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LGHL Big Thoughts: New year, new coach, same Nebraska
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Big Thoughts: New year, new coach, same Nebraska
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
Week 1 was worth the wait! Jordan gives 10 thoughts on the action, including Nebraska’s heartbreaking loss
Every week after the Big Ten slate of games, I will bring you some B1G thoughts on everything that happened! This will include analysis, stats, key players, moments, and maybe a joke. With the Big Ten expanding from 14 teams to 18 teams in 2024, will also include the newest members — Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington.
Check out the I-80 Football Show in the Land-Grant Holy Land podcast feed for more in-depth analysis, and to preview the next week of B1G games.
Entering the Minnesota game, Nebraska had 25 losses in one-score games, including 16 second-half leads lost in the last five seasons. They fired Scott Frost and hired Matt Rhule to fix this issue, but it turns out the Frost stench couldn’t be removed that easily.
Nebraska’s defense had a dominant showing against Minnesota, allowing just 55 yards rushing on 25 carries and only 196 yards through the air. Despite making Minnesota’s offense inept, they couldn’t overcome their offensive issues, starting with new quarterback Jeff Sims. Nebraska ran the ball well, rushing for 181 yards and 4.9 yards per carry behind 91 yards from Sims, but that wasn’t enough to offset Sims’ three interceptions.
Despite leading in the fourth quarter — tell me if you’ve heard this story before — Sims threw a late interception, allowing Minnesota to win the game on a last-second field goal. Rhule will eventually turn Nebraska around, but I expect 2023 to be another rough season for the Cornhuskers.
Minnesota wide receiver Daniel Jackson may have the catch of the year already in Week 1. Down 10-3 against Nebraska, Jackson made a super athletic catch on 4th-and-10 to tie the game. Jackson finished the game with nine catches for 68 yards and a touchdown, including the best catch of his career.
The catch itself is spectacular, but when you add in the stakes, 4th-and-10 down seven points, it makes the catch that much more special.
Tyler Nubin is one of the best safeties in the country. If you did not know his name before this game, where have you been? Even if you’ve been living under a rock, you know his name now after Nubin recorded two interceptions to go along with three tackles to help Minnesota defeat Nebraska.
Nubin is an easy contender for All-Big Ten honors, and if he keeps this up he could end up on a few All-American teams at season’s end.
Penn State’s quarterback had about as well of a debut as you could ask for against West Virginia. Allar showed the arm talent that made Nittany Lions fans excited about him and their chances to win the Big Ten and make the College Football Playoff this season.
Allar finished the game 21-of-29 for 325 yards and three touchdowns. While Allar has some room to grow like all young quarterbacks, he is a special talent and Penn State fans should cherish him regardless of the outcome this season.
When new head coach Luke Fickell hired former North Carolina offensive coordinator Phil Longo to the same position at Wisconsin, there were concerns that the Badgers would go away from their bread and butter: running the ball. If Week 1 is any indication, Badger fans had nothing to be concerned about, as their two-headed monster Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi combined for 298 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries.
While it may not be realistic for this output weekly, Wisconsin fans should be encouraged by their willingness to run the ball, and the rest of Wisconsin’s opponents better be prepared for this Dragon Ball Z style fusion from these two talented running backs.
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The University of Michigan decided to self-impose a three-week suspension on head coach Jim Harbaugh after failing to reach an agreement with the NCAA on a four-game suspension due to recruiting violations and lying to the NCAA. I guess the Michigan players did not get the memo, as they chose to wear ‘Free Harbaugh’ shirts in pregame and started the game in the train formation holding up the No. 4 to show support for their head coach.
The problem is that Jim Harbaugh is not being persecuted. He is paying for his stupidity. This is honestly just a poor look for a program at the top of the sport. Everyone involved should be embarrassed of themselves.
Purdue, under first-year head coach Ryan Walters, was hoping to start a new era with a nice win over a Group of Five program Fresno State. The Bulldogs were no slouch, and came into West Lafayette with one goal in mind: upsetting a Big Ten program.
Purdue managed to maintain some offensive explosion with transfer quarterback Hudson Card and breakout receiver Deion Burks, but Walters will need some time to fix the Purdue defense. Despite scoring 35 points, the Boilermakers lost 39-35.
There are some positive takeaways for the Boilermakers, but they have a long way to go before reclaiming the Big Ten West crown.
Hey, Ryan Day… in case you weren’t aware, you have the best wide receiver in the country on your team. There is no reason in the world that Harrison Jr. should play a full game and only have two catches for 18 yards.
Sure, some of it rests on the shoulders of quarterback Kyle McCord, who at times chose to throw short instead of throwing it to Harrison Jr. on deeper routes, but Day also did not call enough plays for Marv. Harrison Jr.’s stats would have looked better, but he had a touchdown called back after stepping out of bounds.
Day has to be more intentional with getting Harrison involved. Ohio State has no chance to win the Big Ten if it doesn’t utilize its most talented player. Let Week 1 be the only time he isn’t a major part of the game plan.
Ohio State’s defense hasn’t lived up to the Silver Buller moniker since the 2019 season, but under second-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles they may be working their way back. The Ohio State defense only allowed 153 total yards against Indiana, as their quarterbacks combined to go 9-of-20 for 82 yards and the Hoosiers as a team ran for 71 yards on 33 carries.
Now before you say, “It’s Indiana, Ohio State should dominate them,” Indiana has scored 21, 26, and 35 points against Ohio State in three of the last six matchups. On top of that, this was the first time Ohio State has held a team to three points or less since 2019. You can choose to ignore it if you want, but this was a dominant performance by the Buckeyes — one Ohio State fans haven’t seen in a long time.
The Pac-12 in its final year has three or four of the best quarterbacks in the country. New Big Ten members Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC all have great quarterbacks who showed out in Week 1.
Oregon’s Bo Nix led Oregon to 81 points going 23-for-27 with 287 yards and three touchdowns. UCLA’s former five-star freshman didn’t start the game, but came in and went 7-for-12 with 143 yards and two touchdowns. He should be the starting quarterback going forward. Washington’s Michael Penix entered his name into early Heisman conversations with 450 yards and five touchdowns on 29-of-40 passing. The reigning Heisman trophy winner Caleb Williams went 18-of-24 with 319 yards and five touchdowns.
The Pac-12 is going to be fun to watch this season, and the four teams in contention are all trying to win the Pac-12 in its final year before entering the Big Ten. The Pac-12 is going to be a knockout brawl to the top, and each team will be relying on their star quarterbacks to lead the way.
Follow The I-80 Football Show on YouTube: @JordanW330 or @LandGrantPods
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JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
Week 1 was worth the wait! Jordan gives 10 thoughts on the action, including Nebraska’s heartbreaking loss
Every week after the Big Ten slate of games, I will bring you some B1G thoughts on everything that happened! This will include analysis, stats, key players, moments, and maybe a joke. With the Big Ten expanding from 14 teams to 18 teams in 2024, will also include the newest members — Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington.
