The Ohio State Buckeyes Thread v.12 — 8 in a row

[pf9]

I wonder how the seniors feel about being paired with Clemson. I'm suspecting some of them actually played in that Fiesta Bowl 3 years ago and are hungry for revenge.

[buno67]

14 minutes ago, candyman93 said:

We need guys to get healthy. Especially our secondary. Okudah and Arnette vs Higgins and Ross will decide the game imo.

Can’t decide the game if Young sacks Lawrence first!

[NateDawg]

Only way to really stop Chase Young is to double or triple team him unless you are doing 3-step drop passes. That is what they have done against in the last couple weeks. I haven’t seen any single teaming on anything but an immediate slant route or swing pass. So I would say that’s a good recipe for an offense unless you are going to commit a TE or RB to pass block. 

[NateDawg]

Buckeyes will wear their Scarlet throwback jerseys with the gray on the sleeve against the Tigers. 

 

I hate that they got rid of the gray to begin with. This is their best uniform.

[cortes02]

I wish Justin Fields was 100% healthy.  I would feel a lot better with the matchup against Clemson.  Buckeyes are gonna have to lean on JK Dobbins in these playoffs like Ohio State leaned on Zeke Elliot during the Championsjop run in 2014-2015.  Don't get me wrong, Fields is a "much" better passer then Cardale during his championship run but Fields didn't look like himself during the B1G Championship game last night.  He said his knee is bothering him and it showed last night.  He couldn't elude the rush as well as he could before the injury and the RPO isn't as lethal.  I'm hoping the next few weeks off can help Fields heal a little bit.  Regardless if Fields is healthy or not, GO BUCKEYES and give Clemson hell.

Peace!!!

[BobbyPhil1781]

I think Fields will be fine over the next 3 weeks. He didn't look too bothered last game and was still decently mobile. Dude is serious though and he won't do anything stupid to mess his knee up more. He'll be fine

[Ozzy]

I don't get why LSU got the #1 seed and not Ohio State.  I mean honestly looking at the schedule you take out that Alabama win which was not in dominating fashion at the end, and was up against a limping around and injured Tua, they did not do much this year.  Good win against Auburn and Florida and that early season game against Texas honestly is not as good as it looked early because Texas did not finish the year strong and are not even ranked currently.  

 

LSU 
#9 Texas at the time, team that finished 7-5 however
#7 Florida that finished 10-2
#9 Auburn team that finished  9-3
#3 Alabama team finished 10-2 with an injured Tua late
#4 Georgia team that finished 11-2 but was a little over ranked all season

 

Note they played Georgia Southern and Northwestern State early in the year along with Miss State, Vandy, Utah State, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Texas A&M.  All were total over matched teams and none are really that good honestly.  Sure Utah State have a NFL prospect at QB but the team is not deep and lost a ton of talent off last years team, same with A&M and Miss State.

 

 

 

Ohio State
Florida Atlantic 10-3 CUSA champs
Cincinnati 10-3 AAC runner up 2nd place
Indiana finished 8-4
Miami OH MAC champs 8-5
#25 Michigan State team that did not finish strong but still was a quality team 6-6 that has talent
Beat then #13 Wisconsin team finished 10-3
#8 Penn State team that finished 10-2
#13 Michigan team finished 9-3
Beat Wisconsin again then ranked #8

 

Other teams in the schedule being Maryland, Rutgers, Nebraska and Northwestern.  Sure not great either but early on they did play and absolutely beat down two conference champs from other divisions.  Sure that is not everything but is better than beating Northwestern State.  Not to mention the margin of victory throughout the season outside of this past game was pretty large, everything outside of the Penn State game.  

 

Ohio State should be the #1 seed, and it is a massive deal because the difference between playing Oklahoma and Clemson is absolutely massive.  Would have been real curious if Alabama beat Auburn and they easily could have.  Then they would be #4 and it would make things a lot more interesting honestly.   Ohio State will have not played any offense like Clemson all year that can easily score with them and match points.  Will be a great game no doubt.

 

 

 

[NateDawg]

4 minutes ago, cortes02 said:

I wish Justin Fields was 100% healthy.  I would feel a lot better with the matchup against Clemson.  Buckeyes are gonna have to lean on JK Dobbins in these playoffs like Ohio State leaned on Zeke Elliot during the Championsjop run in 2014-2015.  Don't get me wrong, Fields is a "much" better passer then Cardale during his championship run but Fields didn't look like himself during the B1G Championship game last night.  He said his knee is bothering him and it showed last night.  He couldn't elude the rush as well as he could before the injury and the RPO isn't as lethal.  I'm hoping the next few weeks off can help Fields heal a little bit.  Regardless if Fields is healthy or not, GO BUCKEYES and give Clemson hell.

Peace!!!

Yeah, Fields was definitely missing throws that he has not missed all year. It was pretty noticeable that his knee was affecting him. We need him in the zone read and we need his best passing. 

