Michael Smith
Guest
tBBC Season Review Roundtable
Michael Smith via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Hello everyone and welcome as I, with the help of my fellow writers here at Buckeye Battle Cry, answer some tough questions about this season of Ohio State Buckeyes football. (As an additional walk down memory lane, here is Michael’s first guest post regarding cheering, or nor cheering, for TTUN: Ken)
Coming into the season Ohio State was a heavy favorites to repeat as National Champion. They returned a lot of play makers and were the unanimous preseason #1 team in the country. However, one night late in November, the Michigan State Spartans ruined our dreams of a championship repeat and now Ohio State will face Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
What the season a big disappointment? What about the coaching moves during the season? Hindsight is always 20/20.
Lets see what opinions everyone had on the season.
Do you consider this season a huge disappointment because Ohio State didn’t make it back to the College Football Playoffs and why?
Michael: I have to say yes. This Ohio State team returned more talent than maybe any other team in its history, except for maybe the 1969 team. The schedule was set up perfectly for a run to the playoffs. Now we have to sit and watch 4 teams who Ohio State could all beat play for the National Championship. Its such a bitter pill to swallow.
Eric: Disappointment, yes. Huge, no. This team should have had no trouble making the playoffs this season. If OSU had put together a more reliable offensive game plan earlier in the season, they would have managed it. However, we’re left to wonder what could have been. This isn’t a huge disappointment because, let’s be honest, it’s hard to win championships. If it were easy, we wouldn’t care.
WVa: Not a huge disappointment but it definitely stings. Not a comparison to Cooper at all but it brought back memories of ’98 even though Sparty should have competed this time. It just shows you that any team plays better as an underdog and is tested week in and week out when they’re the top dog. The Buckeyes followed up the loss with a thorough butt whoopin’ of TTUN mostly because people doubted them and they definitely made me happy!
Scott: Yes. This was supposed to be the year, not last year. This stings far worse than any other time OSU was number 1 and didn’t have a chance to play for the title.
Ken: It was disappointing to me to me that OSU didn’t make the CFP. Things were set up (initial #1 ranking, “soft-ish” schedule) for the Buckeyes to get an opportunity to repeat. They didn’t, that’s the way it goes sometimes. Achieving an 11-1 record is still pretty good, so my disappointment is not “huge” by any extent.
Joe: As a fan, of course I feel disappointment, but as a lot of our staff has already mentioned, this is a sign of just how hard it will be to make the CFP top four in back-to-back years. Ohio State struggled to do it. What this season has provided though for the players is a dose of reality, when they hit professional football or the real world.
Your coaches or bosses are not always going to get it right. There are going to be times where you make mistakes in judgement. In the real world, nobody cares about the mistakes you make. They’re just waiting to see if you can bounce back and be a better person after those mistakes.
Now these players know what failing to meet their goals feels like for probably the first time in their lives. Sometimes in the real world, those goals won’t be met because of circumstances outside of your control. It’s how you respond to those circumstances that dictates the type of person you continue to become.
I can honestly say, as a fan, this was one of the most enjoyable group of players to watch on the field. Their the first group that really gave us a glance on social media of who they are as kids. They interacted with the media, and always left us with something to enjoy and talk about after games.
As hard as it is to say it’s not disappointing, I’m proud of the fact that we have a group of kids that are heading to Arizona with a chance to win their 50th game in 4 years. That’s an unbelievable feat that is something to be proud of as a fan.
Do you think it was a big mistake starting Cardale Jones over J.T. Barrett most of the season?
Michael: Yes, a big yes. It was very clear early on that the offense ran much better with J.T. Barrett. Its the one thing that I blame on Urban Meyer since he came to Columbus. Not sure if it was ego or pride but not making the change or not starting Barrett from the start will be questioned for a long time.
Eric: Coming in to the season, if we had the full roster of players we expected to have, then no it wasn’t a mistake. However, when the receiving corps got seriously depleted, our offensive game plan should have changed to a more run heavy approach, and we should have switched to J,T, Barrett to lead that offense
WVa: I have said all along that play calling and not player were the problem and we saw that effect in the MSU game. I also believe that some of those issues were compounded by the lack of mixing things up in the passing game to be a threat.
