Podcast: Dwayne Haskins is the truth
Colton Denning via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Ohio State has had some very un-aesthetically pleasing wins in recent years. This was not one.

It feels wrong to complain as an Ohio State fan. The Buckeyes win games at a higher clip than almost any other program, won a national title four years ago, and are consistently either in the College Football Playoff or just barely miss out. It could definitely be a lot worse.


That being said, some of those recent wins haven’t always been pretty, and can lead to a lot of grumbling #online, including from yours truly. Ohio State’s 40-28 win over TCU was not one of those games.

On this episode of the Hangout in the Holy Land, Patrick Mayhorn and I recap Saturday’s game, and give our thoughts on what is a very good win against a tough Horned Frogs group:

Show notes


2:00- Enjoying the win

6:00- Why TCU’s hyperspeed pace at the start of the game wasn’t sustainable.

12:05- Dwayne Haskins takes the offense to the next level. This is a game that they lose last year without him.

16:44- The wide receivers were awesome, starting with KJ Hill.

22:20- JK Dobbins took the game over at times, and probably deserves the lionshare of carries going forward.

29:44- O-line held up for the most part, but what was up with the low snaps?

33:05- Heaping praise on the defensive line —particularly Dre’Mont Jones— playing well without Nick Bosa, and the rise of Jonathon Cooper.

38:54- Corners held up against tough receivers, but Shaun Wade needs more playing time.

42:05- Jordan Fuller was exceptional (again), but the safety play needs to improve.

45:16- The linebackers are struggling. Patrick references his article on Bill Davis, and why it’s a similar situation to Tim Beck.

1:00:00- What is CJ Saunders doing on punt return?

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Urban Meyer holds first weekly press conference
BTN.com staff via Big Ten Network

Urban Meyer's three-game suspension ended after Ohio State's win over TCU on Saturday night. Monday morning, the Ohio State coach held his first weekly press conference of the season.

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Indiana highlights Week 3 Big Ten football laurels
Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor via Big Ten Network

Following Big Ten football games on Sept. 15, the Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week and Freshman of the Week in the Big Ten were announced this morning.

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Urban Meyer delivers first press conference following suspension
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Meyer answers any and all questions, with no issues off the table.

After a month and a half away from his team to varying degrees, head coach Urban Meyer returned full-time to the helm following the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes’ win over then-No. 15 TCU on Saturday.


Before addressing the media for the first time in the traditional Monday morning slot, Meyer spoke with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi in an interview that has been rolling out in pieces since Sunday, and released a statement Monday morning.

In both, Meyer again expressed regret for his handling of allegations of spousal abuse against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith and reaffirmed his commitment to his core values, including respecting women.

Champions of the Game

• Offense: Isaiah Prince, Michael Jordan, Thayer Munford, Demetrius Knox, Malcolm Pridgeon, J.K. Dobbins, K.J. Hill, Johnnie Dixon, Binjimen Victor, Terry McLaurin, Parris Campbell
  Player of the Game: Dwayne Haskins
• Defense: Nick Bosa, Robert Landers, Jonathon Cooper, Davon Hamilton, Malik Harrison, Jordan Fuller
  Player of the Game: Dre’Mont Jones
• Special Teams Player of the Game: Johnnie Dixon

Suspension and Investigation

• “I want to thank Coach Day. I knew he was a difference-maker when we hired him.”
• Meyer admitted that the game was hard to watch, but that it seemed like as the game got tougher, the team got tougher.
• He also thanked the players for everything that they’ve done.
• Meyer apologized for his “performance” at Media Days, although he maintains that he did not intend to mislead.
• He said, “I want to be really clear that there was zero attempt to mislead. I didn’t listen closely to the questions.”
• Meyer again reiterates that he tried to answer questions that he assumed were about an errant report of a felony arrest of Zach Smith in 2015.
• The head coach said that he has never purposely mislead the media, however, that he understands his answers were not acceptable.
• He said, “I need to do a better job of listening.”
• Meyer laid out a timetable of the events with Smith since his initial hiring. He said that Smith was one of the best recruiters on the staff in the first few years of his tenure.
• However, he said, “In 2015, Gene Smith came up to me on the practice field and told me there was a domestic incident involving Zach and Courtney. We were both furious. I told him if it was a domestic incident, he was fired immediately.”
• After the police involvement did not lead to charges, Meyer decided to retain Smith and to help him get counseling and work through his issues.
• According to Meyer, after working through credit card and a prescription drug issue, university officials indicated that Smith was improving personally, and his job performance improved as well.
• “I was made aware of a credit card situation and of a prescription drug that (Smith) was using more than he should.”
• Meyer said that Smith had other job offers in the previous off-season, but he decided to stay at Ohio State to remain close to his children.
• The head coach also said that he has never deleted a text message from his phone, and that he doesn’t even know how to change a setting like that on his phone.
• He indicates that the university IT office set his phone to only maintain content for a year to maximize its storage capacity.
• “I was just devastated. I love these players. I have a great respect for these players. The hardest part was not being with them during training camp.”
• Meyer said that he has great relationships with president Michael Drake and athletic director Gene Smith, and he never has viewed his position as a job.
• Meyer said that his love of the university has only increased during this time.
• Meyer said, “This, to me, has never been a job. I grew up here and I love this school. My love is unwavering to Ohio State. My apology is to Ohio State.”
• Meyer claims that he was suspended for going too far in trying to help a troubled employee, not for turning his back on domestic violence.
• In speaking of a previous statement made, “Quite honestly, that came from my family. I’m not a big social media guy. What was brought back to me was there was a perception out there that I was suspended for domestic violence. I was not suspended for that. It was very clear in the report.”
• He also said, “There’s a perception out there that I was suspended for domestic violence. There’s no fixing domestic violence. If that takes place, it’s dismissal immediately from the program. I was not suspended for that.”
• Meyer said that he was thoroughly impressed by the way that his staff handled these past weeks while he was gone. He also said that it’s not by accident. He adds that Ryan Day, as well as others, are “elite.”
• The head coach said that he is very healthy, and while he has had procedures and a surgery to deal with cysts, “the relativeness to the investigation... doesn’t impact the way I coach.”
• Meyer said that the accusations that this has his credibility was shot is hurtful. “I’ve spent 30-plus years in coaching. I’ve never been coaching. My love for my players and the development of players has never been questioned.”
• The head coach routinely said that he never lied, but apologizes for not being completely transparent.
• Meyer said that he has been replaying in his mind how to balance the desire to help a struggling coach while also getting his players the best possible coaching. He said if he had known then what he knows now, he probably would have done things differently.
• Meyer said that while he has learned a great deal through this process, but respecting women has been a core value for his entire life, thanks to what his father taught him.
• When asked if he believed Courtney Smith’s accusations against her now ex-husband, he said, “I can only go by what was told to me by law enforcement.”
• He added, “Going though this process I learned I need to ask more questions.”
• Meyer said that he isn’t allowed to question law enforcement or potential victims, because that could be considered tampering.
• Meyer said that his loyalty to Earle Bruce would not have impacted anything regarding domestic violence.
• The coach said that he should have informed Gene Smith of the 2009 issue that Zach and Courtney Smith had in Florida. He said that he thought he did, but if he didn’t, he should have.
• Meyer reiterates that in terms of whether domestic violence occurred, he would defer to experts. “I can only rely on the information I receive from experts.”
• The coach said that he needs to do a better job in making it clear that people should feel comfortable coming to him.
• Meyer said that when he learned of Smith and Tom Herman going to a strip club on a recruiting visit, he immediately instituted a morality rule in the program. He said that he told them both that if it ever happened again, they would be fired. He said that he didn’t care if coaches at other places do it, but that it doesn’t happen at Ohio State.
• He admits that there has been damage done to the program. He said that he has spoken with recruits to clarify what happened.
• Meyer again said that his wife Shelley never shared text messages from Courtney Smith with him.
• When asked why people should believe that he is a trustworthy person, Meyer said that in his time back at OSU academics, on-field performance, honesty, ethics have all been very strong. He said that he hopes people understand that he never intended to lie.
• He said, “I’m telling you I did not lie. I misspoke. The deleted messages, I did not do it. The university found that I did not do it.”
• Meyer admits that he often goes to others in order to seek advice and get help in situations that are not on-field football related.
• When asked about determining credibility of Zach or Courtney Smith, he said “I try to stay away from that. I threatened to fire Zach within seconds if it was domestic violence. I’m not allowed to reach out to Courtney... What I have learned is to ask more questions.”
• He also said that he is “very sorry” for his performance at the press conference the day he was suspended. He said that no one should have to go through what Courtney Smith and her children have.
• “I’m very sorry,” he said. “I’m saying it again right now. No two children and a wife should go through this. Especially the media circus it has become with families accusing each other of things.”
• One thing that Meyer continually said was that his mistake was giving someone too many opportunities. “How far do you go in trying to help someone? To this day, I struggle with that.”

