Game Thread tOSU at NW'ern, Oct 5, 8 ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN2

[Crump's brother]

It probably doesn't play to eithers strength.

I know that neither is a FB, but we have seen it before.

 

[Taosman]

The national media writers can't believe we're any good and it's just their own media feeding frenzy that is keeping us fom going higher.
Bring the hate, baby! "There's no such thing as bad publicity".

 

[Taosman]

At the end of the season, if we're the "last man standing" we'll get to the BCS Championship game.
Now, is that really our best option? Looking at a down SEC year, it just may be!

 

[Buckeye86]

Where are all of the offensive fireworks that were going to put the rest of the Big 10 and the nation on notice?

I think you answered your own question.

Not sure what is going on with the coaching and I still say that Braxton just doesn't look right. He's still making horrible reads and he doesn't / can't run it the way that he normally does.

Something just isn't right.

The offense goes as the QB making the correct read goes.

Absolutely nothing kills momentum on offense like running the read option incorrectly.

Even when Braxton read it correctly (pulled on a crashing DE), the gains were minimal because he's just not the same runner.

It all goes back to the reads, and Braxton just hasn't shown that he can consistently make the right ones to make the offense the juggernaut that it could be.

He's also clearly not the dynamic runner he was a year ago which makes things worse.

It's like the coaching staff can't or won't adjust the play calls to account for Braxton being "off" on reads or off on his effectiveness running the ball.

 

[TampaBuckeyes]

Got to call the baby ugly tonight.

Braxton had three turnovers and didn't look in control at all. The fumble he had in the first quarter was the same fumble he had last week against wisky. Two steps back tonight.

Hyde looked as advertised and did what was asked. As did the OLine.

Passing defense sticking with zone coverage and likes to play way out of position. Don't understand this coverage scheme at all.

Not an impressive win, should never have been down as much as we were. Just no spark anywhere on the team except ST.

Very correct. I don't like zone coverage. It is the 'safe' way to go, but I prefer man with some bump and run, in your face defense. Zone means every player has to defend a part of the field, and it's a big field. Easy to find a soft spot, and defenses are. I would rather we put one more in the box and man up, or double up the best receiver. I think with the level of talent we have, we have to go man. Even though Roby got burned by Abracadabra, at least he got burned by a good WR, and was rarely out of position. With this zone crap he is getting burned by mediocre receivers left and right.

 

[OHSportsFan]

I think you answered your own question.


The offense goes as the QB making the correct read goes.

Absolutely nothing kills momentum on offense like running the read option incorrectly.

Even when Braxton read it correctly (pulled on a crashing DE), the gains were minimal because he's just not the same runner.

It all goes back to the reads, and Braxton just hasn't shown that he can consistently make the right ones to make the offense the juggernaut that it could be.

He's also clearly not the dynamic runner he was a year ago which makes things worse.

It's like the coaching staff can't or won't adjust the play calls to account for Braxton being "off" on reads or off on his effectiveness running the ball.

And yet the talent around Braxton is just oozing and waiting for a chance. And we've even seen the results of letting others do the work. Kenny G particularly is great- because of the offensive command he has and the coaching that calls plays to limit him perfectly by using him as a facilitator and not a playmaker (though the results are "playmaker" status). Staff just cannot figure it out with Braxton. Some of that is probably on him too, because he is so unpredictaable and so shaky and can ruin a good gameplan himself with some un-focused plays.

All the talk of Meyer v Tressel and how Meyer isn't afraid to play guys, isn't afraid to spread the ball around, and yet we're seeing the same fact- coaches (just about all of them) fall into the convenient trap of getting tunnel vision and sticking with 1 or 2 guys as soon as things get panicky.

It worked well riding Hyde last. But all the talk in the game thread about Wilson, R. Smith, EzE, got pretty comical. It was clear it wasn't going to happen. Things got buttoned up (again)- for better or worse, forced or by free-will...

 

[OHSportsFan]

Were those key plays the two turnovers in the red zone, or the missed pass to an open receiver in the end zone and a failed fake punt?

Our D is not ready for prime time and our team is not worthy of a NC bid ahead of any of the teams ranked ahead of us in either poll. But that game could easily have been an OSU blowout.

6 games in and Ohio State is getting pretty good at the "a few plays away from a blowout thing."

Happy with the wins, but at a certain point...it is what it is. They are good enough to scrape by, and that in itself is a testament to a special winning attitude, but the talk of blowouts needs to slow down because it tries desperately to place the Buckeyes on a higher plane than what they are. Currently.

