Matt Tamanini
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LGHL Asks: Buckeye fans predict how Ohio State’s season will go; needless to say, they think it will go well.
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
They also pinpoint which position group they think will show the most improvement.
Every day for the entirety of the Ohio State football season, we will be asking and answering questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
Last week, we asked you, the brilliant, incredibly insightful, stunningly beautiful, and overall good people of Buckeye Nation, what you thought the Ohio State football season would look like. Our friends at SB Nation Reacts compiled your responses and, I’ve gotta say, I love you, you easily exciteable group of homers!
Question: How do you think OSU’s season will go?
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I’m not going to lie, when our annual LGHL staff predictions article comes out later this week, I too will be picking the Buckeyes to win the national championship, but I am a little surprised by how big of a margin there is between winning the natty and losing in the final.
Given how snake-bitten the fan base has been in the last few years, I thought that there would be at least a certain segment of the fandom who would consciously be guarding against setting themselves up for potential disappointment. However, I suppose the excitement of a new, confident defensive coaching staff and the return of the best offense in the sport is enough to get people over whatever psychological hangups that they might have.
I love that a combined 95% of the survey respondents have the Buckeyes at least making it to the College Football Playoffs. To be completely honest, I think at this point, it should be considered not only a disappointing season but an outright failure of a season if Ohio State doesn’t make the CFP.
Now, those types of years are bound to happen on occasion — not even Alabama makes the playoff every year (although they’re pretty darn close) — but the way that Ryan Day and company recruit, it should be considered the base minimum every year for OSU to make the playoffs. If you want to be considered in the same echelon as Alabama, it’s gotta start there.
Question 2: Which position group will have the biggest improvement?
Unlike the first question — which I knew what the top answer would be — I was unsure of how this one would shake out. New defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is also the Buckeyes’ linebacker coach, so that makes sense, but he is also known for his safety-focused schemes, which I thought might have pushed them a bit higher in the rankings.
The defensive ends are an interesting selection though, because — other than the wide receivers — that group is probably the most talent-laden in terms of recruiting profile, but they just haven’t been able to put it together since Chase Young departed for the NFL. So I could have seen Buckeye fans place them higher.
But, when it came down to it, more Ohio State fans went with the linebackers than the safeties and ends combined. I hope y’all are right!
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Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
They also pinpoint which position group they think will show the most improvement.
Every day for the entirety of the Ohio State football season, we will be asking and answering questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
Last week, we asked you, the brilliant, incredibly insightful, stunningly beautiful, and overall good people of Buckeye Nation, what you thought the Ohio State football season would look like. Our friends at SB Nation Reacts compiled your responses and, I’ve gotta say, I love you, you easily exciteable group of homers!
Question: How do you think OSU’s season will go?
I’m not going to lie, when our annual LGHL staff predictions article comes out later this week, I too will be picking the Buckeyes to win the national championship, but I am a little surprised by how big of a margin there is between winning the natty and losing in the final.
Given how snake-bitten the fan base has been in the last few years, I thought that there would be at least a certain segment of the fandom who would consciously be guarding against setting themselves up for potential disappointment. However, I suppose the excitement of a new, confident defensive coaching staff and the return of the best offense in the sport is enough to get people over whatever psychological hangups that they might have.
I love that a combined 95% of the survey respondents have the Buckeyes at least making it to the College Football Playoffs. To be completely honest, I think at this point, it should be considered not only a disappointing season but an outright failure of a season if Ohio State doesn’t make the CFP.
Now, those types of years are bound to happen on occasion — not even Alabama makes the playoff every year (although they’re pretty darn close) — but the way that Ryan Day and company recruit, it should be considered the base minimum every year for OSU to make the playoffs. If you want to be considered in the same echelon as Alabama, it’s gotta start there.
Question 2: Which position group will have the biggest improvement?
Unlike the first question — which I knew what the top answer would be — I was unsure of how this one would shake out. New defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is also the Buckeyes’ linebacker coach, so that makes sense, but he is also known for his safety-focused schemes, which I thought might have pushed them a bit higher in the rankings.
The defensive ends are an interesting selection though, because — other than the wide receivers — that group is probably the most talent-laden in terms of recruiting profile, but they just haven’t been able to put it together since Chase Young departed for the NFL. So I could have seen Buckeye fans place them higher.
But, when it came down to it, more Ohio State fans went with the linebackers than the safeties and ends combined. I hope y’all are right!
Continue reading...