As running the ball goes, we should have an advantage on our offensive line against their defensive line, although their linebackers fill well. Still, that has to stay the recipe. Against  Wisconsin twice, Michigan, Michigan State… All supposedly elite run defenses when we played them, and we have gone 200 or more yards rushing in all of those except maybe last night, when we were close. Our offensive line run blocking is our strength. The pass blocking has been a little bit shaky recently and Justin fields has held onto the ball too long. Need to stay ahead of the sticks and again need the threat of Fields legs. 

 

[NateDawg]

6 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

I don't get why LSU got the #1 seed and not Ohio State.  I mean honestly looking at the schedule you take out that Alabama win which was not in dominating fashion at the end, and was up against a limping around and injured Tua, they did not do much this year.  Good win against Auburn and Florida and that early season game against Texas honestly is not as good as it looked early because Texas did not finish the year strong and are not even ranked currently.  

 

LSU 
#9 Texas at the time, team that finished 7-5 however
#7 Florida that finished 10-2
#9 Auburn team that finished  9-3
#3 Alabama team finished 10-2 with an injured Tua late
#4 Georgia team that finished 11-2 but was a little over ranked all season

 

Note they played Georgia Southern and Northwestern State early in the year along with Miss State, Vandy, Utah State, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Texas A&M.  All were total over matched teams and none are really that good honestly.  Sure Utah State have a NFL prospect at QB but the team is not deep and lost a ton of talent off last years team, same with A&M and Miss State.

 

 

 

Ohio State
Florida Atlantic 10-3 CUSA champs
Cincinnati 10-3 AAC runner up 2nd place
Indiana finished 8-4
Miami OH MAC champs 8-5
#25 Michigan State team that did not finish strong but still was a quality team 6-6 that has talent
Beat then #13 Wisconsin team finished 10-3
#8 Penn State team that finished 10-2
#13 Michigan team finished 9-3
Beat Wisconsin again then ranked #8

 

Other teams in the schedule being Maryland, Rutgers, Nebraska and Northwestern.  Sure not great either but early on they did play and absolutely beat down two conference champs from other divisions.  Sure that is not everything but is better than beating Northwestern State.  Not to mention the margin of victory throughout the season outside of this past game was pretty large, everything outside of the Penn State game.  

 

Ohio State should be the #1 seed, and it is a massive deal because the difference between playing Oklahoma and Clemson is absolutely massive.  Would have been real curious if Alabama beat Auburn and they easily could have.  Then they would be #4 and it would make things a lot more interesting honestly.   Ohio State will have not played any offense like Clemson all year that can easily score with them and match points.  Will be a great game no doubt.

 

 

 

Almost every single metric has Ohio State a clear number one. It’s a really weird case were the only logical explanation is that it came down solely to final impressions from yesterday or clear bias. The only other option is that the committee really did believe Georgia was an elite team. If that’s the case, I get it. Because if you beat an elite team like that, you deserve the 1 seed. I just don’t think Georgia is at that level. I think you are right though about Alabama. If they had made the playoffs as the fourth seed, I don’t think they would’ve bothered trying to elevate LSU to one.

Oh well though. I am excited for the Clemson matchup at this point. LSU is a great team. Hopefully Ohio State gets a chance to play them. I have hoped to get an opportunity to watch Joe Burrow play against Ohio State all season.

Edited December 9, 2019 by NateDawg

[cortes02]

3 minutes ago, JTagg7754 said:

think Fields will be fine over the next 3 weeks. He didn't look too bothered last game and was still decently mobile. Dude is serious though and he won't do anything stupid to mess his knee up more. He'll be fine

I will say this.  Fields is tough as nails and he plays through pain.  I admire that about him.  

Peace!!!

[Ozzy]

Just now, NateDawg said:

Almost every single metric has Ohio State a clear number one. It’s a really weird case were the only logical explanation is that it came down solely to final impressions from yesterday or clear bias. 

Oh well though. I am excited for the Clemson matchup at this point. Still, very puzzling.

Yeah that was crazy but it did just happen and is still fresh, and at half time it totally seemed like they were done for and were going to lose the game.  They came back super strong but that so so half basically lost them the #1 seed.  They will have the best DBs Clemson has seen all season but Clemson has by far the best receivers Ohio State has seen, best QB they have seen and best OL they have seen along with arguably the best group of RBs they have seen in terms of big play potential, Etienne averaging 8 yards per carry is insane and the backup to him averages 6 yards per carry.  And Clemson defensively is better than people think, Isaiah Simmons should be a top 5 pick in the draft and is one of the best athletes on defense in the nation.  But Muse can be taken advantage of and the DL lost a lot of talent clearly but they are usually up by so much it does not matter.  

Defensively though Ohio State is better than Clemson clearly and has the best group of defenders of any team in the Playoff.  But any team struggles if you get down early and that happened even in the Big Ten title game, the score changes a lot how players play.  

