Archives for September 2013

Beat The Badgers: Wisconsin Preview

September 26, 2013 by 2 Comments

Alright everyone, it is time for BIG Ten play. The Buckeyes face their first true test. Buckeye Nation can’t wait to watch their Buckeyes take on the Badgers under the lights in the horseshoe. The Buckeyes will be wearing the same jerseys they wore in 2012 when they faced Wisconsin at home. In my opinion, the last two Wisconsin games were one of the best conference games I watched OSU play in. Everyone remembers Braxton Miller’s winning TD in 2012 and the thrilling overtime win last year to crush Wisconsin’s senior night. But now, it is time to get excited to watch the very talented Buckeyes face a very good Wisconsin Team.

On Wednesday, Meyer said that Braxton will “probably” start Saturday night. I believe Braxton Miller will get the start but fans are gonna see a dose of Kenny Guiton too. Kenny Guiton should be seeing time considering he is one of the hottest quarterbacks in the country right now. I think it is a great thing to have two quarterbacks who can both play as everyday starters. Braxton and Kenny compliment each other. I believe Kenny will be when Braxton is feeling pain in his MCL and when Meyer is looking for a quick spark. Kenny Guiton can certainly lead Ohio State down the field. Going back to the Purdue game, Buckeye fans gained trust in Kenny. As far as Braxton Miller, I think he will play a little timid his first couple drives. I can see Meyer giving the ball to Hall and Hyde a lot to start to game. Let Braxton settle in and get him comfortable. After the first couple drives, Braxton will be playing like he was never out for two games.

NCAA Football: Central Florida at Ohio State

In the depth chart, Hall is the starting running back with Hyde as the backup. We will see both Jordan and Carlos getting carries. I think that Carlos Hyde will have a great game. He is playing his first true game back and has a good history on running on Wisconsin. Rotating Hall and Hyde is going to be a huge benefit for Ohio State. I also believe Dontre Wilson is going to be used. Dontre has been playing well, has not had many carries but his load may increase this weekend. Wilson is a huge threat for Wisconsin. Just another great athlete Wisconsin has to prepare for.

CarlosHydeSuspended

A big concern that I have is will Ohio State be able to stop Wisconsin’s loaded offense. Wisconsin is loaded with players such as Melvin Gordon, James White and James Abbrederis. Gordon has already ran for 624 yards and White has ran for 442. Gordon averages 11.8 yards per carry while White averages 7.2. These are two backs that Ohio State’s defense is going to have to contain. The last thing the Buckeyes want to happen is to have Wisconsin control time possession. James Abbrederis has given Ohio State trouble in the future. He seems to make plays when it matters most. If Wisconsin is in a big situation I will be hoping that Abbrederis is covered.

The Buckeye defense is going to have work ahead of them. I expect a big game from Noah Spence. Spence has been making big plays these past couple of games. Also, Roby, Barnett and Bryant will have some work to do in order to beat Wisconsin. If the defense can stop the passing game, this will help out when Wisconsin runs the ball.

To sum it up, this will not be a breeze for Ohio State. A night game game which is a scarlet out will definitely give the Buckeyes an advantage. If the Buckeyes want to make it to Pasadena, it starts in the horseshoe Saturday night. No more “preseason’ games. It is time for big boy football buckeye nation!

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Three Yards and a Cloud of Links

September 26, 2013 by 1 Comment

Good morning Buckeye Nation.

Behind The Scenes: Sports Illustrated Pete Thamel did a “behind the scenes” piece yesterday. He gives us his Ten Lessons on what he encountered with the Buckeyes.

I felt this was a pretty good article just not to happy we will be probably losing OC Tom Herman after this season.

Making Noise: The NCAA released a video on the top five loudest stadiums. The list is as follows:

No. 5: Lane Stadium, Virginia Tech

No. 4: Camp Randall Stadium, Wisconsin

No. 3: Kyle Field, Texas A&M

No. 2: Autzen Stadium, Oregon

No. 1: Tiger Stadium, LSU

As you can see the Horseshoe didn’t make the list. This doesn’t surprise me since the NCAA came out with this list and we all know how much the NCAA loves the Buckeyes.

Special Uni’s: There are stories out there that the Buckeye’s will be wearing rival uniforms against Wisconsin Saturday. They will be wearing the same uniforms they wore against Michigan last season and will have on chrome helmets.

First off if these are rival uniforms how is it you will be wearing them against Wisconsin. Just because they have been getting better this last decade and made the games interesting doesn’t move them to rival territory.

Second whats with the chrome helmet fade? I’m not sure how I feel about this one but apparently Urban Meyer likes the look and when you have a bunch of recruits coming in you try to look sharp.

Memories: Who is upset this guy isn’t the coach of Wisconsin anymore?