Scott: Yes. HUGE. Cardale has a cannon and had nobody to throw to. There was no deep threat on this team this year. Braxton Miller struggled to learn the routes and nobody else emerged. Needed to go with J.T.
Ken: Absolutely. This dithering over ‘Starting Quarterback’ dampened the offense this season. Jones and Barrett bring two completely different skill sets to the position, so not deciding early on who the QB is, didn’t allow the offense to get into a rhythm. Additionally, the offense is much more versatile under Barrett. His capabilities meld better with OSU’s play makers, especially this season, than Jones’ did.
Joe: I do and I don’t. Let’s be honest about the situation — the fact that the Buckeye offense was sluggish is on the coaching staff and not Cardale. Yes, he did not play anywhere near the standard that was set for him after his three-game playoff run to a national championship. He also was never put in the best position to win by this staff.
In the right situation, I believe that Cardale would of flourished as a starting quarterback during his junior campaign. The problem was, nobody on the offense coaching staff was willing to dial up the plays to allow him to flourish. Nobody was willing to give him control at the line of scrimmage to call out of certain packages. His downward spiral was a continued reminder that he was never given the opportunity to be fully comfortable. That downward spiral was fueled by that lack of trust.
It doesn’t excuse Cardale Jones’ bad play at all. It wasn’t the coaches that consistently misread defensive coverages. Ed Warinner and Tim Beck were not on the field throwing the football to the wrong side of receivers or under throwing the very few deep balls that were dialed up.
They were the ones though that continued to lack play-action play calls in the offense. They were the ones that expected a rocket-throwing quarterback to create touch out of nowhere.
If you’re planning on running an option heavy offense, you have to make the decision to start J.T. Barrett at the beginning of the season. Even if you don’t know what you are going to get from him in the spring of fall because of the ankle injury.
You can’t pretend that the “read option is dead” just because the quarterback that is starting does not have the athletic ability and on-the field instinct to run the offense that you favor. Just because father time adds a few wrinkles to our face as we get older, it doesn’t mean that it changes our identity.
The positive to take out of the situation, is that this season at the quarterback position was an absolute learning curve for this coaching staff. Cardale Jones was a Jim Tressel recruit. I wish he would of had an opportunity to play in his offense.
You can guarantee from here on out that every quarterback that takes the field during the Urban Meyer era, will fit the system his offensive coaches want to run, to a tee.
What was the most exciting or your favorite game this season and why?
Michael: OK, even I admit this was somewhat of a stupid question. Like most of my friends on The Buckeye Battle Cry it was the TTUN game. Ever since Harbaugh was hired as the TTUN head coach I’ve had countless TTUN fans tell me on social media and the internet that Harbaugh alone would be enough to carry TTUN over Ohio State and how they would kill us this year. We also feared Harbaugh big time. It was so beautiful to completely lay waste to them in Ann Arbor this year.
Eric: Seriously? Michigan. It felt like the return of the rivalry for the first time in years – and even if OSU ended up killing the stink weasels, it felt refreshing to be excited about them doing it.
WVa: I will have to go with the TTUN game here. The doubts I had about the game heading into that Saturday gave me a reason to be nervous. Once the game started it gave me hope for the playoff or the bowl game the Buckeyes would play in.
Scott: Michigan. Anytime we beat them it’s awesome. And considering it was my first win in three visits to the Big House, it was great.
Ken: The win over Michigan, no question, because; 1) It was a convincing win over Michigan, 2) it was a great ‘bounce-back’ game after the MSU debacle and 3) all units performed at the high level that we’d been expecting all season.
Joe: I’m going to take a different direction from everybody and step away from the Michigan because as great as it was to watch this team play to their full potential, it was still hard to watch and not feel angst from the week before, where everything imploded against Michigan State.
