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LGHL Moment of the Game: Jordan Hancock sealed Ohio State’s win with game-saving interception
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Moment of the Game: Jordan Hancock sealed Ohio State’s win with game-saving interception
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 via Imagn Images
Dylan Raiola had the ability become a Big Red legend, but under-threw his target dramatically
With No. 4 Ohio State up 31-17 with just 1:23 remaining in regulation, Jordan Hancock sealed the Homecoming win for the Buckeyes. On 3rd-and-long, Nebraska quarterback (and one-time OSU commit) Dylan Raiola threw a ghastly interception that sealed the often perilous victory for the Scarlet and Gray.
With starting safety Lathan Ransom out for the game (and potentially longer), Hancock moved from his traditional nickel position to the back of Ohio State’s defense and ended up being in the perfect place when Ohio State needed him the most.
After nearly unforgivably timid offensive playcalling gave the ball back to Nebraska with 3:36 remaining, the Huskers’ true freshman quarterback had a chance to pull off an epic upset and cement himself in both Big Red and Buckeye Nation lore.
Penalties on three consecutive plays (Nebraska offensive pass interference and a false start calls sandwiched a ridiculous targeting penalty against Ohio State’s Arvell Reese) put the ball on Nebraska’s 41-yard line with just over two minutes remaining. The Huskers had one timeout, plus the two-minute break, so they had more than enough time to score and pull off the win.
However, after back-to-back negative completions for Raiola, Nebraska found itself in 3rd-and-19, forcing the young QB into a tough spot. He certainly didn’t need to get all of the yardage in one play, but he went for a big gain anyway, and it ended up costing him.
It appears that Husker wide receiver Jaylen Lloyd (I can’t fully see his number) beat Buckeye cornerback Davison Igbinosun on the third down, so if Raoila had hit him in stride deep, it could have resulted in the game-winner. Instead, the freshman inaccurately under-threw his man and OSU’s veteran DB secured the win. It appears that Raoila expected Lloyd to come inside after beating the corner, but instead, the WR was thinking end zone. Igbinosun did a good job of recovering, so a touchdown wouldn’t have been guaranteed even on a perfect throw, but it certainly wasn’t out of the question.
Nebraska’s offensive line had given Raoila a clean pocket, so it’s not like he was under pressure on the throw, but the errant pass might help explain why Nebraska only averaged 7.2 yards per completion on the game; if Raiola had been able to properly place a deep ball, the Huskers very likely would have left Ohio Stadium as winners.
Instead, Hancock comes up with a game-saving INT and the Buckeyes maintain the ability to control their own postseason destiny heading into Happy Valley next week. It might not have been pretty, and the game certainly brought up more questions than it answered, but a win’s a win. Hancock finished the day with five tackles, including three solo stops to go with this interception. So, if Ransom is out for a prolonged period of time, it seems like Hancock moving back, and Lorenzo Styles taking over the nickel might work for the Buckeye defense.
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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 via Imagn Images
Dylan Raiola had the ability become a Big Red legend, but under-threw his target dramatically
With No. 4 Ohio State up 31-17 with just 1:23 remaining in regulation, Jordan Hancock sealed the Homecoming win for the Buckeyes. On 3rd-and-long, Nebraska quarterback (and one-time OSU commit) Dylan Raiola threw a ghastly interception that sealed the often perilous victory for the Scarlet and Gray.
With starting safety Lathan Ransom out for the game (and potentially longer), Hancock moved from his traditional nickel position to the back of Ohio State’s defense and ended up being in the perfect place when Ohio State needed him the most.
After nearly unforgivably timid offensive playcalling gave the ball back to Nebraska with 3:36 remaining, the Huskers’ true freshman quarterback had a chance to pull off an epic upset and cement himself in both Big Red and Buckeye Nation lore.
Penalties on three consecutive plays (Nebraska offensive pass interference and a false start calls sandwiched a ridiculous targeting penalty against Ohio State’s Arvell Reese) put the ball on Nebraska’s 41-yard line with just over two minutes remaining. The Huskers had one timeout, plus the two-minute break, so they had more than enough time to score and pull off the win.
However, after back-to-back negative completions for Raiola, Nebraska found itself in 3rd-and-19, forcing the young QB into a tough spot. He certainly didn’t need to get all of the yardage in one play, but he went for a big gain anyway, and it ended up costing him.
It appears that Husker wide receiver Jaylen Lloyd (I can’t fully see his number) beat Buckeye cornerback Davison Igbinosun on the third down, so if Raoila had hit him in stride deep, it could have resulted in the game-winner. Instead, the freshman inaccurately under-threw his man and OSU’s veteran DB secured the win. It appears that Raoila expected Lloyd to come inside after beating the corner, but instead, the WR was thinking end zone. Igbinosun did a good job of recovering, so a touchdown wouldn’t have been guaranteed even on a perfect throw, but it certainly wasn’t out of the question.
