OSU-UAB

[e0y2e3]

Biggest note thus far, Rod Smith just jumped Bri'onte Dunn on the depth chart and is now the #3 RB.

[furls]

Hyde is out so that makes Smith #2 (depth chart and number!!! see what I did there?).

[neoleo]

People on BN were suprised that Dunn didn't take a snap against Cal, but he got yanked out of the UCF game by an angry Urban Meyer after clearly missing a couple of assignments in a row. That's never a good sign, and then Meyer talked up Rod Smith last week about his addition to one of the starting ST units, so I think the writing was on the wall.

We'll see if Smith can take advantage of another of his seemingly endless opportunities to put it all together, becase we need somebody else to give Hall a breather.

[furls]

I guess Dunn has no idea where he is supposed to be, what he is supposed to do, or where he is supposed to go on any given play. Meyer is rumored to have effectively benched him until he figures it out. From what I read on BN$ Meyer is fucking pissed. I was also surprised he didn't take a snap either. Then when you factor in Smith's fumble issues it is no wonder that neither got into a close game.

If tOSu can get off to a couple of TD lead early then I hope we see a lot of Smith. I would like to see if he is worth having any hope for in the future.

[furls]

Linebacker play continues to be unwatchable, hence the steady diet of screen passes.

Nice to see Rod Smith get some carries and not drop the ball, he looks pretty good.

[FUDU]

Terrell who?

[furls]

Miller is sooo much better than Pryor it is not even funny. At this point, I would take Miller the sophomore over Pryor in the Sugar Bowl. He is not quite as fast, but is much more elusive. He is already a significantly better passer (not saying much).

[FUDU]

Completely agree, and he seems to be a much better thinker.

Seeing as it's the QB position I will take the increased elusiveness over the top end speed that Pryor had.

I was not joking last week when I said Miller should be in the Hypeman talk.

I know it's UAB, I know this has been OOC so far, but Pryor had difficulty looking this sharp consistently against lesser opponents.

[fairvis]

Braxton's wiggle is more developed. Leaves defenders in the dust looking for their jock.

The all-bubble screen offense seems effective against us. Let's see what the adjustments are.

[furls]

The screen offense is UAB nullifying tOSU's advantage at the LOS. Any time UAB tries to throw the ball deeper the two DE's converge on the QB. Lots of pressure coming from the edge, unfortunately, the LBs are getting pulled so far down the field in zone that if the QB steps up in the pocket he can run for 7 on nearly every pass play.

The screens also attack tOSU's terrible LBs. This does not bode well for Sparty. tOSU should be OK on the inside run game, but Leveon Bell is a nice receiver out of the backfield. Buckeyes cannot take entire quarters off on offense against decent teams. I really can't understand why they are struggling so bad on O, but when they are right, this team is nearly undefendable.

I like the WRs, they need help at RB, Miller is a machine. His Heisman stock is already rising, he is showing up around #3 or so on most of the lists. The question is can he put up good numbers against better competition, thus far tOSU's non conference schedule has made Boise State's conference schedule look like Murderer's Row.

[FUDU]

I see it the same way, when this O is clicking it is scary good, with only the RB position underachieving at times.

[fairvis]

The LBs certainly do need some help. Shazier is a good WLB, as his blitzing and playmaking have shown. But he's Bobby Carpenter, and there isn't an AJ Hawk to stone-cold stop everything, and Shazier takes too many chances for the big hit and therefore misses tackles. Sabino is utterly replaceable. Haven't seen anything from Curtis Grant to really be enthusiastic about his further prospects. Need to get that space-eating tackle machine at MLB again.

[furls]

tOSU getting killed on special teams. Quick recap:

Blocked Punt
Running into the kicker
Lost onside kick
Couple of pretty nice returns

On the tOSU side,
Blocked extra point.

[furls]

Miller is not very good at running the option. He makes the wrong decision a lot and even when he does make the right decision the play runs slow and the pursuit usually gets there.

[furls]

The LBs certainly do need some help. Shazier is a good WLB, as his blitzing and playmaking have shown. But he's Bobby Carpenter, and there isn't an AJ Hawk to stone-cold stop everything, and Shazier takes too many chances for the big hit and therefore misses tackles. Sabino is utterly replaceable. Haven't seen anything from Curtis Grant to really be enthusiastic about his further prospects. Need to get that space-eating tackle machine at MLB again.

after rewatching the Cal game, Curtis Grant is just not ready or not very good. I actually support Storm Klein over Grant as a player right now (as sad as that is).