The most exciting performance to me this year was the opener in Lane Stadium against Virginia Tech. I will never forget how amped up I was to see this team start their title defense. To see who was going to walk out of the tunnel as the starting quarterback. I couldn’t wait to exact revenge against the only team to defeat the Buckeyes in 2015. Then the game happened.
Cardale Jones took care of business. J.T. Barrett was near perfect in his limited action. Michael Thomas made a first round draft choice in Kendall Fuller look like a freshman trying to keep his legs underneath him. Ezekiel Elliott started where he left off in 2014 by scoring on a patented 80-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Braxton Miller started the season with a bang, becoming the first player since Ted Ginn Jr. to score a 50 yard touchdown rushing and receiving the football.
And of course, he had the spin move that had Kirk Herbstreit talking about B buttons.
On defense, Joey Bosa destroyed Michael Brewer and the Silver Bullets flashed the championship defense that would come into form throughout the season.
The buildup to that game throughout the off-season really helped create an ultimate payoff for fans after that victory and really gave us a sense of just how good this Buckeye team could be.
Now knowing Zeke Elliott was sick all week before the Michigan State game and not 100%, do you still feel the play calling was bad?
Michael: The answer here is a big YES. It was the worst I have ever seen in all my years of watching Ohio State football. Conservative doesn’t even give it justice. It was just bad, so very bad.
Eric: Absolutely. There were two failures here – the first was that the Buckeyes failed to adjust to what their defense was trying to do. The second was that they didn’t attack the MSU defense where it was most weak – in the secondary. When they tried once and failed due to a slightly over-thrown ball the Bucks never went back to it. That’s totally unforgivable game planning.
WVa: Definitely! He still played. Maybe not at his best but he was out there battling. We saw the lingering effects the following week because he couldn’t outrun TTUN on the long run. He would have had chances against Sparty to break one and pull the advantage back to the Buckeyes for just one drive.
Scott: Yup. He wanted the ball. He was healthy enough to play, the game plan should not have changed. Play calling was horrendous.
Ken: The play calling in the MSU game was the worst of the season. I was baffled by OSU’s play calling all season (until The Game) but the MSU play calling crossed into coaching malfeasance. It was inexcusable. Michael, if you and I had been in OSU’s backfield, the play calling would have been inexcusable.
Joe: I can tell you through sources close to the situation, that Zeke went into that game feeling darn near close to 100%. Throughout the week, it was made sure that his fluids were kept on point, that he got the nutrition and rest that he needed, and that everything throughout the week was a buildup to making sure he was as close to 100% that he could be going into Saturday.
Was there probably a bit of fatigue? Absolutely. There will always be in that situation. That doesn’t mean you give the horsepower of your offense engine just 12 carries. If you want the pistons of the read option offense to fire at will, then Zeke has to get more than 20% of your offensive play calls. Even if Michigan State’s defense holds you to 20 less plays than your season average.
With that being said, everybody wants to blame the play calling in that game, and sure, it’s a big part of the mess. Tim Beck and Ed Warinner weren’t on the line of scrimmage getting destroyed by the Spartan defensive line at the point of attack. Urban Meyer wasn’t behind center making the worst decisions in the read option of his career.
The Spartan defense deserves credit for taking Ohio State completely out of it’s element offensively. They dominated the line of scrimmage.
The best way though to get that momentum back is to add more octane to your offensive engine. The only way to do that season was give the ball to Ezekiel Elliott consecutively until he found a rhythm and the offense followed behind him. Twelve carries in the biggest game of the year, for your only consistent offensive weapon, will never be enough.
Its Ohio State vs Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, honestly, predictions?
Michael: It all depends on which Ohio State team shows up. Teams in Ohio State’s situation usually get killed come Bowl game time. This is what I mean by that. Ohio State is not where they wanted to be, they fully expected to be in the playoff, but now are in what they feel is probably a lesser bowl. There is also the 500lb pink gorilla in the room. There are a great many players on the team who will be playing in the NFL this time next year. No matter what they say, will they go all out and try to win this game or will they be thinking about the dollar signs in the NFL?
