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Game Thread Ohio State @ Indiana, 08/31/17 @ 8:00 ET (ESPN)

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I am not willing to go too far on the "all's well that ends well" train just yet.

The offense, specifically the WR/QB combined effort to pass the ball, is still very very worrisome.

JT hit a couple of guys who were just too fast for the IU defense to handle and it broke the game open. Pretty much everything else they tried to do involving the forward pass looked like a vintage 2016 monkey-fucking-a-football routine.

I will insert the obligatory concern about not being able to get away with that against a good defense thing here and hope I am wrong about 14 more times.
 
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Jaxbuck said:
I am not willing to go too far on the "all's well that ends well" train just yet.

The offense, specifically the WR/QB combined effort to pass the ball, is still very very worrisome.

JT hit a couple of guys who were just too fast for the IU defense to handle and it broke the game open. Pretty much everything else they tried to do involving the forward pass looked like a vintage 2016 monkey-fucking-a-football routine.

I will insert the obligatory concern about not being able to get away with that against a good defense thing here and hope I am wrong about 14 more times.
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Next week will tell. We're not going to be able to simply wear down and out-talent Okie. The passing game needs to come together. And if, on defense, the Okie OL gives Mayfield time to throw, I fear for how our backfield might get lit up. Right now, I'm giving Ohio State about a 40% chance of winning that game. Then they have to turn around and prep for Army. No easy game this year until UNLV. But if we can get through that undefeated, we should roll into the Big Ten season a pretty tested team.
 
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ORD_Buckeye said:
Next week will tell. We're not going to be able to simply wear down and out-talent Okie. The passing game needs to come together. And if, on defense, the Okie OL gives Mayfield time to throw, I fear for how our backfield might get lit up. Right now, I'm giving Ohio State about a 40% chance of winning that game. Then they have to turn around and prep for Army. No easy game this year until UNLV. But if we can get through that undefeated, we should roll into the Big Ten season a pretty tested team.
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Don't share the concern for the defense but absolutely concerned about the passing game against any P5 defense.

If Mayfield can sit back in the gun, throw off his back foot as he's about to get hammered and turns damn near every throw like that into a perfect 50/50 ball that his receivers win 60% of then yeah, the defense will have the same issues they had last night.
 
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JCOSU86 said:
Quick question boys and girls, I understand Kirk Herbstreit was the announcer for last night's game. Is there any chance someone can remember him saying the word "tempo"? Asking for a friend.
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Well, some people might, except...they were playing a drinking game and right now they're in the ICU in a coma.
 
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Jaxbuck said:
I am not willing to go too far on the "all's well that ends well" train just yet.

The offense, specifically the WR/QB combined effort to pass the ball, is still very very worrisome.

JT hit a couple of guys who were just too fast for the IU defense to handle and it broke the game open. Pretty much everything else they tried to do involving the forward pass looked like a vintage 2016 monkey-fucking-a-football routine.

I will insert the obligatory concern about not being able to get away with that against a good defense thing here and hope I am wrong about 14 more times.
Click to expand...

OSU should hit a couple of guys who are way too fast for the opposing defenses to handle and break the game open. That's what has been missing for a couple years. I think optimistism exists because the game, and play calling, trended in the right direction and players were given those chances. It didn't start off on fire with the scripted plays and devolve into a mess like we've seen before. The good news is that the offensive staff basically learned on the fly that this QB, OL, and these WRs can't do everything they want them to do, and rather than keep trying the same shit, like we saw in 15 and 16, they simplified it. There is nothing wrong with taking what the defense gives you.

It looked like the plan was to get a lead and try some things, and that plan went to shit. When they did get a comfortable lead, they started experimenting with RPOs, to varying success. I expect the playbook to continue to open up with confidence. There are still limitations. The offensive line should, and I stress should, start to mesh. JT and these WRs aren't automatically going to transform into something else; they are what they are. And that should be enough to beat most teams, and put them in a good position against great teams.

Indiana will probably finish with 6 losses, because that's who they are, but I think there is a glimmer of offensive hope. Defensively, I think they get it figured out with more reps.
 
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