Ohio State 17

Michigan State 16

Urban Meyer hugged his players and assistant coaches as they left the field in victory after a hotly contested Big Ten game Saturday afternoon. While at times it didn’t look pretty, the Buckeyes prevailed vs. a quality opponent on the road. Once again Ohio State needed Braxton Miller to be the focal point of the offense and he came through despite 3 turnovers in MSU territory.

Miller ran wild vs. the best defense in the Big Ten and the 6th best defense in the entire country. He had 134 yards rushing and 179 yards passing and the deciding touchdown to Devin Smith. Miller was battered and bruised all day vs. an aggressive MSU defense that typically doesn’t like to play nice. Miller had his head rocked into a metal case on the sideline in the 1st quarter than lead to Kenny Guiton coming in to finish the drive for a TD thanks to a Jordan Hall dive across the goal line to make it 7-0.

Miller also looked like he hyper-extended his knee in the 4th quarter as he surrendered the ball for his 3rd turnover in the game. While I absolutely love Miller, he cannot simply drop the ball due to pain. The ball wasn’t forced out by a defender or touched by any other player…Miller simply dropped the ball on his own and it could have been disaster for OSU.

Positives:

• The Ohio State offensive line was for much of the game dominant vs. an elite defensive front. Last year OSU gave up 9 sacks and had 178 total yards and 35 yards rushing. This year OSU amassed. 383 total yards and 204 yards rushing.
• Braxton Miller…once again was the best player on the field. He out rushed Le’veon Bell by over 80 yards and threw the game winner. Another gutsy performance. Urban Meyer called Miller a family member after the game.
• Carlos Hyde. Hyde had multiple 1st down runs on the final drive to run out the clock. He ran with power AND vision. Glad to have him back.
• The defense stepped up big time vs Bell. The defensive front was outstanding, lead by Jonathan Hankins who is proving he could be an early NFL pick come April.
• Linebackers stepped up finally. Sabino had his best game of the year and Shazier had some key stops as well. This was the best we have seen the OSU defense play thus far.
• Seeing Danonio’s smug face after his team lost.

What To Work On:

• File the under “no kidding” but Miller cannot turn the ball over 3 times. He potentially wiped away points on three separate drives. Luckily OSU won. He had issues with fumbling to start the season last year, let’s hope this doesn’t become an issue.
• Tackling is still an issue. The lone MSU TD was a sloppy slap fest at the ball as the MSU tailback took it in from 29 out. OSU has caused very, very few fumbles and missed about a million tackles. Just tackle the guy and play team defense. That play was embarrassing.
• What is going on with Jake Stoneburner? He was a player that was overly hyped coming into this season. We all heard he would be the next Aaron Hernandez. So far he hasn’t done all that much. Through 5 games he has 7 catches for 92 yards. Last year at the same time he had 10 catches for over 100 yards and last year he missed a game as well. What is going on with the tightened production?

All in all it was an outstanding win that put the Buckeyes in the drivers seat in their division. It will be difficult for OSU to get up for every game like they did vs. MSU and must keep the train rolling vs. Nebraska at the Shoe this Saturday.

After a hard fought Big Ten battle, OSU comes out on top holding Heisman candidate Le’veon Bell to under 50 yards rushing on 17 carries. Braxton Miller struggled with turning the ball over today, but made plenty of big plays against one of the premier defenses in the country. Miller ran for 136 yards and threw for 179 and tossed the game winning touchdown to Devin Smith late in the 3rd quarter.

Urban Meyer has his first marquee victory as a Buckeye coach. It was great seeing the passion from Meyer, the rest of the coaches and all the players and fans after the game had ended.

Michigan State is a heck of a good team filled with plenty of players that will be playing on Sundays. The defense certainly stepped up limiting the leading runningback in the Big Ten to 2.6 yards per carry.

Full recap to follow…

Ohio State beat UCF by 2 touchdowns, but there was some real causes for concern Saturday.

All week prior to the UCF game, Urban Meyer cautioned his players, coaches, the media and fans that UCF was a highly talented team littered with NFL talent. UCF was a decent opponent but the Buckeyes were beaten all day by a foe other than The Knights…themselves. Ohio State had 10 penalties totaling 79 yards, at least 3 broken plays (2 of which were turned into first downs thanks to Miller) and 3 turnovers. With all that, they still won by 15 points vs. a team that Urban Meyer compared to an SEC type squad.

OSU wasn’t hampered by the slow start they had vs. Miami as they scored on their first drive thanks to Braxton Millers quarterback draw right through the heart of the UCF defense. OSU put up nearly 250 yards of total offense in the first half and 17 points. Miller had 100 yards rushing by halftime and midway through the 3rd quarter the game was a 3 touchdown game. Rather than turning into another laugher, UCF stuck around and made things mildly interesting tacking on a late 3rd quarter TD before both teams were shut out in the 4th quarter.

