Archives for October 2013

1.) Ohio State (8-0)- Beat Penn State 63-14. Dominance!!! That is the only word that needs to be used to describe this weeks game for the Buckeyes.

2.) Michigan State (7-1)- Beat Illinois 42-3. The Spartan defense is the real deal and shows up all the time. Can the offense keep going in a positive direction? This weeks game against their rival TTUN will go a long way to prove they belong at the top of this list.

3.) Wisconsin (5-2)- Wisconsin was on a BYE this past week.

4.) Minnesota (6-2)- Beat Nebraska 34-23. Jerry Kill still isn’t on the sideline yet but his team is playing inspired football to honor him. The Gophers flat out over powered the Cornhuskers. They punched them in the mouth and Nebraska went crying to their mommies instead of fighting back.

5.) Michigan (6-1)- TTUN was on a BYE this past week.

6.) Iowa (5-3)- Beat Northwestern 17-10. Iowa played Hawkeye football. They played great defense and just enough offense to win the game. Not sure still how good this team is.

7.) Nebraska (5-2)- Lost to Minnesota 34-23. What can you say about this team? The return of Taylor Martinez was less than successful. If not for some really bad teams in the B1G right now they would be even lower on this list.

8.) Penn State (4-3)- Lost to Ohio State 63-14. Penn State got throttled in every aspect of the game against the Buckeyes. The team will need to do some soul searching this week.

9.) Indiana (3-4)- Indiana was on a BYE this past week.

10.) Illinois (3-4)- Lost to Michigan State 42-3. The Illini took a step back this week with an embarrassing home loss to the Spartans. They will need to regroup and play better if they hope to salvage the season.

11.) Purdue (1-6)- Purdue was on a BYE last week.

12.) Northwestern (4-4)- Lost to Iowa 17-10. After starting the year 4-0 the Wildcats have limped along to a 4-4 record. With 4 straight losses the Wildcats are going to struggle to become bowl eligible at this point.

Good Morning Buckeye Nation.

SuperBand: Grab your coffee, sit back and enjoy this video from The Best Damn Band In The Land.

Seems the Buckeye Band is constantly upping their game. This is why they are simply the best band.

BBall Preseason: Aaron Craft is one of the four B1G point guards named to the Cousy Award watchlist this season. Last season Craft was a Cousy semi-finalist. Its going to be an exciting season with Craft at the point again this year and the season tips off Monday Nov. 4th.

B1G Media Days: Miss the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams media days this last weekend? Don’t worry so did I. Feel free to catch up like I am going to do (maybe I can break it down later and make a post for you).

Having Fun: I decided to have a little fun at Brady cHokes expense. Since we are inching closer to the Game it might be time to start making new stuff to get you all fired up for The Game. Yeah like you need me to help with that hahaha. Its Tuesday and TTUN still Sucks!!

Sorry for another short and sweet post today but dipping my feet back into the water and should be getting more from me soon. Until next time Buckeye Nation…

MotSaG Top 25 1. Oregon 2. Alabama 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State 5. Baylor 6. Miami 7. Stanford 8. Clemson 9. Oklahoma 10. Missouri 11. Auburn 12. Texas Tech 13. Fresno State 14. Northern Illinois 15. UCF 16. Oklahoma State 17. Texas A&M 18. Louisville 19. UCLA 20. Wisconsin 21. LSU 22. South Carolina 23. Michigan State 24. Arizona State 25. Michigan

Of all the weeks for Ohio State to set the box score on fire, it had to be this week, didn’t it? With Alabama taking care of business against a pesky Tennessee, Florida State pasting NC State and Oregon pulling away from UCLA, Ohio State’s 63-14 clubbing of the hapless Nittany Lions wasn’t able to stand out among a sea of blowouts.

I’m dropping Florida State because that Clemson victory last week seems to have lost a little luster, in my eyes, after seeing them struggle against Maryland. And NC State, for all the times they’ve played spoiler in the ACC, just aren’t that great. BUT, if Florida State can handle Miami next weekend, it will be hard to keep them out of the top two. I don’t think Miami is all that great, either, but beating two undefeated top-ranked teams has to stand for something.

I tried to keep the SEC from creeping back in to the rankings, but South Carolina deserves credit for beating Missouri, even if that game ended in the most Missouri-way possible. The rest of the SEC snacked on a bunch of scrubs that really shouldn’t count for much. But hey, SEC.

Our B1G brethren certainly didn’t help themselves, either. I considered Minnesota for the rankings for the first time in probably 8 years. They probably deserve it, too. But I threw Michigan in there because nothing will bring me more pleasure to see them fall out of the rankings AGAIN when they lose to their “little brothers” next week.

