This Year With Our Buckeyes

Well Buckeye Fans, I am back. To be honest I missed posting but had to do so because I could not balance graduate school with writing about my love of Ohio State football. Enough of that though, let us talk about what we/I expect coming into the season. 

Well last season was mediocre because there were too many people trying to make one play every single play and we spit and sputtered all season. It came to a crash against Clemson. I think that some pieces fell into place when Luke went to Cincy, Warriner went to another Big Ten School, and we brought in Kevin Wilson and another QB coach. 

What I hope takes place this year is we take more chances down the field, but that is predicated on development of wide receivers and offensive line protection. I have hope that this new QB coach and wide receiver coach are working on timing. Timing is when the QB throws the ball in relation to where the wide receivers are down the field. Timing is important because that gives the offensive line and blockers a set amount of time to block. The longer the QB has the ball, the longer blockers must block and can end up in holding penalties, etc. 

Before I do get to season expectations I think it is important to say that there is irony in playing the last team of your offensive coordinator, but I don't think that will have an outcome on the game. Now for expectations......

I hope that Urban allows the receivers to stretch their legs this year..... There is not one team we will play either regular season or post that will respect us if we don't have a down field passing game. Devin Smith was that guy for a long time, but we've had no one since. We will not get respect until we have someone who can stretch the field. Stretching the field enables everything else. 

The first couple years of Tom Herman was met with mediocrity. We did not do anything down the field until the 2014-2015 season and look what happened, a National Championship. I am not expecting record breaking throwing yards nor offensive performances because the team needs time to gel and that takes time. I think the Buckeyes will struggle through the first three games, than get better and better as the season goes on. I am hoping for a return to Indianapolis because I think it's pitiful to only have one Big Ten Championship since Urban came here.

I think that we go undefeated this year and win the Championship because I think Urban understands that we need to play freely to win. Playing freely means we don't play percentages, we take chances and mold game plans to team weakness. I think that JT needs to be able to run when needed, instead of staying behind the line of scrimmage because we supposedly have so many weapons. Defenses will send blitzes if they know JT will stay in the pocket. 

Just to cut this short, this season has the feeling of the 2002 season where most of our wins were close before we went and beat Miami for the title. 

This Question is Stupid

Ever since Ohio State has started their season every person that has an interest in college football or calls themselves an analysts keeps saying Ohio State does not deserve to be #1. That is simply a lie and here is why; Ohio State has not lost a game since week 2 of last year, rankings at this point in the season do not mean a damn thing, Ohio State is a second half team, and putting a number next to a team does not mean everyone above them or below is better or worse. Ohio State being ranked #1 again puts them in a category that Alabama or any overrated SEC team is not even close to them on, #1 in the AP Poll. Eat your heart out analysts! One thing that I must point out though is TTUN. As much as I do not like to admit it, they are improving week to week and that is great news for the Big Ten. The Big Ten needs as many teams as possible ranked and winning. At the moment the Big Ten and SEC have the same number of teams ranked.

Regardless of how many points are scored in a game the highest score at the end is what matters. The road leading to the Championship is never easy and this year is no different. Urban and the rest of the offense may be a bit confused as to who should be the quarterback in the game, but we are still undefeated. You can compare us to Florida State all you want, but we still have not lost and that accounts for much more then margin of victory.

Ohio State is #1 but it does not matter right now. Last year Alabama was given #1 at the end of the year and they lost in the Sugar Bowl to the #4 Ohio State Buckeyes! Even though we are half way through the season many of the ranked teams still have not played season defining games yet, they have not made it into the Conference Championships, nor have they won a Championship. Until the next bowl season comes upon us, Ohio State has done all of the above. TCU and Baylor are flying high right now, but that ship is getting ready to land and only one of them will be taking off again. Utah will not remain undefeated and it is only a matter of time. There is always a team from the PAC 12 or Big 12 that brings the analysts to their feet for a time every year. Right now, Utah is that team that everyone is being paid to observe. Ohio State is old news and frankly, boring to watch. As long as Ohio State goes undefeated into the Conference Championship and win they will get into the Playoffs, it is that simple.

During the season last year college football was convinced Ohio State did not have what it took to compete and win against anyone outside of their conference, yet we saw different. Ohio State is a second half team. While other teams start the year off quickly they struggle to finish strong. Ohio State walked into the Big Ten Championship and blanked Wisconsin, then dominated Alabama and Oregon.

