OSU - Miami

[Hikohadon]

I think Pryor was a little more accurate... if you were patient enough to wait for his passes to come down from outer space.

[fairvis]

KG looks like he can step in and not lose a beat. Classy to give Boren those carries as well.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Takeaways from the game. Braxton looked good, still work to be done throwing the ball, he made some nice throws and some really awful throws (that intentional grounding throw WTF?). I liked how Hyde ran the ball. The pass rush was meh at best.

Put up 56, only gave up 10..... that's worth sitting in sauna for 3 hours.

And Smith's catch might be the best I can remember from a Buckeye. Holy shit.

[JCoz]

Umm... the frantic pace of play that Meyer wishes to play with must be something they'll have to work into. Because it ain't there today.

This is athletes beating lesser athletes at a relaxed pace of play.

Miller got bigger and stronger y'all. He's not the Hulk in his arms and shoulders but he's noticeably bigger and stronger.

They definitely played at a frenetic pace. 85+ plays on offense in this game where they didnt have more than 1 first down in the first quarter. I think they will easily have some games in the 90 play range - Thats a frenetic pace.

These teams that three-step drop us 50 times a game are frustrating to watch us play against, particularly when we are dropping 8 for most of that. I dont think our Star or LBs cover well enough to warrant that, but it was the first game. But for those looking for pass rush and pressure on the QB, we just arent going to get much of it rushing 3.

Still not digging our safety and Lber play much. A couple dropped passes from giving up 24 to this team. Corners looked pretty good.

Braxton looks like he just has footwork issues to take care of, his passing looks wholly fixable, just needs some more time, since now he actually has a QB coach for the first time at OSU. One things for certain though, he is going to put up Huge, huge numbers in this offense if he can stay healthy, which speaking of Braxtons health Guiton looked about as good as I’ve ever seen a backup QB on this team. We haven’t been two-deep at the position in well over a decade. Guiton isn’t going to cause a QB controversy, but last years Nebraska game isn’t going to likely repeat itself in 2012.

It was a decent start, but I think the team really needs to sharpen their pencils over the next 3 weeks to be ready for MSU. Some young bucks fans are loving the humiliation of Hoke and Co. Saturday night, but the truth is probably that this OSU team wouldn’t have fared much better Saturday.

[e0y2e3]

Bryant graded out at a 94%, so the staff disagrees with you.

[JCoz]

Bryant graded out at a 94%, so the staff disagrees with you.

It was 96% not 94% and I think ST's was included in his personal score. Notice how Barnett and Brown were not mentioned, so safety play in general, which is what I commented on, had 2/3 not grading out as well.

[JCoz]

Takeaways from the game. Braxton looked good, still work to be done throwing the ball, he made some nice throws and some really awful throws (that intentional grounding throw WTF?). I liked how Hyde ran the ball. The pass rush was meh at best.

Put up 56, only gave up 10..... that's worth sitting in sauna for 3 hours.

And Smith's catch might be the best I can remember from a Buckeye. Holy shit.

Forgot about that intentional grounding play over the long weekend, wow was that literally unbelievable. I dont know WTF he was thinking there.

Smiths catch was fantastic, and I was surprised to not see it immediately compared to Spencers from the opener last year. They were probably about equal in terms of difficulty.

[e0y2e3]

FWIW: I don't think Meyer gave us all of the winning scores from the defense. So I wouldn't be crowing about not hearing scores for any single player.

And I thought the safeties and LBs played as well as can be expected in a game one with 55 drop backs and when the team has been focusing on running more traditional 4-3 and was forced to barely ever get into their base d.

[e0y2e3]

Meyer and the staff on the pace (from a staff perspective), the soldier walk on guy and the red-zone stuff: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2012/09/1 ... slow-start

[JCoz]

FWIW: I don't think Meyer gave us all of the winning scores from the defense. So I wouldn't be crowing about not hearing scores for any single player.

And I thought the safeties and LBs played as well as can be expected in a game one with 55 drop backs and when the team has been focusing on running more traditional 4-3 and was forced to barely ever get into their base d.

Actually I'm pretty sure the quote from Meyer said each week he would give the names of the players who graded out as winning so I think we did hear each name. And I'm not "crowing" as much as defending my opinion that the Lbers and Safeties didn't play that well.

