SEREbuckeye said:

The nickel spot has been feast or famine all year. It is the defensive Achilles heel. Indiana did a great job skipping the second level and making Sonny and Reese non-existent. Instead they exposed on the nickel all night long.

I love Matthews and Lorenzo. Both have been clutch in certain games, but also both have been picked on (rightfully so) by good opposing offensive coordinators. They seem to either get burnt on the boundary or draw DPIs when it hurts us the most.

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It's relative though. I look around the CFP field and IU was the best offense coming into the game last night.

They scored 13

Oregon and maybe TT can put up the same kind of stress but I am not sure TT can run well enough to keep us honest.

Every unit has it's moments and some kind of flaw but teams have to be able to consistently exploit it. Not sure anyone can as we sit here today.

Offense seemed like they thought they could just do the most mundane obvious crap and coast. The game plan was 2024 Michigan level trash. Hopefully it causes the same adjustments as that game that propelled us to go nuts in last year's playoffs

SEREbuckeye said:

The nickel spot has been feast or famine all year. It is the defensive Achilles heel. Indiana did a great job skipping the second level and making Sonny and Reese non-existent. Instead they picked on the nickel’s all night long.

I love Matthews and Lorenzo. Both have been clutch in certain games, but also both have been picked on (rightfully so) by good opposing offensive coordinators. They seem to either get burnt on the boundary or draw DPIs when it hurts us the most.

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I’d rather they blitz the LBs than have them in no man’s land. 4 man rush needed help as they got worn down.

The nickel spot has been feast or famine all year. It is the defensive Achilles heel. Indiana did a great job skipping the second level and making Sonny and Reese non-existent. Instead they exposed on the nickel all night long.

I love Matthews and Lorenzo. Both have been clutch in certain games, but also both have been picked on (rightfully so) by good opposing offensive coordinators. They seem to either get burnt on the boundary or draw DPIs when it hurts us the most.

Onebuckfan said:

The OL played poorly after an excellent effort against scUM. Our LT was fine ….I can’t explain it.

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It was the right side of the line all night long. Don’t get it twisted, Indiana has a monster D-Line that will be a force against anyone, but we’ve harped all year that the line is a weakness. You could tell too because Hartline deployed a lot of 2-TE packages to help with blocking problems,

The left side played well for the challenge they were up against.

Offensive weakness: O-Line right side
Defensive weakness: Nickel coverage

Mike80 said:

On the bright side. Ohio State played a B game on defense and a C- game on offense and lost by a FG

Indiana is good and did just enough to win.

Great learning opportunity here with a couple weeks to reset and absorb the lesson.

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I'd give the defense an A- but picking nits.

Agree on the C- for offense and offensive staff.

I'm really not that bummed out about this to be honest. We learned something last night, we have a better sense of what reality is for this team.

Elite defense and some pretty damn good ingredients on offense to hurt you if you don't have certain capabilities and bring your A+ game even if you have those capabilities.

This team isn't the all time generation juggernaut some thought it might be but that's ok. Its a very good offense coupled with an elite defense. I'll take my chances with it in a playoff field.

TampaBuckeyes said:

I think we saw yesterday why Saban told Lane to hit the road. Between signing day, interviewing, likely made some calls for staff, likely called a few players. The offense was not prepared to play today.

We’ve got 3.5 weeks. Day needs to let Hartline go down to Tampa for a week and get his shit figured out. Then he’s back and he’s in it 100%. If he’s not in it 100% for those 4-5 weeks then our offense might be walking into a game against a Georgia defense that is hitting its stride at the right time.

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Spot on.

And I don’t think Hartline’s distraction was malicious either. Brian loves Ohio State, it’s in his blood, and he’s dedicated to the program. He just unknowingly bit off more than he could chew. He probably thought he could handle both setting up his next chapter and close out the current one simultaneously, but his inexperience showed. Trying to maintain high recruiting standards, still learning efficient and effective playcalling, learning to handle an entire offense, and doing it at the highest-level possible, while managing intangibles is a lot as a young coach that’s in his 1st year as an OC

There’s been glaring red zone and rushing scheme issues literally since Week 1 with Texas. And I don’t feel Jackson’s recent explosion has much to do with Hartline’s constant off-tackle runs as much as it has to do with Coach Lock getting his corps better. There’s been little creativity in these areas and it hasn’t improved. Like we say with players, “so and so could use another year of prep.” Well, I feel like Hartline could use another year of sole-OC duties, but realistically USF is a good spot for him that likely wouldn’t be open in 2027.

Just a bad situation all-round. I love Hartline, but Day needs to take over the playbook and get closer with Lock. Best for both parties imo.

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On the bright side. Ohio State played a B game on defense and a C- game on offense and lost by a FG

Indiana is good and did just enough to win.

Great learning opportunity here with a couple weeks to reset and absorb the lesson.

Onebuckfan said:

The OL played poorly after an excellent effort against scUM. Our LT was fine ….I can’t explain it.

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The IOL has had trouble with stunts and just straight up pass pro all year but it wasn't just OL failure.

IU had pressure but they also made Sayin hold the ball with their coverage/post snap rotations. That was the killer. In the second half OSU adjusted and started hitting quick backside throws but it obviously wasn't enough down in the RZ.

That said, the IOL is going to be blood in the water for whoever we play next.

Fielding has had problems being clutch from close range. He made the FG in the title last year and that's great and all, but we were still leading by 8. If we're down late in a game and we need a kick I have no faith in him until he proves me wrong.

brodybuck21 said:

THIS

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Alls I know if we script plays to start the game our script sucks in the RZ . And the plot is not awe inspiring.

