Archives for October 2014

A Look Around The Country

October 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Same mediocre play, different week. I’m pretty sure almost every week I write this the top teams in the country are either not playing or struggling against inferior opponents. It happened again this week. Florida State squeaked by NC State while giving up 40+ points. The Seminoles are going to lose eventually; I guarantee it (in my best Men’s Warehouse voice). Oregon, Oklahoma, and Alabama were all idle this week before huge tests against Arizona, TCU, and Ole Miss respectively. Don’t be surprised if one of them goes down in an upset. As you’ll see from the “Big Games this week” section, there are plenty of great games this weekend. Many of which will be season-defining for the teams involved. After this weekend, we will have a much clearer Playoff picture headed into the month of October. So buckle up.

Notable Games Last Week

UCLA 62 Arizona State 27

I’ll be honest; I underestimated Bret Hundley and the Bruins as I predicted them to lose this one. But it’s safe to say now that UCLA is a clear contender in the PAC 12 race and pose a real threat to Oregon (they play in Pasadena on October 11). Hundley looked like a Heisman contender most of the game and if he continues to play like that, UCLA could be looking at a Playoff berth in December.

Missouri 21 South Carolina 20

A week after losing to Big Ten powerhouse, Indiana, the Tigers of Mizzou were able to dispatch South Carolina at Williams-Brice. I can’t make sense of the SEC East right now. They have no clear favorite right now except maybe for Georgia. To me it doesn’t really matter who wins the East because they will get destroyed in the SEC title game by the eventual West Champ. It’s back to the drawing board yet again for Steve Spurrier.

Ohio State 50 Cincinnati 28

What started with the Bearcats scoring on a long touchdown pass early in the game led to an Ohio State romp. Then Cincinnati came back, and then the Buckeyes pulled away again. In the middle of all that was an Ohio State student (and Evan’s Scholar) running onto the field only to get planted into the ground by former Buckeye LB Anthony Schlegel. It was an odd night. The Buckeyes still need to work on their pass defense but the offense behind J.T. Barrett and Zeke Elliot is starting to come together. If they can fix the secondary, it will be fun to watch them make a playoff push.

Big Games This Week

Ohio State at Maryland

The Buckeyes kickoff Big Ten play against the newcomer Maryland Terrapins. It will be fun to watch Ohio State fans take over College Park just like they do to every other stadium in the conference and country every week. Let’s give them a warm welcome to the Big Ten. The offense should excel most of the day, with the only real concern being on the defensive side of the ball. The secondary will have to handle WR Stefon Diggs who was once a Buckeye prospect. If they can do that, they should win big.

Saturday, October 4 at 12:00pm on ABC

Alabama at Ole Miss

Oxford, Mississippi will be rocking as the Crimson Tide roll into town on Saturday. Bama has been struggling against most of its opponents this year mostly because of the inexperience at quarterback. But the Rebels are coming off of a lackluster win over Memphis making it pretty clear that they were looking ahead to this one. I highly suggest you tune in to watch this one. Ole Miss keeps it close but the Tide pull away in the fourth quarter

Saturday, October 4 at 3:30pm on CBS

Stanford at Notre Dame

The Irish have been extremely underrated so far this season and I think as the season goes on we will start to see why they were in the title game in 2012. They’re the least talked about top 10 team by far this season. Everett Golston has been playing lights out so far and I expect that to continue against a good Stanford defense. Brian Kelly is the man in South Bend but look for a repeat of the 2012 game; it will go down to the wire. Notre Dame comes away with the W.

Saturday, October 4 at 3:30pm on NBC

Nebraska at Michigan State

Who would have thought that this game would be such a huge matchup in primetime. Not me. In what could be a Big Ten championship preview, Pelini’s Huskers march into East Lansing to take on the favored Spartans. Ameer Abdullah has been playing like a Heisman contender so far this year so the MSU Defense will be put to the challenge. But Nebraska hasn’t seen an offense as good as the Spartans all season. Guys like Connor Cook and Jeremy Langford are a handful for any defense. It’ll be a great four quarters of football, but Sparty comes away with a 3 point victory.

