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Game Thread Orange Bowl: tOSU vs Clemson, Jan 3, 8:30 ET, ESPN

"Tex" was one rotten SOB! Sadly, Brax had to take the beat down tonite that Tex took every night he went into the ring.

Hope his ribs are okay. Love this kid and the fight that he brings. Brax at TOSU in 2014 = A spot in the 4 team bracket. Future is bright, lets put this game behind us and look to the great future ahead!

Peace


Unless the D is about 2 TDs per game better, then I don't want to see them in the playoff, Brax or not...
 
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Well, sure if you want to change from All Pro to productive NFL players, I'' give you that, although.....I see only Sims, Boone, and Mangold as solid starters, with the jury still out on Adams. The other guys are career-long backups or injury fill-ins.
How many other teams have sent 14 O-linemen to the NFL over ten years that were worse blocking teams than we were under Bollman? How many teams have sent 14 O-linemen to the NFL over that same period? I wouldn't think many. We had talented players and our O-line play was abysmal. Now our secondary sucks out loud. It isn't the players.
 
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I'm not looking for a silver lining when I say that maybe the loss will be a better catalyst for positive change than a narrow win would have been. I don't care what it costs, we have to place an epic DC.

My thoughts exactly. Only it pertains to the entire team, not just the defense. Where was Devon Smith tonight by the way? Did he even suit up? One thing I think this team has suffered from for a LONG time and that is "believing their own headlines." I have seen in in many (not all) of the teams starting in 2006. I am so damn glad we didn't play in the NC game and hell, if we didn't play in it then in an odd way I am actually glad we ended the season with a steady stream of bad play to look back on. It's so consistent now that the body of work should provide perfect off-season material to use in order to improve. Glad we didn't have a false sense of improvement. The 24 game winning streak, while impressive and appreciated didn't do anything to destroy this cancer but somehow I think Urb can do it now that we have enough "bad material" to learn from. This team is far from having the killer instinct of a champion. Therefore the "Chase" continues and at least the team can see itself for what it is and learn from it.

Agree with Clarity, it will be very interesting to see the changes this offseason. This game certainly confirms one thing to me - I hope Luke can focus solely on LB development where he can excel. Defenses take on the identity of their leader and I am not sold on Luke's ability to identify, develop and teach an attacking/aggressive defense. It's just not who he is. I like him and I am glad he is staying on the staff but I truly hope we hire a main DC to run the show who can cultivate some semblance of an aggressive identity on the defensive side of the ball.
 
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Well that was a winnable game, but too many mistakes. Im not going to read 130+ game-time posts right now but my takeaways:

1. Turnovers, especially the muff and the last INT.
2. Injuries, especially Braxton. Less than sharp when hurting, obviously. Still wonder how much impact Roby would have had...
3. Playcalling, especially at the end after the INT. I don't know why they got away from the run. A minute and change, 2 timeouts, midfield.. I think they could have mixed in some runs.. but oh well. Very predictable at times. It seemed hot and cold all night.
4. Sucked that there was little pressure on the QB. I wanted to see buckeyes in the backfield, but maybe a couple times and the safety, they were absent. Missed Spence, but Marcus? filled in really well.
5. Great punting. D played better than I expected, but man, TURN THOSE HEADS AROUND. and also, TACKLE. Offense played worse (probably due to Clemson's defense playing better than I anticipated)
6. Unrelated to the outcome, but good lord I never want to see another little yellow piece of cloth again. That was crazy.

Oh so close, too many missed opportunities. Gotta fix that defense ASAP. Need some tweaking on offense.
 
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Unlike the inexcusable abandonment of Dave & Hyde down the stretch in Indy, Dave was not working very consistently tonight. Hyde still got it rolling but many of those were just heart and vision, not the usual Dave dominance.

Yep. Tonight they had to pass to open up the run. Call it a combination of Clemson selling out to stop the run and the o-line having an off night. They managed to succeed at doing that when they called the right plays and the blitzes got picked up. They struggled when they got away from that formula.
 
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I'm not ready to close the door on Brax. He's been the victim of questionable play calling and an unquestionably [Mark May]ty defense. Frustrations running high, but he didn't lose this game or the Big CG.
Here's Braxton's stat line after Ohio State took a 24-17 lead on Michigan State late in the third quarter:

1 for 7 passing for 3 yards; 6 rushes for 18 yards

Here's Braxton's stat line after Ohio State took a 29-20 lead on Clemson late in the third quarter:

8 for 13 passing for 71 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 2 sacks, 1 fumble; 5 rushes for 9 yards.

So in crunch time in the two biggest games of his career, Braxton had 101 total yards on 31 plays (3.26 yards per play), with 1 touchdown and 3 turnovers. Maybe Braxton didn't lose either game all by himself, but his poor play down the stretch was certainly a major factor in both come-from-ahead losses.
 
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@marcushartman
Miller rated his pain as a 9.5 out of 10

If that's the case, I really have to question why he was out there. Full credit to Miller for being a warrior and trying to tough it out for his team. I certainly wouldn't want the opposite - a QB who taps out. I think Meyer & Herman have this shared philosophy about riding their best players in close & late situations, and they can do that to a fault sometimes. Perhaps they need to show a bit more trust in other players, in their preparation of those other players, and in their system. Nevermind how it affects him physically - if Miller was really in that kind of pain it had to be affecting him mentally in that situation.
 
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We were actually doing really well on D in the 3rd until the muffed punt. In fact I think we had 2 3 and out's in a row and even after the muffed punt they didn't have a positive play until the 3rd down TD. The turnovers just killed whatever momentum and confidence the D had.
 
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The bigger question for Buckeye fans is this: Can Braxton play at a championship level in college? Based on his performances against Michigan State and Clemson, the answer would be a resounding "NO".

Its rare that I vehemently disagree with you ljb. But I think your argument here is self defeating. If only because if he is mature enough to realize that he nneeds to return, he might be mature enough to get there. As has bean pointed out, he didn't lose th game. In fact he almost won it in spite of some other serious problems. I'd be happy to see wat kInd of senior he might be.

Can he play at a championship level? There are a lot of people in this program I would ask that question about before him.
 
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How is this not surprising, under the circumstances. Per Sportsbook, Your Wagers: Wagers Lost: 666.

Feels about right.

Let the dissection continue (or is it vivisection?) We've got about 8 months to work on it.

Night all. Hope you rest well.
 
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Difference in the game was Clemson found our weaknesses and exposed them (screen pass and jet sweeps) and we could not counter. It seemed like the OC didn't know exactly what to do and picked plays out of the bag.
 
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