Game Thread tOSU vs. Virginia Tech, Sept 6th @ 8pm ET, ESPN & ESPN3 Skycam

[jwinslow]

i've only watched 10,000 football games since then. i'm sure the depth of my insight into the game hasn't changed one bit.

Well many others have also watched "ten thousand" games since then also becoming football savants, so it's a wash.

I saw some encouraging progress on defense. They still have plenty of work to do but the mentality, scheme and discipline was a lot better.

 

[Taosman]

Lots of progress on defense Saturday night. But let's give credit to a very well prepared and talented VT team. This year they have an offense to go with a terrific defense and they will rise in their conference and nationally. Their QB made plays when they were in third down situations. He was helped by terrific play from their receivers.
We have tons of inexperienced guys playing and it showed. We wilted under the lights and it looked like we were snake bit most of the night.
Our true freshman kicker missed 2 makeable field goals.
Our kick off kicker made an inexcusable kick off out of bounds at a critical time Which was followed by a stupid penalty on the coverage team.
Our normally superb punter shanked a punt giving great field position.
Our inexperience on the offensive line was exposed.
Our inexperience at WR was exposed. Too many dropped passes including a catchable TD pass.
It was like every thing bad that could happen, happened in one game. That's the way things can go with a inexperienced team some times.
Yet, with all the bad things that happened, we were still in the game right into the 4th quarter. The effort and fight was there . This team will learn a lot from the difficulties of the first 2 games and be better for it. We now have , basically 3 weeks to fix the issues that have cropped up before the Bearcats come calling. I don't doubt that coach Warriner and the coaches will coach up the kids. The team has a great work ethic and attitude and the talent is there for a very good season.
Oh! And one more thing. Some guy named Noah Spence is now available. He was only our starting DE and best pass rusher last year. He will have a huge impact on defense and make the whole team better.

 

[SouthernBuck]

It is hard to explicitly say what I saw on the defense because I was watching the game on the television and they show you what they want to show, but I feel like the Buckeye D was in press man coverage with Apple and Grant (which I love, I think they are amazing athletes with great man coverage skills and great ball skills) on first and second down but third down we got into a zone defense and got burnt by it. Anyone else see the same type of defensive playcall or am I wrong in my thinking.

 

[bukIpower]

Lots of progress on defense Saturday night. But let's give credit to a very well prepared and talented VT team. This year they have an offense to go with a terrific defense and they will rise in their conference and nationally. Their QB made plays when they were in third down situations. He was helped by terrific play from their receivers.
We have tons of inexperienced guys playing and it showed. We wilted under the lights and it looked like we were snake bit most of the night.
Our true freshman kicker missed 2 makeable field goals.
Our kick off kicker made an inexcusable kick off out of bounds at a critical time Which was followed by a stupid penalty on the coverage team.
Our normally superb punter shanked a punt giving great field position.
Our inexperience on the offensive line was exposed.
Our inexperience at WR was exposed. Too many dropped passes including a catchable TD pass.
It was like every thing bad that could happen, happened in one game. That's the way things can go with a inexperienced team some times.
Yet, with all the bad things that happened, we were still in the game right into the 4th quarter. The effort and fight was there . This team will learn a lot from the difficulties of the first 2 games and be better for it. We now have , basically 3 weeks to fix the issues that have cropped up before the Bearcats come calling. I don't doubt that coach Warriner and the coaches will coach up the kids. The team has a great work ethic and attitude and the talent is there for a very good season.
Oh! And one more thing. Some guy named Noah Spence is now available. He was only our starting DE and best pass rusher last year. He will have a huge impact on defense and make the whole team better.

What concerns me is right now for two straight games everything has landed the other way when it's been 50/50. Need a call over turned? Nope not enough evidence. Other team makes a acrobatic catch or clearly fumbles? Meh, not enough info to over turn. We have shanked kickoffs, punts, and field goals. We have dropped tds, Long bombs, and we have over thrown wide open screens.

