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- Thread starter LordJeffBuck
- Start date
I reckon I will give my post-mortem in this thread and not in response to the initial post by @LordJeffBuck (which I think was very good btw) or any posts thereafter, but just rolling out my thoughts in no particular order on this game. I have only come up for air tonight, so I apologize if I am beating a dead horse on any topic. Stream of consciousness, hopefully more interesting than Ulysses (and maybe of the ilk of Beloved, fingers crossed):
1. This feels like the last Clemson loss where we freaking had them and a great initial game plan, yet somehow it slipped away the end. The failure to win close games in the big one hurts and cannot be ignored, subject to my next point.
2. Point #2 but really my biggest point, I mean this. I could not be more proud of the players and the staff in this game. Georgia is fucking really good and Smart and his staff are really good...sometimes you play an almost perfect game and still lose, that is what happened imo. All of our players left every last bit on the field and I teared up at the end...not because we lost, because I know that agonizing feeling of defeat after you have laid it all out there and came up short of the goal. When you devote so many hours to a goal and legit fight your heart out but come up short, that is one of the worst feelings in the world. Coach Day, the whole staff, the whole roster (and we had to go deep on offense) laid it all out there and that was the best performance we could put out as a whole. Were they perfect? Hell no, but damned near it and the best I have seen this year. One of the hardest things in life is accepting that type of result when you have done everything in your power to win it. We didn't win it. That sucks and you have to just say it sucks, and not blame anything else (prelude to my next point).
3. I get there were bad calls and the one that took out Harrison Jr. was pretty atrocious. That needs reviewed from a college football standpoint, but the refs did not lose us the game and while the targeting calls always go against us in critical moments, we had control of the game. That being said, if we had won I would be pretty concerned about the title game with no Harrison...at that point we were pretty tapped out.
4. Out of all the plays that lost us the game, people will naturally point to Ruggles and the missed kick to win it. I truly hope he doesn't beat himself up on that (I say that as someone that does not forgive themself), for two reasons. I will state the obvious and say the team could/should have won it without him. But second and more importantly, Ruggles does not make kicks 50+ yards and should have never been in that position. Two timeouts and roughly 30 seconds...from that point we needed 5-8 yards to win because that is Ruggles' range. A run, a slant or out route, kick the field goal and win...running a slow developing kill shot pass is beyond me. I don't have a crystal ball saying he makes it from 5-8 yards further for sure, but Ruggles shanked that kick so bad trying to power it because he is a short range kicker. Statistics say he probably would though. Really that is the only major coaching gaffe of the game to me.
5. I don't want to pick on the kid that I have touted all year, especially when I said the loss falls on no specific player...but there is one play that, in my mind, flipped the game. Ransom falling down and giving up that huge TD pass was the turning point imo. Not just the points, but it preserved the clock with one big play. As is the case with football, no specific play loses a game...but it is also true that a specific play can really hurt you at the end of the day and turn the tides. That was the play. Looked like a fake sniper shot his legs, really inexplicable to the point that I am looking at Vegas...how in the world does that happen at such a crucial moment?
6. Really great offensive play calling in the face of adversity and injuries, everybody better sing their praises. For cripes sake we have Henderson and Miyan out at RB, JSN and Harrison out at WR, Stover at TE, and I think one OL? Yet we plug X Johnson in and I know he has had a good year, but in that moment to play like that? Really incredible job.
7. The defense...they said it themselves, can't give up 42 points and that is just the honest truth. If you said we scored 41 points, I would have lit up a cigar thinking we had won. That shit has to be fixed or Knowles is gone.
8. Final point. CJ Stroud played the game of his life and really fought tooth and nail like many Buckeye fans accused him of not doing. Legend. I will think of him up there with the all time best QBs here because of that effort. Unfortunately he did not get the W, but it was not due to a lack of effort. Dude put it all on the line and did the things people were being critical about him. I hope he has great success in the NFL.
