Thoughts on OSU vs Cincinnati | Week 5 (2014)

First off, I really need to get these out sooner.  It's now Tuesday and my aging brain is already forgetting some of the details that I wanted to write about.

First, I'll start with general impressions...

I thought the until about the tail-end of the 2nd Quarter, this was the Buckeyes team that I've been longing for this season.  The tempo was fast... the play-calling was quick (i.e., Barrett and the offense weren't stuck waiting around for the play to come in from the sidelines)... and if you've been reading up on all of my posts this year, then you'll know that the the Buckeyes did exactly what I've been preaching they needed to do (i.e., they finally got away from spreading the ball around to their abundant resources of weapons, and finally started concentrating on 2-3 weapons; namely J.T. Barrett, Ezekiel Elliott, Dontre Wilson, Devin Smith, and Michael Thomas.  Until Curtis Samuel fumbled late in the 2nd Quarter (and really that was a crucial turning point in the game that halted the Buckeyes' machine), Barrett had 9 passes for 141 yards (including 2 TD passes) and 76 rushing yards, Elliott had 57 total yards (important note: Elliott didn't touch the ball in the 2nd Q until Samuel fumbled... that blows my mind), Wilson had 46 total yards, and Devin Smith and Michael Thomas each had 33 yards receiving.  That needs to be OSU's offense.  That should be how OSU's offense looks every week (with an exception for a pass or two to a TE).  Rod Smith should only be used in the short yardage situations (i.e., 3rd and 2) and Curtis Samuel and Jalin Marshall (while they've looked good the times they've been in there) should only be used when the game is in hand (which, I suppose an argument could be made for this is exactly what happened, because by the time Curtis Samuel got in there and saw his 1st touches of the game, the score was already OSU 30 CIN 7... so I suppose this is actually exactly what the game plan was).

While I think Samuel will turn into a fine player, I was thrilled to see Meyer bench him after his fumble.  Teach the young star athlete a lesson... You're not going to play for me if you're not going to take care of the football.  Yes Samuel is a star in the waiting... and yes there's going to be a time where Meyer is going to need to lean on him, but for right now... let the freshman ride the bench and give it to your workhorse Elliott.  The Bearcats couldn't stop Elliott all night.

Time to get into the individual players...

I'm really starting to enjoy J.T. Barrett.  I think this kid is going to be just fine.  He's reads, progressions, and throws are all so advanced for his level.  You look at where Barrett's at verses where Florida State's Jameis Winston (most talked about player in college football) and Michigan's Shane Morris (same recruiting class as Barrett) are at... and go ahead and call it scarlet glasses all you want, but I would honestly take Barrett over both of those guys.  Next time you watch Jameis Winston, look for how many times he's throwing curl-route passes.  It seems like every time he throws the ball, he's throwing to where the WR was/is; not where the WR is going to be (i.e., he doesn't lead his receivers).  As for Morris... Morris looks like he's just out there trying to win a pitching competition of who-can-throw-the-ball-the-hardest.  Morris has yet to demonstrate zero touch on his passes (and no... I'm not just talking about this past weekend's game, I'm talking about throughout his entire collegiate career, so including last year's bowl game vs Kansas State), and he's just out there launching the ball wherever (hence all the interceptions - 5 INTs in 7 games).  Barrett on the hand looks poised, hes matured from game-to-game, and I'm watching him learn from his past game mistakes.  I'm beginning to feel far more confident in him managing the game, and starting to see potential for him to take games over.  Very exciting.

