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Game Thread Sugar Bowl: tOSU vs Arkansas, Tue, Jan 4th, 8:30 ET ESPN

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BB73;1841793; said:
Anna Magnani - I'd hit it!

katy.jpg

You do realize if she were still alive she'd be 102, don't you? I think I'll pass.:cool:
 
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Surprising (but not really) that Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in ESPN's scientific polling of the U.S. population's most-favorite college football team.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2010-12-28-bcs-ratings_N.htm

In ESPN's own ongoing, scientific polling of the U.S. population's favorite college football teams, only two BCS teams ? top-ranked Ohio State and 10th-ranked Wisconsin ? are among America's 10 favorite teams. Oregon, in the title game, is No. 17. Which sure beats its opponent Auburn, which ranks 38th. Orange Bowl-bound Connecticut, unranked in BCS standings, stands 51st among Americans. And in TCU, the Rose Bowl gets a team ranked 65th in popularity ? only 0.2% of Americans call it their favorite.
 
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This thread has taken a turn for the disturbing, so I'm going to attempt to get it back on track.


All the stats listed below are from this season.

Arkansas can put 4 outstanding receivers on the field at the same time. The Arkansas coaching staff puts a huge emphasis on running downfield after the catch and downfield blocking. If you can't, or won't do both of those well, you won't play.

Junior WR Joe Adams: 5' 11", 190 lbs. 4.5/40. 41 catches for 693 yards and 5 TDs with 0 fumbles. Excellent route runner. Runs well after the catch. Sure handed and a very good downfield blocker.

Junior WR Jarius Wright: 5' 10", 180 lbs. 4.36/40. 38 catches for 718 yards and 4 TDs with 0 fumbles. Blazing speed. Good route runner. Great hands. Very good downfield blocker.

Sophomore WR Cobi Hamilton: 6' 3", 209 lbs. 4.6/40. 31 catches for 609 yards and 6 TDs with 0 fumbles. Big and strong. Best hands on the team. Very hard to tackle and runs well after the catch. Very good downfield blocker. Stepped up huge when Greg Childs (see below) went down with a knee injury.

Senior TE D.J. Williams: 6' 2", 251 lbs. 4.5/40. 49 catches for 589 yards and 4 TDs with 0 fumbles. A little undersized for a TE, but highly skilled as a receiver and and has great blocking technique. Always seems to find an open spot on the field. Very sure handed. Runs well and hard to tackle. Excellent downfield blocker. Mackey Award winner as the best TE in the nation.

Those are the starters. In addition:

Sophomore RB Ronnie Wingo: 6' 3", 227 lbs. 4.36/40. 27 catches for 274 yards and 4 TDs with 0 fumbles. Very dangerous catching passes out of the backfield on a wheel route. Great hands with blazing speed. Great downfield runner.

Everyone listed above is healthy, but I can't finish this without mentioning our best receiver, who won't play due to a knee injury he suffered in the Vanderbilt game:

Junior WR Greg Childs: 6' 3", 217 lbs. 4.5/40. 46 catches for 659 yards and 6 TDs and 0 fumbles. Our best receiver (although Cobi Hamilton has filled in without missing a step) who would be getting the same kind of attention Julio Jones, Alshon Jefferies and A. J Green get if he were on a team that didn't spread the ball around to so many receivers. He has First Team All American level talent. Makes acrobatic catches look routine. Very good to great at everything. Will return next year with something to prove. Has all the tools to be a superstar in the NFL.


So, how does your defensive backfield match up with all that?
 
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SmoovP;1842386; said:
So, how does your defensive backfield match up with all that?

To answer your question:

Chimdi Chekwa: All-World Athlete: No worries

Devon Torrence: The Other Corner: Great athlete, but not Chimdi

Jermale Hines: Excellent

Orhian Johnson: Solid to OK - Sorry, that's just how I see it

The backfield has been like Gettysburg this year. Casualties everywhere.

Some of the injured guys may have had a chance to get healthy; but how much did the missed time hurt them? ...remains to be seen
 
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Chekwa is a good cover corner, and he was on several All-American lists this year, he's our top dog. Not that great coming up in run support but very good in coverage. Pretty much been a four year starter for us if you count the nickel considering how much we play it.

Torrence is the #2 corner, he's fantastic as a cover 2 guy because he's such a physical player, and great in run support. Average in coverage. 2-3 year starter.

Jermale Hines has done a bang-up job this year as the leader of the secondary. He's played the Star (OSU's LB/S hybrid) and I believe both safety spots. He's excellent coming up in run support (former linebacker), and has shown a lot of progress in coverage and has become arguably the best player on the defense this year. 2-3 year starter.

Ohrian Johnson took over the other safety slot after C.J. Barnett tore his ACL in the Miami game (After Barnett played fantastic early on). Ohrian has shown promise, but its obvious he still needs more time. If I had to pick out a weak link in the secondary it would be him, he's a great athlete but he hasn't shown that he's that great in run support and sometimes is caught out of position in the defensive backfield.

Travis Howard is probably the next in a long line of great OSU corners. Struggled with the injury bug early in the year but really caught on late, having a huge pick-6 against PSU and playing a fantastic game against Michigan, including intercepting Tate Forcier's first pass. Pretty long, athletic kid, he's gonna be a good one and has really been the biggest development in this defense in the last month of the season.

Christian Bryant is the wildcard of the group. He's only 5'9 174 pounds, but man can he pack a wallop. To be clear of just how great he is in run support and in tackling period, this should be sufficient: When Tyler Moeller (Starting star) went down for the year with a shoulder injury, it was Bryant who took his role at the STAR (LB/S hybrid), and flourished in the several games he started. Unfortunately, his foot got infected, and he tried to play through it against Wisconsin but ended up making it worse, and they shut him down for the regular season, but he's back for the bowl game. Very good cover guy, and very versatile obviously, he can line up at the STAR, either safety spot, and the corner.

Aaron Gant as well. Known as the hardest hitter on the team, he's taken a good amount of playing time away from Ohrian Johnson. He's a safety obviously, and a senior, real quiet guy who just goes about his business and can lay the wood with the best of them. Not the best cover guy by any means.

Chekwa, Hines, and Torrence (all starters) are seniors, as is Aaron Gant. Howard is a redshirt sophomore, as is Ohrian Johnson, while Christian Bryant is a true freshman.

Should be a good matchup in the secondary. The injury bug has run rampant through our secondary this year costing us a starter as well as his immediate backup, so we've been unlucky in that regard, but it sucks for you guys not to have Childs as well. Overall though the bigger battle in this instance is tOSU's dline getting pressure against Arkansas' oline.
 
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