What the Buckeyes need to work on:

• The broken plays need to stop. This offense gets Miller hit enough, they don’t need multiple plays with TB’s not knowing where to go, causing Miller to scramble for his life. This is all part of the newly installed offense and the growing pains that come with it.
• The penalties need to be cleaned up. Too many procedural penalties that constantly put OSU at 1st and 15 rather than 1st and 10.
• Braxton Miller has got to do a MUCH better job on reading the zone read option. Two plays in a row he read the defensive end badly and caused a 3rd and long. Both plays should have been positive plays if read properly.
• Ryan Shazier is a complete and total freak at LBer, however he needs to take better angles and read his keys much better. The long Storm Johnson run that set up the playaction TD pass in the 2nd quarter were both results of poor play by Shazier. A bad angle lead to the 48 yard run that set up a goal line play that saw a UCF tightened get behind an overly aggressive Shazier in the end zone.
• The OSU pass defense needs to be tightened up.  From the defensive line to the secondary…it’s broken. Currently OSU is 99th in pass defense and 74th in sacks in the country. Those two stats are very much related. Ohio State desperately needs to get more pressure on opposing QB’s. Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington got a ton of snaps vs. UCF and showed flashes but very little pressure was generated. 1 sack in 41 pass attempts isn’t going to get it done. Without Nathan Williams it seems like the Buckeye pass rush is very average. Perhaps Shazier needs to blitz more often. Missing Williams(injured), Bennett(injured), and Bellamy(quit football) has hurt OSU and without a pass rush, even the most pedestrian QB’s can thrive.
• The defense is lacking that imposing, dominating feel it’s had in the Tressel era. Fickell needs to figures some things out.
• Ohio State needs a playmaker at runningback. Hyde is injured, Dunn is a freshman, and Rod Smith is a fumbling machine. Perhaps the addition of Jordan Hall this week with unlock this offense.
• Why…WHY did Urban Meyer accept that penalty after Adolphus Washington crushed Bortles on 3rd down causing an incomplete pass? Instead of 4th down and forcing a FG attempt, UCF converted on 3rd and long after the penalty and ended up scoring a touchdown to make things interesting.

What looked good for the Buckeyes:

• Braxton Miller…DUH! Miller completed 75% of his passes, ran for 141 yards and accounted for 4 touchdowns. Many times he was electrifying and efficient as a passer. Braxton Miller is currently 4th in the Big Ten is passer efficiency and leading the Big Ten is rushing. Miller is also tied with Le’Veon Bell for total scoring. In other words, Miller is a total badass.
• Orhian Johnson was crowbarred into the starting “star” position at the urging of Urban Meyer and he rewarded his coach by being a beast all day. Johnson was 2nd on the team in tackles and had a key redone interception that thwarted a drive by UCF.
• Travis Howard had another interception giving him 3 for the season which leads the country.
• Philly Brown has emerged as a go to player for OSU on offense. Brown had 33 yards rushing on 2 carries and another 48 in receiving. Meyer said after the game that Brown would be more of a focal point moving forward.
• Brionte Dunn only had 29 yards rushing(averaged 5.8 yards per carry) but showed more potential and will be THE guy moving forward with OSU’s depth issues at running back.
• What is working on defense? It’s not all doom and gloom on defense. OSU is currently 25th in the nation in scoring defense, 8th in rushing defense, and 3rd in the country in interceptions. There is obviously talent there, they just need to figure some things out and put it all together.

It did look ugly at times vs. UCF Saturday but OSU still won by 15 and put up over 400 yards of total offense. The offense is still very fun to watch and the future looks bright. OSU is still undefeated, something only 4 other teams can say in the Big Ten. For everything that went wrong Saturday, remember this…it could be worse, OSU could be PSU.

PS.

Dear Opposing Defenses,

Braxton Miller laughs at you:

As always thanks to Josh Winslow for the great photos.

jwinslow.com

The game was good and terrible to watch. There are some good thing to take away from the game but it’s clear OSU needs some work.

1. Braxton Miller isn’t Tim Tebow. I’d like to see Miller take less shots. He needs to go down rather than sacrificing his body. It’s week two Braxton…calm down.

2. Offense needs to be tightened up. Two many broken plays that resulted in at best Miller becoming Houdini and at worst OSU losing yards on 1st down.

3. Miller needs to do a better job of reading the option. There were far too many times he read the play incorrectly resulting in a loss of yards.

4. Too many penalties that made thing difficult for a Buckeye offense still learning. Dumb procedural penalties that didn’t happen and can’t happen with a young, green offense.

5. Braxton Miller is incredible. Absolutely gifted football player who is still clearly learning how to play his position.

6. The OSU secondary picked off Bortles 3 times, but that doesn’t sugar coat the fact that there is a real problem in the back 7. Communication seems to be an issue as multiple blown coverages lead to TD passes and big plays that kept drives going.

7. Injuries are concerning…Howard and Hyde both in street clothes early on.

8. With less that a minute left why was OSU running the football. Take a knee and end the game. Absolutely terrible clock management that resulted in a fumble by an inexperienced running back.