Cincinnati fans want to point to their "stud" QB Gunner Kiel... Barrett had a higher QBR (85.7) than Kiel did (76.7).  As I already discussed with many of my Bearcat friends... you take just THREE pass completions away from Kiel (all of which were to Chris Moore), and the Buckeyes limited Kiel to a measly 131 passing yards!  Now... let's exam all three of those passes to C.Moore... the 1st one was essentially a 'jump ball' pass.  Vonn Bell (#11) was in decent position (yeah, you could argue he was a little beat, but all he has to do is turn his head around and look back for the football and he probably has an INT; heck... Bell even had his arm in-between Moore's hands and could have ripped the ball out!)  So the first catch was very lucky on Kiel's part, and quite a bit of skill on Moore's part.  As for the touchdown pass to Moore that was called back... the rule (Ineligible Receiver Downfield) clearly states... "No originally ineligible receiver shall be or have been more than three yards beyond the neutral zone until a legal forward pass that crosses the neutral zone has been thrown (A.R. 7-3-10-I and II).  It's tough to make it out, but if you look closely, there's about 3 Bearcat OL who are 3-4 yards past the original LOS (the original LOS was about the 45... the 3 OL were at about the 41-42).  REGARDLESS... this wasn't even a GUNNER KIEL PLAY!  It was Jarred Evans! (not to be confused with Cincy Bearcat alum Jared Fawley).  Cincy fans... ask yourself... who was Jarred Evans in the game at this point if Gunner Kiel was doing such a fantastic job?!  Could it be because they were down 7-30 and Kiel wasn't doing anything great?!?! Hmmm...  Now let's look at the 3rd play... first & foremost, what in the world Chris Ash (OSU's co-defensive coordinator) is doing with our DBs playing 7-10 yards off the Bearcat wide receivers on 1st and 10 is beyond me.  That's just terrible coaching to begin with, and pisses me off even more because Ash vowed that we would play more press-coverage at the beginning of the season!  Where the press coverage has been, I don't know.  Still waiting...  But back to the play at hand, Moore essentially toasts Eli Apple (#13) and blows right by him. I suppose we can give props to Kiel for hitting Moore in stride, but then again, Moore had Apple by a good 2-3 yards, so again I think this is more the talent of Moore than it was anything Kiel really did.  It was a deep ball.  They connected.  Terrible coverage.  Terrible scheming.  You really want to own that one?  Ok.  Now... finally on to the 3rd and final big play.... Doran Grant (#12) gets the weakest bump-and-run coverage I have ever seen (perhaps this is why Ash isn't playing press coverage?).  He basically love-taps Moore and essentially gives Moore a free release.  Then, to compound matters, my boy Tyvis Powell (#23)... Lord knows where he's going (running to the sideline).  He bit hard on the screen, and for the life of me I don't know why because you have Moore streaking downfield and while Kiel did pump the screen route, Kiel then recollects himself and even pumps again on Moore's route, yet Powell is still sprinting to the sideline!  So... you can sit there Cincinnati fans and you can toot your horn about how Gunner Kiel had a "phenomenal day"... but at the end of the day, OSU's secondary play was ATROCIOUS on 3 plays, and then they held Kiel in check the rest of the game for 131 passing yards!  OSU's woefully secondary play has been well documented.  So... it's not like Cincy blasted some well-oiled Alabama-like secondary.

OSU found their pony -- Ezekiel Elliott.  I say "pony" because as impressive as Elliott was on Saturday, he's still no Carlos Hyde ("horse"... again, not to be confused with Jared Fawley).  Elliott had somewhat of a coming out party, amassing 182 yards on the ground (6.5 avg) and 51 receiving yards.  But what the numbers don't show is truly how impressive Elliott looked running the ball.  He ran as hard as I've ever seen him run (noise down, lowering the shoulder, diving for every last yard, etc.).  I was thoroughly impressed.  Barrett ran the ball well too (amassing 79 yards on the ground, channeling his inner Braxton Miller).  I thought Rod Smith looked great grinding out the "tough" short yardage plays.

The receiving group put forth probably their best performance to date, and yet still they had several key drops (3 consecutive drops, if I remember correctly).  Devin Smith's drop is the key one that sticks out to me.  He literally had a first down, and with no one even remotely near him, he turns and drops the ball.  Dontre Wilson looked absolutely fantastic in the receiving game (6 receptions for 71 yards).  As I've been saying all season long throughout every single one of these Game Reviews... OSU needs to focus on getting the ball into Wilson, Smith, and Thomas's hands more (and a TE here or there).  I'm done with Evan Spencer.  I'm done with Corey Smith.  These guys are simply taking targets away from guys who could be our big playmakers.

The offensive line looked GREAT.  By far their best performance all season.  Barrett had HOURS to sit in the pocket and throw.  I don't recall Cincinnati blitzing that much (which was slightly surprising considering all the luck Va Tech had blitzing; my only thought regarding this is perhaps the Bearcats coaching staff saw the Kent State game tape, and Kent State tried blitzing a bunch but OSu was able to handle it pretty well; so perhaps the Bearcats coaching staff thought OSU was good at picking up the blitz?  Idk.).

Defensive line.  What was once the strength of the team is now becoming just another 'group', in my opinion.  Joey Bosa is without question NFL ready.  Scary to think that this kid has 1 more year (technically 2, but let's face it... this kid is as good as gone after his Junior season) year/season.  My fear tho is starting to come true... the OSU defensive line is essentially Joey Bosa, Michael Bennett, and Adolphus Washington.  The 4th guy (Frazier or Miller) is essentially worthless.  Definitely starting to feel the loss of Spence (sidenote: When is an official ruling/statement going to be levied re: Spence?!?!  I haven't heard squat after the news broke re: his 2nd failed drug test).  I'm all for kicking Frazier and Miller to the side and testing our Jalyn Holmes, Tyquan Lewis, or Dante Booker at the 2nd DE spot.

LBs.  Was thrilled to see Raekwon McMillan receiving so much PT.  The writing is on the wall... Curtis Grant is just absolutely a non-factor when it comes to the passing defense.  I think the reason we saw McMillan receiving so many minutes on Saturday was because Cincinnati was throwing the ball 63% of the time.  (sidenote: for as much as I've dogged Cincinnati, I think they have 3 helluva good LBs in Leviticus Payne (best name award), Nick Temple, and Jeff Luc.  Payne to me looked like NFL potential, and Temple and Luc looked pretty solid as well.  Can't believe I'm going to say this, but I would prefer to have those 3 over Curtis Grant, Josh Perry, and Darron Lee as a group).