Check out the I-80 Football Show in the Land-Grant Holy Land podcast feed for more in-depth analysis, and to preview the next week of B1G games.
New year, new coach, same Nebraska!
Entering the Minnesota game, Nebraska had 25 losses in one-score games, including 16 second-half leads lost in the last five seasons. They fired Scott Frost and hired Matt Rhule to fix this issue, but it turns out the Frost stench couldn’t be removed that easily.
Nebraska’s defense had a dominant showing against Minnesota, allowing just 55 yards rushing on 25 carries and only 196 yards through the air. Despite making Minnesota’s offense inept, they couldn’t overcome their offensive issues, starting with new quarterback Jeff Sims. Nebraska ran the ball well, rushing for 181 yards and 4.9 yards per carry behind 91 yards from Sims, but that wasn’t enough to offset Sims’ three interceptions.
Despite leading in the fourth quarter — tell me if you’ve heard this story before — Sims threw a late interception, allowing Minnesota to win the game on a last-second field goal. Rhule will eventually turn Nebraska around, but I expect 2023 to be another rough season for the Cornhuskers.
Catch of the year in Week 1?
Minnesota wide receiver Daniel Jackson may have the catch of the year already in Week 1. Down 10-3 against Nebraska, Jackson made a super athletic catch on 4th-and-10 to tie the game. Jackson finished the game with nine catches for 68 yards and a touchdown, including the best catch of his career.
The catch itself is spectacular, but when you add in the stakes, 4th-and-10 down seven points, it makes the catch that much more special.
WE'VE GOT A TIE GAME️@GopherFootball ties it up on 4th down.
: FOX/@CFBonFox pic.twitter.com/NXtCpz21b3
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 1, 2023
Nubin Island!
Tyler Nubin is one of the best safeties in the country. If you did not know his name before this game, where have you been? Even if you’ve been living under a rock, you know his name now after Nubin recorded two interceptions to go along with three tackles to help Minnesota defeat Nebraska.
Nubin is an easy contender for All-Big Ten honors, and if he keeps this up he could end up on a few All-American teams at season’s end.
Drew Allar, are you kidding me?
Penn State’s quarterback had about as well of a debut as you could ask for against West Virginia. Allar showed the arm talent that made Nittany Lions fans excited about him and their chances to win the Big Ten and make the College Football Playoff this season.
Allar finished the game 21-of-29 for 325 yards and three touchdowns. While Allar has some room to grow like all young quarterbacks, he is a special talent and Penn State fans should cherish him regardless of the outcome this season.
"WELCOME TO THE DREW ALLAR ERA"@PennStateFball opens up the scoring with a 72 yard TD.
: NBC pic.twitter.com/T7s4azbzDv
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 2, 2023
Braelon & Chez Fusion
When new head coach Luke Fickell hired former North Carolina offensive coordinator Phil Longo to the same position at Wisconsin, there were concerns that the Badgers would go away from their bread and butter: running the ball. If Week 1 is any indication, Badger fans had nothing to be concerned about, as their two-headed monster Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi combined for 298 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries.
While it may not be realistic for this output weekly, Wisconsin fans should be encouraged by their willingness to run the ball, and the rest of Wisconsin’s opponents better be prepared for this Dragon Ball Z style fusion from these two talented running backs.
Michigan did what?
The University of Michigan decided to self-impose a three-week suspension on head coach Jim Harbaugh after failing to reach an agreement with the NCAA on a four-game suspension due to recruiting violations and lying to the NCAA. I guess the Michigan players did not get the memo, as they chose to wear ‘Free Harbaugh’ shirts in pregame and started the game in the train formation holding up the No. 4 to show support for their head coach.
The problem is that Jim Harbaugh is not being persecuted. He is paying for his stupidity. This is honestly just a poor look for a program at the top of the sport. Everyone involved should be embarrassed of themselves.
The locomotive is off the tracks
Purdue, under first-year head coach Ryan Walters, was hoping to start a new era with a nice win over a Group of Five program Fresno State. The Bulldogs were no slouch, and came into West Lafayette with one goal in mind: upsetting a Big Ten program.
Purdue managed to maintain some offensive explosion with transfer quarterback Hudson Card and breakout receiver Deion Burks, but Walters will need some time to fix the Purdue defense. Despite scoring 35 points, the Boilermakers lost 39-35.
There are some positive takeaways for the Boilermakers, but they have a long way to go before reclaiming the Big Ten West crown.
Reminder, Marvin Harrison Jr. exists
Hey, Ryan Day… in case you weren’t aware, you have the best wide receiver in the country on your team. There is no reason in the world that Harrison Jr. should play a full game and only have two catches for 18 yards.
Sure, some of it rests on the shoulders of quarterback Kyle McCord, who at times chose to throw short instead of throwing it to Harrison Jr. on deeper routes, but Day also did not call enough plays for Marv. Harrison Jr.’s stats would have looked better, but he had a touchdown called back after stepping out of bounds.
Day has to be more intentional with getting Harrison involved. Ohio State has no chance to win the Big Ten if it doesn’t utilize its most talented player. Let Week 1 be the only time he isn’t a major part of the game plan.
Are the Silver Bullets back?
Ohio State’s defense hasn’t lived up to the Silver Buller moniker since the 2019 season, but under second-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles they may be working their way back. The Ohio State defense only allowed 153 total yards against Indiana, as their quarterbacks combined to go 9-of-20 for 82 yards and the Hoosiers as a team ran for 71 yards on 33 carries.
Now before you say, “It’s Indiana, Ohio State should dominate them,” Indiana has scored 21, 26, and 35 points against Ohio State in three of the last six matchups. On top of that, this was the first time Ohio State has held a team to three points or less since 2019. You can choose to ignore it if you want, but this was a dominant performance by the Buckeyes — one Ohio State fans haven’t seen in a long time.
Pac-(B1G)-12 quarterbacks are unfair
The Pac-12 in its final year has three or four of the best quarterbacks in the country. New Big Ten members Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC all have great quarterbacks who showed out in Week 1.
Oregon’s Bo Nix led Oregon to 81 points going 23-for-27 with 287 yards and three touchdowns. UCLA’s former five-star freshman didn’t start the game, but came in and went 7-for-12 with 143 yards and two touchdowns. He should be the starting quarterback going forward. Washington’s Michael Penix entered his name into early Heisman conversations with 450 yards and five touchdowns on 29-of-40 passing. The reigning Heisman trophy winner Caleb Williams went 18-of-24 with 319 yards and five touchdowns.
The Pac-12 is going to be fun to watch this season, and the four teams in contention are all trying to win the Pac-12 in its final year before entering the Big Ten. The Pac-12 is going to be a knockout brawl to the top, and each team will be relying on their star quarterbacks to lead the way.
