Thoughts on OSU vs. Rutgers | Week 8 (2014)

After the 2nd & final bye week of the season, we're back with another exciting issue of 'Scarlet Buckeye's Thoughts'.  This week, Ohio State ushered in the 2nd of the Big Ten newbies, Rutgers.  Rutgers brought in a 5-1 record, and was riding the tidal wave of momentum from their 26-24 victory over That Team Up North (Michigan).

The Buckeyes got out to another blazing start, forcing a three-and-out right off the bat after electing to give Rutgers the ball after the coin toss.  Then, on our very 1st drive, the Buckeyes marched down the field, capping the drive with a nice strike from J.T. Barrett to Nick Vannett (the Buckeyes have now scored a touchdown on its opening drive in 4 straight games).  This was pleasantly surprising, as it appears our offense is FINALLY deciding to get our Tight Ends involved in the passing game.  I've been screaming it for weeks, and it LOOKS like we're finally getting it.

Before you knew it, the Buckeyes were up 14-0, and 35-7 by halftime.  The key to the early half success - like the key to most well-oiled machines - was the running game and turnovers.  The Buckeyes outgained Rutgers by almost 100 yards and had forced 3 turnovers.

As each week passes and we step further-and-further away from the Virginia Tech game, it is becoming pointedly obvious that this team is NOT the same team that fell victim to the Hokies.  Each passing week, this team appears to be executing better & better; and as a program, this is wonderfully exciting -- as any program's aspirations should be to be the best well-oiled machine at the end of the season, not necessarily the best at the beginning.  [Sure it would be nice to piece it all together and be one great team from beginning to end, but if I can't have that choice, then my next best choice is to be a team that improves from week-to-week and is competing (or at least looks able to compete) with the best of the teams at the end of the season.  And that's exactly what this Ohio State team looks to be on pace of doing.]

The 2nd Half was more of the same - Ohio State domination.  The Buckeyes amassed 203 yarsd in the 3rd Quarter and 135 in the 4th (holding the Scarlet Knights to 122 amd 67 yds).

Minor concerns:

• J.T. Barrett was our rushing leader, running for 107 yards on 7 carries.  I say "concern" because I'd rather Ezekiel Elliott lead the team in carries and rushes, but "minor" because J.T. only had 7 carries (which is what I want).  This is certainly a good problem to have.  I would be MORE concerned if Barrett was leading the way on 18+ attempts.
• Elliott.  He only (and I say "only") amassed 69 yards on 12 carriers (still good enough for a 5.75 yrd average).  In a perfect world, I'd love to see that average up there around 9 yards per carry, but who are we trying to kid... 5+ is still pretty damn impressive.  I would say I'm concerned about the "12 carries", but I'm going to chalk the lack of carries up to the simple fact that this game was never in question, and had the game been closer, Herman & Meyer would have called more carries for Elliott (or at least so I hope).
• Doran Grant (along with Darron Lee) led the way in tackles (each netting 7).  This "concerns" me a little, because I don't like the idea of our corner leading the way in tackles (especially not our 'top' corner).  I'm chalking this one up to the fact that Rutgers fell behind so early & so big, so they were forced to throw more passing attempts than what would normally be considered a 'normal amount'.  Another concern (and this one, IMO, is a much *bigger* concern) is, after looking 'bad/rough' the past couple weeks, Grant once again was beat pretty badly by Rutgers' Carroo, as he let Carro slip behind him for a 39-yard gain.  This was terribly frustrating, as the Buckeye Defense has kinda been notorious this season for giving up the 'big play', and I felt like this was another step in that direction.  HOWEVER, the GOOD news is... after this play, Grant didn't sulk & mope about the play, but he immediately bounced back, and on the very next play (1st and 10), Grant hit the truck-stick button and laid the wood to Rutgers' Justin Goodwin for a modest 4 yard gain on the play.  Then, on the very next play, Grant came off the corner on a blitz and stuck Goodwin again, this time for a 1 yard gain (setting up 3rd & 5).  Grant wasn't done however, as again on the very next play, he forced an incompletion thanks to some tight coverage.  Essentially, after that one bad play, I caught Grant several times after laying the smackdown on his opponents and playing with raw passion.  THIS was the Grant I was accustomed to seeing last season, and the Grant that has been missing from this season.  Here's to hoping this might have been a 'turn of the corner' type moment, as we're certainly going to need Grant's defensive prowess later this season (note: Michigan's Devin Funchess comes to mind).

