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Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Best Dang Secondary, Sooners Bad, Pre-Season Polls
WVaBuckeye via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
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It was one heck of a night in Norman, Oklahoma as our Buckeyes walked in with about 30,000 of their best friends/fans and took care of business. It was touch and go a little for some fans as the Buckeyes got a “little” conservative but in the end they showed they belong on the national scene as a team to beat for the title. Let’s get rolling with the very, very good.
Rumblin’
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
I had two very honest trains of thought heading into Saturday night. First and foremost was my belief that Oklahoma was going to throttle us at home and second that our defense would be the reason we did.
I am feeling pretty good about being completely wrong on both accounts, and it’s pretty clear right now the Buckeyes have the best secondary in the country hands down. They share their responsibilities well and take care of business on every play. There are times that they seem out of place but their closing speed is remarkable.
There were two pass break-ups in the second half that left me amazed and the fact that Lattimore and Hooker had chances to pick off those passes was even more remarkable. This secondary has a chance of getting a pick on just about every pass their way and future teams better start throwing the under and slants to move the football.
They have already tied a record for pick-sixes with 4 as a defense and I am pretty sure they will destroy that mark when Rutgers comes calling.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Rumblin’
Scott – Ohio State’s basic defense. No explanation needed.
JC – I have to agree with Mike. Urban Meyer only gets better. He is the absolute “King” of motivation. He always gets the best of “all” his players. I am completely in love with him.
Brandon – Buckeye Nation. The turn out in Norman/Oklahoma City was unreal. From the moment I arrived at my hotel on Friday, it was just a continuous Buckeye celebration. I walked into the hotel and the lobby was full of Buckeyes everywhere. The hotel had homemade Buckeyes sitting out and people were excited. Friday night in Bricktown (OKC), every restaurant and the streets were filled with Ohio State fans. Saturday morning we went out to tailgate and there was Buckeye RVs everywhere! The entire turnout was amazing!
Ben – The Buckeye defense. After losing 8 starters from a year ago on what might have been one of the most talented teams in Buckeye history, we come back and right now it seems like we are better. The defensive backs have been incredible and the defensive line has held their own. The fact that there is little to no drop off from last year with that many fresh faces is a testament to how Urban Meyer reloads and his coaches prepare the players.
Mike Meals – Urban Meyer. The way he has motivated this team and coaching staff, they come out like someone lit their shoes on fire. For all the things we know about him: how great of a coach, leader, motivator, and man he is, he still continues to blow me away with the job he has done in Columbus.
Stumblin’
I have nothing about the Buckeyes to mention as far as the bad goes. They played as well as they could in Norman and Oklahoma played about as bad as they could. The Sooners are my stumblin’ this week because I have a hard time understanding how a good team at home isn’t prepared for the Buckeyes.
You could probably say now that they were out-manned but it’s Oklahoma and you should never be able to say that. I truly believe Stoops should be done for the Sooners. The buckeyes not only outplayed the Sooners, big game Bob got out-coached too. When you have the crowd on your side and a team with the experience they have, you shouldn’t fall flat on your face.
Bob Stoops record speaks for himself, but if the effort to prepare for a big time opponent doesn’t make your team ready? See ya! I do have to take my hat off to Baker Mayfield, he tried to take the blame for everything that happened. It’s not his fault that their game-plan was horrid.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Stumblin’
Scott – Brian Kelly at Notre Dame. His days there may be numbered.
JC – Iowa. I wanted to agree with mike again. But Stoops and Oklahoma is always overrated in my mind. It reminds me of the line in ‘Officer and a Gentlemen’ when the Lou Gossett, Jr. character says to Richard Gere … “Oklahoma? Only ….” I will leave the rest to your memory! But Iowa is my pick. They needed this one, simply because how it all looks. Besides the whole world had them as a favorite in the West …. Big stumble!