Secondary.  The secondary was atrocious.  This group gets an F.  Yeah they only gave up 131 yards (minus 3 big plays), but I'm tired of seeing the big plays.  When is this group going to buckle down and play Silver Bullet Buckeye defense?  It's time.  Enough is enough.  I'm tired of seeing our guys chasing after other guys, and I'm tired of seeing our guys being unable to CATCH the other guys when they ARE chasing them!  Where's our speed!?!?!  Chris Moore made our secondary look like Swiss cheese.   It was embarrassing.

All-in-all... I think this was the Buckeyes best game yet, which is actually encouraging because they didn't really even play to their fullest capability (significant dropped passes and terrible pass D).  So there's still plenty of room for the team to improve.  I have zero idea how anyone can come to the conclusion that the Buckeyes did not dominate this game.  They were up 30-7 late in the 2nd Quarter, until Curtis Samuel fumbled and the momentum quickly shifted to Cincinnati's favor.  But if you look at the numbers, the Buckeyes nearly doubled the Bearcats output (710 Total Yards vs 422), throttled the Bearcats in # of 1st downs (45 vs 15), and killed them in rushing yards (380 vs 70).  Not to mention, the final score was 50-28 (almost double'd em up).  (I think the final game line was 17 points, no?  So the Buckeyes even beat the spread).  IMO, this was a thorough domination in almost every regard.  Hopefully this will shut all the 'Nati fans up for another 5-10 years until inevitably we have to listen to them bitch & moan about how "you're afraid to play us" and "The Buckeyes don't play anyone... you should play us", etc.  Just STOP.  It's been over 100+years since you were even "in a game" against Ohio State (1911 OSU 11 CIN 6)  So STOP IT already.

On the brightside Cincinnati fans... hey, at least you're not Michigan and your program isn't releasing statements at 1 a.m. ET  ;-)

Finally my Buckeye brethern... I leave you with this gem...

For those of you who didn't notice/hear about it... an idiot fan ran out onto the field on Saturday.  Unfortunately for that idiot, he ran into former OSU LB and now current strength coach, Anthony Schlegel.

Video

Looks like this twit was guilty of multiple violations (notice the concealed drinking bag)

And one more glorious link.
I lied... one more link... ElevenWarriors had a nice 'Five Things' wrap up the game vs. the Bearcats..

Thoughts on OSU vs. Kent State | Week 3 (2014)

It's Week 3... after a terrible loss to Va Tech where the OSU Coaches were simply 'out-coached' (IMO), the patsy Kent State Golden Flashes strolled into Columbus.  Short of scheduling an FCS school, this was honestly the best thing the Buckeyes could have this week.  After a terrible loss, the Buckeyes needed a patsy to beat-up on and get their moral back up.  Unfortunately for them... Kent State had to be that victim.

But before we jump into the actual game itself, we first have to talk about another setback for the Buckeyes.  Late Friday (9/12) afternoon, news broke re: Junior defensive-end Noah Spence.  Spence, who had been suspended for the first two (2) games of the season (plus last year's bowl game vs. Clemson) for a failed drug test (ecstasy), was popped again for a second failed drug test (ecstasy again).  This is very alarming.  First and foremost, the kid needs help.  I was glad to see he admitted he has a problem (but then again, what was he going to say this time? 'Someone dropped something into my drink... AGAIN' ?).  So... I hope Spence receives the treatment he clearly needs.  But then after that... I'm left shaking my head.  Time & time again we see these college stars that have literally the WORLD at their finger tips, and the piss it all away by doing stupid stuff like 'poppin Mollies'.  Good gracious.  I get it... these kids want to live the rock-star life... but when you're already a star, do you really need to live/become a rock-star?  This fruit-loop dingus is poppin Mollies and probably dancing at rave parties, etc... Can't these guys just retire to their dorms and play 'Idiot Ball' in the hallway or Call of Duty... something... ANYTHING... just stay away from the DRUGS!

On to the game...

Let's start with the offensive line.  I thought the offensive line looked MUCH improved (then again, it was Kent State).  The Golden Flashes defense immediately came out and their 1st defensive formation was 46 (Bear) defense/package that gave the Buckeyes fits last weekend.  The good news is... the Buckeyes were able to handle it this week.  The bad news it... it was against Kent State (i.e., not Virginia Tech caliber).  Also... Kent State didn't 'live' in the Bear (46) formation like the Hokies did last week (i.e., the Golden Flashes didn't blitz almost every down like the Hokies did).  So... I don't take this victory as a 'cure' to the Buckeyes woes, but it's certainly (maybe 'hopefully' is a better word choice) a step in the right direction.

