May 23, 2013

While We’re Waiting… Carlos Hyde, Replacement Level, and Buckeye Basketball Awards

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

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Leading off, Michael Citro at Eleven Warriors has a nice write-up on Buckeyes running back Carlos Hyde, who is looking for a huge senior year, “All the skeptics who thought a power running back couldn’t thrive in an Urban Meyer offense were proven completely wrong last season, as Carlos Hyde rumbled for 970 yards and 16 touchdowns on just 185 carries. That’s an average of 5.2 yards per carry against defenses that were mostly designed to stop running plays and ignore passing plays. And power backs don’t get much more powerful than Carlos Hyde.” [Eleven Warriors] [Read more...]

WFNY Top 10 Cleveland Sports Stories of 2012: #8 Meyer’s Buckeyes run the table

2012 was one crazy year in the wild wacky world of Cleveland Sports. Some would tell you 2012 was as bad as it has ever been here. As the year comes to a close, like we have done the last four years, WFNY will take a look at what we view to be the 10 biggest sports stories affecting our local sports scene. Each day through the rest of the year, we will be counting down from ten to one. We started earlier today with the Buckeyes Final Four trip . Number nine was the trade of Shin-Soo Choo.

Twelve months ago the Buckeyes were a hot mess. They were on their way to losing the Gator Bowl and finishing 6-7. The offense was abysmal. The defense not a lot better. We knew Urban Meyer would be taking over as head coach, but what kind of turn around could he really do with this group?

It turns out he could do quite a bit.

The first thing Meyer did on his way to an undefeated first season at Ohio State was surround himself with quality assistant coaches and then hit the recruiting trail. Meyer started flipping recruits at a pace that alarmed other Big Ten coaches. Without the luxury of SEC over-signing, Meyer had to make his recruits count. And my were there holes to fill. [Read more...]

Buckeye Learnings

Well, the undefeated season for the Ohio State Buckeyes is officially over. All we are left to deal with are articles about what could have been, what should have been and what the NCAA or Ohio State could have done differently to avoid this debacle. Somewhere along the line you will find articles tying all of those pieces together in an effort to claim to know what would have been best for each situation. Put me in the camp where I think the Buckeyes got what they deserved. It is extremely unfortunate considering what came out later for other schools, but it is the bed they made regardless of the seasons’ outcome.

Given all of that, somehow the season does not really feel like it’s over to me. I get that there are no more games to be played by the Buckeyes this year, but finishing the season the way they did with two huge wins, it feels as though the ending was more of a springboard for this team than a true conclusion. The Buckeyes were not supposed to go undefeated this soon. Urban Meyer was supposed to come into this season to assess players that he largely had no hand in recruiting prior to, realize the talent and start building a winning program with his guys that fit his system under his coaching style.

Instead, he came right in and led this team to an undefeated, 12-0 season in his very first year. What the heck? How do you build on that?!

With confidence and an influx of top tier recruits, that’s how. [Read more...]

The Buckeye Leaves

The Big Ten has been busy the last two days handing out conference awards. Keep something in mind as we talk about which Buckeyes did and didn’t make these all conference teams and individual honors: Ohio State finished 8-0 in Big Ten play. Nebraska finished 7-1, Michigan 6-2 and Penn State 6-2. I mention those next three teams because they were the second, third and fourth best records in the conference.

And Ohio State beat all of them. (And Wisconsin for good measure.)

There were two sets of all-conference team. The coaches voted for one team, and a media panel voted on the other. You would have to wonder if some of the hurt feelings surrounding Urban’s recruiting didn’t spill over onto a ballot or two.

The Buckeyes named to the coaches All-Big Ten Conference team: [Read more...]

Buckeye Six Pack: The Game

It feels so strange that there will be no more Ohio State football games. Especially after the team finished undefeated. Let’s get to it…

1) Stepping Up. In big games, nobody has been bigger for Ohio State in the last three years than John Simon. Seeing him in street clothes to start the game made me nervous. Extremely nervous about this defense. The first half didn’t do much to calm my nerves.