Some positives:

• Darron Lee and Raeckwon McMillan look to be the real deal.  Lee I felt like was getting targeted early on in the game, but the guy plays on a whole nother gear-level that I feel like most offenses can't handle.  And McMillan... WOW!  This kid gets it.  In fact, he's the exact opposite of Curtis Grant (a guy who just simply *doesn't* get it).  It felt like McMillan was making every single tackle, and if he wasn't, he was there right in the midst of the play.  I was surprised to see that McMillan wasn't the leader in tackles this week.  The future definitely looks bright with these young two talents.
• Joey Bosa was once again Joey Bosa.  I've said it before and I'll say it again... this kid is already ready for the NFL.  We haven't had an animal on defense like this since James Laurinaitis (no pun intended).
• The Weapons.  Man o' man does this team have the weapons.  Look at the breakdown... our top 4 leading receivers accounted for 22%, 21%, 16%, and 15% of the receiving yards (not even 75% of the receiving yards combined).  This just goes to show that Herman & co. are getting lots of players involved, and there's lots of balance.  The same can practically be said for the rushing game as well.
• Back to 'minor concern' again... As I've stated previously, while the plethora of talent is exciting & proves that the future is bright, I would like to focus, however, on getting the ball to handful of playmakers.  I'm concerned that Dontre Wilson only had 21 yards rushing, and did not have a single receiving yard.  It's nice knowing that we have the depth of Curtis Samuel, Corey Smith, and Evan Spencer... but I would rather see those touches go to Dontre Wilson, Michael Thomas, Devin Smith, and Jalin Marshall.  Same can be said for Tight End.  While it's nice we have two stud TE's (Heuerman & Vannett), I would prefer to see the their touches go to one instead of split among the two (unless we're running a double tight formation)
• J.T. Barrett.  Wow.  What can I say.  Another outstanding performance. 585 total yards and 5 touchdowns (which makes it 4 straight games that Barrett has had a hand in at least 4 TDs) in only his sixth career start.  Watching this young talent grow has been such a pleasure.  It's laughable to think how much he's grown in just 8 simple short weeks, and then to stop and think about the lack of development (heck... the reverse development) Brady Hoke & co. have done with Devin Gardner and Shane Morris.  I don't want to get too carried away, because I'm honestly not sure how much of it is Barrett and how much of it is Herman/Meyer and/or 'the schedule' (but the maturity he's demonstrated appears beyond his years, as he's consistently running thru his progressions & finding the open man and making all the right reads in the read-option run), but boy has Barrett made Ohio State fans quickly forget about Braxton Miller (side-note: It really irks me beyond my irk-levels when the camera cuts to Braxton Miller on the sideline, and never once have I seen him 'plugged into the game' or 'mentoring/tuitoring' J.T. Barrett.  I know, I know... he's not the social-type, whatever... But it's like he's completely checked-out/not-present in these games.  How many times does ESPN and these other media outlets cut to other guys standing on the sideline (Winston when he was out/suspended) and they're plugged in.  I'm just not seeing it with Miller, and I'm not trying to dog/downplay him, but it's just frustrating to me that we have this great, talented asset and he seems to be unplugged from the game!)
• J.T.'s case for the Heisman...

• The Defense appears to improving with each week.  In the 1st half (which is really the only half that actually mattered, since the game was out of reach by halftime), the defense surrendered just seven (7) points, while repeatedly handing the offense solid field position (tho, the Rutgers punter helped a good amount as well)
• After looking like a high school offensive line against Virginia Tech (giving up 7 sacks), the O-Line looks to be clicking again and showing shades of last season's great O-Line.  A statistic that perhaps maybe most people might not have realized... Rutgers entered this game leading the nation with 24 sacks; and our O-Line gave up exactly zero sacks, while managing to open wide holes for the Buckeyes to run thru.

This Rutgers team was a team that Michigan struggled against profusely and ultimately lost to.  OSU chopped them up & spit them out like they were chop liver.  Ohio State and Michigan appear to be such opposite franchises at the moment, it's not even funny (or is it?).

Bonus material:

The Ohio State University Marching Band Rocks Out, Smashing Guitar in Halftime Show

Oh... and Ohio State landed their 3rd commitment for the Class of 2016... Kierre Hawkins.