Highlights from the 2011 OSU vs. Wisconsin football game

The barn burner that was in last seasons game

Until next time Buckeye Nation…

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Buckeyes In the NFL – Week 3

September 25, 2013 by 3 Comments

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Baltimore Ravens

John Simon (LB) (2009-12)- Recorded 1 total tackle in the Ravens’ week 3 victory over the Houston Texans. Simon continues to see infrequent playing time. We’ll see as the season progresses if he’ll play much more.

Cincinnati Bengals

Mike Nugent (K) (2001-04)- Nugent missed his only field goal attempt in week 3 against the Green Bay Packers. He also missed a PAT but went four for five overall in that department.

Dane Sanzenbacher (WR) (2007-10)- Didn’t record any statistics in the Bengals week 3 victory over Green Bay. He remains buried behind a talented receiving core led by A.J. Green.

Houston Texans

Devier Posey (WR) (2008-11)- Recorded 3 catches for 29 yards on 4 targets. This was Posey’s season debut after suffering a season ending achilles injury last season.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Mike Brewster (C) (2008-11)- Continues to be a back-up across multiple positions on the offensive line. Brewster has yet to start a game for Jacksonville this season but he continues to see some action as the game goes along.

Denver Broncos

Justin Boren (G) (2009-10)- Didn’t record any statistics or playing time for the Broncos in Week 3. It will be difficult for Boren to see any playing time unless the offensive line becomes decimated with injuries over the course of the season.

Miami Dolphins

Brian Hartline (WR) (2006-08)- Recorded 4 catches for 56 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Even the Miami signed Mike Wallace to a big contract in the off season, Hartline continues to produce consistently.

New England Patriots

Nate Ebner (DB) (2008-11)- Didn’t record any statistics in the Patriot’s week 3 victory over Tampa Bay. He continues to be a main stay on special teams.

New York Jets

Santonio Holmes (WR) (2003-05)- Recorded 5 catches for 154 yards and 1 touchdown in the Jet’s week 3 victory over the Buffalo Bills. This was a breakout game for Holmes as he has been battling a foot ailment during the early part of the season.

Nick Mangold (C) (2002-05)- Started at Center for the Jets in week 3 against the Buffalo Bills. Helped lead the Jets to over 500 total yards of offense.

Oakland Raiders

Terrelle Pryor (QB) (2008-10)- Went 19-for-28 with 281 yards and a touchdown in the Oakland’s week 3 loss to the Denver Broncos. Pryor also ran the ball 4 times for 36 yards and continues to be a bright spot for the Raiders. However, he did suffer a concussion on Monday and his status for this upcoming week is unclear. If he continues to progress beyond the concussion, there is no doubt Pryor will remain the Oakland starting QB.

Chimdi Chekwa (CB) (2007-10)- Didn’t record any statistics in Oakland’s week 3 loss to the Denver Broncos. He continues to be a backup at the cornerback position. Chekwa was a scratch during week 2 but was ready to go in week 3. It will only take an injury at cornerback for Chekwa to see action.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Cameron Heyward (DE) (2007-10)- Recorded 1 total tackle in Pittsburgh’s week 3 loss to Chicago. Heyward continues to play behind Keisel but does see a decent amount of playing time. I still continue to believe Heyward will be a key cog on the Steeler’s defensive line.

Mike Adams (OT) (2008-11)- Started at Left Tackle for the Steelers in their week 3 loss to Chicago. Helped lead the Steelers to 459 yards of total offense. However, the offense turned it over 5 times which negated many of the yards.

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Dallas Cowboys

Will Allen (SS) (2000-03)- Allen lost his starting job in week 3 to Georgia Southern rookie safety JJ Wilcox. Wilcox played well and it looks like he will be the starter moving forward. Maybe Allen can see some nickel/dime package action if there are no injuries that thrust him back in the starting lineup.

Carolina Panthers

Ted Ginn Jr. (WR) (2004-2006)- Recorded 3 receptions and a team high 71 yards with a touchdown. The 47 yard touchdown came at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Ginn also had a punt return for 12 yards. He continues to make an impact on the Panthers and is definitely their deep threat.

Ben Hartsock (TE) (1999-03)- Didn’t record any statistics for the Panthers in week 3 against the New York Giants. Hartsock continues to be the 2nd TE behind Greg Olsen. Olsen has been involved heavily in the passing game for Carolina but it hasn’t translated into opportunities for Hartsock. .

Detroit Lions

Rob Sims (OL) (2002-05)- Started at LG for the Lions in week 3 against the Redskins. Sims will continue to start at LG unless he suffers an injury. He helped pave the way for the Lions’ 441 yards of total offense.

Green Bay Packers

A.J. Hawk (LB) (2002-05)- Recorded 9 total tackles and one tackle for loss in Green Bay’s week 3 loss to the Bengals. Hawk continues to rack up the tackles for Green Bay and now has 23 on the season.