Follow The I-80 Football Show on YouTube: @JordanW330 or @LandGrantPods
Subscribe to the podcast: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
Connect with me on Twitter: @JordanW330
Follow I-80 Football Show on Instagram: @I80FootballShow
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LGHL Elite 2026 quarterback lists Ohio State among top schools
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Elite 2026 quarterback lists Ohio State among top schools
Dan Hessler via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
2026 four-star QB Jared Curtis | Ryan Callahan, 247Sports
The Buckeyes also offered a 2025 OT and a four-star DL target is set to announce this week.
Fresh off a holiday weekend which saw the Buckeyes earn a victory over Big Ten foe Indiana, it would make sense if the Ohio State coaching staff were to put 100 percent of their focus on this current roster. This is especially true as the team, as expected, has a lot of areas to improve upon before the next game.
However, Ryan Day and the rest of the staff are also continuing to put a lot of focus on recruiting. This continuous effort is one of the reasons why the Buckeyes have been one of the nation’s top football programs in the country.
Ohio State earned a commitment from the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2026 class when Chris Henry Jr. pledged his commitment to the Buckeyes on July 28. Ryan Day is now looking to pair Henry with a quarterback that matches his elite level of play.
The Buckeyes have offered just three quarterbacks in the 2026 class in Julian Lewis, who is currently committed to USC, Jared Curtis and Will Griffin. With Lewis being committed already, Curtis and Griffin are the obvious top remaining targets at the position for the Buckeyes. On Monday, Ohio State moved one-step closer in securing a commitment from one of them when Curtis announced his top 10 schools, and the Buckeyes made the cut.
Alongside Ohio State, Curtis listed Georgia, Michigan, Alabama, Florida State, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Ole Miss in his top schools. No team in the above group has separated itself from the pack, and being this early in his recruitment, it may not happen soon. Expect Curtis to take more visits with the above schools and to narrow down this list further following those visits.
Curtis threw for 2,285 yards and 27 touchdowns in his freshman year playing for Nashville Christian School and threw for just eight interceptions. He is the No. 2 QB in the 247Sports Composite and is the No. 10 overall prospect. He is also the No. 1 prospect from Tennessee.
Just before its game last Saturday, Ohio State offered 2025 four-star offensive tackle Josh Petty (Roswell, GA / Fellowship Christian School) on Friday. Ohio State has made offensive tackle a position of great important in next year’s cycle, already offering 15 prospects at the position alone.
Petty saw his recruitment explode this summer and he now holds nearly 30 scholarship offers from schools like, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, etc.
Petty is the No. 6 OT in next year’s cycle and is the No. 42 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite. He is also the No. 8 recruit out of Georgia.
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Dan Hessler via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
2026 four-star QB Jared Curtis | Ryan Callahan, 247Sports
The Buckeyes also offered a 2025 OT and a four-star DL target is set to announce this week.
Fresh off a holiday weekend which saw the Buckeyes earn a victory over Big Ten foe Indiana, it would make sense if the Ohio State coaching staff were to put 100 percent of their focus on this current roster. This is especially true as the team, as expected, has a lot of areas to improve upon before the next game.
However, Ryan Day and the rest of the staff are also continuing to put a lot of focus on recruiting. This continuous effort is one of the reasons why the Buckeyes have been one of the nation’s top football programs in the country.
2026 QB lists Ohio State as a top school
Ohio State earned a commitment from the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2026 class when Chris Henry Jr. pledged his commitment to the Buckeyes on July 28. Ryan Day is now looking to pair Henry with a quarterback that matches his elite level of play.
The Buckeyes have offered just three quarterbacks in the 2026 class in Julian Lewis, who is currently committed to USC, Jared Curtis and Will Griffin. With Lewis being committed already, Curtis and Griffin are the obvious top remaining targets at the position for the Buckeyes. On Monday, Ohio State moved one-step closer in securing a commitment from one of them when Curtis announced his top 10 schools, and the Buckeyes made the cut.
Alongside Ohio State, Curtis listed Georgia, Michigan, Alabama, Florida State, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Ole Miss in his top schools. No team in the above group has separated itself from the pack, and being this early in his recruitment, it may not happen soon. Expect Curtis to take more visits with the above schools and to narrow down this list further following those visits.
Curtis threw for 2,285 yards and 27 touchdowns in his freshman year playing for Nashville Christian School and threw for just eight interceptions. He is the No. 2 QB in the 247Sports Composite and is the No. 10 overall prospect. He is also the No. 1 prospect from Tennessee.
Ohio State offers 2025 OT
Just before its game last Saturday, Ohio State offered 2025 four-star offensive tackle Josh Petty (Roswell, GA / Fellowship Christian School) on Friday. Ohio State has made offensive tackle a position of great important in next year’s cycle, already offering 15 prospects at the position alone.
Petty saw his recruitment explode this summer and he now holds nearly 30 scholarship offers from schools like, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, etc.
Petty is the No. 6 OT in next year’s cycle and is the No. 42 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite. He is also the No. 8 recruit out of Georgia.
Quick Hits
- Ohio State four-stat defensive line target Nigel Smith (Melissa, TX/ Melissa) announced that he will be making his commitment this Friday on Sept. 8. Smith took an official visit with Ohio State this weekend, but the Buckeyes are playing from behind in this one. Oklahoma looks to be the favorite in this one, holding all of the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions. Smith is the No. 12 DL prospect in the 2024 class and he is the No. 83 overall prospect. He is also the No. 16 recruit out of Texas.
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LGHL Ryan Day’s trust issues with his players, staff, and himself could sink Ohio State’s season
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Ryan Day’s trust issues with his players, staff, and himself could sink Ohio State’s season
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The head coach can’t keep reversing course at the first sign of trouble.
There is an increasingly vocal contingent of Ohio State fans who are over Ryan Day as the school’s head football coach. They do not believe that he has the mindset, aggression, or drive to compete at the highest levels of the sport, despite his elite recruiting. I am not there yet, as I still believe that we have seen enough of that over his first four-plus seasons to know that he’s capable of it. However, he is quickly running out of time to turn that from a thing that happens only in bowl games to the thing that happens all the time.
I believe that Ryan Day is a good, decent human being who cares deeply about his players, the school, and the program; and that is valuable and important in all walks of life, but especially for a college coach. But Day has issues, serious issues, and I’m afraid that they could tank another season if they aren’t addressed incredibly soon.
Despite having the third most talented team in the country, despite having a coaching staff full of highly paid assistants (five of whom make at least $1 million annually), despite being named the best developer of quarterback talent in college football, Day doesn’t seem to trust anyone in the program that he runs, including himself.
On Tuesday of last week, the Buckeye head coach announced to the world that junior Kyle McCord would be his team’s starting quarterback for the Indiana game, but that sophomore Devin Brown would also play a significant number of snaps. The presumption was that this decision was made because the competition between the two was still too close to feel comfortable shutting the door on the idea that Brown could potentially be the best man for the job. So, since he had yet to throw a single pass in a college contest, getting Brown some game reps to see how he looked against a defense not wearing scarlet and gray would be valuable for making a final determination.
