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Nebraska vs tOSU, Noon ET, Oct. 24, FOX

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LordJeffBuck said:
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Just wonderin': There seemed to have been more BP enthusiasm on vBetting under the old vDollar program. Part of that was the competition by various members to accumulate the most vDollars. Maybe I'm missing it, but does the forum currently have a listing of the richest (most vDollors) members, etc. like the old BP (i.e. before an upgrade or 2 did) did?
 
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WEEK 1 LEAVES ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENTS

In most years, Ohio State opens the season with a perceived lesser opponent, a team the Buckeyes certainly should beat and that game gives them a chance to work the kinks out before the more challenging opposition pays a visit. On the original 2020 schedule, the Scarlet and Gray would have started the year against Bowling Green before traveling to Oregon.

Despite being nearly a four-touchdown underdog, and losing by five scores, Nebraska was not an ordinary opening opponent.

"I thought Nebraska came out and played a really good game," Day said. "They had a really good plan early on. I thought they kind of had us reeling a little bit early on. Give credit to our defensive staff and players being able to adjust. Really, by the end of the first half and then into the second half, I thought they made really good adjustments and played pretty good football."

Now is when the real work begins. Ohio State has already begun the process of self evaluation on what could be better from the Nebraska game. The Buckeyes are hard at work already, reviewing the film and seeing areas that the Huskers exploited things and where players can handle situations differently.

After an offseason of preparing to play a season, the Scarlet and Gray now can go week by week, getting better and ready for an opponent, more in the normal flow of football. How the team, players and coaches improve each week will determine how far this team goes when all is said and done.

 
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ScriptOhio said:
Just wonderin': There seemed to have been more BP enthusiasm on vBetting under the old vDollar program. Part of that was the competition by various members to accumulate the most vDollars. Maybe I'm missing it, but does the forum currently have a listing of the richest (most vDollors) members, etc. like the old BP (i.e. before an upgrade or 2 did) did?
Click to expand...

Yes. Under SportsBook, click Statistics. You can see Top Winners & Richest Members there.
 
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MD Buckeye said:
Yes. Under SportsBook, click Statistics. You can see Top Winners & Richest Members there.
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Finally found it, it's not on the header line (where I had been looking), they are avatars on the right side......:biggrin2: What is interesting is that many of the "top winners" aren't listed as "richest members", I guess it is "easy come-easy go" with the vDollars.............:rofl:
 
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Got a chance to look back a the game and actually give a second look at how we performed. Rather than respond to any specific post or grading of "champions" (which I dispute), here are my thoughts by each position and a general outlook:

QB: That is the most accurate performance of any QB I have ever seen at Ohio State. Just truly incredible and read my post in his thread...I am beyond excited to see JF have such a big game after all he did to have a season, not just for OSU but the entire conference. Honestly had a tear in my eye when I reflected back on JF getting to play and playing so well. Loyalties aside, nobody deserves success like Justin after all this. That said, Justin needs to make quicker decisions and just throw it away when nothing is there. That was his one flaw last year and it will need to improve against better teams. But Justin Fields is one of the most amazing leaders we have ever had and I am so freaking happy to have him as one of our leaders.

RB: The OL wasn't all that impressive, but the RBs mostly looked subpar and indecisive. There were several times where I thought "JK Dobbins would have ran that way longer". Teague and Sermon were both average in my eyes but hey, it's game one and even Dobbins took awhile to get to the next level, so I'm not too concerned. And Chambers looked awesome in limited reps. We'll be fine at this position.

WR: Strength of the team easily. Olave and Wilson could get open every play, it is unreal. Those two receivers are as good as it gets. Really hope Olave is healthy, but we have plenty of talent if he is not. Jameson Williams looks to have some polish on top of his ungodly athleticism. JSN had one of the most unbelievable TD catches I have seen, he was completely out and somehow reangled his foot to make the catch...very bright future. Fleming had some nice catches and I bet you we see Scott come in soon. The future is bright here.