Welcome to the weekly installment where we look at the game from a statistical perspective. Feel free to add your thoughts. What stats impressed you? Here are 5 stats that stood out to me against Penn State.

2; 1 – After scoring 63 points, it may be sacrilegious to start on the defensive end, but Noah Spence had himself a great game. He was smothering the quarterback and disrupting pass plays consistently. We heard his name called on the broadcast on several occasions, well Deserved. He finished the game with 2 sacks and 1 TFL, but his impact was felt well beyond those three stats. The entire defensive front deserves a shout out for a game well-played.

75% – I know it is cliché and the expression was overused last night by the announcers, but Braxton is “becoming a QB”. The progression is amazing to watch, especially as a passer. Braxton had another strong game last night. I was most impressed with his ability to keep plays alive and still find receivers open down field. He completed 75% of his passes following up a strong 81% completion rate last week.

8.9 – The individual stats of a lot of players were amazing. That probably goes without saying after putting up 63 points and gaining 686 total yards. As a team, the Buckeyes averaged 8.9 yards/play. To me that number is mind-boggling. The Buckeye offense moved the ball at will.

8.0 – Just to show how much I am in love with the yards/play stat from this game, here is another one…The Buckeye offense averaged 8 yards/carry. Not one player, as a team. I am not sure if anyone else thought the same thing, but I found myself thinking on numerous occasions why would Braxton not give the ball to Carlos Hyde on every play because he picked up 8 or 9 yards every time he touched it. Then I reminded myself, it didn’t matter what play they called because the offense picked up 8.9 (on average) yards every time anyone touched it. SEVEN players averaged more than 6.2 yards/carry, SEVEN! Carlos Hyde (9.2), Jordan Hall (10.1), Braxton Miller (6.2), Cardale Jones (10.4), Kenny Guiton (7.7), Ezekiel Elliot (8.5), and Dontre Wilson (12.0). Unreal!

0 – Two straight games with 0 turnovers. Other notable – 70% 3rd down conversion rate. There were so many impressive stats against PSU. I could have just screen captured the box score and posted that but then you would get the delightful commentary that comes with these stats ;). If you want to check out the box score yourself, I highly encourage you to do so. Be prepared to be blown away!

Any other key stats against Penn State?

Hey Guys…

Who saw that one coming?

When was the game actually over?

A. Coin Flip

B. First OSU Drive leading to TD

C. First PSU Drive leading to an INT and shaking up an, otherwise steady, freshman QB

D. The moment Mark May ran his talkhole about Penn State upsetting OSU

The troll in me says “coin flip” or Mark May talkie-talkathon of stupidly stupid things, but it was probably the first drive for Penn State. PSU pretty much took it down the field and Hackenberg threw an awful pick in the endzone killing any momentum and really shaking his confidence going forward.

“The Debt,” which was conceived in 1994 in Happy Valley, was finally repaid last night with OSU reciprocating one its worst losses in my lifetime. I know the cool SEC kids and that frosty tipped media mogul will talk about the loss to Florida as one of the worst, but 63-14 in Happy Valley was a tough one for most of to deal with…especially if you were enrolled at the time (*raises hand *realizes age *puts hand back down just as quickly).

Just let that score sink in for a moment…63-14…42-7 at the half. Almost as tasty as Scott Tenorman’s tear at the “Chili con Carvival.”

Offense & Defense

The Ohio State offense was lethal last night. Miller is playing on another level with his passing and actually looks to running with the same level of aggression that was on display his freshman year. Brax accounted for 320 yards of total offense and five touchdowns (3 pass 2 rush)last night. It was a night with a Heisman-type of performance, regardless of the opponent’s inability to play football. Hyde…well…Hyde is just a beast and seems to be hitting his stride at the right time. He is running like Marshawn Lynch and it just makes you wonder how much Heisman consideration he would be getting if he had played every game this season. El Guapo rushewd for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

The defense was solid last night, even with the lack of a pick-6. Outside of a couple of drives and unbelievable backyard football play by Allen Robinson, the defense was stout. “Stout” is a relative term for this defense this year, as they’ll never be confused with the 2002 or 2005 defenses. There are yards to be had against this defense. Hopefully, the occaisional lazy tackle issue (See Cal) has been put to rest, so the defense can actually make the opponents earn yardage and scores. The standouts on the defensive side of the ball for the game were Noah Spence, Curtis Grant, and CJ Barnett. Spence was basically unblockable and wreaked havoc on the Penn State offensive line and Christian Hackenberg. OSU still hasnt had a running back go over 100 yards them this year, but Bill Belton was really close last night showing some skills to make the first tackler miss “A LOT” last night and rolling up a modest 98 yards for the night.