That seemed like a logical and responsible course of action, given the fact that, while IU is a conference opponent, the Hoosiers weren’t expected to truly test the Buckeyes. But guess what; they did... more or less. The first half ended with a score of just 10-3 in favor of OSU, thanks in part to Tom Allen’s triple-option, ball-control game plan; the NCAA’s new, ludicrous running-clock rules; and a largely ineffective Ohio State offense.
So, instead of getting Brown any substantive snaps in the game, he got three first-half plays — two handoffs and a third-down, quarterback run that was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage — and then he didn’t see the field again until the final series of the game when Indiana had all but given up.
So what happened? Why did the understandable and fully thought-out game plan for rotating quarterbacks get thrown out the window at the first sign of something vaguely resembling trouble? Day explained his rationale in the postgame press conference, but what it truly comes down to — in my self-appointed armchair analyst opinion — is that far too often (and far too easily), the Ohio State head coach is willing to abandon any and all plans — regardless of how well constructed and publicly discussed they might be — as soon as things get uncomfortable.
I am old enough to remember when Day openly admitted to the media that he did not get C.J. Stroud enough snaps in 2020 when he was Justin Fields’ backup, which made the transition to him starting in 2021 far more difficult than it needed to be. He said that he would learn from that and get his QB depth more action moving forward.
He did not get his QB depth more action moving forward. Last season, McCord threw 20 passes, Brown threw 0.
Another logical, responsible plan freely volunteered for public consumption, immediately abandoned as soon as Day didn’t have the exact vibes that he had been counting on. I don’t know Ryan Day, but from afar, there seems to still be a bit of imposter syndrome going on from a guy who was essentially hurtled into being a head coach at one of the most preeminent college football programs in the country before he was ready.
The second-guessing and public reversals speak to a level of self-doubt that you would never see from the likes of Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, and especially not Urban Meyer. That is understandable, and some growing pains for a first-time head coach are to be expected, but Day is in Year 5 now, and he has to be able to make a plan and stick to it if his program is going to continue to make strides to the places where he and fans expect it to be.
But this is not just about not playing Brown as much as he had planned. In a vacuum, I think that decision made sense. But, when combined with other very public about-faces, you do start to see an uncomfortable pattern from the head Buckeye.
In the lead-up to the 2022 College Football Playoff, former Buckeye ESPN lead CFB analyst Kirk Herbstreit reported that Day was planning to give up play-calling following the season (something that I have been calling for since the 2021 campaign) So, when Brian Hartline was named OSU’s new offensive coordinator, Day said that he would give the former wide receiver coach the chance to call plays during the spring in order to get him ready for the responsibility in the spring.
Logical? Check. Responsible? Check. Publicly stated? Check.
However, from there, he began to walk it back and say that they would see how things went and determine the best course of action during the offseason. During his radio show last week, Day confirmed that he would retain the play-calling duties in light of the ongoing quarterback uncertainty.
So, by not playing Brown, Day clearly showed that he doesn’t trust him. By not allowing Hartline to call plays, Day clearly showed that he doesn’t trust him. By not sticking to the plans that he regularly announces to the public, Ryan Day has clearly shown that he doesn’t trust himself.
Then there is the fact that despite the fact that he has the greatest collection of offensive talent in college football, unless it is a CFP game, Day finds a way to go full Galápagos tortoise and hide in a metaphoric shell when it comes to play calling. The two best wide receivers in college football, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, combined for five catches on 12 targets in Ohio State’s win on Saturday. Instead, the Buckeyes continued to run stretch plays into the boundary for little to no gain over and over and over again.
So clearly, he didn’t trust the quarterback he did decide to play 95% of the time; he didn’t trust the offensive line that he was confident enough in to completely avoid diving into the transfer portal to enhance during the more beneficial post-regular season window; and apparently, he didn’t trust his dynamic playmakers enough to believe that they could help bring McCord up to the standard required of an Ohio State quarterback.
Now, of course, not all lack of trust is created equally, and some of that is deserved, but some of it defies logic, and it speaks to a far more deep-seated issue at play.
In sports, you often hear about coaches and managers making decisions based on what is expected in order to avoid a negative backlash, even if a more outside-the-box approach would work. That’s why it has taken so long to get “old-school” coaches to go for it on fourth down in positive territory rather than to punt for a potential net gain of 20 or so yards.
While I don’t think that Day makes decisions with how the public and/or media will perceive them in mind, I do believe that he is in a constant, internal battle between his head and his gut; and I don’t mean “gut” as in the gut instinct that wants you to push the envelope, I mean “gut” as in a dozen or more bleeding ulcers slowly eating away at your insides because of all of the stress that you have put on yourself trying to succeed in a high-pressure job that demands near perfection at every turn or else millions of people will instantly criticize your every decision from the stands, on social media, and in articles by completely unqualified fans who don’t really have any idea about how much internal and external pressure there is into running a blue-blood college football program.
The thing that has kept me holding on to the Ryan Day train despite regularly scheduled disappointments is the fact that, on occasion, he proves what he is truly capable of when he gets out of his own way. The Sugar Bowl against Clemson following the 2020 season, the Peach Bowl against Georgia last year, with a month to prepare, when he was not overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being Ohio State’s head coach and could focus on crafting a plan that he was confident enough in to stick to, the results were not only impressive but damn near perfection (the defense crapped the bed against UGA last year, not Day’s offense).
If he is ever able to compartmentalize the doubt, anxiety, and nerves associated with such a high-pressure job, then I truly still believe that Ryan Day can go down as one of the best coaches in Ohio State history, but the window for making those types of changes is quickly closing, and I’m afraid that if it completely shuts this year, there will be no opening it up again in the future.
Fortunately, Ohio State did win against Indiana, and there is still time for the team to address the things that didn’t quite work properly on Saturday, but if the head coach keeps insisting on reversing course at the first sign of resistance, Buckeye Nation is in for a very long fall.
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Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The head coach can’t keep reversing course at the first sign of trouble.
There is an increasingly vocal contingent of Ohio State fans who are over Ryan Day as the school’s head football coach. They do not believe that he has the mindset, aggression, or drive to compete at the highest levels of the sport, despite his elite recruiting. I am not there yet, as I still believe that we have seen enough of that over his first four-plus seasons to know that he’s capable of it. However, he is quickly running out of time to turn that from a thing that happens only in bowl games to the thing that happens all the time.
I believe that Ryan Day is a good, decent human being who cares deeply about his players, the school, and the program; and that is valuable and important in all walks of life, but especially for a college coach. But Day has issues, serious issues, and I’m afraid that they could tank another season if they aren’t addressed incredibly soon.
Despite having the third most talented team in the country, despite having a coaching staff full of highly paid assistants (five of whom make at least $1 million annually), despite being named the best developer of quarterback talent in college football, Day doesn’t seem to trust anyone in the program that he runs, including himself.