Thoughts on OSU vs Maryland | Week 6 (2014)

Well... I'm going to try to keep this one short and sweet.  The good news is... OSU continued the progress/domination they built up/started from the Cincinnati game, and kept that pace rolling right on into & thru Maryland.  I think this team is finally starting to find it's identity, and I think the coaches are started to see/realize it too.

With all the upsets that took place this past weekend, this could have easily been one of them.  From Maryland's perspective, this was billed as the biggest game in Maryland's history.  The Terps even sold out their stadium for the 1st time since 2008; tho, I wonder how many of those tickets were actually 'OSU fans'.  So, yeah... Maryland was hyped (or at least should have been) and this had the makings for a nice upset; especially with Maryland rolling into the match at 4-1 (1-0 in Big Ten play).

But getting back to my original point... I think OSU (as a football program) is really rolling right now.  The offense is clicking.  The coaching staff (especially on the offensive side of the ball) is placing the team in winning positions (e.g., controlling the tempo of the game, settling in on a handful of 'guys' rather than worrying about getting 'everyone touches', and drawing up plays that fit perfectly with the personnel they have -- kinda the opposite of Michigan, really).

QB - J.T. Barrett is really progressing along nicely.  I thought his passes looked crisp, but I was wary a bit of his decision making (I thought he tried threading a couple passes in there that were ill-advised attempts, but to Barrett's credit, he completed them; I just feel like with a more athletic/faster team, Barrett probably has 2-3 INT's that game).  Regardless... he did look good.  I think he's executing flawless decisions in the option game.  I love how the coaches are using him more like Braxton (i.e., running for 71 yards).  One thing is for sure... the team isn't really missing that big of a beat (i.e., from Miller to Barrett).  Sure Barrett isn't the athlete that Miller is, but he's 'good enough' and not that far behind (if at all) in the passing game & decision-making.

RB - Another dominating performance by Ezekiel Elliott (139 rushing yards).  Man, this kid is getting to be fun to watch.  Yeah he's no Carlos Hyde (not even close), but boy have I been impressed with Elliott's effort & performances the past two games.  He's diving, he's lead-blocking, he's hustling, he's asking-for/wants the football in his hands, he's leading, he's out there doing just about EVERYTHING.  There's no doubt in my mind that Elliott is the heart of this offense.  You give him the ball and you get him going, and *WHAM* this team becomes hard to stop.

Moreover, I was happy to see Elliott receive the bulk of the carries (24) and Barrett receiving a nice load himself (16).  I think I would rather see Barrett, however, have closer to 10 carries and Rod Smith / Curtis Samuel getting the remainder.  I was surprised Samuel didn't see any carries at all (not sure he even saw any snaps) [EDIT: Looks like Samuel didn't even dress].

WR - I've been saying it for the past 2 years, and I'm finally glad to see it coming to fruition out on the field... MICHAEL THOMAS IS A BEST and is the best/most-talented receiver in Columbus!  The guy just looks like an NFL receiver.  He has the body, build, speed, and hands; he's a clear mis-match for your average DB.  He's making circus catches, he's blocking (and not just trying to block defenders - i.e., getting in the way of defenders - but he's actually BLOCKING defenders from making plays), and his route-running is one of the best on the team (maybe 2nd to Devin Smith's).  I'm telling you... this kid (Thomas) has a bright future.

Corey Smith looked good... I wish Dontre Wilson had more catches (targets)... Again, Devin Smith is a beast on the deep ball; I love how the staff is drawing up at least 1 deep-ball play for him per game (and it's seems to be working every time)... Jalin Marshall looks like he has the potential to be a stud, but again I think the probably is there's simply too much talent (Thomas, Wilson) that are better than Marshall... I'd like to see Elliott get more involved in the receiving game (he only had 1 catch)... And I'd like to see us settle on 1 TE from here on out, unless we're running a double-tight formation; Heuerman or Vannett needs to make that next step.

OL - The OL looked great.  I think this group (Decker, Price, Boren, Elflein, Baldwin) is really starting to settle-in and gel (which is exciting).  I'm a firm believe in any success (whether it's in the passing game or in the running game) begins upfront, and if you're hog-mollies are giving your QB time to sit back in the pocket and survey the field or opening up gaps for your RB to run thru, then you're off to a good start (and that's what these guys are doing).  If I had one complaint, it's that I think we rotate our guys a little too much for my liking.