If they try their hardest and try to win the game, Ohio State could win this game in a blow out. If they don’t, they could easily lose.
Eric: If OSU continues to run the offense we all know they possess from the Michigan game, then the Bucks will take care of business. It will probably be a fight early, but as is typical for Urban teams it will pull away in the second half. OSU 38-ND 17
WVa: The Buckeyes have a chip on their shoulder right now. They need this game to exorcise some demons. It’s a good match-up of offensive and defensive lines so the difference will be the running games. The Buckeyes have the best RB in the country contrary to what Heisman voters believe. Buckeyes roll, seniors and early draft entrees will send a message.
Scott: Prediction? Pain! I’m an ND fan and felt they have been over-rated all year. OSU by 3 TDs.
Ken: Ohio State brings more talent (assuming no one else gets suspended), is better coached and will be a bit chippier than Notre Dame. The Buckeyes win by two touchdowns, maybe three.
Joe: Ohio State’s defense is going to have a field day on New Year’s day. One thing we know about the Irish this season, is that they have struggled against elite defenses. Boston College, who lost eight straight to end the year, held Notre Dame to just 19 points because of their stout defensive play, that kept them in games all year long.
Temple battled through 4 quarters because of their tough nosed defense and only allowed Notre Dame to escape on a late score in the fourth quarter. Clemson’s front seven held the Irish to just 3.5 yards per carry and the dynamic duo of C.J. Prosise and DeShone Kizer to less than 60 yards rushing a piece.
This defense has one last game together and you can bet they are going to leave it all on the field.
I like the Buckeyes to win by two scores or more on New Year’s day and secure their 50th win over the last four seasons. Putting the final stamp on an unbelievable run from this group of players that are moving on to bigger and better things.
So there you have it everyone. What the season a bit of a letdown? Of course it was, no denying it. Where there some good things that happened? You can’t help but think of the TTUN beat down and smile you know it.
Coming soon will be a full Fiesta Bowl preview as I will breakdown both teams and who I think will win.
Till then, Chill!
The post tBBC Season Review Roundtable appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
Michael Smith via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Hello everyone and welcome as I, with the help of my fellow writers here at Buckeye Battle Cry, answer some tough questions about this season of Ohio State Buckeyes football. (As an additional walk down memory lane, here is Michael’s first guest post regarding cheering, or nor cheering, for TTUN: Ken)
Coming into the season Ohio State was a heavy favorites to repeat as National Champion. They returned a lot of play makers and were the unanimous preseason #1 team in the country. However, one night late in November, the Michigan State Spartans ruined our dreams of a championship repeat and now Ohio State will face Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
What the season a big disappointment? What about the coaching moves during the season? Hindsight is always 20/20.
Lets see what opinions everyone had on the season.
Do you consider this season a huge disappointment because Ohio State didn’t make it back to the College Football Playoffs and why?
Michael: I have to say yes. This Ohio State team returned more talent than maybe any other team in its history, except for maybe the 1969 team. The schedule was set up perfectly for a run to the playoffs. Now we have to sit and watch 4 teams who Ohio State could all beat play for the National Championship. Its such a bitter pill to swallow.
Eric: Disappointment, yes. Huge, no. This team should have had no trouble making the playoffs this season. If OSU had put together a more reliable offensive game plan earlier in the season, they would have managed it. However, we’re left to wonder what could have been. This isn’t a huge disappointment because, let’s be honest, it’s hard to win championships. If it were easy, we wouldn’t care.
WVa: Not a huge disappointment but it definitely stings. Not a comparison to Cooper at all but it brought back memories of ’98 even though Sparty should have competed this time. It just shows you that any team plays better as an underdog and is tested week in and week out when they’re the top dog. The Buckeyes followed up the loss with a thorough butt whoopin’ of TTUN mostly because people doubted them and they definitely made me happy!
Scott: Yes. This was supposed to be the year, not last year. This stings far worse than any other time OSU was number 1 and didn’t have a chance to play for the title.