But give them all the credit in the world. They stepped up in the second half and took care of business. They held Michigan to 61 yards in the second half and 9 for the fourth quarter. Outstanding performance.

Does it help that Michigan abandoned the most efficient and explosive part of their offense for the last three drives? Of course. But Ohio State had bottled up Robinson and the Michigan running game in the third quarter and Hoke was desperate to try something. [Read more...]

Box Score: Buckeyes 26, Wolverines 21

In a tale of two halves, the Ohio State defense held down the fort against the explosive Michigan Wolverines in the final 30 minutes. The Buckeyes held on in yet another close rivalry duel, winning 26-21 to finish a perfect 12-0 for the regular season.

Carlos Hyde was the star offensive player for the Bucks, as he gained 146 yards, many of them in the final two drives, to secure the victory. Michigan gained -14 rushing yards outside of Denard Robinson as they couldn’t get anything going in the final two quarters.

Although Ohio State is ineligible for the BCS standings and a bowl game this year, this victory now means the controversy and theorizing won’t end until next season begins in August. Stay tuned for lots more analysis and debates in the coming days. But for now, savor this special victory, this special season and the sixth undefeated season in OSU history.

(19) MICHIGAN WOLVERINES
8-4 (Lost last 1)

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
12-0 (Won last 12)

Team 1 2 3 4 Total
Michigan Wolverines 7 14 0 0 21
Ohio State Buckeyes 10 10 3 3 26

Scoring Summary

1st QuarterMICH – OHST
13:15 Ohio State BuckeyesOHST TD Carlos Hyde rushed to the left for 3 yard gain (Drew Basil made PAT) 0 – 7
8:04 Michigan WolverinesMICH TD Devin Gardner passed to Roy Roundtree to the right for 75 yard gain (Brendan Gibbons made PAT) 7 – 7
1:00 Ohio State BuckeyesOHST FG Drew Basil kicked a 41-yard field goal 7 – 10
2nd QuarterMICH – OHST
11:20 Michigan WolverinesMICH TD Devin Gardner rushed up the middle for 1 yard gain (Brendan Gibbons made PAT) 14 – 10
1:52 Ohio State BuckeyesOHST TD Braxton Miller passed to Corey (Philly) Brown to the right for 14 yard gain (Drew Basil made PAT) 14 – 17
1:30 Michigan WolverinesMICH TD Denard Robinson rushed to the right for 67 yard gain (Brendan Gibbons made PAT) 21 – 17
0:05 Ohio State BuckeyesOHST FG Drew Basil kicked a 52-yard field goal 21 – 20
3rd QuarterMICH – OHST
9:25 Ohio State BuckeyesOHST FG Drew Basil kicked a 28-yard field goal 21 – 23
4th QuarterMICH – OHST
7:35 Ohio State BuckeyesOHST FG Drew Basil kicked a 25-yard field goal 21 – 26

Passing

Michigan Wolverines Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int Rating
Devin Gardner 11 20 171 55.0 8.6 4 40 1 1 133.3
Ohio State Buckeyes Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int Rating
Braxton Miller 14 18 189 77.8 10.5 5 47 1 0 184.3

Rushing

Michigan Wolverines Rush Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Denard Robinson 10 122 12.2 67 1 1
Vincent Smith 5 12 2.4 8 0 0
Thomas Rawls 5 3 0.6 2 0 0
Devin Gardner 7 -29 -4.1 6 1 2
Ohio State Buckeyes Rush Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Carlos Hyde 26 146 5.6 17 1 0
Braxton Miller 20 57 2.9 42 0 1
Corey (Philly) Brown 1 21 21.0 21 0 1
Rod Smith 1 4 4.0 4 0 0

