THE GAME Thread.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Steak, eggs, and my first beer of the day. It must be Buckeyes Vs scUM.

Fuck the naysayers. We're gonna win.

OSU-31

scUM-27

[Cerebral_DownTime]

[furls]

Here is a cut and paste from the scUM week thread where I basically laid my thoughts out there for youze guys to take a look at.

Reality check here:

1. There is no team leadership on this OSU team. No one. The all american 4 year starting center who rolls 4 snaps per game to Braxton Miller. An offensive team that just stands there as a freshman QB has to push between 2 PSU defenders to get back to the huddle, no one has his back? NO LEADERSHIP on either side of the ball.

2. No leadership on the side line or in the booth. No in game adjustments, just surprised and shocked looks after half time.

3. Michigan has a bad defense overall and a porous run defense. tOSU cannot capitalize on it because Jim Bollman is the worst play caller in history. You cannot count on running the ball into 8-9 man fronts, even scUM can stop that.

4. The margin for this offense is so slim that any mistake ends a drive. Rolled snap on 2nd down for five yard loss = punt unless Miller converts a miracle 3rd down QB draw that everyone is expecting (see point 3). False start penalties are drive killers, even on first down. Michigan's D is on par with Purdue and this offense made them look like the 85 bears.

5. The LB play is absolutely fucking PUTRID (except Shazier). That is why the read option is destroying this defense. The play keys off the DE, if the LBs are good then defending it is trivial (see OSU vs. Michigan during the dick Rod era) if the LBs don't read it, the first guy with a shot at the play is the FS 10 yards down field (unless you have some bad ass run supporting CBs and the QB keeps). Storm Klein and Sabino are generally out of position (almost all the time) and Klein is just to slow to make up for it. Sabino can make up for it with some speed, but it still causes 5 yard gains. Shazier is just so young that he ends up out of position as well. The most positionally sound LB this year was Sweat.

6. Tyler Moeller sucks but is still playing the majority of the snaps. The guy is just not good. Sorry, I know he is a Buckeye through and through (blah, blah, blah) but he stinks and needs to ride the pine.

7. The secondary cannot hold on to the ball. I cannot remember a guy dropping as many INTs as Bryant has this year. Denard Robinson will throw plenty of ducks this Saturday. The problem is that our DBs will drop them.

8. tOSU does not have any speed in the front four. Simon is pretty damn fast for a 3 Tech DT, but right now he is playing as tOSU's "Speed Rusher" on the outside, where his speed advantage is not as pronounced. tOSU needs a real WDE, the outside pass rush has sucked all year. Hankins, Bennett and Bellamy and Goebel have been very good filling out the line, but this team lacks pass rush and neither Klein nor Sabino have displayed any ability to get to the QB on blitzes.

9. OSU's secondary should be able to easily cover scUM's pedestrian WRs. Roundtree is their only good WR. That said, I am not sure that this really matters because the LB play has been so bad that I am not sure that scUM will actually have to throw the ball.

Personally I think scUM should win this game by 2 TDs. My heart is with the Bucks on this one, but my brain screams bad matchup and bad loss. I think the Bucks only hope is recognizing that they are going to be relegated to the Poulan Pro Chainsaw Bowl and this is the last relevant game they will play this year for LF. Hopefully, these guys love Luke enough to send him out Earle Bruce style with an unexpected win over the Skunkbears. I am praying that they can find unity this week.

Discuss. Final score prediction 27-14 tOSU because FUCK MICHIGAN!

[Triple-S]

Was that a Jim Bollman called series?

sure as shit don't look like it.

[Triple-S]

I don't mean to wish harm against any other person, and I hope it's never life threatening.

but I really wish someone could pile-drive Denard Robinson.

[skatingtripods]

Too much misdirection. Too many skill players to watch. Can't trust any OSU DB in single coverage. Can't trust any LB anywhere on the field.

This is looking bleak.