JT. Barrett.  I'm really pleased with Mr. Barrett.  If you go back to what I saw about him in Week 1, I said I wanted to see him progress.  I think Barrett is doing that.  Sure some will say he didn't progress against Va Tech, but I'm actually going to side in the other camp on that one.  I think Barrett looked fine against Va Tech... his coaches just didn't do him any favors (i.e., play-calling), neither did his OL (pressure in his face all night -- that's what she said!), nor his wide-receivers (dropped passes).  So... I think Barrett is fine.  Again, I'm not sold on him being a 'stud'/'star', but he's certainly 'not the problem'.  There are bigger holes/woes (like the OL and lack of a offensive playmaker) that need to be tended to first.  I personally was in heavy favor of leaving Barrett in there (at least thru the 3rd Q) and even into the 4th Q.  At this point, Barrett simply needs the experience (snaps).  And the only way he's going to get that is by getting/taking the snaps.  I understand the argument, "Well what if Barrett gets hurt/injured?"  But guys, let's face it... this team isn't going anywhere this year.  Yeah the Buckeyes could possibly go undefeated and earn a 'BCS' bowl game, but let's face it... they would probably get absolutely destroyed this year/season as the team is simply too young and doesn't have that 'it' player/playmaker.  So... who really cares if Barrett goes down?  If you're going to have a bad season, get it done & over with (i.e., get Barrett the experience he needs so that next season - or the season after - isn't miserable and then we have TWO bad seasons because of it -- it being the lack of in-game experience for Barrett).

Running backs.  I was disappointed to see Eze (Ezekiel Elliott didn't get the bulk of the carries (7 car for 65 yds - 9.3 avg).  Instead, Curtis Samuel received the most carriers (15 for 100 -  6.7 avg).  Both looked solid.  I'm super impressed with how well Samuel is running between the tackles (for a freshman and for the size he is).  I'll officially go out a limb now and call it... with the fumble, Bri'onte Dunn's career as a Buckeye is over.  I'd be surprised if Dunn ever receives another carry in an OSU uniform.  Nothing will piss a coach off more than coughing up the football, and when there's a plethora of horses in the stable, and younger horses passing you (ala Samuel and Elliott), the coaches are going to spend their time focusing on developing that younger talent rather than an old dog.  I thought Warren Ball looked pretty good too (again... it's Kent State), so there's also another reason I doubt Dunn will see too many more snaps.  I think Dunn will for sure transfer out after this season, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ball did either.

Receiving.  The receivers were much ok this week.  There were still one or two drops that I remember.  I'm telling you... Michael Thomas is the diamond in the rough in this group.  The kid has talent, and he displayed it when he caught two passes and took them BOTH for touchdowns.  He's the closest thing the Buckeyes have to a 'total package' in terms of speed, skills, size, and hands.  I really wish Tom Herman would draw up more plays to get him open and target the ball to him.  I also still stand by my proclamation that Devin Smith will be a better NFL receiver than a college receiver.  This kid has the wheels to get open, and almost every time he touches the ball, it's a touchdown.  Herman & Meyer need to find a way to get Devin more involved (again... it's that problem... we have so many weapons that it's almost a 'detriment' rather than an advantage; there just simply aren't enough snaps to get these guys all touches.  Who are you going to take touches away from? Samuel? Eze? TE?).  Which segues me into my next point... I'd like to reduce Evan Spencer and Corey Smith's minutes / snap-counts.  These guys have been in the program 4 and 3 years now, respectively, and neither has really done anything significant.  It's time to target Michael Thomas, Devin Smith, Curtis Samuel, Dontre Wilson, and the TE spot.  Sorry guys... but you've had your opportunities to produce, and quite simply you haven't.  #TimeToMoveOn

Tight end.  FINALLY... the Herman HAS COME BACK... to TIGHT END COUNTRY!

With Heuerman out (cough :: Lisa Ann :: cough), Nick Vannett received the starting nod and capitalized on it to the tune of 4 receptions for 40 yards (and Marcus Baugh even saw some meaningful minutes as he hauled in the lone touchdown for the TE group this season).  This was VERY pleasing to see, but equally VERY frustrating, as I'm confident that all we had to do to beat Va Tech's 46 (Bear) defense last week was utilize the TE and quick passing game.  Why it's taken till week 3 to get our TEs into the passing game is beyond me.


Defense.

The loss of Noah Spence really hurts.  Somehow, our defensive line went from one of the deepest / most-talented groups in the country, down to suddenly scraping the bottom of the barrel.  With the losses of Jamal Marcus (transfer to Akron -- grades), Tracy Sprinkle (suspension), and now Noah Spence (suspension)... that vaunted defensive front isn't looking as enticing as originally believed to be.  it's still without question the backbone of this defense (Bosa, Bennett, Washington), but I'm not so sure I'd say it's the best in the country anymore like I was thinking it might have been this off-season.  And part of that is because I'm not as sold on Bennett still as much as the media is for whatever reason.  Don't get me wrong, Bennett is a very good player, but I don't think he's the "beast" that the media likes to make him out to be.  Going into this season, the pre-season talk was Bennett was potentially a top 5 pick in next year's NFL draft.  I vehemently disagreed (and got blasted for it), but I think we're starting to see that I was more right than more wrong.  Yeah Bennett gets good penetration (that's what she said), but I don't see he DOMINATE games like a top 5 player prospect should.  BOSA should be the top 5 prospect.  That kid is a STUD.  Still looking for someone to step-up and grab hold of that 2nd DE spot (sigh: Spence :sigh).  At this point, I would love to see the coaches experiment with Jayln Holmes or Donte Booker.  Steve Miller and Rashad Frazier just aren't showing me enough.

