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This Week in Buckeye Football: Aloha From Columbus

The big story coming out of Monday night's game was the quality and depth of talent the Buckeyes employ at the skill positions. Seemingly capable of big plays at will, Ohio State was praised a historic juggernaut and the nation's most enjoyable team to watch. However, that was certainly not true today.

Because of the recognized talent the Buckeyes have, when things aren't going smoothly, some fans struggle to identify the reasons or possible solutions. Not moving the ball? It must be the playcalling because a team this talented can only be held back by the guys who tell them what to do on every snap. Not moving the ball through the air? Feed Zeke. Or maybe they should switch quarterbacks. Maybe it's none of those things. Perhaps it's the short turnaround between the Virginia Tech game and this one. Maybe it's those stupid refs.

What often goes unnoticed is the performance of the offensive line. Good play in the trenches makes everybody else look good. You can run behind a dominant O-line. You can pass. You can take more chances. You can get the ball into the damn end zone after taking over 1st and goal at the 5-yard line.

I think everybody took for granted that this unit would be great. Last year's line was dominant at the end of the season, returned four out of five starters, and would continue to be led by the nation's premier coach in Ed Warinner. Through two games, though, that has not been the case. You can't say it's entirely down to the lone new starter Chase Farris, either. They allowed too much pressure against Virginia Tech. Against Hawai'i they committed numerous penalties that put the offense behind the chains and failed to get enough push in the run game.



Take a look at the picture in that tweet. That's the meanest the offensive line looked all day, and they were in suits instead of pads. That has to change if the Buckeyes are going to get where they want to go. The comforting thing for now though is that we've seen the line get better with every week every year that Meyer and Warinner have been in charge. Hopefully we can expect the same as this season progresses.

Top Plays:

3.) This is more of a clusterfudge than a top play, but I'm reaching for something here:



2.) It's a shame this only led to a field goal:



1.) The most memorable thing that happened today:



Quick Takes:

  • You really have to appreciate what Braxton Miller is doing so far this season. Every time he takes a direct snap everybody knows exactly what he's going to try to do. The fact that he is making it work is a testament to his skill. Just imagine what he might be able to do if the Buckeyes ever counter off it or allow him to make even a short throw...

  • Are the Silver Bullets back? A shutout is always nice, but on today's evidence I wouldn't make that declaration just yet. They stopped Hawai'i, but it didn't feel like they dominated them. Instead it seemed more like the Rainbow Warriors lacked creative ideas and execution. If the Buckeyes had faced a team that was more willing to take some chances or try some off-beat plays, they might have been rewarded for it and put the Buckeyes in a real dog fight.

  • People complain incessantly about the kickoffs out-of-bounds, but it's clearly something that Urban Meyer has decided he can live with. They load the kick coverage to one side and angle the kick to reduce the amount of space that has to be covered. It works. Last season Ohio State led the nation in starting field position, and it is due in large part to this tactic. Angled kicks of course are aimed toward an area near the sideline, so there is an increased risk that some kicks will go out of bounds. In spite of that, they still created an overall field position advantage for themselves versus that created by teams that don't use that tactic. Some of that has to be due to the superior athleticism Ohio State brings to bear in those situations, but it's also the reward that's enjoyed by taking a moderate risk with the direction of the kick. It's here to stay as long as Urban Meyer is in charge, and people need to learn to accept it.

  • That said, every part of the kicking game stinks right now. It will cost the Buckeyes a game at some point if it is not fixed.

  • It was good to see Bri'onte Dunn get some burn in this game. It was easy to imagine him not playing again for a long time after his fumble for Virginia Tech. He got another chance, and rewarded the coaches' faith in him by scoring.
 
I joke about the kick-off OOB play and its frustration, but do people realize the ball only gets spotted at the 35? 30 yards from the kickoff. Kickoffs moved to the other 35 years ago. Kick off out of bounds is not the 40 yard line. It is not a detriment. It is 10 yards (1 first down) further than where it is spotted when most programs go with the kick-for-a-touchback play (that's the 25 yard line for those not keeping score). And we freaking kill it 9 times out of 10 in nailing a team between the 10 and 15, which IS a big deal.

For the OLine- I worry about something Meyer, I believe, mentioned in the offseason regarding Warriner's move to O-Coordinator and that is, they be weary that his focus remains on coaching up that offensive line. I am concerned about that balance so far this year. It was compounded this week with a short week.