[candyman93]

The problem is that Mickey Mouse has too much influence on college football. If we lost yesterday by 1 point, you could bet your life savings they would have tried to keep us out.

[buno67]

38 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Yeah that was crazy but it did just happen and is still fresh, and at half time it totally seemed like they were done for and were going to lose the game.  They came back super strong but that so so half basically lost them the #1 seed.  They will have the best DBs Clemson has seen all season but Clemson has by far the best receivers Ohio State has seen, best QB they have seen and best OL they have seen along with arguably the best group of RBs they have seen in terms of big play potential, Etienne averaging 8 yards per carry is insane and the backup to him averages 6 yards per carry.  And Clemson defensively is better than people think, Isaiah Simmons should be a top 5 pick in the draft and is one of the best athletes on defense in the nation.  But Muse can be taken advantage of and the DL lost a lot of talent clearly but they are usually up by so much it does not matter.  

Defensively though Ohio State is better than Clemson clearly and has the best group of defenders of any team in the Playoff.  But any team struggles if you get down early and that happened even in the Big Ten title game, the score changes a lot how players play.  

Best group of RBs? I don’t Taylor is pretty darn good for Wisky. Not avg 8yards a pop but is avg 6yards and did it while playing a lot tougher schedule 24th vs 60th. 
 

I agree that in other aspects it will be the best units they have seems but tOSU is at least been battle tested and played some pretty good teams, Where Clemson hasn’t played anyone worth a damn really. If there is a flaw to their schemes, they never played an opponent who could expose it. So if tOSU finds it, Clemson might not be ready for it. 
 

This will be a great game. I think day is going to be great at using this as a chip for the team

[Ozzy]

Just now, buno67 said:

Best group of RBs? I don’t Taylor is pretty darn good for Wisky. Not avg 8yards a pop but is avg 6yards and did it while playing a lot tougher schedule 24th vs 60th. 
 

I agree that in other aspects it will be the best units they have seems but tOSU is at least been battle tested and played some pretty good teams, Where Clemson hasn’t played anyone worth a damn really. If there is a flaw to their schemes, they never played an opponent who could expose it. So if tOSU finds it, Clemson might not be ready for it. 
 

This will be a great game. I think day is going to be great at using this as a chip for the team

Taylor is great no doubt, and how Ohio State stopped him cold basically 2nd half after he dominated the 1st half was impressive.  But Clemson has more rushing yards as a team this year than Wisconsin on almost 70 less carries and the backups are more successful and they can rotate guys more and keep them fresh which helps.  Thus that explosive ability will be hard to match up against I feel.  The big play potential they have is huge and Etienne is a big play waiting to happen not to mention the QB run game which can cause problems for any defense and Lawrence has been doing that a ton this year.

Based on Clemson being better than they were last year offensively and last year they completely destroyed a very good Alabama team I doubt there is a scheme flaw in that offense.  They have an insanely good QB with receivers and backs to make things happen.  Ohio State at least has pieces defensively and it could be totally possible it will just be a shoot out because neither D can stop the other team.  But Ohio State has Chase Young so that could be a major X factor.  Honestly against Wisconsin he was crazy good 2nd half in that game just getting after the QB and stopping the run.  Totally crushed it out there and made Van Lanen look bad over and over and over again.  

 

Will see just how good that Ohio State defense is, that is for sure.  

[NateDawg]

It is weird to think that you can win three straight games against top 15 teams including a road blowout against Michigan and fall a spot in the rankings. I actually don’t care about the one seed at this point, because I do think the road goes through Clemson either this round or next round anyways. It’s the principle. It doesn’t make sense. If they had LSU #1 the last few weeks I could definitely entertain an argument for them to stay there. I don’t really even have a gripe with the final result, because LSU has earned it. I’m just not sure how there has been a change in the last couple weeks if they thought Ohio State was previously at the top. Because of one bad half in a rematch with #8, when they ended up going 27-0 in the 2nd half and winning by two scores? The way the two teams played yesterday, Wisconsin would’ve beaten Georgia by multiple scores. No question about it. 

Now we get to see how Ryan Day is with his gameplan with three weeks of preparation. We know that Dabo Swinney and his staff have done well. This week will be a blur as coaches will be on the road recruiting and then Day is going to be all over the place at award ceremonies. Hopefully the staff as a whole is focused on the upcoming game with all hands on deck. If Hafley does leave for Boston College, I hope he is at least focused on the present and stays around. I’m guessing that Clemson’s offensive coordinator that might be getting a HC job also will be sticking around through bowl season also. If not, it’s unfortunate for either team, because this is the pinnacle of the season. This team will need to start off a lot better than they did against Wisconsin. It seems that once adjustments are made, it is an avalanche for all of our opponents. But you can’t dig yourself a hole against elite teams. If we are in a tie game going into the second half or close, I really like our chances because of how this team has dominated and worn teams out as the games have gone on.