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.

Following a game, our Buckeyes coaches grade each player’s performance.  This season, Urban has termed a winning performance a ‘championship performance.’  Those offensive players with a ‘championship performance’ last week included Braxton, Carlos Hyde, Zach Boren, Andrew Norwell, Jack Mewhort, Philly, and Devin Smith.

For Week Two, I’ll give my criteria for a “winning performance,” all of which I think will lead to a Buckeyes win this week and toward more wins later this season.  (The list is not by any means all-inclusive.)

1.          Faster Start by Buckeyes Offense

Just be honest … Even the most confident fan (raise my hand) had at least the slightest bit of doubt after watching the offense sputter in the first quarter against the Redhawks last week.  However, the commercial break came, I came back to my senses, and Braxton started the second quarter by leading a four play 63 second touchdown drive and a seven play touchdown drive in 2:22 after a three and out by the Miami offense.  All was good and the offense imposed its will on a less talented Redhawks squad for the remainder of the afternoon.

With that said, the Buckeyes are facing a different animal in UCF as the Knights have led Conference USA in defense the past three years and have been one of the top defenses in Division 1 (9^th in total D, 16^th in rushing D, and 23^rd in passing D in 2011).  While yards and first downs may be harder to come by Saturday, I’m looking forward to the Buckeyes coming out firing on all cylinders and scoring two offensive TDs in the first quarter.  Two offensive TDs in the 1st  will earn a winning performance.

2.          Delay of the arrival of the Storm both on and off the field

(Not talking about the Storm who dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent months)  After rushing for over 200 yards last week in its 56-14 drumming of the Zips, UCF brings a run heavy offense into the Shoe.    Starting for the Knights is Miami Hurricane transfer Storm Johnson after Latavius Murray suffered an injury in the win over Akron.  A winning performance will include the Buckeyes holding Storm to less than 70 yards.

I’m also hoping that Mother Nature either gets the thunderstorm or rain out of its system in advance of kickoff.

3.           Put up or shut up

While the Redhawks looked to spread out the Buckeyes defense in route to throwing 54 times, UCF is going to look to run the ball right at the Silver Bullets.  The difference in style should provide an early and often test for a relatively green, but talented, group of linebackers.  In addition, the Knights present the perfect precursor for teams like the fighting Bielemas later this season.

I’m looking forward to seeing the trio of Sabino, Shazier, and Grant keep the Knights ground game in check.  After giving up an average of 141.54 rushing yards per game last season, I would consider holding the stable of backs for the Knights under 100 total yards rushing a winning performance by our defense.  As a group, I am looking for a combined 25+ tackles by our linebackers, including at least three TFL in order to earn a winning performance (last week our starting three linebackers totaled 16 tackles, 0 TFL).

4.           Higher Completion Percentage from Miller

So, I admit it, I am a Braxton Miller defender to even the harshest critic, but I am looking for him to pick up where he left off last week.  Miller started last game 1/7 and ended it 14/24 (58%).  For those of us rusty in subtraction, that means that after the paltry start, Braxton went 13/17 (76%).

While I am not expecting Braxton to complete over 75% of his passes on a regular basis (although one can hope), I also don’t expect him to complete fewer than 60% of his passes either.   Good news for Braxton, he will face a similarly ranked defense this week as Miami (OH) was the 24^th ranked passing defense last season while UCF was 23^rd.  In his second game in the new offensive system, a winning performance from Braxton will include completing over 65% of his passes.

5.          Sacks

Last week, the Buckeyes only totaled TWO sacks (the only 2 TFL) while Miami had three sacks (7 total TFL).  The good news for Buckeyes fans is that both of the sacks came from true freshmen phenoms Noah Spence and Aldolphus Washington.  The bad news is that the Silver Bullets only had two sacks/TFL.

Not only do the Buckeyes need to limit the sacks and hits on Braxton which is almost impossible given the style of the offense, but the Silver Bullets also have to be able to create more unfavorable down and distance situations through sacks and other TFL.  As UCF was 100^th in sacks last year, allowing one sack is the goal and would qualify as a winning performance.  And as for sacks/TFL by the Buckeyes defense, three sacks and/or eight total TFL is a winning performance.

6.          100 Yards Receiving, 100 Yards Rushing by Hyde

I cannot remember the last time we had a 100 yard receiver, but I’m ready for one this week and I’m sure I am not the only one.  Philly came close last week when he finished with seven receptions for 87 yards and a TD.  Here’s hoping Philly or Stoney break the century mark for receiving yard this Saturday.  A winning performance goes to any wr/te who totals 100 or more yards receiving this week.