What does all of this mean?

OSU is on a roll right now. They are looking like less and less of an underdog to the teams above them in the BCS standings each week. Like I said in the preview, just enjoy these victories and let the cards fall as they may. With OSU playing at this level, they really should decimate the remaining teams on their schedule until the B1G Championship Game against most likely MSU.

btw…Mucho Thanks to the HBC and the Mizzou kicker really showing the importance “LACES OUT!”

“This escalated quickly.”

That was a text I got from Jeremiah after Ohio State went up 28-0. When I started writing up this instant reaction I started recapping each drive, thinking I’d only have a couple scoring drives to reference for each half but then Ohio State’s offense exploded for six scores in the first half and the rout was on.

Quickly, indeed.

It looked like it might be a dog fight at first, with Penn State driving down into the red zone after Ohio State’s first score. But Corey Brown’s interception in the end zone turned things around for the Buckeye Defense and they stiffened up for the rest of the half.

After Penn State finally found the endzone with a couple minutes in the first half, you’d think that a 35-7 half-time would be enough to run the clock out, but Urban Meyer knows that life was too short to not go for broke. Miller found Brown in the endzone and Ohio State went in to half-time up 42-7.

Lost in the offensive juggernaut was that the defense played its most complete game in a while. Bradley Roby probably availed himself the most this night, taking part in the defense’s stymying of the Penn State Robinson didn’t have a catch until the second half and really didn’t do any damage until late in the fourth quarter against the defensive fourth-stringers and a couple equipment managers.

So with this victory, Penn State’s 63-14 thrashing of Ohio State has been atoned with a 63-14 Ohio State thrashing of their own. A 686 yard offensive thrashing.

And because one of my favorite past times the Sunday after an OSU victory over Penn State is to go read comment threads from Penn State fans on Penn State blogs, I’ll just leave this here:

The difference between 1994 and 2013 is that Paterno probably pulled his first string at halftime and Meyer was too scared to do it.

— Adam Shellenbarger (@Adam_Shell) October 27, 2013

“Scared”

Prime time is great time for pick six time. Penn State is in town, in the ‘Shoe and some of us will be chatting in the Live Chat. If you’re interested, we’d love to have you.

Hit the jump to join the fun in the Live In Game Chat.

[Read more…]

It’s Penn State week, everyone, or as it’s known in Happy Valley, “We sure wish you guys would call us your rivals!”. Look how much we hate you! Please, please can we be rivals?

With real life intervening with some of our writers, we had a lighter week than normal on the content. That didn’t stop our Resident Penn State Hater, YNBA, from unleashing his hate cannon on unsuspecting Littany Nions:

I dont get wrapped up in the X’s and O’s of this game, because it generally isnt a chess match. It is normally a game of two teams trading haymakers until the final whistle. There seems to only be one constant. There will be a pick six. It is really just a matter of who makes it and when does it occur in the game.

The real question is, what kind of haymakers can Penn State land? Is that a pretty good (ranked 17th in the NCAA) defense, or a Paper Lion?

Penn State is currently 17th in Total Defense in the NCAA giving 486 and 507 yards in its losses to Indiana and UCF respectively. I just dont see OSU being stopped by the Penn State defense. They may slow it down during parts of the game, but OSU should be able to leverage all of its weapons in the Shoe on Saturday night.

Ronnie took the usual look at which players demand your attention. Not surprisingly, the match-up between Penn State’s Allen Robinson and Ohio State’s Bradley Roby factors prominently:

…His year of facing good to great wide receivers does not get any easier as this weekend Robinson rolls in to town. Robinson will be one of Roby’s toughest tests. As stated above Robinson can hit a defense from anywhere on the field, so it will be important for Roby to be on his game. If the front seven can take care of the run game without any extra reliance on Roby then it will take a lot of pressure off of him and allow him to focus on shutting down Robinson. Roby’s play style and athleticism match up very well against Robinson. Roby has extremely smooth hips, he is very very good in press coverage, and as long as he stays disciplined on the double moves, Roby can keep up with Robinson speed wise. This will be the match-up to watch all night long as these two All Big Ten players battle it out.

I don’t think Robinson will be able to beat Ohio State on his own but if Roby can shut him down, it’s going to be a long night for the Lions.

The statistics look fairly balanced, until you look at Penn State’s 3rd down conversion rate. It’s not pretty. Another reason the night could be long.

So what do we see happening, Buckeye Fans? Is this a competitive game through three quarters? Or does Ohio State come out, bring the hammer down early and often in front of a primetime audience and cruise to an easy victory as El Guapo chews up yards and minutes in the third and fourth quarters? I say yes.

Ohio State 41
Penn State 20

What say you?