WVaBuckeye
Guest
Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Week 1; Buckeyes Offense, National Narrative, Oklahoma Unprepared
WVaBuckeye via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Where do we start this week and where do we go? It’s not like anyone on the team actually under-performed and we can’t really put everyone in the Good can we? I think my pals here at the BBC have done a pretty good job of covering a wide range of topics this week! Let’s get rolling with the very very good in week one.
Rumblin’
COLUMBUS, OH – SEPTEMBER 3: Members of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrate their 77-10 victory over the Bowling Green Falcons while singing “Carmen Ohio” on September 3, 2016 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State defeated Bowling Green 77-10. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
You know those dreams you have from time to time where it seems like everything just falls into place? You know the ones I am talking about. You always get the girl, save the day, fly off a roof top and hit the winning shot! In my mind, that is what the Bowling Green game was like.
In a time where there seemed to be so much uncertainty about what this team is capable of and then whammo! The offense operates the way it should under veteran QB JT Barrett and we find several new stars. In my pre-season questions, I wondered how they would spread the wealth, but then again we are talking about Urban Meyer.
What was on display Saturday was an offensive explosion that only showed us glimpse of their potential. Yes, I said a just a glimpse! I think they got the ball into the play-makers hands and not just Curtis Samuel. Weber had a pretty good first game running the ball and will improve. The blocking was pretty good and the WR’s showed good hands. We won’t have a true gauge of what this offense is really capable of until Oklahoma but that’s okay, we can wait.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Rumblin’
Scott – Ohio State offense. Wow!
Joe – Urban Meyer has been saying for three-straight seasons that Curtis Samuel is a guy that needs to get 50 plays a game. To start 2016, the good ol’ ballcoach took his own advice and Ohio State fans witnessed what the Bronx Hybrid could do. By the way, that’s Curtis Samuel’s new nickname. The Bronx Hybrid.
JC – The offense production was amazing. I am almost tempted to say “…well, it was against Bowling Green.” But that’s a disrespect of an honorable performance that was not foreseen by any of us. Tulsa next week will be another opportunity to open up and show off the weapons that are gaining strength in Columbus. Come Oklahoma, regardless, of their little surprise against Houston, is a whole different operation. But, trust me, I have complete faith.
Brandon – The Ohio State offense. No one could have expected they would rack up 77 points and 776 yards all while keeping balance (417 passing/359 rushing). If you did, I would have told you that you were delusional. Weber, Samuel, and Wilson all proved to be dynamic play-makers and Brown showed his potential too. I don’t remember the last time the offense had this many playmakers.
MDotySr – I will just say look at Brandon’s mine would be pretty much the same give the new start “The Ball Offices of Samuel, Weber and McCall”!
Ben -I loved seeing so many true freshmen see the field against Bowling Green. We had four guys play all of last year, and to see 10 get into action in game one is huge. They not only got on the field, but they made an impact, McCall with his two touchdowns, Bosa with the sack, and Burns with the Pick-Six. The future is bright at Ohio State.
Mike Meals – Besides watching the Fightin’ Tom Hermans manhandle Big Game Bob today? Tip of the hat to UH. But this Buckeye team, coming out against a seriously over-matched opponent, and not playing down to them as we have in the past.
Stumblin’
College football and the NCAA in general. If the committee doesn’t start ranking teams for several weeks, then neither should the polls. I am okay with a pre-season “prediction” from them but to come out with a poll based on pure speculation makes them look pretty silly.
It’s not that they don’t get some of the teams right and normally putting OSU, Bama, USC, LSU and Texas can be a safe bet to do. However, early season failures and some non-conference match-ups can trip a team up and send them downward. I have always been a fan of the polls when the early and pre-season rankings really meant something. Now they are just eye candy and not a true statement of the rankings.
The CFB committee has the college football world at their mercy and if any team that lost in week one, two or three has any hopes of making the final four? The polls aren’t going to help them at all!
