Hyde, Bosa, Roby Honored with B1G Player of the Week Awards
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Congratulations to Carlos Hyde, Bradley Roby and Joey Bosa for being recognized as Offensive Co-Player, Special Teams Player and Freshman of the Week (respectively).
Carlos Hyde had a game for the ages at Northwestern, rushing for a career-high 168 yards (in addition to 38 yards of four catches), scoring three second-half touchdowns and was pretty much unbringdownable (yes that’s a word, look it up. There’s a picture of Carlos Hyde next to it)
While Bradley Roby and the rest of the secondary had their struggles against Northwestern’s passing attack, Roby had himself a great day on special teams. His block of Northwestern’s punt in the endzone was Ohio State’s only touchdown of the first half. He also managed to other tackles on Special Teams. He may not have had the best night overall, but he was instrumental in Saturday Night’s victory.
Finally, Joey Bosa, the defensive end freshman out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida had a Simon-esque night. He seemed to be in Northwestern’s backfield at will, disrupting the pocket and getting to the quarterback. He notched two sacks, five tackles and the fumble recovery in the endzone that sealed the deal.
The Buckeyes have had a player recognized the Offensive Player of the Week four of the six weeks of the season (Guiton x 2, Miller and now Hyde)
MotSaG Top 25 Poll- Week 6
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
1.) Clemson
2.) Alabama
3.) Ohio State
4.) Oregon
5.) Florida State
6.) Stanford
7.) Louisville
8.) Oklahoma
9.) UCLA
10.) Miami of Florida
11.) Georgia
12.) Northwestern
13.) LSU
14.) Texas A&M
15.) Washington
16.) Oklahoma State
17.) Florida
18.) Va Tech
19.) South Carolina
20.) Texas Tech
21.) Baylor
22.) Northern Illinois
23.) Fresno State
24.) Michigan
25.) Missouri
– Not a ton of movement this week in the top 25. Mostly because Tony handled it for me last week and his rankings were completely different from mine.
– I am still really high on Northwestern. I think they may be the best 1 loss team in the country just behind Georgia.
– I am still not sold on Michigan it was 28-13 with 4 mins to go in the game against Minnesota. They got 2 cheap late TDs to make it look like a bigger win than it was.
– The PAC 12 is probably the best conference right now with 3 teams that are head and shoulders above the rest.
– The SEC is the SEC they have a lot of teams ranked and might be the best conference but not by much if they are.
– Florida State and Clemson are on a collision course that will explode in 2 weeks when they play each other.
– If you had Missouri and Bama as the last 2 undefeated teams in the SEC after week 6 congrats you are a genius.
That is how I see it this week what do you think? What did I get right and wrong?
Instant Analysis, OSU v. Northwestern
October 5, 2013 by 4 Comments
My wife was born in Oklahoma and raised in San Diego. But she has come to love the Buckeyes as much as I do. As we sat at home early in the third quarter, I said “it’s really rare when you see a team dominating both lines of scrimmage like the Buckeyes are, with the other team ahead. But Northwestern just wants it more. They fight and won’t go down. But will 5:03 (the amount of time for Northwestern between three losses and an undefeated season) come back to haunt them like last year? Do they have the depth to stick in a game for 60 minutes?†Her response, “our cheerleaders are cuter than theirs.” So there it is.
I have learned not to question Urban on certain things. I thought he should have called a time out with 1:40 left in the first half, but then what happened? Ohio State played it safe in their territory and moved to midfield. With 30 seconds left, OSU opened up, and promptly turned it over—at that point, I was glad there were only 11 seconds left. Still, I wondered why you’d have an Australian rules player in his first month of American football run a fake at his 30? Urbs, you got some splainin to do.
This was not Braxton’s night–until crunch time. Foiled by dropped passes in key circumstances, until late, he still had errant throws, was terrible on scrambles (great on designed runs) and fumbled twice. But in the clutch, Brax was pure gold.
Kenny Guiton got ready to come in not because he was about to come in, but because, I believe, Urban realized the Buckeyes were going to have to rely on the designed run—and Braxton could well get hurt—so get the right hander loose. Northwestern could not handle C. Hyde (Ezekiel on first down near the goal line? Come on man). After experimenting with the quick strike with no luck, Urban decided to go with smash mouth in the second half. A Braxton fumble near the goal line only stalled the inevitable. The Buckeye defense held, a punt penalty put the ball in Northwestern territory and B and C took over with the smash mouth.
