UGLY, BUT EFFECTIVE
That sums it up nicely. Granted, UCF was a superior opponent to Miami of Ohio, but the Buckeyes did NOT play well on Saturday. I think the game plan was to run Braxton Miller 17 times. He ran the ball 27. I know not all of those were designed runs, but where are his receivers??
I heard three names during the first half of the game: Braxton Miller, Travis Howard, and Orion Johnson.
Miller played okay. I didn't see anything superior in his passing or running game. When Carlos Hyde went out with an MCL sprain, it was nice that Miller could fill that runningback role. But wait...Miller ISN'T A RUNNINGBACK!! If we intend to use him as a RB, why not play Kenny Guiton as a QB and put Braxton in the backfield? Because Braxton is a QB, and he has talent to be an even better QB, and we haven't gotten to see much of that talent yet because for some reason, the plays are not developing well thus far.
And while I am focusing on the offense, I will say that some of the receivers were decent in this game. It is obvious that Miller has taken a liking to Philly Brown. But Philly, here is my only note of significance to you. When your team is up by 2 scores in the 4th quarter and trying to burn some clock, please, oh please, STAY IN BOUNDS after you catch the ball.
Devin Smith continues to be impressive with most of his receiving capabilities. It is also nice to see Stoneburner step up and make some plays.
Now to the defense.
The question that has been nagging me for 2 weeks is, "Where is John Simon?" I was so excited pre-season because I heard John Simon had returned for his senior season, despite high potential in the NFL draft and the post-season ban imposed on the Buckeyes this year. And I think he made one significant tackle on Saturday. Granted, he is always there, behind the scenes, pulling blockers to him, being held on every play.
But between John Simon and Big Hank (Johnathan Hankins) on our D Line, OSU was supposed to be dominant this season. Against two relatively weak opponents, OSU has failed to be impressive, and I have seen so little pressure on the opposing QBs that I can't help but wonder what is wrong there.
But the D-Line is the not the biggest of the offensive woes. No, that honor goes to the secondary. Travis Howard is much improved from last season, and he only made one critical mistake on Saturday that I could see (when he committed a lazy and blatant pass interference penalty), but the secondary often looked confused and was almost always out of position. Later, the coaches made comments about lack of understanding and communication on the field. That is a problem, if you are having trouble communicating the plays to the players AT HOME. What happens when you go to MI State or, gulp, Wisconsin?? Noah Spence was out of position most of the game, but most notably on the play that sticks in my brain now:
The Buckeyes accepted a penalty on what would have been 4th down, in an attempt to get UCF out of field goal position. This made it 3rd and 21. I thought to myself, "I hope this is worth is Urban, and they don't convert this." But then of course, how often does a team convert on 3rd and 21?
Well on Saturday, UCF converted 3rd and 21 once. Because THREE of OSU's secondary players were out of position on that play. There were THREE Buckeyes in the middle of the field surrounding ZERO UCF players. Because the UCF players were too busy catching the ball on the side of the field, thus converting the down and setting themselves up for a touchdown.
Travis Howard and Orion Johnson were key to OSU's victory, both making key interceptions at critical moments and swinging the momentum of the game. Gameball to Braxton for his rushing and minimal passing efforts. He stepped up and figured out a way to win.
All-in-all, I can't say much more than the game was sloppy and ugly. There are so many examples of this that I could go on for paragraphs more. And I would really rather not. In a nutshell, OSU needs to run Braxton less to prevent injury and to develop a real passing threat; pressure the opposing QB more; and figure out what the heck is going on in the secondary.
But on a weekend where most of the Big Ten teams fell to inferior opponents, OSU came away with a win, and it was a 2-score win at that. So that can't be all bad.
Going forward: CALIFORIA. I have been invited to this game by my #1 fan. He looks forward to learning more about football from me. He tells me I can stand when other people are standing but I have to behave myself otherwise.
I will fill you in on how that goes next time. :)
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