Tough managing the most important unit on the team and also the entire offensive gameplan. That's not on Warriner, he's just one man, but something to keep an eye on. All coaches have to be prepared to step up and help gameplan so that he can get his slobs prepared.

Other than that, the game was never in doubt. It was just a frustrating afternoon that I'm willing to call an aberration due to the short week. 2 practices? What's that 4 total hours of practice time this week? Yuck.

Ugliest 38-0 game I've seen and I'm ready for next week.
 
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I joke about the kick-off OOB play and its frustration, but do people realize the ball only gets spotted at the 35? 30 yards from the kickoff. Kickoffs moved to the other 35 years ago. Kick off out of bounds is not the 40 yard line. It is not a detriment. It is 10 yards (1 first down) further than where it is spotted when most programs go with the kick-for-a-touchback play (that's the 25 yard line for those not keeping score). And we freaking kill it 9 times out of 10 in nailing a team between the 10 and 15, which IS a big deal.

Don't get me wrong - having opponents start at the 35-yard line is significant. The stats bear this out. In the micro sense, a kick out-of-bounds is not a good thing. In the macro sense though, the Buckeyes are better off doing what they're doing that kicking it down the middle because their ability to cover returns makes up for it and it's contingent on directional kicking.
 
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Don't get me wrong - having opponents start at the 35-yard line is significant. The stats bear this out. In the micro sense, a kick out-of-bounds is not a good thing. In the macro sense though, the Buckeyes are better off doing what they're doing that kicking it down the middle because their ability to cover returns makes up for it and it's contingent on directional kicking.
On the same page here. I knew as I was typing that I was probably downplaying the significance of yardage for effect. And I know Coach Coombs is aware of those stats you mention. We both probably saw that clip in Scarlet and Gray Days where he's discussing Opponent Scoring % based on starting field position to his ST unit. It is a big deal.

But like you, I'm not going to say scrap the operation because I have seen too much good come out of that coffin corner- big hits, turnovers, confused returners, and starting opponents in the shadow of their own goalposts. Worth it. Just do better, kicker.
 
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What continues to impress me (actually, one of *many* things) about Braxton is his acceleration. In the old NCAA football franchise they'd have had little choice but to make him a 98 or 99 ACC; in two strides he's basically at full speed, and that clearly flusters Ds. One little seam, even the hint of a seam, and he's through it while defenders are trying to wrap around the vapor trail he's left behind. Maybe he's not the fastest dude on the team, but I'd put his field/ball speed and particularly acceleration against anyone.

Michael Thomas continues to stand out to me as a particularly polished receiver. Zero question in my mind that this kid is going to make a fine pro, perhaps one of the better ones we've sent to the league in a few years. Great hands, a fluidity in and out of the catch that you don't often see -- in one motion he can curl, snatch the ball, and without a single break in motion cut a beautiful line or arc through or away from defenders for extra YAC. He flashed last year, no question, but my perspective is that two games into this season we're seeing all the signs of a fully baked star.

I won't give the OL a pass, because the talent is there and Warriner has proven (absolutely) that he can work the talent. They'll come together just like they did last year. This game was a real mess though, and if any unit looked gassed and flat in this game it was them (though QB wouldn't be far off). Like @OHSportsFan, I worry that Ed's split responsibilities may be depriving us of some of that voodoo he 'do' so well with the OL. My guess, and this guess was given a little meat by some of Meyer's post game comments, is that he (Urbs) is taking a very hands-on role in the offense and that it isn't entirely in Ed's lap. As a few have pointed out, for all of Tom Herman's end of season brilliance, there's NO question that he had his own head scratcher moments and games. We also have to allow that early in the season things are a little more simplified, more shallow -- as much because the team is still gelling as it is about not pulling one's pants down TOO far before the bigger games.

The D, for only two games in, is coming together. Yes, it was "just" Hawai'i, but we're seeing the signs of improvement there. Vonn, dear boy, as brilliant as you are and as substantial a game as you had today, let's secure those extra int opportunities and see you set a team record. LBs? Golden. DL? Deep and dangerous. The secondary continues to mesh and the talent is superb. So many stars in waiting, and Gareon Conley continues to have a bit of a coming out party.

Zeke gonna Zeke. Funny how he's averaging over 100y a game and not a one of us (Zeke himself included) feel like we're seeing enough of him. There's a ton of talent on the field, however, and as we see those QBs come into better focus I think we're going to see some of the carries going to Cardale (not all, 12g can truck any fool not prepared to get hit and hit hard) shift to Zeke as the season progresses. Zeke will get his, and I think of our own cadre of Heisman candidates, he remains our frontrunner.