Yes, there was poor tackling, dropped passes, very nervous first half play and Curtis Grant, while great otherwise, has a long way to go in pass defense. And Bradley Roby added very poor tackling to his growing list of weaknesses (love the blocked punt and touchdown saving tackle though). But in the trenches none of that mattered, and in the end that is what wins most games. Adophus Washington was a monster on every play and Michael Bennet, Joey Bosa and Noah Spence were there to pour it on. Northwestern’s play calling was high risk but effective and that put them nominally in control for a long time. But those things usually catch up to a team, and did.
Never worry guys–this one was always in the bag.
Oh, and the time Ohio State went ahead for good? 5:22–sometimes 16 inches on fourth down can seem like a mile.
Line play, when it is punishing, usually decides a game. And when it doesn’t, relax. There are always our cheerleaders.
Northwestern Live In Game Chat
October 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
We’ve had another great day of watching some football (and hopefully go some things crossed off your honey-do list) and now it’s time for the Prime Time Showdown of your Ohio State Buckeyes taking on Northwestern University.
Hit the jump to join the fun in the Live In Game Chat.
Three Yards and a Cloud of Links
October 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Good morning Buckeye Nation.
No W Here: Remember former safety Donte Whitner? You know the hard hitting safety that came from Glenville High School in Cleveland. The one that went in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft to the Buffalo Bills. Well he is changing his name, thats right he doesn’t want to be called Whitner anymore he wants to be called Donte Hitner. Now that is a name change that I feel is pretty awesome especially since it does define who you are. Donte Hitner has a nice ring to it.
Come on Man: Look I’ll be honest I am one of those bitter Cleveland fans that felt jilted about how Lebron James handled his leaving the Cavs. I have tried to get over it and maybe hoped he came back so the Cleveland faithful can enjoy their favorite team winning a championship. I enjoy the fact Lebron has been a part of Ohio State and his viability with the program helps with recruiting. Here’s where I have a problem. Lebron recently said that if played at least a year of college basketball he would have done so for the Buckeyes. OK that’s cool but would have could have you didn’t but you still big time supporter of my favorite team. Then you go on to say that where ever in the world you are you rock the colors of scarlet and red. Um what? Apparently he doesn’t read our fine blog that reps the true colors of the Buckeyes. So Mr. James I will tell you wherever I go in the world (OK Ohio) I rock the colors of Scarlet and Gray, Brown and Orange, Wine and Gold (you remember those right) and the Navy, Red and White of the Tribe.
OSU vs NW Hype: Since its game day and our Buckeyes will tame the Wildcats tonight I’ll leave you some videos of past game highlights and the four letter networks Hype video for tonight’s game.
2008 Game:
2006 Game:
I’m excited to see the Buckeye fans at Ryan Field tonight to create that home field advantage that the Buckeyes get on the road.
Until next time Buckeye Nation…
Q&A with a Northwestern Blogger
October 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
This week the Buckeyes will be going against the Wildcats of Northwestern. While for years (decades) it could be said there isn’t anything wild about these cats Pat Fitzgerald the former linebacker and current head coach is helping lead Northwestern onto the national stage. This week I had the privilege to work with Jay from Lake The Post.
MotSaG: The last time ESPN’s College Game Day has been to Evanston was when coach Pat Fitzgerald was playing for the Wildcats, Mike and Mike radio show will also be in town and there are reports that tickets prices are around 160 dollars. Is this the biggest game in school history?
LTP: No. However, if you talk about the past 50 years, it is the most media exposure we’ve received in a week leading up to a game. It is GameDay’s 2nd visit to Evanston and 3rd overall (they came to the Wrigley game in 2010). I did a full post on the context of the “biggest game since…†concept which you can view here – http://www.laketheposts.com/2013/10/01/biggest-game-since/
That being said, this game is huge. It’s huge from a perception standpoint. NU gets this stage infrequently and the “average fan†will take this performance as its baseline for NU perception until we get this stage again. It is the hardest ticket to get in the 22 years I’ve been following the team.
MotSaG: Ohio State fans travel extremely well to watch their beloved Buckeyes as was witnessed in California vs the Golden Bears, Are Northwestern fans worried Ryan Field could be hearing the O-H-I-O chant and half the stadium filled with Scarlet and Gray?