At least Spielman basically told us all that Braxton Miller would be in an Urban Meyer offense next year.

[dmiles]

I just rewound, and watched the Dominic Clarke penalty over and over. Jesus H. Christ has the B10 sent down word to dick with us? Fuckin' guy runs clark over unprotected with the ball in Hall's hands for at least a second or two whistles everywhere, Clark pushes the guy and we blow a 15 yarder?

What clarke did happens on every goddamn play in an SEC game.

[Erie Warrior]

Shazier dinged is a bad thing.

Why isn't there a decent backup LB on the roster?

[peeker643]

What clarke did happens on every goddamn play in an SEC game.

And in every high school and Pop Warner League game. That was weak shit for sure. A good official steps in, separates those two and dresses them down with threat of flag next time it happens.

[peeker643]

Shazier dinged is a bad thing.

Why isn't there a decent backup LB on the roster?

There are about eight 'decent backup' LBs on this roster. Including most of the starters.

[Govbarney]

Shazier dinged is a bad thing.

Why isn't there a decent backup LB on the roster?

He is ok, this is THE GAME you rub some dirt on it and walk it off

[leadpipe]

How many years of football ya gotta watch - let alone be right next to, before you realize how idiotic challenging a spot is?

[Govbarney]

Peek , what county you hunting in ?

[peeker643]

Peek , what county you hunting in ?

Up here this year. Near Pierpont/Dorset in Ashtabula County. Our 90 yr old guy in Belmont died and his son sold off the 360 acres.

I'm not optimistic since I don't know the place and the weather looks shitty, but at some point hopefully something walks in front of me.

You heading out? If so, where?

[FUDU]

We should have 38 pts and this game would be a score from being over.

[furls]

First half thoughts. Someone needs to teach Braxton Miller how to either throw a spiral or run routes. He left 3TDs on the field (to wide open receivers). Even the TD to Philly Brown was pretty poorly thrown.

That said, there are some things to love about Miller right now. He is finding the open guy and making the good choice. He is extremely mobile and while running is always looking to throw. He is more Troy Smith than Terrelle Pryor. That is a very good thing.

The LB play has been atrocious (except Shazier).

The only thing worse than the LB play has been the officiating. Weak calls against tOSU and some pretty obvious no calls for scUM.

They need to make some adjustments during halftime. The single most important is that they need to start crashing the DE's in to take the ball out of Robinson's hands. They are running that read option so that Robinson's read on the DE is to hand off to the RB if the DE crashes in. I like our chances much more with Fitz Touissant running EW in the backfield then Robinson running NS through A or B gap.

I actually like the secondary play so far, it has been much more aggressive. The cushions have been much smaller. THe key is to make Robinson beat you with his arm. If you can get him throwing he will turn it over.

Offensively, scUM has no answer for Miller. If I am coaching Miller I would have given him two reads on every play and then told him you have 3seconds to decide. If it is not there tuck and run. He would be dominating with just that minor adjustment. He holds the ball to long and loses some of his running lanes.

All in all, his performance today (even with the missed opportunities) is reminiscent of Troy Smith in 2004. They just don't have an answer and I am not sure they will find one. We just need the OL to stop sucking and killing drives with penalties.

That sequence that resulted in the safety could have ended this game. It just destroyed every positive thing that OSU had accomplished to that point. The fact that tOSU is still in the game (let alone leading) is a real credit to the staff. The game was starting to feel like it was going to get ugly.

[peeker643]

Wondering if Hoke backs off jamming the box given his secondary has no answer for Posey or even Brown or if he just keeps taking the (pretty solid) chance that Miller will miss more often than he hits.

I said on Twitter Miller is pretty much Dave Kingman right now. HRs or strikeouts. As long as he doesn't turn it over you'll live with it this season. The turnover potential is much lower with as wide open as those receivers are running.

Couple more catches and Posey is the 2011 OSU leading receiver in two games.

[Govbarney]

Peek , what county you hunting in ?