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Stumblin’
Scott – SEC
Joe – How about Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson, who literally stumbled the game away for the Wildcats late in the fourth quarter against Western Michigan. After slipping near the ten yard line, Thorson got hit near the far-side pylon and coughed the ball up as he tried to lower his shoulder into the endzone. The fumble gave the ball back to Western Michigan and now I have to hear all those fanboys of P.J. Fleck chirp louder, longer, and at a higher than tolerable pitch.
JC – Oklahoma & LSU. I must admit I am not really surprised by either loss. I have always been a believer that the pollsters love the SEC to a fault. I am happy for the Badgers. Oklahoma, too, I really believe was given too much value following last year’s journey. But with all that said, let me shut my mouth until after the 17th.
Brandon – The national narrative about the Buckeyes. Look, I understand it was pretty easy to jump on the “only six starters returning” bandwagon but at some point just look who is filling those holes. Outside of O-line, it wasn’t exactly people with zero playing time. Guys like Samuel, Wilson, Webb, Booker, and many more have played a lot of football. People are backtracking pretty quick now and trying to pretend like they are surprised.
MDotySr – All these teams that were ranked preseason that are being exposed early on as pretenders. Sometimes the first week of CFB can be just as fun as the last week.
Ben – Clemson had a tough go against Auburn, LSU lost to Wisconsin, Oklahoma lost to Houston. Let’s do away with preseason polls already. They are meaningless except to promote games on national television. Wait five weeks into the football season to see who really is a good team before we rank them.
Mike Meals – The clear separation of the 5-10 best football programs year in and year out, and the rest of the country. alaBama, Ohio State, etc., these teams are light years ahead of the next 10 (The UGAs, USCs, etc.).
Bumblin’
I was talking to a friend at work about Oklahoma and Bob Stoops losing at-least one of those types of games every year since we won a national title. A lot of people jump all over Stoops about this yearly debacle. Bear in mind that he is coaching a team that just a short week ago almost everybody(including myself) thought he would hand it to the Buckeyes in Norman.
The Sooners are a fearsome bunch at home and most of the time when they lose it’s not there. From the official OU site . . ,
“Since Bob Stoops became head coach in 1999, the Oklahoma Sooners have compiled the nation’s best overall home record and the longest win streak of any program in the nation. OU’s 39-game home winning streak at Owen Field(2005-2011) in Norman was the fifth-longest in the modern era of college football at the time.”
Stoops is 96-8 at home over-all and that in itself is pretty remarkable for his career there. It makes Norman a formidable and scary place to play which Buckeye fans will experience soon.
My point here is that the game was at a neutral site and for the most part, he had an entire off-season to prepare for Tom Herman and the Cougars. I cannot claim that I know anything about what teams do to prepare for those teams in the off-season. What I do know as an Ohio State fan is this, if they came out and looked unprepared for a team that they six months to watch film and game-plan for? I would be done with my head coach and staff.
There is no excuse for not being ready for a team that you are more talented than and clearly playing a tougher schedule over-all. Not that Houston didn’t belong in the game because they did. To dominate the number three team the way they did falls on the head coach of the losing team. I heard a lot of “experts” saying on Saturday that Oklahoma must beat OSU to have any hopes of being in the CFP. I disagree completely and think an unprepared loss should disqualify them.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Bumblin’
Scott – Les Miles for making a BS excuse.
Joe – Everyone wants to rip the SEC and that’s great, but I would like to take this platform to recognize why the Big 12 should look to themselves for a lack of playoff success and not expansion. Outside of Kansas State and Oklahoma, who lost to Stanford and Houston — here is your non-conference opponent list for week 1 in the gun-slingin’ Big 12: Northwestern State, South Dakota State, Southeastern Louisiana, Missouri, Rhode Island, Northern Iowa and Stephen F. Austin. I would say that the TCU defense is bumblin’ after giving up 41 points to South Dakota State, but giving points up like that is a TCU tradition.
