HC Ryan Day (2019 B1G Media COY)

[Thump]

I wonder how much with Hendo is injury. He wasn't this tentative last year. He doesn't look like the same back.

99% of it.

 

[BuckeyeBiz]

I hear the chatter about Day but quick reminder about what he’s accomplished after we abruptly transitioned from the Meyer era:

Results
- 42-4 record (losses to 20 Bama in weird Covid year and overmatched/depleted roster, 19 Clemson in a last second heartbreak where zebras made the difference, 21 TTUN on the road, tough weather conditions and flash in the pan TTUN team pulled it together once a decade, 21 Oregon with 21 being a rebuilding year and awful defensive scheme)
- made CFP playoffs 2 out of 3 seasons (1-2 record)
- 22 Rose Bowl victory
- consistent top 10 offenses

Dominated Conference
- 1 B1G conference loss
- 2 B1G championships (out of 3 seasons)

Recruiting
- consistently averaging top 5 recruiting talent and managing NIL era well
- success using portal for impact players

Player development
- 4 heisman finalists (Young, Haskins, Fields and Stroud)
- sustained the high standard of producing all Americans, NFL draft picks and academic standards

Program Management
- low drama with coaches and players
- hasn’t had the annual letdown game against Purdue, Iowa, etc.
- quickly made adjustments to coaching staff when needed

I’m missing stuff but I think I’ve made the point. If we somehow fail to beat TTUN next week I think chatter should elevate as that is the most important stat line. I can find gaps in all of the “elite” coaches today and in our past 2 HOF coaches. We’re spoiled and let’s give Ryan the benefit of the doubt. He’s no Coop and I predict a 2-1 record against TTUN following next Saturday’s Game of the Century 2.0!

 

[knuckifyoubuck]

42-4 record (losses to 20 Bama in weird Covid year and overmatched/depleted roster, 19 Clemson in a last second heartbreak where zebras made the difference, 21 TTUN on the road, tough weather conditions and flash in the pan TTUN team pulled it together once a decade, 21 Oregon with 21 being a rebuilding year and awful defensive scheme)

Pass the copium, I need a hit.

 

[AuTX Buckeye]

I wonder how much with Hendo is injury. He wasn't this tentative last year. He doesn't look like the same back.

He wasn't right for late last season too... he's been hurt I feel like since his big game last year.

When coach Alford said Tre wanted the day off at practice after Tulsa last year I thought that was curious.

I might be way off base but … perhaps him bulking up to 220ish or more wasn’t the smartest move after not having played his Sr of High school. He was use to playing at a certain weight then after almost 2 years plays 20/30 lbs heavier and depending on the regime to get those extra lbs could have impacted his body in unintended ways..

 

[Captain Buckeye]

I might be way off base but … perhaps him bulking up to 220ish or more wasn’t the smartest move after not having played his Sr of High school. He was use to playing at a certain weight then after almost 2 years plays 20/30 lbs heavier and depending on the regime to get those extra lbs could have impacted his body in unintended ways..

He for sure isn't as sudden as he was last year but hard to tell how much thats on the foot or the weight gain. I'd argue he didn't look the same in the first game neither.

 

[Systems_id]

Man ya'll are way more down than I am. There were problems agains the game against Maryland for sure, but those problems wouldn't come into play until we get to CFP imo. I'd be way more nervous as a SCUM fan considering it's been proven that Corum is basically their entire offense. Plus I'm not sure how much of the issues we're seeing has a lot to do with the health of the team vs actual coaching/scheme issues. I think the sputtering run game has WAY more to do with the health of the OL and RBs than I initially thought. Think we'll see a different team come playoff time god willing.

 

[Onebuckfan]

Man ya'll are way more down than I am. There were problems agains the game against Maryland for sure, but those problems wouldn't come into play until we get to CFP imo. I'd be way more nervous as a SCUM fan considering it's been proven that Corum is basically their entire offense. Plus I'm not sure how much of the issues we're seeing has a lot to do with the health of the team vs actual coaching/scheme issues. I think the sputtering run game has WAY more to do with the health of the OL and RBs than I initially thought. Think we'll see a different team come playoff time god willing.

