Hand Up, I Was Wrong About THE Ohio State Buckeyes
Alright boys, I’m here to face the music. Hopefully the music doesn’t sound like the Purdue fight song though. I heard that shit enough on Saturday night.
We got the absolute piss kicked out of us. There’s no way to spin it. The Buckeyes went into West Lafayette and got beat every which way by a 3-3 Purdue team. And as much is everyone is going to want to sit here and tell me how much the Buckeyes suck and how I suck at predicting games, you would only be 50% right on that one. I’ve previewed every Buckeye game since week one. Each week I’ve talked a very big game, and each week the Buckeyes have backed me up. But this week, it was a little different. I could tell the Buckeyes were going into a dangerous spot, and I had a completely different tone in my blog.
The reason I had such a different tone is because the Buckeyes have been playing with matches so much lately that they were due to get burnt. Our weaknesses have been so apparent that eventually they were going to catch up to us. And the weaknesses that were evident with the Buckeyes played into the strengths of Purdue. Pair that with the fact that the Boilermakers had a 7:30 night game, and well, the Buckeyes finally got what they deserved.
The most frustrating part of this loss is not just that we lost, it’s that we lost with a hands down more talented roster. Credit to Purdue for playing a great game, but there is no way that Ohio State should ever be in a position like that. When you lose to Penn State, Clemson, Alabama or a team of that caliber, then that’s just football. No one wins every time. But when you lose to a 3-3 Purdue team that lost to Eastern Michigan earlier in the year, it’s time to take a real long look in the mirror and find out why. So let’s take a look at some of the reasons why this embarrassment of a football game occurred on Saturday night.
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1. Coaching
No, don’t point your finger at me, Urban Meyer. I’m pointing my finger at you. We didn’t make excuses for you all offseason in regards to your embarrassing handling of the Zach Smith situation for you to come out and give us this type of coaching effort. If we knew you were going to look this, we would’ve just let Ryan Day continue to lead the team for about $7 million less. We got you back though, and it’s same old Urban. Just like he did with Zach Smith, he is now sticking by his coaches for too long in a different way. Someone has to be fired. Someone’s cage has to be rattled. Our positional coaches are not getting their jobs done. They have one of, it not the most talented roster in the entire country, and our defense can’t stop a nose bleed. Our linebackers are atrocious. We’re undisciplined. Our secondary looks clueless when the ball is in the air. And it’s not just the defense. We have two of the most talented running backs in the country and we can’t run the damn ball. Urban needs to use this bye week to make some adjustments, because what we have going on right now is clearly not working.
2. Dumb Penalties
This goes along with our coaching staff needing to sharpen up too, but at some point the players need to take responsibility and not commit bonehead penalties. I kid you not, as awful as the Buckeyes played on Saturday night, I truly feel Ohio State was going to win until the turning point of the game came in the 2nd half, when the Buckeyes were getting the ball back down 14-6 with momentum, and we cartwheeled into their punter after he kicked the ball.
I mean, is this guy really eligible? He had no chance of getting a block there. And he had to give extra effort just to be able to roll into their punter! At some point we need to care less about our recruits athleticism and more about their intelligence because these types of idiotic penalties are killing drives and extending opponent’s drives at the worst times. I worked my ass off for 4 years in high school to be able to get into THE Ohio State University. And now we’re allowing people in that dive into the punter AFTER he kicks it? Is my degree not worth anything anymore?? We need to raise the admissions criteria to our University immediately.
3. Defense
The defense has had the same problems each and every week, and they finally caught up to us on Saturday. Big plays. A clueless secondary. Terrible linebacker play. An inability to make adjustments. I mean, Purdue’s quarterback David Blough threw for 378 yards and 3 scores, and their running back DJ Knox carried the ball for 128 yards and 3 scores. Not to mention, that little rugrat Rondale Moore ran all over the field catching 12 passes for 170 yards and 2 scores. Purdue did whatever they wanted with the football on Saturday night. And there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the Buckeyes defense. Nick Bosa is not coming back. We have the guys we have. And we can’t stop anyone. The good news is that on paper, our defense should be good. We’re loaded with 4 and 5 star recruits. So what’s the deal? Again, heads need to roll on this coaching staff. Someone is not getting their job done.
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4. Lack of Running Game
Coming into the season, the question was not whether or not we’d be able to run the ball, but which one of our running backs would be the one to do it? As a freshman in 2016, Mike Weber ran for over 1000 yards on his way to being named the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year. As a true freshman in 2017, JK Dobbins rushed for 1400 yards en route to being named a Freshman All-American and 2nd team All-Big Ten behind Wisconsin’s Jonathon Taylor. Flash forward eight games into 2018 with both running backs completely healthy, and the Buckeyes could only rush for 76 yards on 25 carries against Purdue? The week before, we rushed for 92 yards on 32 carries against Minnesota. What was thought to be the best 1-2 punch in the Big 10 and perhaps the entire country has become a laughable rushing attack that cannot move the ball against middle of the road teams. What gives? The offensive line hasn’t done our backs any favors, but once again, neither has our coaching staff. Does Urban Meyer know what to do without the read option? For the first time in my recent memory, he doesn’t have a QB that can run. We have a gun-slinging QB and two talented backs. Do we have to run the read option? Or can we get under center and treat it as more of a pro-style offense? We still have Tate Martell available if we need to put him in some packages to get our run game going.
5. Red Zone Offense
The Buckeyes have had 8 trips into the red zone in their last two games, against the almighty powers of Minnesota and Purdue, and they have came away with exactly zero touchdowns. Just this past week, Ohio State put together drives of 69, 73, and 83 yards and couldn’t come away with any points. How about that 16 play, 83 yard drive in a 7-3 game that ended with a missed field goal? A minute later it was 14-3. If the Buckeyes can’t score in the red zone, then they are not a good football team. It all comes down to the rushing the ball, again. Haskins can sling it all day, but without a running game or a defense, the Buckeyes will continue to be exposed the rest of the year.
Now as bad as Saturday was for the Buckeyes, the good news is that their path remains unchanged. There is no question that the Buckeyes still control their own destiny in the Big 10 and ultimately their road to the College Football Playoff. Please do not chirp me about some LSU, Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson playoff that leaves a 1-loss Big Ten Champion out. I had a rough weekend and I do not have time to address the idiots. This is completely different from last year. Last year, the committee left out a 2-loss Big 10 Champion in favor of a 1-loss Alabama team. There is a 0.00000% chance that if Ohio State or Michigan are sitting at 12-1 that they will not be extended an invite to the playoff.
And speaking of Michigan, I will conclude by addressing their “big” win over Michigan State from Saturday. Yes, Michigan looks good. Their defense looks dominant and their offense looks respectable. But let me tell you what my old man used to say. If it looks like a Wolverine, and it smells like shit a Wolverine, then god damn-it it’s going to piss down it’s leg at the end of November like a Wolverine. And folks that yellow and blue team that everyone is far too hyped up about is still the Michigan Wolverines. The Buckeyes have beaten them 6 straight times and 13 of the last 14. The only coach they’ve beaten since I was in 3rd grade was Luke Fickell. Urban Meyer has never lost to Michigan. Please tell all of these loud mouth Michigan fans to take it down a notch until they actually win The Game one time in the last century.
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Dave continues to be the funniest person on the internet. Be careful what you wish for though boss.