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P Jesse Mirco (transfer to Vanderbilt)

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ND's punter looked great, but that may have had more to do with where Egbuka was lining up to receive.

Which leads to question 2 - why is Egbuka constantly running back to catch punts? Is the special teams' coach positioning him wrong, or is he deliberately ignoring the coach and lining up where he feels comfortable? One thing is sure, he's had to run back at least five times this season to catch a punt. In the 4th quarter of the ND game, it led to the ball ending up inside the five, I believe. That's when Chop began banging heads, and the Bucks drove 90 some yards to ice the game. The drive allowed Egbuka's mistake to be overlooked. In the Rutger's game, it resulted in a fumble that led to a Rutger's TD.
 
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cincibuck said:
ND's punter looked great, but that may have had more to do with where Egbuka was lining up to r

Which leads to question 2 - why is Egbuka constantly running back to catch punts? Is the special teams' coach positioning him wrong, or is he deliberately ignoring the coach and lining up where he feels comfortable? One thing is sure, he's had to run back at least five times this season to catch a punt. In the 4th quarter of the ND game, it led to the ball ending up inside the five, I believe. That's when Chop began banging heads, and the Bucks drove 90 some yards to ice the game. The drive allowed Egbuka's mistake to be overlooked. In the Rutger's game, it resulted in a fumble that led to a Rutger's TD.
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In my opinion it has to do with the wind in Ohio Stadium. When the ball goes high enough, the effect of the wind on it increases substantially. I have to wonder if he needs more reps catching punts in Ohio Stadium. I also have to wonder if it might be due to his practice coming from catching Aussie-style punts, which in some cases don't go as high as other punts and might not catch the wind in Ohio Stadium as well as others. (This last is a guess; I've never seen Mirco punt in person and you get no sense of it from TV).

I remember watching Skladany punt in the Shoe. There were times when he would boot it above the top of the stadium. Apart from the audible "oooooh" from the crowd when he did that, there were times when the forward motion of the ball would just stop when the ball got to that level, going south to north. There were other points when the ball, going north to south, would take off and invariably fly over the returners head. The top of the stadium is farther above the field now than it was then, but the effect is still there. It's just not as significant as it was.
 
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cincibuck said:
ND's punter looked great, but that may have had more to do with where Egbuka was lining up to receive.

Which leads to question 2 - why is Egbuka constantly running back to catch punts? Is the special teams' coach positioning him wrong, or is he deliberately ignoring the coach and lining up where he feels comfortable?
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It's intentional:
The muffed punt was a result of Adam Korsak punting it over Egbuka’s head, sending him backward to make a catch over his shoulder. That’s become a constant theme on special teams for the Buckeyes. Often they’ve lined up Egbuka closer to the line of scrimmage, and he’s watched balls sail over his head and he’s fielded them.
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One might think the simple solution to this is just moving him back a few yards when he takes the field. But there is a method to why they don’t do that. They’d rather have him run backward to field a punt than have one land in front of him, giving a team the chance to flip the field.

“The tough thing about moving him back is on that field — because it’s not grass — when it bounces and rolls, it rolls forever,” Day said. “It can cost you 30, 40 yards. Trying to find that sweet spot is difficult.”
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Day detailed that part of the problem was the way the wind often carried the ball. Through Ohio Stadium, the wind was blowing south, but down on the field, it was going every which way, making it difficult to track it in the air.

“Sometimes to try to get an idea of where that wind is taking the ball or holding the ball up is a little bit of a challenge, and we try to do the best we can out there,” Day said. “There’s a little bit of a feel to it. Obviously, that one got us, but he’s also done a good job of making sure it catches those because if you go too far back and it takes that big hop and rolls 30 yards, that’s three first downs.
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What’s up with Ohio State football’s Emeka Egbuka and his muffed punt against Rutgers? - cleveland.com
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DaddyBigBucks said:
The B1G gave their ST player of the week to a place-kicker who played in beach weather by comparison

As much as I love numbers, there are no numbers that tell the true story of Mirco's day

When you consider the conditions, it may have been the best punting performance in college football history.
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Rewatching the game I came in to say the same thing. That was a truly incredible performance in that wind. This dude is the real deal.
 
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DaddyBigBucks said:
You rewatched the Northwestern game?

Dude

You need help
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If I'm going to critique coaches and players, I have to subject myself to such torture. At least it adds up in my head. 96% of the rewatch was absolutely miserable, but at least I could fast forward. The only positive was I realized nobody could possibly score much than 30 points in that weather...dear lord. I have been running our local game watch and unfortunately can't follow the commentary as the games go along (trying to make sure my fellow Buckeyes that come have a good time and all). I don't know if I could sit in the stands all game, let alone try to move an offense.

Upon further review, I would strongly recommend that everyone just forgets this game and moves forward like the season just started. Players, fans and coaches alike. That was a gift from God that NW received. 70ish degree fall day and we beat them by 50+.
 
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