LBs

Best part about blowing out Kent State?  Seeing Raekwon McMillan getting extra snaps / bigger workload.  I'm telling you... this kid is a STUD and the next great OSU LB in a long line of RICH LB tradition (Matt Wilhelm, A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter, James Laurinaitis, Ryan Shazier to name a few).  Curtis Grant still looks lost in the passing game.  IMO, the coaching staff needs to work on phasing Curtis out and finding more minutes/snaps for McMillan.  Sure there's going to be plenty of bumps in the road and learning points, but again... better to go thru those bumps and learning roads now than suffer another abysmal season later.  As for the other two guys (Joshua Perry and Darron Lee)... I fear they are just simply that - 'JAGs' aka 'just a guy(s)'.  Lee has demonstrated more talent than Perry (and I think Lee could end up being pretty decent, actually), but I just don't see anything special about Perry and Lee needs to make more plays before I fall in love with him.

Secondary

I think we're set at Safety, and have perhaps one of the best pairs in the country (in Tyvis Powell and Vonn Bell).  Bell is a difference maker, and Powell just makes plays (i.e., Powell is 2nd on the team in tackles, avg almost 8 per game).  The real concern is the corners, but thankfully Doran Grant has been as I thought (pretty solid), but unfortunately the other corner has certainly been little to desire.  It looks like Eli Apple has surpassed Armani Reeves (which I'm happy to see), now hopefully he can just develop & progress.

2 for the road...

I thought it was interesting seeing Mr 'We-Aint-Come-Here-To-Play-School' Cardale Jones saw his first minutes of the season.  I laughed when his first couple plays were all read-options and he kept the ball almost every single time.  The guy is more about me-me-me than team (no surprise).  I actually think he's a pretty solid athlete (in the mold of  dare I say Terrelle Pryor), but with perhaps a stronger arm.  The accuracy, however, still remains to be unseen (partly due to limited opportunities).  I have to imagine he'll transfer out after this season.  If he didn't come here to play school, then I'm guessing he damn sure as hell didn't come here to play 'sit-the-bench'.

Despite the lackluster performances, Ohio State is still co-favored to win the Big Ten (tied with MSU).  So it can't all be bad.... [Can it?]

Thoughts on OSU vs. Va Tech | Week 2 (2014)

There are a lot of ignorant post(ers) flying around on here.  It’s unbelievable how many stupid things are being said about this game.

Let’s start with the most obvious and work our way down to the ‘hidden’ stuff…

1)      The offensive line was atrocious; especially the right side (RG and RT) of the line.  Va Tech blitzed the majority of the night, and it sure as heck felt like the majority of those blitzes were coming from the face of Barrett (i.e., the right side, over the RT and RG).  IMO, this was GENIUS by the Va Tech coaching staff.  Get to the young QB… put pressure on him… put it on him IN HIS FACE so he can see the pressure and get flustered.  Of course an R-Fr QB is NOT going to have the same level of composure as a Senior-level QB.  He’s an R-Fr… he’s going to make Fr-level mistakes.

2)      Which brings me to my second obvious point… Tom Herman (Buckeye OC) was outcoached all night by Bud Foster.  I saw ZERO, and I mean Z-E-R-O adjustments.  As SOME posters have suggested, where were the quick routes?! (i.e., slants, screens, etc.)  Why were we trying to run so many Go/Deep routes?!  The ONE TIME we tried running a screen was late in the game.  Wilson flared out to the left, the blitz was on (like it was all night), and Barrett simply overthrew Wilson.  The announcers were even saying that had it been a better ball, Wilson had 40 yards of free running ahead of him.  Morever, where was the TE utilization all night?  Why weren’t we bringing a TE to the right side of the line to assist with the pass-blocking?  How many players were drawn up/designed to get the TE the ball?  We’re supposed to have this great senior leader at TE (Heuerman), and not a single target for him.  When the defensive is pressuring your young QB all night, you HAVE TO counter-attack with quick hits.  Bud Foster simply OWNED Tom Herman and out chess’d our “Mensa mastermind” all night.  It was embarrassing.

3)      Barrett.  The kid is getting crucified and I think unfairly so.  While I’m still not “sold” on him quite yet, I did think he threw some spectacular passes and his receivers let him down.  Corey Smith dropped a sure touchdown in the endzone (I’m sorry, but a catch there completely changes the momentum and tactics of the entire game).  Barrett put a dime right in Evan Spencer’s bread-basket on a deep ball, and granted there was a defender’s hand in the play, but it sure looked to me like the ball hit Spencer square in the hands and he simply didn’t make the catch.  I’m sorry, but when a QB gets the ball THAT close and on-target, the WR has to make a play.  Also, the last interception of the game, I don’t believe the announcers talked about this, but that pass was tipped from BEHIND.  Again, Va Tech blitzes… there’s pressure… and I think it was a DE or OLB that had gotten behind the play, and he snuck up from behind Barrett and it looked to me like he nipped part of the football; hence why the pass was so short and there was completely no one around.  Barrett had absolutely zero time all night (again, credit to Va Tech’s D coordinator, Bud Foster) and was essentially scrambling for his life.