Time to rock'n'roll this second half of the season like last year.

 

[matcar]

6 games in and Ohio State is getting pretty good at the "a few plays away from a blowout thing."

Happy with the wins, but at a certain point...it is what it is. They are good enough to scrape by, and that in itself is a testament to a special winning attitude, but the talk of blowouts needs to slow down because it tries desperately to place the Buckeyes on a higher plane than what they are. Currently.

Time to rock'n'roll this second half of the season like last year.

Unbiased viewing shows that we aren't a NC yet. But at least we haven't taken ourselves out of contention yet and at least have the opportunity to improve as a defense. Both coaching and players need significant improvement or this team will be scored on unmercifully by a few of the top offenses. But again, the team has 2 months to figure it out.

Meanwhile I hope the offense figures out what we are especially good at and what we are not. Braxton is a wonderful QB, but his read option abilities are limited. I wish we'd find other ways to use the tools we have. Oh and Brax, hold onto that precious ball mmmmkay?

 

[TampaBuckeyes]

I would really like to see Urban get more creative with Wilson. I know he's a freshman but he's got the ability to be an impact player NOW. I would even be for KennyG in with Braxton at the same time. There seems to be a real lack of imagination at the moment with the personnel.

You can tell Urban is a fundamentals coach. He coaches to win with rather conservative play calling. We only get the flashy/goofy plays in games against mediocre/bad opponents. He doesn't think that crap can win the big game against the big opponent. He uses it as a recruiting tool in the games he knows he can win, and to give the defensive coordinators something to think about. In the end I think it shows that he knows fundamental football wins championships, not flash and gimmick.

 

[Taosman]

The bottom line is always winning.
Who had the better win yesterday?
Georgia squeaking past an unranked, very mediocre Tennessee team at their place?
Or Ohio State beating an unbeaten, 16th ranked Northwestern team, at night, on Homecoming, after they had 2 weeks to prepare?

And this team is now thoroughly "tested" and capable of playing with anyone.
I like our chances.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Unbiased viewing shows that we aren't a NC yet. But at least we haven't taken ourselves out of contention yet and at least have the opportunity to improve as a defense.

This season seems a lot more like 2003 than 2002. The 2002 season was full of magical victories, while the 2003 season was full of near losses. You are right, this team isn't a legitimate NC contender, and I'm waiting for the first loss to make it official. I just hope that it doesn't come at Michigan.

 

[DiamondBuck]

The bottom line is always winning.
Who had the better win yesterday?
Georgia squeaking past an unranked, very mediocre Tennessee team at their place?
Or Ohio State beating an unbeaten, 16th ranked Northwestern team, at night, on Homecoming, after they had 2 weeks to prepare?

The more apt comparison is with undefeated Stanford who won by three at home against undefeated Washington. I'm sure the Stanford win is being praised as a quality win against an excellent Pac12 opponent whereas the Buckeyes' win was survival against an undermanned but game B1G team.

 

[Buckeye86]

This season seems a lot more like 2003 than 2002. The 2002 season was full of magical victories, while the 2003 season was full of near losses. You are right, this team isn't a legitimate NC contender, and I'm waiting for the first loss to make it official. I just hope that it doesn't come at Michigan.

There won't be many challenges before then, at least on paper.

Optimistic view is that the team improves drastically over the second half of the season and develops into a contender.

I agree that they certainly aren't there right now.

 

[Taosman]

Even with the big loss of Bryant, the defense is getting better. Thanks mostly to improving Defensive line play.
Not a bad thing at all.
And Josh Perry is getting better every week and may pass Grant as the preferred option. Grant still looks lost in pass coverage.
Pittsburgh Brown will be OK at safety.
What happened to our "great" TEs?

 

[MaxBuck]

The more apt comparison is with undefeated Stanford who won by three at home against undefeated Washington. I'm sure the Stanford win is being praised as a quality win against an excellent Pac12 opponent whereas the Buckeyes' win was survival against an undermanned but game B1G team.

You're right. I've overrated Stanford.

In my opinion, the teams who look markedly better than the Buckeyes at the moment are Clemson, Florida State, and Oregon, in that order. Baylor is averaging over 70 points per game () but against some pretty feeble competition, so they're hard to rate.

I'd put Ohio State 4th on my poll behind the teams listed above, and I'd probably put Alabama somewhere between 5th and 8th.