On Tuesday of last week, the Buckeye head coach announced to the world that junior Kyle McCord would be his team’s starting quarterback for the Indiana game, but that sophomore Devin Brown would also play a significant number of snaps. The presumption was that this decision was made because the competition between the two was still too close to feel comfortable shutting the door on the idea that Brown could potentially be the best man for the job. So, since he had yet to throw a single pass in a college contest, getting Brown some game reps to see how he looked against a defense not wearing scarlet and gray would be valuable for making a final determination.
That seemed like a logical and responsible course of action, given the fact that, while IU is a conference opponent, the Hoosiers weren’t expected to truly test the Buckeyes. But guess what; they did... more or less. The first half ended with a score of just 10-3 in favor of OSU, thanks in part to Tom Allen’s triple-option, ball-control game plan; the NCAA’s new, ludicrous running-clock rules; and a largely ineffective Ohio State offense.
So, instead of getting Brown any substantive snaps in the game, he got three first-half plays — two handoffs and a third-down, quarterback run that was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage — and then he didn’t see the field again until the final series of the game when Indiana had all but given up.
So what happened? Why did the understandable and fully thought-out game plan for rotating quarterbacks get thrown out the window at the first sign of something vaguely resembling trouble? Day explained his rationale in the postgame press conference, but what it truly comes down to — in my self-appointed armchair analyst opinion — is that far too often (and far too easily), the Ohio State head coach is willing to abandon any and all plans — regardless of how well constructed and publicly discussed they might be — as soon as things get uncomfortable.
I am old enough to remember when Day openly admitted to the media that he did not get C.J. Stroud enough snaps in 2020 when he was Justin Fields’ backup, which made the transition to him starting in 2021 far more difficult than it needed to be. He said that he would learn from that and get his QB depth more action moving forward.
He did not get his QB depth more action moving forward. Last season, McCord threw 20 passes, Brown threw 0.
Another logical, responsible plan freely volunteered for public consumption, immediately abandoned as soon as Day didn’t have the exact vibes that he had been counting on. I don’t know Ryan Day, but from afar, there seems to still be a bit of imposter syndrome going on from a guy who was essentially hurtled into being a head coach at one of the most preeminent college football programs in the country before he was ready.
The second-guessing and public reversals speak to a level of self-doubt that you would never see from the likes of Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, and especially not Urban Meyer. That is understandable, and some growing pains for a first-time head coach are to be expected, but Day is in Year 5 now, and he has to be able to make a plan and stick to it if his program is going to continue to make strides to the places where he and fans expect it to be.
But this is not just about not playing Brown as much as he had planned. In a vacuum, I think that decision made sense. But, when combined with other very public about-faces, you do start to see an uncomfortable pattern from the head Buckeye.
In the lead-up to the 2022 College Football Playoff, former Buckeye ESPN lead CFB analyst Kirk Herbstreit reported that Day was planning to give up play-calling following the season (something that I have been calling for since the 2021 campaign) So, when Brian Hartline was named OSU’s new offensive coordinator, Day said that he would give the former wide receiver coach the chance to call plays during the spring in order to get him ready for the responsibility in the spring.
Logical? Check. Responsible? Check. Publicly stated? Check.
However, from there, he began to walk it back and say that they would see how things went and determine the best course of action during the offseason. During his radio show last week, Day confirmed that he would retain the play-calling duties in light of the ongoing quarterback uncertainty.
So, by not playing Brown, Day clearly showed that he doesn’t trust him. By not allowing Hartline to call plays, Day clearly showed that he doesn’t trust him. By not sticking to the plans that he regularly announces to the public, Ryan Day has clearly shown that he doesn’t trust himself.
Then there is the fact that despite the fact that he has the greatest collection of offensive talent in college football, unless it is a CFP game, Day finds a way to go full Galápagos tortoise and hide in a metaphoric shell when it comes to play calling. The two best wide receivers in college football, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, combined for five catches on 12 targets in Ohio State’s win on Saturday. Instead, the Buckeyes continued to run stretch plays into the boundary for little to no gain over and over and over again.
So clearly, he didn’t trust the quarterback he did decide to play 95% of the time; he didn’t trust the offensive line that he was confident enough in to completely avoid diving into the transfer portal to enhance during the more beneficial post-regular season window; and apparently, he didn’t trust his dynamic playmakers enough to believe that they could help bring McCord up to the standard required of an Ohio State quarterback.
Now, of course, not all lack of trust is created equally, and some of that is deserved, but some of it defies logic, and it speaks to a far more deep-seated issue at play.
In sports, you often hear about coaches and managers making decisions based on what is expected in order to avoid a negative backlash, even if a more outside-the-box approach would work. That’s why it has taken so long to get “old-school” coaches to go for it on fourth down in positive territory rather than to punt for a potential net gain of 20 or so yards.
While I don’t think that Day makes decisions with how the public and/or media will perceive them in mind, I do believe that he is in a constant, internal battle between his head and his gut; and I don’t mean “gut” as in the gut instinct that wants you to push the envelope, I mean “gut” as in a dozen or more bleeding ulcers slowly eating away at your insides because of all of the stress that you have put on yourself trying to succeed in a high-pressure job that demands near perfection at every turn or else millions of people will instantly criticize your every decision from the stands, on social media, and in articles by completely unqualified fans who don’t really have any idea about how much internal and external pressure there is into running a blue-blood college football program.
The thing that has kept me holding on to the Ryan Day train despite regularly scheduled disappointments is the fact that, on occasion, he proves what he is truly capable of when he gets out of his own way. The Sugar Bowl against Clemson following the 2020 season, the Peach Bowl against Georgia last year, with a month to prepare, when he was not overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being Ohio State’s head coach and could focus on crafting a plan that he was confident enough in to stick to, the results were not only impressive but damn near perfection (the defense crapped the bed against UGA last year, not Day’s offense).
If he is ever able to compartmentalize the doubt, anxiety, and nerves associated with such a high-pressure job, then I truly still believe that Ryan Day can go down as one of the best coaches in Ohio State history, but the window for making those types of changes is quickly closing, and I’m afraid that if it completely shuts this year, there will be no opening it up again in the future.
Fortunately, Ohio State did win against Indiana, and there is still time for the team to address the things that didn’t quite work properly on Saturday, but if the head coach keeps insisting on reversing course at the first sign of resistance, Buckeye Nation is in for a very long fall.
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LGHL Silver Bullets Podcast: Indiana rewind and Youngstown State preview
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Silver Bullets Podcast: Indiana rewind and Youngstown State preview
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
A look back at an underwhelming game and a chance to get things on track lies ahead against FCS competition.
The Buckeyes’ 2023 season is underway. Although it began in underwhelming fashion, it’s the first outing, on the road, with a new quarterback and a mostly new offensive line. It was never going to look crisp right out of the box. Far be it from us to tell you not to panic — you may do so if you wish; that’s your prerogative — but we simply have more things we’ll be keeping an eye on as the season moves forward.
