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

[buckeye78]

Just checked out some of the Hogs boards. Seem a largely respectful bunch. Couple of flamers, but you have that anywhere I guess.

Mallet has a great arm, Petrino and co. will no doubt have a solid gameplan cooked up. I'm a little nervous about tight ends running uncovered down the middle of the field, but overall, I think our DB's have been solid enough all year to win some battles.

Many respectful and intelligent Arky fans think this game is in the 30's or 40's. I seriously doubt either team scores in the 40's.

TP needs to step up and deliver another signature performance. Likewise for the D.

This is gonna be a good one! Excited to get another crack at an SEC team, though I almost wish USC-E had won today so we'd be playing the SEC Champ

 

[deejaystkyrice]

Kind of a dumb question but who picks which side a team will be on and who gets the home or away jerseys? It would be nice to sit with buckeye fans rather than sitting with the opposing team fans haha.

 

[buckeye78]

Just wanted to drop in and say hello to some buckeye fans. It looks as thought we will be playing each other on Jan. 4.

We feel real good about the game and the way we have been playing. Mallett has been throwing the ball very well and has a great receiving corps. We feel like overall, they're the best in the nation. Knile Davis has added a good running dimension to our great passing game. I can tell you that no matter how good the defense is, I would expect this offense to put up no less than 28 points.

Our defense is decent. If you take out the game against Auburn that we gave up 65, then we had a pretty good season defensively. We are missing a starting corner due to injury, but some younger guys have stepped in and filled in pretty well. I'd say our strength is our dline, though I would probably rate all 3 units at about B. We're just an above average D.

Our special teams are horrible. Especially out kick off coverage. I don't even want to talk about them, but I will. Our punter is pretty good and we do a good job with punt coverage. Our kicker is a true freshman, but has only missed 3 FGs all year. Our punt returner can be very good. Just depends on the day. Our kick returner got hurt in the second game of season. We've 4 different guys to replace him and the guy we currently have is just average I think.

The thing that worries me most about this game is Pryor. The QBs we've struggled the most against have been dual threat QBs. Cam Newton absolutely tore us up and Pryor is built very similar to Cam.

I don't really know a lot about the buckeyes, but I feel like Arkansas has a good chance at winning the game based on who OSU has played. I don't feel that they have truly been tested but once this season and they didn't fare too well in that game. I also think that we will have more fans there since it is in LA which borders AR. I think it will be a close game though. Something like 38-31 or somewhere in that vacinity. I would take my prediction with a grain of salt though, because I really don't know much about OSU.

If you have any other questions or more specific questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best at answering them.

Thanks for allowing me on your board. I look forward to the game. Go Hogs!

One last question...Is there a mobile version of this board. For an iPhone?

Welcome! Best of luck to y'all

Just a couple of tidbits though...Was there significant improvement offensively from the beginning of the year? I noticed you guys only put up 31 on ULouisiana Monroe in week 2, 20 against ALA in week 4 and 24 against Texas A&M in week 5.

Now that's not to knock your offense, but to question your claim that it doesn't matter how good the defense is, you expect to put up 28. This Defense is flat out better than A&M, more experienced in the secondary than ALA and I won't even discuss ULM and the buckeye D in the same sentence.

Secondly, just as we can't take away the game against Wisky, you can't take out the game you allowed 65 points in a game! As mentioned earlier, Pryor and Newton, while not exactly the same, are similar. The buckeyes are averaging around 40 per after all. Good enough to be top ten nationally so...

Should be a good game! Again, welcome to the board! You'll wanna be sure and learn a little bit more about the buckeyes, as you'll find, we are a very knowledgeable fan base. Due to the fact the matchup hasn't been made official yet, I'll admit I've just begun researching the Hogs as well so...

Go Bucks!!!

Edit: BTW, I was in New Orleans a couple years ago. There were almost as many buckeye fans as LSU fans, in Louisiana. You can't underestimate how badly as a NATION we want the SEC monkey off our backs so look for a HUGE crowd to descend on NOLA. Did I mention it's NOLA? In January? Have you ever been to Ohio in January?!!!!

 

[Hogtropolis]

So, either you play on the team or this is coach Petrino?

If you take out the game against Wisky, tOSU is potentially playing for the MNC. Never understood the justification, or need, to make this statement. If only my boss would give me the two big sales I lost this year my bonus/commision would be much larger.

Palin could see Russia from her back porch too.

I got gas once in AR, so I think tOSU wins 47-2.