Injury Updates

• Nick Bosa will not play this coming week. He is getting further testing on an abdominal and groin issue.

Football

• Meyer said that the offense is very good right now, but it can continue to get “a lot better.”

Urban Meyer will be on the sidelines for the first time this season on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 3:30 p.m. ET when the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes host the Tulane Green Wave. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Land-Grant Holy Land will have the game, and Meyer’s return covered throughout the week.

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Ohio State-Penn State scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


It’ll be a primetime matchup in Happy Valley on Sept. 29.

Before the season started, the Sept. 29 showdown between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions had the makings of an early season primetime matchup. Now, it’s become a reality, as the kickoff time for OSU-PSU is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with ABC picking up the game.

With the game taking place in State College, Penn., and being one of their biggest contests of the season at home for the Nittany Lions, it’ll be a ‘Whiteout’ crowd under the lights at Beaver Stadium.

This pairing has been a familiar sight in primetime. Of the last five meetings, four of them have taken place in the night slot. Last year’s meeting in Columbus took place at 3:30 p.m. ET, and was a thriller—Ohio State roared back to upset then-No. 2 Nittany Lions.

However, the last time OSU was in Happy Valley, they were upset. A 17-point fourth quarter rally propelled Penn State to the win. But when the dust settled on the season, Ohio State still punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff.

With this game having Big Ten title (and CFP) implications, this could very well be the place where ESPN’s College Gameday could be at. If so, we’ll find out on Sunday.

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Dre’Mont Jones named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


A big interception against TCU was just one of the highlights from Jones’ performance.

It could be argued that Dre’Mont Jones taking over the game in the second half is what propelled the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes to their biggest win of the season in a 40-28 defeat of the then-No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday night.


In addition to his career-high six tackles, the Buckeye defensive lineman had a remarkable interception return for a touchdown that helped swing the game in OSU’s favor. For his efforts, Jones was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.


Included in his six tackles was a pair of sacks, and with fellow defensive line-mate Nick Bosa missing the second half due to a groin injury, Jones’ impact was doubling important for the Buckeyes.

The other players receiving B1G’s weekly honors were Purdue quarterback David Blough as the Offensive Player of the Week, Indiana’s J-Shun Harris II for Special Teams, and IU’s running back Stevie Scott as the Freshman of the Week.

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Big Ten Power Rankings: 3-0 Indiana ascends in post-Week 3 list
Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor via Big Ten Network

It wasn't a memorable week for the Big Ten on Saturday. As a result, there's movement in my latest Big Ten Power Rankings, presented by ArcelorMittal. The biggest mover: Wisconsin, down four spots, following its home loss to BYU.

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Urban Meyer releases statement as he returns to coaching full-time
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Meyer thanks Ryan Day, apologizes to Courtney Smith, regrets “misstatement” at Media Days.

With the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes’ win over TCU over the weekend, head coach Urban Meyer’s on-again, off-again suspension has been completed. Though Meyer has been able to coach the team during the week following the season opening victory over Oregon State, he has had to miss game days against Rutgers and the Horned Frogs.

However, now that his team is moving on to Week 4 against Tulane, he is back in control of the team 100 percent, retaking the reigns from interim head coach Ryan Day. On Monday morning, Meyer released a statement, thanking Day and praising the team while also going into further details about his handling of former assistant Zach Smith.

In addition to acknowledging that he should have taken a different route in handling Smith’s employment, Meyer apologized to Zach’s ex-wife Courtney Smith and her family, as well as again expressing regret for not telling the complete truth at Big Ten Media days in late July.

Meyer said that his time separated from his team has given him an opportunity to reflect and to reaffirm his commitment to the core values that he has preached as a head coach.

Meyer’s first game on the sideline will be this Saturday, Sept. 22 at 3:30 p.m. ET against the Tulane Green Wave.


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Sam Hubbard dominates, Michael Thomas gets all the targets in Week 2 of the NFL
Alexis Chassen via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Plus, the Saints vs. Browns games had ALL THE BUCKEYES!

It’s only Week 2 of the 2018 NFL season and several former Ohio State players are already setting themselves apart. From Michael Thomas continuing to rack up records for targets, to rookie Sam Hubbard having himself a day in primetime on “Thursday Night Football,” it was a good week to be a Buckeye, whether in college or the pros.

After spending the entire offseason as a free agent, defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins finally signed with the Oakland Raiders earlier this week and was on the field Sunday for his first taste of action in 2018.

Here’s a look at how Buckeyes in the NFL fared in Week 2.

Sam Hubbard earns more snaps


After only lining up for seven snaps in his NFL debut, rookie DE Sam Hubbard earned way more plays for the Bengals on Thursday, and made his presence known in the first quarter. Not only did he nab his first career sack, but had 1.5 heading into the second quarter.


The Buckeye finished his second NFL game with five total tackles (three solo) and 2.5 tackles for loss (including the sack and a half). It was his first time playing on the big stage in his hometown, and he made the most of his opportunity. Seems fair to say that Hubbard will continue getting more and more snaps if he keeps performing the way that he did on Thursday.

Saints vs. Browns, a.k.a. The All the Buckeyes Game


The were a ton of Buckeyes on the field Sunday in New Orleans when the Saints (Vonn Bell, Kurt Coleman, Ted Ginn Jr., Marshon Lattimore, Michael Thomas) hosted the Cleveland Browns (Carlos Hyde, Denzel Ward). The Saints barely nabbed the win, but Buckeyes on both sides had some impressive performances. Maybe if Cleveland had signed Mike Nugent this offseason they’d be 2-0 by now.

Lets’ just start by saying that Michael Thomas is still on pace to be one of the greatest receivers to ever play in the NFL — and one of the most targeted. He continued this campaign on Sunday with 12 catches for 89 yards and two scores.


Ginn didn’t get into the endzone for the Saints, but he did have four catches for 55 yards, including an impressive 43-yard run late in the game.

For New Orleans’ defense, Vonn Bell made five total tackles, safety Kurt Coleman had four, and reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Marshon Lattimore had five of his own and a forced fumble.

Buckeyes weren’t just leading the offense for the Saints either, running back Carlos Hyde had 16 carries on Sunday for 43 yards and a touchdown, and is a big part of the game plan for the Browns in his first year with the team.


Just a week after his rookie debut, Browns’ cornerback Denzel Ward had six total tackles against the Saints.

Plays of the Week

Malcolm Jenkins


The Eagles suffered their first loss since winning the Super Bowl, but the former Buckeye safety had a decent game with five total tackles and a forced fumble that looked more like a “give me that!” moment.

Terrelle Pryor Sr.


The wide receiver had a bigger game for the Jets in Week 2, making four catches for 84 yards, including a 44-yarder. He’s included in the Plays of the Week because its his biggest game since the 2016 season and a glimpse of what he can bring to the Jets this season.

Injuries and Inactives

• Bengals center Billy Price went to the locker room during the first half of Thursday night’s game with a “foot strain”, and didn’t return, but should be ready for Week 3 with the 10-day break in-between games.
• We knew early in the week that Joey Bosa would be out for the Chargers in Week 2 with a bone bruise on his foot, and it’s looking like the injury could keep him sidelined for a couple of weeks.
• Curtis Samuel was out again for the Panthers as he recovers from a minor procedure on his heart— I don’t know how you can consider heart surgery minor, but what do I know.
• Pat Elflein was still out for the Vikings, but is getting close to being ready to go. Similarly, teammate Jalyn Holmes was also inactive for Week 2.

Other notables

• There’s also one Buckeye suiting up for “Monday Night Football” when the Seattle Seahawks (Nick Vannett) take on the Chicago bears.
• Miami is still enjoying having a tandem of Buckeye linebackers, with Raekwon McMillan making three tackles and Jerome Baker with two on Sunday against the Jets — for New York, Darron Lee made four tackles in the follow-up to his two-pick Week 1 game.
• The Broncos pulled off a one-point victory over the Raiders in Week 2, and Bradley Roby claimed five solo tackles in the matchup, and tight end Jeff Heuerman had two catches for 10 yards. For the Raiders, Gareon Conley had a great game with four total tackles and four passes defended.