Regarding the defense, AFAIK we have been and continue to have two base defenses, a sort of 4-2-5 nickel and a 4-3 under. The Star is not some new position, and this team is not unfamiliar with staying in that 4-2-5 for whole games. They expected that coming into this game. They got a bit better as the game wore on but middle of the field coverage just wasn’t very good IMO. Personally I don’t like dropping 8 pretty much ever, but I’m not a high level coordinator so I’ll defer.

[e0y2e3]

Just because we ran Nickel for whole games in the past doesn't mean anything regarding the team not wanting to this year.

And I still find it hard to believe not a single LB or DL scored out at an 80%, it really seems like the defense was kind of skimmed over while Meyer spent a long time talking about the offense on Monday.

Either way, I'm still not sure how you judge LBs against a three step drop offense and I expected a blown coverage or two in the secondary. My point is nothing more than that we have to wait and see with both units, because what Miami threw at them is about as shitty a way to gauge their play as is possible.

[JCoz]

Meyer and the staff on the pace (from a staff perspective), the soldier walk on guy and the red-zone stuff: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2012/09/1 ... slow-start

Yah to be honest I really couldn't understand Peeks comments regarding the pace, they were flying, there was a time where we missed the snap of several plays in a row because the producers couldn't keep up (B1G Net broadcast), and I kept looking at the clock and remarking how fast they were running plays. So I just couldnt have disagreed much more with the view that this was somehow closer to Tressels pace than the one Meyer/Herman are planning on running here.

[JCoz]

Just because we ran Nickel for whole games in the past doesn't mean anything regarding the team not wanting to this year.

And I still find it hard to believe not a single LB or DL scored out at an 80%, it really seems like the defense was kind of skimmed over while Meyer spent a long time talking about the offense on Monday.

Either way, I'm still not sure how you judge LBs against a three step drop offense and I expected a blown coverage or two in the secondary. My point is nothing more than that we have to wait and see with both units, because what Miami threw at them is about as shitty a way to gauge their play as is possible.

I think I said pretty much the same thing in my post E0, I'm just not as rosey about it. I know how that type of offense is going dictate some things on D, and I said it was just the first game.I dont think our opinions are really much different.

[peeker643]

Umm... the frantic pace of play that Meyer wishes to play with must be something they'll have to work into. Because it ain't there today.

This is athletes beating lesser athletes at a relaxed pace of play.

Miller got bigger and stronger y'all. He's not the Hulk in his arms and shoulders but he's noticeably bigger and stronger.

They definitely played at a frenetic pace. 85+ plays on offense in this game where they didnt have more than 1 first down in the first quarter. I think they will easily have some games in the 90 play range - Thats a frenetic pace.

And I posted that at the end of the first half. If the 23 minutes of that half was frenetic offensively, then we need to review the definition.

I especially loved the Hyde dive from the 3-yd line as the clock expired. That was cutting edge stuff

Meyer didn't like the pace in the first half either:

Up until Smith’s catch, even Meyer was concerned. He had come to Columbus heralded as an offensive guru, preaching the gospel of no-huddle and quick snaps and throwing the ball to multiple receivers.

Yet after a quarter, the Buckeyes had just 48 yards of offense and were fortunate to only be down by a field goal.

“They dropped two passes. They well could have been ahead 14-0,” Meyer said. “I was real worried. Then once I started getting things figured out a little bit on offense, I wasn’t as worried, because I thought it was just a matter of taking care of the ball and finding our receivers.”

They were better in the 2nd half though. Gonna take some time til it's 2nd nature and not something foreign. That's why I thought it was the perfect way to start: win huge and have a lot to work on.

Definitely loved some of the motion and sets he employs though.

[peeker643]

Meyer and the staff on the pace (from a staff perspective), the soldier walk on guy and the red-zone stuff: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2012/09/1 ... slow-start

Yah to be honest I really couldn't understand Peeks comments regarding the pace, they were flying, there was a time where we missed the snap of several plays in a row because the producers couldn't keep up (B1G Net broadcast), and I kept looking at the clock and remarking how fast they were running plays.

Here we go.... maybe because it was at halftime that I said it? Maybe because he was saying the same thing at that time?