LTP: Uhhh..yes. We obsess over this fact. We use crutches like the fact we have only 8,000 students, yet we sellout the 5,000 seat allotment of students. If we had 50,000 like you, well..you get the gist. Opposing fan presence is the single most painful topic of our LTP community. We’ve steadily increased NU attendance and will likely be more guarded this year against Scarlet & Grey since NU scheduled it as Homecoming. We have the 2nd smallest alumni base in Chicago and the majority of alums would need to get on a plane to get to the game, hence the reliance on converting non-alums to fans. It’s a tall order when you are a private school without the defacto boost of having the state name in your logo. A win on Saturday night, and it will go a looooooong way to solving that problem. All you need to do is look at then Dyche Stadium in 1996 and 1997 when it was packed with all purple to see that even pro sports town Chicago loves a college winner.
MotSaG: Speaking of California Northwestern only won that game by 14 points I believe the difference being the Wildcats returning two interceptions back for touchdowns. Is this because senior QB Kain Coltier went down with a concussion thus forcing the Wildcats into using only QB (Trevor Siemian) , who isn’t the dual threat as Coltier is,instead of them being able to use both?
LTP: Kain Colter went out on the second play of the game and yes, that was some adversity. What Ohio State and other B1G fans aren’t realizing is that our All-American (yes, All-American), RB/PR Venric Mark played in two series in that game. Our 3rd string RB, Treyvon Green carried us. We moved the ball on offense and racked up yards, the close score was a credit to Jared Goff, a new coaching staff and a very conservative Cover 4 defense that resulted in yielding truckloads of passing yards and offense. You got the same treatment by Cal, but were able to score more than we did.
MotSaG: The Buckeyes have shown, especially since last weeks game, they can stop the run. The Wildcats are another B1G team with a stable of running backs and as a group are averaging over five yards a carry do you see this working against the Buckeyes Saturday?
LTP: No. I think Ohio State will bottle up the run, though Kain colter will awe you with his escapability, much like Braxton Miller. Venric Mark is the X-factor. He ran for 1,336 yards thanks in part to both the option and his between the tackles ability to find seams. My hunch is OSU will stack the box and challenge us to beat you through the air. Enter Trevor Siemian. He’s the make or break. He’s very accurate, good arm, not as mobile as Kain. We’re way more loaded at WR than at RB. Seeing one guy torch you (Jarred Abbrederis) when we know we have 3-4 such weapons is what is giving us hope. That and the adversity in your secondary. That being said…next question. Gulp.
MotSaG: How big of an advantage for Northwestern is it to have an extra week of prep time to try and figure out how to stop the explosive Buckeye offense?
LTP: If you analyze the W/L post bye week stats for B1G teams, you’d argue it is a disadvantage if anything. Simply put, NU fans are scared about you torturing one of our CB spots. We lost our starter for the year in week one (Daniel Jones) and the freshman back-up, Dwight White, has been picked on every game since. We know it, you know it and the coaches even acknowledge you’ll challenge here. It will be interesting to see how Mike Hankwitz schemes to compensate for this.
MotSaG: Northwestern has I believe to be the toughest B1G schedule this season having to play Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Can the Wildcats run the table?
LTP: Highly unlikely. It may sound like a crutch, but we could get to Indy after starting 0-2 in B1G play. If we lose to you and Wisconsin, we’ll have to run the Legends Division table to get to Indy. That I think is very possible. Michigan looks terrible, Michigan State can’t find an offense, Nebraska has zero defense and hopefully iowa and Minnesota remain Iowa and Minnesota. Iowa is the one that is starting to scare NU fans a bit.
MotSaG: Will the Wildcats be at full strength for Saturday’s game?
LTP: Venric Mark hasn’t played in five weeks. Expecting him to be 100% is unrealistic. He’s a gamechanger and led the nation in PR last year (was named All-American for that). Daniel Jones as we mentioned is out for the season and the most unheralded injury is DT Sean McIlvy which is a question mark. He would be a huge loss.
MotSaG: How great is it to be covering a winning football team again and other teams not being able to look past Northwestern?
LTP: It’s awesome. Granted, the bar at OSU is higher, but for NU fans the bar is now raised to success equaling Indy. Five straight bowl games, a 10-win season last year and arguably the best recruiting class in history for 2014 (it would be top 25, but we only take 15 guys per year and the ratings services weight total number of commitments too heavily), plus a $225 million lakefront practice facility and life is pretty peachy. If we could just solve that attendance thing.
MotSaG: Pat Fitzgerald was a great linebacker for Northwestern and has been at the helm of the Wildcat program since 2006 and has done a great job turning the program into contenders. Does Pat ever have to buy food or coffee or does everyone in Evanston give him whatever he needs?