Ken: It was disappointing to me to me that OSU didn’t make the CFP. Things were set up (initial #1 ranking, “soft-ish” schedule) for the Buckeyes to get an opportunity to repeat. They didn’t, that’s the way it goes sometimes. Achieving an 11-1 record is still pretty good, so my disappointment is not “huge” by any extent.
Joe: As a fan, of course I feel disappointment, but as a lot of our staff has already mentioned, this is a sign of just how hard it will be to make the CFP top four in back-to-back years. Ohio State struggled to do it. What this season has provided though for the players is a dose of reality, when they hit professional football or the real world.
Your coaches or bosses are not always going to get it right. There are going to be times where you make mistakes in judgement. In the real world, nobody cares about the mistakes you make. They’re just waiting to see if you can bounce back and be a better person after those mistakes.
Now these players know what failing to meet their goals feels like for probably the first time in their lives. Sometimes in the real world, those goals won’t be met because of circumstances outside of your control. It’s how you respond to those circumstances that dictates the type of person you continue to become.
I can honestly say, as a fan, this was one of the most enjoyable group of players to watch on the field. Their the first group that really gave us a glance on social media of who they are as kids. They interacted with the media, and always left us with something to enjoy and talk about after games.
As hard as it is to say it’s not disappointing, I’m proud of the fact that we have a group of kids that are heading to Arizona with a chance to win their 50th game in 4 years. That’s an unbelievable feat that is something to be proud of as a fan.
Do you think it was a big mistake starting Cardale Jones over J.T. Barrett most of the season?
Michael: Yes, a big yes. It was very clear early on that the offense ran much better with J.T. Barrett. Its the one thing that I blame on Urban Meyer since he came to Columbus. Not sure if it was ego or pride but not making the change or not starting Barrett from the start will be questioned for a long time.
Eric: Coming in to the season, if we had the full roster of players we expected to have, then no it wasn’t a mistake. However, when the receiving corps got seriously depleted, our offensive game plan should have changed to a more run heavy approach, and we should have switched to J,T, Barrett to lead that offense
WVa: I have said all along that play calling and not player were the problem and we saw that effect in the MSU game. I also believe that some of those issues were compounded by the lack of mixing things up in the passing game to be a threat.
Scott: Yes. HUGE. Cardale has a cannon and had nobody to throw to. There was no deep threat on this team this year. Braxton Miller struggled to learn the routes and nobody else emerged. Needed to go with J.T.
Ken: Absolutely. This dithering over ‘Starting Quarterback’ dampened the offense this season. Jones and Barrett bring two completely different skill sets to the position, so not deciding early on who the QB is, didn’t allow the offense to get into a rhythm. Additionally, the offense is much more versatile under Barrett. His capabilities meld better with OSU’s play makers, especially this season, than Jones’ did.
Joe: I do and I don’t. Let’s be honest about the situation — the fact that the Buckeye offense was sluggish is on the coaching staff and not Cardale. Yes, he did not play anywhere near the standard that was set for him after his three-game playoff run to a national championship. He also was never put in the best position to win by this staff.
In the right situation, I believe that Cardale would of flourished as a starting quarterback during his junior campaign. The problem was, nobody on the offense coaching staff was willing to dial up the plays to allow him to flourish. Nobody was willing to give him control at the line of scrimmage to call out of certain packages. His downward spiral was a continued reminder that he was never given the opportunity to be fully comfortable. That downward spiral was fueled by that lack of trust.
It doesn’t excuse Cardale Jones’ bad play at all. It wasn’t the coaches that consistently misread defensive coverages. Ed Warinner and Tim Beck were not on the field throwing the football to the wrong side of receivers or under throwing the very few deep balls that were dialed up.
They were the ones though that continued to lack play-action play calls in the offense. They were the ones that expected a rocket-throwing quarterback to create touch out of nowhere.
If you’re planning on running an option heavy offense, you have to make the decision to start J.T. Barrett at the beginning of the season. Even if you don’t know what you are going to get from him in the spring of fall because of the ankle injury.