Full review to come later.

Thanks to ESPN for the stats.

The mighty UCF Knights travel to Ohio Stadium Saturday and bring with them a bounty of newspaper clippings blowing sunshine up their proverbial backsides. Everyone from Phil Steele to OSU’s own Urban Meyer has compared The Knights to a Big Ten level team and even a mid range SEC team…that must mean they are unstoppable. How on Earth will the Buckeyes compete?

I can see how the football gods have anointed UCF as being a formidable foe…I mean…they did beat the snot out of Akron, a team that a year ago was so bad they made Joe Bauserman look like a Heisman finalist. Against the Zips, Bauserman completed 75% of his passes and accounted for 4 TD’s. The rest of the year…Bauserman completed 40% of his passes and was benched.

I’m certainly not saying the Knights are a push over because they are not. They have some talent on their team and will be more competitive than Miami was vs. OSU last week. I believe Urban Meyer is talking up UCF in an effort to focus his team on the task at hand. It’s an old coaching tactic to mentally prepare players for an opponent.

Last year UCF was 5-7…in Conference USA. 5-7. I’m fairly certain that the hyperbole used by Urban Meyer is a bit extreme. UCF has some talented players, like Storm Johnson who’s name is better than his game. Johnson is a Miami Hurricane transfer who will start in place of Latavius Murray who was injured in last weeks glorious victory vs. the storied program of Akron. They have some speed at the WR position highlighted by Rannell Hall who had 2 touchdowns last week. Their QB is Blake Bortles, a 6-4 220lb hulk of a QB hell bent on setting college football ablaze with his 2 star ability. Yes, most of the UCF roster is littered with 2 and 3 star recruits passed over by the Florida, Florida States and Miami’s of the world. Forgive me for not having my hair blown back by the talent at UCF.

UCF offense vs The Ohio State defense:

UCF runs a traditional, pro style attack with elements of the spread sprinkled in. Allegedly their QB is a decent athlete and will run the ball off the zone read option. If he does…he will be greeted by 3 blue chip linebackers and be in for a long day. UCF has a stable of talented backs and will run the ball. That is their strength. Run it, run it well and playaction off the run…with a few wrinkles added in. I’d imagine the OSU defense will be A-okay with playing this type of offense compared to the 54 pass attempts by the quick drop and fire Miami Red Hawks last week. Difficult to get pressure with the front four when the ball is gone in a split second. I look for John Simon and company to soil Bortles jersey early and often. Bortles is an accurate quarterback, but like most QB’s…especially young ones, will make bone-headed decisions when pressured, like he did last week getting picked off after carelessly throwing the ball into coverage. UCF will counter OSU’s dominant front 4 by trying to throw the ball quickly and letting their speedy WR’s do something after the catch. UCF will be somewhat productive, but OSU will eventually lay their Chuck Norris rated pimp hand down.

The Ohio State offense vs the UCF defense:

UCF’s talent is on defense. They have a formidable front 4 lead by Victor Gray and Troy Davis. Okay, I’m kidding…they aren’t formidable…last year UCF accounted for 17 sacks which was good for 95th in the country. Like Miami last week, UCF will look to force Ohio State to throw the football. They will make Braxton Miller beat them with his arm rather than his legs. The only problem with that is UCF has some depth issues in the defensive backfield. Last years star defensive back Josh Robinson went off to the NFL and now UCF must rely on A.J. Bouye, a guy coming off a torn ACL to lead the secondary, among others.

Last week OSU stopped themselves for an entire quarter and still hung nearly 600 yards and 56 points on Miami. While I realize that Miami is terrible those numbers are still impressive. 21 of those points came under the command of backup QB Kenny Guiton who Meyer is very high on. Meyer has continued to talk about the possibility of both QB’s being on the field at the same time. I believe this offense will be a work in progress all year and will reach it’s pinnacle vs. Michigan in the Michigan Bowl November 24th. Mark your calendars folks. The Michigan Bowl. But I digress…with that said, the offense will continue to show periods of “what the hell was that?” and periods of “OMG, this is the absolute best offense I’ve ever seen in my life. I think there will continue to be truly terrible moments from Braxton Miller who is still learning his position as well as truly jaw dropping “did you see that” moments from him as well.

Overall:

While I don’t believe UCF is as advertised, including what Urban Meyer would lead you to believe I think they are certainly better than the Miami Redhawks and will at times challenge OSU for more than a quarter. But in the end OSU and Braxton Miller will have gaudy numbers and highlight worthy plays.

Nostradamus portion of the preview:

Score prediction:

Ohio State: 49
UCF: 17

Braxton Miller:

Passing: 250 yards 3 TD’s
Rushing: 90 yards 2 TD’s

Number of murdered QB’s by John Simon: 14

Carlos Hyde: Rushing: 100 yards — and Brionte Dunn nipping at his heels.

Feel free to add song requests for OSU game highlights as the season goes on. I’ll be making individual highlight reels after games (wins only).