Jesus.

Leaving now. Find someone else to argue with. Because I'm not going in circles.

[JCoz]

Peek, you wrote that in your weekend wrap too (maybe you wrote that at halftime too, IDK), and the second quarter was where those snaps I was talking about were missed due to the pace of play. It doesnt even matter when you wrote it though, they were still running plays extremely fast, even when they looked like a bad HS team doing it in the 1st quarter.

[JCoz]

Umm... the frantic pace of play that Meyer wishes to play with must be something they'll have to work into. Because it ain't there today.

This is athletes beating lesser athletes at a relaxed pace of play.

Miller got bigger and stronger y'all. He's not the Hulk in his arms and shoulders but he's noticeably bigger and stronger.

They definitely played at a frenetic pace. 85+ plays on offense in this game where they didnt have more than 1 first down in the first quarter. I think they will easily have some games in the 90 play range - Thats a frenetic pace.

And I posted that at the end of the first half. If the 23 minutes of that half was frenetic offensively, then we need to review the definition.

I especially loved the Hyde dive from the 3-yd line as the clock expired. That was cutting edge stuff

Meyer didn't like the pace in the first half either:

Up until Smith’s catch, even Meyer was concerned. He had come to Columbus heralded as an offensive guru, preaching the gospel of no-huddle and quick snaps and throwing the ball to multiple receivers.

Yet after a quarter, the Buckeyes had just 48 yards of offense and were fortunate to only be down by a field goal.

“They dropped two passes. They well could have been ahead 14-0,” Meyer said. “I was real worried. Then once I started getting things figured out a little bit on offense, I wasn’t as worried, because I thought it was just a matter of taking care of the ball and finding our receivers.”

They were better in the 2nd half though. Gonna take some time til it's 2nd nature and not something foreign. That's why I thought it was the perfect way to start: win huge and have a lot to work on.

Definitely loved some of the motion and sets he employs though.

I just read this comment, didn’t see it first. It seems like you are mixing up a frenetic pace with effectiveness of the plays. Yes, the first 23 min was just as fast paced as the rest, they just stunk it up while doing it. Those quotes there have nothing to do with the pace of play.

When they have been talking about Pace this offseason its been in reference to no-huddle hurry up all game….which is not at all something he brought with him from Florida, its something new for Meyer entirely.

Your comments here and in the Wrap make a lot more sense when you substitute something about ineffectiveness rather than pace.

[peeker643]

Miami Drives 1st QTR

5 plays 1:26 17secs/play
8 plays 3:46 28secs/play
6 plays 1:23 14secs/play
3 plays 1:06 22secs/play
5 plays 1:26 17secs/play

19secs/play on average


OSU 1st QTR



5plays 1:46 21secs/play
3plays 1:33 31secs/play
4plays 1:38 24secs/play
3plays :56 19secs/play

23secs/play on average

They were less effective and played with less pace than Miami of Ohio in the early going. One feeds the other, yes. Hard to play fast when playing ineffectively. It will get better, yes. They will be completely different than Tressel's offense, yes.

Early Saturday they were not. I did not expect them to be a well-oiled machine.

The Hyde dive from the 3-yard line was extremely Tressel-like. Maybe even Woody-esque. God forbid you give the ball to the best athlete on the field with a run/option pass in that situation.

Perhaps I should have written that OSU's pace was fast but that they still aspire to the pace play of Miami, OH?

[FUDU]

I have no problem with the Hyde call on the goal line, if only for the fact that game was shaping up to be heavily in our favor, and it was a good test of our Oline and Hyde's ability to man up early in the season.

[JCoz]

I don't know where comparing the pace of play to Miami came from, but it's sort of irrelevant. The point is that this team is running plays far, far faster than past OSU teams, you specifically picked Tressels teams which the pace was not remotely similar. The point I'm making is that this team clearly played at an extreme pace like we heard about in practices and the offseason. We agree that they looked awful in the first, we agree on probably everything but pace being slow. I still don't understand how your first responses quotes had anything to do with pace, there was plenty of things to be critical of but pace just wasn't one of them. I guess you are seeing something difference or calling something else "pace."