[fairvis]

Could agree with that. I just don't see him anywhere. Much like Sabino's first few years... he was on the field, but never heard of. Shazier still misses more tackles then I like (like on that last play).

[furls]

On two long Cal runs, the play went right up the middle at Grant. He hit the ball carrier at shoulder level, let him go. The ball carrier then bounced both plays outside for long games. Grant is also invisible in pass coverage. He has no idea what he is doing.

[Hikohadon]

This game has been very encouraging so far.

[furls]

This game has been very encouraging so far.

UAB is doing a great job of exposing tOSU's LBs. If not for Williams' backside pursuit, that is a first down. Shazier was already on the ground.

[fairvis]

I don't know how the hell UAB keeps converting 3rd and 10+. Complete mental breakdowns.

[LakeErieWarriors]

Good thing the Bucks got it easy the next 2 weeks. Oh wait....... You..... You mean????

[fairvis]

And Urban knows the 2 point chart better the Shurmur. Go figure.

[fairvis]

Ugly win again. Offense really reliant on Braxton... when it features him, they score points. When they don't, they struggle. Execution is still poor on both sides of the ball. This won't cut it in the B1G season... but then again, looking at how bad the rest of the B1G is (now that Iowa lost to CMU) probably still going to get 5 wins.

[FUDU]

I just don't see that many losses at all coming in conference play b/c nobody in this conference has impressed one bit yet. Nobody.

[pod2dawg]

^^^^ Sparty will be a war.

If we don't get our shit together Nebraska will pound us like salt.

[FUDU]

Mark Dantonio presser today was classic, rack him.

[fairvis]

Call it today, see if I'm wrong at the end of the year... Bucks will be 9-3. If someone else thinks I'm wrong, and guesses the proper record, I'll meet you in Cleveland for Christmas and give you a bottle of scotch you can't get in the States.

[FUDU]

10-2, but I don't drink scotch.

[furls]

FUDU can just mail it to me, because I like 10-2 vs. a hapless B1G.

[mattvan1]

a hapless B1G.

I can't decide if 3 years from now the B10 will have returned to (relative) prominence with a annual top 10 OSU and Michigan and Whisky and the eventual improvement of Penn State, or continue down that slippery slope toward irrelevance.

[furls]

I think in 3 years we see tOSU in the top 10 and maybe Sparty.

Lot's of the scUMmers are fired up about 11-2 last year, but it really was a perfect storm. That was the luckiest 8-5/9-4 team I have ever seen. This year's team is 8-5/9-4 also. It just is who they are, it is not a great team.

This tOSU team is not a great team either, but they are going to improve over the next couple of years. scUM has a highly ranked recruiting class, but I really don't like it. They only have maybe 3-4 guys out of their entire class that I really wanted in S&G. They are struggling to recruit playmakers and the ones they are getting are vastly overrated (Shane Morris). Mattison has a done a good job with their D, but I just don't see a lot of help on O coming over the next couple of years (or D for that matter).

Bielema is getting exposed this year for what he is, a C level HC who has lost his excellent staff. Things are not going to get better for them, they have never specialized in recruiting up there... they have always been great talent developers.

PSU will be a smoking crater for about a decade. By the end of the sanctions, PSU will have ~60 (15 per year for 4 years) scholarship players, they cannot compete at a high level under those restrictions. Their sanctions are so much worse than USC's it is not even funny. USC just started serving their reduction sanctions last year, their 2011 class is their first smaller class (31 in 2010), so USC's current success is not a benchmark. Last year's freshman class is the first trickle of effects, additionally, USC's penalties are fundamentally different. USC is docked 30 over 3 years, so they can only have 75 guys on scholarship last year, this year and next year.

PSU is limited to 15 recruits per year for 4 years. That means in 4 years they will only have 60 scholarship athletes (+ guys that RS this year) - attrition. Best case for PSU is 60 guys. That means every player including freshman in the class of 2016 have to be contributors. After the sanctions, PSU will be limited in how rapidly the can rebuild the depth. PSU will not be allowed to sign an extra 25 guys in their class of 2017 to get back to 85. It will take 5 years to rebuild the depth and another 3 to make it experienced depth. PSU is a smoking crater.

[pod2dawg]

I think in 3 years we see tOSU in the top 10 and maybe Sparty.

^ That plus Nebraska if Bo P. survives.