JC – Regardless of TTUN’s “impressive” victory (but was it really? – Hawaii?) The whole charade of having Jeter and Michael Jordan present, as Honorary Captains, only solidify the desperateness lingering in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh and his circus act will not go over well too long with the traditionalists, or even the young-bloods. No one wants to be the “chuckling-clowns” in the room.
Brandon – The legend of Big Game Bob Stoops. I guess I was under the impression he was a good coach and bringing a good team to their “neutral” site game against Houston in Houston. In reality, he didn’t and I feel like an idiot for even believing he is a shell of his old self and still a good coach. In the past three seasons, he has been spanked by TAMU, Missouri, Texas, Clemson, and now Houston.
MDotySr – Les Miles Country Club membership down in the bayou. Fans and media alike were already placing Tom Herman as their next head coach by halftime of the WISKY game. Going to miss his sound bites but I’m sure we’ll hear them again at a much smaller school for years to come.
Ben – Michigan football. Enough already, we know you think you are back and will dominate the Big Ten for years to come, but let’s be realistic for a moment please. Brady Hoke went 11-2 in his first season in Ann Arbor and then the wheels came off to an 8-5 season then 7-6 then finally 5-7. Hoke was thought of as a solid recruiter who would bring back the glory days to Michigan football, and look how that ended up. I understand that Jim Harbaugh is a savior of some sort, but until they win anything meaningful (a bowl game against an overrated Florida team doesn’t count) then they are still mediocre in my mind. Win something then you can talk.
Mike Meals – Besides WVA for making me put my own name on all these dang forms? I’m going with LSU and The Mad Hatter too. Everyone thought it was cute when he made the joke about guys “walking home” if they leaped. But to see players taking cheap shots like that? And Les turning around and saying that it could have been a downfield block? I get defending your player…but that was the cheapest shot I have seen in awhile.
Weekly Funny
The post Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Week 1; Buckeyes Offense, National Narrative, Oklahoma Unprepared appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
WVaBuckeye via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Where do we start this week and where do we go? It’s not like anyone on the team actually under-performed and we can’t really put everyone in the Good can we? I think my pals here at the BBC have done a pretty good job of covering a wide range of topics this week! Let’s get rolling with the very very good in week one.
Rumblin’
COLUMBUS, OH – SEPTEMBER 3: Members of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrate their 77-10 victory over the Bowling Green Falcons while singing “Carmen Ohio” on September 3, 2016 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State defeated Bowling Green 77-10. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
You know those dreams you have from time to time where it seems like everything just falls into place? You know the ones I am talking about. You always get the girl, save the day, fly off a roof top and hit the winning shot! In my mind, that is what the Bowling Green game was like.
In a time where there seemed to be so much uncertainty about what this team is capable of and then whammo! The offense operates the way it should under veteran QB JT Barrett and we find several new stars. In my pre-season questions, I wondered how they would spread the wealth, but then again we are talking about Urban Meyer.
What was on display Saturday was an offensive explosion that only showed us glimpse of their potential. Yes, I said a just a glimpse! I think they got the ball into the play-makers hands and not just Curtis Samuel. Weber had a pretty good first game running the ball and will improve. The blocking was pretty good and the WR’s showed good hands. We won’t have a true gauge of what this offense is really capable of until Oklahoma but that’s okay, we can wait.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Rumblin’
Scott – Ohio State offense. Wow!
Joe – Urban Meyer has been saying for three-straight seasons that Curtis Samuel is a guy that needs to get 50 plays a game. To start 2016, the good ol’ ballcoach took his own advice and Ohio State fans witnessed what the Bronx Hybrid could do. By the way, that’s Curtis Samuel’s new nickname. The Bronx Hybrid.
