Game Thread tOSU at Cal Bears, Sep 14, 7 ET, Fox

[Onebuckfan]

As long as we don't play Oregon,Louisville or FSU we can just outscore everyone else..including Ala. and A and M. Our D is not great but may be good enough if we don't regress from here.

 

[jlb1705]

Looked to me like some of the bad habits from last year where they tried to hit instead of tackle and they bounced right off. It wasn't all game, but they had some pretty serious lapses from where I was sitting.

Yep, and poor tackling and mental mistakes can be costly no matter what style of offense the other team is running. Can't afford those against teams that can stop an offense themselves every once in a while.

 

[youra6]

Treeg is a baller. They got some talent on that Cal offense. Now if they only hired a real def coordinator, they might actually be a decent team.

 

[jlb1705]

As long as we don't play Oregon,Louisville or FSU we can just outscore everyone else..including Ala. and A and M. Our D is not great but may be good enough if we don't regress from here.

As somebody who has watched great Ohio State defenses all his life, this kind of rationalization depresses me.

 

[Onebuckfan]

As somebody who has watched great Ohio State defenses all his life, this kind of rationalization depresses me.

We are replacing a lot of starters Washington and Bennet are dinged up, hell last year we had to move a FB to defense. We just aren't a premier Defense YET>

 

[bukIpower]

This is just IMO but we will not be lights out until urban has had a chance for all of his players to be in place. We don't seem to recruit any dL shorter than 6'4" and we seem to only recruit DBS and lbs that are taller as well. I love our dline and our speed at backer but I think our secondary is short and light which leads to a ton of broken arm tackles.

We will be an overall improved defense this year. Heck I already think after three games we are better than last year but to truly be dominate I think we need to get bigger in the back end and that'll come with another year of recruiting

 

[SEREbuckeye]

52-34 isn't impressive?

Well, 15-0 is!

 

[buckeyeintn]

Just got to my hotel. It was great to have O-H-I-O reverberating throughout the stadium.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Looked to me like some of the bad habits from last year where they tried to hit instead of tackle and they bounced right off. It wasn't all game, but they had some pretty serious lapses from where I was sitting.

Yep, there were more than a couple of instances of absolute shitty attempts at tackling...

 

[Mike80]

Yep, there were more than a couple of instances of absolute [Mark May]ty attempts at tackling...

And I thought the tackling last year was bad, this year's team tackles just as bad if not worse.

 

[Mike80]

52-34 isn't impressive?

Well, 15-0 is!

Offensively? Absolutely it is. Defensively this team is going to struggle all year. Cal ran stuff that we're going to see against Northwestern/Purdue/Illnois/scUM and maybe Indiana. I don't even want to think of what Wisconsin is going to run for on this defense as things stand right now either.

 

[Mike80]

I really meant OOC games - and Texas wasn't a 4 TD game just sayin....

I'll be absolutely shocked if they win by more than 20. For one, Cal plays the type of offense that usually moves the ball in spits and spurts against defenses that play off the receivers like Ohio State and for another, I get the feeling the offense won't nearly be as crisp this week as it was against SDSU. Call it a hunch....

38-20 or so is my prediction.

Wrong score, right margin. And the offense was crisp most of the game and there were times I couldn't figure out what the hell the defense was doing.

 

[scarletngray]

Just got to my hotel. It was great to have O-H-I-O reverberating throughout the stadium.

Just got into my hotel about an hour ago. Great game! OH -

 

[TooTall]

As long as we don't play Oregon,Louisville or FSU we can just outscore everyone else..including Ala. and A and M. Our D is not great but may be good enough if we don't regress from here.

Louisville. Based on what? That vaunted schedule? Louisville is a joke.

 

[Steve19]

I understand the rationale for tackling with the purpose of causing turnovers, but this team needs to get back to the fundamentals of wrapping up on the tackle. Too many times they simply did not make tackles that they should have made, sometimes with what should be embarrassing results.

That said, the Cal QB looks like a real future star. Northwestern and Ohio State are not exactly easy first defenses to cut your teeth on. With a week to heal and prepare, and after watching Oregon in the early minutes against a very ordinary Tennessee, I think Cal gives Oregon fits.