-
Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
- Thread starter BB73
- Start date
ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Wisconsin led the nation in yards allowed per game in 2021. Three games into the 2022 season, how does this year’s defense stack up with last year’s defense?
Bartholomew: I’d say it’s about 80% of what last year’s defense was. The losses of Jack Sanborn and Leo Chenal at the inside linebacker spots are predictably the easiest to notice. Chenal was a disruptor at the line of scrimmage that UW hasn’t yet found a replacement for, and Sanborn was a do-it-all guy who covered so much ground. The defensive line is playing well, and outside linebacker Nick Herbig (four sacks) is living up to his preseason billing as an All-American. But the rest of the outside linebackers – C.J. Goetz, Darryl Peterson, Kaden Johnson, etc. – need to start adding some sacks and TFLs to help Herbig out.
How would you assess the strengths and weaknesses of Wisconsin’s offense entering conference play?
Bartholomew: Surprisingly the passing game has been one of the greater strengths of the offense thus far, with quarterback Graham Mertz finally starting to pay off some of the potential that made him a coveted recruit. He’s cleaned up the mechanical issues that have held him back and been more decisive in his decision-making to cut down turnovers thus far.
Penalties have been the biggest weakness, with the offensive line being flagged for more holds than UW can afford. But overall the Badgers offensive line hasn’t been as dominant as many expected it to be. That may come in time as the top unit plays more together, which was the case last season.
.
.
.
continued
Upvote
0
ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
The first three games of the 2022 season are now in the record books. Are the Buckeyes about where we expected them to be at this stage? Yes – I’d say that they are. They’re 3-0 (as expected). The No. 3 ranking is about right. Yeah, I know that they dropped down from a preseason No. 2, but the move came about because of the play of the Georgia Bulldogs, rather than the play of the Buckeyes. After all, UGA leaped over Bama too.
C.J. Stroud and the OSU offense are back in true form. And Jim Knowles’ defense is better than the D that the Buckeyes put on the field last year. The one-sided victories over Arkansas State and Toledo have given Ryan Day the luxury of playing a lot of players – including true freshmen. And, so far, we like what we’ve seen of them.
What I want to do here is look back over those three games and gauge where things stand. There’s obviously a great deal that is good about this team, and I’ll point out the strengths – even the obvious ones. And then I’ll identify issues that remain. I use the term “issues” rather than “weaknesses,” because I don’t think that there are any true weaknesses.
The Buckeye offense
As the season began, Buckeye fans talked openly about their team having three legitimate Heisman Trophy hopefuls: C.J. Stroud, TreVeyon Henderson, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. After three games (and I know that it’s still early), I would say that the number of hopefuls is down to one – just Stroud. Both JSN and Henderson have seen their playing time cut due to injuries. And even when healthy, they must share snaps with their very talented position groups. As a consequence, they just don’t have the numbers to be among the national leaders in their positions, let alone compete with the top quarterbacks for a quarterback-biased award.
JSN has played only one full game (Toledo for 23 snaps) and only 38 snaps for the season. Four other Buckeye wide receivers have seen more action. He’s caught four passes for 36 yards. Yes, he’s got a lot more football to play, and he’s capable of extraordinary games, but, as far as the Heisman is concerned, he’s starting in a hole.
Same goes for Henderson. He shares time with Miyan Williams (and others) and played only two snaps against Toledo because of an injury. While we hope that he’ll be back very soon, the fact remains that he has 197 rushing yards on 29 carries for the season. His 6.8 yards per carry average is exactly his 2021 season average, but he’ll have to have some really big games down the road in order to churn up national attention.
Against competition like Arkansas State and Toledo, it’s best to be cautious and let your stars mend before putting them back in. In the Heisman race, though, you can’t afford to miss many games.
.
.
.
The Buckeye defense
Oh, yeah, the defense has improved. It’s not a top-10 defense yet, but it’s ranked No. 21 in total defense, giving up 278.7 yards a game. Last year, for the season, the Bucks yielded 366.6 yards per game, ranking them No. 52. Granted, the Buckeyes’ D still ranks below teams that they’ll need to beat if they want to win championships: Michigan, Georgia, Alabama, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota.
.
.
.
The Buckeyes are ready for the Big Ten. Starting with Wisconsin will give the Bucks a true test. The Badgers are big and tough and have talented players. I expect the OSU passing attack to establish an early lead, and for the Buckeyes to win by a couple of touchdowns – at least.
Upvote
0
BuckBackHome
Wolverine is largest member of weasel family
Pics of the black helmet look good.
Upvote
0
There's usually plenty to worry about in Wisconsin but I think they lack the team speed to really put a scare in this version of the Buckeyes. Now, all that is moot if we allow a Badger O line act like their kin and get Braelan Allen loose all game long. The other worry would be if this Buckeye Offense was prone to turnovers because Leonard's Defenses feast on turnovers and wreaking havoc. If we line up and just try to man ball them on both lines of scrimmage we'll probably win in a close game due to overwhelming skill position advantage. But, if we spread them out and attack on both sides of the ball, we should control the game speed which is a serious Buckeye advantage.
Upvote
0
Ryan Day, talking about the Badger Linebackers: "The linebackers are big, rugged, strong, powerful."
That could be said about their whole team. The word missing from that description is speed.
Upvote
0
ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
PHOTOS: OHIO STATE FOOTBALL BLACK JERSEYS
Entire article: https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/photo...pJobID=1580614270&spReportId=MTU4MDYxNDI3MAS2
Entire article: https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/photo...pJobID=1580614270&spReportId=MTU4MDYxNDI3MAS2
Upvote
0