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Advanced stats review: Big defensive plays fueled Ohio State’s comeback win
Chad Peltier via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t comfortable, but the Buckeyes emerged with one of the best wins of the season by any team

Along with LSU’s win over Auburn and Georgia’s win over South Carolina, Ohio State now has one of the best wins in the country through three weeks of college football action.

The Buckeyes’ 12-point margin of victory was similar to the Vegas spread and advanced stats projections, but the actual game didn’t play out as many expected. Maybe I’m projecting on the rest of the fanbase here, but I expected a 2-3 touchdown win, but with the Buckeyes maintaining a comfortable lead for most of the game; maybe TCU would score a garbage time touchdown to cut it down to two-ish scores.

Instead, Ohio State was down by 8 points until there were only seven minutes left in the third quarter. According to ESPN’s FPI, Ohio State’s win probability at that point was just 34 percent. After the big throw to Parris Campbell, the Dre’Mont Jones pick-six, and the blocked punt/touchdown, the win probability jumped to 93 percent in just ~5 minutes of game time.

That’s an insane five minute run for the Buckeyes in the third quarter.

So how do we contextualize this win? Let’s get to the advanced stats:

Stats definitions


Here’s the full advanced stats glossary.

• In the tables below, points per trip scoring opportunity looks at the average points scored per scoring opportunity. Scoring opportunities are drives with a first down past the opponents’ 40-yard line.
• Drive efficiency looks at the percentage of drives that were scoring opportunities.
• Rushing opportunity rate is the percentage of runs that gained five or more yards.
• Rushing stuff rate is the percentage of runs that were for no gain or a loss.
• Explosive plays are those that gain 15 or more yards.
• Success rate: A common Football Outsiders tool used to measure efficiency by determining whether every play of a given game was successful or not. 50 percent of necessary yardage on first down, 70 percent on second down, and 100 percent on third and fourth down.

The two final kneel down plays were filtered out.

How the game was decided


Big defensive plays (the Nick Bosa sack/fumble recovery touchdown and Jones’ pick-six) and special teams (punt block), which fueled the Buckeyes’ 21 points off of turnovers, were the big reasons why Ohio State won.

But we shouldn’t overlook the role of Ohio State’s poor red zone success rate (touchdowns on just two of five red zone trips), points per scoring opportunity (5.2, with three field goal attempts), and relatively low rushing success rate (49 percent), were all major factors that influenced the game’s closer-than-expected outcome and Ohio State’s eventual win.


Here were my big questions heading in to the game:

Can the offensive line handle TCU’s pressure?


It depends on what you look at here. TCU’s defense was 22nd in sack rate and 17th in overall havoc rate through the first two games, and ranked 15th in adjusted sack rate last season. So the offensive line holding that kind of aggressive group to just a single sack was impressive.

But Ohio State’s stuff rate — which is the percentage of runs stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage — was 21 percent, or 8 percentage points higher than what Ohio State’s defensive line held TCU’s run game to. It gets much worse if you include 1-yard runs; then the Buckeyes’ stuff rate jumps to an insane 41 percent. Their rushing success rate overall was solid — 49 percent against a great defense — but they ran for only one yard or less just as often as they had a 5-yard run.

Dobbins had longer runs than Weber, and averaged a full 3.1 yards per carry more, and he had a 56 percent rushing success rate to Weber’s 44 percent, but it was also seemed like the Buckeyes’ lack of a quarterback running threat and TCU’s aggressive defense contributed to the lower overall rushing success rate.

I also took a look at how Ohio State has performed in big games over the last year. I’ll update this table after each big game this season. Here’s rushing:


The rushing offense fell off of a cliff at the end of last season. Against Oklahoma and Penn State, the Buckeyes averaged a 52 percent rushing success rate and a similar opportunity rate. But, in the last three games of the season, the Buckeyes averaged just a 39 percent rushing success rate. Part of that was playing Michigan and Wisconsin, two excellent defenses, but part of it was also with defenses realizing that they could load the box, dare Barrett to pass, and force him to keep on reads (keeping the ball out of Dobbins’ hands or making him get tackled for short gains).

So putting TCU’s rushing performance in that context — 10 percentage points higher rushing success rate, but a higher stuff rate — says a lot. First, it means that TCU’s defense is incredibly aggressive, and they’re excellent at creating havoc (which we’ll get to later). It also means that Ohio State ran well against a solid TCU run defense, even if there were too many run stuffs.

Can Haskins spur a quick lead?


No. But it wasn’t really his fault, and he was excellent overall. Ohio State’s first half offensive drives were: field goal, punt, punt, punt, field goal, missed field goal. The Buckeyes play really well with the lead (it’s kind of a hallmark of a high-efficiency offense), but the offense didn’t have a quick lead to rest on this week.

Thank goodness for defensive scores, because the Buckeyes had two first half drives that stalled in the red zone (and three if you count the missed field goal drive at the end of the half).

Ohio State didn’t half a single successful play in the red zone in the first half on six attempts. Of those six plays, four were incomplete passes, and the two runs lost a yard and gained a yard. On the day, Ohio State scored touchdowns on just two of their five red zone trips. So flag “red zone success rate” as a key stat to watch against better defenses.

Here are the passing numbers in big games:


I was more interested in comparing the passing performances between Barrett and Haskins than the rushing success in big games. Obviously this is just 1.5 games worth of big game data for Haskins, but I think there are still some takeaways here.

• First, TCU was excellent in pass defense last year, ranking 15th overall in passing S&P+ and 15th in adjusted sack rate. I’d guess they’re going to rank similarly this season, too.
• Second, the Buckeyes averaged a 34 percent passing success rate in six big games last season. Yikes. Outside of Barrett’s otherworldly comeback against Penn State, Haskins’ 47 percent passing success rate game is the best performance by an Ohio State quarterback since at least the beginning of last season.
• Third, while completion percentages varied (averaging 61 percent last season) and were similar to Haskins’ complete rate vs. TCU, he averaged an insane three full yards per attempt more than Barrett last season (with sack yardage deducted). This may be the biggest takeaway so far — while Barrett and Haskins completed a similar percentage of their passes, Haskins’ performance vs. TCU was far more successful because he averaged more per attempt. Haskins was more successful targeting receivers on intermediate and downfield throws.

Is Shawn Robinson accurate enough as a quarterback to take advantage of any holes in the pass defense?


Without charting out all of Robinson’s throws, the TCU passing game was every bit as effective as Ohio State’s, with a 48 percent overall success rate. That’s a good sign for the Horned Frogs and a credit to Robinson, but it also shows that things are not yet settled at a few defensive spots for the Buckeyes.

Can Pryor and Wade stabilize the pass defense?


The safety spot opposite Jordan Fuller remains an issue. My thought going into the game was that Shaun Wade might be the answer there, but his extensive playing time as the starting nickel back makes me think that the Buckeyes still need someone to emerge. Because while maybe Wade can play that position in three-linebacker sets, the defense needs another member of the secondary to emerge when Wade is at nickel.

And there’s also reason for concern with the three-man corner rotation. While Okudah and Sheffield looked relatively solid against TCU, Arnette was beaten on some notable plays.

Can TCU exploit linebacker inexperience for a solid run game?


Yes! Well, mostly. TCU had a 41 percent rushing success rate, which was a little lower than their 46.7 percent average last season, but significantly higher than Ohio State’s 34 percent allowed last year.

TCU found a lot of success running early on (and with screen passes), but the real issue was the 93-yard run with 9 minutes left in the second quarter. Not only was that Ohio State’s longest play allowed from scrimmage, but now Ohio State is one of only three teams to allow three plays of 70+ yards this year (they’re also one of two teams to allow more than one 80+ yard plays).

The linebackers seemed to be out of position frequently, still failing to maintain their gaps and not keeping contain. The marginal efficiency numbers haven’t been updated for this week yet, but it was notable to me that the linebacker havoc rates were by far the lowest of any unit on the defense — they just don’t seem to be around the ball as much as they should. Malik Harrison was the only linebacker in the top 7 tacklers and the unit as a whole had just one of the team’s 7 tackles for loss.

Can the Ohio State defensive line overwhelm a young TCU offensive line and create negative plays?


With seven total tackles for loss, a 16.7 percent havoc rate, and absolutely game-changing plays by Nick Bosa and Dre’Mont Jones — the answer is absolutely yes.