Nebraska’s offensive line had given Raoila a clean pocket, so it’s not like he was under pressure on the throw, but the errant pass might help explain why Nebraska only averaged 7.2 yards per completion on the game; if Raiola had been able to properly place a deep ball, the Huskers very likely would have left Ohio Stadium as winners.
Instead, Hancock comes up with a game-saving INT and the Buckeyes maintain the ability to control their own postseason destiny heading into Happy Valley next week. It might not have been pretty, and the game certainly brought up more questions than it answered, but a win’s a win. Hancock finished the day with five tackles, including three solo stops to go with this interception. So, if Ransom is out for a prolonged period of time, it seems like Hancock moving back, and Lorenzo Styles taking over the nickel might work for the Buckeye defense.
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LGHL Ohio State ran twice as much as they threw against Nebraska. Chip, what are we doing?
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Ohio State ran twice as much as they threw against Nebraska. Chip, what are we doing?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Will Howard was as close to perfect as you could expect him to be, and yet the coaches actively took the ball out of his hand in the second half.
There was a lot to be concerned and disappointed about in No. 4 Ohio State’s (6-1) 21-17 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-3), and I am sure that we will dive into all of them over the next six days leading up to next Saturday’s game against the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions. However, I want to focus on just one of my major complaints coming out of that thoroughly disjointed and uninspiring game.
To do so, let’s look at some stats:
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard completed 81% of his passes, averaged 17.0 yards per completion (13.8 per attempt), and finished the game with a QB rating of 246.7.
The Ohio State rushing game averaged 2.1 yards per carry (2.6 sack adjusted) and didn’t have a single run over 15 yards.
And yet, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly decided that the best course of action in a game where the Buckeyes were breaking in a new left tackle (emphasis on the word “breaking”) would be to lean on an ineffective rushing attack when the game hung in the balance.
At halftime, Howard was 9-for-9 for 167 yards, and yet, as the Buckeyes were unable to pull away from Big Red in the second half, the QB only attempted seven passes, completing four for 88 yards. Instead, OSU rushed the ball 17 times for 24 yards after intermission.
To emphasize the point, let’s look at one offensive series. While this is not a wholly offensive set of play calls, it is emblematic of the larger problem.
With the score 21-17 in favor of OSU with just 4:35 left in regulation, the Buckeyes had the ball at their own 37. Kelly called three straight runs; a one-yard gain and a no-gain by Quinshon Judkins, then a seven-yard gain by TreVeyon Henderson. That series resulted in a punt that gave Nebraska the ball back with 3:36, just 74 yards away from a go-ahead score.
The one positive on the drive was that it did force Husker’s coach Matt Rhule to spend two of his three second-half timeouts, but with his one remaining TO and the two-minute non-warning, there was plenty of time for Dylan Raiola and company to put together a game-winning drive; it also got me to drop an F-bomb on Elon Musk’s Twitter.com.
It seemed very clear from this set of calls — as well as the vast majority of the second half — that Ohio State’s staff was coaching scared. I understand the strategic rationale to run the ball in order to force Nebraska to use their timeouts, but Will Howard literally did not throw an incompletion in the first half, and yet, Kelly decided not to put the game in his hands, but rather to let it rest with a nearly completely ineffectual running attack.
This quickly after the game, I haven’t had a chance to rewatch and see how many of the second-half runs were RPOs, scrambles, or sacks — which would all change the play-calling stats to certain degrees — but with Zen Michalski obviously struggling in his first career start in place of Isaiah Simmons (before he himself was injured resulting in additional o-line tumult), there is no excuse to have 17 rushes to seven passes in a back-and-forth second half, especially when Howard was about as close to perfect as you could reasonably expect him to be.
Early in the fall, we saw an exciting level of creativity from Kelly’s play calling, with different motions, sets, and misdirections, but in only half a season, it seems like his better angels have been polluted by the overly cautious, predictable demons that we witnessed during the latter years of Ryan Day’s play-calling era. We saw nearly no surprising calls and nary a trick play against Nebraska, despite coming out of an off week following a heartbreaking loss. Thus is when Ohio State should have been establishing its identity as a national title contender as they opened up the second half of the season; instead, they raised even more questions about their ability to compete at the highest levels.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, I expected more from this coaching staff. However, time and time again, regardless of the specific personnel configuration, coming off of a bye and in the biggest games, OSU’s coaches come up short. Certainly, there is an element of this that is tied to player execution, but I think an objective evaluation would show that the coaches continually fail to put the players in the best positions to succeed when being more talented won’t win games om its own.
There is no doubt that Ohio State had the far more talented roster on the field today, but Nebraska had the superior coaches and might have even had the better complete team. However, OSU’s talent won the day, despite the coaches actively steering away from the things that had been proven successful all afternoon.
My confidence in this team’s potential to win the College Football Playoff, the Big Ten, or even against Penn State next week has precipitously declined over the last two games and the players’ performances represent only a small percentage of that sea change.