Brandon – University of Oklahoma. Look…Oklahoma fans were amazing. The locals were very friendly. My big Stumblin’ issue comes with the gameday preparedness. They were absolutely not ready for Buckeye Nation. The entire parking lot for OU and OSU tailgating located outside of the Basketball arena had TWO port-a-pots. Needless to say, by 1pm those things were atrocious. As I was walking to the stadium at around 6pm, we passed four more port-a-pots where another large tailgating area was. Every one of these things were literally overflowing from the top with toilet paper, trash, and feces. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen and I’ve seen port-a-pots in the middle of the desert in the Middle East. Then at the end of the night, it took about an hour and a half to get out of Norman. At no point did I see one single police officer or stadium official directing traffic. In fact, they were not even around. It was as if everyone got off of work at 10pm because that is when the normal game would have ended.
Ben – Florida State. I had a feeling they would get exposed at Louisville, but I didn’t see that score line coming. Lamar Jackson is special and he showed why he is the leader in the clubhouse for the Heisman already. He basically shredded the defense and made them look like a high school defense going against a pro team at times. Everyone was high on the Seminoles after their come from behind win against Ole Miss, but it might be a long season in Seminole nation this year.
Mike Meals – Big Game Bob Stoops. He really is a great, all-time college coach. He will go down with one of the most successful runs ever, especially at a college football “blue blood” program. But fair or not, the reputation he has for failing to show up for big games will forever be with him. He turned around an OU program that was in the dumps, and has ran the Big 12 since he showed up. But the failure to put away Ws vs the top echelon of college teams will never be erased now.
Bumblin’
I am going to jump on my fellow writers bandwagon this week. It befuddles me why the powers that be continue to have pre-season polls. They almost never get it right and at the end of the day, they need to do more homework.
You would think that some of the higher ranked teams would be ready for their non-conference foes especially when they are FCS or a team that has no business hanging. Those exceptions will obviously be Houston and then FCS North Dakota State. Still, the national media and coaches don’t have a say in the poll that matters and are really just doing it for fun.
Come out with a prediction poll and then follow it up with an actual poll after the non-conference part of the schedule is done.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Bumblin’
Scott – Oklahoma backup QB Austin Kendall. He’s a basic schmuck.
JC – I have to stay on target with TTUN’s decision to go for Harbaugh. It will all fall apart soon enough … and their embarrassment will be monumental. They were sucked into the imaginary idea that someone who knows the school is best. The seeds have been planted for a huge bumblin’.
Brandon – The Twitter universe. After last week, it is easy to say that I became a lot more popular on Twitter after I broke the Austin Kendall story. As soon as it made its rounds, I began receiving numerous messages from Oklahoma and Michigan fans about how bad the Buckeyes sucked, I received random phone calls from Norman, and I had people who felt the need to try to criticize me. The problem is this, I’ve been working with the military for over 16 years. I’ve deployed four times. My wife has deployed twice. I see my extended family maybe twice a year…if I am really lucky. Some douchebag on Twitter will have to do a lot more than call me names or criticize my video quality for me to be offended. Please try harder because basic insults don’t work.
Ben – I’m with Mike on the preseason polls aspect. Wait until week 5 and put out a poll that actually reflects what each team has done so far. Texas was overrated after their win at Notre Dame, and Notre Dame was overrated to being the preseason. The SEC is way overrated this year, and who knows how good Wisconsin really is? Let each team play a few non-conference games and then play a couple of conference games to get themselves established and actually figure out what kind of team they have before we rank teams. Again it doesn’t really matter what the polls think anyways, they are basically made for TV advertising at this point.
Mike Meals – Preseason Polls. We know they are all a guess, but this year has shown why they need to be stopped. I know the Playoff Committee doesn’t care about them, but if you think for an instance it doesn’t play at least a small part, like it sits in their mind, you are nuts. And if we have seen anything this year, with all the “upsets”, too many times a program’s hype and history is taken into account. Notre Dame was not a top 10 team. Texas wasn’t a top 15 team just for beating ND.