Receiving

Michigan Wolverines Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Roy Roundtree 3 92 30.7 75 1 0
Jeremy Gallon 6 67 11.2 30 0 0
Mike Kwiatkowski 1 6 6.0 6 0 0
Drew Dileo 1 6 6.0 6 0 0
Ohio State Buckeyes Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Corey (Philly) Brown 8 95 11.9 19 1 1
Devin Smith 2 63 31.5 52 0 0
Evan Spencer 1 9 9.0 9 0 0
Jake Stoneburner 1 9 9.0 9 0 0
Carlos Hyde 1 8 8.0 8 0 0
Michael Thomas 1 5 5.0 5 0 0

Kicking

Michigan Wolverines XPM XPA FGM FGA Lng Pct Pts
Brendan Gibbons 3 3 0 0 0 0.0 3
Ohio State Buckeyes XPM XPA FGM FGA Lng Pct Pts
Drew Basil 2 2 4 5 52 80.0 14

Punting

Michigan Wolverines Punt Avg Blk In20 TB
Will Hagerup 4 55.3 0 2 0
Ohio State Buckeyes Punt Avg Blk In20 TB
Ben Buchanan 3 44.7 0 2 0

Kick/Punt Returns

Michigan Wolverines KR Yds Avg Lng TD PR Yds Avg Lng TD
Dennis Norfleet 1 27 27.0 27 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Drew Dileo 2 34 17.0 19 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Jeremy Gallon 0 0 0.0 0 0 2 0 0.0 0 0
Ohio State Buckeyes KR Yds Avg Lng TD PR Yds Avg Lng TD
Bradley Roby 2 47 23.5 26 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Corey (Philly) Brown 0 0 0.0 0 0 4 30 7.5 18 0

Ohio State’s defense clamps down to secure 26-21 victory over Michigan and 12-0 season

On a day the Ohio State Buckeyes honored the perfect national champions of 2002 and former players carried Jim Tressel on their shoulders in the end zone, the Buckeyes did it again.

For the sixth time in school history, AP No. 4 Ohio State (12-0, 8-0 Big Ten) has finished a season undefeated, but the final game certainly wasn’t pretty. It took three second-half turnovers by the defense, and a heaping dose of junior Carlos Hyde on the last drive, but the Buckeyes held on for a gritty 26-21 victory over their archrivals AP No. 20 Michigan (8-4, 6-2 Big Ten).

The first half was sloppy, high-scoring and filled with big plays. The second half was again sloppy, yet dominated by defenses and missed opportunities by the Buckeyes. In the end, all that matters is a victory and a spotless 2012 for OSU.

Yet, somehow, the day started off with somber news: senior leader John Simon would not play because of an bursa injury in his right knee he suffered against Wisconsin. [Read more...]

Black Friday Fun With Numbers

For your Black Friday enjoyment, I bring to you a special edition of Rick’s usual numbers post. Some of these might be scarier than normal, so hopefully this is not read with a heaping pile of leftover turkey in your mouth.

Cleveland Browns

12.7-24.6 – Average score of the 27 Steelers-Browns games since the 1999 season. Cleveland is just 4-23 in those games, after starting 2-2 in their first two years back.

20-63 (.241) – Overall record by the Browns in all division games, including playoffs, since returning in 1999. The team is 50-85 (.370) in all other games.

25.61 and 0.504– The Browns rank 30th in the NFL with just 25.61 yards per drive and 31st with 0.504 punts per drive this season. The league averages, respectively, are about 31 yards and 0.4 punts per drive, according to Football Outsiders. [Read more...]

Box Score: No. 6 Ohio State 21, Wisconsin 14

Ryan Shazier was going to be the hero, but the Buckeyes gave Wisconsin one more chance to tie and force overtime. So they did, but then Ohio State won fair and square in the extra period by scoring first and then finally stopping the Badgers on fourth down.

In yet another close-fought game between these two emerging rivals, Ohio State improved to 11-0 on the season despite one of its most disappointing offensive performances of the season. Braxton Miller looked average at best and Carlos Hyde only had 15 carries (yet 87 yards), but the defense led by Shazier, Ryan Boren and Christian Bryant (who made the final play in OT) saved the day.

