Matt Tamanini
Guest
The #LunaticFringe was right, but it’s time to retire the narrative and focus on winning it all
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
It’s time to put the torches and pitchforks down and enjoy this historic run.
Now that was more like it. From the moment that the game got underway, the Ohio State Buckeyes absolutely dominated their Rose Bowl meeting with the No. 1 Oregon Ducks winning their College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup winning 41-21 to set up a semifinal matchup with the Texas Longhorns next week. The performances that we have seen from the Buckeyes in their first two playoff games are exactly how OSU fans imagined this team could play before the season started.
And while there were certainly moments throughout the year that bore a somewhat passing resemblance to these performances, nothing came close to what we saw in the first halves against Tennessee and Oregon. Their first two playoff wins firmly establish that this Ohio State squad is definitively the best team in college football... and it is not particularly close.
Throughout the offseason, we all knew — or at least believed — that the Buckeye roster was the best in the country. However, far too often (even in victory), it didn’t seem like the team was anywhere close to scratching the surface of its potential. And when fans witness a team as historically talented as this one come up short in Eugene, struggle mightily against Nebraska, and lose to their overmatched rival for the fourth straight year, clearly they are going to be frustrated.
Since the team has had similar issues over the past six seasons — with players coming in and out of the roster — the blame rightfully falls on the coaches. Players and writers (myself included) have long questioned if Ryan Day was getting in the way of his team achieving its goals, either because he was trying to prove a point to former Michigan coaches or if he lacked the confidence to commit to the obviously best path to success.
However, we saw a decided defensive change in philosophy following the first game against Oregon, and after the demoralizing loss to Michigan, it seems like Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly have had a similar reckoning. The combination of those two schematic adjustments has given way to everyone finally seeing just how good this team can be when the coaches are as dialed in as the players are. While it is obnoxious that it took this long to happen, I am unequivocally ecstatic that, at long last, we are actually seeing everything fall into place.
So, despite what chronically bitter national media members and local lapdog reporters try to tell you, calling into question whether or not Ryan Day was up to the challenge of leading the Ohio State program to the heights that it is capable of was not only fair but healthy as well. The team was always capable of playing like this, so fans expecting the team to perform somewhere — anywhere — close to their potential was not crazy, it was now undeniably and thoroughly correct.
Day’s job performance is not determined by how badly he beats Western Michigan and Marshall, nor how often he beats Purdue and Northwestern, or even by how thoroughly he dominates Indiana and Penn State; it is about how his team performs against Michigan, Oregon, and in the postseason. In the regular season, he struck out in the biggest games, but he has been practically flawless in the postseason.
For me, I never doubted if the Buckeye players were good enough to win a national title, nor did I think that Day was out of his depth in terms of being OSU’s head coach. My questions were always about whether or not he had the stomach and mentality to do what it took to maximize his team’s potential. Day struggled with that in the regular season, but his team’s performance thus far in the playoffs — especially in the first halves — proves that the #LunaticFringe’s insistence that the coach was handicapping his team’s success via unnecessarily conservative game planning and offensively stubborn play calling was correct.
However, in the words of Nelson Mandela, “It’s never too late to do the right thing,” and since the calendar flipped to December, Ryan Day has absolutely done all of the right things.
Immediately following the Michigan game, I said that the only way that I would want to see Day back on the Buckeye sideline next season is if he made a run to the national championship. At the time, I didn’t think that was in the cards, but now it feels like it is almost approaching an inevitability... and I am thoroughly giddy about so dramatically wrong.
So, no matter where you stand on Ryan Day’s future prospects as Ohio State’s head coach, I think that we can all agree that he has his team playing at near-peak potential and they look like they are head and shoulders above everyone else in college football. So, even though those of us who have been pounding our fists on the proverbial table trying to will the Ohio State coaching staff to take the restrictor plate off of the offense were undeniably right to do so, it’s time to put the torches and pitchforks down and just cheer on the team and enjoy this potentially... possibly... likely... definitively historic run.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
It’s time to put the torches and pitchforks down and enjoy this historic run.