Up here this year. Near Pierpont/Dorset in Ashtabula County. Our 90 yr old guy in Belmont died and his son sold off the 360 acres.

I'm not optimistic since I don't know the place and the weather looks shitty, but at some point hopefully something walks in front of me.

You heading out? If so, where?

Got a trailer on about a hundred acres of leased land with permission to hunt all the property around it in Orwell (also in the Bula ) .
My game cameras have been picking up a lot of bucks the past couple of weeks near my feed piles , but history tells me those same bucks know exactly when gun season starts.

[peeker643]

FYI- Hate the punt there when your defense is stopping no one.

[peeker643]

Peek , what county you hunting in ?

Up here this year. Near Pierpont/Dorset in Ashtabula County. Our 90 yr old guy in Belmont died and his son sold off the 360 acres.

I'm not optimistic since I don't know the place and the weather looks shitty, but at some point hopefully something walks in front of me.

You heading out? If so, where?

Got a trailer on about a hundred acres of leased land with permission to hunt all the property around it in Orwell (also in the Bula ) .
My game cameras have been picking up a lot of bucks the past couple of weeks near my feed piles , but history tells me those same bucks know exactly when gun season starts.

Have you been out at all scouting or bow hunting? I haven't seen much real rut activity as of yet but I also haven't been out a lot.

No doubt on the bucks. Down south people would drive and stand and move those deer all week long. Up here where I am it's not going to be like that. But I'll take a mature doe. Meat in the freezer all year long.

You lease the land yourself or with a group?

[Govbarney]

Leased w/father and grandfather
Been going there for years and also turkey hunt it in the spring so i know the land. But havent had the opertunity to bow hunt this year , though my father has with zero results ( he did bag a buck in m*ch*g*n last week near the UP however)

Rut did occur but I am hearing due to the weather it wasn't a strong rut , so a lot of doe's are in a second heat, and the younger bucks are still chasing.

[Govbarney]

Yeeeeeeaaaaa booooooooooom

Meyer will make OSUs offense better and Hoke will make the f*cks D better. If both of their hearts hang in, I smell another 10 yr war.

[Triple-S]

fuck michigan.

[Erie Warrior]

Michigan's cheerleaders look like dog meat.

Miller throws like shit.

[Erie Warrior]

^ rack that. I make that throw.

[Govbarney]

God love him but spiking it on 3rd and 6 is why Fickle can't keep this job.

[furls]

Worst playcalling for a 2min offense I have ever seen. The pass to Posey should've been 6.

[peeker643]

Great to see Romeo Crennel show up to manage the fucking clock and spike the football after wasting 20 seconds.

Jesus Christ. That defense is shit on ice.

The Miller growing pains are tough to sit and watch but he grew up A LOT today. He's gonna be a monster with a year of someone working out his mechanics.

[Erie Warrior]

The Miller growing pains are tough to sit and watch.

Kid looks like he has ALS.

[peeker643]

God love him but spiking it on 3rd and 6 is why Fickle can't keep this job.

Fickell won't throw Miller under the bus but I wonder if Miller panicked there.

[peeker643]

The Miller growing pains are tough to sit and watch.

Kid looks like he has ALS.

Threw a much, much better ball last year in high school. Just think he had waaaay too much on him without the proper coaching.

[motherscratcher]

Motherfucker

I got home form the inlaws at 2:30. I have about 7 minutes left in the second quarter. So right now, my neighbor (from Michigan), who I've spoken about 2 words to in the last 6 years, decided now would be a good time to come over and ring my doorbell to show me her big foam fucking finger.

Yeah, don't worry about it. I didn't give a shit about watching the rest of the game anyway.

Fucking assholes.

[Govbarney]

God love him but spiking it on 3rd and 6 is why Fickle can't keep this job.

Fickell won't throw Miller under the bus but I wonder if Miller panicked there.