TE: In a complete shocker, we only used TEs as blockers. In all honesty, we took a couple shots to the TEs but we really need to involve Ruckert and Farrell more in the passing game. If we don't, we just need to recruit extra OTs to play TE to block as a third OL and occasionally catch a pass. Ruckert in particular could be a game changer, we need to throw to him.

OL: Biggest disappointment of the day in my eyes. Failed to move the line on run plays and often missed players on blitzes that got Justin killed (some of which were on JF). Miller and NPF had a couple misses, but the weird one was that Myers got absolutely torched. Even Wyatt missed some assignments. Hopefully this was just an odd first week because returning 3 OL that are potential 1st round picks usually means you shouldn't get toasted up front. Really disappointed with the OL performance and hopefully it gets better next week. I think it will though, we've got some real talent and leadership up front.

DL: Overall, I thought the DL played well but not great overall. Garrett was a "miracle" as Coombs said and really a difference maker, not only making sacks and tackles for loss, but disrupting most plays he was in. Seemed like Togiai was also disruptive. On the flipside, Harrison, Cooper, Friday and Smith seemed non-existent or they seemed lost most of the time. Those are the guys that are supposed to replace Young and I know it is only the first game, but I am a little worried if the DEs don't pick it up big time.

LB: I'm not going to say anything novel here after reading some posts...absolute disappointment here. Borland and Browning get champion grades...are you flipping (fucking) kidding me? Zero reaction to what Nebraska did and the starters for the most part looked awful. Werner had some moments where he looked pretty good. Gant looked promising in the waning moments of the game. But Borland looked way behind on each play like he has since his first injury, and his "leadership" doesn't make up for clearly missed assignments and tackles...hate to say it, but Tuf's role going forward needs to be pretty limited. Browning looked like a kid blindfolded during pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey...which is a crying shame because he is so athletically gifted....I'm not saying pull him because he has made some great plays, but we need to utilize him correctly. Didn't even see Hilliard, but maybe that was an injury. Whatever the case may be, the LB group should be the strength of this defense and it was the weakness. It's just Week 1 and I suspect it was just a bad week, but that better be it or else this season will not turn out well for the defense.

DB: Wade was the lockdown corner everyone expected, he was dominant. Happy to see Shaun dominate. The rest of the DBs?...I am pretty concerned. Sevyn Banks seemed pretty damn good. The rest I have no idea on, they seemed to get beat in coverage pretty regularly. Coach Coombs is the man in the secondary though, so I think we will keep improving.

Coaching: I love me some Ryan Day, but I really hate apologizing for that last TD. If we threw for a TD, then maybe you say sorry. But our freshman QB ran it in and we need to get those guys real experience. If Nebraska doesn't like that, then they should stop it. Otherwise, pretty damn good on the offensive side other than we need to do a better job of accounting for blitz packages. I also like Day's response that Nebraska wasn't intentionally trying to hurt our players or anything, it just happens...I really think that is the case, although I am a little pissed on the hits even if it was unintentional. Overall, I still really admire Day and am beyond thrilled that he is our coach. On the defensive side, I am pretty disappointed overall. 17 points on the face isn't so bad against Nebraska, but the LBs looked horrible and the DBs were mostly lost in coverage other than Wade. Need big time improvement on defense.
 
