Welcome to the first ever Wednesday edition of Under the Fedora. Because some things are just not worth waiting for.
Black Sabbath
OK, I know that the Sabbath technically ends at sundown, but it was Saturday, and it was Black, and this is my obligatory take on all the inky Blackness. From my vantage point on my couch, I thought the Black uniforms looked sharp. I also thought that they did not look like The Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State Black Servals, maybe, but that’s another thread. I did think the fans did a great job of blacking out the Shoe, with the notable exceptions of our favorite Super subpar fans (who were mercifully absent from the telecast), and that guy with the half scarlet/half gray shirt wearing a headband. Perhaps you noticed him on TV.
[Let me know if the video doesn't work or isn't cued up properly. Alas, I lack the tech-fu to capture an image of him, but perhaps someone who does can help me out. ]
I won’t say that if you wore something other than black to the Shoe (or YTown’s basement) on Saturday night, you deserve to be punched in the face, but that guy definitely did. As icy as the Shoe looked (isn’t that what the kids say these days?), it still seemed like the stadium lacked the fervor of last year’s white out at Penn State, or even the season opener at Virginia Tech. Again, this is based on the view from my family room, so I’d be interested to hear from anyone who was able to attend two or more of those games. Maybe it just depended on where you were sitting, or perhaps more importantly, how many dead guys were sitting around you.
When It Is Dark Enough, You Can See The Stars
Continuing with obligatory takes, here’s my view on the QB situation: J.T. Barrett is a star. Cardale Jones will always hold a special place in my Buckeye-loving heart, but J.T. grabbed the starting job by the throat with his performance Saturday night. There may very well come a time this season when Cardale gives the Buckeyes the best chance to win, but I cannot conceive of that being the same time that Ohio State has a healthy J.T. Barrett available. Plenty of other stars shone out as well, but perhaps none brighter than Joey Bosa. His performance may not have his most dominant this year (eating up blockers has its merit), but it was the most obvious. Maybe Joey should send a thank you note to James Franklin for deciding to have his offense try to block him one on one, but it was probably just the Black uniforms. Zeke was also Zeke, as usual, and if there is anyone on the team who personifies The Grind, it is Elliott. With defenses continually geared at stopping him, Zeke continues to slam into a wall of defenders, and the wall is losing on a regular basis. I think with J.T. running the show, we are going to see some big[ger] games from Zeke the rest of the way, or else J.T. is going to run absolutely wild.
Hail to the Victors
Michigan State, that is. Although Sparty sparted for much of its much anticipated showdown with That Team, it was Jimmy’s team that ended up staining their Khakis in the end. Sadly, I turned the game off in disgust after MSU turned the ball over on downs late in the 4th. Some time later, my wife informed me that Michigan had somehow lost on the last play of the game, and I responded with a cackle of maniacal laughter that surely frightened my children. I immediately went to the internet to find the replay, and it was better than I could have imagined. I can only think of what my reaction might have been if I had seen it play out live. I feel bad for the Michigan State player who was injured on the play (or during the celebration). As I commented in a thread earlier, I would give that guy a kidney if he needed one. Sadly, I don’t think that Harbaugh Hysteria is anywhere near an end. Michigan fans will continue to convince themselves that the loss is a fluke, despite the fact that, except for special teams (final play excepted), Sparty outplayed them for most of the game. While one play never decides a football game, many games do turn on one play, it just so happened that this one turned on the last play.
Brown And Out
I’m officially ruling the Browns out of playoff contention following yet another Browns-like loss in the Factory of Sadness. You may well ask whether the Browns were ever in playoff contention, and that would be a valid question. But it is the NFL, and the AFC North is no longer the meat grinder that it used to be (sorry Bengals, I’m just not buying in), so I figured as long as the Browns stayed in touch with the division leader they might have a shot. Stranger things have happened. But what more can you say about a team whose best player is a blocking tight end who somehow manages to break Ozzie Newsome’s records for multi-game receiving stats. Or a team that somehow manages to seem to have the game against the 5-0 Broncos in its hands after its former pass-rush specialist turned coverage specialist (and former #6 pick in the draft) picks off a Peyton Manning pass near FG range in OT, only to have the offense move backward on three consecutive plays and have to punt. You just know what happened next, even if you didn’t watch the game.
Tl;DR: Blackout; JT in; Khaki down; Brownout (yet again)
This Week’s Prediction
The Buckeyes are off to face the State University of New Jersey, who at least knows what its colors are. And of course, New Jersey is the birthplace of football, so they’ve got that going for them. Rutgers was pretty good at it once, kind of like Michigan. Lately, not so much, kind of like Michigan. Under the steady hand of J.T. Barrett, Ohio State rolls, 55-17.
