Buckeye Talk: Ohio State Podcast By Cleveland.com

On this extra Tuesday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises and Nathan Baird talk about Ohio State football's seven new captains, and what the Buckeyes had to say about the 2020 football season. On Tuesday, reporters spoke to OSU players for the first time in 11 weeks, as Justin Fields, Wyatt Davis, Josh Myers, Shaun Wade, Tuf Borland, Jonathon Cooper and Justin Hilliard were elected by their teammates and put on a conference call. Doug and Nathan talk about the vibe from the players about how a fall season might work, what they think of the Michigan game, and their reaction to Pac-12 players trying to unite. It's actual player talk! And it's 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

On this Tuesday Buckeye Talk episode from cleveland.com, Nathan Baird and Doug Lesmerises do football for half the podcast and food for half the podcast. Football: Could the Big Ten move the season up to Aug. 29? Could Jameson Williams emerge as a major threat at receiver? Who are true freshmen who could potentially break out? When should the Ohio State-Michigan game be scheduled? Food: Discontinued fast food items we miss. Thoughts on BBQ in Ohio. Explaining the new bracket of 32 chain restaurants created by Doug for text subscribers to vote upon. Football and food -- it's just another Buckeye Talk. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On another Mark It Down Monday we begin our big-picture previews of the 2020 college football season. Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means make their predictions on what will stand up as one of the season-long topics of conversation for the Buckeyes. Will Justin Fields win the 2020 Heisman Trophy? To answer that, the Buckeye Talk crew breaks down the full list of contenders and what dynamics are in play for helping a player win the Heisman Trophy. What players could break through the quarterback bias to earn support at other positions? Finally, will Justin Fields be able to overtake co-favorite Trevor Lawrence of Clemson to win the trophy, or will Lawrence bounce back after not being a finalist in 2019 to claim the hardward? Also always, we also polled our Subtext subscribers for their three-man ballot and shared the results of the fan vote. We appreciate you listening to Buckeye Talk, coming at you five days a week throughout the offseason. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out informatio

Preseason voting conducted by cleveland.com reveals Buckeyes as Big Ten favorite See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for the 10th annual Big Ten preseason poll from cleveland.com, where conference writers from around the league are gathered and asked to vote on predicted preseason standings, the league champ and the preseason offensive and defensive players of the year. There were 34 voters this year, and on this Friday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises and Nathan Baird analyze all the results. Was Ohio State a unanimous pick in the East? Who won a close race in the West? Is there a darkhorse pick to watch that emerged in the voting? Who got votes in the player of the year balloting? It's a pleasure for cleveland.com to conduct this balloting, and then bring you the breakdown of a poll that the rest of the Big Ten will be talking about. Thanks for listening. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for another rapid fire Buckeye Talk episode, although there is some news to deal with off the top. On this Thursday episode, Doug Lesmerises and Nathan Baird address the first major college football star to announce that he won't play this season, no matter what. That's Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley, a potential first-round pick, and Doug and Nathan discuss the decision-making process for players and whether some Ohio State players could do the same. Then it's on to discussing how to handle "negative" coverage around the coronavirus; whether the Big Ten should change its mind and play the MAC this season; TV shows we have binge-watched lately; how the playoff committee will handle voting if teams play a different amount of games; and there's another Tate Martell question, which never gets old. 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

On this big Wednesday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises and Nathan Baird imagine a reality that Ohio State fans wouldn't want to consider -- What if Justin Fields played for another team? Thanks to an idea from a text subscriber, Doug and Nathan discussed worlds in which the Buckeyes had to swap starting quarterbacks with opponents. Who would win the game then? Would Fields on Penn State or Michigan or Georgia or Wisconsin mean a loss for the Buckeyes? The question is fanciful, but it frames a discussion about just how much a starting quarterback means to Ohio State and how much the rest of the talent on the OSU roster lifts up any QB who plays for the Buckeyes. There's a history lesson about Ohio State quarterback rankings in the Big Ten, a comparison of Fields to Russell Wilson, and another discussion of OSU backup quarterbacks. Plus, Doug and Nathan go into the latest OSU plan about limiting fan capacity to 20 percent this fall and how that might be done and what text subscribers think about it. Thanks for mak