Next up: “The Game” on Saturday against Michigan in Columbus.

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter OHST – WIS
2:23 Ohio State Buckeyes OHST TD Drew Meyer punt. Corey (Philly) Brown returned punt for 68 yards (Drew Basil made PAT) 7 – 0
2nd Quarter OHST – WIS
11:45 Ohio State Buckeyes OHST TD Carlos Hyde rushed up the middle for 15 yard gain (Drew Basil made PAT) 14 – 0
8:17 Wisconsin Badgers WIS TD Montee Ball rushed up the middle for 7 yard gain (Kyle French made PAT) 14 – 7
3rd Quarter OHST – WIS
None 14 – 7
4th Quarter OHST – WIS
0:13 Wisconsin Badgers WIS TD Curt Phillips passed to Jacob Pedersen down the middle for 5 yard gain (Kyle French made PAT) 14 – 14
OT OHST – WIS
0:00 Ohio State Buckeyes OHST TD Carlos Hyde rushed up the middle for 2 yard gain (Drew Basil made PAT) 21 – 14

Passing

Ohio State Buckeyes Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int Rating
Braxton Miller 10 18 96 55.6 5.3 0 0 0 0 100.4
Wisconsin Badgers Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int Rating
Curt Phillips 14 27 155 51.9 5.7 0 0 1 0 112.3

Rushing

Ohio State Buckeyes Rush Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Carlos Hyde 15 87 5.8 18 2 0
Braxton Miller 23 49 2.1 10 0 0
Corey (Philly) Brown 2 5 2.5 3 0 0
Wisconsin Badgers Rush Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Montee Ball 38 189 5.0 25 1 1
James White 8 33 4.1 12 0 0
Jared Abbrederis 1 13 13.0 13 0 0
Derek Watt 1 3 3.0 3 0 0
Melvin Gordon 1 -1 -1.0 -1 0 0
Curt Phillips 6 -34 -5.7 2 0 0

Receiving

Ohio State Buckeyes Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Corey (Philly) Brown 4 48 12.0 18 0 0
Devin Smith 4 41 10.3 14 0 0
Nick Vannett 1 5 5.0 5 0 0
Jeff Heuerman 1 2 2.0 2 0 0
Wisconsin Badgers Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Jacob Pedersen 6 66 11.0 29 1 0
Jared Abbrederis 3 41 13.7 15 0 0
Jordan Fredrick 2 18 9.0 14 0 0
Kenzel Doe 2 17 8.5 9 0 0
Derek Watt 1 13 13.0 13 0 0

Kicking

Ohio State Buckeyes XPM XPA FGM FGA Lng Pct Pts
Drew Basil 3 3 0 0 0 0.0 3
Wisconsin Badgers XPM XPA FGM FGA Lng Pct Pts
Kyle French 2 2 0 1 0 0.0 2

Punting

Ohio State Buckeyes Punt Avg Blk In20 TB
Ben Buchanan 9 38.8 0 2 1
Wisconsin Badgers Punt Avg Blk In20 TB
Drew Meyer 8 48.3 0 3 2

Kick/Punt Returns

Ohio State Buckeyes KR Yds Avg Lng TD PR Yds Avg Lng TD
Corey (Philly) Brown 0 0 0.0 0 0 3 68 22.7 68 1
Bradley Roby 1 14 14.0 14 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Chris Fields 0 0 0.0 0 0 5 0 0.0 0 0
Jeff Heuerman 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Rod Smith 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Wisconsin Badgers KR Yds Avg Lng TD PR Yds Avg Lng TD
Kenzel Doe 3 53 17.7 36 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Jared Abbrederis 0 0 0.0 0 0 9 5 0.6 4 0

 

 

Buckeye Six Pack: The Indiana Game

Ok, my apologies for missing the last two weeks of Six Packs. Was away in training for work. You know, that whole have to pay the bills thing. At least the Bucks didn’t lose while I was gone…

1) Disconcerting Defense. It has to be said, and up front this week. What was that? Forty-nine points given up to the Hoosiers? Almost 500 yards of total offense? How about the last two weeks? Can you believe 87 points surrendered, 352 rushing yards given up and 918 total yards against Indiana and Nebraska?

