Jason Long
Guest
The summer is drawing to an end, we’ve made it, it’s finally game week!
Coming off an unexpected national championship run in 2014, the 2015 Buckeyes will open their season attempting to right their only wrong from The Chase. Monday night in Blacksburg, Virginia the defense of title eight and The Grind for title nine begins against the Virginia Tech Hokies, broadcast to the country on ESPN.
Let’s get in to it. It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
JT Barrett and Urban Meyer
JT and the battle that was
I know, the depth chart says “JT Barrett OR Cardale Jones”. I saw it. That said, I think Barrett is the “starter” and is the guy who trots out with the first team offense the first time the Buckeyes have the ball.
I’ll be brief on this because if you’re familiar with this column then you know my feelings: It’s hard to discuss “why a guy won a spot” when I’m not at practices watching. There is no film to review. I won’t be disingenuous and tell you how Barrett hit these throws better or led the team in the two minute offense more effectively because I wasn’t there watching and honestly don’t know.
I do know this: Barrett is the right guy for the job based on 2014. Once he got his feet under him, he was incredibly efficient and turned into a playmaker. He spread the ball around effectively and showed great accuracy.
Barrett is also the right guy for the job because he has the support of his teammates. They clearly look to him as a leader or he wouldn’t have been voted one of six captains. (more on that in a minute).
I can surmise this: It wasn’t an easy decision and we will see Cardale Jones (hence the ‘OR’) on the field. He won’t enter to relieve a faltering Barrett, it’ll be as a change of pace/a wrinkle in the offense.
Jones seems to have the personality to embrace a role like that. He knows the NFL scouts recognize he is a pro-style quarterback playing in a spread offense. He knows what he’s already put on film against Wisconsin, Oregon and, most impressively, Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide. Cardale’s draft stock and financial fortune will not take a hit if he “sits” behind an all-Big Ten quarterback and/or Heisman Trophy candidate in Barrett.
Captains, who’s in and out
The Buckeyes have voted on and named six players captains: Taylor Decker, Josh Perry, Tyvis Powell, JT Barrett, Jacoby Boren and (surprise surprise!) Braxton Miller.
We know that due to suspension they will be without Joey Bosa, Dontre Wilson, Jalin Marshall and Corey Smith for week one.
Then the unfortunate news came down last week that promising young wide receiver Noah Brown is out for the season with a broken leg.
Stepping up in Bosa’s absence
Naturally the first person everyone points to in the aforementioned list is the suspension of defensive end Joey Bosa. How will the Buckeyes defense replace such a major force and loss of talent? The names to remember are Sam Hubbard and Jayln Holmes.
Hubbard is a 6′-5″ 265 pound redshirt freshman from Cincinnati’s Moeller High School. Hubbard was recruited as a safety (he was a Division 1 All-State selection), then moved to linebacker, was considered a tight end for a while when the Buckeyes had injuries, and finally bulked up and was slotted with the defensive ends.
Holmes is a 6′-5″ 265 sophomore from Norfolk, Virginia who saw limited/spot/mop-up playing time last season. Holmes is as massive as Hubbard and Bosa and seemingly just as athletic.
WR depth
There aren’t many as this team is solid all-around, but a point of concern going into Monday night is the wide receiver position. Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson, Corey Smith and Noah Brown not being on the field will certainly give you something to worry about. But really, should it? Follow along…
The Buckeyes return Michael Thomas (a possible 1st round draft pick) at one wide spot and will likely trot some combination of three redshirt freshman Paris Campbell, Johnnie Dixon and Terry McLaurin or sophomore James Clark to cover the other. The slot will be manned by Braxton Miller and converted running back Curtis Samuel (remember him?).
The last time we saw Braxton Miller in uniform (Orange Bowl)
I realize Marshall is a playmaker with phenomenal ability. I get that Brown was supposed to have a breakout season. I know Dontre is perpetually one step away from using his amazing speed to take it to the house. That said, the Buckeyes are bringing a loaded gun to Lane Stadium, it just hasn’t been fired all that often or in some cases at all. The guys stepping in are all 4 and 5 star recruits who could have signed seemingly anywhere in the country and likely been starters last season.
It’s fair to say the position took a hit from the suspensions but it is so loaded with talent that it’s in many ways exciting to see what the new guys can produce. I’d certainly rather be at full strength, but it’s not exactly chopped liver stepping in. Let’s also not forget that these are kids who have dreamed of this moment on this stage. They’ll be itching to make a splash.
Perhaps the biggest help to these young pups lining up out wide is that we haven’t even mentioned a guy named Ezekiel and the “Slobs” that lead the way for him. Their ability to soften the defense will get the talented Dixon, McLauren and Campbell into advantageous one-on-one matchups. I still have a feeling that points should be aplenty.
This ain’t last year, Bud
Like most of you, I was shocked watching the Buckeye offense get absolutely befuddled from the scheme and attack brought on by Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. It was as though they were in the huddle and knew where the ball was going before they even snapped it. Foster (allegedly) worked for six months on his game plan in anticipation of trying to slow down Braxton Miller. When he walked in to Ohio Stadium and got an as green as the field turf JT Barrett, he was licking his chops.
But this isn’t last year, Bud. The Buckeyes come in to this game with a full house of artillery and, almost as importantly, this year they know how to use it.
Unlike last years meeting in Columbus, they bring a quarterback in Barrett that is experienced and has learned through the course of a season how to spread the ball around in Urban Meyer’s dynamic offense. They can run out Cardale Jones to fire the ball from his cannon arm and stretch the field even farther than Barrett.
Foster is also likely losing sleep thinking about Braxton Miller. That’s right, Bud. That guy Miller whom you were preparing for last season? He’ll be all over the place with the ball in his hands looking to show the country that he can back up his claim as that best athlete in college football.
Actual lunch pail the Hokies keep on their sideline (I’m not making this up)
We also seem to somehow keep forgetting that the Buckeyes have Ezekiel Elliott. Foster saw him last season, but at that juncture Meyer and his staff weren’t fully prepared to ride him as their workhorse running back. They are now and Elliott has his sites set on filling one of the finalist seats in New York when they give out the Heisman Trophy.
This isn’t last year, Bud. So, get some sleep, keep watching film, hit the white-board and coach’em up hard because the Buckeyes are coming to town on Monday night and even without a few pieces are looking to exact revenge for their lone mishap last season. More specifically, Bud, they’re coming for you. At 8 o’clock on Labor Day night, they’re going to unleash their fury. Have that lunch pail full because Barrett, Elliott, Meyer and the Buckeyes are coming to take it.
Wrap it up
So much has happened this year. 2015 has been an absolute blur and as things begin to (hopefully) slow down I’m staring at the beginning of a national championship defense.
I hope you’ve missed us and are ready to get this thing cranked back up into high gear. I know I am… Honestly, I need it.
Enjoy your holiday weekend and get ready for Ohio State to unleash hell in Blacksburg on Monday night! Until next week, Go Bucks!
Metallica Track of the Week
Ok, it’s “the hit”. It’s the song that everyone who doesn’t know them still knows them by. And for around 2 minutes during the pregame I’ll be jacked up when Virginia Tech uses it for their absolutely amazing field entrance. As we get things rolling for 2015, our first track of the week is the incomparable Enter Sandman! Let’s go back to Orion Music and More 2012 in Atlantic City…
And if you’re wondering, here is how the Hokies come on to the field… (I can’t even lie, it’s awesome!)
The post Wednesday Night Rumble: GAME WEEK appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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