Ryan Pickett (DT) (1998-00)- Recorded 1 total tackle and 1 pass deflection for Green Bay in week 3. You can’t measure Pickett’s value to the Packer defense on stats alone. His ability to constantly demand double teams and keep blockers from getting to the next level shouldn’t be undervalued.

New Orleans Saints

Malcolm Jenkins (CB) (2005-08)- Recorded 3 total tackles and 1 pass deflection in New Orleans week 3 victory over the Cardinals. Jenkins helped hold Carson Palmer to just 161 yards and less than 5 yards per pass. He continues to be one of the most valuable members of the Saints defense.

Will Smith (DE) (2000-03)- Placed on injured reserve (IR) for the remainder of the year. Smith injured his ACL back in August.

New York Giants

Jim Cordle (C) (2007-09)- Didn’t record any statistics in Week 3 for the Giants. For a while, it looked like Cordle was going to start during the early portion of this season. However, Head Coach Tom Coughlin made a last minute decision to shift the offensive line around which sent Cordle back to 2nd string. The way the offense looked for the Giants this week, it certainly couldn’t hurt to test Cordle out.

Johnathan Hankins (DT) (2010-12)- Didn’t record any statistics in Week 3 for the Giants. Hankins is buried on the depth chart right now at defensive line. As he continues to round into shape, he might see some playing time later in the season.

Philadelphia Eagles

Kurt Coleman (DB) (2006-09)- Recorded 1 total tackle in the Eagles week 3 loss to the Chiefs. Coleman is still sitting behind Patrick Chung at FS on the depth chart. With starting experience, Coleman will be ready if his number is called to start. Meanwhile, he’ll continue to see some playing time on special teams and in nickel/dime packages.

Washington Redskins

Doug Worthington (DE) (2007-09)- Has been placed on the IR (bicep) for the remainder of the year.

St. Louis Rams

James Laurinaitis (LB) (2005-09)- Recorded 5 total tackles for the Rams in their week 3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. The defense as a whole was dominated by the Cowboys as they rolled up 193 yards of rushing throughout the game. The Rams offense isn’t potent enough for their defense to not show up on a consistent basis.

Jake McQuaide (LS) (2008-10)- Starting long snapper for the Rams in Week 3. McQuaide signed a 4-year extension in the off season and will be the Rams long snapper for the foreseeable future.

San Francisco 49ers

Donte Whitner (DB) (2003-05)- Recorded 7 total tackles in their week 3 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Whitner was flagged during the first defensive play of the game for targeting a defenseless receiver. From there, it seemed to all go negative for the San Francisco’s defense. They gave up 27 points and 5 yards a play.

Alex Boone (G) (2005-08)- Started at guard for San Francisco in Week 3 against Indianapolis. Other than one sustained drive, the offense was in hibernation. Boone did help San Francisco gain 115 yards on the ground but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with the Colts.

Filed Under: NFL, Ohio State Football

The Spread, Week 5: The Run-down on Running Up The Score

September 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment

This past weekend in college football was a bit of a yawner. We knew that going in, of course, with so many of the games featuring top teams in absurd mismatches (kudos to this guy for suggesting that Ohio State might score 75 points in an article about the potential for what happened to happen). In fact, there were four games that saw a Top 25 team take a 20+ point lead into halftime against an FCS opponent. There have been five more such games so far this season. Yet, Ohio State seems to be the only team facing accusations of “running up the score.” Do a Google search for any of these nine teams: Ohio State, Washington, Florida State, Miami (FL), Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Louisville, Clemson or Oregon + “running up the score” and see which one returns articles from this week.

I don’t think I’ve ever actually watched a game where one team was clearly trying to score as much as possible just to embarrass their opponents. Maybe this is something that happens, but I honestly don’t know what it looks like. Judging from the outrage I’ve seen this week, it has something to do with going for two and attempting to convert fourth downs. One would also assume that throwing the ball and playing starters late in the game would be frowned on. While it seems like a nice concept, I’m not sure that there are actually a lot of ways to actively try to keep your own point total down while simultaneously providing honest coaching to college kids.

So, as to the matter of whether Ohio State was “running up the score” on Florida A&M last Saturday, we can knock a few of those off the list right away. No passes were thrown in the entire second half, and a large percentage of the roster saw action. A true freshman was the game’s leading rusher.

The two-point conversion that has so many riled up came very early, following the second touchdown. You’ll recall that Ohio State also went for two on its first two TDs of the season, so this is clearly something the staff wants to work on so the team is ready to execute when it will actually make a difference. If you think this is an unlikely scenario, I’d remind you that the Buckeyes would have lost to Purdue last year without a well-designed and properly-executed two-point conversion.

