Josh Dooley
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You’re Nuts: That Team Up North - Level of concern for The Game
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
As always, there will be a lot at stake when the Buckeyes take on the Wolverines in late November.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about Ohio State’s rivals. Michigan is the defending national champions, but there has been a lot of change in Ann Arbor. What does that mean for the season, the Big Ten, and the Buckeyes? You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”That Team Up North” articles here.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
This week is all about That Team Up North here at LGHL, which means that one should be prepared to read and listen to copious amounts of pure, venomous hate directed at the evil college football team in “the Mitten State.” Or maybe not... I mean, lobbing f-bombs and hate speech at the Wolverines might be considered petty (by this staff) after three straight ass-kickings of our beloved Buckeyes. But as for me, I am rather petty. So I will likely cook up something extremely distasteful for at least one podcast or written piece.
In all seriousness, that team up north is a formidable one. At least it was last year/season, when the Wolverines went 15-0 on their way to a national championship. And even though the Maize and Blue have been blatantly cheating for years, it pains me to say that their late-regular season and playoff victories were likely (possibly) hard-earned and legitimate.
But that was last season. Since then, the program up north has lost most of its coaching staff, as well as several players to the NFL Draft. In fact, the Wolverines nearly messed around and set a record by having 13 players selected in the 2024 draft, most of whom were taken on Day 3.
Of course, fans up north will tell you it’s quantity (over quality) that matters. Even if a majority of the 13 drafted players are destined for desk jobs and/or the UFL. But to those fans, I would say “Google Ohio State’s 2004 draft class.”
*Insert wink and finger gun meme
With that out of my system – and because TTUN is a completely different team this year – Gene and I decided to weigh in on just how dangerous the Maize and Blue can or will be in 2024. Or, asked in the form of a question: What/where/how high is our worry meter as it pertains to the Wolverines?
If 10 is equivalent to “sh*t, the Buckeyes are going to lose” and 1 to “the Wolverines should just refuse to show up like they did in 2020”, then my worry meter is somewhere around a 7.
On paper, Ohio State is the better team. But wasn’t that (also) the case in each of the past three years? Granted, last year might have been a debate or a tie, but you get my point. OSU has had the more talented team(s) recently and still lost. So that is my first concern. TTUN has just figured out a way since 2021, regardless of who is coaching.
The other, bigger concern I have is the Wolverines’ defense. While I’m not remotely impressed with their offense, the other side of the ball is an entirely different story. Led by the potential All-American trio of Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and Will Johnson, TTUN should once again boast an elite defensive unit. Even if there is a slight dropoff due to the losses of Kris Jenkins, Mike Sainristil, and others, The Game in November could turn into a slugfest. And in a low-scoring contest, all it takes is one or two plays to swing the outcome.
If not for recent history and the trio of current defenders above, my worry meter would likely only be at 3 or 4. Because I just think that Ohio State is the only team that can beat Ohio State. Plus, this year’s rivalry game is being played in Columbus, which should give the Buckeyes some sort of edge.
But there are obviously other factors to consider. So unless TTUN starts out 0-11, I’m sure that I will be a nervous wreck come Nov. 30.
My level of concern for this year’s edition of The Game is a solid eight. It isn’t because I think Michigan is a better team on paper or that I would pick the Wolverines to win if these two teams showed up to play each other next week, but there is just too much on the line this season for Ohio State to not come away victorious against its biggest rival this time around.
The first and most obvious stake here is that Ryan Day cannot afford to lose to Michigan four-straight times. It’s somewhat of a miracle he’s been able to keep his job after three losses in a row, but he had built up some leeway on the back of strong recruiting classes and an otherwise 56-5 record. However, it doesn’t matter what else is going on behind the scenes. Outside of winning a national title, I don’t think Day would be able to suffer a fourth-straight loss to Michigan and come back as Ohio State’s head coach in 2025.
