\n Ohio State need not fear the cold. <\/p>\n
\n\tJust look at last year’s first-round College Football Playoff game against Tennessee, which Ohio State won 42-17. That’s what linebacker Sonny Styles is doing. The temperature dropped below 20 degrees at points in that game, and the Buckeyes dominated with plenty of production in the passing game.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tStyles said weather “shouldn’t really impact The Game at all” during Ohio State’s interviews with a trio of team captains on Wednesday, as he was joined by left tackle Austin Siereveld and safety Caleb Downs. Siereveld took it a step further to say “I love it” when talking about the cold weather forecasted in Ann Arbor, Michigan\u00a0this Saturday, while Downs said the key for the Buckeyes will be “staying consistent” with what they’ve done all season.\n<\/p>\n
\tLB Sonny Styles<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat game last year was pretty cool, the last one, Tennessee, I think (the temperature was) in the teens. I mean, a lot of guys, we were fine in that game. It shouldn\u2019t really impact the game at all.\u201d\u2013 Sonny Styles on the cold weather expected in Ann Arbor on Saturday\n<\/p>\n
\t\tOn the message Ryan Day has shared with the team this week: \u201cI think the biggest message from Coach Day is just sticking to our routine, sticking to our mindset that we come into every game with and what we do and who we are. Obviously, you respect the rivalry, you respect that it\u2019s The Game, and you know how big it is, but you can\u2019t go into the game thinking about the stakes and what\u2019s on the line. You go into the game, you do what you do. Trust your fundamentals, trust your training, and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tOn Michigan running back Jordan Marshall: \u201cI think he\u2019s a physical runner. I think a lot of times you get those guys that are a little shorter, he\u2019s pretty muscular, low center of gravity, stuff like that. But I mean, I think all their backs are pretty good. They all do a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tStyles sees great traits in Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood: \u201cI think he\u2019s kind of like Nico (Iamaleava) in a way. Obviously, we didn\u2019t get\u00a0to play him, but we played him last year. \u2026 He\u2019s tall, maybe not as tall as Nico, but kind of similar speed, he\u2019s got great arm talent. You got to just be aware of him at all times, got to keep him in the pocket, got to be aware on third downs, seeing him QB run, scrambling, stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tStyles praised Matt Patricia for the game plans he creates for the Buckeyes. \u201cI think every game plan Coach Patricia comes up with is elite. There\u2019s always \u2014 everyone understands the game plan. It\u2019s clear. We know what the message is, what we need to stop, what are the musts. I think he\u2019s always kind of planning ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tOn what The Game means to him: \u201cBeing a kid from Columbus, knowing how big it is and how everyone\u2019s watching, how cool it is to be in the moment. But I think at the end of the day you gotta go out there \u2014 it\u2019s a game. You gotta do what you do. Like I said, trust your training.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tS Caleb Downs<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYou got to spend a year with him at least like me, and you got to pretty much ask him multiple times and remind him when he says yes.\u201d\u2013 Caleb Downs on how to get Jeremiah Smith on your podcast\n<\/p>\n
\t\tDowns joked that he didn\u2019t break any Jeremiah Smith injury news on his podcast but was \u201cjust giving the people what they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tDowns said the Michigan game carries weight in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Still, he wants to beat the Wolverines just like every other opponent on Ohio State\u2019s schedule. \u201cI want to win every game, and that\u2019s how I play football. But I want to win and I want to win every play, win every snap possible. That\u2019s what we\u2019re gonna do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tWhen asked about Matt Patricia\u2019s game plan for Bryce Underwood, Downs said the Michigan freshman quarterback has \u201cplayed at an elite level the whole year.\u201d Downs said Patricia has \u201ca lot of experience\u201d but Underwood is \u201cgoing to be a challenge either way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tOn how extensive Patricia\u2019s game plan can be: \u201cI\u2019m assuming in his 10, 20, 30-year career, he has some stuff in the bag. I mean, he has some tricks in the bag left. \u2026 He\u2019s got a lot of binders and stuff that he could pull out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tDowns said the key for Ohio State this week is \u201cstaying consistent.\u201d He added, \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about it all year. It doesn\u2019t matter who we play. Just go out and prepare and put yourself in a position to play well on Saturday. We\u2019re just trying to prepare and put ourselves in the best position.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tLT Austin Siereveld<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYeah, I love it. Cold, windy, snow, whatever it is. It\u2019s gonna be a challenge for us. We\u2019re ready and we\u2019ll be prepared for it.\u201d\u2013 Austin Siereveld on the cold weather expected in Ann Arbor on Saturday\n<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cAs a left tackle, you protect the blind spot of the quarterback, and especially this week, being on the road, being on the silent count with the edge rushers they have is gonna be a challenge for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tSiereveld said Julian Sayin has \u201cbeen growing each week, getting better.\u201d Siereveld said this is Sayin\u2019s offense and \u201che\u2019s running the show.\u201d He said Sayin knows what to do in the huddle and how to keep the chains moving.<\/p>\n
\t\tSiereveld said it\u2019s \u201cvery important\u201d for Ohio State to win its first pair of Gold Pants since 2019. \u201cWe just gotta go out and play.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tSiereveld said Ohio State\u2019s offensive line knows how important it is to run the ball in The Game and is excited for the challenge of blocking Michigan\u2019s defensive front. \u201cWe know what the deal is. We gotta be able to run the ball in these types of games and we\u2019ve been practicing for this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tSiereveld said Ohio State\u2019s coaches and players\u00a0\u201cgotta control our emotions\u201d in The Game. \u201cWe can\u2019t let one play and a penalty affect us. One play can hurt you a lot and hurt a drive and all that stuff. We just gotta be under control.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ohio State need not fear the cold. Just look at last year’s first-round College Football Playoff game against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-315962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}