1. This feels like the last Clemson loss where we freaking had them and a great initial game plan, yet somehow it slipped away the end. The failure to win close games in the big one hurts and cannot be ignored, subject to my next point.
2. Point #2 but really my biggest point, I mean this. I could not be more proud of the players and the staff in this game. Georgia is fucking really good and Smart and his staff are really good...sometimes you play an almost perfect game and still lose, that is what happened imo. All of our players left every last bit on the field and I teared up at the end...not because we lost, because I know that agonizing feeling of defeat after you have laid it all out there and came up short of the goal. When you devote so many hours to a goal and legit fight your heart out but come up short, that is one of the worst feelings in the world. Coach Day, the whole staff, the whole roster (and we had to go deep on offense) laid it all out there and that was the best performance we could put out as a whole. Were they perfect? Hell no, but damned near it and the best I have seen this year. One of the hardest things in life is accepting that type of result when you have done everything in your power to win it. We didn't win it. That sucks and you have to just say it sucks, and not blame anything else (prelude to my next point).
3. I get there were bad calls and the one that took out Harrison Jr. was pretty atrocious. That needs reviewed from a college football standpoint, but the refs did not lose us the game and while the targeting calls always go against us in critical moments, we had control of the game. That being said, if we had won I would be pretty concerned about the title game with no Harrison...at that point we were pretty tapped out.
4. Out of all the plays that lost us the game, people will naturally point to Ruggles and the missed kick to win it. I truly hope he doesn't beat himself up on that (I say that as someone that does not forgive themself), for two reasons. I will state the obvious and say the team could/should have won it without him. But second and more importantly, Ruggles does not make kicks 50+ yards and should have never been in that position. Two timeouts and roughly 30 seconds...from that point we needed 5-8 yards to win because that is Ruggles' range. A run, a slant or out route, kick the field goal and win...running a slow developing kill shot pass is beyond me. I don't have a crystal ball saying he makes it from 5-8 yards further for sure, but Ruggles shanked that kick so bad trying to power it because he is a short range kicker. Statistics say he probably would though. Really that is the only major coaching gaffe of the game to me.
5. I don't want to pick on the kid that I have touted all year, especially when I said the loss falls on no specific player...but there is one play that, in my mind, flipped the game. Ransom falling down and giving up that huge TD pass was the turning point imo. Not just the points, but it preserved the clock with one big play. As is the case with football, no specific play loses a game...but it is also true that a specific play can really hurt you at the end of the day and turn the tides. That was the play. Looked like a fake sniper shot his legs, really inexplicable to the point that I am looking at Vegas...how in the world does that happen at such a crucial moment?
6. Really great offensive play calling in the face of adversity and injuries, everybody better sing their praises. For cripes sake we have Henderson and Miyan out at RB, JSN and Harrison out at WR, Stover at TE, and I think one OL? Yet we plug X Johnson in and I know he has had a good year, but in that moment to play like that? Really incredible job.
7. The defense...they said it themselves, can't give up 42 points and that is just the honest truth. If you said we scored 41 points, I would have lit up a cigar thinking we had won. That shit has to be fixed or Knowles is gone.
8. Final point. CJ Stroud played the game of his life and really fought tooth and nail like many Buckeye fans accused him of not doing. Legend. I will think of him up there with the all time best QBs here because of that effort. Unfortunately he did not get the W, but it was not due to a lack of effort. Dude put it all on the line and did the things people were being critical about him. I hope he has great success in the NFL.
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rsh
Day apologist
They did exactly that.
- First Down, Hayden was stuffed for a 1 yard loss.
- Second Down, CJ threw a slant to X that was broken up by Ringo.
- Third Down, Egbuka was briefly open on an out route, but CJ was pressured almost immediately and had to turn it down.
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Kind of a blur watching it live with no sound at the game watch, I'll have to rewatch after the appropriate mourning period. If that's the case, then no complaints at all on coaching. And thank you for the breakdown, I love our game watch but I have someone bending my ear all game or texting me nonstop to the point of annoyance, so I probably miss a lot.