LTP: Pat has definitely become a Chicago celebrity. However, when you have the Bears, Cubs, Blackhawks, Sox and a world class city, the college spotlight doesn’t quite give you rock star status. He definitely can’t go anywhere now without being noticed and the Chicago media love the guy as do general sports fans in the area. He’s become the most valuable brand the school has ever had in Athletics.
MotSaG: What is your prediction for the game?
LTP: I wait until Friday for my picks, but I will say it will be a single digit game. I expect OSU to explode out to a big lead and NU will claw its way back just like Wisconsin. We’ll have to be at least +2 in takeaways to have a shot, b/c you’re going to put up 40+ points on us.-here is the link to their site hopefully he has his prediction up http://www.laketheposts.com/
I would like to thank Jay for taking out the time to work with us here at MotSaG and I’m sure he has been busy with all kinds of blog requests this week.
I will be honest I am a little worried about this game. Fitzgerald will have the Wildcats well prepared for the Buckeyes and yes an extra week will help them. The Buckeyes do have more talent than Northwestern and should win this game. It will be a great game and hopefully Corey “Pittsburg” Brown is ready to fill the huge shoes of Christian Bryant and that secondary finds whats its missing. Also hopeful the Buckeyes defensive line gets into the backfield and really disrupts the flow of whichever qb is playing, I don’t believe the Wildcats offensive line is as strong and good as Wisconsin’s was.
If you want to get involved and have questions about upcoming opponents feel free to send them in to me and I can send them on. Email your questions to AskMotSaG@gmail.com or MotSaG@gmail.com. Would love to know your thoughts on this post and hope you enjoyed it.
Ohio State @ Northwestern – Play It Like Tressel
October 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Congratulations to Ohio State on beating a solid Wisconsin team, 31-24. Ohio State seemed to take its foot off the gas in the second half (more on that later), but a win over a team like Wisconsin is always a good thing. As someone who was in attendance in Ohio Stadium for the victory, I would characterize the win as somewhat underwhelming. I would not be so harsh as the below tweet, but it gives a good analysis of what it felt like sitting in the stands during the second half ~
Braxton Miller returned to the starting lineup, showing little to no ill effects from his MCL injury. While I agree that Miller’s running abilities and elusive skills are a tremendous asset, I would prefer to see fewer designed quarterback runs. From my perspective, Miller would be far more dangerous on passing downs, scrambling if a play breaks down or a receiver is unable to get open. Even Coach Meyer stated that Miller carrying the ball 22 times is too much.
It seemed to me, and perhaps I am mistaken, that Ohio State’s offense under Kenny Guiton seemed more balanced than when Braxton Miller played versus Wisconsin. Guiton is not nearly the running threat that Miller is, and there were far fewer designed quarterback runs for Guiton during his games than for Miller versus Wisconsin. Also, Guiton seems to run the option better, forcing the defense to commit to the pitch, where Miller is more inclined to turn upfield on a quarterback keeper.
I am not advocating a quarterback change, or trying to incite a controversy. I would simply prefer fewer designed quarterback runs, especially for a quarterback coming off a MCL injury, and better offensive balance.
Regarding the designed Ohio State second half slowdown versus Wisconsin, I did not have as much of a problem with the conservative approach Ohio State decided to implement. Ohio State focused on shutting down Wisconsin’s running game, and forced Wisconsin to go the length of the field to score in the second half. Punter Cameron Johnston was consistently able to land punts deep in Wisconsin territory.
I do not have a problem with a conservative approach. I would argue that conservative does not have to mean predictable. Against Wisconsin, first and second downs were usually Braxton Miller designed runs (see up above), which would lead to third downs where Ohio State would sometimes convert.
Do you want to run the ball and chew up the clock? Absolutely. I would simply argue that with backs such as Carlos Hyde and Jordan Hall (who should have played more versus Wisconsin, by the way), it is possible to be conservative yet not predictable.
Feel terrible for Christian Bryant with his injury at the end of the game. I am hopeful Ohio State explores the medical redshirt option for Bryant, even if Bryant is not granted one by the NCAA.
As for Bradley Roby…let’s just say that being projected as a first round draft choice does not mean that you will be a first round draft choice. Roby needs to rebound, starting with Northwestern.
On to Northwestern. With Bryant’s injury, the likely starter will be Corey “Pittsburgh” Brown. Brown was a highly touted recruit in the 2009 class, and this will be Brown’s opportunity to claim the starting job outright.
