Archives for October 2012

The season is half over, gentle readers. Let’s hope that OSU plays the second half of its season like it plays the second half of its games. If so, the rest of the Big 10 is in serious trouble.

This week’s sacrificial lamb: The Indiana Hoosiers.

When Indiana has the ball

Interestingly, the Hoosier’s worst offensive performance this year was a 24-point outing against FCS Indiana State in their season opener. Since then they’ve been averaging 35 points a game, including 27 points against the Big10’s leading defense.

Put simply, this offense can move the ball very efficiently when it’s sufficiently motivated to do so. To do this, Indiana utilizes the short passing game, otherwise known as “Fickell’s Kryptonite.” At 7.1 yards per completion, they match up almost identically to Miami (OH), California, and UCF – all teams that had no problem taking advantage of OSU’s weak linebacker play and soft zone cushions.

However, past performance may be misleading in this case. The OSU defense of the past two weeks has found an identity that wasn’t present in those early games. Lost in the noise of the offensive explosion last week was the Buckeyes’ solid defensive performance against the Big 10’s leading offense. In particular, OSU’s linebacker play has improved.

On paper, the Hoosiers offensive gameplan matches up well against the Buckeyes. Should they overcome the psychological aspects of being a major underdog, they could cause OSU some headaches.

However, none of this matters because…

When OSU has the ball

This season, the only thing that has stopped the OSU offense has been its own mistakes. Those mistakes have come in two forms: psychological, when they just don’t care and start slow; and turnovers in or near the red zone, which have ended at least half a dozen scoring drives in the first six games.

Even through those faults, however, Braxton & Co are averaging 39 points a game. Last week the offense scored 49 points in three quarters, and did it without breaking a sweat.

The Hoosier’s 99th ranked rushing defense will not present much of a challenge to Ohio State.

Prediction
If we assume that OSU will come out lethargic again, as they have in four of their six games, Indiana may be motivated to make it interesting going into the half. But we all know how this one ends:

OSU 56-24

What say you?

As always, presented without comment.

As always, stats are grabbed from cfbstats.com.

Much has been made lately about how the end of the BCS and the beginning of the 4-team playoff would effect the regular season OOC schedule. One of the factors of the new playoff system is strength of schedule and Ohio State is once again leading the charge to beef up their OOC slate of games. OSU AD Gene Smith has said that OSU will be looking to add more BCS AQ schools to its schedule and will phase out a schedule heavily based on MAC schools. That is not to say OSU wont still play MAC schools it just means we will have more quality OOC games.

Last week we started to get a picture of what OSU is trying to do in adding Big 12 member (and former little sister of the poor) TCU to its 2018 and 2019 slate.

Today we got an even more high profile opponent in 2022 and 2023 Ohio State will play Texas.

Below you will see a complete list of Ohio State OOC schedule (through 2023, that we know of so far, more will come)

2013

Aug. 31 Vanderbilt

Sept. 7 Florida A&M

Sept. 14 at Cal

Sept. 21 Buffalo

2014

Aug. 30 vs. Navy at Baltimore

Sept. 13 Kent State

Sept. 20 Virginia Tech

Sept. 27 Cincinnati

2015

Sept. 5 North Carolina

Sept. 12 Northern Illinois

Sept. 19 at Virginia Tech

2016

Sept. 3 Bowling Green

Sept. 17 at Oklahoma

TBA Tulsa

2017

Sept. 16 Oklahoma

Sept. 23 at North Carolina

2018

Sept. 8 Cincinnati

Sept. 15 at TCU

2019

Sept. 21 TCU

2022

Sept. 17 At Texas

2023

Sept. 16 Texas

Fans have got to be encouraged about the renewed importance of playing good OOC schedules. Although these games are pretty far off and anything can happen it should still be a really high profile match up with Texas and possibly even TCU. If nothing else it will be great recruiting tools for High School FB rich Texas that Coach Meyer can use to his advantage.

Ohio State put up 63 points on Nebraska in Braxton Miller’s prime time, coming out party. To counter that, Dennard Robinson ran for 235 yards on the Boilermaker’s defense. Northwestern fell two spots after suffering their first loss against Penn State in a shootout and the Nittany Lions jumped four spots after their victory. After Ohio State, there are a lot of average teams and it will be interesting to see who meets in Indianapolis for the B1G Title Game.