Saturday, October 4 at 8pm on ABC

I also suggest tuning into Arizona-Oregon, Utah-UCLA, Arizona State-USC, Texas A&M-Mississippi State, Oklahoma-TCU, Baylor-Texas, and LSU-Auburn. So go buy a case of beer, fill up your cooler, and sit your butt on the couch all day. It’s a Fall Saturday, so it’s socially acceptable.

Michigan Update

It’s going to get worse in Ann Arbor before it gets better. This has been an absolute train wreck of a season for the Wolverines and I have Brady Hoke on Fire watch any day now. His mishandling of QB Shane Morris’s concussion symptoms is just another incident in a long line of mishaps he’s had at Michigan. They lost to Minnesota this week 30-14 and their schedule doesn’t seem to get any easier (for them at least). They play Rutgers, Penn State, and Michigan State over the next three games. They will lose at least 2 of those, maybe all 3. So long, Brady.
My Playoff if the Season Ended Today

1. Oregon (was idle this week, plays Arizona this week) The Ducks will have plenty of rest heading into their game with the Wildcats. Mariota is good, I mean really good. I don’t anticipate any problems with this one. They are still my Number One.

2. Oklahoma (was idle this week, plays TCU this week) For me, the Sooners are the only equal opponent with Oregon right now. There is a huge drop off to number 3. They take on the Horned Frogs this week and I expect them to roll. The Red River Rivalry is next week. Boomer Sooner.

3. Alabama (was idle this week, plays Ole Miss this week) I bumped up the Tide this week mostly because they have been a little more consistent than Florida State. I still can’t imagine them going undefeated though. As a side note to that: I highly doubt any SEC team goes undefeated. The West is brutal.

4. Florida State (beat NC State 56-41, plays Wake Forest this week) I cannot wrap my head around their struggles so far. It sort of made sense last week since Winston was out. But they have a great defense; there is no reason why they should be giving up 41 to the Wolfpack. Have to believe they get beat eventually as well. As far as I know, the eventual national champion is sitting outside of the top 10.

Just Missed the Cut

5. Baylor
6. Auburn
7. Notre Dame
8. Texas A&M
9. Michigan State
10. Ole Miss
17. Ohio State

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

Players to Watch: Week 6 Ohio State-Maryland

October 1, 2014 by 2 Comments

Ohio State opens up Big Ten play in College Park this Saturday taking on new comer Maryland. The Terrapins are 4-1 and have started off the season on a hot streak recording some decent wins over Indiana, Syracuse, and South Florida. The Terps will threaten Ohio State with a big play offense like Cincinnati’s, however it is a more balanced offense that poses the additional threat of a dual threat quarterback.

Ohio State is coming off of a solid win over in-state little brother Cincinnati. The Buckeyes had a balanced offensive explosion led by youngsters J.T. Barrett and Ezekiel Elliott. They will look to travel their new found run game and put up similar numbers against a could be stubborn Terps defense. Speaking of defense, Chris Ash is looking to prove to Coach Meyer and Buckeye nation that his schematic miscues in the win over Cincinnati are fixable and the Buckeye defense is on the up and up.

Let’s look at players on both teams that will have an impact on this Big Ten clash.

Maryland

C.J. Brown,Quarterback

Brown’s career with the Terrapins has been filled with ups and downs. Brown has always possessed talent as a runner and a passer, however he has been plagued with the injury bug on several occasions. His injury prone nature is the reason why he is listed as questionable entering the Ohio State game Saturday. Brown injured his wrist in the second quarter versus Indiana and will be a game-time decision.

When Brown is healthy, he provides an extra dimension to this potent Maryland offense. The Terps are able to take full advantage of their read option game, and their offense takes similar appearance to Ohio State’s offense when Braxton Miller is playing quarterback. Brown is no Miller in the open field, but it is impressive that he leads his team in rushing yards and touchdowns. He does not do anything extremely well, he simply makes consistently good decisions as would be expected from a senior starting quarterback.