Playoff is Saturday not a month from now. We may have to scheme around our injuries. What we do know ..we can pass block and CJ can throw it. Grip it and rip it. Playing to be balanced should be out the window if injuries are preventing us from being balanced.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Man ya'll are way more down than I am. There were problems agains the game against Maryland for sure, but those problems wouldn't come into play until we get to CFP imo. Plus I'm not sure how much of the issues we're seeing has a lot to do with the health of the team vs actual coaching/scheme issues. I think the sputtering run game has WAY more to do with the health of the OL and RBs than I initially thought. Think we'll see a different team come playoff time god willing.

I think the X & O gurus at the various sites have pretty well laid it all out on the running game. We're much better at straight ahead, inside stuff in terms of scheme and talent fit. We are not very good at outside run stuff because of scheme and talent (and injury) fit.

Day still calling more than a token outside run or two per game is my only real concern with the run game. You have to take the good with the bad though, no coach is perfect. He gets a little stubborn and predictable but he's also the greatest offensive coach we've ever had and absolutely fantastic at making in game adjustments.

I've personally made my peace with what I think he is as a coach and I think I want him to have a long career at OSU but this Game is a massive moment in his tenure. I think they are going to beat tsun's ass but if they somehow do not and the worst happens, it's going to get uncomfortable for Day.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

I think the X & O gurus at the various sites have pretty well laid it all out on the running game. We're much better at straight ahead, inside stuff in terms of scheme and talent fit. We are not very good at outside run stuff because of scheme and talent (and injury) fit.

Day still calling more than a token outside run or two per game is my only real concern with the run game. You have to take the good with the bad though, no coach is perfect. He gets a little stubborn and predictable but he's also the greatest offensive coach we've ever had and absolutely fantastic at making in game adjustments.

I've personally made my peace with what I think he is as a coach and I think I want him to have a long career at OSU but this Game is a massive moment in his tenure. I think they are going to beat tsun's ass but if they somehow do not and the worst happens, it's going to get uncomfortable for Day.

With you 100%

All season long DSA has been predicting a narrow margin in TTUN's favor in this game. All season long I have believed that, when it comes down to it, the match-up will favor Ohio State.

I will have more to say about this in the coming days, but the last few games have gone from a bad game to a trend to... I don't even know anymore.

They have still beaten everyone by double digits. Something no other team can say. But the inconsistency has hit a level that I don't remember seeing anywhere at any time, ever. And before some genius comes on here and says "that happens to everybody"... Inconsistency is measurable and provable and I will be posting the results in the coming week.

I still believe that this is a game where the Buckeyes defy my spreadsheets (in the right direction for a change). But the wild in-game fluctuations and the concomitant diminution of performance over the course of the season has me wondering.

 

[Jaxbuck]

But the wild in-game fluctuations and the concomitant diminution of performance over the course of the season has me wondering.

I think it's other teams seeing the flaws and making us pay for it (mostly). Inside of that you have Day and company having to adjust week to week for all the injuries and figuring out what works literally on the fly.

This isn't the best offense in the country at this point in the year. It isn't the best defense. It's just a very talented team that can hurt you in any of the 3 phases while being susceptible to inconsistency in all 3 phases at any point themselves.

People need to forget the preseason expectations and come to grips with where this team is really at imo.

• JSN is out and replaced by Flemming (essentially), that's a huge drop off. Most teams don't even have a JSN so there is no comp for this loss of talent.
• We're down to the 4th string, true freshman running back. tsun might have #1 nicked up and it's news. We are down to number fucking FOUR.
• The OL recruiting sins of Stud have come home to roost a season early (no depth and huge dudes built for pass pro more than down field run blocking)
• Day's (or someone's) bad habit of asking the big Ol to run blocking schemes like they are all 280 lb mobile athletes.
• Our TE's don't block very well at all.

But yet.......