We broke down Ohio State’s 20-point win at Bloomington, including the key plays, players, and mistakes, and checked back on our score predictions and picks to click to see how we did. It was the first game for everyone, so we haven’t quite zeroed in on this team yet.
Joel Whetzel from The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle was our guest this week. He popped on with us to give us the scoop on Ohio State’s opponent this Saturday, the Penguins of Youngstown State University. What are the Penguins good and bad at? Who are the players to watch? What style can we expect? These questions get answered expertly by Joel and we appreciate his time.
Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday and came up with our score predictions and our picks to click for this Saturday’s matchup. Will the Penguins get as many stops on defense as the Hoosiers did? That’s not what we’re expecting. We have similar ideas to how this game will unfold to what our guest described.
We’ll be back next week to dissect Ohio State’s home opener against Youngstown State and look ahead to a matchup with Western Kentucky.
In fact, we’ll be here with you every week from now until the end of the 2023 Ohio State football season. We’d love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at @SilvrBulletsPod.
As always, thanks for listening!
Continue reading...
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
A look back at an underwhelming game and a chance to get things on track lies ahead against FCS competition.
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
The Buckeyes’ 2023 season is underway. Although it began in underwhelming fashion, it’s the first outing, on the road, with a new quarterback and a mostly new offensive line. It was never going to look crisp right out of the box. Far be it from us to tell you not to panic — you may do so if you wish; that’s your prerogative — but we simply have more things we’ll be keeping an eye on as the season moves forward.
We broke down Ohio State’s 20-point win at Bloomington, including the key plays, players, and mistakes, and checked back on our score predictions and picks to click to see how we did. It was the first game for everyone, so we haven’t quite zeroed in on this team yet.
Joel Whetzel from The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle was our guest this week. He popped on with us to give us the scoop on Ohio State’s opponent this Saturday, the Penguins of Youngstown State University. What are the Penguins good and bad at? Who are the players to watch? What style can we expect? These questions get answered expertly by Joel and we appreciate his time.
Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday and came up with our score predictions and our picks to click for this Saturday’s matchup. Will the Penguins get as many stops on defense as the Hoosiers did? That’s not what we’re expecting. We have similar ideas to how this game will unfold to what our guest described.
We’ll be back next week to dissect Ohio State’s home opener against Youngstown State and look ahead to a matchup with Western Kentucky.
In fact, we’ll be here with you every week from now until the end of the 2023 Ohio State football season. We’d love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at @SilvrBulletsPod.
As always, thanks for listening!
Continue reading...
LGHL The Ohio State offense can still be great, even with quarterback undecided
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The Ohio State offense can still be great, even with quarterback undecided
Megan.Husslein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
Yes, the Bucks only scored two touchdowns versus Indiana, but there’s still a lot to be excited about from these guys.
I think we have established by now that Game 1 did not go as planned. It was a lot closer than expected, the quarterback situation was not resolved and overall there weren’t a ton of bright and shiny plays. However, with the talent this team has and what they did show against the Hoosiers, I think this offense is still going to be electric.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24896056/1453919839.jpg "Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl - Ohio State v Georgia")
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
Cade Stover and Julian Fleming were the leading receivers this past Saturday—kudos to you if you picked that before the game. If you want to be really optimistic, this is actually a good thing. Clearly, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka didn’t play their best games. The two of them combined had just five receptions for 34 yards. This shows that even when WR1 and WR2 have an off game, the Bucks can still produce an (almost) 100-yard game from one of their receivers.
It’s going to take a couple of games for whoever the starting quarterback is to find a rhythm within the game and with his receivers. Youngstown State should, hopefully, be great practice for that. It was nice to see Fleming have a solid game after his season last year, as he picked up six receptions for 58 yards.
This was certainly the Farmer Gronk game. Cade Stover’s 98(!) yards were extremely encouraging, as it was his most yards in a game in his career. He was an absolute beast out there, shoving down any defenders who tried to stop him and pushing for those yards after contact. He had a great year last year, and with this start against Indiana, I’m excited to see what the rest of this season holds for him.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24896072/1643576289.jpg "Ohio State v Indiana")
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
This was the position group I was most excited to see last Saturday. While my prediction of two 100-yard rushers didn’t come true, or even one, I still liked what I saw for the most part. Chip Trayanum was perhaps the biggest surprise and player that I was the most hyped about. Ryan Day has been praising him all offseason long, and now we finally got to see him for ourselves— and he was the leading rusher!
As for TreVeyon Henderson, I think he had a solid first game back from injury, but I want to see more. His 12 carries for 47 yards were pretty good for the number of snaps he had, and I liked his 19-yard breakaway run (his signature), but he got stuffed at the line quite often. The RBs were stopped three times on third-and-2 or less, which obviously isn’t all on them, but just something that I noticed.
One other note was how little Dallan Hayden got in. In fact, he had one reception for -2 yards and that was it. Yes, there are 5 running backs on this team, but I still would’ve liked to see him get in a little more— I’m sure he will against YSU, and hopefully Evan Pryor, too.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24896090/1243174585.jpg "COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 10 Arkansas State at Ohio State")
Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
So this group is a work in progress. The stat I mentioned above about struggling to convert on third downs? That falls on the offensive line. The run game couldn’t truly get going because they kept getting stopped at the line, which made it hard for the passing game to get going.
They pass-protected pretty well, as McCord didn’t get sacked at all, and he usually had a decent amount of time to throw. It would’ve been surprising if they could have run and pass-protected well, as three of them are new starters, so at least they did one thing well, I guess.
YSU and Western Kentucky should be great games for them to get game reps in and work on run protection.
Overall, was it a great offensive performance from the Buckeyes? Of course not. But they did get the job done. These next two weeks will be good practice to get everything sorted out just in time for Notre Dame.
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Megan.Husslein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
Yes, the Bucks only scored two touchdowns versus Indiana, but there’s still a lot to be excited about from these guys.
I think we have established by now that Game 1 did not go as planned. It was a lot closer than expected, the quarterback situation was not resolved and overall there weren’t a ton of bright and shiny plays. However, with the talent this team has and what they did show against the Hoosiers, I think this offense is still going to be electric.
Wide receivers
Cade Stover and Julian Fleming were the leading receivers this past Saturday—kudos to you if you picked that before the game. If you want to be really optimistic, this is actually a good thing. Clearly, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka didn’t play their best games. The two of them combined had just five receptions for 34 yards. This shows that even when WR1 and WR2 have an off game, the Bucks can still produce an (almost) 100-yard game from one of their receivers.
It’s going to take a couple of games for whoever the starting quarterback is to find a rhythm within the game and with his receivers. Youngstown State should, hopefully, be great practice for that. It was nice to see Fleming have a solid game after his season last year, as he picked up six receptions for 58 yards.
This was certainly the Farmer Gronk game. Cade Stover’s 98(!) yards were extremely encouraging, as it was his most yards in a game in his career. He was an absolute beast out there, shoving down any defenders who tried to stop him and pushing for those yards after contact. He had a great year last year, and with this start against Indiana, I’m excited to see what the rest of this season holds for him.