I was exceedingly optimistic at the beginning of this season that Ryan Day giving up play-calling duties, rebuilding his coaching staff, and being more aggressive in the transfer portal would represent a seismic change in the intensity and intentionality of this team. However, that does not seem to have happened. Instead, we are stuck watching an immensely talented fall victim to the exact same issues that have plagued it for the totality of Day’s tenure in Columbus.
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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
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Will Howard was as close to perfect as you could expect him to be, and yet the coaches actively took the ball out of his hand in the second half.
There was a lot to be concerned and disappointed about in No. 4 Ohio State’s (6-1) 21-17 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-3), and I am sure that we will dive into all of them over the next six days leading up to next Saturday’s game against the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions. However, I want to focus on just one of my major complaints coming out of that thoroughly disjointed and uninspiring game.
To do so, let’s look at some stats:
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard completed 81% of his passes, averaged 17.0 yards per completion (13.8 per attempt), and finished the game with a QB rating of 246.7.
The Ohio State rushing game averaged 2.1 yards per carry (2.6 sack adjusted) and didn’t have a single run over 15 yards.
And yet, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly decided that the best course of action in a game where the Buckeyes were breaking in a new left tackle (emphasis on the word “breaking”) would be to lean on an ineffective rushing attack when the game hung in the balance.
At halftime, Howard was 9-for-9 for 167 yards, and yet, as the Buckeyes were unable to pull away from Big Red in the second half, the QB only attempted seven passes, completing four for 88 yards. Instead, OSU rushed the ball 17 times for 24 yards after intermission.
To emphasize the point, let’s look at one offensive series. While this is not a wholly offensive set of play calls, it is emblematic of the larger problem.
With the score 21-17 in favor of OSU with just 4:35 left in regulation, the Buckeyes had the ball at their own 37. Kelly called three straight runs; a one-yard gain and a no-gain by Quinshon Judkins, then a seven-yard gain by TreVeyon Henderson. That series resulted in a punt that gave Nebraska the ball back with 3:36, just 74 yards away from a go-ahead score.
The one positive on the drive was that it did force Husker’s coach Matt Rhule to spend two of his three second-half timeouts, but with his one remaining TO and the two-minute non-warning, there was plenty of time for Dylan Raiola and company to put together a game-winning drive; it also got me to drop an F-bomb on Elon Musk’s Twitter.com.
It seemed very clear from this set of calls — as well as the vast majority of the second half — that Ohio State’s staff was coaching scared. I understand the strategic rationale to run the ball in order to force Nebraska to use their timeouts, but Will Howard literally did not throw an incompletion in the first half, and yet, Kelly decided not to put the game in his hands, but rather to let it rest with a nearly completely ineffectual running attack.
This quickly after the game, I haven’t had a chance to rewatch and see how many of the second-half runs were RPOs, scrambles, or sacks — which would all change the play-calling stats to certain degrees — but with Zen Michalski obviously struggling in his first career start in place of Isaiah Simmons (before he himself was injured resulting in additional o-line tumult), there is no excuse to have 17 rushes to seven passes in a back-and-forth second half, especially when Howard was about as close to perfect as you could reasonably expect him to be.
Early in the fall, we saw an exciting level of creativity from Kelly’s play calling, with different motions, sets, and misdirections, but in only half a season, it seems like his better angels have been polluted by the overly cautious, predictable demons that we witnessed during the latter years of Ryan Day’s play-calling era. We saw nearly no surprising calls and nary a trick play against Nebraska, despite coming out of an off week following a heartbreaking loss. Thus is when Ohio State should have been establishing its identity as a national title contender as they opened up the second half of the season; instead, they raised even more questions about their ability to compete at the highest levels.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, I expected more from this coaching staff. However, time and time again, regardless of the specific personnel configuration, coming off of a bye and in the biggest games, OSU’s coaches come up short. Certainly, there is an element of this that is tied to player execution, but I think an objective evaluation would show that the coaches continually fail to put the players in the best positions to succeed when being more talented won’t win games om its own.
There is no doubt that Ohio State had the far more talented roster on the field today, but Nebraska had the superior coaches and might have even had the better complete team. However, OSU’s talent won the day, despite the coaches actively steering away from the things that had been proven successful all afternoon.
My confidence in this team’s potential to win the College Football Playoff, the Big Ten, or even against Penn State next week has precipitously declined over the last two games and the players’ performances represent only a small percentage of that sea change.
I was exceedingly optimistic at the beginning of this season that Ryan Day giving up play-calling duties, rebuilding his coaching staff, and being more aggressive in the transfer portal would represent a seismic change in the intensity and intentionality of this team. However, that does not seem to have happened. Instead, we are stuck watching an immensely talented fall victim to the exact same issues that have plagued it for the totality of Day’s tenure in Columbus.
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LGHL You’re Nuts: What will you have your eyes on in the second half of Ohio State’s regular season?