Which brings us to going for it on fourth down. This happened four times in this game, two on the same first quarter drive, when the score was 20-0. One of those was the first play this season for Carlos Hyde, and it seemed to be a deliberate decision to put him in for a fourth-down conversion attempt. These two plays were run from 26 and 11 yards out. Last season, I discussed Urban Meyer and Tom Herman’s career-long tendencies to favor touchdowns over field goals. His best teams had a high TD/FG ratio. So far this year, we are again near the bottom of the nation in field goal attempts, with just two in four games. It’s no surprise to me to see them continue with this philosophy.

The other two fourth down conversions came later when the game was very clearly settled. One of these led to Guiton’s record-setting sixth TD, and I truly believe that this was the sole purpose for the call. Ohio State threw on every down inside the 35 on this drive. Meyer knew there would be no more passing in this game and simply couldn’t not give Guiton a shot at the record book. This is the sort of thing that I don’t expect outsiders to understand. But Buckeye fans know what Guiton has gone through, how hard he’s worked and how remarkably humble he’s remained. He deserved that record, and I am willing to take crap from other fans for him to have it.

The final fourth-down conversion came on the first drive of the second half. Third-string QB Cardale Jones ran 12 yards on 4th-and-3 from 32 yards out. This is the one that seems to bug people the most, but it seems to be the least egregious to me. It’s too far out to reasonably attempt a field goal and too close to reasonably punt. It’s the first drive for some young players, many of whom will probably see zero snaps for the rest of the year, so let’s see if they can pick it up. But, hey, if you think this is bad sportsmanship, nothing I say here will convince you.

But what about those other 8 teams who found themselves in similar situations this year? How did those classy organizations handle the daunting task of sparing their opponents’ feelings? We have to assume they did it much better than Ohio State did, since there was no hand-wringing and finger-wagging following their games. Judge for yourself:

Washington (vs. Idaho State): Up 14-0, Washington converted a 4th-and-1 from 39 yards out. They also attempted conversions up 42-0 from 12 yards out and up 56-0 from 9 yards out. Washington was throwing the ball well into the third quarter. They did not attempt a two-point conversion.

Florida State (vs. Bethune-Cookman): The Seminoles did not attempt any fourth-down or two-point conversions. They passed three times (all incomplete) on their second-to-last drive.

Miami (FL) (vs. Savannah State): Up 56-0, Miami converted a 4th down from 14 yards out. Up 77-7, they also converted a 4th-and-1 from 8 yards out and attempted a 4th-and-9 from 9 yards out (following a penalty) on their last drive of the game. Miami passed the ball until about midway through the third quarter. They did not attempt a two-point conversion.

Oklahoma State (vs. Lamar): Up 38-3, Oklahoma State threw on 4th-and-2 from 2 yards out for a touchdown. Oklahoma State passed four times on their final drive of the game, including a 16-yard touchdown. They did not attempt a two-point conversion.

Wisconsin (vs. Tennessee Tech): The Badgers did not attempt a any fourth-down or two-point conversions. Wisconsin passed throughout the third quarter and once in the fourth.

Louisville (vs. Eastern Kentucky): The Cardinals did not attempt a any fourth-down or two-point conversions. They passed throughout the game and starting QB Teddy Bridgewater played into the fourth quarter.

Clemson (vs. South Carolina State): On the first drive of the game, Clemson converted a 4th-and-1 from 44 yards out. They also attempted a 4th-and-1 from 13 yards out on their second drive, up just 3-0. Clemson passed throughout the game. They did not attempt a two-point conversion.

Oregon (vs. Nicholls State): Up 38-3, Oregon attempted a pass on 4th-and-5 from 39 yards out. They also attempted to convert a 4th-and-3 from 13 yards out (same score). Up 52-3, they converted a 4th-and-2 from 53 yards out. They did not attempt a two-point conversion.

Filed Under: College Football, Ohio State Football

Bucky the Badger Players to Watch Week 5

September 25, 2013 by 1 Comment

Finally!  Conference season is upon us and first up, the pesky, and dangerous, Wisconsin Badgers.  Here are a few players to keep your eye on Saturday.  One of them is even a good ole Ohio boy!

Wisconsin 

Melvin Gordon, Running Back  #25-  While the Badger backfield also includes James White, Gordon is slowly beginning to take over the role of the feature back.  In all four of the Badgers games this season, Gordon’s worst game this year was 140 yards on 9 attempts, in a 48-0 win against Tennessee Tech.  Needless to say the kid is explosive.  He can between the tackles, with great vision, and when he gets in to open space, defenses are usually chasing him.  Now as dangerous as Gordon is, he has yet to face a defense that allows less that 150 yards rushing per game.  In his three games against FBS opponents, Gordon is averaging 161 yards per game.  Gordon will face an Ohio State defense who has only allowed 79.75 yards per game.  One side will have to budge.  If Ohio State wants to win, they must contain Gordon.