Side note: Ohio State's offensive line coach, Ed Warinner, has to be one of the best in the country.  Last year's OL was remarkable (and coincidentally enough, 4 of the 5 are now playing i the NFL) and this group is now starting to look like they're well on their way to being a solid O-line too.  ... Which makes the loss to Va Tech so frustrating!  It's mind-numbing how awful the offense looked against Va Tech, and now how great it's looked against Cincinnati and Maryland (I don't think Va Tech is that much better than Cincinnati and/or Maryland).  The coaching staff was just simply out-schemed and out-coached that game, and they even acknowledged it themselves.

VERY GOOD READ on the differences of the Offense from Va Tech till now (i.e., thru Cincy & Maryland) >> COMPARED TO SHAKY SHOWING AGAINST VIRGINIA TECH, OHIO STATE'S ROLLING OFFENSE IS UNRECOGNIZABLE NOW

DL - Nothing new here, really.  Bosa again looking like JJ Watt [3 solo tackles, 2 ast, 1 sack, 2.5 tackles for loss (16 yrds)].  The guy is an absolute BEAST out there.  There's not a doubt in my mind that if OSU had Bosa, Bennett, Washington, and Spence it would be the best defensive line in the country.  Such a shame.

Side note: I thought Steve Miller looked much improved this week, but still has a long way to go.  The 'vacant' DE spot is not playing up to the level of competition that we need from that spot.  I was encouraged to see Jalyn Holmes receiving increased snaps.

LB - I'm calling it now... Raekwon McMillan will be the listed starter next week over Curtis Grant.  It's time.  McMillan (I think) played more snaps than Grant did this past week.  He had the big INT and a fumble recovery.  You can see he's starting to look more & more comfortable out there.  It's time.  I'm sure Curtis Grant is a decent kid, but son... you have no idea what you're doing in the passing game, and ya gots ta go.  It's time.  McMillan has demonstrated he has enough skills to get us by.

Darron Lee is the team's best LB tho.  This guy has a missile attached to his saddle, I swear.  He's flying everywhere.  I loved the blitz he had to open the game up.  They clearly must have picked something up from the tapes.  Beautiful.

Perry is racking up the stats (i.e., # of tackles), but to me, he's 'just a guy'. He's very quiet and doesn't make any BIG plays.  The best way to describe him for now is... he's serviceable.  But I think in a couple years, once McMillan is a Jr, this team will have a nice LB core and will be back to the days of Hawk, Carpenter, Laurinaitis, etc.

DB - Smh... This secondary is going to cost us at least one more game.  Yeah they played better, but they're still not where they should be.  I'm so tired of seeing us play bump-n-run coverage, but without the bump.  Yeah the announcer said it, you know what... it's so true.  Our cover packages are (1) play 10 yards off the receiver and give them everything underneath or (2) play tight coverage but give the receiver a free release and then just try to run with them on pure speed alone.  So stupid.

I've been a big proponent of Doran Grant (last year I even made the assertion that Grant was going to be a better player and had a better year than Roby), but you know what... I'm starting to think I was wrong about that.  Idk... maybe it's not the kids... maybe it's Coombs and the coaching staff.  Because you know what... Eli Apple looked all-world too when he came in, but these guys are just looking worse than ever!  There's been zero development in talent and it's pretty much been the same ol', same ol'.  OSU will be fine because of the pathetic Big Ten, but I'm telling you now... be prepared for at least one more regular season loss, because this group just simply can't cover squat.  The one 'shining' point has been Vonn Bell.  Even my boy Tyvis Powell I thought had a poor game this weekend (saw him way out of position too many times).


One thing that I wanted to touch on last week but I think I forgot, was... Has anyone else noticed how OSU running a 'cadence' this season as opposed to the 'clap' that Miller ran last season?  Idk if it's just me, but give me the 'clap' again.  Last week there was an absurd amount of false starts, and while the offense was better this week, I still feel like the rhythm is missing a bit.  When we're on the road in a boisterous environment (granted Maryland isn't that loud), a 'cadence' is simply too difficult to hear (in my opinion).  Go with the 'clap'/motion and I think we'll see the number of false starts drop.

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. 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.