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You’re Nuts: What will you have your eyes on in the second half of Ohio State’s regular season?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
With Ohio State being halfway through the 2024 regular season, we can look ahead to some of the storylines and things we’ll be looking for over the next six games. The Buckeyes are still in prime position to make the College Football Playoff, but they can’t become too comfortable since they still have tough games left at Penn State and in Columbus against Indiana and Michigan. Even though the Wolverines have taken a few steps back this season, Buckeye Nation can’t take the meeting between the rivals in late November for granted since Ryan Day has lost the last three meetings with That Team Up North.
There is no question Ohio State is one of the strongest teams in the country this season. There still are questions that need to be answered about the Buckeyes, though. How will the offensive line respond to the loss of tackle Josh Simmons? Will the defense continue to shrink in big games? What more would you like to see from the offense? Those are all questions that are pertinent to the Big Ten and national title hopes this season.
Today we want to know what you will be focusing on in the second half of Ohio State’s regular season. The loss to Oregon may sting but it definitely has made the Buckeyes take a deeper look at their team and things they can work on so they can make sure the same mistakes don’t happen if the two teams meet again in the Big Ten Championship Game or in the College Football Playoff.
There has been a common theme for the Ohio State defense since Jim Knowles took over as defensive coordinator following the 2021 season. The Buckeyes are lights out when they are playing lesser competition. Unfortunately the same can’t be said when Ohio State has played some of the top teams in the country over the last three seasons. While Oregon does have one of the best offenses in the country, the Buckeyes left more to be desired from their defensive unit when the Ducks had the football.
One area of the defense that stands out is the lack of impact plays the defensive line makes. Maybe defensive line coach Larry Johnson is past his prime and is kept on staff because of the work he did in the past. I almost guarantee that if you had someone 20 years younger producing results like Johnson has in the last few years, they would already be in the unemployment line. How J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer aren’t bigger forces on the defensive line is puzzling. Both have had their moments over the last few years, they just aren’t consistently making life difficult for opposing quarterbacks.
It will also be interesting to see how cornerback Denzel Burke recovers from his horrific performance against Oregon. Burke had the unenviable task of trying to cover Tez Johnson, who has shown he is one of the best wide receivers in the country. If Burke wants to be considered one of the best cornerbacks in the country, he has to find a way to win a few of those battles with Johnson. As if allowing so many receptions wasn’t bad enough, Burke looked like he was allergic to talking against the Ducks. While the performance isn’t going to be a career-defining game for Burke, it could make teams think twice when he enters the NFL Draft.
Until it happens consistently, I just can’t trust Jim Knowles to make the right calls in a big game. There is way too much talent on defense for Ohio State to play as poorly as they did in Eugene. If the Buckeyes play the same way against Penn State, they might suffer the same fate and see their CFP hopes disappear, and if Ohio State doesn’t make the playoff then Knowles better be working on a revised version of his resumé since he’ll be looking for another job in the offseason.
My answer is partially baked into Brett’s, but I am going to be a little more singularly focused on the defensive front in general and the defensive line specifically. We are all well aware of the Buckeye defense’s inability to come up with sacks in big games and in big moments. Nationally, they rank 33rd with 17 sacks on the season, but those types of numbers are cumulative and don’t give any sort of insight into when and against whom they happen.
Obviously, you expect to not be as disruptive and productive against the best competition on your schedule, but the difference between how Jim Knowles’ defenses play against the bad to above-average teams is markedly different from how they play against the best teams on the schedule. Knowles has been Ohio State’s defensive coordinator for two and a half seasons, so while it’s not the biggest sample size — especially since there are so many returning defensive starters — I do think that we can pinpoint the issues coming from the scheme.
The Buckeyes do not do anything creative with their pass rush on a consistent basis. It is primarily just run your four d-linemen straight ahead and hope they can beat the five offensive linemen and any tight ends or running backs that the opponents keep in for protection. As we have seen, that has not been especially productive.
I am not a football genius, so I cannot prescribe the exact play calls in every situation that will get this group of obviously physically gifted athletes to sack the quarterback, but I can tell what they have been doing isn’t working. So, I am hoping that we see more stunts, more exotic calls, more linemen dropping back while linebackers blitz, more involvement from the defensive backs in the pass rush, and basically whatever needs to be done in order to have some sort of disruptive impact on opposing QBs throwing the ball.
Denzel Burke is one of the best cornerbacks in the country, but he was absolutely embarrassed against Oregon. While he has to bear the brunt of that, it certainly didn’t help that Dillon Gabriel was not especially bothered by the OSU pass rush. Knowles and defensive line coach Larry Johnson need to get on the same page (despite Ryan Day obviously lying by saying they already are) and get this shit figured out.
You simply can’t have this conglomeration of talent and not meet any of your goals. Fortunately, beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten, and winning the national title are all still fully in their control, but if the Buckeye coaching staff doesn’t get some things figured out ASAP, I am afraid we will have another disappointing ending to the season, and very well another coaching search this winter.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
With Ohio State being halfway through the 2024 regular season, we can look ahead to some of the storylines and things we’ll be looking for over the next six games. The Buckeyes are still in prime position to make the College Football Playoff, but they can’t become too comfortable since they still have tough games left at Penn State and in Columbus against Indiana and Michigan. Even though the Wolverines have taken a few steps back this season, Buckeye Nation can’t take the meeting between the rivals in late November for granted since Ryan Day has lost the last three meetings with That Team Up North.