Maybe....but generally speaking, spiking a ball is not a QBs instinct, especially a young QB. That is typically a coaching call.

But you are right , Fick will never drop a dime, so we will never know.

[FUDU]

Losing to scum always sucks but it is not nearly as bitter a pill to swallow this time as in the past.

Despite michigan not being all that good it was still a down year for the Buckeyes. The kids didn't get outplayed as much as the coaching staff got out coached (but damn you gotta give Robinson his credit). OSU took a true freshman QB into the big house and he dropped 300+ total yards on them and made some really nice plays, while putting up 30+ pts.

Probably as much promise for a Buckeye loss to scum as any time in recent memory (2003?). Freaky sophomore QB talent coming back, some speed at WR and last but not least the premier big time program college coach/recruiter taking over.

Trust me the michigan staff & their fans know just how fortunate they are to hang on to this win this year b/c they could be staring another brutal 7-8 year stretch of this rivalry right in the face

[Govbarney]

I am proud of the Bucks today.
M*ch*g*n better suck it long and hard, cause it aint going to last...

On a side note: aside from LSU and Bama , I dont think the rest of the SEC is any better then the ACC or BIG E this year.

[furls]

The defensive play was AWFUL, particularly from the back 7. I liked the DBs playing tighter, but man the play in the secondary was just bad. The linebackers were non existant and Ryan Shazier's injury obviously hamstrung him. I will not be even a little surprised when we find out tomorrow that he was playing on a torn meniscus or had an MCL or PCL tear.

I am probably happiest that Urban Meyer will have 0 respect for the seniority on the team and if Curtis Grant is better than Storm Klein, then Storm Klein will be on the bench! My philosophy is if two players are tied, go with the younger guy... his ceiling is probably higher.

All scUM losses suck and to be honest with you, I forgot how bad. It has been a while.

The OSU talent was undeniable, the coaching was equally undeniably bad. Fickell and co. just had to put their exclamation point on it by completely fucking up the last 2 minutes of the game.

Wasn't it nice when the offense did exactly what I (and every other astute tOSU fan) have been screaming for... Remember the 3 minute drive where they threw the first screen pass of the season? They threw a waggle to the TE the hit Stoney in the middle of the field. They used short to intermediate range passes and shot down the field like a cannon. What if they had been doing that all year? Seems like a better plan that chucking it 30+ yards down the field or running straight into a 9 man front.

If losing to scUM is the price for getting Urban Meyer (and dumping the rest of Tressel's staff) then count me in. I hope they save no one except Drayton. Maybe Fickell can stay on as RC or something, but I honestly don't care if he does. I hope he gets "snatched up" by Akron.

[peeker643]

Luke Fickell took a bullet this season. Not sure why people don't want a guy like that back in any role other than head coach.

Couldn't go weeks in this place last year or in year's past without hearing just how 'Ohio State' Fickell was and what a great recruiter he is.

He was in over his head from he day he took the HC reins til 340pm today when unofficially handed them over. No doubt. But tell me who was going to be custodian of the program and make sure that intrinsic 'Buckeyeness' remained a focal point and ingrained in that team while a bigger name was gathered in?

But Fickell lives and breathes Buckeye football more than anyone and hopefully when the disappointment wears off in a week or so folks will remember his attributes and all he does/did for that program.

As for today, let it serve as an every eight year reminder just how much you hate the arrogant assholes that play for and cheer on UM. Fer fucksake, they dodged a bullet from Barney Fucking Fife today and had to hold on for dear life to escape with a win in their own building.

[furls]

I don't hate Fickell and I he is a rah, rah Buckeye, but I saw very little this year that leads me to believe he is a viable HC candidate for this school anytime in the future. He just never really seemed in charge.

He is a good recruiter and I think he will be a good RC. I have doubts about his ability to run the entire D on his own after watching him manage the whole staff this year. Remember, this defense has always been Heacock's.