I was encouraged by what we saw from Jonathan Cooper, but should note that Chase Young didn’t record any tackles even if he did seem to be bringing a lot of pressure.

What about the hidden factors, like field position, turnovers, and scoring opportunities?


Obviously the defensive scores and punt block were absolutely critical to Ohio State getting the win, but field position overall was key.

Thanks in no small way to punter Drue Chrisman, eight of TCU’s 14 drives started inside their own 20, with three starting inside their own 10 yard line. That’s a tough position to be in, even if TCU still managed to use explosive plays to score on three 75+ yard drives.

Ohio State averaged starting on the 26.5 yard line, but it was just the 22.1 yard line if you exclude the drive after the punt block.

Scoring opportunity efficiency isn’t really hidden yardage like the others, and we’ve already mostly covered that point above — the Buckeyes could have done much better with their efficiency in the red zone and in scoring opportunities more broadly.

Moving forward


Just a couple of things I’ll be watching moving forward, moving from greatest to least concerns:

1. The linebackers fulfilling their assignments. (Can we play Browning outside? Will more Borland help? Will Greg Schiano/Alex Grinch stealthily takeover as the linebackers coach?).
2. The other safety spot.
3. Taking advantage of scoring opportunities on offense / red zone play calling.
4. Rushing efficiency, especially on non-read inside zone plays. (Will other opponents be similarly aggressive as TCU? Can the line be more dominant earlier in games?).
5. Haskins’ continued development.

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Maybe off track, butI feel this is the difference between the US and some other less "free" countries. Right now my 7 year old is off the charts in height, but not in the mutant way where she has no athleticism. We have her in soccer, bball, and swimming right now, but nothing too competitive. We just want her to enjoy the sports for now so she doesn't get burned out. If we were in China I have a feeling they would have already picked a sport for her and sent her to a training center. Her team got crushed by another soccer team on Saturday because the asshat coach has a travel team and ended up getting 4 of his travel girls on his rec league team. You could tell by their faces when they walked by they weren't there for fun, they were there to kick ass. IMO 7 years is too young to be pushing a kid that hard in a sport unless you want them to burn out by the time they make it to HS. Maybe I'm a bad example since I didn't really take football seriously until my junior year and still got a full ride. If feel it's best to get them involved in everything now and then see what sport suits them best when they grow up. i.e My daughter is most likely going to be in the 6' to 6'2" range when she grows up. If she's at the top end basketball might be her best sport especially if she gets my freakish wingspan. Lower end swimming or volleyball might be better.

Pickerington duo to visit Ohio State
Charles Doss via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes will soon host a pair of the top prospects Central Ohio has to offer.

Did you miss out on your Ohio State recruiting news fix this weekend? Don’t worry Land-Grant Holy Land is here to save the day. Sit back and get caught up on some of the latest news involving the Buckeyes.

Pickerington North duo to visit Ohio State


After leading their Pickerington North squad to a big 52-7 victory over Westerville Central on Friday, class of 2020 wide receiver Chris Scott and 2021 defensive end Jack Sawyer shared some info that should make Buckeye fans rather happy.

No, No. Ohio State didn’t land verbal pledges from the Central Ohio duo, but they will soon have the pair on campus for a visit.

Telling Garrett Stepien of BuckeyeSports.com on Friday that they will attend the Buckeyes matchup against Tulane next Saturday afternoon, both Scott and Sawyer will once again get an up close and personal view at what it would be like to suit up for Urban Meyer, and crew in the Scarlet and Gray.


Even though the Buckeyes have yet to offer Scott an offer at the moment, the staff is keeping a very close eye on the three-star prospect.

Unlike Scott, Sawyer has locked in a chance to stay close to home and roll with the Buckeyes. Considered one of the top players in his class, the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder is looked as a current OSU lean, but holds early offers from some of the top programs in the Midwest.

Trying to poach him away from the Buckeyes, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State are just a few of the schools pursuing the super sophomore.

Wilson goes off


On Friday future Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson definitely backed his five-star rating on the field during Lake Travis’ 42-21 roll away win over Bowie (TX).

Accounting for over 170 receiving yards and two scores in the victory, Wilson walked away from the game with more than that, also breaking Lake Travis’ all-time receiving touchdown record, which now sits at 46.

Displaying his many talents on the night, the former Dublin native also tossed a touchdown pass for the Cavaliers.

A verbal pledge to Ohio State since April, he chose the Buckeyes over opportunities to attend well over 30 schools. A list that consisted of most of the heavy hitters on the college football scene, Texas, Alabama and Georgia were among the program to throw their hats in the ring for the 6-foot playmaker during the recruiting process.

Want to know how some of the other future Buckeyes did over the weekend? Our Caleb Houser has you covered.

Quick Hits

• Ohio State will reportedly check in on Nevada class of 2020 four-star forward Julian Strawther and class of 2021 guard Jadan Hardy later today. The 6-foot-7 Strawther holds offers from the likes of Arizona, Kansas and UCLA; five-star rated Hardy has earned scholarships from Arizona, Arizona State, Florida State, Georgia Tech and many other solid programs from across the country.
• Chris Holtmann and the Ohio State basketball staff will play host to 2020 Maumee (OH) standout shooting guard Zeb Jackson on an unofficial visit next Saturday. A four-star recruit, Jackson holds early offers from not just OSU, but also programs such as Butler, Michigan State and Purdue.

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kinch said:

I should have made this a poll, but on a scale of 1-2 out of 10 how awesome is AKAK?

Click to expand...

If you say anything under 11.5, I'll know I can't trust anything you say.

Looking Around the Nation: Nebraska, Florida State have officially left the ‘Good Ole’ Days’
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


In 1994, these two duked it out in the Orange Bowl for a national title. In 2018, these two are just trying to get bowl eligible.

One of the more memorable scenes from “The Office” happens in the series finale when Ed Helms’ character Andy Bernard says, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in ‘the good old days,’ before you’ve actually left them.”

For the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Florida State Seminoles, they both find themselves in uncharted waters. In the last 30 years, these teams have been staples of the college football scene. Especially in the 1990s, both were national title regulars. The 1993 season brought both teams together in the Orange Bowl, to play for the national title. Florida State was the No. 1 in the nation, despite losing on Nov. 13 to Notre Dame in a contest that was dubbed the “Game of the Century.”

In the Orange Bowl, Nebraska had the lead with 1:16 remaining. However, Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward marched his team down the field, and set up the go-ahead field goal with 21 seconds left. Nebraska, led by quarterback Tommy Frazier, got the Huskers down to the FSU 28-yard line—setting up a game winning field goal on the final play of the game. That field goal would sail off course.


Did I criminally skim that Orange Bowl? You bet I did. You could make a whole documentary based on the lead-up and outcome of the game. But for this purpose, getting the CliffNotes will suffice. The main point isn’t to talk about that game, but to remind ourselves what these two teams were capable of doing. Both have obviously had successes since, but they sure feel like a long time ago after the first few weeks of the season.

Today, both these teams will be lucky to make it to a bowl game. That’s a far cry from a national title game. This season, both programs have new head coaches steering the ship of their respective programs. Scott Frost is at Nebraska, and Willie Taggart is at Florida State. Both have taken some very bad Ls already in the early season.

After the season opener against Akron was scrapped because of weather, the Huskers are still winless after Week 3. Losses to Colorado and Troy hurt, especially when you have a 9-game gauntlet in the Big Ten still to come. Frost will have to lead his team into road matchups with Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State. His team will be a massive underdog in all three of those games, with the OSU game having the potential to be close-your-eyes-and-turn-off-the-TV-at-halftime bad.

Next week, the Huskers travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. for the matchup with the Wolverines. This is a redeemer for UM quarterback Shea Patterson, who was stifled in the first game of the season against Notre Dame. A good game from him puts the Wolverines back on track. Unfortunately for the Huskers, a loss puts them into a freighting 0-3 hole with still another week to go in September. Making up the Akron game may have seemed like a bizarre idea at first, but the Huskers may actually need it if they want to make a bowl game; six wins is six wins, no matter what you have to do to earn them.

The Taggart experience in Tallahassee isn’t going much better. After a Week 1 loss to Virginia Tech, social media began chirping a conspiracy claiming fake injuries by the Hokies were throwing off the FSU tempo on offense.