Comparing that Hyde goaline play to Tressel doesnt make much sense given Tressel would never, in a million years, made that call to go for it regardless of whose hands it went in. That was a completely transparent send a message play from Meyer. You couldn't have picked a more non-Tressel like situational call than that one. Developing blowout vs an obviously overmatched instate opponant on the goaline with 3 seconds left in the half.

You really, really have to stretch long and hard in an attempt to make anything about that call Tressel-like.

I like the idea of the call, but I think it was one of those calls where it's only a bad call when it doesn't work. YMMV. But it wasn't Tressel-like.

[peeker643]

Comparing that Hyde goaline play to Tressel doesnt make much sense given Tressel would never, in a million years, made that call to go for it regardless of whose hands it went in. That was a completely transparent send a message play from Meyer. You couldn't have picked a more non-Tressel like situational call than that one. Developing blowout vs an obviously overmatched instate opponant on the goaline with 3 seconds left in the half.

You really, really have to stretch long and hard in an attempt to make anything about that call Tressel-like.

I like the idea of the call, but I think it was one of those calls where it's only a bad call when it doesn't work. YMMV. But it wasn't Tressel-like.

The decision to go for it there has nothing to do with the play call. If a dive play isn't Tressel ball it's Woody ball.

Very, very simply put: give Miller the ball getting to an edge where he has multiple run and pass options. Always and forever.

Seriously, arguing that is ridiculous. The Buckeyes OL and Hyde failing to cash it in being the only other thing more ridiculous than the play call.

Tressel would have kicked the FG for sure. Had he been forced to go for it there because he had to, with Smith, Pryor or Miller at QB, even he would have gone wide with his best athlete.

Not sure if Urban was trying to send a message with that call or trying to pump up his offensive big boys. But it was a poor choice of play call. Hyde had already had at least five carries of 3-yards or less during the half so it wasn't stunning that Miami made a stop there.

The bottom line is Miami of Ohio ran plays at a faster pace than OSU did early. It's not irrelevant unless you're looking for it to be. It's factual and sitting right there. And yes, a lot of it had to do with it being difficult to run the up tempo stuff effectively when Miller was bouncing balls or missing his receivers. That tends to slow things down.

But 'high octane' isn't what came to mind watching the first 23-minutes or so. Not to my mind, anyway.

The rest of the day? Yes. Very good tempo and something we'll surely see more of as the Buckeyes get more comfortable with the system and Miller matures and works out his mechanical kinks.

Like I said, plenty of promise and plenty of coachable moments I'm sure Meyer will dwell on this week.

[furls]

Comparing that Hyde goaline play to Tressel doesnt make much sense given Tressel would never, in a million years, made that call to go for it regardless of whose hands it went in. That was a completely transparent send a message play from Meyer. You couldn't have picked a more non-Tressel like situational call than that one. Developing blowout vs an obviously overmatched instate opponant on the goaline with 3 seconds left in the half.

You really, really have to stretch long and hard in an attempt to make anything about that call Tressel-like.

I like the idea of the call, but I think it was one of those calls where it's only a bad call when it doesn't work. YMMV. But it wasn't Tressel-like.

The decision to go for it there has nothing to do with the play call. If a dive play isn't Tressel ball it's Woody ball.

Very, very simply put: give Miller the ball getting to an edge where he has multiple run and pass options. Always and forever.

Seriously, arguing that is ridiculous. The Buckeyes OL and Hyde failing to cash it in being the only other thing more ridiculous than the play call.

Tressel would have kicked the FG for sure. Had he been forced to go for it there because he had to, with Smith, Pryor or Miller at QB, even he would have gone wide with his best athlete.

Not sure if Urban was trying to send a message with that call or trying to pump up his offensive big boys. But it was a poor choice of play call. Hyde had already had at least five carries of 3-yards or less during the half so it wasn't stunning that Miami made a stop there.

The bottom line is Miami of Ohio ran plays at a faster pace than OSU did early. It's not irrelevant unless you're looking for it to be. It's factual and sitting right there. And yes, a lot of it had to do with it being difficult to run the up tempo stuff effectively when Miller was bouncing balls or missing his receivers. That tends to slow things down.

But 'high octane' isn't what came to mind watching the first 23-minutes or so. Not to my mind, anyway.