JC – The offense production was amazing. I am almost tempted to say “…well, it was against Bowling Green.” But that’s a disrespect of an honorable performance that was not foreseen by any of us. Tulsa next week will be another opportunity to open up and show off the weapons that are gaining strength in Columbus. Come Oklahoma, regardless, of their little surprise against Houston, is a whole different operation. But, trust me, I have complete faith.
Brandon – The Ohio State offense. No one could have expected they would rack up 77 points and 776 yards all while keeping balance (417 passing/359 rushing). If you did, I would have told you that you were delusional. Weber, Samuel, and Wilson all proved to be dynamic play-makers and Brown showed his potential too. I don’t remember the last time the offense had this many playmakers.
MDotySr – I will just say look at Brandon’s mine would be pretty much the same give the new start “The Ball Offices of Samuel, Weber and McCall”!
Ben -I loved seeing so many true freshmen see the field against Bowling Green. We had four guys play all of last year, and to see 10 get into action in game one is huge. They not only got on the field, but they made an impact, McCall with his two touchdowns, Bosa with the sack, and Burns with the Pick-Six. The future is bright at Ohio State.
Mike Meals – Besides watching the Fightin’ Tom Hermans manhandle Big Game Bob today? Tip of the hat to UH. But this Buckeye team, coming out against a seriously over-matched opponent, and not playing down to them as we have in the past.
Stumblin’
College football and the NCAA in general. If the committee doesn’t start ranking teams for several weeks, then neither should the polls. I am okay with a pre-season “prediction” from them but to come out with a poll based on pure speculation makes them look pretty silly.
It’s not that they don’t get some of the teams right and normally putting OSU, Bama, USC, LSU and Texas can be a safe bet to do. However, early season failures and some non-conference match-ups can trip a team up and send them downward. I have always been a fan of the polls when the early and pre-season rankings really meant something. Now they are just eye candy and not a true statement of the rankings.
The CFB committee has the college football world at their mercy and if any team that lost in week one, two or three has any hopes of making the final four? The polls aren’t going to help them at all!
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Stumblin’
Scott – SEC
Joe – How about Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson, who literally stumbled the game away for the Wildcats late in the fourth quarter against Western Michigan. After slipping near the ten yard line, Thorson got hit near the far-side pylon and coughed the ball up as he tried to lower his shoulder into the endzone. The fumble gave the ball back to Western Michigan and now I have to hear all those fanboys of P.J. Fleck chirp louder, longer, and at a higher than tolerable pitch.
JC – Oklahoma & LSU. I must admit I am not really surprised by either loss. I have always been a believer that the pollsters love the SEC to a fault. I am happy for the Badgers. Oklahoma, too, I really believe was given too much value following last year’s journey. But with all that said, let me shut my mouth until after the 17th.
Brandon – The national narrative about the Buckeyes. Look, I understand it was pretty easy to jump on the “only six starters returning” bandwagon but at some point just look who is filling those holes. Outside of O-line, it wasn’t exactly people with zero playing time. Guys like Samuel, Wilson, Webb, Booker, and many more have played a lot of football. People are backtracking pretty quick now and trying to pretend like they are surprised.
MDotySr – All these teams that were ranked preseason that are being exposed early on as pretenders. Sometimes the first week of CFB can be just as fun as the last week.
Ben – Clemson had a tough go against Auburn, LSU lost to Wisconsin, Oklahoma lost to Houston. Let’s do away with preseason polls already. They are meaningless except to promote games on national television. Wait five weeks into the football season to see who really is a good team before we rank them.
Mike Meals – The clear separation of the 5-10 best football programs year in and year out, and the rest of the country. alaBama, Ohio State, etc., these teams are light years ahead of the next 10 (The UGAs, USCs, etc.).
Bumblin’
I was talking to a friend at work about Oklahoma and Bob Stoops losing at-least one of those types of games every year since we won a national title. A lot of people jump all over Stoops about this yearly debacle. Bear in mind that he is coaching a team that just a short week ago almost everybody(including myself) thought he would hand it to the Buckeyes in Norman.