Here’s what is really concerning me. We have two absolute studs on the line in Simon and Hankins. Williams, Goebel, Spence and Washington aren’t too shabby themselves, but we can’t get any kind of consistent pressure. We have a secondary with glimpses of superior talent, but we give up way too many big plays in the passing game.

I get that the linebackers aren’t strong as a group. I fear however that this is a bit more than that simplistic of an answer. By the way, your leading tackler for the Buckeyes Saturday? Zach Boren. [Read more...]

Box Score: (14) Ohio State 17, (20) Michigan State 16

Urban Meyer’s first Big Ten conference game wasn’t easy or pretty, but it did go into the win column. Braxton Miller amassed 341 total yards and threw for one touchdown as the Buckeyes held MSU star running back Le’Veon Bell to 49 yards rushing in a 17-16 win at Spartan Stadium.  The Buckeyes and Spartans each scored on their opening drive, and that would prove to be the only scoring of the first half as OSU took a 7-3 lead into the break. After OSU fell behind 13-10 in the third quarter, Braxton Miller connected with Devin Smith for a 63-yard touchdown, and the Buckeyes would never relinquish the lead again. The front seven was able to get the defensive stops when they needed to, and Miller and running back Carlos Hyde combined to pick up the first downs required to run the clock out on the Spartans. The Buckeyes are a perfect 5-0, and they welcome the Nebraska Cornhuskers to The ‘Shoe next Saturday night.

 

Scoring Summary

1st QuarterOHST – MIST
12:09 Ohio State BuckeyesOHST TD Jordan Hall rushed up the middle for 1 yard gain (Drew Basilmade PAT) 7 – 0
8:50 Michigan State SpartansMIST FG Dan Conroy kicked a 35-yard field goal 7 – 3
2nd QuarterOHST – MIST
None 7 – 3
3rd QuarterOHST – MIST
11:09 Michigan State SpartansMIST FG Dan Conroy kicked a 50-yard field goal 7 – 6
6:47 Ohio State BuckeyesOHST FG Drew Basil kicked a 26-yard field goal 10 – 6
5:22 Michigan State SpartansMIST TD Andrew Maxwell passed to Andrew Maxwell to the left for 29 yard gain (Dan Conroy made PAT) 10 – 13
3:43 Ohio State BuckeyesOHST TD Braxton Miller passed to Devin Smith to the right for 63 yard gain (Drew Basil made PAT) 17 – 13
4th QuarterOHST – MIST
8:00 Michigan State SpartansMIST FG Dan Conroy kicked a 48-yard field goal 17 – 16

Passing

Ohio State Buckeyes Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int Rating
Braxton Miller 16 23 179 69.6 7.8 1 6 1 1 140.6
Michigan State Spartans Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int Rating
Andrew Maxwell 22 42 269 52.4 6.4 2 10 1 0 114.0

Rushing

Ohio State Buckeyes Rush Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Braxton Miller 23 135 5.9 20 0 2
Carlos Hyde 11 49 4.5 9 0 0
Jordan Hall 6 26 4.3 14 1 0
Corey (Philly) Brown 1 6 6.0 6 0 0
Michigan State Spartans Rush Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Le’Veon Bell 17 49 2.9 8 0 0
Larry Caper 1 2 2.0 2 0 0
Nick Hill 1 -3 -3.0 -3 0 0
Andrew Maxwell 3 -10 -3.3 0 0 0

Receiving

Ohio State Buckeyes Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Corey (Philly) Brown 12 84 7.0 24 0 0
Devin Smith 2 79 39.5 63 1 0
Jordan Hall 1 10 10.0 10 0 0
Carlos Hyde 1 6 6.0 6 0 0
Michigan State Spartans Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Le’Veon Bell 8 58 7.3 13 0 0
Keith Mumphery 4 50 12.5 20 0 0
Bennie Fowler 2 46 23.0 35 0 0
Tony Lippett 4 46 11.5 15 0 0
Dion Sims 2 36 18.0 19 0 0
Andrew Maxwell 1 29 29.0 29 1 0
Paul Lang 1 4 4.0 4 0 0