The rest of the day? Yes. Very good tempo and something we'll surely see more of as the Buckeyes get more comfortable with the system and Miller matures and works out his mechanical kinks.

Like I said, plenty of promise and plenty of coachable moments I'm sure Meyer will dwell on this week.

Tressel wouldn't have kicked a field goal because he would've never gotten the ball down there that far because he would have just closed the half with the ball inside his own 40 with a minute or two to go. Let's be real about that first.

Second, as for the dive call, it wasn't a bad call. His team was winning big, and to me that was all about challenging his team and his OL. The smart move is to take the 3, the move he made was, "Man UP and get it done. They know what's coming and are ready to stop it, win the war and score the points." It was all about learning and motivating. His team failed the test. Do you think for one minute they have not had that moment rubbed into their faces all week thus far? If you don't think so then you didn't watch that ESPiN All Access show.

[peeker643]

As noted, plenty of coachable moments during the game.

Ha! True about Tressel taking his lead to the half without the drive there.

Disagreed on the play call then and now. Had all day to Man up and beat the Miami DL. Didn't get it done far too often IMO, which led to those 5 or 6 Hyde carries for 3 yards or less leading up to that one. Could have coached and chided and harrassed all week on those plays without the GL call added in.

Jeez, had Tressel or Bollman made that call on the GL it would have been Katy Bar the Door. Without a doubt.

And I'm of the mind the margin may not be as big Saturday because UCF has athletes, but that the Buckeyes will be much better in Game 2 than they were in Game 1. Just think thye'll improve and get more comfortable all week.

Tressel wouldn't have kicked a field goal because he would've never gotten the ball down there that far because he would have just closed the half with the ball inside his own 40 with a minute or two to go. Let's be real about that first.

Second, as for the dive call, it wasn't a bad call. His team was winning big, and to me that was all about challenging his team and his OL. The smart move is to take the 3, the move he made was, "Man UP and get it done. They know what's coming and are ready to stop it, win the war and score the points." It was all about learning and motivating. His team failed the test. Do you think for one minute they have not had that moment rubbed into their faces all week thus far? If you don't think so then you didn't watch that ESPiN All Access show.

[gotribe31]

I still like Tressell.

[e0y2e3]

Well, it's a damn shame that Tressel's tenure as an elite coach ended in 2006 then Al.

[furls]

I like Tressel too, Meyer is a better coach, but I like Tressel. I like Meyer's call too. If it was a close game you take the 3, Bucks were pulling away so I think it was fine to challenge the team to rise up and get it done in one shot. The game was going to devolve into a scrimmage and that was one of his last chances to force the team to compete in a non competitive game.

Here is a snippet from a Meyer Presser today:

Meyer said the Buckeyes worked hard on short-yardage drills this week in practice due to getting stuffed inside the 1-yard line last Saturday right before halftime.

“It was a tough practice yesterday on Tuesday. Bloody Tuesday was awful,” Meyer said. “Plus it was hot. Tough day. A lot of guys dehydrated, so we had to hydrate them back. Their body weight … I mean, some guys lost 8-9 pounds at yesterday’s practice. It was hard.

“But they came back today and their body weights are back up. (Mickey Marotti and his staff) do a great job and they’ll get you hydrated.

“So, we spent 5 minutes today on nothing but fourth down (in short-yardage situations) because of that reason. We need to establish who we are. It was a missed block by an offensive lineman. That’s what happened.”

[danwismar]

I loved the call on the goal line (the decision to go for it, not necessarily the play call), and two things happened to screw it up.

It was the classic Tressel "Dave" play, for starters (is this ironic or what?)...play side G and T block down, weak side guard pulls into the hole...except it appeared that Norwell tripped or stumbled pulling, and didn't get his block, and then Hyde left his feet unnecessarily...if he stays on his feet he powers it in after the initial hit or his momentum has him fall forward into the EZ

Thought Bryant played great the whole game. He really does look comfortable as a free safety (even though Fickell's D doesn't make a real distinction between free and strong safeties, we sort of know which is which)

Shazier and Sabino were 1-2 in total tackles for the game, and I agree that its hard to believe that at least Shazier wouldn't have received a winning grade. They say Grant had 3 assists, but I don't recall seeing them, and like Lee said, they were in nickel nearly the whole game so he wasn't on the field all that much. Loved Sabino on the few times they blitzed him...combined with Spence on the one sack. Hope to see more of that from him and Shazier. Meyer said pass rush wasn't that great early because they were concentrating on containment with their front four to stop the run...(what run?)

