• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

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

I give Northwestern (i.e. team, coaches, and fans too) a lot of credit, NW was "not in awe" of Ohio State, came ready to play, and played tough the entire 60 minutes. In the end "the cream came to the top" and Ohio State won; but let's face it, Ohio State didn't dominate and the difference in the game boiled down to just one or two "key" plays.

I think Northwestern is for real (at least this year) and would not be surprised if we play them again on 6 Dec 2013.

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.
 
Upvote 0
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.

Yeah the game could have been an Ohio State blowout; but I give credit to NW for keeping it close. I'll say good defensive play on NW's part forced Ohio State's turnovers, etc. OK, Miller just missed the guy open in the end zone, that happens.

I was thinking the 2 key plays (in the 4th quarter) were Grant's interception and the defensive stop on 4th and 1 on NW's next to last possession.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Think you nailed it here, totally agree with your take. Thought his play where he stopped just short of the line of scrimmage and tossed that one to philly brown was one of the biggest plays of the night. As much as he struggles or i guess just seems like he isn't grooving at the time, i love that urban sticks with him in there. He is our guy regardless of the talkers saying Kenny would walk right in and suddenly command the O down the field seamlessly. Hell of a Win!!! Go Bucks!!

If that's the play that was 3rd and 1 and he rolled to the right then held up to dump that pass off, that was a cool play but still an unsound decision. A sound decision would have been to step up for a yard and guarantee yourself a 1st down. Not downplaying the play itself, but if that was dropped, man i'd have been ticked.
 
Upvote 0
Just a few thoughts....

1. Carlos Hyde had a career high 168 yards on 26 carries. Here's a breakdown:

Neg. yards: 0
0-1 yard: 2
2-3 yards: 3
4-9 yards: 15
10-17 yards: 5
18+ yards: 0


Remember, a play that gains 4 yards is a great play - if you gain 4 yards on every single play, you'll never lose a game. And the best way to get 4 yards is a 240-pound back running between the tackles. Hyde isn't going to break many big runs, but he generally finds the hole and always falls forward for extra yards. In other words, he's the perfect back for Tresselball. And Meyerball, too.

2. Northwestern quarterbacks were a combined 25 for 31 (.806) for 343 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, they were also sacked 5 times. Maybe the Buckeye defensive brain trust should have used more pressure and less three-man rushes?

3. Braxton Miller had a rough night - zero touchdowns rushing, zero touchdowns passing, and he arguably cost Ohio State 18 points with his mistakes. His first fumble (at the Ohio State 23-yard line) led to a Northwestern touchdown; his second fumble (at the Northwestern 2-yard line) cost Ohio State a sure touchdown; and his errant pass on third-and-goal (to a wide open Chris Fields) forced Ohio State to settle for a field goal.

4. Bradley Roby now has four touchdowns for his career: two on blocked punts, one on a fumble recovery, and one pick six.

5. Multi-Lateral Fail. It looks like Northwestern should have invited TBDBITL after all.
 
Upvote 0
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.
 
Upvote 0
You don't need creativity when you're busting 4+ yards a pop with your RB. If anything, I thought the offensive coaching staff out thought themselves in the red zone in the first half.

I also think the staff really needs to get away from relying on Braxton so much on the designed runs. I think he is still hesitant from the knee injury plus his biggest strengths were taken away by the sloppy field. If Hyde is too tired, we do have a solid RB rotation to spell him.
 
Upvote 0
Last two weeks have been a mystery to me. Tressel ball was on full display the last two weeks and the only thing missing was, and I say this with all due respect, a good defense.

Where are all of the offensive fireworks that were going to put the rest of the Big 10 and the nation on notice? I know there is no way to prove this, but I believe that Oregon beats Northwestern last night, same conditions, by about 40 points. 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.
 
Upvote 0
You don't need creativity when you're busting 4+ yards a pop with your RB. If anything, I thought the offensive coaching staff out thought themselves in the red zone in the first half.

I also think the staff really needs to get away from relying on Braxton so much on the designed runs. I think he is still hesitant from the knee injury plus his biggest strengths were taken away by the sloppy field. If Hyde is too tired, we do have a solid RB rotation to spell him.
Yeah, you know I thought the same thing...just run Hyde. And if he was too gassed don't take him out and run Brax...bring in Rod or Eze and let them run it. We were gashing the line. Rod and Eze aren't Hyde, but they are pretty dang good and powerful. Nothing wrong with giving fresh legs a shot against a DL that was tired at the end.
 
Upvote 0
he doesn't / can't run it the way that he normally does.
Something just isn't right.

I agree, and thought it was very telling the way he answered that question last night on the "fever postgame". I do not remember the exact words but when they ask him how much the knee is still a problem he looked like a deer in the headlights trying to answer. I believe it is still a bigger problem than they want to let on, but think the bye week is right on time to help him get past it.
 
Upvote 0
When Carlos gets hit he still goes forward.
Who can we blame the 3 man rush o? It drives me crazy!
Brax was having an off night. But bounced back. I would have been happy with pulling him.
Strange play calling at the beginning but a lot of that was how Northwestern was playing us. Was I the only one thinking we should have gone "three yards and a cloud of long grass" on them from the very beginning? They were playing without their best defensive tackle.
Where is Roby's head? He was caught looking on their long pass play but ran the guy down. And there was the blocked punt which probably changed the momentum at that point even if Northwestern fought back.
Right now it looks like Doran Grant is our best "lock-down" corner. Teams are picking on Robey, more.
We just took the best shot of arguably the 2 second best teams in the Big Ten......and won!
We survived 3 turnovers. That's unheard of. We were playing from behind most of the game. And still beat a very good team in their house!
Both Wiscy and Northwestern will win ten games and go Bowling. They play each other next week. They both look worlds better than TSUN!
The bye week comes at a good time. We need to heal.
 
Upvote 0
Back
Top