Even without factoring in the failures of the last several seasons, the Buckeyes now come into this matchup with the far superior team on paper. The 2023 Wolverines were one of the most dominant teams in the country, but nearly all of the players that made that team great are now gone outside of Will Johnson, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant — and I guess Donovan Edwards, who averaged 3.5 yards per carry outside an outlier performance in the national title game.
Ohio State, meanwhile, brought back virtually all of its best players outside of Marvin Harrison Jr., and brought in high-impact transfers in Caleb Downs, Quinshon Judkins and Will Howard to further supplement their already stellar talent. The Buckeyes are unquestionably the more talented football team based on the names on the back of the jerseys, but those players will have to actually turn those recruiting rankings and prior accolades into results on the field on Nov. 30.
With all that being said, why then am I so concerned about The Game? Well, outside of the monstrous expectations, I think some of the areas Ohio State has struggled in recent matchups could come back to haunt them again this time around.
The offensive line is the obvious weak link on either side of the ball for the Buckeyes, and Michigan, even with many of its best defensive players from last season off to the NFL, will be one of if not the best D-line Ohio State will play all year. On top of that, we don't quite know what Will Howard will look like in this offense. Poor quarterback play sunk the Bucks in the Big House last year, and while I think Howard will succeed with all of the talent around him, Ohio State cannot achieve its ultimate goals with another year of subpar play from the most important position on the field.
I’m also still not entirely convinced that Ryan Day fully gets it. The way he talks about the rivalry makes it seem like he understands the severity, but on the other hand, the way his teams have come into the last three matchups looking woefully unprepared has me second-guessing those words. I am not an Urban Meyer guy by any means, and he had more than his fair share of issues both on and off the field, but it is inarguable that he understood The Game and what it took to win it every single year. I’m still waiting to see that kind of mentality from the current head coach.
If this were just another game between two Big Ten teams, my level of concern would likely be around a three. But unlike a certain former Ohio State quarterback might think, this is not just some game. This is the biggest rivalry in all of sports, and the Buckeyes need to win it this year — there are no excuses. I’m cautiously optimistic the home team can get the job done this time around, but I am definitely concerned...
Continue reading...
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
As always, there will be a lot at stake when the Buckeyes take on the Wolverines in late November.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about Ohio State’s rivals. Michigan is the defending national champions, but there has been a lot of change in Ann Arbor. What does that mean for the season, the Big Ten, and the Buckeyes? You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”That Team Up North” articles here.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
This week’s topic: Level of concern for The Game
Josh’s Take
This week is all about That Team Up North here at LGHL, which means that one should be prepared to read and listen to copious amounts of pure, venomous hate directed at the evil college football team in “the Mitten State.” Or maybe not... I mean, lobbing f-bombs and hate speech at the Wolverines might be considered petty (by this staff) after three straight ass-kickings of our beloved Buckeyes. But as for me, I am rather petty. So I will likely cook up something extremely distasteful for at least one podcast or written piece.
In all seriousness, that team up north is a formidable one. At least it was last year/season, when the Wolverines went 15-0 on their way to a national championship. And even though the Maize and Blue have been blatantly cheating for years, it pains me to say that their late-regular season and playoff victories were likely (possibly) hard-earned and legitimate.
But that was last season. Since then, the program up north has lost most of its coaching staff, as well as several players to the NFL Draft. In fact, the Wolverines nearly messed around and set a record by having 13 players selected in the 2024 draft, most of whom were taken on Day 3.
Of course, fans up north will tell you it’s quantity (over quality) that matters. Even if a majority of the 13 drafted players are destined for desk jobs and/or the UFL. But to those fans, I would say “Google Ohio State’s 2004 draft class.”
*Insert wink and finger gun meme
With that out of my system – and because TTUN is a completely different team this year – Gene and I decided to weigh in on just how dangerous the Maize and Blue can or will be in 2024. Or, asked in the form of a question: What/where/how high is our worry meter as it pertains to the Wolverines?
If 10 is equivalent to “sh*t, the Buckeyes are going to lose” and 1 to “the Wolverines should just refuse to show up like they did in 2020”, then my worry meter is somewhere around a 7.
