System_id said:

Eh I did think Texas was probably better going on just from a roster standpoint. The fact that it was at Texas plus the OL struggles a week before made me pick the Longhorns initially. The one area I thought the Buckeyes I had a big edge was coaching though. The last two meetings it was basically a coaching mismatch between Day and Sark in favor of Day dynamic played out for 3 quarters at UT. 4th quarter that dynamic completely flipped.

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restless said:

Warning: you may want to avoid reading this post because it almost definitely will do the opposite of alleviating your pain.

When I was watching last Saturday, I couldn't help having the thoughts that the Horns were a much better team and the Buckeyes were good, but with the assistance of a lot of luck. I know we fans are obsessed with a few decisions and mistakes here and there. But I felt like we were lucky it was just a 1-point loss. Could we have won? Sure. If the FG hits, or one of the two 4th-down stops happens, or one of the fumbles bounces our way, or ... you get the picture.

Jay made a great first play that gave us 3 points. Cool! But then the freaky INT by Jaylen and the dropped pass by Wingo. That's 14 points gifted to the Buckeyes.

Then the Horns stopped their charity mode, and the fourth quarter happened. I would love to blame Day, Matty P, and A. Smith too. I just don't think it's fair. I want to blame Sayin, or even JJ, and others. But the truth is, they have performed admirably in an extremely competitive environment.

My realization is that none of us gave Texas enough credit. I think, as a team, they're much better than us, more than one score better. If it were a neutral site and without those funky plays, they'd win by around 7 points.

Had the FG scored and we won, I'd feel much better, of course, but it probably wouldn't change my mind that Texas was a better team and lost because the game is played on the field and weirder things have happened.

So, to me, I don't think the coaches did a particularly bad job last Saturday, and I am adjusting my expectations moving forward. I am still confident the team can grow into a championship-caliber team coming playoff time. The error margin is narrower now, for sure, and let's see how the team responds.

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buckeyemania11 said:

One of the worst play calls you can make (pitch play inside the 5) set up us having to make that throw into the end zone on 3rd down. There was plenty of self sabotage on Ohio State's end as well.

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dragurd said:

Sayin also missed at least 2 TD's 2nd turned into a FG the 1st was a fade to JJ wide open in the endzone don't remember what happened that drive. We dropped a few 1st downs would have potentially caused them to run out at the end of the game. So in the end I think 1-7 ppt texas win was probably about right.

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BuckBackHome said:

Agreed. I was thinking that hopefully the staff made him roommates with one of the more mature players.

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restless said:

I stand corrected on using "much better" and would like to rephrase it as "better than the 1-point suggested."

JJ's first drop was a timing issue, and he barely turned when the ball touched his hand. I blame the Texas pass rush.
The defender had his arms on JJ when the second ball hit his hands. It would've been a spectacular catch if he held on. Kinda like the two drops Chris Henry had in the first game.

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restless said:

I stand corrected on using "much better" and would like to rephrase it as "better than the 1-point suggested."

JJ's first drop was a timing issue, and he barely turned when the ball touched his hand. I blame the Texas pass rush.
The defender had his arms on JJ when the second ball hit his hands. It would've been a spectacular catch if he held on. Kinda like the two drops Chris Henry had in the first game.

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buckeyemania11 said:

Texas had plenty of luck go their way in the 2nd half. So, the "luck" about evened out in the end.

2 fumbles that had Ohio State players right there, but the ball found its way into the arms of a Texas player both times somehow.

A couple of uncharacteristic drops by Jeremiah Smith as well.

So I have a hard time saying Texas is a "MUCH BETTER" team.

The big difference was that Texas took more advantage of their luck than we did.

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restless said:

Warning: you may want to avoid reading this post because it almost definitely will do the opposite of alleviating your pain.

When I was watching last Saturday, I couldn't help having the thoughts that the Horns were a much better team and the Buckeyes were good, but with the assistance of a lot of luck. I know we fans are obsessed with a few decisions and mistakes here and there. But I felt like we were lucky it was just a 1-point loss. Could we have won? Sure. If the FG hits, or one of the two 4th-down stops happens, or one of the fumbles bounces our way, or ... you get the picture.

Jay made a great first play that gave us 3 points. Cool! But then the freaky INT by Jaylen and the dropped pass by Wingo. That's 14 points gifted to the Buckeyes.

Then the Horns stopped their charity mode, and the fourth quarter happened. I would love to blame Day, Matty P, and A. Smith too. I just don't think it's fair. I want to blame Sayin, or even JJ, and others. But the truth is, they have performed admirably in an extremely competitive environment.

My realization is that none of us gave Texas enough credit. I think, as a team, they're much better than us, more than one score better. If it were a neutral site and without those funky plays, they'd win by around 7 points.

Had the FG scored and we won, I'd feel much better, of course, but it probably wouldn't change my mind that Texas was a better team and lost because the game is played on the field and weirder things have happened.

So, to me, I don't think the coaches did a particularly bad job last Saturday, and I am adjusting my expectations moving forward. I am still confident the team can grow into a championship-caliber team coming playoff time. The error margin is narrower now, for sure, and let's see how the team responds.

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iambrutus said:

why even play, nothing matters anymore, were doomed, season is over, might as well doze the stadium down

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buckeyemania11 said:

I think it is. He's not like MAC level or anything but he definitely does not have upper-level athleticism, the bigger issue though is that his instincts and intangibles I don't think are good enough to make up for that. He's just kind of average across the board. He works fine against the less talented teams, but you can really see it when it's against a team with legit talent across the board on offense, like Texas.

He seems to be a locker room glue type guy though that all the other players love. So, I wouldn't count on any kind of decreased role for him anytime soon.

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Merih said:

Given the background he comes from and how dramatic his recruitment was, I am 0% surprised that he has some maturation to go through as he learns to become an adult on his own terms.

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Captain Buckeye said:

I don’t think it’s Pierces speed or athleticism. I just think he’s sort of between being a speed guy and a run stopper. He’s not overly fast but he’s not overly big either. He’s good a decent nice player. Nothing wrong with that but if you want a higher ceiling then he’s not the guy.

I’m very bullish on this defense. I think what happened was a perfect disaster.

The first long TD drive was legit but then they got thrown right back out there after a 3 and out. Texas then vs a tired defense (one that forced Texas into fourth down twice in these two drives) drives and scores again. Then the final drive we just didn’t have a ton left in the tank.

Up until that last quarter they’d given up 6 points and 260 yards of offense in 7 quarters. Thats elite.

They just wore out and it was a perfect storm of getting thrown back into the field too quick in 100 degree heat vs a team that presented a lot of matchup issues.

The defensive line will be fine provided they put in Wilder which I think they’ll be forced to. The linebackers will continue to rotate more and more to benefit Pettijohn and this defense still hasn’t given up 200 yards passing which in today’s football is outstanding.

Defense will be fine.

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Bill Lucas said:

Maybe I’m in the minority here but I think the entire team, and particularly the defense, wilted in the heat at the end of the game. The two three and outs couldn’t have come at a worse time.

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