Fickell took some lumps during and after his one year stint as interim head coach, and then much more so as the DC. I stand firm in my belief that Withers was the source of some of the painfully soft coverages and schemes, but there's little argument from me that Luke has been a work in progress. Fickell plus Ash is already something special, and I really do feel like we're not just heading back to Silver Bullet-style/effective Ds, but a new hybridization of OSU Silver Bullets and SEC-style (you know, back when they were actually good) terror. Long-armed stupidly fast DEs carrying your own linemen backwards and using them as bludgeons against any hapless ball-carrier silly enough not to lateral it away out of concern for their own well being. Dangerously athletic ball-hawking LBs who will outrun many of the WRs we'll face, but don't need to because the only thing the youthful DBs lack is a ceiling.

Quarterbacks... I was dismayed (not on BP; elsewhere around social media) to see fans making some pretty aggressive comments about Cardale. You know, the Cardale that stepped in cold and punched Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon square in the mouth. We elevated Cardale, as did the media; we deified him 3 games in. And there it is: three games. If you examine Cardale based upon what we saw at the end of last season, then you could argue that these first two games have been tough. Some good things, some not so good things; certainly not the insta-pro dominance of the path to the title. That's hardly fair, though, is it? Last year was last year, the setting and circumstances are completely different. If we look at Cardale in more reasonable terms (in his 5th start, his first ever in Ohio Stadium -- odd, eh?) then what we see is a big body with the foundation for pro-level ability and a cannon for an arm. Different, entirely, than JTB -- who had the whole of the last regular season to rewrite the record books. There is NO right answer in terms of which of these two should be playing. I'm happy with either. I suppose I leaned towards JTB's experience. And yet some other terribly greedy part of me thought (drooled); start Cardale this year, start JTB next year, start Collier/Gibson/any of the other future stars at the position the year after that). This isn't Zwick/Smith, Germaine/Stanley, or anything else we've experienced; it's something much better AND much worse. My greatest fear is that neither will be able to settle absolutely into the role, for any one of a dozen different reasons. My second greatest fear is they both will. In a perfect world we break the laws of reason and science and split into two equally destructive squads. OSU_Scarlet, OSU_Grey, let each QB lead one and have them both lay waste to their own regular season schedules. When the B1G championship arrives, Voltron merge into a complete deathmachine that clowns with the remaining playoff opposition the way a bored cat may with a mouse before just going ahead and eating it. I can dream, right? The QBs will come together. QBs plural. It's a long season and there's a lot of football to play, we're going to see some absurdly fun things, and despite that it's going to be rare (perhaps it will never happen at all) that we see the full destructive capability of this team realized and unleashed for 4 complete quarters. Should that ever happen, I don't (at all) mind saying that this year we're unbeatable. Don't care who it is, don't care how hard they play, don't care how big a homer this makes me -- but if we play to our maximum potential for four quarters (Do we even have a maximum? That feels like asking where the universe ends, one gets dizzy thinking about it.) then nobody can beat us. We know better though, we're going to play down here and there, we're going to make mistakes and underachieve; and the good news is that we WANT to. We want to learn and adjust, we want them to be hungry, angry, confident, but still loose. We want big grins, want to see them having fun, but in order to get there, in order to peak, we have to make mistakes along the way. Last year that was the VaTech loss. This year it's going to be the 2nd quarter against VaTech, the first half against Hawai'i; probably more. Losses? Meh, don't see it. Maybe it's Pollyannish to find the silver lining in what (at times) seems like ineptitude and unrealized potential, but we need fire to forge.

We're enjoying a golden age of OSU football. We've been put on a dizzyingly high pedestal by ourselves, the media, and even some who are traditionally Buckeye haters. Trust that the media and haters will JUMP on any opportunity to try and tear us down. So what if they do. As so many have said, the only threat to us is us. Buckle up boys and girls, this one is going to continue to be a good ride. Next week, next month, next year, and for many years forward.

One serious critique? Somebody find a kicker, stat. No more KOs out of bounds, let's go ahead and strive for better than .500 on FGs. Better still, let's just not kick FGs. For that matter, why punt? Even when we're floundering we're the greatest show in college football this year. Reason be damned, I'd be happy if we didn't see another punt the entire regular season. Now I'll submit this and try and decide just how serious I am about that.
 
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