1. Ohio State (6-0)- It took a quarter, but the Buckeyes rolled at home versus Nebraska. Braxton Miller continues his Heisman campaign this weekend at Indiana

2. Michigan (3-2)- Shoelace ran all over Purdue last weekend and are now ranked #25 in the AP Poll. Expect the same this weekend versus the pitiful Illinois defense.

3. Penn State (4-2)-  Don’t look now, but the Nittany Lions have won 4 straight and Matt McGloin is really starting to grasp Bill O’Brien’s offense. They hope to continue playing the role of spoiler against Iowa.

4. Northwestern (5-1)- Well, Northwestern had to lose at some point and Pat Fitzgerald hopes to get his team back on track at Minnesota after falling late to Penn State.

5. Michigan State (4-2)- Sparty survived a scare at Indiana but they need to get their offense into gear (100th in the nation,) ASAP.

6. Nebraska (4-2)- Nebraska proved it yet again that they cannot stop the run. But the ‘Huskers get a week to lick their wounds before playing a tough Northwestern team.

7. Wisconsin (4-2)- Due to the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions bowl bans, Wisconsin takes on Purdue this weekend to see who should represent the Leaders Division in the B1G Championship Game.

8. Purdue (3-2)- After being taken to the woodshed by Michigan, the Boilermakers welcome Wisconsin into town for a game with major implications.

9. Iowa (3-2)- The Hawkeyes had an extra week to prepare for Michigan State’s running game. But the game is at East Lansing. Advantage Spartans.

10. Indiana (2-3)- Indiana was up 17-0 on Michigan State last weekend until Sparty woke up. They hope to catch Braxton and co. sleeping after their big win last weekend.

11. Minnesota (4-1)- The Gophers got a week off and were rewarded by dropping a spot in the rankings. Hopefully their game versus Iowa was not a trend and we will see as they travel to Northwestern this week.

12. Illinois (2-4)- The Illini’s season continues to spiral as they allowed 31 points against Wisconsin last weekend. It doesn’t get any easier as they travel to the Big House this weekend.

Compare to last week and feel free to discuss…

Down 17-7 with 11:59 left in the first half and the offense looking anemic, Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde decided to take the game over.The two did not take their foot off the gas until the clock hit 0:00. The Buckeyes offense exploded, finishing with 63 points, including a four touchdown effort by Hyde.

The defense came out flying the first couple of drives and the game had the look of a classic, B1G defensive battle. But that quickly changed. The silver bullets picked off Taylor Martinez three times, including two by Bradley Roby. Roby’s first of the game came on an interception returned for a touchdown, where he broke on a sloppy 10 yard out route on 3^rd&10 to take an early 7-0 lead.

Miller made the big plays once again, rushing for 186 on only 16 carries and a touchdown. Hyde complimented him by rushing for 140 well earned yards on 28 carries. Although Miller’s passing statistics were not impressive (7-14, 1 touchdown,) it seemed as though he made a couple of big plays through the air to keep drives going. Miller only threw the ball three times in the entire second half, but they scored 28 points in doing so. Urban Meyer lined up Miller and Hyde in the shotgun and ran them right down Nebraska’s throat from the 2^nd quarter on and the ‘Huskers had no answer for it.

With two of their toughest games behind them, the Buckeyes can take advantage of a down B1G conference and try to finish out a perfect season. Also, with the way Miller is playing, expect him to be a Heisman Trophy finalist and represent the Buckeyes in New York City.