Ok, ok.  I know that Braxton ran for over 100 rushing yards last week and you can call me greedy, but I want over 100 yards from a running back and not #5.  While I get as excited as any Buckeyes fan when I see Braxton running with the ball especially when he goes untouched, it is in the best interests of Buckeye Nation to keep Miller healthy by limiting hits on him.  Also, Carlos Hyde is the primary back until Jordan Hall returns, so his chances of having a 100 yard performance after that point will go down significantly.  Therefore, a winning performance to any running back in the Scarlet and Gray who rushes for over 100 yards.

7.          Under 200 yards passing

The Silver Bullets allowed 313 passing yards last week, albeit that the Redhawks ran a pass-first offense.  With a more balanced team comes more balanced numbers.  A winning performance by the Buckeyes will include limiting the passing yards to fewer than 200.

Despite the relatively high number of yards allowed by the Buckeyes, Travis Howard came away with two INTs and Bradley Roby would have had an INT if his foot was at least one shoe size smaller.  Both CBs were deemed to have earned a ‘championship performance’ last week by Coach Meyer.  I’m hoping that they have similar performances this week and are able to lockdown the UCF receivers.  An INT by either would earn that player a winning performance.

8.          A W by Air Force

I admit that I am a hater of all things related to that school up north so much so that I dressed in Oregon Ducks gear and attended the Oregon game that followed that school up north’s memorable loss to 1AA Appalachian State (I was also in attendance at the Buckeyes win that year when we chanted O-H-I-O around their stadium).  At the Oregon game, we quacked like we were cheering for the Mighty Ducks and we watched that school up north’s second consecutive loss to start the 2007 season.

I could go on, but you get the point.  I am one of those Buckeyes fans who cannot cheer for that school up north regardless of the circumstances.  At the hands of a SEC school or not, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of last weekend’s reality check.  Moving on, I think it is extremely unlikely that Air Force will be able to pull off the upset with a spread of 21.5 last I checked, but if Air Force gets the win, they’ll earn a winning performance in my book in addition to the record book.

Well, that’s all I have for Week Two.  What would earn a winning performance from you?

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).

CONFERENCE OF DUNCES

So, the Big Ten didn’t exactly get off to a great start this weekend. Sure, the conference won most of its games, but it was by no means dominant. A quick recap: Ohio State, Purdue and Nebraska easily dispatched their lesser opponents by a combined score of 153-36.

Illinois handled Western Michigan pretty well, if not as well as they should have. Michigan State held off a Boise team that most thought would struggle to remain at the level of their recent success. But Boise was ranked and has been good for a number of years, so Sparty’s off the hook for now.

Northwestern beat Syracuse by 1 and while Syracuse is not exactly a powerhouse, neither is Northwestern, so we’ll cut them some slack too.

Here’s where things get ugly. Wisconsin and Iowa, two of the upper-level teams in the conference, barely scraped by the likes of Northern Iowa and Northern Illinois. Penn State, who was still expected to do well this year before the full effects of their recent sanctions set in, lost to Ohio. The real one, not the one that only exists in Brady Hoke’s mind. Indiana is always bad, but they’re not supposed to be almost-lose-Indiana-State bad. Minnesota is also always bad (lately), but again, not take-three-overtimes-to-beat-UNLV bad.

And then, to cap things off, Michigan got completely destroyed by Alabama. They didn’t just lose, which is what everyone expected them to do, they lost at losing. Not showing up to the game at all would have been a more competitive move than 99% of what they did on the field Saturday night.

For the most part, it doesn’t matter much to me if conference opponents win or lose, but it would be nice if half the league wasn’t actively making us look worse by association.

What’s in store this week? Minnesota and Indiana will be narrowly escaping with wins over New Hampshire and UMass while most of the rest of the conference puts our credibility on the line against a host of mid-range AQ conference teams. Raise your hand if you don’t believe Virginia could beat Penn State, Oregon State could beat Wisconsin, Notre Dame could beat Purdue, Iowa St. could beat Iowa, Vanderbilt could beat Northwestern, and Arizona State could beat Illinois.

That’s what I thought. Not only are those results believable after last week, I’m predicting right now that the Big Ten loses at least three of those games.

ALSO HAPPENING

THURSDAY: ESPN is going all out with it’s big time night matchup of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. While that might actually be an interesting NFL game, this one is actually between the universities and I think after Pitt lost to Youngstown State last week, we have no choice but to cheer for…

Them.