Personally, when I heard that quarterback Deondre Francois was named the starter, I changed my preseason Heisman prediction to the Seminoles’ signal-caller. I thought the ‘Noles would probably go 8-4, but Francois’ comeback season would be good enough for him to snag the Heisman Trophy.

I honestly believed that he was going to have a better year than Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor, and that he would be one of the best QBs in FBS. Even after struggling with Samford, I thought 10 good games would get him an invite to New York. Then after just seeing the Syracuse score— a 30-7 loss— I finally came to terms with reality: Francois is not going to win the Heisman.

If the offensive line can’t hold their own next week, then there’s a realistic chance that Northern Illinois “upsets” Florida State.

You don’t realize it at the time, but there are defining moments in each program’s history that set them on a certain path. For Nebraska, it may seem like one of those moments was when Tom Osborne decided to retire from coaching after the perfect 1997 season. It wasn’t. The defining moment for the Huskers came in the 2002 Rose Bowl after they got obliterated by the Miami Hurricanes’ NFL-grade machine.

While Florida State has won a title in the post-Bobby Bowden era, the blowout loss in the 2015 Rose Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal to Oregon fundamentally changed the program. The Noles’ haven’t been back to the CFP since, and Jimbo Fisher, the coach that won a national title in 2014 with FSU, departed for a big-money deal to coach Texas A&M in December 2017.

To bring this conversation back home, Ohio State has seeming made every right coaching move (at least for the head position) when things began to look bleak. They got Jim Tressel after John Cooper, and they got Urban Meyer after Jim Tressel. At some point, the machine won’t spit out jackpot— but you ride the wave until it ends.

Just look at a Michigan. That program hasn’t been the same since the 2006 “Game of the Century” meeting with the Buckeyes. Since Lloyd Carr left, TTUN hasn’t found a coach that could live up to the expectations set during the Carr era; even Alabama had a run of Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, and Mike Shula as head coach over a six-year period.

Winning games in major college football is hard; consistently winning games is even harder. And at some point, even for those programs that consistently won for decades, there will be pockets of time that take you out of the good ole’ days. You just hope it doesn’t last forever.

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twister55 said:

i converted it to avi takes less space quality is just as good.

Click to expand...

avi is most certainly not the same quality as MP4, just FYI.

Ohio State commit weekend recap: 2019 commits continue to shine on the field
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Future Buckeyes looked good in their high school games this weekend.

What a time to be an Ohio State fan. Last night the Buckeyes came away with a huge win over TCU. In a weekend that saw the Big Ten conference struggle, Ohio State’s win was a key victory not only for themselves, but for the conference as a whole.

The reason behind Ohio State’s win—plain and simple—was the talent they had on their roster. The Buckeye coaching staff does a great job at locating talent and then developing said talent. Ohio State’s continued success lays in the hands of their ability to recruit, and when you’re able to do that as successfully as they have, good things will continue to happen.

As Urban Meyer comes back to coach his team without any limitations, recruiting will surely begin to pick back up. With visits set in place for many of their top remaining targets, the staff knows they’ll have to be on top of their game. Fortunately, guys they already have in the fold have been on their game, and that was once again the case this past weekend when multiple 2019 commits proved their abilities on the gridiron.

Record breaking night for Wilson


Garrett Wilson needs no introduction, but it’s worth it honestly. Wilson is the second best receiver in the country for the 2019 class, the second best player in a loaded state of Texas, and the 14th best player in the country regardless of position, according to 247sports’ composite grading. Now that we have some of his accolades out of the way, let’s just add to them.


Once again, his performance for Lake Travis was electric. In a win over dynamic opponent Bowie, Wilson set the school record for career receiving touchdowns. His 45th touchdown reception broke that, but he wasn’t done as he cashed in and hit pay-dirt once again for number 46 in his career. Important note: This is only his third game of his senior season, so it’s very possible this record extends drastically for Garrett—making it harder for future players to pass. As if that wasn’t enough, Wilson also threw for a touchdown on a trick play for Lake Travis.


Wilson’s night ended with five catches for 172 total yards, which equals nearly 34 yards per reception. His first score breaking the receiving TD record was a 25-yarder, followed by an 87-yarder for his second score of the night.

For Buckeye fans, this is exactly what they love to see as they picture the future of the Buckeye offense. Wilson is a can’t-miss type of player, and Ohio State knows they struck gold when they were able to land his pledge. As always, the future is extremely bright in Columbus for Ohio State football.

Stover leads Lexington to rivalry victory


In addition to Wilson having a big night, Cade Stover had one, too. Stover has done nothing but be consistent. Regardless of what side of the ball he is playing on, Cade has the ability to be the best player on the field. In this weekend’s game, Lexington High School took on rival Mount Vernon and came away with a huge 38-0 win. In the game, Cade scored two touchdowns and also helped pitch the shutout for the Lexington defense.


Rushing for 71 yards on 12 carries, Stover rushed for a 29-yard touchdown as he broke three tackles sprinting to the end zone. Stover also caught a 40-yard touchdown pass in the first half. The real impressive aspect to this game, though, is the fact that Cade may have been as impressive without the ball compared to when he had it. Reasoning? Well, to put it real clear, Stover was seeing double-team defense all night. That allowed for his teammates to see openings. Basically, with so much attention placed on the Buckeye commit, the rest of Lexington’s players were able to successfully get lost in the shuffle—resulting in their big win.

Cade can truly do it all on the field. That’s just more good news for the future of Ohio State football.

Quick Hits:

• Ronnie “Rocket” Hickman (Wayne, New Jersey/DePaul Catholic) athlete caught an 85-yard touchdown pass on offense, and forced a fumble on defense. Hickman will most likely start his Buckeye career at safety.
• Sampson James, (Avon, Indiana/Avon) a 6-foot-1, 215-pound bruiser of a power running back, had two touchdowns in a 48-0 win over Franklin Central.
• Craig Young, (Fort Wayne, Indiana/Wayne) a three-star athlete, went off for four touchdowns in a win over Fort Wayne South-Side.

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After big win against TCU, Ohio State stays at No. 4 in the AP Poll
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes maintain a spot in the top-5.

It took awhile, but the Ohio State Buckeyes pulled away from the TCU Horned Frogs Saturday night. With that win in Arlington, Texas, the Buckeyes maintained their spot in the AP Poll Top 5, sticking at No. 4. With the loss, the Horned Frogs slipped to No. 17.


Another team that went tumbling down the polls was Wisconsin. The Badgers lost at home in heartbreaking fashion to unranked BYU. Wiscy had a chance to tie the game at the end, but a missed field goal sailed wide (wide) left sealing the Badgers’ fate in the final minute. Because of that, Wisconsin fell to No. 18.

LSU and the fighting Joe Burrow’s pulled one out against Auburn in the annual Tiger Bowl. The Tigers of Baton Rouge variety entered the week at No. 12. Now, they are in the top 10 at No. 6.

At the top of the poll, things remained unchanged. Alabama is still No. 1, Georgia jumped Clemson to come in at No. 2 with Clemson now at No. 3 after three convincing wins. The Crimson Tide played conference foe Ole Miss, and absolutely sent them to oblivion— winning the game 62-7.

While the Buckeyes still sit at No. 4, they have closed the gap behind No. 3 from 119 points to 48 after the win over TCU.

In the Coaches Poll, the Buckeyes stayed at No. 4, following Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia. Oklahoma rounds out the top-5. The LSU Tigers moved up seven spots to No. 6.

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Sunday Debriefing: Will the real Big Ten please stand up
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Wisconsin shocked at home by BYU, and Nebraska losing to Troy sent the Big Ten West into another week of tailspin.

In the year 2000, the rapper Eminem asked for the real Slim Shady to please stand up.

In Week 3 of the 2018 college football season, I’m asking will the real Big Ten—the one that had multiple teams in the preseason rankings listed as College Football Playoff contenders—to please, please stand up. It’s now or never.

Once again, the Big Ten— other than Ohio State— made a fool of itself on the national stage. The No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers, seen as the Big Ten West’s savior, stumbled at home to unranked BYU. Even though the defeat was only by three points (24-21), the loss packs a one-two punch. Not only do the Badgers’ playoff hopes now hang off the side of the proverbial cliff, but this recent high-profile loss gives off the mental image of the Big Ten slipping on a banana peel— and into the air— before crashing back down to the ground as a laugh track plays.

This reoccuring image has now happened every week of the young season.