The post Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Best Dang Secondary, Sooners Bad, Pre-Season Polls appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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WVaBuckeye via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
It was one heck of a night in Norman, Oklahoma as our Buckeyes walked in with about 30,000 of their best friends/fans and took care of business. It was touch and go a little for some fans as the Buckeyes got a “little” conservative but in the end they showed they belong on the national scene as a team to beat for the title. Let’s get rolling with the very, very good.
Rumblin’
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
I had two very honest trains of thought heading into Saturday night. First and foremost was my belief that Oklahoma was going to throttle us at home and second that our defense would be the reason we did.
I am feeling pretty good about being completely wrong on both accounts, and it’s pretty clear right now the Buckeyes have the best secondary in the country hands down. They share their responsibilities well and take care of business on every play. There are times that they seem out of place but their closing speed is remarkable.
There were two pass break-ups in the second half that left me amazed and the fact that Lattimore and Hooker had chances to pick off those passes was even more remarkable. This secondary has a chance of getting a pick on just about every pass their way and future teams better start throwing the under and slants to move the football.
They have already tied a record for pick-sixes with 4 as a defense and I am pretty sure they will destroy that mark when Rutgers comes calling.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Rumblin’
Scott – Ohio State’s basic defense. No explanation needed.
JC – I have to agree with Mike. Urban Meyer only gets better. He is the absolute “King” of motivation. He always gets the best of “all” his players. I am completely in love with him.
Brandon – Buckeye Nation. The turn out in Norman/Oklahoma City was unreal. From the moment I arrived at my hotel on Friday, it was just a continuous Buckeye celebration. I walked into the hotel and the lobby was full of Buckeyes everywhere. The hotel had homemade Buckeyes sitting out and people were excited. Friday night in Bricktown (OKC), every restaurant and the streets were filled with Ohio State fans. Saturday morning we went out to tailgate and there was Buckeye RVs everywhere! The entire turnout was amazing!
Ben – The Buckeye defense. After losing 8 starters from a year ago on what might have been one of the most talented teams in Buckeye history, we come back and right now it seems like we are better. The defensive backs have been incredible and the defensive line has held their own. The fact that there is little to no drop off from last year with that many fresh faces is a testament to how Urban Meyer reloads and his coaches prepare the players.
Mike Meals – Urban Meyer. The way he has motivated this team and coaching staff, they come out like someone lit their shoes on fire. For all the things we know about him: how great of a coach, leader, motivator, and man he is, he still continues to blow me away with the job he has done in Columbus.
Stumblin’
I have nothing about the Buckeyes to mention as far as the bad goes. They played as well as they could in Norman and Oklahoma played about as bad as they could. The Sooners are my stumblin’ this week because I have a hard time understanding how a good team at home isn’t prepared for the Buckeyes.You could probably say now that they were out-manned but it’s Oklahoma and you should never be able to say that. I truly believe Stoops should be done for the Sooners. The buckeyes not only outplayed the Sooners, big game Bob got out-coached too. When you have the crowd on your side and a team with the experience they have, you shouldn’t fall flat on your face.
Bob Stoops record speaks for himself, but if the effort to prepare for a big time opponent doesn’t make your team ready? See ya! I do have to take my hat off to Baker Mayfield, he tried to take the blame for everything that happened. It’s not his fault that their game-plan was horrid.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Stumblin’
Scott – Brian Kelly at Notre Dame. His days there may be numbered.
JC – Iowa. I wanted to agree with mike again. But Stoops and Oklahoma is always overrated in my mind. It reminds me of the line in ‘Officer and a Gentlemen’ when the Lou Gossett, Jr. character says to Richard Gere … “Oklahoma? Only ….” I will leave the rest to your memory! But Iowa is my pick. They needed this one, simply because how it all looks. Besides the whole world had them as a favorite in the West …. Big stumble!
