Welcome back to Under the Fedora. Or just plain welcome (Where have you been??). I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Urban named a starting quarterback. Some people seem to have opinions about that.
One For The Dogs
The NIU Huskies mushed into the Shoe last Saturday and once again it was tough sledding for the Buckeye offense, which often seemed to play like it was suffering from diphtheria. While the initial tendency was to blame the starting quarterback (isn’t it always), and Cardale can certainly play better, there was plenty of blame to pass around (go check the Forum if you don’t agree).
We’ve had the benefit of getting Kyle’s and Urban’s take on the offensive struggles, and it is safe to say that there is no silver bullet solution. Blockers have to block better, quarterbacks have to make better decisions and throws, and coaches (whatever space they choose to occupy on game days) have to coach better (for the love of all that is good and pure, can we get a counter trey?). Regardless of the reasons, the offensive Brown-out made for what seemed like a much longer afternoon than most of us anticipated. It wasn’t until I tried to re-watch the game (yes, I am that masochistic) that I realized just how long the game was. My recording stopped midway through the 4th quarter, which was a mixed blessing, as I didn’t have to watch the last couple of 3-and-outs from the Buckeye offense.
Another interception!!
Speaking of Bullets of the Silver variety, after 3 games I think it’s safe to say that the Bullets are back. As difficult as it’s been to watch the offense at times, it’s been just as delightful to watch the defense put up back to back dominating performances. I prefer to watch good defense over good offense (thank goodness we’re not in the Big XII), so I guess I’m not as worked up over the offense as some are, though I’d still feel a lot better about it if I could convince myself that good opposing defense is the issue. Sadly, it is not.
B1G MAC Attack
The season is still young, and we’ve already seen some serious MACtion. Toledo (lol, Bert), Bowling Green, and NIU all look to have pretty good teams this year. We’ll see what Western Michigan is bringing to the table tomorrow (spoiler: not much), but I'll be keeping an eye on several B1G/MAC match-ups this weekend. As much as I'd like to see a MAC team in a decent bowl game this year (like, one that isn’t named after bad pizza or a blighted urban area), I hope that the B1G doesn't embarrass itself like it did a couple of weeks ago. Not that I'm overly concerned with what the rest of the league does (except for Michigan losing), but it sure would be nice if some the other teams helped just a little to swing the narrative.
Freak Out
If there is anything that annoys me more than freak-out threads, it is the anti-freak-out thread. Does anyone really think they are going to get anyone to calm down by telling them to calm down? And just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water after the hashing, re-hashing, and re-re-hashing of the Buckeyes’ return to the Bollman juggernaut offense, Urban goes and (re)names Cardale Jones the starting QB. Interwebs mayhem ensues. I really hope we don’t have to do this every week. How about a blowout win to cure what ails us (and not a Hawaii-type blowout win), so we can freak out about what some know-nothing blog writer has to say about the Buckeyes, or the SEC, or some such thing? Is that really too much to ask?
On QBgeddon
Cardale Jones is your starting QB, Buckeye fans. Until he isn’t. That much is clear.
Just When I Think I’m Out…
And in your weekly unasked-for Browns take, after my untimely write-off of the Browns’ season last week, I’m just here to say, THE BROWNS ARE BACK, BABY!!! Or at least until they play another team with a defense. Or one with an offense. OK, the Titans are bad, but they won in week one, so they can’t be that terrible. And Johnny did resemble an NFL quarterback when he wasn’t fumbling. And the defense looked pretty darned good. So there’s hope, right? RIGHT??
TL;DR: Doggone offense; Bullet Time; No action like MACtion; Don’t tell me to calm down; Not talking about QBs; Browns suck (me back in).
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