You can't talk about Ohio State football without talking about quarterback Justin Fields, and you can't wonder about Ohio State football without wondering about the potential and injury history of running backs Trey Sermon, Master Teague and Marcus Crowley. On this Buckeye Talk episode, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means finish up the position group previews by dealing with the quarterbacks and running backs in the same podcast. Beyond the names already mentioned, there are interesting freshman quarterbacks on the roster and interesting running back recruits on the horizon. The guys have covered a lot on quarterbacks and running backs over the last three months, but this is a chance to say exactly where they stand on these two groups. Thanks for making it through all the position groups, and 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

This is a quarterback question and a coronavirus question in one. On this Mark It Down Monday Buckeye Talk episode, Doug Lesmerises, Stephen Means and Nathan Baird give their answers and entertain explanations from the subscribers on a topic that can seem straight forward but might be more complicated: Who is Ohio State's next starting quarterback? If you believe the Buckeyes will play at least one game this fall, then the answer is pretty obviously Justin Fields. If you believe football will be delayed until the spring, the answer gets fuzzier. If you believe there won't be any games at all this season, and Ohio State won't take the field again until the fall of 2021, then it's fuzzier still. That's the question and plenty of OSU fans were ready to mark down their answers. 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

Stephen Means is excited and you should be, too. On this bonus Saturday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen, Doug Lesmerises and Nathan Baird preview the Ohio State slot receivers and tight ends. That means a lot of talk about sophomore Garrett Wilson, who is moving from outside receiver to the slot for 2020. But there are many other interesting guys to discuss in this group -- Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Mookie Cooper in the slot, and Luke Farrell, Jeremy Ruckert, Jake Hausmann and Cade Stover at tight end. This is a fun one that the guys have been saving as they work their way through eight position group preview podcasts. This is the seventh, so thanks for going along on the ride and listening to Buckeye Talk. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Something different on Buckeye Talk, as Doug Lesmerises is joined by Seth Richardson, the senior politics writer for cleveland.com, to talk about the intersection of football and politics. The fact that former Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville won the Republican Senate primary in Alabama last week got Doug thinking about the idea of a former Buckeye doing the same kind of thing in Ohio, so Doug and Seth covered these topics: What Jim Tressel's political career in Ohio could have been and the role he still plays in Ohio politics The political future of former OSU receiver Anthony Gonzalez, now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives The way Gov. Mike DeWine and the state government tried to use football and other sports as a rallying cry to get people to wear masks before settling on Thursday's state-wide mask mandate Doug also started the podcast with two text subscriber questions, including one on whether Tressel's forced resignation was the best thing to happen to Ohio State

Ohio State plans for preseason football practice to begin Aug. 7 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shaun Wade may have been a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft if he had turned pro after last season. Instead, he's back for a fourth year at Ohio State as one of the best cornerbacks in the nation. On this Buckeye Talk episode from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises, Stephen Means and Nathan Baird continue their position group previews with the cornerbacks. Wade is a sure thing, Cam Brown and Sevyn Banks are expected starters, and Tyreke Johnson and Marcus Williamson are veterans who could play roles in the secondary. And, of course, Kerry Coombs is back coaching the secondary as the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator. After this, there are only two more position group episodes left, so make sure you're catching all of them to get a full look at the 2020 Ohio State football roster. 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

It happened -- Buckeye Talk made it through the entire 12-game Ohio State schedule, previewing each planned opponent from Bowling Green to Michigan. As Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means finish the schedule with this big look at the The Game, the schedule has already changed, with the Big Ten moving to conference games only. So those Bowling Green, Oregon and Buffalo previews in April and May were for games that aren't going to happen. But for now, Ohio State vs. Michigan is still in the plans. On this episode, Michigan beat writer Aaron McMann kicks things off with an hour-long interview with Doug on Jim Harbaugh, defensive coordinator Don Brown, the uncertain Michigan QB battle, where the Wolverines' recruiting stands, how a young offensive line will look and how good the UM skill position players might be. There's a lot of off-field and on-field knowledge on the Wolverines dropped there. Then it's on to an hour of rapid-fire questions from text subscribers, only about Ohio State, Michigan and