Now that was more like it. From the moment that the game got underway, the Ohio State Buckeyes absolutely dominated their Rose Bowl meeting with the No. 1 Oregon Ducks winning their College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup winning 41-21 to set up a semifinal matchup with the Texas Longhorns next week. The performances that we have seen from the Buckeyes in their first two playoff games are exactly how OSU fans imagined this team could play before the season started.
And while there were certainly moments throughout the year that bore a somewhat passing resemblance to these performances, nothing came close to what we saw in the first halves against Tennessee and Oregon. Their first two playoff wins firmly establish that this Ohio State squad is definitively the best team in college football... and it is not particularly close.
Throughout the offseason, we all knew — or at least believed — that the Buckeye roster was the best in the country. However, far too often (even in victory), it didn’t seem like the team was anywhere close to scratching the surface of its potential. And when fans witness a team as historically talented as this one come up short in Eugene, struggle mightily against Nebraska, and lose to their overmatched rival for the fourth straight year, clearly they are going to be frustrated.
Since the team has had similar issues over the past six seasons — with players coming in and out of the roster — the blame rightfully falls on the coaches. Players and writers (myself included) have long questioned if Ryan Day was getting in the way of his team achieving its goals, either because he was trying to prove a point to former Michigan coaches or if he lacked the confidence to commit to the obviously best path to success.
However, we saw a decided defensive change in philosophy following the first game against Oregon, and after the demoralizing loss to Michigan, it seems like Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly have had a similar reckoning. The combination of those two schematic adjustments has given way to everyone finally seeing just how good this team can be when the coaches are as dialed in as the players are. While it is obnoxious that it took this long to happen, I am unequivocally ecstatic that, at long last, we are actually seeing everything fall into place.
So, despite what chronically bitter national media members and local lapdog reporters try to tell you, calling into question whether or not Ryan Day was up to the challenge of leading the Ohio State program to the heights that it is capable of was not only fair but healthy as well. The team was always capable of playing like this, so fans expecting the team to perform somewhere — anywhere — close to their potential was not crazy, it was now undeniably and thoroughly correct.
Day’s job performance is not determined by how badly he beats Western Michigan and Marshall, nor how often he beats Purdue and Northwestern, or even by how thoroughly he dominates Indiana and Penn State; it is about how his team performs against Michigan, Oregon, and in the postseason. In the regular season, he struck out in the biggest games, but he has been practically flawless in the postseason.
For me, I never doubted if the Buckeye players were good enough to win a national title, nor did I think that Day was out of his depth in terms of being OSU’s head coach. My questions were always about whether or not he had the stomach and mentality to do what it took to maximize his team’s potential. Day struggled with that in the regular season, but his team’s performance thus far in the playoffs — especially in the first halves — proves that the #LunaticFringe’s insistence that the coach was handicapping his team’s success via unnecessarily conservative game planning and offensively stubborn play calling was correct.
However, in the words of Nelson Mandela, “It’s never too late to do the right thing,” and since the calendar flipped to December, Ryan Day has absolutely done all of the right things.
Immediately following the Michigan game, I said that the only way that I would want to see Day back on the Buckeye sideline next season is if he made a run to the national championship. At the time, I didn’t think that was in the cards, but now it feels like it is almost approaching an inevitability... and I am thoroughly giddy about so dramatically wrong.
So, no matter where you stand on Ryan Day’s future prospects as Ohio State’s head coach, I think that we can all agree that he has his team playing at near-peak potential and they look like they are head and shoulders above everyone else in college football. So, even though those of us who have been pounding our fists on the proverbial table trying to will the Ohio State coaching staff to take the restrictor plate off of the offense were undeniably right to do so, it’s time to put the torches and pitchforks down and just cheer on the team and enjoy this potentially... possibly... likely... definitively historic run.
Continue reading...