 

Jared Abbrederis, Wide Receiver #4-  Abbrederis is the utility man for Wisconsin.  Even with their limited passing attack, Abbrederis is still averaging 15.9 yards per reception.  He is the safety blanket  for the below average quarterback Joel Stave.  Abbrederis will attempt to take advantage of the play action game the Badgers will run on occasion.  Roby, and the rest of the Buckeye secondary will have to be wary of Abbrederis’ ability to sneak behind defenses for a big play.  If he is able to get behind the secondary just once and make it count, it may just give the Stave the confidence the Buckeye defense does not want him to find.

Chris Borland, Middle Linebacker #44-  Now for the Senior from Kettling, Ohio.  Chris Borland was a two star recruit out of high school, and for that reason, he wasn’t even offered by the Buckeyes.  Four years later, Borland is an All Big Ten linebacker, and is the cornerstone of the Badger defense.  Borland won’t put up amazing stats, but he anchors the Badgers stingy rush defense.  He has excellent positioning and will rack up massive amounts of tackles for the Badgers.  Look for Borland to be the consistent stronghold of the Wisconsin defense on Saturday.

Ohio State

Curtis Grant-  “This is without question one of the defining moments of his career.”  That was a direct quote from Urban Meyer, on the Big Ten weekly teleconference.  Ding, ding, ding, Curtis Grant your bell has been rung.  Grant will be HUGE in stopping the Badgers run game.  He has done very well this season in filling running gaps, and wrapping up running backs.  I’d be surprised to see Grant not play well Saturday night.  He’s a great, not good, but great run stopping line backer and should have a productive night Saturday.

Carlos Hyde-  This will be Hyde’s real first game back (with all due respect to FAMU).  Hyde’s conditioning will be tested in this game, as he will be called upon to tote the rock early on against a very stubborn Wisconsin defense.  The front seven of Wisconsin will be one of the biggest and stout run defenses will face all year.  Hyde will need to establish a power run game, to help set up other areas of the offense.  If the Badgers D are forced to respect Hyde, then the rest of the offense will open up for Braxton Miller, and will greatly assist any rust he may have to shake off.  Hyde is big time back, who shows up in big games.  I wouldn’t expect a lot of yards out of Hyde Saturday night, but I will expect him to get the call down close to the goal line.  If he can average around 3.5 to 4 yards a carry, the Buckeye offense will be very successful Saturday.

Braxton Miller-  Braxton’s rustiness is being way over played.  If this was Braxton of last year, who had messy mechanics and awful footwork, rust would certainly be a problem.  However, his mechanics are much cleaner this year, and he also seems much more committed to sticking with them than before.  Therefore, his rust may not be as serious as some are expecting.  Also, the Badgers secondary struggled against Arizona State’s pass attack two weeks ago, in a close loss.  Their secondary couldn’t handle the amount of weapons and tempo the Sun Devils threw at them.  I’m expecting a much similar story Saturday.  Braxton will also have his two trusted running backs, Carlos Hyde and Jordan Hall, to take some of the pressure off of him.  Expect Braxton to have a few quick early throws and get him in rhythm.  As long as his play-makers help alleviate pressure expect Miller to be just fine.  Braxton loves the spotlight, and I don’t think he will disappoint Saturday.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Wisconsin: By The Numbers

September 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment

As always, presented without comment.

Statistically Speaking
Ohio State
Value (Rank)
Value (Rank)
Wisconsin
Advantage
Rushing Offense (ypg) 311.0 (6) 76.3 (6) Rushing Defense (ypg) Push
Passing Offense (ypg) 218.0 (78) 167.0 (19) Passing Defense (ypg) Wisconsin+
Pass Efficiency 167.0 (17) 86.1 (8) Pass Efficiency Defense Push
Total Offense (ypg) 529.0 (15) 243.3 (6) Total Defense (ypg) Push
Scoring Offense (ppg) 52.5 (4) 10.5 (10) Scoring Defense (ppg) Push
Rushing Defense (ypg) 79.8 (9) 349.8 (3) Rushing Offense (ypg) Push
Passing Defense (ypg) 200.5 (49) 198.0 (92) Passing Offense (ypg) Ohio State
Pass Efficiency Defense 112.1 (34) 143.8 (59) Pass Efficiency Offense Ohio State
Total Defense (ypg) 280.3 (13) 547.8 (12) Total Offense (ypg) Push
Scoring Defense (ppg) 15.3 (21) 41.0 (24) Scoring Offense (ppg) Push
Turnover margin +1.00 (19) +0.75 (29) Turnover margin Push
Penalty Yards/game 61.3 (96) 40.5 (34) Penalty Yards/game Wisconsin+
Sacks (/game) 2.25 (40) 0.75 (11) Sacks Allowed (/game) Wisconsin
Sacks Allowed (/game) 1.25 (37) 1.25 (97) Sacks (/game) Ohio State+
3rd Down Conv. (%) 48.2 (36) 30.5 (27) 3rd Down Conv. Def (%) Push
3rd Down Conv. Def (%) 22.8 (5) 51.9 (17) 3rd Down Conv. (%) Push
Redzone Offense (%) 95.5 (11) 77.8 (50) Redzone Defense (%) Ohio State
Redzone Defense (%) 66.7 (19) 83.3 (64) Redzone Offense (%) Ohio State
 Legend
  Difference <25 in National Rank = Push
  Difference >25 in National Rank = Ohio State
  Difference >50 in National Rank = Ohio State+
  Difference >75 in National Rank = Ohio State++
  Differences >100 in National Rank = Ohio State+++