4)      Which brings me to my 4^th point… I forget which poster it was, but someone said “Why are we trying to mold Barrett into a Braxton offense; he can’t do it.”  Are you friggin kidding me?!?!  It’s the exact OPPOSITE!  Look at that one drive where Barrett had 4 QB runs (whether they were designed or not).  It ended/resulted with a touchdown!  This coaching staff is not designing ENOUGH plays for Barrett.  They need to get Barrett out of the pocket (how many rollouts did you see?), design some QB draws, etc.  While Barrett hasn’t done enough yet to “sell me”, he HAS done enough to demonstrate to me that he can run a Braxton-style offense.  He has ENOUGH speed to escape the pocket.  He had ENOUGH moves to elude defenders.  He has ENOUGH touch to deliver the ball in tight pockets.  GET HIM OUT IN THE OPEN AND LET HIM MAKE PLAYS!!!  Run him into the ground.  Heck… I know we were all worried/concerned about protecting Miller and not getting him banged up (because if we did we had ‘nothing after him’), but damnit… TREAT BARRETT THE SAME!  Unleash the reigns.  Let me make plays.  We saw what we did on the drive where he ran the ball 4x… he made some plays with his feet (i.e., eluded defenders) and we scored a touchdown on that drive.  RUN HIM INTO THE GROUND!

5)      “Weapons”.  I’m so tired about hearing how many “weapons” this team has.  And yes… it does have “a lot”… but damnit… we have SO MANY ‘WEAPONS’ that we’re not getting enough people on the field/targeted.  Va Tech did an amazing job of distributing/spreading the ball, but we’re out there rotating guys in-and-out and no one is developing any sense of cohesion, groove, or rhythm.  D.Smith = 1 target. Spencer = 1 target. C.Smith = 2 targets. R.Smith = 0 carries.  Heuerman = 0 targets.  If we don’t substitute QBs because it’s a “rhythm” game, then why can’t it be a “rhythm” game for other positions as well?  I understand you have to substitute skill players because they’re running full-out sprints, but for the love of god can we develop a sense of timing and cohesion between our QB and his “weapons”.  I said it last week, and I’ll say it again… no one on this team is going to receive enough targets/carries to be statistically anything at the end of the season.

6)      Special teams.  The two missed FGs hurt.  People have to remember… Nuernberger is a Fr, so naturally he’s going to miss a few here & there throughout the season… But he can’t be missing back-to-back FGs.  That’s a back-breaker.  But to be fair… he should have never been in that position as C.Smith should have caught that one in the end-zone.  Inexcusable.

7)      The defense.  (Sigh).  Where oh where to even begin…  I thought for the most part, the defense played alright.  The first half they were faced with stopping Va Tech almost all half with a short-field.  Aside from 1 or 2 plays, I thought Michael Bennett was a ghost.  Bosa was getting some solid pressure (LOVED the sack/fumble), but I thought Va Tech did an excellent job of scheming AWAY from him (I fear we’re going to continue to see this all season… at least for until Noah Spence returns – which, by the way, I think he was SEVERELY missed tonight).  Washington was kind of a ghost.  Steve Miller and/or Frazier were COMPLETELY non-existent.  Neither of those two have done anything to demonstrate that they can handle the spotlight of being a starter.  (Again, Spence can’t get back soon enough).  But more importantly… I think all of this can be attributed to the fact that Va Tech’s O-Line was surprisingly good (or at least better than I anticipated).  I thought Va Tech’s O-Line did a very nice job of handling our monsters, and I wish we would have brought the house more.

LB’s… Curtis Grant has actually turned into a very solid run-stopper, but boy-oh-boy does he suck when it comes to providing pass coverage.  I watch him out there and he’s just a flower in the wind.  One need not look any further than how many receptions Va Tech’s TE’s (6+2=8) and RB’s (5+1=6) had (=14).  Granted all of those aren’t necessarily contributed to him, but as a MLB, you’re certainly responsible for keying the TE’s and RB’s.  And C.Grant was nowhere to be found when these guys were running wild.
Perry and Lee… They’re “just guys”.  I do think Lee is one of our better defensive players, but let’s be real here… neither of these guys are “special”.
McMillan… While I was happy to see him finally get on the field at LB (and sure enough his 1^st play is a tackle for loss), I was quite frustrated to see that one play was the extent of his night.  I’m not saying we need to start this guy, but I would like to see him receive some snaps.  I’d hate to essentially bury a COULD-BE repeat performance of Ryan Shazier’s freshman season.

