Episode Details

Ohio State Primetime LIVE 104 Presented by FanDuel Hosts: Garrison Gaddy, Denzel Jones, Riley Burnett OhioStateVOCFB

Theme: Recap of Ohio State’s win over Illinois + preview of Saturday’s trip to Kinnick Stadium vs. Iowa. Line: Ohio State -13.5 (down from -14.5). Kickoff 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Illinois Recap — Tale of Two Halves (00:01:28)

Riley: Game felt like two different halves. Jeremiah Smith had a monster night (career highs in receptions, yards, TDs — 210+ yards, 4 scores).

Positive shoutouts:

• TJ Alford — ~33 snaps, did the little things right. Similar to his Week 1 PFF grade. Defense needs to get back to basics.
• Peyton Pierce still playing ~50 snaps.

Concerns:

• Devin Sanchez — fine first half, sloppy second half. High ceiling, not his best game. The TD they thought he gave up wasn’t on him (per Zach Smith film); communication / early pass-off.
• Secondary miscues still showing up even when Ohio State is up multiple scores. Riley compared it to the Oregon game two years ago — five minutes of sloppy communication can flip a game.

Garrison: Defense has to clean up communication before late-season games. Winning 2-1 now; time to move on.

Iowa Preview — First Trip to Kinnick Since 2017 (00:06:16)

Ohio State last played at Iowa in 2017 (Urban Meyer’s 55-24 loss). Garrison still hasn’t watched that game.

Iowa coming off an emotional 91-yard game-winning drive at Michigan. Hosts played the KRUI student radio call of the TD (“Iowa has your back”) and praised the raw emotion.

Early thoughts on the matchup:

• Riley / Denzel: Ugly first half, then the game opens up. Score projection in the 30-something to 14 range.
• Iowa will try to make it ugly (similar to Michigan). Ohio State needs a highlight play (Jeremiah fade, etc.) to flip momentum.
• Must be firing on all cylinders early so they don’t get stuck in a grind.

How Should Ohio State Attack Iowa? (00:11:53)

Garrison: Iowa’s OL isn’t great; Michigan ran on them and got zero pass rush on Bryce Underwood. Should Ohio State lean run or keep spreading it?

Riley: Mix heavier personnel early, add tempo to keep Iowa’s defense on its heels. Iowa is a top-10 defense (only 3 TDs allowed all year) but still need to keep them tired.

Denzel: Throw the ball. When Ohio State abandons what works (see Michigan run-heavy games), they look terrible. Arthur Smith has called a nice balance. Target Jeremiah as much as possible; get more to Brandon Inniss (sure hands, 8-for-8). Chris Henry Jr. and Brock Boyd have the most juice. Dev McKeon has dropped important first-down balls.

Garrison pushback: Fans wanted Jeremiah 10–15 touches. Smith is scheming him open and Julian Sayin is delivering. Don’t get mad that the best player in college football is getting the ball.

Young WRs:

• Chris Henry Jr. — slant last week + excellent blocking.
• Brock Boyd — “white lightning” speed + downfield blocking. Hosts called Henry and Boyd the two best blocking WRs on the team.

Dead Air Sports stat (Tyler): When Ohio State throws on first down they average 14 yards per play, 86% completion, 798 yards, 8 TDs. Garrison: “That’s air raid.” If Underwood can throw for nearly 300 on Iowa, Sayin better exceed it.

Riley on first-down passing: Completing 9 yards on first down keeps the defense on the field and sets up shot plays / Bo Jackson chunk runs later.

RB room debate:

• Denzel wants more Isaiah West carries to see if the hype is real (only ~2 carries/game).
• Also wants more Jacoby (harder runner, broke tackles last week) than Bo J