But maybe Georgia knew Ruggles couldn't hit and that those last 5-8 yards were important and schemed accordingly? Idk, but I guess if we were trying to get in range then I withdraw my only complaint.
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Serious question: we know the Georgia TE’s catch was called a first down according to replay. What if instead of at the first down marker the play was at the goal line? Is that considered a TD given that the ball do not pass the goal line inside the pylon? I think that is the rule and I admit I could be wrong, however if the goal line is not extended past the pylon why wouldn’t the logic apply to the first down marker. It appears the ball is out of bounds once it crosses the out of bounds sideline in one case but not the other….. of course I might be confusing college and NFL rules…
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The sideline is not extended at the first down marker. I said this right after the replay reversal, the never-seen-before vertical red line made it look like he got the ball past the line, but I believe the ball crossed over the sideline before it got even with the red line, or was at least not conclusively past the first down line before it went over the sideline. This, the call should have stood as called, and tOSU would have had the ball and a 14-point lead in the 4th quarter.
How many of us believe that if that would have been a Buckeye extending for the marker that ESPN would have quickly shown a replay with a red line that we’ve never seen before, to get the replay official to think the call needs to be overturned? I sure as hell don’t.
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I guess great minds think alike then. I thought that was the rule but was not 100% certain.
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Three safeties, yet your 240-pound MLB is still in coverage against WRs. Something is definitely broken with Knowles's defense.
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dragurd
Head Coach
Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the O coordinator and say you got us that time. I'd have to see the play again. But if I had to guess we running 2 deep and they did something odd like line him up as a tight end to get the match-up.
Now D coordinator can definitely have screwed up or the players could have but sometimes it isn't their fault and it's just good film study by the other team
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I remember the play in which the announcer stated a particular GA WR was THE fastest player on the field... and Eich was matched up on him... still chasing him 25 yards down field.. unrealistic to expect LB to cover that.. Knowles fault
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1926Buckeyes
Head Coach
Don't think it's broken, but he definitely got taken advantage of.
It's a good question. If I had to guess, they're the closest position to swiss army knives, and it allows more disguising of coverages and blitzes. But unless they start getting more talent, it won't matter that much anyway. I'm of the opinion that they'll end up using their biggest, most physical CB and call him the 3rd safety. That way you can at least provide better coverage in big games. It's all about winning the battles to get the most talented DBs, and teaching them how to go low and wrap up in run support.
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Honestly I think Jyaire Brown would do well in that spot. He seemed like one of the only CBs willing to get physical.
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Herb Kirkstreit
He / him / I like to motorboat boobs
I was actually impressed with Eichenberg's speed on that play. Damn near kept up with him. Valiant effort to be sure.
It's just a problem we've seen before. I still have nightmares of watching Storm Klein hobbling after Alabama's receivers, repeatedly.
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Pretty sure the play where Eich was trailing the WR down the middle was a Tampa-2 defense.
Means that Eich owns the middle deep of the field (not man on the WR).
One could argue that we shouldn't run that defense; but if it's called, it's Eich's job to get deep. That defense is a 3-deep (LB in middle and two safeties fan towards the outside).
Really shouldn't be beaten deep.
I assume the other receptions on Eich were also zone coverages but don't remember them. I don't recall any plays where he was in man coverage, but I'm also not going to re-watch.
Have to give props to the Georgia OC and their QB - they went after our weaknesses - attacked any safety with man responsibilities and, I guess, the LB in zones.
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This.
With three safeties, one must have the ability to play man on a WR. In our defense, it was supposed to be McCallister but often was Ransom. Ransom can cover most TE, but not most WR.
For next year, we should have Styles as the run enforcer, Stokes/Ransom can compete for the deep guy, and we need to find a "Shaun Wade"-type for the third Safety.
Jyaire would be a good candidate for the third safety.
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