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Game Thread Ohio State 56, Miami of Ohio 10 (Sept 01, 2012)

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Went to the game yesterday, sat in 11C. Haven't read the thread yet, but wanted to post some thoughts...

The first quarter was bad, but to me th team looks timid, nervous and rusty. Once they shook that off... Well, we all saw what happened. I read thru my Twitter timeline earlier, and some of the remarks that took place during the 1st quarter were ridiculous. I'm interested to see what the attitude was here. I thought the Buckeyes were going to be fine, but at the same time, if Miami had made a few less mistakes the Buckeyes could have been in a bigger hole and it could have been a much different game.

With an opponent like Miami, it's hard to draw any affirmative conclusions about the team. You learn more about flaws than strengths against this kind of opponent. That said, there were a few things that I found encouraging that I'm going to continue to keep an eye on.

First of all, the ball ended up in the hands of a lot of different players on offense. Thinking back to last year, that didn't seem to be the case even in the comfortable wins against bad teams.

Secondly, I'm sure everyone has said it by now, but I love the call to go for it on the goalline right before the end of the first half. It was a statement of intent, in bold, capital letters. Meyer served notice to future opponents that the Buckeyes are going to be more aggressive in the future. He put that situation in the hands of his offense and let them know that he expects them to convert it. I almost don't care that the attempt wasn't successful. That'll come, sooner rather than later.

I was impressed with Ken Guiton. Most of the time when we see a backup QB come in to one of these early season games, it's a planned substitution. Guiton came in unexpectedly as a result of Miller getting dinged, converted a 4th and 3 on his first play and was crisp in the passing game after that. I think back to Meyer in the booth last year giving TV commentary and criticiizing the team for not having Braxton Miller engaged in the game and at the ready. You knew that would change this season, and Guiton's performance yesterday was proof positive of that.

I was interested to see the run game under Meyer. I'm not sure people have quite believed him when he said that the Buckeyes were going to be a power running team out of the spread. The Buckeyes ran with power though, which just goes to show that power isn't just about the formation and the play call, it's about the attitude, the intent, and a desire to take on opposing players and physically dominate them. Not only do the Buckeyes have the players for power running out of the spread, but they have the coaches to instill that attitude in the backs and the line. I haven't been that excited to see an Ohio State RB go barreling between the tackles since they had #28 lining up in the backfield.

Finally, I want to say that I think those refs sucked donkey balls, and several calls they made left me thoroughly confused. I think the Buckeyes were fortunate to come out on the lucky end of some of those calls.
 
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cincibuck;2205566; said:
Am I imagining things or did it seem like there's problem on the right side of the O line, like especially at tackle?
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Isn't that Fragel? I thought he played alright considering he just made the position switch last off-season. (So glad I can say last off-season now!)
 
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SEREbuckeye said:
Weak point in the game was obviously the secondary. I thought for sure they would look stronger than they did. If it were going against better receivers, there would had been more points on the board for Miami.

Strong point in the game was the ability to use the entire field. Not being forced to keep plays up the middle and spread the offense really helped the team point points up.
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I actually didn't think the secondary breakdowns were as concerning as many on here do. The reason they were exposed was because of who the QB was. We were facing one of the best passers in college football. He was on target all day, and when anybody was open, he found them. Many times, nobody was open for him to find, and the coverage caused some sacks. We will face teams with some better WRs, but I think our DBs are athletic enough to cover, and the schemes will only get better as the coaches get their chance to continue to do what they do.

By the end of the season, I think our secondary is going to be a major strength. The way this defense is built, the athletic linebackers are going to have the opportunity to fly around the field and make plays, and that's what happened in last decade when we had the best defense in the conference year in and year out.

Michigan thought they saw a touch defense Saturday. They are in for a world of hurt come 82 days from now. Mark it down.
 
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sullie;2205235; said:
090212_Ohio_State_1554673c.jpg
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any photoshop wizards around to take out everything but devin?
 
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Winslow consistently gets some of the finest football photographs I've ever seen. Competitive with the golden years of Sports Illustrated, when that magazine separated itself from other publications on the strength of its photos.
 
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