You can’t pretend that the “read option is dead” just because the quarterback that is starting does not have the athletic ability and on-the field instinct to run the offense that you favor. Just because father time adds a few wrinkles to our face as we get older, it doesn’t mean that it changes our identity.
The positive to take out of the situation, is that this season at the quarterback position was an absolute learning curve for this coaching staff. Cardale Jones was a Jim Tressel recruit. I wish he would of had an opportunity to play in his offense.
You can guarantee from here on out that every quarterback that takes the field during the Urban Meyer era, will fit the system his offensive coaches want to run, to a tee.
What was the most exciting or your favorite game this season and why?
Michael: OK, even I admit this was somewhat of a stupid question. Like most of my friends on The Buckeye Battle Cry it was the TTUN game. Ever since Harbaugh was hired as the TTUN head coach I’ve had countless TTUN fans tell me on social media and the internet that Harbaugh alone would be enough to carry TTUN over Ohio State and how they would kill us this year. We also feared Harbaugh big time. It was so beautiful to completely lay waste to them in Ann Arbor this year.
Eric: Seriously? Michigan. It felt like the return of the rivalry for the first time in years – and even if OSU ended up killing the stink weasels, it felt refreshing to be excited about them doing it.
WVa: I will have to go with the TTUN game here. The doubts I had about the game heading into that Saturday gave me a reason to be nervous. Once the game started it gave me hope for the playoff or the bowl game the Buckeyes would play in.
Scott: Michigan. Anytime we beat them it’s awesome. And considering it was my first win in three visits to the Big House, it was great.
Ken: The win over Michigan, no question, because; 1) It was a convincing win over Michigan, 2) it was a great ‘bounce-back’ game after the MSU debacle and 3) all units performed at the high level that we’d been expecting all season.
Joe: I’m going to take a different direction from everybody and step away from the Michigan because as great as it was to watch this team play to their full potential, it was still hard to watch and not feel angst from the week before, where everything imploded against Michigan State.
The most exciting performance to me this year was the opener in Lane Stadium against Virginia Tech. I will never forget how amped up I was to see this team start their title defense. To see who was going to walk out of the tunnel as the starting quarterback. I couldn’t wait to exact revenge against the only team to defeat the Buckeyes in 2015. Then the game happened.
Cardale Jones took care of business. J.T. Barrett was near perfect in his limited action. Michael Thomas made a first round draft choice in Kendall Fuller look like a freshman trying to keep his legs underneath him. Ezekiel Elliott started where he left off in 2014 by scoring on a patented 80-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Braxton Miller started the season with a bang, becoming the first player since Ted Ginn Jr. to score a 50 yard touchdown rushing and receiving the football.
And of course, he had the spin move that had Kirk Herbstreit talking about B buttons.
On defense, Joey Bosa destroyed Michael Brewer and the Silver Bullets flashed the championship defense that would come into form throughout the season.
The buildup to that game throughout the off-season really helped create an ultimate payoff for fans after that victory and really gave us a sense of just how good this Buckeye team could be.
Now knowing Zeke Elliott was sick all week before the Michigan State game and not 100%, do you still feel the play calling was bad?
Michael: The answer here is a big YES. It was the worst I have ever seen in all my years of watching Ohio State football. Conservative doesn’t even give it justice. It was just bad, so very bad.
Eric: Absolutely. There were two failures here – the first was that the Buckeyes failed to adjust to what their defense was trying to do. The second was that they didn’t attack the MSU defense where it was most weak – in the secondary. When they tried once and failed due to a slightly over-thrown ball the Bucks never went back to it. That’s totally unforgivable game planning.
WVa: Definitely! He still played. Maybe not at his best but he was out there battling. We saw the lingering effects the following week because he couldn’t outrun TTUN on the long run. He would have had chances against Sparty to break one and pull the advantage back to the Buckeyes for just one drive.
Scott: Yup. He wanted the ball. He was healthy enough to play, the game plan should not have changed. Play calling was horrendous.