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Just echoing above posts.....thought the middle of the DL looked soft against the run. AND, the LBs didn't seem to be where they needed to be. Saw Werner on the outside making tackles, instead of Baron (?). Thought they might have switched up to be more familiar with what they had done. Our CBs should be better by now, just from guarding the outstanding WRs tOSU has them practice against. OL did fair (not sure where the BIA rating for Saturday came from), had expected bigger holes in Husker DL. Pass pro seemed spotty, cannot give Husker DBs too much credit if JF went 20-21, so cover sacks were non-existent. Sorry Jamison wasn't targeted at all, seems our #3 receiver should have been head-and-shoulders better than their #3 DB, and let's hope they're saving the TEs for something special, because tOSU is for damn sure wasting them now. Or maybe tOSU OL needed the help? Maybe the best kudos go to tOSU coaches, who made great adjustments on both D and O, to hold Huskers to 3 points in second half, and score, what, 40 odd points on O? As to the ending touchdown, how do you tell a kid in his first game, trying to separate from his competition - "Don't do your best"? Seems contra-indicative to me. Day put in the 2's and 3's, and tOSU still drove for a TD. Looking forward to the next freshman QB to get into the 3rd (!) quarter this week to show his stuff, and maybe even let him pass the ball (what he was recruited for). Finally, glad Miller has fully recovered from his injury. He looked the part at QB, except tOSU QBs had better be able to do more than just hand off the ball. PS, oh yeah, Chambers showed some twitch, both inside and outside. Maybe he's the dream combo of Teague and Sermon? Anyway, that's #1 of 10, so Go Bucks!
 
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In addition to the 10 plays....

OTHER OBSERVATIONS FROM SATURDAY'S GAME:
  • Two plays weren't included that maybe should have been: 1) Fields' 42-yard touchdown strike to Wilson. He saw the wideout had one-on-one coverage without a safety over top, maneuvered in the pocket to avoid the lineman pushing Miller backward and delivered a picture-perfect pass. His deep ball placement seemed to have improved this weekend. 2) Smith-Njigba's ridiculous 5-yard touchdown where he barely got his right foot in bounds. This isn't a particularly bold prediction, but I think he finishes either third or fourth on the team in receptions this year before being first or second next season. He's a special talent and a smooth operator.
  • Both offensive tackles – Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere – had outstanding season debuts. They made few, if any, mistakes either in pass protection or when run blocking. The true test, though, comes with Penn State's defensive ends in Week 2. If Munford and Petit-Frere play well again, Ohio State might truly have a special offensive line.
  • The Buckeyes will need to see some improvement from Miller at left guard. He didn't have an outright bad game. But he was noticeably the most inconsistent of the five linemen. Now, we have to keep this in mind: He's just a true sophomore. Davis, Myers and Petit-Frere were all still backups their second year on campus. Miller's not, by any means, a finished product and will have some growing pains along the way.
  • I'll say it even if many of you don't believe it: Tuf Borland played a solid game. Yes, he had the one play where Martinez looked like a bull and he appeared to be the matador. But outside of that, he put himself in the right spot, hustled to make plays and did his job.
  • Hooker made a big mistake by missing a tackle on the opening drive. Outside of that, he had a stellar starting debut, making every other possible tackle. Josh Proctor, conversely, continued to play aggressively and race downhill. It seems as though he's better suited to play closer to the line, which Matt Barnes talked about before the season. It doesn't appear in Ohio State's best interest to put him in too many situations that require him to prevent a big play by making a one-on-one tackle.
  • Jeremy Ruckert is not a one-dimensional tight end. The man can deliver some blows as a blocker. He and Luke Farrell are going to help this offense in innumerable ways even if they aren't breaking any reception records.
  • Because Nebraska didn't attack Ohio State through the air, we didn't get a good look at Hooker, Sevyn Banks and the other young defensive backs defending the pass. I think we'll learn a ton more about this Ohio State defense in Week 2 than we did in Week 1.
  • Steele Chambers ran the ball well on his four carries. Of note, however: He also had more room to operate on a couple of them than Teague and Sermon typically did. I'm intrigued to see him in some upcoming games. But I'm not, by any means, on the bandwagon that he should be the primary tailback. We're going to need to see more than four touches this season before that conversation picks up steam.
  • Tyreke Smith continues to be a bit of an enigma. He nearly recorded a sack in the fourth quarter, yet he also appeared a bit out of control when defending the run once or twice. This is a big year for him, and he'll be more important against better passing offenses. The Buckeyes will soon need some more pressure out of him.
  • Not sure why Zach Harrison only played 15 snaps. Perhaps it was due to Nebraska's desire to rely heavily on the run, which didn't necessitate the sophomore's pass-rushing abilities.
 
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