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Game Thread tOSU at NW'ern, Oct 5, 8 ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN2

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I watched 2 NW games this year.. and they did look very impressive.. I still thought we'd do better than we did... but how do you predict Miller's performance... IMO he is not confident in his running... his initial burst is not the same

I am comfortable that OSU has whatever OFFENSIVE weapon is needed on any given day
Need a beast RB - check
Need excellent WRs for deep routes - check
Need TEs for possession or seam routes - check
Need mega fast versatile offensive weapons - check
Need a kicking game - check
Need a killer rush - uh... work in progress; glimpses of brilliance
Need to stop a running game - check
Need to stop short route game - needs work; disappointed/understand.. but for some reason, I think Mike Mitchell would help
Need to stop exceptional WRs - needs work; see killer rush
Overall, we're right where we need to be for this point in the season
We will miss Christian Bryant's leadership - already shows; defense (repeat of last yr) needs a leader - 'Zack Boren' come on over
 
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Bleed S & G said:
Other notes from Ryan Field: wasn't even a challenge to get O-H-I-O around their stadium.. the visitors don't really have a "locker room" just a room with a sheet for a door.. and their stadium announcer calls their band "The Finest Band In The Land"
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I missed that, but I wasn't blown away by the 7 or so people they had for Alumni Band Day. :lol: We were in a Northwestern section near above and beside the student section, the student section seemed loud enough but the whole thing felt pretty amateur to me...jingling keys and whatnot. They also erupted with applause for pretty run of the mill plays...like tackling Hyde for a 3 yard gain or running the kickoff back to the 24...

As for the game...we missed most of the first quarter trying to get to our seats, through the students who were in all the aisles. I haven't watched the recording yet, but:

  • Braxton looked terrible until maybe midway through the 3rd, if not later. Comedown from the big game last week or Fitz and NW throwing some different things at him, he was uncomfortable and couldn't find/hit open receivers most of the night. He still can't make the zone option read. I was impressed with him down the stretch as he scrambled and then found guys to get the ball to (one to Hyde and one to Philly come to mind)
  • For all the depth we supposedly have in the backfield, it's clearly Hyde and everyone else, and it's not close.
  • I still hate the defensive schemes/play calling. Northwestern was clearly capable and content to run 10 yard outs and underneath plays up and down the field all night and it wasn't until crunch time that anything changed. I suppose it's a personal preference, but I'd rather live with aggressive play (Grant INT) and aggressive mistakes (the long catch and run in the 4th) than be nickle and dime'd to death. It might not be as bad except:
  • There's still problems tackling. This most be where I'm most frustrated. I can't believe we've had a season and a half of poor tackling and it's still a problem.
  • Northwestern, I thought, played better for most of the night. That being said, I was pretty confident late in the 3rd when they were +3 turnovers and only up 3 points. Ohio State was clearly the better team and it showed when it counted. Northwestern had two weeks to prepare, if they didn't spend the week of the Maine game preparing for Ohio State as well.
 
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A couple of other thoughts:
- Perry made two key plays that probably saved us the game. The first was on the 38 yd. kick return. The returner would have probably ran past Basil and scored if Perry had not come from behind and tackled him.
The 2nd was on 4th and inches when the QB fumbled the snap and Perry came in from the side and prevented him from moving the ball forward. Two great game saving plays imho.
- Best traveling fan base in the nation.

Bottom Line: 18 and OH-
 
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NW is a quality team. I thought their path to victory was very narrow. They needed TO's and Brax to be off his game. They got what they needed. The Ohio State QB and receivers were contained - all those weapons - except for Carlos Hyde. NW got almost everything they needed, and Ohio State still won. That's something to be encouraged about. On the whole we played bad defense and bad offense - and our coaching wasn't overwhelming.

The defense is a work in progress. They are not playing to their collective potential. I wondered about some of the calls. The only time Ohio State was effective against NW's passing game was when they blitzed. On 2 of NW's passing TD's we were rushing 3 and dropping 8 - which hadn't worked all night. ?????
 
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Abenaki said:
One more thought: It didn't end up this way this time, but Roby running down the NW receiver on the long pass play was the type of play that can save games and I LOVE that effort.
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Ya, great effort, but don't know what the hell he was thinking when he could have made a play at the point of reception. He certainly did not do his job on that play.
 
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The drw said:
Ya, great effort, but don't know what the hell he was thinking when he could have made a play at the point of reception. He certainly did not do his job on that play.
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I'll have to watch the replay. At the game I was watching the d-line on that play and didn't see which DBs were where until he was off and running. Either way, it's a potential game saving tackle if the D holds the offense to a FG attempt.
 
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A couple of things.
1. Great line play of both lines can cover a multitude of sins.
2. Our team problems this year are nothing like last year and easier to deal with.
3. In spite of the problems and schedule we are 6-0 and look like we'll play for the Big Ten Championship and maybe more.
 
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OSUK said:
NW is a quality team. I thought their path to victory was very narrow. They needed TO's and Brax to be off his game. They got what they needed. The Ohio State QB and receivers were contained - all those weapons - except for Carlos Hyde. NW got almost everything they needed, and Ohio State still won. That's something to be encouraged about. On the whole we played bad defense and bad offense - and our coaching wasn't overwhelming.
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I disagree completely with the bolded above. The offense played very well--Hyde was ripping off long runs at will, which is a testament to the play of the offensive line. The passing game was solid, even good at times. Really the main problem was the fumbling. I thought the defensive line played pretty well too--holding a back like Mark to 70 or so yards rushing on 17 carries is no small feat, and there were several sacks. The secondary play overall was poor, but not even to say the entire defense was bad.
 
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buckeyesin07 said:
I disagree completely with the bolded above. The offense played very well--Hyde was ripping off long runs at will, which is a testament to the play of the offensive line. The passing game was solid, even good at times. Really the main problem was the fumbling. I thought the defensive line played pretty well too--holding a back like Mark to 70 or so yards rushing on 17 carries is no small feat, and there were several sacks. The secondary play overall was poor, but not even to say the entire defense was bad.
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Fumbling is bad offense. And when one of your units is giving up chunks of yardage, that's bad defense. It doesn't mean that every aspect of the offense or defense was bad. The O line was dominant and Carlos ran very well. The D line is coming.

It was good enough to beat NW - but I want to beat Alabama, Oregon, etc. They will have to get some things buttoned down to get the chance to do that. We'll see.
 
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