Penn State nearly lost in to Appalachian State in Week 1, then Michigan State was the one to fall last week; now it was Wisconsin. However, one team took the cake and fell both weeks. That’s right, we’re talking about the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

The Scott Frost era is off to about as bad of a start as you could image. First, their season opener against Akron got delayed, then cancelled. Last week, they lost to Colorado, 33-28, in thrilling fashion. Then this week against Troy, they found another way to lose in thrilling fashion. One cancelled game and two losses— and it’s only the middle of September.

It appears that Iowa may be the survivor of the Big Ten’s West wild ride, but who knows? Purdue, who is now 0-3, can very well win the division; as could Northwestern, who defeated Purdue already this season before getting steamrolled by two touchdowns by Duke last week, and then lost by five to Akron.

The only two teams that are excused from the brunt of the lashing are Ohio State and Penn State. But, that isn’t too say that they are 100 percent excused. Ohio State pulled away from TCU in a nationally televised game on Saturday night, thanks to a third quarter surge that included the Horned Frogs melting under pressure. TCU’s sophomore quarterback Shawn Robinson shuffled a pitch right into the hands of defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones, who ran the ball back for a score.

Then a bobbled punt— that only netted about two yards after being partially blocked— gave OSU fantastic field position. Dwayne Haskins made great use of the advantage, and connected on a TD not too long after Ohio State got the ball back. Without the surge or early sack/fumble caused by Nick Bosa, the Buckeyes might have lost that game. But, a win is a win, even if it isn’t pretty, especially against a top-15 team like TCU. So, the Buckeyes are still on solid ground.


Penn State has progressively gotten better as the season as gone on. After nearly falling to Appalachian State in Week 1, the Nittany Lions scored big wins over Pittsburgh and Kent State. Woo-hoo.

The Sept. 29 showdown between Ohio State and Penn State at Beaver Stadium will, more than likely, be the the game of the week. Arguably, this game will be for the Big Ten title before the first month of the season is over.

Michigan State is still off trying to figure out who they really are after getting upset in a #Pac12AfterDark affair with Arizona State last week. It should be noted that early Sunday morning, in another week of after dark play, the Sun Devils got beat by San Diego State.

It’s too hard to judge Michigan because they haven’t played any real teams after losing to Notre Dame, and Notre Dame looks about as sketchy as you can get for a team in the top-10. Maryland got wallopped by Temple, and Rutgers is, well, Rutgers. That only leaves OSU and PSU as contenders in the East, and they are set for a collision course before October even arrives.

For the conference, it’s not been a good month. With Sparty, the Wolverines, and the Badgers already putting their playoff chances on life support— if not in the ground completely— the Big Ten will have a lot more spoilers than contenders. That’s a dangerous inequality to have, as a single upset from here on out could doom the entire conference’s chance at getting into the playoff for the second straight year.

Wisconsin rolls into a game with division foe Iowa on Saturday. The Badgers will have to make the trip to Kinnick, but if they pull off the win, then the turmoil sets even more within the West. Literally, Minnesota would be the only undefeated team on that side of the table, and that’s assuming that they can handle Maryland in College Park, Md., next week.

Before the season, there was a tangible belief that Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Michigan could get out of the non-conference slate as unbeaten teams, and all contend for a playoff berth. Of those teams, Ohio State had arguably the toughest non-conference game with TCU. Sure, Michigan had Notre Dame, but they had the whole offseason to get ready for it, and the Irish haven’t looked great yet.

Barring an upset next week against Tulane, the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions will be the only teams from the East to get out of the non-conference slate in one piece. Yes, it’s a good thing that they are still intact, but they leave scathed, even just by conference association.

Right now, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota are the only teams that are able to stand up as unbeaten teams in the Big Ten.

I don’t know how I feel about that.

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Dwayne Haskins, Dre’Mont Jones named LGHL Week 2 MVPs
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Dwayne and Dre’Mont stepped up when their team needed them most.

You all good? I personally am still trying to recover from last night’s incredible, comeback win for the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes over the No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs. It wasn’t always pretty, but in the second half, both the Buckeye offense and defense stepped up to deliver a thrilling 40-28 victory.


The Frogs showed why they are a top-15 team, and a legitimate contender to win the Big XII. Gary Patterson’s squad kept the tempo up at a lightning’s pace, with quarterback Shawn Robinson getting plays off almost before the previous one was over, and the defense, led by defensive end Ben Banogu, was bringing the house from the first possession to the last.

However, in the end, the Buckeyes had just too many studs to be denied. So, without further ado, here our Land-Grant Hold Land’s Week 3 MVPs.

Week 3 Offensive MVP: Dwayne Haskins


Unsurprisingly, the new OSU quarterback’s day was not as smooth-sailing as the first two starts of his career were. For the first time this season, Haskins had to deal with pressure, and in the first half, at times it appeared that the normally calm signal-caller was rattled.

However, after Haskins adjusted to the speed of TCU’s defense, he returned to the incredible form that we’ve seen throughout the year thus far.

On the game, Haskins was 24-for-38 for 344 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He got the big plays started with a 48-yard pass to Austin Mack on the first series. On the throw, Haskins was able to drop the ball perfectly into the waiting hands of his wide receiver, despite being otherwise blanketed by two defenders.

As pretty as this pass was, it was the only catch that Mack would have for a while, as he followed it up with five consecutive drops, in many cases bringing drives to a screeching halt. Had the normally solid Mack pulled those very catchable balls, the night would have been even more impressive for Haskins. Mack finished with four catches for 84 yards on nine targets.


In addition to the delicate touch that Haskins was able to put on the deep ball, he also showed his cannon of an arm, especially on this frozen rope to Johnnie Dixon, placing it in the perfect spot that only his receiver could catch it. Haskins finished the game with a quarterback rating of 156.6.


And finally for Haskins, despite ABC’s play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler saying that he wasn’t a threat to run, in the fourth quarter, Haskins kept the ball and sprinted to the end zone on his first designed rush of the season—and the first rushing touchdown of his career.

Week 3 Defensive MVP: Dre’Mont Jones


First, I don’t want to be crude, but Nick Bosa did not sustain an injury to his “lower abdomen,” nor was it to his “upper leg.” He pointed to where he was hurting on national television. We all know that he hurt is groin; groin is not an inappropriate or tawdry term. So why did everyone from announcers to coaches feel the need to dance around the obvious? I mean, I can think of a lot worse words than groin that we could have used.

Anyway, not that Dre’Mont Jones needed the deck cleared for him to make an impact on the game, but with Bosa out in the second half, it sure seemed like Jones took it upon himself to completely dominate—and in turn, change the outcome of— the game.

First, Jones picked off the Shawn Robinson shuffle pass and returned it for the first touchdown of his collegiate career, putting the Buckeyes up for good.


As fun as the Piesman Trophy-caliber return was, Jones is not one of the best defensive linemen in the country because of his ability to score; he is one of the best defensive linemen in the country because of his ability to get to the quarterback. Against TCU, Jones had six tackles, two for loss, including this sack below, the aforementioned interception, and another pass broken up.

Dre’Mont Jones dominated the final 30 minutes of this game, and ultimately was a huge factor in the Buckeyes leaving Texas undefeated.

Honorable Mention:

K.J. Hill:


Receiving: six receptions on six targets, 95 yards, TD, zero drops

J.K. Dobbins:


18 rushes, 121 yards, eight carries of 10-yards or more yards


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No. 4 Ohio State takes down No. 15 TCU, 40-28
Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor via Big Ten Network

It wasn’t the best day for the Big Ten in Week 3, but the conference’s top team, No. 4 Ohio State, recorded one of the most impressive wins of the week. The Buckeyes rallied past No. 15 TCU, 40-28, behind 20 points in a four-minute outburst out of the halftime locker room at AT&T Stadium. No. 4 Ohio State Downs No. 15 TCU

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You dig up the weirdest shit

5 things learned from Ohio State’s close call with the Horned Frogs
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes won by 12, but trailed by 8 in the third quarter.

The box score shows that the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs by 12 points. That’s a nice margin of victory. However, the box score— and numbers—have a tendency to not tell the whole truth.

With eight minutes left in the third quarter, it appeared that the Buckeyes were deep in upset territory, as they trailed these purple and black horned frogs from Fort Worth by 8 points. Then, the rally happened.

Ohio State’s defense kept them in the game, even after putting them in upset’s way to begin with. But, a win is a win, and it’s onto another oddly name mascot next week in the Green Wave. Before we focus on the late afternoon matchup with Tulane, let’s take a look at what we learned in OSU’s close shave in Arlington, Texas.

