podcasting later in the week. And this pod...

On this Friday Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means are back to do the defensive version of the offensive draft they did a week ago. It's drafting 11-player units from the four-year era with Ryan Day as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, with the same twist: each unit must include one player from the Urban Meyer era and one player from the Jim Tresse...

On this Thursday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises is beginning the discussion about the standards and expectations for sports at Ohio State. In that pursuit, he's interviewing head coaches of other successful OSU programs, and this episode has two great talks to kick that off. First up is Nadine Muzerall, the head coach of the women's hockey team. The Buckeyes won their first national title in women'...

On this Wednesday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means discuss third-year Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord and the battle he is preparing for this spring to replace C.J. Stroud. Nathan has been reporting a story on McCord for a while, and part of this discussion centers on how McCord as a young QB and in high school started readying himself for a moment like this. The gu...

On this Buckeye Talk edition, Doug Lesmerises is joined by two very special guests. One is an actor, one is a space scientist, and both of them are Ohio State grads. In two 35-minute interviews, the hope is to give you a look into two interesting lives of former Buckeyes. First up is Otis Winston, who is in the movie "Plane," which is currently out in theaters. He's been in several other movies an...

On this Monday Buckeye Talk, it's time for an in-depth look at Ohio State special teams. This is worth the time since three major special teams played affected the end of Ohio State's season -- the miscommunication on what should have been a fake punt vs. Michigan; the fake punt that was stopped by a timeout vs. Georgia; and the missed field goal to end the Georgia loss. To get at those issues, Do...

On this Friday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means are back to do one of their favorite things on this podcast -- drafting teams against each other. For this exercise, they each drafted an 11-player offense made up of Buckeyes from the last four season -- Ryan Day's four years as head coach. But there was one twist -- each of them had to draft one player from the Urban Me...

On this Wednesday Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises is here late with what was supposed to be a Valentine's Day episode. Why did it make sense for Valentine's Day? Because it's about love. Instead of rants this week, Doug asked Ohio State text subscribers for anti-rants. That is, he wanted stories and explanations from fans about what they love about the Buckeyes and what they love...

On this Monday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises and Nathan Baird are reacting to the Super Bowl, and thinking about whether an Ohio State quarterback will get there one day. First (0:30), on this Monday Madness edition, Doug and Nathan do Whatcha Watchin’, Whatcha Eatin’, Whatcha Thinkin’? They are watching the Super Bowl, eating Super Bowl food, and thinking about flag football, bad radio and worse...

On this Friday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises and Stephen Means discuss the latest views on Ohio State recruiting based on last week’s interview with Mark Pantoni, who has overseen the recruiting operation for the Buckeyes for more than a decade. First (0:30), Doug and Stephen discuss Ohio State’s latest ideas about NIL and how it affects Ohio State’s recruiting. Then (9:35) they dive more specific...

On this Thursday Buckeye Talk, it's time to talk about the Ohio State secondary. Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means discuss what OSU cornerbacks coach Tim Walton and safeties coach Perry Eliano said last week. First, (0:30) the guys talk about the eight Buckeyes invited to this year's NFL Combine and what that says about Ohio State's 2022 team. Then (12:47) they talk about Walton, wha...

On this Wednesday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means are talking about Ohio State linebackers after speaking with Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jim Knowles and new OSU grad assistant James Laurinaitis last week. Covered in the three sections on this episode: * (0:30) How Knowles felt about his first year running the defense and what the focus will...

On this Tuesday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means continue to work their way through interviews with Ohio State assistant coaches and staffers last week, and up now is defensive line coach Larry Johnson and his room. First up (0:30), the guys talk about the 71-year-old Johnson, a legend as a college football assistant, and discuss what his future is in Columbus and how...

On this Monday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises and Stephen Means are here to take rants from Ohio State text subscribers and discuss the state of Buckeye basketball, after Ohio State fell to 11-12 overall and 3-9 in Big Ten play with a loss to Michigan on Sunday. First (0:30), Doug and Stephen look at things on the horizon, including how the incoming recruiting class should affect the view of Chris...

On this Friday Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means open with what turns into a very long talk about the non-targeting call on Marvin Harrison Jr. in the Peach Bowl. This talk was spurred by Ryan Day revealing his conversations with officials about the call. Then the guys get into: Ohio State injuries for spring football Running backs coach Tony Alford a...

On this Thursday Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means are bursting with info after interviewing 13 Ohio State staff members on Wednesday as part of the late National Signing Day (even though the Buckeyes didn't add any recruits.) That group was head coach Ryan Day, all 10 assistants, plus recruiting coordinator Mark Pantoni and new defensive staffer Jame...

On this Wednesday Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com, Ohio State text subscribers ask questions and Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means answer them in not very rapid fashion. The topics include: The transfer cornerback Ohio State added Tuesday Roster numbers for each position The Jim Knowles defense in Year 2 Ohio State hiring James Laurinaitis Bones or no bones in your chicken of choice...

Buckeye Talk unveils a new podcast form with this first episode in what is hoped to be a series of Buckeye Talk Legacy pods looking back on the careers of recent Ohio State stars. First up is quarterback C.J. Stroud, as Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means talk through Stroud's arrival in Columbus and his three years in the program and two years as a starter. To help tell that story are...

On this Monday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises and Nathan Baird are back with a Monday Madness. That means talking Ohio State football, national college football, and a round of Whatcha' Watchin', Whatcha Eatin', Whatcha Thinkin'. First (0:30), Doug and Nathan look at the early national championship odds and how Ohio State fits in with Georgia, Alabama, Michigan and other national powers. Then (28:4...

On this Friday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises is taking rants from Ohio State text subscribers. (Join by sending a text to 614-350-3315). Among the topics covered: Info to be gleaned from the looming OSU QB battle Putting Troy Smith and Terrelle Pryor in different offenses Will Buckeye tight ends have to block more? The week-long break Buckeye Talk took When Doug is a jerk How to embrace Joe Burrow...

On this Thursday episode of Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises wants to know -- Have you ever ridden a horse? But mostly Doug takes a long look at the 2014 Heisman Trophy race and what would have happened for Ezekiel Elliott if the voting was after the playoff, which it what Doug thinks should happen when the playoff moves to 12 teams in 2024. Would Elliott have won the 2014 Heisman if it was a postsea...

On this Wednesday episode of Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means are breaking down Ohio State's defensive depth chart after doing the offensive depth chart on the Tuesday podcast. Once again, they reference their July 2021 podcast that predicted how good this 2023 team might be. First (0:30), they look at the defensive line. Then (26:43) it's time for the safeties, and th...

Buckeye Talk is back after a week away, and that means it's time to move on and dive into the 2023 college football season. To do that, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means look at the offensive depth chart for the fall. They also reference their July 2021 podcast that potentially projected the 2023 Buckeyes as a college football powerhouse. How much was right and wrong? First up (0:35)...

Ohio State football ended up right where it expected to be at the end of the season -- back in the College Football Playoff and going toe to toe with Georgia for a shot at the national championship. The route the Buckeyes took to the get there, especially as it pertained to offensive production, deviated from our expectations. Nathan, Doug and Stephen revisit their Mark It Down Monday statistical...