Stats are grabbed from cfbstats.com.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

B1G Power Rankings- Week 4

September 24, 2013 by 2 Comments

I should probably remind all of you reading this that Power Rankings is based more on the weeks games than the whole season. Before I get any hate mail from Michigan fans please know this your team is not good right now and is struggling in all aspects of the game. Maybe they will get better or maybe they wont. Lucky for them they get a Bye this week to try and fix their gluttony of issues.

1.) Ohio State (4-0)- Beat Florida A&M 76-0. We didn’t learn much from this game except that OSU doesn’t play down to their weaker opponents like another B1G team does.

2.) Northwestern (4-0)- Beat Maine 35-21. Uhh that score is not exactly what I expected to see. Were the the Wildcats looking ahead to the OSU match-up next week? For their sake they better hope so.

3.) Wisconsin (3-1)- Beat Purdue 41-10. Wisconsin played typical Badger Ball rushing for all kinds of yards and TDs. They played great defense and overwhelmed Purdue all game long.

4.) Minnesota (4-0)- Beat San Jose State 43-24. The Gophers used a freshman QB to the tune of 150+ yards and 4 TDs on the ground to beat the Spartans.

5.) Penn State (3-1)- Beat Kent State 34-0. Christian Hackenberg had a horrible game but luckily the running game carried the offense and the defense held KSU to under 200 yards and no points.

6.) Iowa (3-1)- Beat Western Michigan 59-3. The Hawkeyes had 2 INTs for TDs and 2 punt returns for TDs to dominate this game against a horrible team.

7.) Illinois (2-1)- They were on a Bye last week.

8.) Nebraska (3-1)- Beat South Dakota St. 59-20. Nebraska overcame a bad 1st qtr to blow out the Jack Rabbits. They played without Taylor Martinez and didnt miss a beat on offense and managed to play somewhat better on defense.

9.) Michigan (4-0)- Beat UConn 24-21. Michigan needed a massive 4th qtr comeback to win against a horrible Huskies team. The second week in a row the team needed to comeback late to beat a hapless opponent. No part of this team says impressive to me.

10.) Michigan State (3-1)- Lost to Notre Dame 17-13. The Spartans defense is the best in the country. The Spartans offense is likely the worst in the country. If they could score just a couple of points to help the defense they might be a good team.

11.) Indiana (2-2)- Lost to Missouri 45-28. Indiana has a great offense and a horrible defense. If Indiana and MSU could merge teams they would make a NC caliber team.

12.) Purdue (1-3)- Lost to Wisconsin 41-10. Purdue is going to struggle all year. Darrell Hazell has no talent and isn’t getting the recruiting bump he needs to land better talent. His system can work but he needs time and talent.

Filed Under: B1G Football, College Football, Ohio State Football

B1G Week Four Review: The Last of the Cupcakes

September 24, 2013 by 2 Comments

YES! No more cupcakes! Week four was the last of the cupcake portion of the B1G season and we finally get to the intriguing games of the season. Week four was mostly a yawner around the country, including the B1G (the Buckeyes destroyed some helpless high school team, causing non-Buckeye sports writers everywhere to spontaneously combust into thin air over it). Before we get to the good games though, let’s take one last look at what happened in week four:

Minnesota 43 San Jose State 24

This was a nice win for Minnesota, who kicks off the season 4-0 heading into conference play. It was a close game for one half (20-17 at the half), but then Minnesota came out firing in the third quarter and didn’t look bad. The Gophers scored 24 unanswered to start off the second half, putting the game out of reach before the Spartans finally answered with a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Starting in place for the injured Phillip Nelson, backup quarterback Mitch Leidner shined not through the air, but on the ground. Leidner rushed for 151 yards and four touchdowns, while running back David Cobb also chipped in 125 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Minnesota appears to live and die by the running game, which is something for other B1G teams to be aware of when playing the Gophers.

Iowa 59 Western Michigan 3

This was a blowout on paper and it was a blowout on the field. It was never close at any point in this game. Iowa got plenty of playing time for its backups and kept its starters fresh for conference play. Hawkeye quarterback Jake Rudock continues to gain experience and become a more solid player, going 10 of 15 passing for 134 yards and two touchdowns against the Broncos. Rudock will be the key to Iowa’s success this season, as the Hawkeyes have shown they can run the ball.