In comparison to other conferences, the Big Ten is back. Alabama lost to Ole Miss, Ole Miss lost to Florida, Oklahoma lost to Texas, TCU has no defense and haven't played anyone that has either. Baylor is peaking in their performance at the moment and everyone is talking about how awesome the ACC and Big 12 are. Word to the wise, the season is half over. What will all the analysts say when Ohio State is still undefeated and #1 going into the Playoffs or have been dropped from #1 and are still in the Playoffs? I understand that the majority of the people on TV and radio have no clue what they are saying and are doing so to piss people off, but that is all they do.

Ohio State will find their way through the season.

National Signing Day

There is a subtle satisfaction in being a part of the Big Ten. I know that everyone and their brothers like to raise the point, that it is very difficult for the Big Ten to be ranked highly in the recruiting classes, with the exception of Ohio State and Penn State this year (so far). I think that last nights Super Bowl win was actually a good thing for the Big Ten, as it showed a cold weather team achieving a great accomplishment. When is the last time a team from anywhere in the south won a Super Bowl? Who's the last team from the south to win a championship in college football? My point is this, the rhetoric surrounding the south is nearly impenetrably. It just cannot be done. However, the proof is written on the wall. The south has the players, but the north has the talent and skill. Urban Meyer beat three Heisman winners on his way to his third title, beating out the King of the SEC, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

It's not hard to justify the notion that the Big Ten is back. However, one look at recruiting news and it's littered with SEC teams finishing the year with top recruiting classes. But does it really matter. While it's too soon to say the SEC is done and over with, what is safe to say is that the ground has leveled off. No longer is Alabama or anyone in "that conference down there," the deepest, most dominant conference in the nation. The Big Ten is back. Just look at Harbaugh at Michigan. He was successful at Stanford, then became successful in the NFL. What other coach can say he was successful at both levels? Nick Saban? Not even he can claim that. Give Michigan a couple recruiting classes, and the focus will shift. The Big Ten may not litter the top 10 with recruits but their trophy rooms will be littered with Championship trophies, which is what counts.

Ohio State and Oregon - Can It Be Done?

The best two teams in the Nations, that nobody thought would get there and boy, were they wrong. Ohio State beat the SEC West in their own back yard. Oregon destroyed Florida State. The problem with Alabama was that their success was half talent, half hype. "Expert and anaylsts" said that Ohio State is most like Auburn and they beat them last year and came close this year. Alabama is too much of everything for Ohio State to compete. We saw how that played out. Florida State played poker like a millionaire. They played like they had no purpose until they realized that teams were giving them their best and it still wasn't enough, so they kicked into another gear and beat their opponent. Florida State gave the ball away with the understanding that their team was better then the other. Oregon proved that they were better then Florida State and basically the whole ACC.

The turnovers the Florida State committed showed their lack of dedication to the fundamentals. After all, Jameis basically through the ball to Oregon after falling down. How obvious could that have been? Oregon was stripping the ball and downright playing like a team that Florida State could not match up with. Ohio State gifted Alabama two touchdowns, and still won. When does that happen?

I believe Ohio State can win this game doing basically what Oregon did to Florida State. Up tempo offense running the ball, combined with short passing plays and quarterback options. Florida State did not know what hit them. Ohio State can win this game basically doing that. Cardale Jones is an absolute beast win running. He does not try to run around, but over. He likes to hit you. Elliott is a back that likes to hit you, bounce off tackles, then run for 230 yards in a game. I believe that Oregon is a physical team, but they have not faced an Urban Meyer Ohio State yet. A Jimbo Florida State is nothing compared to that. Under Jim Tressel, Ohio State stopped a high flying Masoli-Chip Kelly team. Why can't we do the same with another Hall of Fame coach? In the end, I see this game playing out for Ohio State. I see Ohio State putting up 42+ points on Oregon, while Oregon puts up 21.

The Buckeyes will be playing their hearts out. Not only have we stopped one Heisman contender, we stopped two! We were supposed to lose to Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Alabama, but won all three. Now we are supposed to lose to Oregon. Granted, Oregon has Mariota, but Alabama had Cooper, and Wisconsin has Gordon. I see our defense bringing to life the meaning of the silver bullets. Every time a team double teams Bosa, they allow the other 3 defensive linemen through, quite a trade off. Coupled with the play of our linebackers and their offensive line is going to have it tough. Oregon came into the Rose Bowl with Tressel and used a spread option. Tressel's defense played smart. Urban's defense will be the same. Our secondary proved worthy against one of the greatest wide recievers. Make no mistake, this game will be great and hard fought, I just feel Ohio State will win.