Brandon – University of Oklahoma. Look…Oklahoma fans were amazing. The locals were very friendly. My big Stumblin’ issue comes with the gameday preparedness. They were absolutely not ready for Buckeye Nation. The entire parking lot for OU and OSU tailgating located outside of the Basketball arena had TWO port-a-pots. Needless to say, by 1pm those things were atrocious. As I was walking to the stadium at around 6pm, we passed four more port-a-pots where another large tailgating area was. Every one of these things were literally overflowing from the top with toilet paper, trash, and feces. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen and I’ve seen port-a-pots in the middle of the desert in the Middle East. Then at the end of the night, it took about an hour and a half to get out of Norman. At no point did I see one single police officer or stadium official directing traffic. In fact, they were not even around. It was as if everyone got off of work at 10pm because that is when the normal game would have ended.
Ben – Florida State. I had a feeling they would get exposed at Louisville, but I didn’t see that score line coming. Lamar Jackson is special and he showed why he is the leader in the clubhouse for the Heisman already. He basically shredded the defense and made them look like a high school defense going against a pro team at times. Everyone was high on the Seminoles after their come from behind win against Ole Miss, but it might be a long season in Seminole nation this year.
Mike Meals – Big Game Bob Stoops. He really is a great, all-time college coach. He will go down with one of the most successful runs ever, especially at a college football “blue blood” program. But fair or not, the reputation he has for failing to show up for big games will forever be with him. He turned around an OU program that was in the dumps, and has ran the Big 12 since he showed up. But the failure to put away Ws vs the top echelon of college teams will never be erased now.
Bumblin’
I am going to jump on my fellow writers bandwagon this week. It befuddles me why the powers that be continue to have pre-season polls. They almost never get it right and at the end of the day, they need to do more homework.
You would think that some of the higher ranked teams would be ready for their non-conference foes especially when they are FCS or a team that has no business hanging. Those exceptions will obviously be Houston and then FCS North Dakota State. Still, the national media and coaches don’t have a say in the poll that matters and are really just doing it for fun.
Come out with a prediction poll and then follow it up with an actual poll after the non-conference part of the schedule is done.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Bumblin’
Scott – Oklahoma backup QB Austin Kendall. He’s a basic schmuck.
JC – I have to stay on target with TTUN’s decision to go for Harbaugh. It will all fall apart soon enough … and their embarrassment will be monumental. They were sucked into the imaginary idea that someone who knows the school is best. The seeds have been planted for a huge bumblin’.
Brandon – The Twitter universe. After last week, it is easy to say that I became a lot more popular on Twitter after I broke the Austin Kendall story. As soon as it made its rounds, I began receiving numerous messages from Oklahoma and Michigan fans about how bad the Buckeyes sucked, I received random phone calls from Norman, and I had people who felt the need to try to criticize me. The problem is this, I’ve been working with the military for over 16 years. I’ve deployed four times. My wife has deployed twice. I see my extended family maybe twice a year…if I am really lucky. Some douchebag on Twitter will have to do a lot more than call me names or criticize my video quality for me to be offended. Please try harder because basic insults don’t work.
Ben – I’m with Mike on the preseason polls aspect. Wait until week 5 and put out a poll that actually reflects what each team has done so far. Texas was overrated after their win at Notre Dame, and Notre Dame was overrated to being the preseason. The SEC is way overrated this year, and who knows how good Wisconsin really is? Let each team play a few non-conference games and then play a couple of conference games to get themselves established and actually figure out what kind of team they have before we rank teams. Again it doesn’t really matter what the polls think anyways, they are basically made for TV advertising at this point.
Mike Meals – Preseason Polls. We know they are all a guess, but this year has shown why they need to be stopped. I know the Playoff Committee doesn’t care about them, but if you think for an instance it doesn’t play at least a small part, like it sits in their mind, you are nuts. And if we have seen anything this year, with all the “upsets”, too many times a program’s hype and history is taken into account. Notre Dame was not a top 10 team. Texas wasn’t a top 15 team just for beating ND.
The post Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Best Dang Secondary, Sooners Bad, Pre-Season Polls appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...