On paper, Ohio State is the better team. But wasn’t that (also) the case in each of the past three years? Granted, last year might have been a debate or a tie, but you get my point. OSU has had the more talented team(s) recently and still lost. So that is my first concern. TTUN has just figured out a way since 2021, regardless of who is coaching.
The other, bigger concern I have is the Wolverines’ defense. While I’m not remotely impressed with their offense, the other side of the ball is an entirely different story. Led by the potential All-American trio of Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and Will Johnson, TTUN should once again boast an elite defensive unit. Even if there is a slight dropoff due to the losses of Kris Jenkins, Mike Sainristil, and others, The Game in November could turn into a slugfest. And in a low-scoring contest, all it takes is one or two plays to swing the outcome.
If not for recent history and the trio of current defenders above, my worry meter would likely only be at 3 or 4. Because I just think that Ohio State is the only team that can beat Ohio State. Plus, this year’s rivalry game is being played in Columbus, which should give the Buckeyes some sort of edge.
But there are obviously other factors to consider. So unless TTUN starts out 0-11, I’m sure that I will be a nervous wreck come Nov. 30.
Gene’s Take
My level of concern for this year’s edition of The Game is a solid eight. It isn’t because I think Michigan is a better team on paper or that I would pick the Wolverines to win if these two teams showed up to play each other next week, but there is just too much on the line this season for Ohio State to not come away victorious against its biggest rival this time around.
The first and most obvious stake here is that Ryan Day cannot afford to lose to Michigan four-straight times. It’s somewhat of a miracle he’s been able to keep his job after three losses in a row, but he had built up some leeway on the back of strong recruiting classes and an otherwise 56-5 record. However, it doesn’t matter what else is going on behind the scenes. Outside of winning a national title, I don’t think Day would be able to suffer a fourth-straight loss to Michigan and come back as Ohio State’s head coach in 2025.
Even without factoring in the failures of the last several seasons, the Buckeyes now come into this matchup with the far superior team on paper. The 2023 Wolverines were one of the most dominant teams in the country, but nearly all of the players that made that team great are now gone outside of Will Johnson, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant — and I guess Donovan Edwards, who averaged 3.5 yards per carry outside an outlier performance in the national title game.
Ohio State, meanwhile, brought back virtually all of its best players outside of Marvin Harrison Jr., and brought in high-impact transfers in Caleb Downs, Quinshon Judkins and Will Howard to further supplement their already stellar talent. The Buckeyes are unquestionably the more talented football team based on the names on the back of the jerseys, but those players will have to actually turn those recruiting rankings and prior accolades into results on the field on Nov. 30.
With all that being said, why then am I so concerned about The Game? Well, outside of the monstrous expectations, I think some of the areas Ohio State has struggled in recent matchups could come back to haunt them again this time around.
The offensive line is the obvious weak link on either side of the ball for the Buckeyes, and Michigan, even with many of its best defensive players from last season off to the NFL, will be one of if not the best D-line Ohio State will play all year. On top of that, we don't quite know what Will Howard will look like in this offense. Poor quarterback play sunk the Bucks in the Big House last year, and while I think Howard will succeed with all of the talent around him, Ohio State cannot achieve its ultimate goals with another year of subpar play from the most important position on the field.
I’m also still not entirely convinced that Ryan Day fully gets it. The way he talks about the rivalry makes it seem like he understands the severity, but on the other hand, the way his teams have come into the last three matchups looking woefully unprepared has me second-guessing those words. I am not an Urban Meyer guy by any means, and he had more than his fair share of issues both on and off the field, but it is inarguable that he understood The Game and what it took to win it every single year. I’m still waiting to see that kind of mentality from the current head coach.
If this were just another game between two Big Ten teams, my level of concern would likely be around a three. But unlike a certain former Ohio State quarterback might think, this is not just some game. This is the biggest rivalry in all of sports, and the Buckeyes need to win it this year — there are no excuses. I’m cautiously optimistic the home team can get the job done this time around, but I am definitely concerned...
Continue reading...