Yeah, that’s right. Ordinarily, I’d cheer for Ohio teams under any circumstances, but this time I’m going the other way. Let’s face it, UC fans are d***********s. They hate us and I hate them back. So the most acceptable outcome of this game is for them to lose to the team that lost to YSU. It’s what they deserve.

SATURDAY: Florida @ Texas A&M is the kind of game that could never have happened without realignment, because Florida is the agoraphobe of college football. Tune in to watch them break out in cold sweats at their bizarre new surroundings. Georgia also welcomes Missouri to the SEC in a game that I’m predicting will have that play that everybody is talking about on Sunday, and not in a good way.

As the rain turned from drizzle to steady pound, Urban Meyer briefly addressed the crowd at Saturday’s Skull Session, repeating what has become something of a mantra for him. “The mission is clear: Make the great state of Ohio proud.” With that, he exited the hallowed halls of St. John Arena and prepared to confront his secret fear. This was his time.

The Dark Coach Rises

Under grey clouds and a thick midwestern humidity, the game of Meyer’s life kicked off. The RedHawks had chosen to receive and they scrounged up 30 yards of offense before punting the ball away. The Buckeyes responded with just half of that production before returning the favor. Urban wasn’t concerned. Nothing but opening-drive jitters. Could happen to anybody.

On their next drive, Miami nearly quieted the already-wavering crowd with a quick 63-yard drive down the field highlighted by a 42-yard reception by Nick Harwell. A couple of near-touchdowns stalled the march, which ended with a disastrous missed field goal.

Bullet dodged. Time to get this party started.

Nine yards. Punt. Twenty-two yards. Punt. Two yards. Punt. Somewhere in there, Miami knocked a field goal through. The first quarter came to a close and Urban Meyer was losing to Miami.

Again.

The second quarter opened with Miami punting the ball back. Just over a minute later, Devin Smith reinvigorated the crowd, the team, the coach and the nation, quite literally single-handedly:

And just like that, the shoe was on the other foot. Miami: 0 yards. Punt. Ohio State Touchdown. Miami: 9 yards. Punt. Ohio State Touchdown. Miami: 24 yards. Punt. Ohio State Damn Near Touchdown. The second half came to a close and the machine was running at full speed now. Urban Meyer was finally getting his revenge on Miami.

Just to make sure they hadn’t spent halftime forgetting what he thought of them, Urban gave the RedHawks a little reminder on the first play of the second half:

On the ensuing Miami drive, the RedHawks managed to move the ball 18 yards in the wrong direction. The punt snap went high and Ohio State fell on the ball in the end zone for yet another touchdown.

Down 35-3, Miami finally put together that one touchdown drive that we all knew they had in them. Zac Dysert went 5 of 7 for 73 yards, including the 44 scoring strike to Nick Harwell. Urban Meyer didn’t even blink.

The Buckeye offense had its ups and downs to finish out the game, but did complete all three fourth quarter drives with TDs. Critics will pile on Urban Meyer for “running up the score” at the end, something Jim Tressel never would have done to an in-state team. But Jim Tressel wasn’t vanquishing a life-long demon.

On Saturday, Urban Meyer finally got the Miami monkey off his back in spectacular fashion. He’s now free, unencumbered by haunted dreams, that albatross of Oxford looming in the back of the mind every time he takes the field. Get ready to see the real Urban Meyer, loose and reckless.

Say your prayers, everyone else.

(Hello everyone! My Name is Chris and I am one of the newest writers over here at the oldest and the best damn Buckeye blog on the internet. I am from Boston but have been raised as a Buckeye fan my whole life. Hope you enjoy reading my blogs throughout the season! Follow me @cjason112 on Twitter, as I usually live tweet during games.)

Anyways, here is what we learned versus Miami (OH.):