Sooner or later this team has got to start playing smarter and making their own luck or we won't win a few more this year.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Urban Meyer is 2-0 against M*ch*g*n. Until something changes on that front there is no comparison. Did I miss a memo where we started judging Cooper's tenure by some other standard?

Not that anything excuses Coop's abysmal record against Michigan, but he faced an entirely different Michigan program than Meyer has faced. Again, we beat teams we're supposed to beat but lose to anyone tough that comes along. I'm not calling for anyone's head, but I am saying this program has a long way to go before we can comfortably believe that we're a legitimate top 10 team much less a playoff contender.

 

[Woody1968]

It is hard to explicitly say what I saw on the defense because I was watching the game on the television and they show you what they want to show, but I feel like the Buckeye D was in press man coverage with Apple and Grant (which I love, I think they are amazing athletes with great man coverage skills and great ball skills) on first and second down but third down we got into a zone defense and got burnt by it. Anyone else see the same type of defensive playcall or am I wrong in my thinking.

I think that people are missing the fact that on several of those 3rd down plays, we blitzed, and couldn't get to the QB, because he scrambled and bought enough time to make the throw. Other times, we pressured him into making poor throws that were miraculously caught by their WRs. There were really only a couple of times that the coverage was so poor that they made an easy throw and catch. That is completely different than last year, when we did not press, we did not blitz, and the opponent found the holes in the zone, then ran through tackles for 20 extra yards. Yes, ideally 3rd down and longs should not be conceded, but the overall level of play was much better than last year, when it was pretty much awful.

I'm feeling pretty good with the younger talent on defense. They will only get better as the season goes on. Right now, I am more concerned with the development of the offensive line, and the offensive adjustments.

 

[OSUK]

Well VT did what I didn't think they had the goods to do. Brewer is tougher than nails and just a calm performer. That Tech defense was going to pressure JT and bet that he couldn't make the right throw enough times to beat them. They bet right. Ohio State was out-coached, out-schemed, and out-performed on the whole.

That said, I thought a bunch of little things killed drives or helped VT in the first half: illegal procedure, dropped balls, high snaps, shanked punts, missed kicks, etc. I think there were 2 very bad things that cost the Bucks huge in the first half: 1) Corey Smith's drop in the endzone. 2) Ash/Fickell/whoever went to that preventish-like soft zone at the end of the half, and Tech drove right down and scored. Throw that one out! Ohio State played it throughout the schedule last year, and that pass defense was one of the worst in the country. Playing it with 2 min to go in a game/half is basically saying we want to give the offense chunks of yards and a good chance to score. Geez. If you notice, Tech wasn't playing soft zone on OSU's last 2 drives. They were blitzing and covering man with a safety 20 yards back to contain any breakouts. Evidently Foster knows something our staff doesn't.

I thought Ohio State fought hard to get back in it in the 2nd half. It reminded me of a basketball team that is losing by 25 at half, but they tie the game up in the 4th, and then run out of gas and lose by 10. Mo was wearing scarlet when OSU tied it up, but Tech was able to get it back late - something you don't see teams do often. They got it back by doubling down on the pressure they were putting on JT and the O line. There is a lesson in there somewhere.

Ohio State is uber talented after 3 UFM recruiting classes, they have great coaches based on their pedigrees and resumes, and they have the prestige of the history of the program to give them a standard of excellence to live up to. But there is a disconnect somewhere, and I have no idea what it is. I hope Urban does and gets it all connected soon.

We Buckeye fans like to think of that program as elite, we don't rebuild - we reload, and all that. But they have lost 3 out of their last 4 games, and they are in the same category of decent teams who are trying to get major weaknesses addressed, get better week to week, and be a good team by the end of the year. I think that is why the B1G Championship, Orange Bowl, and that debacle Saturday night is so frustrating to us. We ain't what we think we are, but we should be. Why we aren't is a mystery - one I hope Urban solves soon.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

I think that people are missing the fact that on several of those 3rd down plays, we blitzed, and couldn't get to the QB, because he scrambled and bought enough time to make the throw. Other times, we pressured him into making poor throws that were miraculously caught by their WRs. There were really only a couple of times that the coverage was so poor that they made an easy throw and catch. That is completely different than last year, when we did not press, we did not blitz, and the opponent found the holes in the zone, then ran through tackles for 20 extra yards. Yes, ideally 3rd down and longs should not be conceded, but the overall level of play was much better than last year, when it was pretty much awful.