I'm not saying take out the loss. I'm just saying that the pay for play guy was unstoppable that day. Add in the fact that Mallett only played 1 quarter of the game and the last three scores (which put them ahead of us and made the margin of victory look bad) were because of turnovers from 2 guys that probably won't see the field more than 3 or 4 snaps during our bowl game. Along with the 3 scores off of turnovers, they scored a TD after a 99 yard KO return. Not saying throw it out completely, but it is an anomaly from the way we played the rest of the season. I was just trying to give y'all (that one's for you Thump) the truest assessment as possible of our team.

If you want me to throw in another reason why I feel the Hogs will win, it's because we have 4 wins over teams in the top 25 of the BCS, while OSU has 0. I realize that's going back to schedule, but to me, that's a very big test of how good a team is. OSU hasn't seen a passing attack like they'll see from the Hogs all year. And I don't feel like OSU is going to throw anything at as that we haven't seen at some point during the season.

Also, how does the state of Arkansas bordering Louisana not relevant when talking about attendance. Also, the fact that this is our 1st BCS bowl game, while OSU is going to their, what 10th or more, I would think that would sway the attendance in our favor as well.

As far as your prediction goes, I was trying to throw out something realistic. If you want me to go homer on you, I can. Hogs win 52-10.

And thanks for the welcoming words everyone.

 

[Dryden]

Also, how does the state of Arkansas bordering Louisana not relevant when talking about attendance. Also, the fact that this is our 1st BCS bowl game, while OSU is going to their, what 10th or more, I would think that would sway the attendance in our favor as well.

You grossly underestimate Ohio State fans abilities to travel.

Population of Arkansas: 2,889,450
Living Ohio State Alumni: 425,000

OSU will get their 37,000 fans into the Superdome, and there will be another 50K hanging out outside just for the hell of it.

 

[osucollegebuck]

Would we get to pick which jersey we wear because of our ranking or would the SEC team be the home team by default?

 

[Diego-Bucks]

I'm not saying take out the loss. I'm just saying that the pay for play guy was unstoppable that day. Add in the fact that Mallett only played 1 quarter of the game and the last three scores (which put them ahead of us and made the margin of victory look bad) were because of turnovers from 2 guys that probably won't see the field more than 3 or 4 snaps during our bowl game. Along with the 3 scores off of turnovers, they scored a TD after a 99 yard KO return. Not saying throw it out completely, but it is an anomaly from the way we played the rest of the season. I was just trying to give y'all (that one's for you Thump) the truest assessment as possible of our team.

If you want me to throw in another reason why I feel the Hogs will win, it's because we have 4 wins over teams in the top 25 of the BCS, while OSU has 0. I realize that's going back to schedule, but to me, that's a very big test of how good a team is. OSU hasn't seen a passing attack like they'll see from the Hogs all year. And I don't feel like OSU is going to throw anything at as that we haven't seen at some point during the season.

Also, how does the state of Arkansas bordering Louisana not relevant when talking about attendance. Also, the fact that this is our 1st BCS bowl game, while OSU is going to their, what 10th or more, I would think that would sway the attendance in our favor as well.

As far as your prediction goes, I was trying to throw out something realistic. If you want me to go homer on you, I can. Hogs win 52-10.

And thanks for the welcoming words everyone.

In terms of the attendance comment, I submit much past anecdotal evidence that Buckeye fans typically outnumber the opposition in almost every game except for conference away games... in which they are often still the majority.

Buckeye's in the Rose Bowl last year, Buckeyes in the desert in 03, 06, 07. Buckeye's in Ann Arbor that turned it into a home game.

The fan's travel well... but Ohio State does have, I think, the largest national alumni base. Not to mention the entire state of Ohio and everyone who has ever lived there is pretty much a Buckeye fan, and everyone and their mother is from Ohio at some point.

Point being, I'd be shocked if Arkansas' fans outnumber the Buckeyes' by much.

As to your prediction: I think you'll find most Buckeye posters think Arkansas could win this game (though most think that Ohio State SHOULD win the game). However, I do think the prediction on expected points in the game will be where you get a strict disagreement. 28 points is a lot for the Buckeyes to give up.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Bucks vs Mallet

Had you told me after the scUM game in 07' we'd be facing him again, except in a different uniform, I would have been


I won't give early predictions. A big 'W' would be nice.
Let's get the thread rolling.


:cheers:




I vote pass rush myself.

true enough. the Big12CG proved that. Nebraska can lock down WRs for 5 seconds, but with no pass rush it didn't do them a damn bit of good.

 

[Bestbuck36]

Definitely like the shot against an SEC team. We need to play a full game for a change and get the W.