Nebraska 59 South Dakota State 20

After a week of drama off the field and an embarrassing loss to UCLA, Nebraska was pretty happy to be back on the football field playing a game. This was a pretty easy victory for the Huskers, although South Dakota State gave them a run for one-quarter. The Huskers got a lot of players on the field for this game, which is especially important for their defense. Nebraska had a pretty balanced offensive attack, throwing for 310 yards (two touchdowns) and rushing for 335 yards (five touchdowns). The Jackrabbits did have one bright spot, running back Zach Zenner, who rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Zenner rushed for over 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, so the Huskers shouldn’t be disappointed by their performance against a talented player like Zenner.

Penn State 34 Kent State 0

Another blowout win for Penn State. Kent State put up a valiant effort, but the strength of the depth charts clearly shined through in this game. The most notable aspect in this game was the dominant rushing attack by the Nittany Lions. The bulk of the 287 rushing yards came from the three-headed attack of Akeel Lynch, Bill Belton and Zack Zwinak. With a freshman quarterback still finding his way, I expect Penn State to continue to pound it out on the ground against teams.

#24 Wisconsin 41 Purdue 10

Wisconsin did Wisconsin things in this game, so everyone knew what the outcome was going to be. The Badgers ran the ball right down Purdue’s throat, ensuring the Boilermakers never had a shot. Once again Wisconsin got 300 yards rushing out of its running game. Melvin Gordon rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns, James White rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown and Corey Clement ran for 83 yards and a score. We’ll see what this running game does this weekend when they go against the Ohio State defense (I guarantee not as much).

#22 Notre Dame 17 Michigan State 13

Last week I said nice things about Michigan State and predicted they would win this game. Shame on me for saying nice things about the Spartans because they confirmed to me that they’re going to be a great defensive team, but mediocre at best offensively. It’s a shame because the defense is championship caliber. Of course I could say the same thing about Notre Dame too. Both teams will be held back by their offenses for the rest of the season. Michigan State finishes 3-1 in non-conference play and have a bye week now to try to figure out how to conjure up some sort of offense.

#18 Northwestern 35 Maine 21

This game was much closer than I expected. Northwestern appeared to be sleep walking through this game, most likely looking ahead to their biggest game of the year in two weeks. The Wildcats still pulled off victory though and now have two weeks of preparing for the Buckeyes. Both the quarterback and running back positions appear to be by committee at the moment, with the questionable health of Kain Colter and the absence of Venric Mark. Right now the Wildcats appear to be the second best team in the B1G and the favorite to win the Legends Division.

Missouri 45 Indiana 28

I said this game would be a shootout and I was right. Except Indiana didn’t do as much ‘shooting’ as I thought. Missouri actually took care of the Hoosiers rather easily and Indiana looked exposed against the Tigers. Indiana is another team in the B1G this season that is great on one side of the ball, but terrible on the other side. On defense they gave up 623 yards, including 343 passing yards to Missouri quarterback James Franklin. On the other side, Nate Sudfeld threw for over 200 yards, but also threw three interceptions. After this game, I’m not really sure what to make of Indiana.

#15 Michigan 24 Connecticut 21

If the pick machine, Devin Gardner, can keep it under control Michigan should win this game in easy fashion. But we said that last week too didn’t we?

This is what I said in my preview for this game. Let’s all take a moment to laugh at Michigan. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you to stop. Okay now that we got that out of our systems let’s talk about the game. Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner didn’t keep it under control again and as a result Michigan should have lost to the Huskies. Gardner threw zero touchdowns and two interceptions, with only 111 yards passing. I was expecting the ghost of Tom Harmon to show up and take his number off Gardner’s back. The savior for the Wolverines was running back Fitzgerald Toussaint, who rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns (and saved his sorry ass offense). UConn quarterback Cody Whitmer did his best to carry his team, having a solid day passing (159 yards and two touchdowns). Michigan fans sound worried about Gardner and the offense and rightly so. As someone on Twitter said, they’re basically running the Terrelle Pryor offense at the moment (quarterback runs around and prays he makes a play, relies on running backs heavily). Devin “Turnover Machine” Gardner better get it together quick, otherwise he’ll be riding the pine.

Filed Under: B1G Football

Three Yards and a Cloud of Links

September 24, 2013 by 1 Comment

Good morning Buckeye Nation.

Bad Wheel: Today we will start with the unfortunate news that freshman wide receiver James Clark looks to be out for the season. Kyle Rowland of elevenwarriors.com tweeted out yesterday that this ankle injury is serious. Since this has happened in the first four games of the football season it looks as if James will be able to get a medical redshirt.

Clark is one of the many talented recruits from the 2013 class that ranks as one of the best in the nation. Our best to James Clark and can’t wait to see him back out on the field next season.