Running backs
This was the position group I was most excited to see last Saturday. While my prediction of two 100-yard rushers didn’t come true, or even one, I still liked what I saw for the most part. Chip Trayanum was perhaps the biggest surprise and player that I was the most hyped about. Ryan Day has been praising him all offseason long, and now we finally got to see him for ourselves— and he was the leading rusher!
As for TreVeyon Henderson, I think he had a solid first game back from injury, but I want to see more. His 12 carries for 47 yards were pretty good for the number of snaps he had, and I liked his 19-yard breakaway run (his signature), but he got stuffed at the line quite often. The RBs were stopped three times on third-and-2 or less, which obviously isn’t all on them, but just something that I noticed.
One other note was how little Dallan Hayden got in. In fact, he had one reception for -2 yards and that was it. Yes, there are 5 running backs on this team, but I still would’ve liked to see him get in a little more— I’m sure he will against YSU, and hopefully Evan Pryor, too.
Offensive line
So this group is a work in progress. The stat I mentioned above about struggling to convert on third downs? That falls on the offensive line. The run game couldn’t truly get going because they kept getting stopped at the line, which made it hard for the passing game to get going.
They pass-protected pretty well, as McCord didn’t get sacked at all, and he usually had a decent amount of time to throw. It would’ve been surprising if they could have run and pass-protected well, as three of them are new starters, so at least they did one thing well, I guess.
YSU and Western Kentucky should be great games for them to get game reps in and work on run protection.
Overall, was it a great offensive performance from the Buckeyes? Of course not. But they did get the job done. These next two weeks will be good practice to get everything sorted out just in time for Notre Dame.
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LGHL You’re Nuts: Biggest reason for optimism after Ohio State’s Week 1 performance
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You’re Nuts: Biggest reason for optimism after Ohio State’s Week 1 performance
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Buckeyes are 1-0, contrary to how fans are feeling.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
This week’s topic: Biggest reason for optimism after Ohio State’s Week 1 performance
Ohio State kicked off its 2023 football season with a 20-point victory over a Big Ten opponent, but it was, uh, far from a masterpiece. The Buckeyes’ offense looked clumsy and disjointed with junior quarterback Kyle McCord at the helm, although he had his moments and may have even been hindered by his own coaches.
And the defense, while stingy in terms of yards and points, was not the most disruptive group in the world. The new ‘Silver Bullets’ limited explosive plays to virtually zero, but also failed to put any pressure on Indiana’s two quarterbacks — ya know, when the Hoosiers actually made an effort to advance the ball downfield.
But a dub is a dub, and this Week 1 contest always had the potential to be sort of odd and fluky, in my opinion. Because not only was OSU rolling out a new QB and a new offensive line, but they were (also) doing so on the road, at 3:30, in a sleepy venue, against an opponent whose coach is fighting for his professional life. Tom Allen and IU had very little interest inactually winning! opening this game up, which reduced the number of overall possessions and nearly brought the action to a dead stop on several occasions... Those fans in Bloomington sure have some fun times ahead!
I don’t want to sound salty here. Or give the impression that I am using sarcasm to mask my concern. Because frankly, I am not overly concerned... Yet. I did not expect a perfect game from the Buckeyes, nor did they deliver one. No harm, no foul. Now Ryan Day and company have a few weeks to work out the kinks. And if they do, the team’s performance in Bloomington will become a distant memory.
With that in mind, Gene and I decided to take the optimistic route for this edition of You’re Nuts. We wanted to share what gave us the warm and fuzzies on Saturday — AKA our biggest reason(s) for optimism after what some would consider a lackluster Ohio State victory.
So I am going to go with the Buckeyes’ defensive secondary. Tim Walton and Perry Eliano’s group was inarguably the most impressive unit on the field, even if they were not pressed into a ton of action. And maybe that is because Tom Allen believed all the preseason hype and decided not to throw in Denzel Burke and/or his peers’ direction? Or maybe he (Allen) has negative trust in his QBs, which is really none of my concern.
What is or definitely was concerning to me was OSU’s pass defense during the latter part of the 2022 season. TTUN and UGA threw the ball all over the yard against the Buckeyes, and let’s be honest, it pretty much cost the Scarlet and Gray a national championship. I will always believe that. But on Saturday, Burke and the boys looked fantastic. Like a potential strength of this Ohio State team, which has not been the case for at least a few years.
There were few if any misses or busts by the DBs, and that alone is progress! There were also no interceptions or highlight plays to speak of, but the secondary play was very solid. And I can live with that. In fact, I will gladly take it. Burke was credited with two PBU, Davison Igbinosun was in on a handful of plays and tackles, and Jordan Hancock flashed upside on more than a few occasions. And those were just the cornerbacks.
At safety, Sonny Styles was perhaps the defensive player of the game for OSU. He made plays all over the field and showcased the unicorn potential fans have been hearing about. Fellow safety Josh Proctor was a heat seeking missile, doing so without making the egregious errors we have seen from him in the past. And Lathan Ransom was Lathan Ransom: Steady, in the right spots, ready to make a play if and when called upon. True freshman Malik Hartford also looked good as... a true freshman! Gotta love that.
Ohio State held Indiana to just 82 yards through the air, although again, Tom Allen had very little interest in actually trying to pull off an upset. But Buckeye DBs still deserve plenty of credit. When the ball was put in the air, they were knocking it down and playing a disruptive brand of football. And we as fans went most of an entire season (2022) without seeing much of that. So I will hang my hat on the secondary play and choose to remain optimistic about everything else as well.
Because you know what they say, Gene: Rome wasn’t built in a day. It took at least three weeks and a few get-right games against ancient Penguins and Hilltoppers.
Pretty funny after all the flaws Ohio State has had defensively over the past several years that Josh and I both came out of Week 1 more optimistic about the defense than the offense. While this Buckeye team is far too talented at the skill positions to not get the shortcomings on offense figured out, and I know at some point things are more likely to get rolling than not, I still need to see something from that group — and moreso the man holding the call sheet — before I come out with blind optimism.
That’s why my most optimistic take of the game is that this Ohio State defense has tremendous depth and talent across the board.
Up front, we saw a handful of guys rotate in along the defensive line. Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau are your definite starters at the end spots, but Caden Curry has shown flashes and Kenyatta Jackson is another guy that impressed in camp and could be thrust into action if needed. Up the middle may be Ohio State’s deepest group as a team, with Mike Hall Jr. and Tyleik Williams receiving the bulk of the playing time but Ty Hamilton, Jaden McKenzie and Hero Kanu all rotating in and making an impact one way or another. Kanu even registered the team’s lone sack!
In the secondary, the Buckeyes have a trio of talented players they rotated in at cornerback in Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock. All three saw the field on Saturday, and all three showcased solid cover skills and great open-field tackling. Behind them at safety was perhaps Ohio State’s best defensive player overall in Sonny Styles at the nickel, and alongside him Josh Proctor and Lathan Ransom manned the other two safety spots. We also got to see a good amount of true freshman Malik Hartford, who seems to be pushing for a starting job.