Jaxbuck said:

There is literally no way any of us will ever know if Hartline was distracted or if that was a 1st year OC getting his pants pulled down by a veteran DC with a veteran team.

Our offense and QB were clearly on the back foot all night though. Adjustments were late and ultimately not effective enough.

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THIS

TampaBuckeyes said:

I think we saw yesterday why Saban told Lane to hit the road. Between signing day, interviewing, likely made some calls for staff, likely called a few players. The offense was not prepared to play today.

We’ve got 3.5 weeks. Day needs to let Hartline go down to Tampa for a week and get his shit figured out. Then he’s back and he’s in it 100%. If he’s not in it 100% for those 4-5 weeks then our offense might be walking into a game against a Georgia defense that is hitting its stride at the right time.

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There is literally no way any of us will ever know if Hartline was distracted or if that was a 1st year OC getting his pants pulled down by a veteran DC with a veteran team.

Our offense and QB were clearly on the back foot all night though. Adjustments were late and ultimately not effective enough.

Nothing against the individual kid but kicking has been a weakness for a few years now.

Not going to fix it at this point in the season but it's hard to understand how such an important element of the game is seemingly neglected, at worst, or not emphasized enough, at best, for a program that targets competing for championships every year.

I think we saw yesterday why Saban told Lane to hit the road. Between signing day, interviewing, likely made some calls for staff, likely called a few players. The offense was not prepared to play today.

We’ve got 3.5 weeks. Day needs to let Hartline go down to Tampa for a week and get his shit figured out. Then he’s back and he’s in it 100%. If he’s not in it 100% for those 4-5 weeks then our offense might be walking into a game against a Georgia defense that is hitting its stride at the right time.

I said this wasn't going to be an exposure game like when we played them last year. They're legit. Now, let's go win the damned playoff.

The OL played poorly after an excellent effort against scUM. Our LT was fine ….I can’t explain it.

tugger5000 said:

Didn't want to play it safe knowing Troy had no shot.

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Congrats @tugger5000. Great season.

Can we never "trust the kicker" ever again?

Dee-Liem said:

On the bright side, since ESPN is seriously running this thing, Ohio State drops to No. 2. Georgia will be No. 3.

They (ESPN) wants to avoid Georgia vs Alabama/Texas A&M in the quarterfinal (No. 3 plays Tulane/Ole Miss).

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Read that this morning.

Bama isn’t as loaded as they (ESPN) is making them out to be. TAMU would be a fun game and likely win as well.

Indiana could only manage a single TD with a heisman winning QB. And it took us shooting ourself in the foot in the red zone 4 times to win. I’m good with anyone they want to put in front of us. You thought the get-back against Oregon last year was nice - the lessons learned from this game will be even better.

The team is done running heisman campaigns, done worrying about recruiting hold-outs, done worrying about being perfect. They can just focus on the playoffs. This loss felt different.

Let me start with the positive as I see it:
no one has hurt the OSU defense yet. IU survived it, moved the chains when they had to and hit a couple of timely explosives but still only scored 13 points. I don't know what the blue print is for someone to really hurt this defense because we haven't seen anyone put it on tape yet. Maybe a team that could protect well enough to take deep shots on a little bit of a suspect secondary...just theoretical. Not sure anyone could really do it.

Now the offense, we had seen flashes of the kryptonite all year. IU just put it on tape for the rest of the playoff field.

OSU's fatal vulnerability is a weak IOL + QB processing under stress.

Consistent pressure+ good coverage + post snap rotation = blueprint for defensive success against the OSU offense.

ST;
Kicking under pressure just cannot go on the positive side of the ledger. Hasn't for years now.

Last night we saw IU beat OSU at it's own efficiency game. They won 3rd down battle in both phases (6/13 on offense, 4/12 on defense) and did just enough in the red zone to make OSU come away with two empty trips which is the same as 2 turnovers and they won the TO battle +2.

The two completely empty trips (vs IU at least kicking 2/3 FG's) was the ultimate fuel for the upset. You can't have that.

Day and his staff were outcoached by Cignetti and his. They were one step ahead of the OSU offense all night and broke every facet of the efficiency model OSU uses. The OSU adjustment to what IU was doing was too little, too late.

There are teams in the CFP field that fit the mold here (TT comes to mind quick) maybe some I am not thinking of yet.

Sky isn't falling but again, the way to beat this team was just just shown and it's flaws are foundational. You can't fix that IOL this late in the year.

1926Buckeyes said:

I feel bad for the kid. He clearly has trouble with the extreme angles down on the hashes, whether it’s how he’s setting up to kick or hitting the ball. Those kicks have to be automatic if you’re competing for titles and they’ve cost OSU multiple huge games now.

He’s looked better this year, especially his leg strength, but I’m not sure he’s ever going to fix whatever issue he has.

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Before last night he was perfect between 20-29 yards. It had to be a mental thing of attempting a field goal that, if he doesn't get it, will cost them the game. You could say that last year he made the game sealing field goal to win the Natty, but if he missed they still had the lead. Not as much pressure. You could say the same thing about Noah Ruggles during the Georgia game.

So, how soon can we get Daboll in here?

I know I’m out of touch. We win if played game at noon. tOSU spent all day thinking what could go wrong..while Indiana got juiced .

I had a crazy dream that we made it to the Big Ten Championship and had to face #2 Indiana… and they won! Hahahahaha..

Ha… ha.. oh boy.