Kicking

Ohio State Buckeyes XPM XPA FGM FGA Lng Pct Pts
Drew Basil 2 2 1 1 26 100.0 5
Michigan State Spartans XPM XPA FGM FGA Lng Pct Pts
Dan Conroy 1 1 3 4 50 75.0 10

Punting

Ohio State Buckeyes Punt Avg Blk In20 TB
Ben Buchanan 4 45.8 0 1 0
Michigan State Spartans Punt Avg Blk In20 TB
Mike Sadler 5 59.6 1 4 0

Kick/Punt Returns

Ohio State Buckeyes KR Yds Avg Lng TD PR Yds Avg Lng TD
Devin Smith 2 21 10.5 21 0 2 16 8.0 16 0
Jordan Hall 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 7 7.0 7 0
Michigan State Spartans KR Yds Avg Lng TD PR Yds Avg Lng TD
Nick Hill 4 100 25.0 34 0 4 10 2.5 10 0

Buckeye Six Pack: The UAB Game

Each week I rewatch the Buckeyes game and give you my takeaways from the game in a little piece we like to call the…

First things first- I am away this week and therefore was not able to rewatch the game. This week’s six pack will have to be from my original impressions of the Ohio State game. The Buckeyes won 29-15. Let’s get started…

1) Poor Tackling. The lead item from last week’s game is the same for this week. And that isn’t good. That optimist looks at the game and says “Ohio State didn’t give up a defensive touchdown, what problem does the defense really have?” I watched that game and thought “How are we going to keep good teams out of the end zone?”

It isn’t just tackling in space, it’s wrapping up. It’s taking good angles to the ball carrier. This is something I never thought I’d say about a Fickell coached defense. It is something that we’ve said about the defense for the second straight year though. Is it just a coincidence that Vrabel is a key assistant coach during both of these years? I hope so. [Read more...]

Ohio State News: Canton’s Brionte Dunn to Start for Buckeyes

With running back Carlos Hyde spraining his MCL in the second quarter of this weekend’s win over Central Florida, Canton Glen Oak’s Bri’onte Dunn will sit atop the Buckeyes’ depth chart at running back.

In his Monday afternoon press conference, head coach Urban Meyer stated that the Dunn will not be the starter by default and that Zach Boren could also receive snaps as the primary ball-carrier, however, with Hyde and Jordan hall nursing injuries, it will likey be the true freshman in Dunn as well as Rod Smith who will provide the ground attack of the 12th-ranked Buckeyes as they play host to California.

“It’s one thing getting your mind right to go to be a backup for third‑string tailback for a game,” Meyer said of Dunn. “It’s another thing getting your mind right to be the guy that’s going to jog out there with the first offense.  There’s no just go play.  He’s got Tuesday, and Wednesday is going to be very critical ‑‑ whoever has the best Tuesday and Wednesday is going to line up at tailback.

Dunn, one of the top tailbacks in America coming out of high school, committed to Ohio State during his junior season, but reopened his recruitment with the resignation of former head coach Jim Tressel, even talking with Michigan and taking consecutive unofficial visits to Ann Arbor in November. The hiring of Meyer, however, provided reason for Dunn to play football in Columbus as the five-star recruit was one of Meyer’s primary targets upon being hired.

[Related: Buckeye Six Pack: The UCF Game]

Buckeye Six Pack: The UCF Game

Each week I rewatch the Buckeyes game and give you my takeaways from the game in a little piece we like to call the…

The most important thing is always that the Buckeyes handle business and get the win. They accomplished that goal this week, even though it wasn’t the prettiest of performances- especially by the offense. It came at a price though, as RB Carlos Hyde sprained his knee. He isn’t listed on this week’s depth chart…

1) Too many mistakes. This offense needs to clean up the errors. It’s been a long time since I have seen a team have at least three miscommunications in the running game. Braxton Miller’s superior athleticism is enough to get positive yardage against UCF, but won’t against the back half of the schedule. Add in the penalties- 10 for 79, and the 2 fumbles and you have a recipe for an upset. [Read more...]