There is no question Ohio State is one of the strongest teams in the country this season. There still are questions that need to be answered about the Buckeyes, though. How will the offensive line respond to the loss of tackle Josh Simmons? Will the defense continue to shrink in big games? What more would you like to see from the offense? Those are all questions that are pertinent to the Big Ten and national title hopes this season.
Today we want to know what you will be focusing on in the second half of Ohio State’s regular season. The loss to Oregon may sting but it definitely has made the Buckeyes take a deeper look at their team and things they can work on so they can make sure the same mistakes don’t happen if the two teams meet again in the Big Ten Championship Game or in the College Football Playoff.
Today’s question: What will you have your eyes on in the second half of Ohio State’s regular season?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: How the defense plays in big games
There has been a common theme for the Ohio State defense since Jim Knowles took over as defensive coordinator following the 2021 season. The Buckeyes are lights out when they are playing lesser competition. Unfortunately the same can’t be said when Ohio State has played some of the top teams in the country over the last three seasons. While Oregon does have one of the best offenses in the country, the Buckeyes left more to be desired from their defensive unit when the Ducks had the football.
One area of the defense that stands out is the lack of impact plays the defensive line makes. Maybe defensive line coach Larry Johnson is past his prime and is kept on staff because of the work he did in the past. I almost guarantee that if you had someone 20 years younger producing results like Johnson has in the last few years, they would already be in the unemployment line. How J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer aren’t bigger forces on the defensive line is puzzling. Both have had their moments over the last few years, they just aren’t consistently making life difficult for opposing quarterbacks.
It will also be interesting to see how cornerback Denzel Burke recovers from his horrific performance against Oregon. Burke had the unenviable task of trying to cover Tez Johnson, who has shown he is one of the best wide receivers in the country. If Burke wants to be considered one of the best cornerbacks in the country, he has to find a way to win a few of those battles with Johnson. As if allowing so many receptions wasn’t bad enough, Burke looked like he was allergic to talking against the Ducks. While the performance isn’t going to be a career-defining game for Burke, it could make teams think twice when he enters the NFL Draft.
Until it happens consistently, I just can’t trust Jim Knowles to make the right calls in a big game. There is way too much talent on defense for Ohio State to play as poorly as they did in Eugene. If the Buckeyes play the same way against Penn State, they might suffer the same fate and see their CFP hopes disappear, and if Ohio State doesn’t make the playoff then Knowles better be working on a revised version of his resumé since he’ll be looking for another job in the offseason.
Matt’s answer: Get some damn sacks in big games finally
My answer is partially baked into Brett’s, but I am going to be a little more singularly focused on the defensive front in general and the defensive line specifically. We are all well aware of the Buckeye defense’s inability to come up with sacks in big games and in big moments. Nationally, they rank 33rd with 17 sacks on the season, but those types of numbers are cumulative and don’t give any sort of insight into when and against whom they happen.
Obviously, you expect to not be as disruptive and productive against the best competition on your schedule, but the difference between how Jim Knowles’ defenses play against the bad to above-average teams is markedly different from how they play against the best teams on the schedule. Knowles has been Ohio State’s defensive coordinator for two and a half seasons, so while it’s not the biggest sample size — especially since there are so many returning defensive starters — I do think that we can pinpoint the issues coming from the scheme.
The Buckeyes do not do anything creative with their pass rush on a consistent basis. It is primarily just run your four d-linemen straight ahead and hope they can beat the five offensive linemen and any tight ends or running backs that the opponents keep in for protection. As we have seen, that has not been especially productive.
I am not a football genius, so I cannot prescribe the exact play calls in every situation that will get this group of obviously physically gifted athletes to sack the quarterback, but I can tell what they have been doing isn’t working. So, I am hoping that we see more stunts, more exotic calls, more linemen dropping back while linebackers blitz, more involvement from the defensive backs in the pass rush, and basically whatever needs to be done in order to have some sort of disruptive impact on opposing QBs throwing the ball.
Denzel Burke is one of the best cornerbacks in the country, but he was absolutely embarrassed against Oregon. While he has to bear the brunt of that, it certainly didn’t help that Dillon Gabriel was not especially bothered by the OSU pass rush. Knowles and defensive line coach Larry Johnson need to get on the same page (despite Ryan Day obviously lying by saying they already are) and get this shit figured out.
You simply can’t have this conglomeration of talent and not meet any of your goals. Fortunately, beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten, and winning the national title are all still fully in their control, but if the Buckeye coaching staff doesn’t get some things figured out ASAP, I am afraid we will have another disappointing ending to the season, and very well another coaching search this winter.
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LGHL Almost 75% of Ohio State fans don’t think the Buckeyes will win the Big Ten
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Almost 75% of Ohio State fans don’t think the Buckeyes will win the Big Ten
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Disp / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
You ask, we answer. Sometimes we ask, others answer. And then other times, we ask, we answer.