It's time to preview Ohio State safeties and special teams, as Doug Lesmerises, Stephen Means and Nathan Baird break down Josh Proctor and Marcus Hooker on the back end of the defense, and then discuss Drue Chrisman, Blake Haubeil and a veteran special teams group that should be an edge for the Buckeyes. That's the latest in our position group preview series on Buckeye Talk, but first on this episode, Doug and Stephen go over the commitment of 2021 cornerback Jordan Hancock, a top-100 player who was once committed to Clemson. 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

On this Mark It Down Monday, predictions will be marked down. But first, a new recruiting class and strategy will be analyzed. Doug Lesmerises is hosting this one, but Stephen Means and Cameron Fields are bringing the recruiting expertise after spending the last couple months talking to the most important rising juniors that Ohio State is targeting in the Class of 2022. On this Buckeye Talk episode, while Nathan Baird is on vacation, Stephen and Cam talk about the three players committed to the Buckeyes in 2022 so far; they pick the most important player that Ohio State has to land in this class; they predict the player who will provoke the fiercest head-to-head battle with another program; they talk about what they've learned about OSU assistants from the 2022 prospects; and finally, they mark down their predictions for the next players to join the class. Ohio State is still finishing off the 2021 recruiting class, but it's already time to dive into 2022, so listen up and Mark it Down. Thanks for making Buck

On this Buckeye Talk episode, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means move on to previewing the Ohio State defensive line. The Buckeyes lost Heisman Trophy finalist and No. 2 overall NFL Draft pick Chase Young off last year's line, as well as the veteran three-man tackle rotation of Davon Hamilton, Jashon Cornell and Robert Landers. But there is more talent in the pipeline. The guys run through what they expect from Zach Harrison, Tyreke Smith, Haskell Garrett, Tommy Togiai, Tyler Friday, Jonathon Cooper, Taron Vincent and the rest of the candidates for defensive line playing time. They look at the recruits coming in next on the line, talk about the influence of line coach Larry Johnson, offer their big predictions for the group and delve into the overall expectations for the entire 2018 recruiting class at the end of the pod. It's a good hour of D-line talk, so thanks for listening. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi

The NCAA releases more coronavirus guidelines for college sports. 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 for Thursday, it's time for Phil Steele's annual visit to preview the Buckeyes and the college football season. Phil publishes his annual college football preview magazine from his office in Northeast Ohio, and he's been putting them out for more than 20 years. Even with COVID-19 threatening the season, Phil did his usual business and his 2020 preview is getting out to fans right now. He joined Doug Lesmerises to talk about the Buckeyes and the Big Ten and to make his picks for the Heisman Trophy and the national championship. It's college football talk from an expert you'll want to hear. Thanks for making Buckeye Talk part of your day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our preview of Ohio State's 2020 schedule continues with a breakdown of Illinois with Bob Asmussen of the Champaign News-Gazette. But this Buckeye Tall Big Wednesday pod goes in-depth to explore big upsets. iI's a phenomenon Ohio State football rarely experiences, but when those days come around, they tend to linger in the memories of players, coaches and fans for years after. When we say upsets, we don't mean losing as a betting line favorite. We mean a ranked Ohio State team losing to an unranked team in a completely unexpected fashion. Aided by our Buckeye Talk Subtext subscribers, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means look at the various elements that set the stage for upsets and look for common denominators. Also, each of us picks which opponent on OSU's known schedule is the biggest threat to spring an upset in 2020. Baird and Asmussen, a Big Ten beat writer since 1996, discuss the uncertain future ahead due to COVID-19 and what the Big Ten might be able to do to salvage a season. They also de