Brett Ludwiczak
Guest
How episode titles from The Sopranos can recap Ohio State’s win over Rutgers
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Since the Buckeyes were in New Jersey, why not lean on the state’s most famous family?
Last year following the Rutgers game I used some things from The Sopranos to describe an Ohio State win over the Scarlet Knights. This year I’m going back to well, just putting a different spin on it. I used some specific people and places from the legendary television show in 2022. To wrap up the 35-16 win for the Buckeyes this time around, I figured I would use episode titles from the HBO series.
I know it’s probably lazy to use The Sopranos again for a post game Ohio State article, but the only good thing about New Jersey is a fictional television show.
The eighth episode of season three that actually aired on Easter Sunday revolved around Ralph Cifaretto being promoted to Capo. If TreVeyon Henderson wasn’t already a Capo in the Ohio State offense already, he better be promoted immediately. After totaling 207 yards in last week’s win at Wisconsin, Henderson bettered that mark by a yard against Rutgers. The junior running back provided a massive spark in the second half of the game to a Buckeye offense that was struggling through the first 30 minutes.
Somehow Henderson looked even better this week than he did last Saturday night against the Badgers. Along with his ability to find some room to run, Henderson was also dealing out some punishment to the Rutgers defenders. Had it not been for Henderson, it would have been a very ugly day for the Ohio State offense. The Buckeyes only amassed 120 yards of offense from players other than Henderson.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25058421/1763963513.jpg "Ohio State v Rutgers")
Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
What Ryan Day and Brian Hartline will have to try and limit over the next couple of weeks is the number of touches for Henderson. While you don’t want to completely shut the junior down, you would prefer to not have him touch the football over 25 times per game in contests against Michigan State and Minnesota. Let Henderson get some work and hopefully the Buckeyes can build a big enough lead in those games so he doesn’t really have to play much in the second halves of those games. The goal is to have Henderson as fresh and healthy as possible for the Michigan game.
The title refers to the 11th episode of the first season of the show. In the episode, Tony is becoming increasingly suspicious that Pussy Bonpensiero is an FBI informant. While there sounds like there was plenty of informing done by Conor Stalions when it came to the signals of the opponents of Michigan over the last few years, I’m going in a different direction when it comes to tying in this episode title to the Rutgers game.
It feels like when it comes to Ohio State’s special teams, nobody knows anything. Did Jesse Mirco go rogue on the fake punt decision early in the game? Why does Parker Fleming have a job? Does Fleming have some incredible blackmail information on Ryan Day? Buckeye fans are wondering all this and more when it comes to the special teams play.
Special teams haven’t cost Ohio State a game yet this year, but it feels like there is going to come a time where special teams is going to decide the game. If that’s the case then the Buckeyes might be in a lot of trouble since this is a poorly coached unit. Fleming is getting paid way too much for some of the blunders we have seen from the group this year. If Day was smart, he would evaluate Fleming’s position on the coaching staff once the season is over. Unfortunately it feels like for whatever reason that Fleming is a made man and will be stealing money from Ohio State for years to come.
Maybe Kyle McCord could benefit from a few sessions with Dr. Melfi. If she can help someone like Tony Soprano, imagine the wonders she could do for the Ohio State quarterback. Maybe a professional could trick him into thinking every half of football he plays is the second half of a game, since he often struggles in the first half only to find more of a rhythm in the second half of games.
A performance like we saw on Saturday might fly against Rutgers, but it certainly won’t against Michigan, or whoever the Buckeyes would see if they make the College Football Playoff. What’s so frustrating is we have seen glimpses of how good McCord can be, but he just struggles with consistency more than you’d like to see from a starting quarterback.
Even though sometimes we act like the sky is falling when there is some bad quarterback play for the Buckeyes, there are reasons for optimism. McCord should be able to work on some things over the next two weeks since Ohio State will host Michigan State and Minnesota. Also, hopefully by the end of the month the Buckeye offense should be healthier. Emeka Egbuka returned to the field today after missing a few games, but tight end Cade Stover didn’t see any action as he was dealing with an injury.