Glad I’m Not Her: Seems Y! Sports has video on Fox Sports sideline reporter Pam Oliver having a terrible season. She received a concussion last month during a preseason game when Indianapolis Colts quarterback Chandler Harnish hit her in the head while she was doing an interview and then this past Sunday during the Cincinnati Bungles Bengals game she almost was run over by The Ohio State University Marching Band.

Scarlet and Gray Island Invasion: Speaking of TBDBITL there is some video of the band performing on Miller’s Ferry and their trip into Put in Bay earlier this month.

I love the fact that this band gets to go preforming all around and all the fans that get to enjoy their talents. TBDBITL is Ohio State they are an institution and a great icon and always brings the goose bumps when you listen to them.

Early Recruit: Kind of upset our own recruiting specialists dropped the ball on this one The Ohio State Buckeyes have their first recruit for the Class of 2029!! Sullivan Besser is a future QB in the making. He runs a fast 40 and excels in the classroom.

Seems Busser’s parents thought it would be a great idea to send Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer a recruiting packet on the toddler. Urban being Urban sent a letter back to the family saying he couldn’t wait to see him make his 2029 debut and he would need to work on adding weight but the Buckeyes have a great staff to take care of that.

The Badgers: Since it’s “Beat Wisky” week. Hers a video highlight of what happened last season, lets hope its not that close this year.

Until next time Buckeye Nation.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

5 Things I Think: After Week 4

September 23, 2013 by 1 Comment

Week 4 was a difficult set of games to wrap my head around. Ten teams scored at least 55 points and four of those scored at least 70. If we look at the AP Top Ten (Oregon had a bye) going into the games, did any of those teams in that group really impress in their wins? I’d say the only game that really impressed me was Stanford’s handling of Arizona State. They held that high-powered offense scoreless in the first half while opening up a 29-point lead. Outside of that, there were several blowouts, none of which should have been surprising. Ohio State put 76 on an FCS team (Florida A&M) that won 4 games last season and the only reason it wasn’t worse is because the Buckeyes didn’t throw a pass in the second half (Kenny G threw for 6 TDs in the first half). Louisville put 72 on 0-3 Florida International in a game that saw FIU possess the ball for 32 minutes and only run 43 plays. The two Florida teams in those games combined for just two converted third downs. Florida State beat an FCS team, Bethune-Cookman, by 48 and that did nothing but illustrate how unfair the Louisville/FIU game was because Bethune-Cookman beat FIU 21 last week. Alabama did not play well offensively against a Colorado State team coming off a 4-win season and that has only beaten FCS’ Cal Poly. Clemson struggled against an NC State team that barely beat Richmond the week before but always seems to play up against better teams. Georgia was tied with North Texas at 21 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter, keeping in mind that the Mean Green lost to an Ohio team that Louisville beat by 42 earlier in the season. Texas A&M beat SMU by 29 but let Garrett Gilbert (remember him from Texas?) throw for 310 yards against them to demonstrate that defense is still struggling. LSU, while they looked good at times, only outgained Auburn by 19 total yards and had twice as many penalties as Auburn in a “dreaded” night game in Death Valley. The Top Ten will all have decent tests in Week 5 (with the exceptions of Clemson and Florida State who face Wake Forest and Boston College respectively).

1. Who is the best team in the country? If there were no preseason polls and you had a vote, which would you vote as the number one team in the nation after four weeks? Keep in mind, only take into account what we’ve seen this season, not what we’ve seen in years past. It’s tough right? Let’s look at the current “number one” team in Alabama. In Week 1, they rushed for less than hundred yards and completed less than half their passes for a little over 100 yards against a Virginia Tech team that just allowed 228 yards passing and 133 yards rushing to Marshall in a triple overtime win. Week 2, the Tide defense allowed more yards than it ever had in its storied history to Johnny Football and company. Then Saturday they didn’t convert a third down until near the end of third quarter against a team, Colorado State, whose only win is against FCS’ Cal Poly. Oregon looks great but what have they really done? Yes, they’ve scored at least 59 points in each of their three games, but one of those was against lowly FCS team Nicholls State. The Virginia win gets a few cool points only because the Cavaliers beat the BYU team that would go on to beat Texas down. Then the Ducks beat Tennessee by 45, but the Volunteers only beat Western Kentucky because the Hilltoppers committed five turnovers in a six-play span and only put 17 against Florida because they got a pick six on a play during which Gators quarterback Jeff Driskel broke his fibula. The point is that if we look at this season (and this season alone) thus far, there isn’t any team that stands out as the best team in the country. The good news is that conference play is about to get ramped up around the country and we’ll start to learn a little bit more about everyone, because they’ll get away from the “gimme games” and actually get challenged. My Buckeyes are ranked in the top five but the only thing they’ve really accomplished is playing well against inferior opponents despite doing so without their star quarterback and while I don’t know if many other FBS teams could do that well with a backup QB, it doesn’t really make the “w” any more valuable.

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Filed Under: College Football
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