Throughout the Ohio State football season, we will be asking and answering questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
It is finally an Ohio State football game day again, and for the first time in three weeks, the No. 4 Buckeyes (5-1) will be back on the field at The Horseshoe for a Homecoming matchup against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-2). With OSU heading into the second half of the regular season, we wanted to take the pulse of the Buckeye fanbase and see where their expectations are for the rest of the season.
So, in our weekly fan survey, we polled Buckeye Nation about where they thought Ohio State would end up in terms of the College Football Playoff. And, while I have been a Buckeye fan since birth, the results surprised me quite a bit. We also asked fans what they thought the margin of victory would be in the Nebraska game later today.
Check out the results to both questions below and if you disagree, feel free to chime in at the bottom of the article in the comments section.
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A lot can happen in six weeks of a college football season — as we have already seen this fall — so it is difficult to make definitive statements about what will or won’t happen, especially in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. But, I feel pretty confident in reading these tea leaves.
By rule, if Ohio State is in the top four of the CFP — as 26% of respondents selected — that means that they made the Big Ten Championship Game and won it. It is impossible to get a top-four seed — and the bye that comes with it — without being a conference champion.
But what interests me is the fact that a plurality of voters seem to be predicting that the Buckeyes will make the Big Ten Title Game and lose to Oregon, Indiana, or whomever they match up against.
If OSU wins out, that means that they would have beaten the Hoosiers and Penn State, giving them the tiebreaker over them in a head-to-head matchup. Those two teams don’t play each other, which would result in the Buckeyes having the tiebreaker in a situation that seems them all finish 8-1 in the B1G. Assuming that Oregon wins out — which seems fairly probable, especially if they beat No. 20 Illinois today — that would give us a Bucks and Ducks rematch for the title.
So, the 39% of respondents who picked OSU to be a No. 9 through No. 12 seed appear to be predicting that the Buckeyes will lose that game. Because if they win the conference championship game, they will be No. 1 through No. 4, but if they win out and don’t make the B1G title game, they would certainly be No. 5 through No. 8 and hosting a first-round CFP game.
I’m not sure that what we saw in Eugene last weekend was enough to convince me that Oregon is unbeatable, but I do understand the apprehension that fans have to pick the Buckeyes to win any big games at the moment.
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When FanDuel opened betting for today’s game last Sunday, they installed Ohio State as a 23.5-point favorite. Since then, the number has increased and as of the time of this writing, the Buckeyes were up to 25.5-point favorites. The gold-standard college football analytics system SP+ predicts a final score of 33-11 in favor of the Buckeyes
So, while a plurality of respondents were pretty close to both of those projections, it still seems like they are underestimating the Buckeyes by a few points. Earlier this morning, various members of the LGHL staff made their predictions for the game, and most were in the same neighborhood, but I went 38-10 in favor of the home team.
Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Disp / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
You ask, we answer. Sometimes we ask, others answer. And then other times, we ask, we answer.
Throughout the Ohio State football season, we will be asking and answering questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
It is finally an Ohio State football game day again, and for the first time in three weeks, the No. 4 Buckeyes (5-1) will be back on the field at The Horseshoe for a Homecoming matchup against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-2). With OSU heading into the second half of the regular season, we wanted to take the pulse of the Buckeye fanbase and see where their expectations are for the rest of the season.
So, in our weekly fan survey, we polled Buckeye Nation about where they thought Ohio State would end up in terms of the College Football Playoff. And, while I have been a Buckeye fan since birth, the results surprised me quite a bit. We also asked fans what they thought the margin of victory would be in the Nebraska game later today.
Check out the results to both questions below and if you disagree, feel free to chime in at the bottom of the article in the comments section.
Question 1: Where do you think Ohio State will be seeded in the College Football Playoff?
A lot can happen in six weeks of a college football season — as we have already seen this fall — so it is difficult to make definitive statements about what will or won’t happen, especially in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. But, I feel pretty confident in reading these tea leaves.
By rule, if Ohio State is in the top four of the CFP — as 26% of respondents selected — that means that they made the Big Ten Championship Game and won it. It is impossible to get a top-four seed — and the bye that comes with it — without being a conference champion.
But what interests me is the fact that a plurality of voters seem to be predicting that the Buckeyes will make the Big Ten Title Game and lose to Oregon, Indiana, or whomever they match up against.
If OSU wins out, that means that they would have beaten the Hoosiers and Penn State, giving them the tiebreaker over them in a head-to-head matchup. Those two teams don’t play each other, which would result in the Buckeyes having the tiebreaker in a situation that seems them all finish 8-1 in the B1G. Assuming that Oregon wins out — which seems fairly probable, especially if they beat No. 20 Illinois today — that would give us a Bucks and Ducks rematch for the title.
So, the 39% of respondents who picked OSU to be a No. 9 through No. 12 seed appear to be predicting that the Buckeyes will lose that game. Because if they win the conference championship game, they will be No. 1 through No. 4, but if they win out and don’t make the B1G title game, they would certainly be No. 5 through No. 8 and hosting a first-round CFP game.
