Monday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on September 8, 2014 at 6:00 am
Michael Thomas hits paydirt
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Man, for fans of a team with a mascot of an uncrackable nut, it didn't take much turbulence to knock some of y'all off the bandwagon, eh?

I ran to the store during the first half, and as such, had the car radio turned to 97.1 on yesterday on my way to the gym. I got a quarter of a mile from my apartment before some guy — Cletus from Nw'rk by the sound of him — questioned if Urban Meyer was "putting in the time" coaching Ohio State.

I don't know what shocks me more: that I didn't have an aneurysm and wreck, or somebody was actually questioning "the time" Urban Meyer puts into the football team.

Not that there isn't room for criticism in the wake of Virginia Tech's upset victory (tip of the cap to the Hokies, by the way), but there's decorum to this here game.

There's a difference between critical thought and turning man-baby sports anger into internet sewage like, "Ed Warinner is trash." 

A championship would've been tough for Ohio State even with their four lost linemen and Braxton Miller. While I think it's safe to say this team won't compete for the national title, they're still more-than-capable of winning the Big Ten and having a fine season.

It is only September 8th, and the world is still turning, after all.

COULD BRAXTON SAVE THESE BUCKEYES? I don't like playing the injury card, but I'll do it right now: Ohio State wins that game with Braxton Miller at the helm. (And that's no disrespect to J.T. Barrett, who played admirably.)

The option just isn't as effective without a home-run threat from the quarterback. And Braxton's running magic could've done a lot to conceal with problems the offensive line was having all night. (He might have also been able to throw a screen? Just spitballing here.)

Maybe this is denial or rationalization or something, because CBS' Jeremy Fowler disagrees with me:

Actually, scratch that -- Miller's athleticism couldn't mask all the problems this leaky team has right now.

Ohio State averaged less than three yards per carry, quarterback J.T. Barrett barely completed 30 percent of his passes and a young offensive line couldn't keep Barrett off the Ohio Stadium grass.

Virginia Tech sacked Barrett six times in the last nine minutes. That's an amazing stat. No wonder Barrett threw an interception to Donovan Riley for a 63-yard touchdown return in the final minute. He couldn't feel his ribs.

Braxton couldn't cover all of Ohio State's flaws, but he could cover enough to win them games like that. 

Make no mistake, the Buckeyes didn't get dumped. And Virginia Tech, I think time will show, ain't no slouch.

The offensive coaches are still in search of something on which to hang their hat (MISS U, EL GUAPO), and Ohio State's defense isn't good enough to carry the team. That's a bad recipe.

OSU LOOKS TO IMPROVE SCHEDULE. It's going to be interesting to see how many people are in the Horseshoe come high noon on Saturday. It'd be one thing if it was a conference foe like Penn State or Michigan State, but Kent State isn't expected to put up much of a fight.

Thankfully, as we enter the playoff era, the days of cupcakes on the schedule appear to be waning.

From Bill Rabinowitz of The Columbus Dispatch:

[Executive associate athletic director Martin] Jarmond said two years ago that it was the program’s strategy to schedule a top-10 opponent, a top-30 opponent, a top-50 opponent and then a lesser one for its fourth nonconference game.

With last week’s announcement that Ohio State will play Notre Dame in 2022 and ’23, it’s clear the Buckeyes have set their sights higher than that. Ohio State also will play Texas in those years. Jarmond dismissed the suggestion that the Texas series might be scrapped now that Notre Dame is on the books.

“This is what we want,” he said. “We want to schedule stronger.”

:::series of praying hands emojis:::

The one drawback to cheering for an elite college football team is your favorite team is matched on the field, talent-wise, maybe two or three times a year. I know, I know — it's not all about talent — but there's a reason why Boise State never came close to sniffing a national title.

I've seen Ohio State destroy teams like Kent State every fall for seemingly 50 years. It's always the same, boring execution. The Shoe is dead by halftime, and that's before the charade that these two teams belong on the same field is carried out for another two hours.

Like I said: It's going to be interesting to see the attendance numbers on Friday. Especially a week after shattering the attendance record.

AT LEAST WE DIDN'T GET DUMPED BY NOTRE DAME. Brady Hoke is going to need an unprecedented (for him) conference run to save his job.

The problem for him (and for Ohio State fans wishing to see Hoke stay in Ann Arbor forever), is Michigan is scheduled for a date in Columbus at the end of November. That could very well be Brady Hoke's tombstone game.

While Ohio State's loss can be chalked up to a young team failing to execute in key moments, Michigan's was something deeper.

From Dan Wolken's Misery Index, which is overlorded by Michigan:

The issue for Michigan fans shouldn't be just about how bad this team looked Saturday, but also the lack of answers Hoke had after the game. Leaving quarterback Devin Gardner and receiver Devin Funchess in deep into the fourth quarter, long after the game had been decided, looked like coaching malpractice when both suffered injuries. Gardner's in particular was unnecessary, because it came on a hard hit — his third in the fourth quarter alone — on the last play of the game. It's unknown whether either will miss time, but Hoke's answer to why he kept playing Gardner — "Because he's our quarterback" — was ridiculous.

The follow-up about risking injury in that situation was even more absurd. "Yeah, anything's a risk," Hoke said. "To me, the risk was starting him, maybe. I mean, I don't know. We're trying to develop a team." What does that even mean? Either way, things got testy shortly thereafter. Hoke was asked what's missing. His answer? "Winning." OK, what do you need to do then? "You win the game. You play, you don't turn over the ball. You don't give up big plays." Amazing stuff, really. Coaches often will avoid talking too much about what happened without seeing film, but Hoke couldn't come up with something better than that?

One of the worst things about Brady Hoke, for me, is he's not truly contemptible like Bert. Yes, he coaches for Michigan, but Hoke seems like a guy who'd be fun to sit next to at a bar. It's just not translating for him at Michigan, and Hoke isn't developing the talent he's recruiting.

It looks like Hoke is out of his depth.

Unless Carlos Hyde carries Jim Harbaugh to a Super Bowl title, Michigan is going to break the bank for him, aren't they? 

Because those are the kind of power moves Michigan is going to need if they want to get back on the map. And right now, the Big Ten needs all the help it can get.

ONE RUTGERS FAN IS HIGH AS HELL. I do not want to live in a world where Rutgers rides into the Big Ten as a laughingstock and emerges as king. That said, @RutgersAl could be the highest person in the western hemisphere:

one mans fantasy

[Click to enlarge.]

You know, Rutgers might be able to beat Michigan and Penn State. Say what you will about Ohio State, I think their problems are fixable. Michigan can't fire their coach yet; Penn State's roster is still flawed, and Hackenberg still throws too many interceptions to shoulder that much of the offense.

The 2014 Big Ten race is about to be one for the ages, isn't it? (I have a feeling I won't need to buckle up.)

THOSE WMDs. Drew Carey puts $10,000 on the heads of cruel/evil Ice Bucket Challenge pranksters/criminals... In gambit to raise chess' profile, millionaire chess to hit Las Vegas strip... Skyping with dad... Did DNA finally reveal the identity of Jack the Ripper?... Explorer walks into mouth of active volcano... Tough but fair, IMO.

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