Loved Norwell's play in the game...several pancakes and vicious blocks. Loved Boren's game, despite the one dropped pass. He was killing people blocking, and had two catches and a rushing TD

[e0y2e3]

It's kind of funny, as I too thought Norwell played really well but I am fairly certain it was Norwell Meyer was talking about when he called the O-Line out yesterday.

Well, not just him, but he was a big part of it since Meyer is still pissed about getting stuffed on the goal-line and Norwell played a big role in that.

[e0y2e3]

(BTW: I'm start to think out of all of the seniors this team may end up missing Boren the most next year)

[motherscratcher]

(BTW: I'm start to think out of all of the seniors this team may end up missing Boren the most next year)

How big of a role does FB typically play in Meyer's offense? Does he generally want/need a stud? Or is it more a matter of finding more of a role for Boren because he's there?

[e0y2e3]

Boren is playing more of a wing-back than a FB right now and will be evolved into an even more versatile player as the year progresses.

That said, I just think it is really hard to find guys that are as capable all around as Boren is. He can run and catch a little, he can block a lot, he is lining up all over the field, etc. It's hard to imagine but just from the small sample of Meyer's playbook we saw last week (and it was small) I fully expect Boren's versatility to be one of the biggest revelations this year. Which is amazing to think about, since he was a giant that wasn't allowed to touch the football for the last three years. New skinny and versatile Boren is a welcome revelation.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I cannot remember seeing Meyer ever use a FB at Florida.

Doesn't mean it didn't happen, I just don't remember it.

[peeker643]

I cannot remember seeing Meyer ever use a FB at Florida.

Doesn't mean it didn't happen, I just don't remember it.

That's because Meyer's last FB at Florida played QB.

[danwismar]

Meyer's offense doesn't normally use a fullback at all, but he's using Boren because he has him, and he realizes how much he can help this team. Meyer has said from Day One that he loves this kid.

[furls]

Boren's biggest asset is that he is a smart player that doesn't miss assignments. He can be put anywhere at anytime and figure out what he is supposed to do, so while he may not be athletically versatile he is certainly still versatile (if that makes sense).

I agree with Lee, he will be the most missed senior on the team (or at least the offense). You could make the case for Simon, but there are so many talented DL behind him that it is literally a case of next man up. They will miss Simon's leadership and example even more than this on the field contributions.

[JCoz]

Comparing that Hyde goaline play to Tressel doesnt make much sense given Tressel would never, in a million years, made that call to go for it regardless of whose hands it went in. That was a completely transparent send a message play from Meyer. You couldn't have picked a more non-Tressel like situational call than that one. Developing blowout vs an obviously overmatched instate opponant on the goaline with 3 seconds left in the half.

You really, really have to stretch long and hard in an attempt to make anything about that call Tressel-like.

I like the idea of the call, but I think it was one of those calls where it's only a bad call when it doesn't work. YMMV. But it wasn't Tressel-like.

The decision to go for it there has nothing to do with the play call. If a dive play isn't Tressel ball it's Woody ball.

Very, very simply put: give Miller the ball getting to an edge where he has multiple run and pass options. Always and forever.

Seriously, arguing that is ridiculous. The Buckeyes OL and Hyde failing to cash it in being the only other thing more ridiculous than the play call.

Tressel would have kicked the FG for sure. Had he been forced to go for it there because he had to, with Smith, Pryor or Miller at QB, even he would have gone wide with his best athlete.

Not sure if Urban was trying to send a message with that call or trying to pump up his offensive big boys. But it was a poor choice of play call. Hyde had already had at least five carries of 3-yards or less during the half so it wasn't stunning that Miami made a stop there.

The bottom line is Miami of Ohio ran plays at a faster pace than OSU did early. It's not irrelevant unless you're looking for it to be. It's factual and sitting right there. And yes, a lot of it had to do with it being difficult to run the up tempo stuff effectively when Miller was bouncing balls or missing his receivers. That tends to slow things down.