The Sooners are a fearsome bunch at home and most of the time when they lose it’s not there. From the official OU site . . ,
“Since Bob Stoops became head coach in 1999, the Oklahoma Sooners have compiled the nation’s best overall home record and the longest win streak of any program in the nation. OU’s 39-game home winning streak at Owen Field(2005-2011) in Norman was the fifth-longest in the modern era of college football at the time.”
Stoops is 96-8 at home over-all and that in itself is pretty remarkable for his career there. It makes Norman a formidable and scary place to play which Buckeye fans will experience soon.
My point here is that the game was at a neutral site and for the most part, he had an entire off-season to prepare for Tom Herman and the Cougars. I cannot claim that I know anything about what teams do to prepare for those teams in the off-season. What I do know as an Ohio State fan is this, if they came out and looked unprepared for a team that they six months to watch film and game-plan for? I would be done with my head coach and staff.
There is no excuse for not being ready for a team that you are more talented than and clearly playing a tougher schedule over-all. Not that Houston didn’t belong in the game because they did. To dominate the number three team the way they did falls on the head coach of the losing team. I heard a lot of “experts” saying on Saturday that Oklahoma must beat OSU to have any hopes of being in the CFP. I disagree completely and think an unprepared loss should disqualify them.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Bumblin’
Scott – Les Miles for making a BS excuse.
Joe – Everyone wants to rip the SEC and that’s great, but I would like to take this platform to recognize why the Big 12 should look to themselves for a lack of playoff success and not expansion. Outside of Kansas State and Oklahoma, who lost to Stanford and Houston — here is your non-conference opponent list for week 1 in the gun-slingin’ Big 12: Northwestern State, South Dakota State, Southeastern Louisiana, Missouri, Rhode Island, Northern Iowa and Stephen F. Austin. I would say that the TCU defense is bumblin’ after giving up 41 points to South Dakota State, but giving points up like that is a TCU tradition.
JC – Regardless of TTUN’s “impressive” victory (but was it really? – Hawaii?) The whole charade of having Jeter and Michael Jordan present, as Honorary Captains, only solidify the desperateness lingering in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh and his circus act will not go over well too long with the traditionalists, or even the young-bloods. No one wants to be the “chuckling-clowns” in the room.
Brandon – The legend of Big Game Bob Stoops. I guess I was under the impression he was a good coach and bringing a good team to their “neutral” site game against Houston in Houston. In reality, he didn’t and I feel like an idiot for even believing he is a shell of his old self and still a good coach. In the past three seasons, he has been spanked by TAMU, Missouri, Texas, Clemson, and now Houston.
MDotySr – Les Miles Country Club membership down in the bayou. Fans and media alike were already placing Tom Herman as their next head coach by halftime of the WISKY game. Going to miss his sound bites but I’m sure we’ll hear them again at a much smaller school for years to come.
Ben – Michigan football. Enough already, we know you think you are back and will dominate the Big Ten for years to come, but let’s be realistic for a moment please. Brady Hoke went 11-2 in his first season in Ann Arbor and then the wheels came off to an 8-5 season then 7-6 then finally 5-7. Hoke was thought of as a solid recruiter who would bring back the glory days to Michigan football, and look how that ended up. I understand that Jim Harbaugh is a savior of some sort, but until they win anything meaningful (a bowl game against an overrated Florida team doesn’t count) then they are still mediocre in my mind. Win something then you can talk.
Mike Meals – Besides WVA for making me put my own name on all these dang forms? I’m going with LSU and The Mad Hatter too. Everyone thought it was cute when he made the joke about guys “walking home” if they leaped. But to see players taking cheap shots like that? And Les turning around and saying that it could have been a downfield block? I get defending your player…but that was the cheapest shot I have seen in awhile.
Weekly Funny
The post Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Week 1; Buckeyes Offense, National Narrative, Oklahoma Unprepared appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...