Secondary… While it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was last season, there were still some head scratchers to be had vs Va Tech.  D.Grant was seen maybe an entire 2x all night (which is EXCELLENT!)  That’s what you want out of your corners.  Apple had a nice INT at the beginning of the game, but then after that he looked to be giving up that 5-10 yards of “buffer-space” the majority of the night, which p!$$3$ me off because I thought Chris Ash agreed that he was going to play more press coverage and not give up the weak $#!& like we did last season.  Vonn Bell had a terrific game.  My boy Tyvis Powell was too quiet, IMO.  We need to see a little more noise from him, IMO.  Other than that… I didn’t think the secondary was all that awful.  Yeah we gave up 9 of 17  3^rd Downs (boy did that hurt; and many of which were LONG 3^rd down conversations), but for the most part I thought our secondary looked better than it did last season.  I just think it was the SCHEMES that put the defense in a losing position. (Again… getting back to the theme of getting OUT-COACHED!)

8)      Punt Returns…  I haven’t seen this mentioned yet, but can someone PLEASE explain to me WHY we did not ‘bring the heat’ on any of our punt returns, especially the two times we had Va Tech pinned inside their own 20 (even inside their own 10, if I recall correctly once).  When Meyer was at Florida, it seemed like the Gators were ALWAYS aggressive and blocked a punt a game (it felt like).  I thought we were VERY lackadaisical in this regard.  The announcers even put up the stat… I forget what it was, exactly, but it was something like Urban Meyer teams are 20-1 when they get at least 1 blocked punt a game.  This (IMO) could have been a HUGE adrenaline shot that this team o’so desperately needed.

9)      The stadium… In no way am I going to hang responsibility of this loss on the fans, but The Shoe really is one of the most OVERRATED hostile environments IMO.  How many home games has Ohio State lost of recent?  1 already this year.  2 in 2011 (MSU and PSU).  USC in 2009.  PSU in 2008.  Illinois in 2007.  Texas in 2005.  Wisconsin in 2004.  Maybe I’m just being a little too ambitious, but I feel like we lose waaay too many “big time” games at Home to be considered 1 of the more “hostile” environments in College Football.  Plus, I thought our crowd was awfully quiet most of the game (granted the team wasn’t really giving them too much to cheer about), but watching essentially Wisconsin at LSU… a game where LSU was down the majority of the game… LSU’s fans were in it almost the entire game.  It sure felt like more of a “hostile” environment than anything we saw/heard last Saturday at the Shoe.

10)   I don’t know why everyone (people and media sites) are saying “Va Tech ‘stuns’ Ohio State”.  1) Va Tech is from a Power 5 conference. 2) Va Tech should have been ranked going into the game/maybe-even-season.  3) Va Tech is probably the 3^rd, maybe 4^th, (certainly AT LEAST 5^th) best team in the ACC.  Gotta figure FSU is ahead of them. Surely Clemson is (with the way they played against Georgia).  Next is possibly Va Tech (unless you’re counting/including Notre Dame).  MAYBE there’s one ‘hidden’ team above Va Tech, but after that, certainly Va Tech is the 5^th best (likely 3^rd or 4^th) best team in a conference (the ACC) that is vastly superior than our very own beloved Big Ten.

11)   Which brings me to my next point… How far has the Big Ten fallen off?  All these seasons we’ve been sticking our head in sand; denying what everyone around the country has already been saying for quite some time… but the simple fact of the matter is… the Big Ten is an awful conference at this point in time.  The SEC, ACC, Pac 12, and probably even the Big XII are all ahead of the Big Ten by now.  Ohio State loses to Va Tech, Purdue gets humiliated by a MAC school. Rutgers narrowly escapes a MEAC (what the hell is the MEAC?!).  Nebraska nearly loses to MCNEESE STATE (isn’t that a high school in Florida? /sarcasm).  Iowa struggles with Ball State (another MAC school).  Minnesota struggles with Middle Tennessee. Northwestern loses to Northern Illinois (another MAC loss embarrassment).  Michigan State falls to Oregon (another out of conference loss).  Michigan puts up a Brady Hoke (donut) against Notre Dame (another embarrassing loss).  I don’t think this conference has ever been weaker.

12)   Which brings me to my final point… recruiting.  All around the Big Ten, schools are celebrating 3-star commitments.  Meanwhile, schools like Alabama, LSU, Florida State, and USC are bringing in a range of 5 and 4 star recruits with some scattered 3-star guys.  And here… Saturday was the biggest recruiting day of the year for Ohio State, as many of the country’s top prospects were on Official visits for what was supposed to be a celebratory night, and we put up THAT kind of performance.  #NotAGoodLook.

Thoughts on OSU vs. Navy | Week 1 (2014)

QB - Still not sold on J.T. Barrett as "the guy".  I thought he looked OK for a R-Fr, but then again the playbook was very vanilla.  The INT was AWFUL (and certainly the definition of a Fr mistake), but stuff like that is to be expected.  Better to get it out now, than suffer the very same mistake in a game like Va Tech, Cincy, Penn St, MSU, or Michigan that will actually make you pay for that mistake.  His TD pass to Devin Smith was a thing of beauty.  Perfectly setup by Tom Herman (in terms of play-calling), but certainly a read that Barrett still had to see & execute, and I was happy to see him underthrow Smith than OVERthrow the ball like Danielson said on the broadcast.  One thing's for sure... if we're going to compete this year, Barrett has to progress.  Now let's see what he can do vs. Va Tech.  (Note: I thought it was very telling that we didn't even see Cardale Jones for one drive.)