The only position where we didn't see much — if any — rotation was at linebacker, where Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers played virtually every snap. The Buckeyes do have talent at the position behind them with C.J. Hicks and Cody Simon, and we saw a little of Simon, but for whatever reason Hicks didn’t get any playing time at all and Jim Knowles elected to play his two starters for basically the entire game. You can’t afford to burn out Eichenberg and Chambers early in the season, so while the depth is here, I would like to see it used more — especially the former five-star Hicks.
Unlike last season, where it seemed like there was a significant drop-off from the ones to the twos when Ohio State made subs on defense, that is now not the case. At least through one game, this year’s Silver Bullets were playing confident and fast out there, and also limited the big play that plagued them late last year. There is a lot of football left to be played, but of all the things I saw against Indiana, the depth across the field on defense made me confident in this team going forward.
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Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Buckeyes are 1-0, contrary to how fans are feeling.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
This week’s topic: Biggest reason for optimism after Ohio State’s Week 1 performance
Josh’s Take
Ohio State kicked off its 2023 football season with a 20-point victory over a Big Ten opponent, but it was, uh, far from a masterpiece. The Buckeyes’ offense looked clumsy and disjointed with junior quarterback Kyle McCord at the helm, although he had his moments and may have even been hindered by his own coaches.
And the defense, while stingy in terms of yards and points, was not the most disruptive group in the world. The new ‘Silver Bullets’ limited explosive plays to virtually zero, but also failed to put any pressure on Indiana’s two quarterbacks — ya know, when the Hoosiers actually made an effort to advance the ball downfield.
But a dub is a dub, and this Week 1 contest always had the potential to be sort of odd and fluky, in my opinion. Because not only was OSU rolling out a new QB and a new offensive line, but they were (also) doing so on the road, at 3:30, in a sleepy venue, against an opponent whose coach is fighting for his professional life. Tom Allen and IU had very little interest in
I don’t want to sound salty here. Or give the impression that I am using sarcasm to mask my concern. Because frankly, I am not overly concerned... Yet. I did not expect a perfect game from the Buckeyes, nor did they deliver one. No harm, no foul. Now Ryan Day and company have a few weeks to work out the kinks. And if they do, the team’s performance in Bloomington will become a distant memory.
With that in mind, Gene and I decided to take the optimistic route for this edition of You’re Nuts. We wanted to share what gave us the warm and fuzzies on Saturday — AKA our biggest reason(s) for optimism after what some would consider a lackluster Ohio State victory.
So I am going to go with the Buckeyes’ defensive secondary. Tim Walton and Perry Eliano’s group was inarguably the most impressive unit on the field, even if they were not pressed into a ton of action. And maybe that is because Tom Allen believed all the preseason hype and decided not to throw in Denzel Burke and/or his peers’ direction? Or maybe he (Allen) has negative trust in his QBs, which is really none of my concern.
What is or definitely was concerning to me was OSU’s pass defense during the latter part of the 2022 season. TTUN and UGA threw the ball all over the yard against the Buckeyes, and let’s be honest, it pretty much cost the Scarlet and Gray a national championship. I will always believe that. But on Saturday, Burke and the boys looked fantastic. Like a potential strength of this Ohio State team, which has not been the case for at least a few years.
There were few if any misses or busts by the DBs, and that alone is progress! There were also no interceptions or highlight plays to speak of, but the secondary play was very solid. And I can live with that. In fact, I will gladly take it. Burke was credited with two PBU, Davison Igbinosun was in on a handful of plays and tackles, and Jordan Hancock flashed upside on more than a few occasions. And those were just the cornerbacks.
At safety, Sonny Styles was perhaps the defensive player of the game for OSU. He made plays all over the field and showcased the unicorn potential fans have been hearing about. Fellow safety Josh Proctor was a heat seeking missile, doing so without making the egregious errors we have seen from him in the past. And Lathan Ransom was Lathan Ransom: Steady, in the right spots, ready to make a play if and when called upon. True freshman Malik Hartford also looked good as... a true freshman! Gotta love that.
Ohio State held Indiana to just 82 yards through the air, although again, Tom Allen had very little interest in actually trying to pull off an upset. But Buckeye DBs still deserve plenty of credit. When the ball was put in the air, they were knocking it down and playing a disruptive brand of football. And we as fans went most of an entire season (2022) without seeing much of that. So I will hang my hat on the secondary play and choose to remain optimistic about everything else as well.
Because you know what they say, Gene: Rome wasn’t built in a day. It took at least three weeks and a few get-right games against ancient Penguins and Hilltoppers.
Gene’s Take
Pretty funny after all the flaws Ohio State has had defensively over the past several years that Josh and I both came out of Week 1 more optimistic about the defense than the offense. While this Buckeye team is far too talented at the skill positions to not get the shortcomings on offense figured out, and I know at some point things are more likely to get rolling than not, I still need to see something from that group — and moreso the man holding the call sheet — before I come out with blind optimism.
That’s why my most optimistic take of the game is that this Ohio State defense has tremendous depth and talent across the board.
Up front, we saw a handful of guys rotate in along the defensive line. Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau are your definite starters at the end spots, but Caden Curry has shown flashes and Kenyatta Jackson is another guy that impressed in camp and could be thrust into action if needed. Up the middle may be Ohio State’s deepest group as a team, with Mike Hall Jr. and Tyleik Williams receiving the bulk of the playing time but Ty Hamilton, Jaden McKenzie and Hero Kanu all rotating in and making an impact one way or another. Kanu even registered the team’s lone sack!
In the secondary, the Buckeyes have a trio of talented players they rotated in at cornerback in Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock. All three saw the field on Saturday, and all three showcased solid cover skills and great open-field tackling. Behind them at safety was perhaps Ohio State’s best defensive player overall in Sonny Styles at the nickel, and alongside him Josh Proctor and Lathan Ransom manned the other two safety spots. We also got to see a good amount of true freshman Malik Hartford, who seems to be pushing for a starting job.
The only position where we didn't see much — if any — rotation was at linebacker, where Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers played virtually every snap. The Buckeyes do have talent at the position behind them with C.J. Hicks and Cody Simon, and we saw a little of Simon, but for whatever reason Hicks didn’t get any playing time at all and Jim Knowles elected to play his two starters for basically the entire game. You can’t afford to burn out Eichenberg and Chambers early in the season, so while the depth is here, I would like to see it used more — especially the former five-star Hicks.
Unlike last season, where it seemed like there was a significant drop-off from the ones to the twos when Ohio State made subs on defense, that is now not the case. At least through one game, this year’s Silver Bullets were playing confident and fast out there, and also limited the big play that plagued them late last year. There is a lot of football left to be played, but of all the things I saw against Indiana, the depth across the field on defense made me confident in this team going forward.
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