Game Thread 2015 Sugar Bowl: (1) Alabama vs. (4) Ohio State, Jan 1st @ 8:30p ET, ESPN (civilized thread)

[MililaniBuckeye]

FWIW he has been high on OSU for a while. He doesn't trust the 3rd string qb. He has said things like, "Alabama losing to a 3rd string qb would be extremely damaging to their program.

Think about that. You guys are playing with house money. If you get beat 35-0, you have a great excuse. If you win, you took down bama with an inexperienced sub. This type of thing makes bama fans very nervous.

OSU's potential strengths play very well to bama's weaknesses, but cardale is definitely a wildcard.

Saban will be throwing extremely exotic and complex looks at him, but he also is unable to adequately prepare for him, and we all know how Saban likes to prepare.

You make some good points. The thing that pissed me off about Finebaum's pick was he did not once mention "3rd string QB" and simply went on the old Big Ten against SEC reasoning. Even today on the bowl prediction special, when Robert Smith picked OSU to win (although his least-confident pick) he was told that Saban prepares for an opponent better than anyone when he has a long time to prepare...then Smith promptly reminded them that Saban has only one full game of Jones to review, to which everyone agreed. People also need to remember than Jones was Miller's backup until right before the start of the season, and that he was 3rd string only because he had not one but two Heisman-caliber QBs ahead of him.

 

[shiloh]

Re: "The 6 states that feed college football are Texas, Florida, California, Ohio, Georgia and Louisiana."

Interesting article: Where do college football players come from?

Per Capita Rates are a Lot More Interesting ie as a percentage of the population.
Rate Per 100K
1) Louisiana 1.83
2) Alabama 1.75
3) Florida 1.69
4) Georgia 1.62

Soooo, on a hs level, the above 4 states produce the most college football recruits as a percentage of their pop.

IOW, these states produce quality hs football recruits. btw, TX/OH/OK are 8,9,10 respectively.

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This in no way reflects on an individual states hs education results :-P

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carry on

 

[Bestbuck36]

How much do you guys think you have improved since the Michigan state game?

Well, we've gotten worse at the Read Option for sure. Barrett was masterful at times with his reads on this but Cardale shows his inexperience on this and just hasnt quite mastered the read, imo. He has a month though to get better. I believe our defense has definitely shown improvement as the season has gone on. Why we didnt smash the run vs Minny and Indiana I don't know. Coaching choice.
I'm more confident in the kicking game than most, especially the punt game and return. Jalin Marshall can scare the crap out of you on the returns but he can also look like a magician and take it to the house on any given play. I'm hoping Bama's kicker out kicks his coverage a couple of times and let's Jalin get loose. I think field position is going to be critical in this game.
We've almost forgotten about the TE's lately and that's terrible. Both Vannett and Heuerman are excellent TE's if they just utilize them more our offense is nigh unstoppable. We also get Dontre back for this game so that is just another weapon we'll have for Cardale.

Defensively our man coverage is greatly improved, imo. The safeties can be a little sketchy at times but Vonn Bell is a ball hawk already as a Soph and he and Tyvis Powell will come up and lay a big hit on. The MLB position is one that has been a bit of an enigma. Curtis Grant and Raekwon McMillan are big hitters but they don't always stick their noses in and fill the gaps which hurts the run defense. I prefer McMillan myself and I think he's about to come on big time but that's my opinion.

It's going to be fun for sure.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

I'm more confident in the kicking game than most, especially the punt game and return.

I'm very concerned about getting a punt blocked...Wiscy came close about three times during CCG. I noticed they overloaded their right side (our left side) of the line and had several guys come almost unblocked.

We've almost forgotten about the TE's lately and that's terrible. Both Vannett and Heuerman are excellent TE's if they just utilize them more our offense is nigh unstoppable. We also get Dontre back for this game so that is just another weapon we'll have for Cardale.

I'm starting to think Meyer has intentional gone away from using the TE's until a game where he needs to unleash them. Had we not jumped out to that huge lead against Wiscy, I think he would have used them, but since we didn't really need them Meyer decided not to give any more film to Alabama.

As for Wilson being back, I might not be so quick to use a guy who has been out so long...I could be wrong, though.

 

[RB07OSU]

I'm very concerned about getting a punt blocked...Wiscy came close about three times during CCG. I noticed they overloaded their right side (our left side) of the line and had several guys come almost unblocked.


I'm starting to think Meyer has intentional gone away from using the TE's until a game where he needs to unleash them. Had we not jumped out to that huge lead against Wiscy, I think he would have used them, but since we didn't really need them Meyer decided not to give any more film to Alabama.

As for Wilson being back, I might not be so quick to use a guy who has been out so long...I could be wrong, though.

Agreed on the first two things but with Dontre I am not worried. If he had been out half the season or more, I would be worried. But really it has only been a few weeks. My only worry would be if he is not fully recovered but I trust the staff to monitor that. He knows the playbook inside and out, plus he could be a huge x-factor in terms of what Bama has to prepare for (or thinks they have to prepare for).