I’m not sure that what we saw in Eugene last weekend was enough to convince me that Oregon is unbeatable, but I do understand the apprehension that fans have to pick the Buckeyes to win any big games at the moment.
Question 2: What will the margin of victory be in Saturday’s game against Nebraska?
When FanDuel opened betting for today’s game last Sunday, they installed Ohio State as a 23.5-point favorite. Since then, the number has increased and as of the time of this writing, the Buckeyes were up to 25.5-point favorites. The gold-standard college football analytics system SP+ predicts a final score of 33-11 in favor of the Buckeyes
So, while a plurality of respondents were pretty close to both of those projections, it still seems like they are underestimating the Buckeyes by a few points. Earlier this morning, various members of the LGHL staff made their predictions for the game, and most were in the same neighborhood, but I went 38-10 in favor of the home team.
Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Continue reading...
LGHL OHIO STATE GAMEDAY: It’s a bad day to be a Nebraska Cornhusker
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OHIO STATE GAMEDAY: It’s a bad day to be a Nebraska Cornhusker
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images
The Buckeyes are back at home and looking to get back in the win column.
Wake up, everyone. It’s Ohio State game day!
It has been far too long since the Buckeyes have taken the football field, but they return home on Saturday as they host the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Ohio State is looking to find itself back on the right side of the ledger after dropping its last game against Oregon, and hopes to get the second half of the regular season off on the right foot with a convincing victory in Columbus.
Over the past week, our talented group of writers and podcasters have put together preview pieces, analytical breakdowns, and everything in-between.
If you missed out on any of the coverage, we have you... well, covered. Below, each type of story is categorized. If you’re looking for podcasts and previews we’ve done, you can find them; if you’re looking for the betting lines and non-football topics, they are there, too.
Enjoy the day everyone. As always, Go Bucks!
Continue reading...
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images
The Buckeyes are back at home and looking to get back in the win column.
Wake up, everyone. It’s Ohio State game day!
It has been far too long since the Buckeyes have taken the football field, but they return home on Saturday as they host the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Ohio State is looking to find itself back on the right side of the ledger after dropping its last game against Oregon, and hopes to get the second half of the regular season off on the right foot with a convincing victory in Columbus.
Over the past week, our talented group of writers and podcasters have put together preview pieces, analytical breakdowns, and everything in-between.
If you missed out on any of the coverage, we have you... well, covered. Below, each type of story is categorized. If you’re looking for podcasts and previews we’ve done, you can find them; if you’re looking for the betting lines and non-football topics, they are there, too.
Enjoy the day everyone. As always, Go Bucks!
Podcasts
- Hangout in the Holy Land: Ohio State, Nebraska look to bounce back Saturday
- Silver Bullets: Ohio State’s bye week, Big Ten results and Nebraska preview
- Bucketheads: Adam Jardy talks Cincinnati exhibition game, A’mare Bynum
- In Conversation: Nebraska beating Ohio State would Vandy-over-Bama level upset
- Power Two: Won’t the real playoff teams please stand up?
- Uncut: ‘Nobody felt worse’ than Ryan Day following Oregon loss
- LGHL’s WBB Podcast: Recapping the major storylines from Big Ten Media Day
- I-80 Football Show: Will the real Rich Rod please stand up!
- Ohio State controls its own destiny, but is it still a favorite to make the Big Ten Title Game?
Previews
- Ohio State v. Nebraska: 2024 game preview and prediction
- Things you need to know about the Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Life in Simulation: EA CFB 25 predicts Ohio State vs. Nebraska
- Ohio State vs. Nebraska: Land-Grant’s experts make their picks
- Ohio State and Nebraska game carries far more importance than a single win or loss
Sports Betting
- Ohio State opens as 23.5-point favorites over Nebraska
- MC&J: Week 9 nationally features four showdowns between ranked teams
- MC&J: Ohio State looks to get back on track in Week 9 in the Big Ten
Basketball
- BOOM! Four-star center A’Mare Bynum commits to Ohio State
- Ohio State men’s basketball player preview: Evan Mahaffey
- Predicting the starting five for Ohio State women’s basketball
- Seini Henry starts freshman campaign for Ohio State women’s basketball
- Jaloni Cambridge feels “right at home” with Ohio State women’s basketball
- Ajae Petty joins Ohio State’s roster to improve the Big Ten’s worst rebounding team
- Will Ohio State men’s basketball land any of these four big 2025 targets?
Recruiting
- Ohio State adds big visitor to guest list for Nebraska game
- Ohio State a top school for new No. 1 overall recruit
- Buckeyes receive both good and bad news ahead of a major recruiting weekend
- Ohio State’s guest list continues to grow as the Buckeyes host Nebraska
Ask LGHL/B1G Top 10
- Ohio State fans remain optimistic about season despite loss to Oregon
- Where will Ohio State be seeded in the College Football Playoff
- Big Ten Top 10: Oregon is No. 1 as three B1G teams claim top-4 spots
Other Columns
- B1G Thoughts: Sometimes it’s not arrogance, it’s just a fact!