The defense is Dr. Jekyll


When the OSU defensive line gets going, my condolences to whatever offense comes up against them. Between Nick Bosa, Dre’Mont Jones and Chase Young, the frontline is a force to be reckoned with.

TCU quarterback Shawn Robinson learned that lesson the hard way on Saturday night. Early in the first quarter, Bosa fought his way past the Horned Frogs’ offensive line, and hit Robinson, who had his back to him. Making matters worse for the signal-caller was that he fumbled the ball as he was preparing to make a throw; making matters worse still, he was on his own goal line. That sack and strip led to a recovery in the end zone by Davon Hamilton, and six points for the Buckeyes.


In the third quarter, Robinson met the wrath of the defense again. He didn’t fumble on this occasion; rather, he threw an interception on a shuffle pass. Dre’Mont Jones read the play, and got in front of Robinson’s intended target, and snatched the ball right out of the air.

However, just like the Bosa forced fumble, this turnover would end in a defensive TD. Jones showed his athleticism down the sidelines, as he juked out Robinson en route to the end zone.

As the game was in its twilight stages, Malik Harrison got in on the turnover game, recording the Bucks’ second interception—and third takeaway—of the night.

For the third time this season, the OSU defensive line showed that they are the real deal. Larry Johnson has, once again, proven that he is one of the best (if not the best) defensive line coach in America. In the first marquee game of the season, the d-line sparked the team’s momentum in the third quarter. Without it, the outcome of this game would’ve been completely different. If they keep up this level of play, I don’t see how an opposing offense can win a game without stretching the field against OSU.

The defense is Mr. Hyde


Outside of line play, the OSU defense is, uh, uninspiring. The facade showed signs of cracking against Oregon State, where big rushes and receptions led to the Beavers putting up 31 points against the Buckeyes.

Against Rutgers, order looked to be restored, as the passing and rushing games were stifled. If the defensive secondary and linebacking units were stocks, I would’ve bought into them. But if I had, I would’ve faced a pretty big loss this week.

TCU showed that there is still some serious work to be done by the back half of the defense. Head coach Gary Patterson’s game plan of up-tempo plays, and stretching the field had success all throughout the night. TCU had seven chunk passing plays and four chunk rushing plays. Three of those chunk plays went for touchdowns, which includes the 93-yard rush from Darius Anderson. Not only was that rush from Anderson the longest in TCU history, but it was the longest offensive play given up by Ohio State in the school’s 129 years of collegiate football.

Robinson threw for 308 yards, and Anderson led all rushers on the field with 154 yards. Both were responsible for two TDs each.

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Sophomore Surprise: TCU’s Shawn Robinson carved the Buckeye defense for 308 yards in the air.

If it weren’t the plays from Bosa and Jones on defense, OSU likely loses this game. Those turnovers put 14 points on the board for the Buckeyes during a stretch were the OSU offense was stagnant. In fact, that Jones pick-six changed the whole dynamic of the game, as the Bucks took the lead for good after his score.

You can’t rely on Bosa and Jones to engineer points in every game. There’s going to be a game where the defensive line doesn’t play its sharpest game. It happens. Last year, it was Iowa; the year before that, it was Clemson in the College Football Playoff.

When that game happens, how will the rest of the defense respond? Bosa missed part of the TCU game with an apparent groin injury. What would’ve happened if that injury happened early in the game before the forced fumble? Would OSU have had the ability to overcome the loss of Bosa’s presence on the field, and figure out how to win without him anchoring the D-line? My guess is that they wouldn’t have.

Our own Patrick Mayhorn pointed to Bill Davis as the cause of some of the defensive problems for Ohio State. At this point, it doesn’t matter who's to blame. If these problems don’t get solved soon, the Buckeyes may be walking out of Happy Valley in two weeks with a loss.

You can’t stop the Dwayne Train...


We are now three games into the Dwayne Haskins era at Ohio State. And already, he’s doing some pretty insane stuff. Against TCU, the Dwayne Train rolled through Arlington, Texas and collected 344 yards and a pair of scores. Those 344 yards in the air were the seventh most ever in an OSU game. This outing had two more yards than Troy Smith’s 2005 Fiesta Bowl performance against Notre Dame, and was five yards less than J.T. Barrett’s 2016 performance versus Bowling Green.


If this is what we’ve seen so far, then the ceiling for Haskins is exceptionally high. Will he pass Art Schlichter’s 458-yard effort against Florida State in 1981? Dunno. But, if he keeps launching 300-yard plus performances each week, then he may not only get close to capturing more top-10 spots in the single game OSU record books, but he may eclipse season passing marks. If he gets to that point, then the Dwayne Train may be stopping by New York City for the Heisman Trophy presentation.

...except for low snaps and dropped passes


Let’s play the “What If” game. What if Austin Mack would’ve hauled in three of the five passes that he dropped, and picked up 35 more receiving yards. That would’ve given Haskins 379 passing yards for the night—and would’ve put him into the No. 2 spot behind Schlichter for the most passing yards in a single game.

Mack had enough dropped passes that they seemed to be more regular than irregular. After the 48-yard diving pass reception on the first series of the night, the drop bug sought out Mack. Personally, I think Mack may have suffered a shoulder stinger or something of the like, because these drops were uncharacteristic of anybody in the wide receiver corps, especially him.

For the evening, Mack had four receptions on nine targets. In comparison, Binjimen Victor had zero receptions on one target. The WR portion of the offense is still a work in progress, but figuring out who should be on the field— and who should be targeted— is a priority. If a receiver is on a hot streak, keep feeding him the ball; if a receiver is having an off night, swap him out for a while and use him sparingly. Bad nights happen, but constantly keeping a struggling wideout in the game, especially on critical downs, could eventually lead to OSU getting in its own way and causing a loss.

The receivers weren’t the only problems though. Weak, low snaps from center Michael Jordan also prevented Haskins from getting the most from his day. I get that Michael Jordan is moving into the center spot for the first time in his life, and that he still has work to do, but against TCU, there were glaring signs that there is still a ton of work left to be done.

On the failed two-point conversion attempt, a low snap caused Haskins to scramble and make a throw while trying to evade the pass rush. That throw went high and away from Rashod Berry, leading to him getting flipped into the air a la David Boston.

Presumably, Jordan will get better with more reps. Whenever you move around positions, there will be growing pains. What we are seeing now is exactly that. Even Billy Price took to Twitter to defend his replacement.


Price is a Rimington Award winner, so he knows what this coaching staff can do. Penn State will be the next litmus test for how Jordan performs on a big stage. Unlike this game, the crowd will be very much in Penn State’s favor, so crowd noise will become a factor. But, I think the snaps will get more controlled.

Ryan Day can hold his own as a head coach


Well, the Ryan Day Experience as OSU head coach is over. Urban Meyer has served his suspension time, and will be back on the sidelines next Saturday as Ohio State takes on Tulane.

In these three games, we’ve seen Day react well to all of the situations thrown at him. The TCU game was a final exam for Day— and he passed. Gary Patterson is one of the most experienced and creative minds in college football, and Day was able to eek out the win against him in the Lone Star State.

Day would be an excellent candidate for the OSU job after Meyer is done. But will he wait around until that time comes? If a place like USC wants immediate success and wants to win tomorrow, they may see what it takes to get Day. Any place that is a haven for pocket passers would be lucky to have Day running the operation. If Day can develop Haskins to this level, then recruits would be flocking to wherever Day is at.

Hopefully that will be Ohio State either as a head or assistant coach, but we will have to wait to see what the future holds.

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Stock Market Report: Buying Dre’Mont Jones, K.J. Hill, selling Bill Davis back to the NFL
Patrick Mayhorn via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Get the ball to the most reliable playmakers, and quit it with the gimmick plays.

Well, that was fun, yeah? Ohio State, with Ryan Day as the acting head coach for the final game before Urban Meyer returns, took care of business in Arlington, Texas against TCU, 40-28. It wasn’t a pretty game, and when the Buckeyes were trailing 21-13 in the third quarter, there were certainly plenty of concerns.

However, a Parris Campbell touchdown, a Dre’Mont Jones Piesman worthy pick-six, and a K.J. Hill touchdown later, and Ohio State had a 12-point lead. The Buckeyes never looked back after the electric third quarter, striking once more in the fourth and shutting TCU’s offense down to lock up their first top-25 win of the season.