 

[shiloh]

More statistical crap er bull [Mark May] ...

Colleges With Most NFL Draft Picks

USC ... 487
Notre Dame ... 485
Ohio State ... 413
Oklahoma ... 367
Nebraska ... 350
Michigan ... 345
Tennessee ... 337
Penn State ... 335
Texas ... 332
Alabama ... 319


Current # of players on NFL rosters by college


School ~ Active Players

LSU 38

Southern Cal 37

Alabama 36

Georgia 34

Florida 33

Florida State 33

Miami 31

California 29

Ohio State 29

Notre Dame 28

Tennessee 28

Wisconsin 27

 

[Bill Lucas]

Ohhhh it will be worth listening to if we win this game. He admitted to an Ohio caller that it will set Alabama back if they lose to a B1G school with a 3rd string QB.

They really think we're Missouri and the new flavor is to compare tOSU to the speed of Notre Dame a couple years ago. They are either clueless football fans or they haven't watched us play this year.

The speed argument is funny at this point. Ohio State has as much team speed as any team in the country.

 

[Michael Bluth]

How much do you guys think you have improved since the Michigan state game?

Offensively we cannot play better than we did against Michigan State. Barrett was perfect and the play calling was perfect. Defensively I think we have gotten better, but tough to tell without facing another balanced offense like MSU (so we will find out on Jan 1). A key factor in keeping that game relatively close were the special teams turnovers we committed. It seems we've since cleaned that up.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

The speed argument is funny at this point. Ohio State has as much team speed as any team in the country.

What are you talking about? Bosa used to be a lot faster until he left Florida.

 

[bukIpower]

It would be a surprise to many if OSU wins this game and wow since when did a loss to osu become a setback? I get we have a 3rd string but Cardale was the starter all spring/fall if they don't know that. We probably should lose and if I had to bet my house I probably wouldn't put it tosu either. However, there is lots of value in being severe underdogs, being discounted, being told they don't belong, as well as taking on the giant of college football. This team will be ready and it'll give the Crimson Tide everything they want and as last year (as well as the sugar bowl vs Utah) points out you can catch a Alabama team overconfident and uninterested.

The speed thing is silly as this point because that's all we recruit. If anything I'm worried about Alabama's SIZE because they have a lot of size and that's something that could be of their benefit in the 4th quarter especially. I'm glad now that we are playing Bama' because in order for us to gain national respect we have got to beat the best program in college football and for about 5-6 years now that's been hands down Alabama. Hopefully we do win and we have to hear all the back peddling that everyone does but then it'll be about how we will get destroyed vs Oregon/FSU (let it be Oregon please god please). Regardless I'm just very proud of our team though

Take care of the ball, negate their big plays, and win on the LOS. Whoever does that will win.

 

[scarletngray]

I hope with Herman leaving that this isn't a big distraction to everyone.

 

[Tlangs]

That wasn't the play. The play was on 3rd and 6 with just under two minutes left in regulation. Gamble was blatantly held, then caught the ball in bounds. The refs didn't call the hold, and ruled the catch incomplete. They called Gamble out on the catch.

If the refs had made EITHER call, then the Buckeyes would have had 1st and 10 with roughly 1:45 on the clock, and the Canes with only one timeout...

The Buckeyes should have won that game in regulation. It was only terrible officiating that even let that game get to OT in the first place.

He got held twice. In this pick he was breaking to the middle and was held. He then cut back to the sideline and was held again.

 

[Coqui]

Offensively we cannot play better than we did against Michigan State. Barrett was perfect and the play calling was perfect. Defensively I think we have gotten better, but tough to tell without facing another balanced offense like MSU (so we will find out on Jan 1). A key factor in keeping that game relatively close were the special teams turnovers we committed. It seems we've since cleaned that up.

If MSU was the epitome of offensive production, what happened against Wisconsin?

 

[Jaxbuck]

The 2012 Notre Dame and this years Missouri comparison by a large contingent of Bama/SEC fans is utterly ridiculous.....

Agreed. From the Bama schedule this year my .02;

• OSU is most similar to Auburn offensively. I'd say a notch below, especially with our 3rd QB, but that's the closest comparison from the Bama schedule.
• OSU is most similar to LSU defensively, maybe just a notch below the 2 Mississippi schools
• Bama is the best team OSU has faced in either phase of the game. MSU offensively and PSU defensively would be be the closest comps but Bama is better than either one.
• Cooper is far and away the best individual player we have faced all year and biggest mismatch
• Their freshman punter is probably only behind Cooper and MGIII as far as individual talents we have faced. Kid is phenomenal.

So long story short, I think you have each team facing it's best overall opponent of the year in this game.

Should be fun

 

[Michael Bluth]

If MSU was the epitome of offensive production, what happened against Wisconsin?

Our defense dominated and controlled the game, and special teams gave us a fantastic field position advantage with zero turnovers.

I think if you watched both games end to end again, you would see the offensive efficiency displayed against Michigan State cannot be topped. The only reason we didn't score more is due to the two special teams turnovers and poor defensive play.