 

[jwinslow]

Jersey choice is based on ranking. Osu chose to stick with white sue to superstition and three straight road uni wins in the fiesta bowl

 

[Hogtropolis]

Welcome! Best of luck to y'all

Just a couple of tidbits though...Was there significant improvement offensively from the beginning of the year? I noticed you guys only put up 31 on ULouisiana Monroe in week 2, 20 against ALA in week 4 and 24 against Texas A&M in week 5.

Now that's not to knock your offense, but to question your claim that it doesn't matter how good the defense is, you expect to put up 28. This Defense is flat out better than A&M, more experienced in the secondary than ALA and I won't even discuss ULM and the buckeye D in the same sentence.

Secondly, just as we can't take away the game against Wisky, you can't take out the game you allowed 65 points in a game! As mentioned earlier, Pryor and Newton, while not exactly the same, are similar. The buckeyes are averaging around 40 per after all. Good enough to be top ten nationally so...

Should be a good game! Again, welcome to the board! You'll wanna be sure and learn a little bit more about the buckeyes, as you'll find, we are a very knowledgeable fan base. Due to the fact the matchup hasn't been made official yet, I'll admit I've just begun researching the Hogs as well so...

Go Bucks!!!

Edit: BTW, I was in New Orleans a couple years ago. There were almost as many buckeye fans as LSU fans, in Louisiana. You can't underestimate how badly as a NATION we want the SEC monkey off our backs so look for a HUGE crowd to descend on NOLA. Did I mention it's NOLA? In January? Have you ever been to Ohio in January?!!!!

Your last line about Ohio in Jan. definitely made me laugh. I'm sure it will be fairly even. I always tend to for get how many alumni OSU has. The U of A only has about 18k on campus each year. Doesn't OSU have upwards of 40k?

As far as our offense goes, yes, we have gotten much better and mainly due to 1 thing. Knile Davis has established himself as a premier back. I think it happened during the Ole Miss game. This may be the homer in me, but I believe we would have beaten Bama if he was our go to back then, and possibly even Auburn. We weren't able to run clock in either of those games when we needed to, because we didn't have a back that could do it. Since then he has gotten 20+ carries a game and our offense has been much better because of it. Also, Mallett was banged up in a few of those games. I know for sure in A&M game. La-Monroe game was sickening to watch. Petrino was trying to establish a run game with Green to a fault and as the season went on, he finally conceded that Green was not going to be the guy.

Also, we have a couple of freshmen starting on the offensive line along with another first year starter. They just had to mesh together as a unit and have done a much better job as the season has progressed.

I don't care how good or experienced your secondary is, if Mallett has time he will pick them apart. The key to getting to Mallett is to get pressure on him up the middle. He doesn't scramble well at all, so if there is pressure up the middle, he really struggles. The pressure from the outside, he usually does a good job of stepping up in the pocket.

Another that worries me everytime Arkansas plays is penalties. Arkansas was the most penalized team in the SEC this year.

And yes, Pryor makes me very nervous. If we can't stop him, it doesn't matter how many points we score.

I think I've already addressed the Auburn game.

 

[buckeye78]

In terms of the attendance comment, I submit much past anecdotal evidence that Buckeye fans typically outnumber the opposition in almost every game except for conference away games... in which they are often still the majority.

Buckeye's in the Rose Bowl last year, Buckeyes in the desert in 03, 06, 07. Buckeye's in Ann Arbor that turned it into a home game.

The fan's travel well... but Ohio State does have, I think, the largest national alumni base. Not to mention the entire state of Ohio and everyone who has ever lived there is pretty much a Buckeye fan, and everyone and their mother is from Ohio at some point.

Point being, I'd be shocked if Arkansas' fans outnumber the Buckeyes' by much.

As to your prediction: I think you'll find most Buckeye posters think Arkansas could win this game (though most think that Ohio State SHOULD win the game). However, I do think the prediction on expected points in the game will be where you get a strict disagreement. 28 points is a lot for the Buckeyes to give up.

Agreed...who wins is a separate issue altogether. I was simply pointing out earlier that, for example, Oregon was gonna hang 50 on us last year. This D is the real deal. We give up 28 points and we probably lose. Of course, unless we hang 65 on em

 

[Hogtropolis]

In terms of the attendance comment, I submit much past anecdotal evidence that Buckeye fans typically outnumber the opposition in almost every game except for conference away games... in which they are often still the majority.

Buckeye's in the Rose Bowl last year, Buckeyes in the desert in 03, 06, 07. Buckeye's in Ann Arbor that turned it into a home game.

