Next Year

[BuckeyeNation27]

Over at ESPN, they asked coaches and reporters under the guise of anonymity to predict what will happen in 2023, and their response about Ohio State and the Big Ten was very telling.

They claimed Ohio State has “lost its grip” on the conference (subscription required), with two teams in the upcoming season having the ability to take the crown, Penn State and Michigan.

Wishful thinking by anonymous coaches (i.e. Harbaugh and Franklin).

Oh look....it's every off season article since 2003.

 

[pnuts34]

I wouldn't say I'm pessimistic about next year, but I'm not optimistic, either. Why? CJ Stroud. And I really shouldn't let his departure hit me this much, since I'm wrong about this all the time.

We've been through multiple times in the last 5yrs, and every QB has done better if not as good as the last. Unknown going into 2018 when fans were split on Haskins and Burrow, and then in 2019 when an unknown Justin Fields transferred into the program. And then in 2021 an unknown CJ Stroud came into the picture. McCord and Brown were both as highly rated as their predecessors, and have just as many weapons as they had, and it could be argued that they have more going into 2023.
Day keeps his foot on the pedal in The Game, and OSU wins the B1G- it seemed like in the Peach Bowl he learned that lesson
Knowles has to learn when to sell out and risk single man coverage, and when to be conservative and not allow the big gut punch plays- that lesson is still tbd. And yet, even with those blown plays and defensive calls, OSU was a FG away from the NC

From where we sit, OSU is still much closer to an NC than scUM. And the country knows as much

 

[Zurp]

We've been through multiple times in the last 5yrs, and every QB has done better if not as good as the last. Unknown going into 2018 when fans were split on Haskins and Burrow, and then in 2019 when an unknown Justin Fields transferred into the program. And then in 2021 an unknown CJ Stroud came into the picture. McCord and Brown were both as highly rated as their predecessors, and have just as many weapons as they had, and it could be argued that they have more going into 2023.
Day keeps his foot on the pedal in The Game, and OSU wins the B1G- it seemed like in the Peach Bowl he learned that lesson
Knowles has to learn when to sell out and risk single man coverage, and when to be conservative and not allow the big gut punch plays- that lesson is still tbd. And yet, even with those blown plays and defensive calls, OSU was a FG away from the NC

From where we sit, OSU is still much closer to an NC than scUM. And the country knows as much

With every new quarterback going back 20 years, I've said, "We're going to take a step back." And I've only been right a couple of times. Bauserman was a huge step back, and I think Zwick was a step back, too, though I think if he had started for the full year, and then two years after that, he would have been at least as good as Krenzel was. Boeckman, of course, was a step back from Smith, but he still won a Big Ten championship.
But even though I'm wrong way more than I'm right, I can't see how losing Stroud isn't going to be a major hurdle, and I don't know of anyone who can cross it.

 

[pnuts34]

With every new quarterback going back 20 years, I've said, "We're going to take a step back." And I've only been right a couple of times. Bauserman was a huge step back, and I think Zwick was a step back, too, though I think if he had started for the full year, and then two years after that, he would have been at least as good as Krenzel was. Boeckman, of course, was a step back from Smith, but he still won a Big Ten championship.
But even though I'm wrong way more than I'm right, I can't see how losing Stroud isn't going to be a major hurdle, and I don't know of anyone who can cross it.

How is losing Stroud any bigger than losing Fields... Or losing Haskins... Or even losing Barrett?

 

[Zurp]

How is losing Stroud any bigger than losing Fields... Or losing Haskins... Or even losing Barrett?

That's a good question, and not one that I have the answer to.