- Reassessing Ohio State’s remaining 2024 football schedule
- Stock Market Report - Big Ten edition: Is Indiana the standout stock of the league?
- Who is Ohio State’s biggest non-Oregon threat in the Big Ten?
- Are the Buckeyes the Los Angeles Dodgers of college football?
- What lesson do you hope Ohio State has learned from the Oregon loss?
Continue reading...
LGHL Ohio State vs. Nebraska: Land-Grant’s experts make their picks
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Ohio State vs. Nebraska: Land-Grant’s experts make their picks
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images
Every week, we will be picking the score, MVP, and major storyline for each Buckeye game.
faBeing the Buckeye beat’s black sheep blog, we here at Land-Grant Holy Land like to pat ourselves on the back. So, throughout the season, members of our staff will be making predictions about that day’s game. They will go on the record with what they think the final score will be, who the game’s MVP will be, and what the major storyline will be coming out of the day.
The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes will welcome the Nebraska Cornhuskers to Ohio Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 12 noon ET in a game to be broadcast on Fox. As of this article’s writing, the Bucks are 25.5-point favorites according to FanDuel Sportsbook. College football’s gold-standard advanced analytics model SP+ is predicting a score of 33-11 in favor of Ohio State.
Check out what our staff members think and then let us know your thoughts on the game in the comments below. As we move forward with the season, you will be able to keep up with just how well our prognosticators do on a weekly basis HERE.
Score Prediction: Ohio State 38, Nebraska 24
Game MVP: TreVeyon Henderson
Major Storyline: Henderson stars as the featured back, but the Buckeyes show their lack of depth at key positions.
Score Prediction: Ohio State 38, Nebraska 10
Game MVP: Will Howard
Major Storyline: Howard continues to impress and throws three touchdowns in the first half.
Score Prediction: Ohio State 42, Nebraska 17
Game MVP: TreVeyon Henderson
Major Storyline: Ohio State wins easily but the defense still is not on the same page.
Score Prediction: Ohio State 41, Nebraska 14
Game MVP: Quinshon Judkins
Major Storyline: Ohio State bounces back from the Oregon loss in a big way ahead of the clash with Penn State next week.
Score Prediction: Ohio State 42, Nebraska 17
Game MVP: TreVeyon Henderson
Major Storyline: Ohio State’s defensive line does something other than a straight four-man rush.
Score Prediction: Ohio State 38, Nebraska 10
Game MVP: Emeka Egbuka
Major Storyline: Nebraska is not an elite team, so Ohio State will dominate enough to give the glass-half-full fans enough to be excited about, but will still have enough blips to drive the half-empty contingent crazy.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images
Every week, we will be picking the score, MVP, and major storyline for each Buckeye game.
faBeing the Buckeye beat’s black sheep blog, we here at Land-Grant Holy Land like to pat ourselves on the back. So, throughout the season, members of our staff will be making predictions about that day’s game. They will go on the record with what they think the final score will be, who the game’s MVP will be, and what the major storyline will be coming out of the day.
The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes will welcome the Nebraska Cornhuskers to Ohio Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 12 noon ET in a game to be broadcast on Fox. As of this article’s writing, the Bucks are 25.5-point favorites according to FanDuel Sportsbook. College football’s gold-standard advanced analytics model SP+ is predicting a score of 33-11 in favor of Ohio State.
Check out what our staff members think and then let us know your thoughts on the game in the comments below. As we move forward with the season, you will be able to keep up with just how well our prognosticators do on a weekly basis HERE.
Josh Dooley
Score Prediction: Ohio State 38, Nebraska 24
Game MVP: TreVeyon Henderson
Major Storyline: Henderson stars as the featured back, but the Buckeyes show their lack of depth at key positions.
Dan Hessler
Score Prediction: Ohio State 38, Nebraska 10
Game MVP: Will Howard
Major Storyline: Howard continues to impress and throws three touchdowns in the first half.
Connor Lemons
Score Prediction: Ohio State 42, Nebraska 17
Game MVP: TreVeyon Henderson
Major Storyline: Ohio State wins easily but the defense still is not on the same page.
Brett Ludwiczak
Score Prediction: Ohio State 41, Nebraska 14
Game MVP: Quinshon Judkins
Major Storyline: Ohio State bounces back from the Oregon loss in a big way ahead of the clash with Penn State next week.
Gene Ross
Score Prediction: Ohio State 42, Nebraska 17
Game MVP: TreVeyon Henderson
Major Storyline: Ohio State’s defensive line does something other than a straight four-man rush.
Matt Tamanini
Score Prediction: Ohio State 38, Nebraska 10
Game MVP: Emeka Egbuka
Major Storyline: Nebraska is not an elite team, so Ohio State will dominate enough to give the glass-half-full fans enough to be excited about, but will still have enough blips to drive the half-empty contingent crazy.
Continue reading...