But 'high octane' isn't what came to mind watching the first 23-minutes or so. Not to my mind, anyway.

The rest of the day? Yes. Very good tempo and something we'll surely see more of as the Buckeyes get more comfortable with the system and Miller matures and works out his mechanical kinks.

Like I said, plenty of promise and plenty of coachable moments I'm sure Meyer will dwell on this week.

I think you'd find that OSU ran plays faster than Miami if you actually went back and watched (incomplete passes stop the clock and skew those numbers you posted, as do 1st downs)and they passed at an inverse ratio to the OSU offense. I think the bottom line would be the team was a far greater pace than I’ve ever seen and nothing at all like Tressels teams in that regard, but the point has been beaten to death. They ran 86 plays and pace is far from a major concern.

Regarding the play call, ignoring the situation is completely ridiculous. If you polled 100 OSU fans and asked what was the most non Tressel-like playcall in that 1st game, they would invariably choose THAT PLAY. That’s about as clear as it gets. You cant separate the situation from the play chosen. Its also one of the most common plays in the history of football, and a play Urban said from the start he'd be keeping in the playbook. Would have looked alot more like a tressel failed-dave if the backside end cut hyde down before he got back to the line of scrimmage.

Saying that was a tressel-like call is like saying Snookie is the spitting image of Monica Belucci because they both have brown hair and brown eyes.

Regardless, I'm ready for the next game.

[JCoz]

I like Tressel too, Meyer is a better coach, but I like Tressel. I like Meyer's call too. If it was a close game you take the 3, Bucks were pulling away so I think it was fine to challenge the team to rise up and get it done in one shot. The game was going to devolve into a scrimmage and that was one of his last chances to force the team to compete in a non competitive game.

Here is a snippet from a Meyer Presser today:

Meyer said the Buckeyes worked hard on short-yardage drills this week in practice due to getting stuffed inside the 1-yard line last Saturday right before halftime.

“It was a tough practice yesterday on Tuesday. Bloody Tuesday was awful,” Meyer said. “Plus it was hot. Tough day. A lot of guys dehydrated, so we had to hydrate them back. Their body weight … I mean, some guys lost 8-9 pounds at yesterday’s practice. It was hard.

“But they came back today and their body weights are back up. (Mickey Marotti and his staff) do a great job and they’ll get you hydrated.

“So, we spent 5 minutes today on nothing but fourth down (in short-yardage situations) because of that reason. We need to establish who we are. It was a missed block by an offensive lineman. That’s what happened.”

We are on the same page regarding that call. Meyer doesn't want to have his offense known as a "finesse" offense. That was about him asking his team to prove they could nut up and punch it in. Guarantee that burned his ass all week, not the play call but that the team didn’t punch that though.

IMO it was the right moment to challenge the team, they just didn’t get it done. No play at the 50 or on their own 20 was going to have the effect that situation did, win or lose on that play. They will remember that play all week even if Urban wasn’t drilling them about it, which I’m sure he is.

[furls]

I just got back from vacation and had a chance to spend several hours rewatching the game, and really looking hard at it. I am not quite as bullish on this team as I was on first look. Here are some quick hitters:

1. Love the offense concepts, this is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
2. I don't like Carlos Hyde much at all. Below Average vision, average feet, above average speed, does not run with power. Kind of reminds me of a bigger version of Maurice Hall. He will be fairly successful due to the offense, but Hall will thrive in it once he is back.
3. The Safety play was atrocious. Christian Bryant (I am aware of his "champion grade") was bad.
4. Howard and Roby were awesome.
5. The team lacks playmakers except the QB.
6. The defensive scheme sucked. It was the same scheme that OSU used against UF. It sucked then, it still sucks now.
7. If JT Moore plays another snap, the rest of the DL should go on strike due to the wasted rep. He just runs straight into the tackle on every play and ineffectively bull rushes.
8. Spence is quick, but he is not strong enough yet.
9. Schutt looked great making plays off of blocks, he was the best of the Fr. DL.
10. Washington is a good player now.
11. Sabino looked better.

[pod2dawg]

They will miss Simon's leadership and example even more than this on the field contributions.

.........the weight room will have less clanging also.