Marcus Leak, Wide Receiver

Last week it wasn’t the top two receivers for the Bearcats that gave the Buckeyes trouble, but the third man on their depth chart who exploded for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns. This week I’m following that theme. Leak is thought of as the third major option in this offense, but leads the team in touchdown receptions (3). Leak has not shown up consistently for the Terps offense, but when he does it is in a big way with a 17.6 yards per catch average. The Buckeye defense will be mainly concerned with the Terps number one man Stefon Diggs, so expect Leak to get a few targets to loosen up coverage on Diggs.

Stefon Diggs, Playmaker

Diggs college decision came down to Ohio State and Maryland, and Diggs spurned the Buckeyes for his hometown Terps. He finally gets a chance to showcase his talents against the team and coaching staff that coveted him so much.

What makes Diggs so talented is his ability to constantly improve and master his craft. Diggs does have game breaking speed, and can make defenders miss in space, but it is the little things he does well that make him very talented. He runs very crisp routes, has good feet off the line to beat tight coverage, understands when to sit down in zone or when to continue his route, and is willing to do the dirty work in the run blocking game.

Diggs suffered a tough season ending injury last year, but is bouncing back to his stellar form as a freshman where he had 54 receptions for 850 receiving yards, 6 touchdown receptions, as well as 20 rushing attempts for 114 yards. Diggs has gone from the flashy freshman to a consistent and reliable veteran in this receiving core. He hasn’t made a ton of big plays in the passing game this season, but his 29 receptions lead the team, and he has already recorded two 100 yard plus games. Diggs also is a big time threat in the kick game. The kid can do it all and it is no surprise why Meyer wanted him so badly.

Ohio State

Ezekiel Elliott

Being able to pack your offensive line and running game and take it on the road with you is one of the ultimate goals for most football coaches. The Buckeyes will attempt to do that on Saturday and expect Elliott to receive the majority of those touches. He proved versus Cincinnati, with his first real opportunity to be the feature back, that he can not only carry the load but be the stud he was touted to be out of high school. Elliott was able to rush effectively, as well as pose a major threat receiving out of the backfield. He will be heavily relied upon, along with the offensive line, to get the offense in to rhythm and maintain the momentum they gained in the Cincinnati win.

Darron Lee

Lee was instrumental in keeping Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds in check and I would expect him to have similar responsibilities against C.J. Brown. Lee has been playing the step out linebacker position at a very high level only being a redshirt freshman. He is a solid tackler, has great range in run defense, coverage,and rushing the passer. Raekwon McMillan may be charged with spying Brown the majority of the game, but if Brown escapes McMillan I would expect Lee to be right there to clean up any mistakes. Lee’s athleticism and versatility will be key versus a very versatile offense.

J.T. Barrett

A great litmus test for the maturity of a young player is to see how they handle success. Barrett has been touted as a great leader for how young he is. It will be interesting to see how he performs on the road, after a big win, facing an under the radar dangerous team, with a noon kick. Will Barrett come out slinging the rock like he did against Cincinnati? Or will we seem him get off to a slow start and struggle to get the offense going? After going up 31-7 in Saturday’s performance, Barrett and the offense sputtered and seemed complacent which instigated a very passionate Coach Meyer to implore his freshman QB to “TAKE CHARGE!”. Hopefully that proved to be a teaching moment for Barrett and the young offense to not take their foot off the gas, ever.

Barrett’s performance last week was outstanding. He was provided with a great performance from his offensive line and his stud running back. He was also handed a large majority of the playbook. Barrett will need to step in to the sleepy noon environment with as much energy and focus as he did in the electric environment that the great fans at The Horseshoe provided last Saturday night. Entering conference play will test Barrett’s maturity and his readiness to take on the tough Big Ten slate. It will be interesting to see how the redshirt freshman responds.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football
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