Ohio State vs. Maryland Prediction

Normally this prediction would be quite confident and somewhat outlandish, but here it goes......

*If Hawaii, Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Indiana can stop our passing game then Maryland can too. I do not see Urban letting Cardale lose for this game. If he hasn't done it yet, why would he do it now? Maryland will stack the line of scrimmage and Cardale will fail to see open receivers down the field. Cardale may throw the ball, but his arm strength won't be seen.

*Elliot will have to put this team on his back once again. Elliot mentioned that his focus coming into the 2nd half was running through tackles and arm tackles in general. Not only did he do that, but he ran for over 200 yards in the second half alone.

*Hot passes and Jet Sweeps will be few and far between because they won't amount too much in gained yardage. Without a passing game defenses will stack the line of scrimmage. Defenses are now focusing on staying disciplined at the line of scrimmage meaning they are following the ball more then they are rushing into the back field.

*Marshall is not soon talented that his fumbles do not outweigh how lethal he is with the ball. He should be sat for at least a quarter, giving others the opportunity to play.

*Our defense will make the difference. Urban likes to say we are an offensive driven team, but that is not true. We can't run the read option effectively, we can't run the QB sneak effectively, and defenses know this. Our defense will have to win us this game.

*My prediction:
Cardale will play himself out of the starting position and JT will be given the ball for the remainder of the season. Elliot will break some major runs and our defense will show up. Ineffective perimeter runs by our WR will be hampered by balls that are thrown too late, too low, or over their heads. I do not want Cardale to fail, I want to see him succeed, but I think he succeeded last year because the team rose up around him. I don't see that same magic happening again.

Ohio State 42 Maryland 30

*I think that Urban will have his last chance to change the QBs after the result of this game. If he waits too long and Cardale is still struggling he isn't giving JT enough time to get warmed up for Penn State. It is not fair for JT to be expected to save the day given one game. Last year he did it in two games, this year he should have at least that much.

Ohio State's Delimma

Ohio State is in a precarious situation at the moment. On one hand Urban Meyer is sticking with Cardale Jones and the majority of Buckeye Nation wants JT Barrett. Cardale should get one more game to prove he is the starter; otherwise, I do not think Cardale is our QB. With Cardale Jones opposing defenses have learnt that Urban does not trust Cardale to throw it down the field, Cardale's size does not allow him to run the QB option affectively and he does not look like a leader on the field.

Last year we saw JT improve dramatically in a very short time frame. Cardale is not showing the same progress. At some point, hopefully soon, Urban will have to pull the plug. I am tired of hearing coaches talk about a game like it was supposed to be a game instead of it being a blow out. In no way shape or form should the last 5 games have been close games. They should have all been blow outs, but they were not. Our defense is the backbone of this team and have received no help from an embarrassing offense.

Last year we scrutinized Herman and Meyer for their play calling at this time. This year we are questioning the same situation. I do not see Ohio State's present situation as a dilemma more than I do an easily fixed problem. First and foremost, we need to stick to one classification of player. Opponents have realized what our offense looks like when Jet Sweeps and QB sneaks are called. I think that Braxton, Dixon, and Campbell should be our downfield receivers. Marshall, Wilson, and Vannett are our intermediate passing wide receivers, and Samuel and Zeke are our running backs. The offensive line can open holes for Zeke to run through as seen against Indiana.

I think, if Cardale stays our QB, that the WR should be sent downfield every single possession we have, that way the secondary and safeties have to decide whether they will stop the pass or the run. If they decide to stop the pass, then we send Zeke up the middle of the defense for big gains. If they decide to stop the run, then Cardale should throw the ball over their heads to our WR for easy touchdowns. Cardale should not be doing anymore QB sneaks because he simply does not do them well enough. We have a better chance of Zeke running for a touchdown on 4th and 1 then Cardale getting a 1st Down by pushing the pile forward.

If Cardale performs poorly against Maryland, I will be shocked if Urban keeps him in. I guess the question is this, if Cardale is the QB for our first loss will Buckeye Nation be calling for his head? What about Urban? If this team loses this year it will be due to self inflicted wounds.

The Beauty of Social Media

For purposes of understanding where I get ideas for my posts, I have multiple apps downloaded on my phone, a twitter account, and listen to sports radio shows, I was on Twitter and saw a conversation between Tyvis Powell and a Virginia Tech fan. Tyvis had tweeted something about the team grinding hard so that they don't lose the same again. The fan responded they have been grinding too and that Lane Stadium is ready for us, we better be ready for it. The last part really annoyed me.

In terms of crowd noise Ohio State has been through the worst of the worst and still hoisted a trophy above their heads. The Big Ten Championship was the perfect mesh of Ohio State and Wisconsin. The Sugar Bowl was basically in Alabama's back yard. The Title Game was more Ohio State fans, but than again, Ohio State travel extremely well. What I would love to say to Virginia Tech fans is this: While you beat us last year for multiple reasons, those reasons do not exists anymore. For some reason, preparing the triple option one week and playing a totally different team the next is one of the toughest schedules a team can have. JT Barrett was still new on the scene and our team was not quite a team yet. It was literally the perfect storm for Virginia Tech.

This year the perfect storm will be anything but for Virginia Tech. We have an experienced defensive and offensive line, highly potent offensive in general, and a defense hell bent on creating havoc for any offense. I do not forsee this game being close at all, I do not care how much time there is to prepare. We will be walking into that stadium with revenge on our mind and the last time that happened we dominated our opponent. Right now, this team has forgotten all about the glory of the National Title because it no longer exists. What exists is the countdown to the first game of the season.