Positives:

• Although they let up 38 points, the defense made big plays to change the momentum of the game. They picked off Martinez three times and forced two fumbles, recovering one on John Simon’s strip sack.
• Simon was a beast. He sacked Martinez twice and wreaked havoc in the backfield the entire night with 5 tackles for loss. For his efforts, he was named the Ronnie Lott IMPACT player of the week.
• After five weeks of the special teams not making a huge, game changing play, Philly Brown changed that by going 76 yards to the house on a punt return. The touchdown gave the Buckeyes an 18 point lead late in the 3^rd quarter and put the nail in Nebraska’s coffin.
• Braxton Miller’s decision making is improving every week when it comes to the read option. It seemed in the beginning of the year that he predetermined whether to hand the ball off or run it himself. He is not Cam Newton yet, but expect his reads to get better each week, and that is a very scary thought.
• Rod Smith had an amazing 33 yard touchdown run in the 4^th quarter. He  showed a mix of power and speed, breaking four tackles en route to the end zone. It would be great to see Smith emerge as another option if Jordan Hall remains out for a long period of time.

What to Work on:

• After Roby’s pick 6 that added more early momentum for the Buckeyes, they allowed a 7 play, 92 yard touchdown drive that took the crowd out of it for time being. Rex Burkhead somehow broke through the defense for a 73 yard gain, but the defense limited him to only 46 yards the rest of the way on 13 carries.
• This offense makes you rip your hair out at times. For another game, they started off very slow, not getting a first down until Miller broke through for a 72 yard run a few minutes into the second quarter. Nebraska’s defense swarmed to the ball and did not give Miller anything until his long run. The offense looked unstoppable after Miller’s run, but it would be nice to see the offense run on all cylinders for all four quarters. The offensive line could not protect against the Cornhuskers run blitz scheme in the first quarter, but adjustments were made.
• Loved the fake punt play call, just not where it happened on the field. The play would have gotten the Buckeyes the first down if a player on the back side held his block for another 2 seconds. With the call coming in their own end, you have to wonder if Meyer will run something similar later on in the year considering that he had confidence in his team to execute the play.
• You have to wonder when defenses will successfully game plan against the Buckeyes one dimensional offense. Even a high powered offense like Oregon has been slowed down at times when playing against a fast defense. Meyer does not have to worry about that this year, but for the future, the passing game needs to get on point. They were able to get away with running the ball 48 times compared to only passing the ball 14 times against Nebraska but the offense needs to balance out at some point.

It’s hard to nitpick when the team scores 63 points against a Nebraska Cornhuskers defense. But it is still only week 6 and the Buckeyes have a lot to work on for the rest of the season. Also, Urban is not here to make friends, he is here to dominate each and every time his team takes the field. You have to love that about the guy.

What are some of your positives and negatives regarding last weekend’s big victory over the Cornhuskers?

Also, big thanks to jwinslow.com for the pictures.

Week 7 was a little slow for the recruits. Maybe they were all too focused on getting to the ‘Shoe and enjoying the victory over Neb.

Jalin Marshall– His team Middletown Middies lost 41-14 loss to Cincinnati Colerain. Jalin rushed 23 times for 94 yards and was 6-of-18 for 87 yards.
Eli Woodard– His team Eastern suffered a 34-17 loss to Williamstown. Eli and the defense fell short this week.
Cam Burrows– His team Trotwood-Madison beat Greenville 62-12. Cam was part of a total defensive effort that kept Greenville from scoring a passing TD.
Joey Bosa– His team St. Thomas Aquinas suffered a 27-24 loss to Miramar. Bosa had 5 tackles and a sack.
Marcus Baugh– His team John W North enjoyed a 21-12 win over Canyon Springs. Baugh had 5 catches and a sack.
Evan Lisle– His team Centerville enjoyed a 14-0 victory over Northmont. As an O-lineman he helped his team gain 253 yards rushing.
Ezekiel Elliott– His team John Burroughs HS was on a BYE.
Billy Price– His team Austintown Fitch suffered a 34-14 loss to Massillon. Billy had 4 tackles and 1 TFL.
Jayme Thompson– His team Toledo Central Catholic enjoyed a 47-7 win over Lima Senior. He helped keep Lima to ZERO passing yards.
J T Barrett- His team Rider enjoyed a 44-17 win over Brewer. He completed 2 of 4 passes for 41 yards and ran for 49 yards and a TD. He did suffer an injury on the 1st drive and didnt return.
Michael Hill– His team Pendleton beat Powdersville 41-6. He helped hold them to just 1 TD.
Taivon Jacobs– His team Suitland suffered a 26-6 loss to DuVal. Taivon 3 catches for 42 yards.
Darron Lee– His team New Albany beat Olentangy 33-14. Darron had 3 TDs including an INT for a score.
Tracy Sprinkle– His team Elyria enjoyed a 28-14 win over Cuyahoga Falls. Tracy had 10 tackles and 1 sack and 2 QB hurries.
Tim Gardner– His team Lawrence Central enjoyed a 36-22 win over Franklin Central. Tim helped his team rush for 419 yards.
Johnny Townsend– His team Boone suffered a 23-6 to Dr. Phillips. No punting stats could be found.
Tyquan Lewis– His team Tarboro HS enjoyed 34-27 win over Kinston. Tyquan had a fumble recovery in the win.