• you have Harrison Jr and EE to help create a very formidable passing attack still
• we have a Dallan Hayden to come in and run for 150 when it maters
• The OL can run block very well when asked to do what fits their strength
• The TE's are an intregal part of the passing attack, maybe more so than they have ever been

and that's just the offense!

It's a walking dichotomy of a team. Completely schizo in the fine line between it's weaknesses and strengths. I won't lie and say it's been enjoyable but it's certainly been interesting. It will be a lot more fucking enjoyable when it wins The Game.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

Concur... not sure the offense has progressed in the last month... more likely regressed...

D has been steady to improved

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

I think it's other teams seeing the flaws and making us pay for it (mostly).

This and something closely related are the possibilities that concern me. CFB history is full of coaches who did really well for awhile based on having come up with a new scheme or a twist on an old one. Urban Meyer is exhibit A. When other coaches catch up to the scheme, the Meyer-type coaches become dependent on hiring good coordinators. I dont think Day falls under this heading, at least not yet, but I'd be lyin' if I pretended I wasnt concerned about the success that opponents have had in following the "Iowa template". One would think that this team would have more successful answers to the defensive schemes they're facing.There are numerous possibilities for why they havent executed these answers consistently to this point in the season... we'll see which it is in 6 days

 

[Jaxbuck]

This and something closely related are the possibilities that concern me. CFB history is full of coaches who did really well for awhile based on having come up with a new scheme or a twist on an old one. Urban Meyer is exhibit A. When other coaches catch up to the scheme, the Meyer-type coaches become dependent on hiring good coordinators. I dont think Day falls under this heading, at least not yet, but I'd be lyin' if I pretended I wasnt concerned about the success that opponents have had in following the "Iowa template". One would think that this team would have more successful answers to the defensive schemes they're facing.There are numerous possibilities for why they havent executed these answers consistently to this point in the season... we'll see which it is in 6 days

I think the "Iowa Template" is very much the study of how people react to risk/reward. In baseball they put a big shift on and dare your HR hitter to bunt. In golf they design the course with a very strategically placed bunker.

The easy answer is to always "take what they give you" but you can't really do that all the time because now the enemy is dictating to you. I think we have seen for 7 years now that Day wants to go down field with his passing attack and is stubborn about that when teams run a bunch of soft zone to take it away. That said, I think "he's a stubborn play caller" is an over simplification. He's trying, imo, to take the initiative back from the opponent and do what he wants to do anyway. This obviously is going to meet with a mixed bag of success.

As events have unfolded in '22, the personnel aren't a great fit for what the coach wants to be at his core and I think that paradox is the underlying dynamic of the herky jerky nature of this team. It reminds me a lot of 2012 in that way. Urban had his offense and had some really good parts to fit it but he didn't have everything he needed so it was a "ham and egg outfit", to quote Meyer from memory, that still found a way to go 12-0.

Let's hope we see the same results.

 

[Buckeneye]

We're much better at straight ahead, inside stuff in terms of scheme and talent fit. We are not very good at outside run stuff because of scheme and talent (and injury) fit.

Can't really run the outside zone because of the size of the OL, and RB's not versed in when to be patient and when to push the hole or when to be instinctive with their cuts. Which is fine, because formation constraints dictate that when you spread a team horizontally, then by nature you tend to work the vertical running game. Unfortunately this team has been hit and miss with that at times. Partly because of health, partly because of execution and the third part, IMHO - mentality.

This team is good, but it is flawed. Good news, I don't believe those flaws are fatal for a matchup against scUM. Beyond that? That's another matter entirely.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Can't really run the outside zone because of the size of the OL, and RB's not versed in when to be patient and when to push the hole or when to be instinctive with their cuts. Which is fine, because formation constraints dictate that when you spread a team horizontally, then by nature you tend to work the vertical running game. Unfortunately this team has been hit and miss with that at times. Partly because of healthy, partly because of execution and the third part, IMHO - mentality.

This team is good, but it is flawed. Good news, I don't believe those flaws are fatal for a matchup against scUM. Beyond that? That's another matter entirely.

100% agree on all of that