Heading up to Evanston, for another night game, another nationally televised game, versus an undefeated Northwestern team, what is the approach Ohio State should take?
Play Northwestern how former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel used to play Northwestern.
What does that mean?
Ohio State played Northwestern from 2001-2008, losing at Northwestern in 2004. While Tressel’s teams usually played Northwestern well, it seemed as though the loss in 2004 to the Wildcats seemed to spur the Buckeyes to play with a true killer mentality from 2005-2008:
Ohio State should come out, ready to go against Northwestern’s mediocre defense. While Northwestern has a solid offense, Ohio State should be up for the challenge, even with the loss of Christian Bryant in the secondary. I will go Ohio State 56, Northwestern 31.
MotSaG TV Guide
October 3, 2013 by 2 Comments
Twenty teams enter the weekend undefeated and no more than seventeen will make it out unscathed, although I think that number will be even lower. This might be my favorite part of the college football season, as conference play gets into full swing and pretenders are knocked from their undeserved perches. A month from now, we’ll likely be down to just a handful of unbeaten teams. This week, we’ll celebrate the success of all of these teams with a look at some at their schools’ notable alumni.
Thursday
10:00pm
UCLA at Utah. Each of these Pac-12 schools boasts a significant contributor in the field of serial murder. While the Bruins lay claim to one of the more unique multiple killers (Rodney Alcala AKA The Dating Game Killer), the Utes counter with former law student Ted Bundy. (FS1)
Saturday
Noon
Maryland at Florida State. Before calling for an overthrow of the government and the eradication of the entire male gender (and also trying to assassinate Andy Warhol), Valerie Solanas graduated from the University of Maryland. But if you think that’s bad, Florida State is home to Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti, respectively the lead singer and guitarist for Creed. (ESPN)
3:30pm
Georgia Tech at Miami (FL). You might think Miami’s Sylvester Stallone, Ray Liotta, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Steve-O would put it over the top, but Georgia Tech has probably the best alumnus ever: the entirely fictional George P. Burdell, who–thanks to students hacking the new computerized registration system–once took 3000 credit hours in a single quarter. (ESPNU)
Minnesota at Michigan. The Gophers gave us this guy. (Yes, that’s two whole hours!) And that is truly unforgivable, but it doesn’t hold a candle to what the Wolverines have foisted on the world: Ted Kaczynski (the “Unabomber”), “Dr. Death” Jack Kevorkian, tag-team killers Leopold & Loeb, and (of course) the guy who taught everybody else how to serial murder, H. H. Holmes. (ABC/ESPN2)
8:00pm
Ohio State at Northwestern. Three Nobel laureates, eight Pulitzer Prize winners, and of course, the world’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner. Nope, there are no embarrassing alumni in Ohio State’s storied history. So don’t even look. Trust me. Northwestern might have some, but who cares? They gave us Otto Graham, the best quarterback to ever play professional football. (ABC)
10:30pm
Washington at Stanford. Lots of famous people have dropped out of Stanford including actress Reese Witherspoon, golfer Tiger Woods, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and President of the United States of America John F. Kennedy. And, hey, remember how Ted Bundy attended law school at Utah? Well, he did his undergrad at Washington, making him the MotSaG TV Guide Player of the Week! (ESPN)
MotSaG’s 2013 Pick ’em Contest Update
October 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
If you are like me, it’s easy to forget that the MotSaG College Football Pick ’em Contest in full swing. I forgot to make my picks last week but that’s not going happen again!
I’ll be updating the standings on a weekly basis and remind you to make your picks!
The top five standings are:
| Rank | Pick Set Name | Total Pts | W-L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil my nuts Go Bucks | 58 | 58-44 |
| 2 | buckeye lad | 58 | 58-44 |
| 3 | Urban Meyer Wieners | 57 | 57-45 |
| 4 | enderbuck | 55 | 55-47 |
| 5 | Josh | 54 | 54-48 |
Congrats to Phil my nuts Go Bucks and buckeye lad for taking the stop spot through five weeks.
It’s not too late to join, but time is definitely running out. (I believe) you can still join the league:
Yahoo’s Fantasy College Pick’em:
Group ID: 11226
Password: buckeyes
The prize package includes:
$25 Amazon.com gift certificate
An 11×14″ Framed Copy of Braxton Miller’s SI cover from SICovers.com.
… and more…