Not a banner week for any of the recruits. A lot of them were in town for the big game Saturday night and spent the time recruiting other players and enjoying the festivities.

Men of the Scarlet and Gray Ballot – Week 6

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	—
2	Oregon Ducks	1
3	West Virginia Mountaineers	3
4	Florida Gators	3
5	South Carolina Gamecocks	6
6	Ohio St. Buckeyes	4
7	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	-2
8	Kansas St. Wildcats	4
9	Oregon St. Beavers	5
10	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	5
11	Louisville Cardinals	6
12	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	6
13	Ohio Bobcats	6
14	Cincinnati Bearcats	9
15	Texas Longhorns	-7
16	LSU Tigers	-7
17	Oklahoma Sooners	4
18	Stanford Cardinal	—
19	USC Trojans	1
20	Florida St. Seminoles	-18
21	Clemson Tigers	3
22	Georgia Bulldogs	-18
23	Iowa St. Cyclones	—
24	Northwestern Wildcats	-8
25	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	—
Dropouts: TCU Horned Frogs, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Washington Huskies

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Where to start? So many teams lost yesterday some were tough losses and some were really bad losses. There are 124 teams in FBS Div. 1 and we still have 16 teams that haven’t suffered a loss yet. Of those 16 teams 15 are ranked UTSA has yet to play anyone worthy enough to get them ranked. So in my top 25 there are 15 teams who are undefeated and 10 teams who have suffered one loss. It is way to soon to rank any 2 loss teams so thats why TTUN isnt ranked as of yet.

I think I will start off defending my poll by discussing Ohio St. Let me start by saying I am a fan first and foremost. OSU has some issues still but 2 straight top 25 wins is impressive for a team that went 6-7 last year and is currently at 6-0. Braxton Miller is unbelievable he is a Cam Newton/Vince Young type player in as much as OSU is never out of any game and he can win games all by himself if needed. Thankfully OSU is showing he isnt the only guy they have who is a straight up BALLER. The defense needs help but for this year they are good enough to help us win a ton of games.

Who I think will play for the NCG if it was played tomorrow…. Bama and Oregon. Having said that the game isnt tomorrow so there is still a chance neither or both will be there. Other teams that have a legit shot at the game are WVU, Florida, South Carolina, and Notre Dame. The rest of the undefeated teams are likely to be left out over a one loss team.

Lastly I would like to rank the BCS conferences again.

1.) Big 12
2.) SEC
3.) Pac 12
4.) B1G
5.) Big East
6.) ACC

Yeah I did just say the Big East is a better conference then the ACC and all those teams that jumped ship to see how much better the ACC is then the Big East are starting to question their decision making skills.

For five games now, we have been talking of seeing the Buckeyes play a full sixty minute game. No slow starts, no lazy defense. Just pedal to the metal, mistake free football.

Well, we still haven’t seen that, but this evening’s NINE TOUCHDOWN outburst from all sides of the ball is all we can ask for.

Just to be a nitpicker: The excessive penalties were frustrating and unnecessary and the few big plays the defense gave up were of the tear-your-hair-out variety but ultimately didn’t deep six a spirited performance by Braxton Miller and the Ohio State offense (after sputtering the first few times with the ball). It wasn’t perfect by any stretch.

But come on, that all pales in comparison to what this team did once it got rolling. Almost 500 yards of offense, an average of 7.7 yards per carry on the ground and defensive and special team scores. OH AND SIXTY-THREE POINTS.

This wasn’t just revenge. This was a reckoning.