RB - Disappointing that Barrett lead all rushers in rushing.  I would rather see our top running back racking up 100+ yards than see three tailbacks with 40-some yards each.  I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think having as much depth at RB as we have is actually a detriment than a bonus.  We have so many studs at RB that we have to play them, and this prevents any one of them from 'getting into a rhythm'.  I think it's obvious our #1 RB is easily Ezekiel Elliott, but I was pleasantly surprised with Curtis Samuel's ability to run the ball up-the-middle, and I thought Jalin Marshall looked solid as well.  Even tho Eze is our #1 RB, it was painfully obvious to me that Dontre Wilson is easily our BEST weapon.  Out of the entire bunch, he looked the best (IMO).  My heart goes out to Rod Smith.  It seemed like every time he was sub'd in, he was sub'd out after one play.  Call me crazy, but I truly believe that Smith has the tools to be Carlos Hyde-esk.  Obviously not quite the same nor am I trying to suggest that they are even remotely on the same level, but it's glaringly obvious to me that the POTENTIAL is there.  He just seemed sooo dejected every time he was coming out of there (head held down).  Brionte Dunn and Warren Ball are as good as gone/transferred already, IMO.  VERY telling that they didn't even see a single drive/snap.  Simply too much depth and too many 'young guys' that Meyer wants to get in the game.WR - Call me crazy, but Devin Smith's game translates better to the Pros than it does in this Offense.  I think Smith will struggle to hit 800 yards receiving in this offense (simply because there are too many weapons and not enough footballs to go around), but I see his game translating VERY very to the next level.  IMO, he has the down-field-speed to get open at the next level; he has the soft hands to catch most of what's thrown at him; and I believe he runs some pretty nice routes (relatively speaking).  Unfortunately, there's just too many weapons who will require touches, thus limiting Smith from getting the # of touches he truly needs to be a 1,000 yard receive (IMO).  Dontre Wilson, again, as stated above, was (to me) obviously our #1 weapon.  I was happy to see Michael Thomas lead the way in REC.  I do believe that he's our best 'pure receiver'.  Guy has the hands, speed, size, and swagger of a top-tier receiver; just needs to put it all together.  Evan Spencer - while I like his seniority/leadership... he's 'JAG' (just a guy).

TE - Jeff Heuerman has the talent to be a nice TE, but with so many weapons and knowing how Meyer/Herman like to utilize the speed guys, I just don't see Heuerman having a big year.  Would love to utilize him more (as I think he could be a real mismatch for defenses), but I just don't see it happening.  Nick Vannett - not sure I even saw/noticed him once.

OL - The OL was a HUGE disappointment.  They did not control the LOS like I thought they should have.  Granted they kinda took over control late in the game and started having better luck, but I was severely disappointed with the play of this group, especially Elflein (perhaps my expectations for him were just too high based off of his brief success last season).  Decker didn't do anything one way or the other, so I'll say he actually looked OK.  Did Chad Lindsay even play?

DL - Mixed emotions here.  I thought Bennett and Washington looked AMAZING (Bosa looked pretty good too, especially when it looked to me like Navy was scheming/running AWAY from him), but I thought Steve Miller looked awful (Rashad Frazier looked better than Miller, IMO) and I was disappointed we gave up as many yards as we did.  I knew Navy was going to come out there and run their option/gimmicky offense... and I knew they were going to put up yards, but I was NOT expecting them to control/run over us like they did.  I'm in favor of Frazier starting over Miller for Va Tech.

LB - I thought Curtis Grant looked surprisingly alright for once.  Still don't think he's put it all together yet, but he did look  improved (which is good).  Darron Lee looked like our most physically gifted LB out there.  Looks like the hype re: Lee this off-season might be real.  IMO, Joshua Perry was quiet.  I don't recall seeing him much / him imposing his will on the game.  Another pleasant surprise was seeing Chris Worley get the time/action that he got, and I thought he looked good too when he was in there.  Maybe it was just me, but I didn't see McMillan or Booker at all at LB.  Not seeing McMillan there was a disappointment (for me); but probably about expected.

CB / S - It wouldn't even be fair to attempt to grade this unit, as there was a whole whopping 4 passing attempts.  I think Tyvis Powell looked great. He was all over the field.  Granted he missed a couple tackles (tackling in general for the team was very poor - Florida-esk - and NEEDS to improve IMMEDIATELY), but I thought he looked great.  He was everywhere and constantly around the football.  Doran Grant was a ghost, but (1) that's what you want as a CB and (2) Navy only attempted 4 passes, so naturally he was going to be a ghost.  I saw Bell a handful of times, and I heard Burrows was getting equal # of snaps with Bell.  Didn't really notice Conley/Apple.

P - We might very well have the best punter in the nation, in Cameron Johnston.  Love this kid.

K - Nuernberger looked alright.