When Tony goes to Naples with Christopher and Paulie, they are given this greeting in Italy. Commendatori is the plural of commendatore, which means commander in Italian. Jim Knowles is definitely the commander of the Ohio State defense. The reason the Buckeyes have been able to work through some of their inconsistency and struggles on the offensive end is because they have confidence that the defense can pick them up.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25058416/1453526574.jpg "Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl - Ohio State v Georgia")
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
A few weeks ago it was Josh Proctor against Maryland who put a spark in the Buckeyes. This week it was the interception return by Jordan Hancock in the third quarter. Even though Ohio State gave up 361 yards of offense to Rutgers, the defense of the Buckeyes bent but tightened up when the Scarlet Knights got into the red zone, holding Rutgers to three field goals.
About the only major negative from the game for the Ohio State defense is they finally gave up a play of over 40 yards this season. There honestly should be an asterisk by that stat, since Rutgers had to run a “fumblerooski” to achieve the feat on the Buckeye defense. There still are some areas you’d like to see the defense of Ohio State improve on, but there is no doubt they deserve to be in the conversation as one of the best defensive units in the country.
This was episode nine in the sixth season of the show. The ride Ohio State is on is a lot different than the amusement park ride that broke during the episode while Janice and Bobby Baccalieri’s daughter was on it. Instead, we are just sitting here every week hoping the ride that is Ohio State football doesn’t break anytime soon.
The first half of Saturday’s game certainly wasn’t fun to watch. As bad as it was at times, Ohio State still won by 19 points and covered the spread. The Buckeyes are handling their business while Texas was taken to overtime by Kansas State, Florida State had a tough time separating from Pitt, and Oklahoma was in a dogfight with Oklahoma State.
Who knows if Ohio State is going to be ranked No. 1 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings. Honestly, the rankings don’t matter until early December. If the Buckeyes beat Michigan, then they’ll be in the CFP. Until then we just have to try and enjoy the ride, even though it can be tough at times. Hopefully at least these next two weeks Ohio State will make it a little less stressful with convincing performances at home over lesser opponents.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Since the Buckeyes were in New Jersey, why not lean on the state’s most famous family?
Last year following the Rutgers game I used some things from The Sopranos to describe an Ohio State win over the Scarlet Knights. This year I’m going back to well, just putting a different spin on it. I used some specific people and places from the legendary television show in 2022. To wrap up the 35-16 win for the Buckeyes this time around, I figured I would use episode titles from the HBO series.
I know it’s probably lazy to use The Sopranos again for a post game Ohio State article, but the only good thing about New Jersey is a fictional television show.
“He Is Risen”
The eighth episode of season three that actually aired on Easter Sunday revolved around Ralph Cifaretto being promoted to Capo. If TreVeyon Henderson wasn’t already a Capo in the Ohio State offense already, he better be promoted immediately. After totaling 207 yards in last week’s win at Wisconsin, Henderson bettered that mark by a yard against Rutgers. The junior running back provided a massive spark in the second half of the game to a Buckeye offense that was struggling through the first 30 minutes.
Somehow Henderson looked even better this week than he did last Saturday night against the Badgers. Along with his ability to find some room to run, Henderson was also dealing out some punishment to the Rutgers defenders. Had it not been for Henderson, it would have been a very ugly day for the Ohio State offense. The Buckeyes only amassed 120 yards of offense from players other than Henderson.
What Ryan Day and Brian Hartline will have to try and limit over the next couple of weeks is the number of touches for Henderson. While you don’t want to completely shut the junior down, you would prefer to not have him touch the football over 25 times per game in contests against Michigan State and Minnesota. Let Henderson get some work and hopefully the Buckeyes can build a big enough lead in those games so he doesn’t really have to play much in the second halves of those games. The goal is to have Henderson as fresh and healthy as possible for the Michigan game.
“Nobody Knows Anything”
The title refers to the 11th episode of the first season of the show. In the episode, Tony is becoming increasingly suspicious that Pussy Bonpensiero is an FBI informant. While there sounds like there was plenty of informing done by Conor Stalions when it came to the signals of the opponents of Michigan over the last few years, I’m going in a different direction when it comes to tying in this episode title to the Rutgers game.
