Matt Tamanini
Guest
Ohio State fans were reeeeeeeally impressed with Arvell Reese last week
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
You ask, we answer. Sometimes we ask, others answer. And then other times, we ask, we answer.
Throughout 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.
Game No. 1 is in the books for No. 2 Ohio State, so Buckeye Nation finally has some real, honest-to-goodness action to react to, and that is exactly what we did in this week’s SB Nation Reacts fan survey. Earlier this week, I asked my fellow Buckeye aficionados who most surprised them in the 52-6 win over Akron.
While I agreed with the majority decision, I was a bit surprised that it was an actual majority that picked the winner, especially since he is a defensive player, and guys on that side of the ball rarely get the love they deserve unless rack up major counting stats like sacks or interceptions.
I also wanted to get your feeling on what the margin of victory would be and who would win this weekend’s game between the Buckeyes and Western Michigan. So, check out the results below and if you want to be involved in the SBN Reacts surveys every week, sign up at the bottom of the article.
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As I wrote about earlier in the week, I was really impressed with the Buckeyes’ season opener against Akron. No, it was not perfect, and there are still things (ok, just one thing) that I have serious concerns about, but after a rocky first quarter and a half, I think what we saw from Ohio State was darn near stellar.
Yes, the offensive line continues to be a concern, and unless they come out and look dominant this week (or at least when Donovan Jackson is back), I will continue to be salty that they were not more active in the early transfer portal window. After last year, it is near-inexcusable that they did not do everything they could to dramatically improve the o-line.
I thought that Seth McLaughlin looked strong in his first start as a Buckeye, so I’m glad they got him, but, in my humble opinion, OSU needed one or two other top-shelf linemen to put on the right side of the line. They didn’t do that, and there’s nothing they can do about it now.
Nonetheless, just about everything else looked championship-level to me once they got over the season-opener weirdness. As I said in the original survey article, I don’t think that anything short of a half-dozen touchdowns by Jeremiah Smith would have surprised me given all of the hype that we’d heard about him. So he was never going to be my pick for this question.
But I did give consideration to Will Howard, who I was impressed by. I expected more of a game manager who could run a little bit. But his decision-making, timing, and presence in the pocket were impressive. Maybe he doesn’t have Dwayne Haskins’ arm, Justin Fields’ athleticism, or C.J. Stroud’s accuracy, but he is a substantial upgrade at the position in my opinion, so I was pleased with what I saw from him.
However, the most eye-opening performance in my mind was Arvell Reese, and a majority of Buckeye fan respondents seem to agree with me! For a guy who played and practiced only at defensive end last year, he came in and looked excellent as a linebacker. I don’t know if Cody Simon is going to play against WMU tonight (personally, I’d give him and Donovan Jackson another week off since they’re on a bye next week), but even if he does, I think Reese deserves to be the No. 3 linebacker.
C.J. Hicks is insanely athletic and talented, but he’s just not a linebacker, at least not in the traditional sense, or in how Jim Knowles’ system uses them. So, find him a package to rush the passer and let Arvell rotate in for traditional LB snaps.
Jami Jurich and I talked about the players that most impressed and surprised us on the episode of “No Fall Weddings” that came out yesterday, so give it a listen and let me know if you agree.
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According to FanDuel sportsbook, the Buckeyes are a 37.5-point favorite, so 41% of Buckeye fans are right in line with the Vegas oddsmakers. However, I am going to buck that prediction trend and go with a 52-0 score, which would put me with the 6% who went with Ohio State by 51 points or more.
I think there was some rust and nerves at play early in Week 1, but the rest of the game proved that this team was capable of much more than their rocky start would belie. And since Western Michigan put up a good showing against the Wisconsin Badgers last week, I think Ryan Day will have his team ready to fire on all cylinders from the jump.
So give me the points! ........ although, I’m taking the under, since it’s set at 54.5.
Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
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
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
You ask, we answer. Sometimes we ask, others answer. And then other times, we ask, we answer.
Throughout 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.
Game No. 1 is in the books for No. 2 Ohio State, so Buckeye Nation finally has some real, honest-to-goodness action to react to, and that is exactly what we did in this week’s SB Nation Reacts fan survey. Earlier this week, I asked my fellow Buckeye aficionados who most surprised them in the 52-6 win over Akron.
While I agreed with the majority decision, I was a bit surprised that it was an actual majority that picked the winner, especially since he is a defensive player, and guys on that side of the ball rarely get the love they deserve unless rack up major counting stats like sacks or interceptions.
I also wanted to get your feeling on what the margin of victory would be and who would win this weekend’s game between the Buckeyes and Western Michigan. So, check out the results below and if you want to be involved in the SBN Reacts surveys every week, sign up at the bottom of the article.
Question 1: What Buckeye performance was most surprising against Akron?
As I wrote about earlier in the week, I was really impressed with the Buckeyes’ season opener against Akron. No, it was not perfect, and there are still things (ok, just one thing) that I have serious concerns about, but after a rocky first quarter and a half, I think what we saw from Ohio State was darn near stellar.
Yes, the offensive line continues to be a concern, and unless they come out and look dominant this week (or at least when Donovan Jackson is back), I will continue to be salty that they were not more active in the early transfer portal window. After last year, it is near-inexcusable that they did not do everything they could to dramatically improve the o-line.
I thought that Seth McLaughlin looked strong in his first start as a Buckeye, so I’m glad they got him, but, in my humble opinion, OSU needed one or two other top-shelf linemen to put on the right side of the line. They didn’t do that, and there’s nothing they can do about it now.
Nonetheless, just about everything else looked championship-level to me once they got over the season-opener weirdness. As I said in the original survey article, I don’t think that anything short of a half-dozen touchdowns by Jeremiah Smith would have surprised me given all of the hype that we’d heard about him. So he was never going to be my pick for this question.
But I did give consideration to Will Howard, who I was impressed by. I expected more of a game manager who could run a little bit. But his decision-making, timing, and presence in the pocket were impressive. Maybe he doesn’t have Dwayne Haskins’ arm, Justin Fields’ athleticism, or C.J. Stroud’s accuracy, but he is a substantial upgrade at the position in my opinion, so I was pleased with what I saw from him.
However, the most eye-opening performance in my mind was Arvell Reese, and a majority of Buckeye fan respondents seem to agree with me! For a guy who played and practiced only at defensive end last year, he came in and looked excellent as a linebacker. I don’t know if Cody Simon is going to play against WMU tonight (personally, I’d give him and Donovan Jackson another week off since they’re on a bye next week), but even if he does, I think Reese deserves to be the No. 3 linebacker.
C.J. Hicks is insanely athletic and talented, but he’s just not a linebacker, at least not in the traditional sense, or in how Jim Knowles’ system uses them. So, find him a package to rush the passer and let Arvell rotate in for traditional LB snaps.
Jami Jurich and I talked about the players that most impressed and surprised us on the episode of “No Fall Weddings” that came out yesterday, so give it a listen and let me know if you agree.
Question 2: What will the margin of victory be in Saturday’s game against Western Michigan?
According to FanDuel sportsbook, the Buckeyes are a 37.5-point favorite, so 41% of Buckeye fans are right in line with the Vegas oddsmakers. However, I am going to buck that prediction trend and go with a 52-0 score, which would put me with the 6% who went with Ohio State by 51 points or more.
I think there was some rust and nerves at play early in Week 1, but the rest of the game proved that this team was capable of much more than their rocky start would belie. And since Western Michigan put up a good showing against the Wisconsin Badgers last week, I think Ryan Day will have his team ready to fire on all cylinders from the jump.
So give me the points! ........ although, I’m taking the under, since it’s set at 54.5.
Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Continue reading...