Heacock will certainly retire at season's end, and I really want an established DC. That is why I don't want Fickell. No sense in pulling out all the stops in hiring Meyer while leaving Tressel's awful staff in place.

I want Drayton to stay (and move back RB coach). I am neutral about Fickell staying, but for fuck's sake... flush the rest of the staff. No more Bollman, no more Siciliano, no more Doc Tressel (although he was not terrible) and no more Vrabel.

I think we can call Vrabel and unqualified disaster as an LB coach. As LB coach he should have been screaming for Shazier to be on the field from day one. As LB coach we should have seen some improvement in the LBs. As LB coach we should have seen the LB play get more gap sound as the season went on; we saw the opposite.

Vrabel has not been the recruiting tool some thought he would be, I say cut our losses and get a guy with experience and a history of results. When I heard Vrabel cut contact during in season practice, many things became clear to me... He is coaching them like pro's (they are not) and our lack of open field tackling from LBs seems to make sense in that light.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I don't hate Fickell and I he is a rah, rah Buckeye, but I saw very little this year that leads me to believe he is a viable HC candidate for this school anytime in the future. He just never really seemed in charge.

He is a good recruiter and I think he will be a good RC. I have doubts about his ability to run the entire D on his own after watching him manage the whole staff this year. Remember, this defense has always been Heacock's.

Heacock will certainly retire at season's end, and I really want an established DC. That is why I don't want Fickell. No sense in pulling out all the stops in hiring Meyer while leaving Tressel's awful staff in place.

I want Drayton to stay (and move back RB coach). I am neutral about Fickell staying, but for fuck's sake... flush the rest of the staff. No more Bollman, no more Siciliano, no more Doc Tressel (although he was not terrible) and no more Vrabel.

I think we can call Vrabel and unqualified disaster as an LB coach. As LB coach he should have been screaming for Shazier to be on the field from day one. As LB coach we should have seen some improvement in the LBs. As LB coach we should have seen the LB play get more gap sound as the season went on; we saw the opposite.

Vrabel has not been the recruiting tool some thought he would be, I say cut our losses and get a guy with experience and a history of results. When I heard Vrabel cut contact during in season practice, many things became clear to me... He is coaching them like pro's (they are not) and our lack of open field tackling from LBs seems to make sense in that light.

I agree with all this. I do think it's too early to judge Vrable's impact in recruiting. It doesn't mater though, he won't be here next regardless.

[jb]

The Miller growing pains are tough to sit and watch.

Kid looks like he has ALS.

Threw a much, much better ball last year in high school. Just think he had waaaay too much on him without the proper coaching.

+ 1

Just wait until he gets real coaching. same fo rthe young WR's.

[jb]

Luke Fickell took a bullet this season. Not sure why people don't want a guy like that back in any role other than head coach.

Couldn't go weeks in this place last year or in year's past without hearing just how 'Ohio State' Fickell was and what a great recruiter he is.

He was in over his head from he day he took the HC reins til 340pm today when unofficially handed them over. No doubt. But tell me who was going to be custodian of the program and make sure that intrinsic 'Buckeyeness' remained a focal point and ingrained in that team while a bigger name was gathered in?

But Fickell lives and breathes Buckeye football more than anyone and hopefully when the disappointment wears off in a week or so folks will remember his attributes and all he does/did for that program.

As for today, let it serve as an every eight year reminder just how much you hate the arrogant assholes that play for and cheer on UM. Fer fucksake, they dodged a bullet from Barney Fucking Fife today and had to hold on for dear life to escape with a win in their own building.

Couldn't agree more. All the stars were aligned for that team saturday and they still struggled. We've gotten thrown out of better places than that this season. they'd best enjoy it now.

Agree 100% on Luke. A real stand up class act if you ask me and deserves a huge "thank you". How would you like to be in his shoes and have to keep the worst asst coaching staff of all time in place?

Will be very interesting to see what he decides between tOSU and Akron.

Better to serve in heaven or reign in hell?