The fan's travel well... but Ohio State does have, I think, the largest national alumni base. Not to mention the entire state of Ohio and everyone who has ever lived there is pretty much a Buckeye fan, and everyone and their mother is from Ohio at some point.

Point being, I'd be shocked if Arkansas' fans outnumber the Buckeyes' by much.

As to your prediction: I think you'll find most Buckeye posters think Arkansas could win this game (though most think that Ohio State SHOULD win the game). However, I do think the prediction on expected points in the game will be where you get a strict disagreement. 28 points is a lot for the Buckeyes to give up.

Maybe I'm wrong about attendance. I'm interested to see how it turns out.

After watching all of Arkansas's games this year, I just really expect Arkansas to score around 4 TDs. Also, if I was a betting man, I would bet that Arksnsas scores on their first possession. In the three years I've watched Petrino coached teams, no one is better at scripting the first plays of the game.

I don't know if y'all had a chance to watch the Arkansas/LSU game last week, but I would expect our game to play out very similar to that one.

 

[buckeye78]

Your last line about Ohio in Jan. definitely made me laugh. I'm sure it will be fairly even. I always tend to for get how many alumni OSU has. The U of A only has about 18k on campus each year. Doesn't OSU have upwards of 40k?

As far as our offense goes, yes, we have gotten much better and mainly due to 1 thing. Knile Davis has established himself as a premier back. I think it happened during the Ole Miss game. This may be the homer in me, but I believe we would have beaten Bama if he was our go to back then, and possibly even Auburn. We weren't able to run clock in either of those games when we needed to, because we didn't have a back that could do it. Since then he has gotten 20+ carries a game and our offense has been much better because of it. Also, Mallett was banged up in a few of those games. I know for sure in A&M game. La-Monroe game was sickening to watch. Petrino was trying to establish a run game with Green to a fault and as the season went on, he finally conceded that Green was not going to be the guy.

Also, we have a couple of freshmen starting on the offensive line along with another first year starter. They just had to mesh together as a unit and have done a much better job as the season has progressed.

I don't care how good or experienced your secondary is, if Mallett has time he will pick them apart. The key to getting to Mallett is to get pressure on him up the middle. He doesn't scramble well at all, so if there is pressure up the middle, he really struggles. The pressure from the outside, he usually does a good job of stepping up in the pocket.

Another that worries me everytime Arkansas plays is penalties. Arkansas was the most penalized team in the SEC this year.

And yes, Pryor makes me very nervous. If we can't stop him, it doesn't matter how many points we score.

I think I've already addressed the Auburn game.

Good points about the balance that a run game can provide you. As for Mallett getting time, most QB's can do so given adequate time. Mallett is certainly exceptional, granted...but I don't see him given as much time as Landry Jones got tonight. Our D Line hasn't gotten a ton of sacks, but don't mistake that for them not getting pressure. We've had a solid pass rush most of the year and created a lot of pressure picks.

should be a good one!

 

[JBaney45]

Your last line about Ohio in Jan. definitely made me laugh. I'm sure it will be fairly even. I always tend to for get how many alumni OSU has. The U of A only has about 18k on campus each year. Doesn't OSU have upwards of 40k?

As far as our offense goes, yes, we have gotten much better and mainly due to 1 thing. Knile Davis has established himself as a premier back. I think it happened during the Ole Miss game. This may be the homer in me, but I believe we would have beaten Bama if he was our go to back then, and possibly even Auburn. We weren't able to run clock in either of those games when we needed to, because we didn't have a back that could do it. Since then he has gotten 20+ carries a game and our offense has been much better because of it. Also, Mallett was banged up in a few of those games. I know for sure in A&M game. La-Monroe game was sickening to watch. Petrino was trying to establish a run game with Green to a fault and as the season went on, he finally conceded that Green was not going to be the guy.

Also, we have a couple of freshmen starting on the offensive line along with another first year starter. They just had to mesh together as a unit and have done a much better job as the season has progressed.

I don't care how good or experienced your secondary is, if Mallett has time he will pick them apart. The key to getting to Mallett is to get pressure on him up the middle. He doesn't scramble well at all, so if there is pressure up the middle, he really struggles. The pressure from the outside, he usually does a good job of stepping up in the pocket.

Another that worries me everytime Arkansas plays is penalties. Arkansas was the most penalized team in the SEC this year.

And yes, Pryor makes me very nervous. If we can't stop him, it doesn't matter how many points we score.

I think I've already addressed the Auburn game.

#1 We know all about getting pressure on Mallet :

#2 We have over 50k on our main campus.

#3 I expect a relatively low scoring affair overall.