1. Devin Smith. Catch of the year. Enough Said.
2. Although Meyer has coached Alex Smith, Tim Tebow and Chris Leak in the past, he has not had the opportunity to coach a supreme athlete like Braxton Miller at quarterback before. Tebow was the master of the zone read/spread option at UF, but he usually stayed between the tackles when he decided to run the ball. Miller uses his speed to get to the corner and gives himself a chance to make a play in space. We’ll come back to this subject in a few…
3. It took a full quarter, but once this offense gets its no huddle going it will be very difficult to stop. Urban will be hard on the offense this week, especially Miller, to get settled in earlier in the future. It was okay to start off slow against Miami (OH) but they cannot dig themselves into a hole against more formidable opponents later on in the season.
4. Although Miller had a couple of overthrows and underthrows in the first quarter, wasn’t it refreshing to see the Bucks go deep early and often throughout the game? Although the offense gained a paltry 48 yards in the first quarter and gave us Buckeye fans Jim Bollman flashbacks, they exploded for 292 yards in the second quarter and we were quickly reminded that we have the best offensive mind in the country on our sidelines.
5. There was massive miscommunication the first three drives for the OSU secondary, which luckily only lead to a field goal. Zac Dysert made plays for Miami (OH) and really showed flashes of greatness in the pocket. The Bucks could have easily been down two scores going into the second quarter if their receivers could catch a pass. The corners and safeties will have to sure that up in the future with one of the better receivers in the country, Keenan Allen, coming to the ‘Shoe in two weeks (Cal.)
6. One player who caught my eye and has taken a step forward from last year is Bradley Roby. He was tremendous in run support and did everything on Saturday with six tackles, one fumble recovery, two passes defended and he was a half a shoe size away from having a great INT. I cannot wait to see Roby the rest of this year.
7. Besides Devin Smith’s insane one- handed catch, Braxton Miller’s 65 yard touchdown run was a prime example of things to come in this spread offense. Corey Brown came into motion from the slot to the backfield next to miller. Miller then executed the triple option to perfection by faking the inside handoff to Carlos Hyde (who had a great game himself) then getting to the corner and putting the cornerback from Miami (OH) into a tough position to either take Miller or Brown. Jake Stoneburner walled off the safety that came down quickly into run support and with a slight hesitation, Miller faked the pitch to Brown that froze the cornerback and it was off to the races. Miller then showed his athleticism with a jaw dropping stutter step on poor D.J. Brown at the 30 yard line and the rest was history. This play is the best example of what this offense is capable of when ran to perfection.

Look for the Bucks offense to get off to a fast start versus UCF next week, as I guarantee that will be the focus of practice this week.

[Read more…]

Sorry this is a day late but because of the holiday weekend I was very busy. The guys had another huge week this past weekend. So without further a do here goes week 2.

Jalin Marshall– His team Middletown Middies beat Springfield 31-0. Jalin had a big day rushing 10 times for 65 yards. He also completed 6 of 14 passes for 112 yards and 3 TDs.
Eli Woodard– Team did not play a game yet.
Cam Burrows– His team Trotwood-Madison beat Dayton Dunbar 63-0. Cam helped keep Dunbar scoreless.
Joey Bosa– His team St. Thomas Aquinas defeated Columbus 38-28. Joey helped his team force 5 TOs.
Marcus Baugh– His team John W North def. Colton 41-0. Marcus had 5 catches for 75 yards.
Evan Lisle– His team Centerville lost to Springboro 42-32. As an O-lineman he didnt have any stats but his team did rack up 302 rushing yards.
Ezekiel Elliott– His team John Burroughs HS beat Lutheran South 35-0. He scored 4 TDs in the game. Runs of 64 and 63 and 19 yds, a 89yd rec TD. He scored on 4 of the first 5 times he touched the ball.
Billy Price– His team Austintown Fitch beat Bishop Hoban 49-9. Billy helped to hold Hoban to 49 yards rushing and force 4 INTs.
Jayme Thompson– His team Toledo Central Catholic won 35-0 over Bedford, MI. He returned a 32 yard INT for a TD.
J T Barrett- His team Rider lost to Cooper 43-36. JT had a monster game in the loss. He rushed for 178 yards on 23 carries with 2 TDs. He also went 9-20 for 271 yards and 2 more TDs.
Michael Hill– His team Pendleton defeated West Oak 63-0. He helped keep West Oak to NEGATIVE -21 yards in offense in the 1st half.
Taivon Jacobs– His team Suitland beat McKinley Tech 39-0. He had 4 catches for 95 yards.
Darron Lee– His team New Albany lost to Westerville Central 23-20 in OT. He returned a punt for a TD.
Tracy Sprinkle– His team Elyria defeated Elyria Catholic 43-7. Tracy had aanother MONSTER game. Tracy had nine tackles, 5½ sacks, seven tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries and forced a fumble.
Tim Gardner– His team Lawrence Central defeated Meridian 42-6. Tim helped three running backs rush for over 100 yards
Johnny Townsend– His team Boone beat West Orange 37-31. I couldn’t find any stats for the punter.

There you have it guys week 2 is in the books for these recruits. Some of the guys are really starting to show why they are future Buckeyes. JT Barrett and Jalin Marshall and Ezekiel Elliott are really going to flourish in Urban Meyers Offense. Tracy Sprinkle is proving the recruiting experts aren’t nearly as expert as Coach Meyer and staff at evaluating talent. I will see you all next Sunday for a wrap up of week 3 stats.