As with any win of this magnitude, and in a game that was that close for a large portion of the 60 minutes, there are plenty of things to take away, and that means there are plenty of things for us to buy and sell in this week’s Stock Market Report.

Blue-Chip stocks


Dre’Mont Jones, DT: I think Dre’Mont Jones was the most important player of this game for Ohio State. Six tackles, two of which were for a loss, a sack, two passes batted, and of course, the biggest play of the game, his spectacular shovel pass pick-six that gave Ohio State a lead that they wouldn’t look back from.

Jones was completely unblockable all night long, and in a game where much of the talk was focused on Nick Bosa’s uh, groin, the star of the line, and the team as a whole, was Jones. He’s been excellent all season, but this just furthers the theory that Dre’Mont Jones may be the best player on this entire Buckeye line.

K.J. Hill, WR: Looking for the best receiver on the roster? Look no further than Arkansas native K.J. Hill. Often forgotten over the past few years, Hill has been a model of consistency, catching everything thrown at him, and picking up yards exactly when Ohio State needs them most.

He was clutch on several third down catches, and if it wasn’t for his sure hands, there may have been a very different result here. Hill finished with six receptions, 95 yards, and a touchdown.

Dwayne Haskins, QB: I’ve joked about it in the past, but honestly, Dwayne Haskins may make this column every single week this year. While his stats this week weren’t as gaudy as they were in the first two games of the year, Haskins was still a star in this game. And, if Dre’Mont isn’t the reason for Ohio State’s momentum shift in the third quarter, Dwayne is.

He stayed calm even when the Buckeyes were trailing 21-13, delivering a strike to Parris Campbell, and Parris did the rest, picking up 63 yards and finding the endzone to cut the deficit to two.

Facing heavy pressure all night, Dwayne stood tall in the pocket, and delivered passes right where they needed to be on his way to a 344-yard, two-score performance.

Solid investments


Jonathan Cooper, DE: Jonathan Cooper, filling in for Nick Bosa after he went down for the game with an “abdominal injury”, looked exactly how you’d want a former five-star defensive end to look. There was very little— to no— drop-off between the two players, as Cooper played for basically the entire second half, and did an excellent job in all facets of the game.

He helped stuff the run, he set a great edge when TCU tried to run outside, and even picked up a big sack. Obviously a long term injury for Bosa would be bad news for Ohio State, as any injury to a player of his caliber would be. However, Ohio Sate is in good hands with Cooper, and he proved that on the biggest stage tonight.

J.K. Dobbins, RB: There was a general feeling this week against TCU’s aggressive defense that J.K. Dobbins could be in for a big game, and that was proven correct all game last night. Dobbins was able to dodge over-pursuing defenders throughout the game, and came up huge in the second half.

His quick feet and elusive escapability made him the perfect fit for this game-plan, and it was really shocking to see so many handoffs going to Mike Weber rather than Dobbins, especially late in the game. Weber is a great running back, Dobbins is a great running back, but in this game, Dobbins was the great running back. Ohio State should have stuck with the hot hand.

The cornerbacks: A lot can be said about Ohio State’s defensive backfield through three games, but I think after this game, it’s safe to say that the issues are not at cornerback, but rather at safety. The four main corners, Damon Arnette, Kendall Sheffield, Jeffrey Okudah and Shaun Wade (Shaun Wade hive stand up!) all looked very solid.

Against a great receiving group, they only allowed a couple of big plays, and were able to keep TCU’s passing game, specifically the down field passing game, contained very well. Arnette was beaten a couple of times, as were Wade and Sheffield, but the only truly big pass of the game, a 51-yard touchdown to TreVontae Hights, was the fault of safety Jahsen Wint, not a cornerback. Maybe one of these guys (Wade or Okudah) should be given a shot at that open safety slot next to Jordan Fuller.

Junk bonds


Gimmick play calls: They mostly stopped after the first half ended, but in the first 30 minutes, Ohio State had several very questionable play-calls. The two that stand out the most roughly an hour after the game ended are the failed attempt at running the wildcat with Parris Campbell on 3rd & 1 that resulted in a false start, and the six-yard loss on a jet sweep, end-around to Campbell.

There’s no reason for Ohio State to be calling plays like this. Ohio State was bigger and stronger than TCU, and they needed to be playing like it. That means running the ball up the middle or off tackle, and throwing the ball down the field. If TCU is bringing pressure, throw a bubble screen or a slant. But there’s no reason for Ohio State to be calling trick plays against a team like TCU. Stick to what works. The offense needs to stop getting too cute, before it really comes back to bite them.

Buy/Sell


Sell: Bill Davis. Bill Davis is a bad football coach, and being friends with Urban Meyer should not save his job. The linebackers have gotten significantly worse since he was hired, and there’s no reason for him to be on the staff next week, let alone next season.

Buy: Ohio State is the only playoff contender in the Big Ten. It was a really, really bad day for the Big Ten. Pretty much every Big Ten West team managed to lose to a G5 team; the most important of which was probably Wisconsin falling to BYU. While the East still has strong teams like Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State, Ohio State is on a different level. There’s no excuse for Ohio State not running the table in the conference this year.

Sell: Michael Jordan’s snaps. I think Michael Jordan is an excellent guard, and probably the most talented lineman on Ohio State’s team. I also think that moving him to center, for the first time in his career, two weeks before the season was a bad idea. His snaps were low and slow all night long, and there’s no reason a program like Ohio State should be struggling with something like that. Move Mike back to his natural position, and find a true center to take over in the middle.

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Buckeyes and Their Second Half Heroics
Richard Tongohan via our good friends at Men of the Scarlet and Gray
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

The Ohio State Buckeyes game planned as they travel to the heart of Texas to Cowboys Stadium to face what was and is their toughest opponent to date in TCU and man, it did not disappoint! In the last game of Coach Meyer’s suspension, Coach Day was tasked with this tall task in what will be his final and most memorable game before Meyer’s return and it certainly had my heart stopped a early on before the team started to show their playmaking ability. The Buckeyes were very much tested and although they made it through, they need to fix a few things and there are a few areas of concern for this team moving forward.

The dynamic and potent offense that Ohio State possesses, the offense took a while to function correctly despite the 40-28 score. Firstly, the lack of consistency with Michael Jordan and the Center position. There were many times during the game, where Jordan snapped the ball too low which disrupted the rhythm at least momentarily. Additionally, the 7 to 11 connection being open? Yes, it was open and Haskins got the ball out and to Mack, but he could not reel in the ball and he accounted for 4 drops, which boggles my mind and is uncharacteristic of him. He made up for it in the second half, but if he grabbed that near TD pass in the end zone, it would’ve been the difference, but a win is a win–especially against a good TCU team!

This game showcased two teams that want to be in contention for a CFB Playoff berth and it was gut-wrenching and hard to watch at first after sputtering on offense early and remaining stagnant to where the offense only managed three FG attempts with one barely missing. The defense scored on what should have been a safety, but all together the refs managed to let them play with minimal penalties for either team. Both offenses managed to make the big play with Anderson’s 93-yard sprint to the end zone, which is their longest play from scrimmage and the longest play surrendered by a Buckeye team. There was also that bomb that resulted in another 50+ yard TD against Wint, who was not sure where the ball was before getting dragged into the end zone.

On the flip side, the Haskins and the Buckeye offense would not be held back and they responded in the second half with two big plays to put them up for good in the game. A screen pass to Campbell and a bomb to Hill made up for the slow start to the game. and Haskins even earned a rushing TD to pull away. The defense after Bosa strained his abdomen or groin area also chipped in with big-time plays that swung the momentum in their favor. Dre’Mont Jones intercepted a shovel pass and housed it, while late in the game Harrison picked off Robinson to seal the game for the Buckeyes.

It was a stiff test in what was essentially a home game for the Horned Frogs, but a few of the hometown kids showed up. Specifically J.K. Dobbins ran roughshod and ran with power and anger as he racked up 121 yards on 18 carries, while his stablemate Weber grinded out 64 yards with the same amount of carries. Next week, the Buckeyes will try to re-establish everything under Coach Meyer, who returns against Tulane after his suspension. They will need to fix a few things and rest the players who were injured for Happy Valley in two weeks. Go Bucks!






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Jake said:

Every time the game is close, fans see uncalled holding on every play.

There isn't a fan board on this planet without a thread like this one.

Click to expand...

If you didn't see the their left tackle literally talking guys out there I don't want to tell you at this point Jake. There were multiple obvious uncalled holding calls there including on the play Bosa got hurt.