It feels like when it comes to Ohio State’s special teams, nobody knows anything. Did Jesse Mirco go rogue on the fake punt decision early in the game? Why does Parker Fleming have a job? Does Fleming have some incredible blackmail information on Ryan Day? Buckeye fans are wondering all this and more when it comes to the special teams play.
Special teams haven’t cost Ohio State a game yet this year, but it feels like there is going to come a time where special teams is going to decide the game. If that’s the case then the Buckeyes might be in a lot of trouble since this is a poorly coached unit. Fleming is getting paid way too much for some of the blunders we have seen from the group this year. If Day was smart, he would evaluate Fleming’s position on the coaching staff once the season is over. Unfortunately it feels like for whatever reason that Fleming is a made man and will be stealing money from Ohio State for years to come.
“Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist’s Office...”
Maybe Kyle McCord could benefit from a few sessions with Dr. Melfi. If she can help someone like Tony Soprano, imagine the wonders she could do for the Ohio State quarterback. Maybe a professional could trick him into thinking every half of football he plays is the second half of a game, since he often struggles in the first half only to find more of a rhythm in the second half of games.
A performance like we saw on Saturday might fly against Rutgers, but it certainly won’t against Michigan, or whoever the Buckeyes would see if they make the College Football Playoff. What’s so frustrating is we have seen glimpses of how good McCord can be, but he just struggles with consistency more than you’d like to see from a starting quarterback.
Even though sometimes we act like the sky is falling when there is some bad quarterback play for the Buckeyes, there are reasons for optimism. McCord should be able to work on some things over the next two weeks since Ohio State will host Michigan State and Minnesota. Also, hopefully by the end of the month the Buckeye offense should be healthier. Emeka Egbuka returned to the field today after missing a few games, but tight end Cade Stover didn’t see any action as he was dealing with an injury.
“Commendatori”
When Tony goes to Naples with Christopher and Paulie, they are given this greeting in Italy. Commendatori is the plural of commendatore, which means commander in Italian. Jim Knowles is definitely the commander of the Ohio State defense. The reason the Buckeyes have been able to work through some of their inconsistency and struggles on the offensive end is because they have confidence that the defense can pick them up.
A few weeks ago it was Josh Proctor against Maryland who put a spark in the Buckeyes. This week it was the interception return by Jordan Hancock in the third quarter. Even though Ohio State gave up 361 yards of offense to Rutgers, the defense of the Buckeyes bent but tightened up when the Scarlet Knights got into the red zone, holding Rutgers to three field goals.
About the only major negative from the game for the Ohio State defense is they finally gave up a play of over 40 yards this season. There honestly should be an asterisk by that stat, since Rutgers had to run a “fumblerooski” to achieve the feat on the Buckeye defense. There still are some areas you’d like to see the defense of Ohio State improve on, but there is no doubt they deserve to be in the conversation as one of the best defensive units in the country.
“The Ride”
This was episode nine in the sixth season of the show. The ride Ohio State is on is a lot different than the amusement park ride that broke during the episode while Janice and Bobby Baccalieri’s daughter was on it. Instead, we are just sitting here every week hoping the ride that is Ohio State football doesn’t break anytime soon.
The first half of Saturday’s game certainly wasn’t fun to watch. As bad as it was at times, Ohio State still won by 19 points and covered the spread. The Buckeyes are handling their business while Texas was taken to overtime by Kansas State, Florida State had a tough time separating from Pitt, and Oklahoma was in a dogfight with Oklahoma State.
Who knows if Ohio State is going to be ranked No. 1 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings. Honestly, the rankings don’t matter until early December. If the Buckeyes beat Michigan, then they’ll be in the CFP. Until then we just have to try and enjoy the ride, even though it can be tough at times. Hopefully at least these next two weeks Ohio State will make it a little less stressful with convincing performances at home over lesser opponents.
Continue reading...