I'm feeling pretty good with the younger talent on defense. They will only get better as the season goes on. Right now, I am more concerned with the development of the offensive line, and the offensive adjustments.

Agreed. The only reason we didn't complain about the 3rd down defense last season was because the opponents never needed 3 downs.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

There were really only a couple of times that the coverage was so poor that they made an easy throw and catch.

Unfortunately, one of those was the 3rd-and-18 from VT's five yard line in the second quarter, where Apple kept backpedaling way past the first down marker. That play, along with Smith's TD drop, set the tone for the rest of the game. We make both those plays, and it's 14-14 at halftime at the worst. Then again, if a frog had wings he wouldn't bump his ass every time he jumped.

 

[Bucknut24]

Unfortunately, one of those was the 3rd-and-18 from VT's five yard line in the second quarter, where Apple kept backpedaling way past the first down marker. That play, along with Smith's TD drop, set the tone for the rest of the game. We make both those plays, and it's 14-14 at halftime at the worst. Then again, if a frog had wings he wouldn't bump his ass every time he jumped.

 

[zincfinger]

What concerns me is right now for two straight games everything has landed the other way when it's been 50/50.

I would think that belief would encourage you rather than concern you.

 

[scarletmike]

Ohio State is uber talented after 3 UFM recruiting classes, they have great coaches based on their pedigrees and resumes, and they have the prestige of the history of the program to give them a standard of excellence to live up to. But there is a disconnect somewhere, and I have no idea what it is. I hope Urban does and gets it all connected soon.

The bolded sometimes doesn't tell the whole story, and I'm wondering if that's what we're finding out. That, to me, is the biggest issue.

 

[bukIpower]

I would think that belief would encourage you rather than concern you.

I believe in MAKING your own luck not waiting for it.

 

[bukIpower]

We Buckeye fans like to think of that program as elite, we don't rebuild - we reload, and all that. But they have lost 3 out of their last 4 games, and they are in the same category of decent teams who are trying to get major weaknesses addressed, get better week to week, and be a good team by the end of the year. I think that is why the B1G Championship, Orange Bowl, and that debacle Saturday night is so frustrating to us. We ain't what we think we are, but we should be. Why we aren't is a mystery - one I hope Urban solves soon.

To me it's like when rocky cut the russian. The russian looks at his blood and goes WTF maybe I can lose? Then you know the ending. To me when MSU won our team said "shit we aren't invincible" and as such the confidence took a major shot. We need to get that attitude back where we come out point at the man across from us and say "you are next" because right now for the past 4 games we seem off, tentative, and most importantly lacking confidence.

We need to beat MSU this year to get our team right... sorta like (yes I like rocky so FUCK OFF) Rocky 3. When someone beats you you go beat them to make it right

I ASSURE YOU. NEXT YEAR WITH BRAXTON we will win in Blacksburgh..

 

[OSUK]

Scarletmike,

Well, I think Urban, the DL coach, and the OL coach's accomplishments establish them as elite coaches. I have had Herman in there too, but the inability to find a way to back VT off their pressure and prepare his QB for it has given me pause. Our TE's seem to be great blockers and run good routes, and their lack of productivity can't be laid at Hinton's feet. Everyone else is suspect.

The guy that bothers me most is Coombs. I love his passion, but when you look at how his position guys have performed, it's just not a pretty picture. But how much control he has over how they are fitted into the whole defensive scheme is something I don't know. He could be doing a great job with them for all I know. They did do some good things the other night but I expect elite AA CB's.