Ken: The play calling in the MSU game was the worst of the season. I was baffled by OSU’s play calling all season (until The Game) but the MSU play calling crossed into coaching malfeasance. It was inexcusable. Michael, if you and I had been in OSU’s backfield, the play calling would have been inexcusable.
Joe: I can tell you through sources close to the situation, that Zeke went into that game feeling darn near close to 100%. Throughout the week, it was made sure that his fluids were kept on point, that he got the nutrition and rest that he needed, and that everything throughout the week was a buildup to making sure he was as close to 100% that he could be going into Saturday.
Was there probably a bit of fatigue? Absolutely. There will always be in that situation. That doesn’t mean you give the horsepower of your offense engine just 12 carries. If you want the pistons of the read option offense to fire at will, then Zeke has to get more than 20% of your offensive play calls. Even if Michigan State’s defense holds you to 20 less plays than your season average.
With that being said, everybody wants to blame the play calling in that game, and sure, it’s a big part of the mess. Tim Beck and Ed Warinner weren’t on the line of scrimmage getting destroyed by the Spartan defensive line at the point of attack. Urban Meyer wasn’t behind center making the worst decisions in the read option of his career.
The Spartan defense deserves credit for taking Ohio State completely out of it’s element offensively. They dominated the line of scrimmage.
The best way though to get that momentum back is to add more octane to your offensive engine. The only way to do that season was give the ball to Ezekiel Elliott consecutively until he found a rhythm and the offense followed behind him. Twelve carries in the biggest game of the year, for your only consistent offensive weapon, will never be enough.
Its Ohio State vs Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, honestly, predictions?
Michael: It all depends on which Ohio State team shows up. Teams in Ohio State’s situation usually get killed come Bowl game time. This is what I mean by that. Ohio State is not where they wanted to be, they fully expected to be in the playoff, but now are in what they feel is probably a lesser bowl. There is also the 500lb pink gorilla in the room. There are a great many players on the team who will be playing in the NFL this time next year. No matter what they say, will they go all out and try to win this game or will they be thinking about the dollar signs in the NFL?
If they try their hardest and try to win the game, Ohio State could win this game in a blow out. If they don’t, they could easily lose.
Eric: If OSU continues to run the offense we all know they possess from the Michigan game, then the Bucks will take care of business. It will probably be a fight early, but as is typical for Urban teams it will pull away in the second half. OSU 38-ND 17
WVa: The Buckeyes have a chip on their shoulder right now. They need this game to exorcise some demons. It’s a good match-up of offensive and defensive lines so the difference will be the running games. The Buckeyes have the best RB in the country contrary to what Heisman voters believe. Buckeyes roll, seniors and early draft entrees will send a message.
Scott: Prediction? Pain! I’m an ND fan and felt they have been over-rated all year. OSU by 3 TDs.
Ken: Ohio State brings more talent (assuming no one else gets suspended), is better coached and will be a bit chippier than Notre Dame. The Buckeyes win by two touchdowns, maybe three.
Joe: Ohio State’s defense is going to have a field day on New Year’s day. One thing we know about the Irish this season, is that they have struggled against elite defenses. Boston College, who lost eight straight to end the year, held Notre Dame to just 19 points because of their stout defensive play, that kept them in games all year long.
Temple battled through 4 quarters because of their tough nosed defense and only allowed Notre Dame to escape on a late score in the fourth quarter. Clemson’s front seven held the Irish to just 3.5 yards per carry and the dynamic duo of C.J. Prosise and DeShone Kizer to less than 60 yards rushing a piece.
This defense has one last game together and you can bet they are going to leave it all on the field.
I like the Buckeyes to win by two scores or more on New Year’s day and secure their 50th win over the last four seasons. Putting the final stamp on an unbelievable run from this group of players that are moving on to bigger and better things.
So there you have it everyone. What the season a bit of a letdown? Of course it was, no denying it. Where there some good things that happened? You can’t help but think of the TTUN beat down and smile you know it.
Coming soon will be a full Fiesta Bowl preview as I will breakdown both teams and who I think will win.
Till then, Chill!
The post tBBC Season Review Roundtable appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...