Buckeyes rout the Redhawks, 56-10

Ohio State RB Carlos Hyde

I don’t know about anyone else, but I was expecting a Buckeye rout in Urban Meyer’s Ohio State debut. They were at home, versus a MAC team, beginning a New Era and an actual offense, I was expecting a lopsided game.

And it was. Ohio State ended up winning going away, by the final of 56-10.

But after one quarter of play, the Buckeyes were trailing Miami Redhawks 3-0.

Of course they were.

Now, Ohio State has had ugly games against MAC teams in the past. It wasn’t a complete surprise that they came out flat. There’s a lot of hype with Meyer taking over and a lot of pressure and expectations 1 . But what’s weird was, I felt good about that 3-0 score. It certainly could’ve been worse; if any Miami’s receivers could catch, quarterback Zac Dysert would’ve given the Redhawk a lead much larger than just three.

Things turned around in the second quarter.  [Read more...]

___________________________________

  1. points. Lots of them [back]

Buckeye 12-Pack: The Purdue Game

Each week after re-watching the Ohio State game I bring you my take-aways from the game in a little something I call the Buckeye 12-Pack…

This week the 12-pack is coming to you early. A couple reasons for that, first I really don’t want to re-live that game later, and second because we didn’t have a game recap and wanted to give you a place to discuss the game.

No. 1- Missed opportunities. It’s hard to know where to even begin with a loss like that. The botched extra point is the most obvious, but there were plenty more. There was a missed field goal. There were at least 4 opportunities for turnovers that the defense couldn’t come up with, including a pass that flew right into the breadbasket of C.J. Barnett. Penalties killed the offense. OSU has a hard enough time getting 10 yards for a first down (especially Saturday) they don’t need to have to get 15 or 20. [Read more...]

Buckeye 12-Pack: Buckeyes at the Break

Each week I attempt to bring you my take-aways from the previous game in something I call the Buckeye 12-pack. With the bye week upon us, I decided to go over the first half of the season instead of focus on just one game. Enjoy…

No. 1- The Buckeyes stand at 4-3 with 5 games to play. A win against a previously unbeaten, ranked Illinois team on the road is nothing to sneeze at, no matter how ugly the win was.

If you think about it though, that was precisely the kind of game everyone thought the Buckeyes would have to play to win this year. The defense stepped up with huge plays, particularly the turnovers, and the offense ran the ball effectively. Yes, the offense completed only pass. The truth of the matter is that on Saturday that was all that was necessary. [Read more...]

Ohio State and the Quarterback Dilemma

“Well, right now we’re focused on obviously Braxton is our quarterback, and if Joe goes in there, then obviously we have to do some different things probably. The thing is people are going to play you different, so you’ve got to figure out what it is that he can do well.” -Luke Fickell on the QB position.

It appears, according to Coach Fickell’s press conference, that Braxton Miller is going to be able to play come Saturday. They wanted to see how he responds to practice today, but they were encouraged by his progress. That is certainly the good news.

The bad news, is that the Buckeyes are still leaning on Joe Bauserman as part of the plan.

Fickell’s statement, that the Buckeyes have to figure out what Bauserman can do well, is completely absurd. Bauserman is in the middle of his last season with the Buckeyes. Why exactly should they scramble to find out something he can do well? “Congratulations Joe, with scholarship in hand you will graduate with a degree from The Ohio State University. We wish you well in whatever you do with the rest of your life. You will never throw another pass out of bounds for us again though.” How about that for a statement on Joe Bauserman?

I don’t see what possible good it can do for Bauserman to get any more reps in practice or in a game situation. [Read more...]