Ohio State Football Forum

Ohio State Football Forum

Ohio State football fan talk.

OSU vs. Maryland - just waiting for it to click

0 HS
Large Father's picture
October 8, 2015 at 9:10pm
17 Comments

Tressels, Fickells and Urbans,

I remember how I felt on Sunday, December 7th, when Ohio State was announced as the 4th seed for the College Football Playoff....and I remember thinking "oh no, this won't be good."  

Before blowing out Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game, the 2014 Ohio State football team was not performing at a high level.  4 of the last 6 games (Penn State, Minnesota, Indiana and Michigan) were extremely competitive and a few of them could easily have been losses.  

Fortunately, the same team that showed up for Wisconsin also took the field against Alabama.  You could tell immediately that the Buckeyes were the better team that day....and when Zeke hit the 85-yard run against the Crimson Tide, I told my wife that Ohio State was going to win the National Championship.

So, here we are five games in and by no means does this offense pass the look test.  The defense is at least playoff caliber, but the offense is having trouble holding their own against any opponent right now.  

All that said, if they want to make the playoffs again, they just need to keep winning games and show up when it counts most. The current on-field performance may not be dominating, but at least the games aren't boring.  And, the team is full of interesting characters, lots of superstars and great coaches....so I'll keep enjoying the ride. :)

Here are a few quick thoughts:

1) I think the Buckeyes will keep forcing the passing game even if it continues to sputter.  They know they can turn the switch and give Zeke 30 carries a game and look much better, but there is no need to do that just yet.  They turned to Zeke more against IU in the second half because they had to in order to win the game....and he had 234 yards rushing in a half!  Zeke will have a 300 yard game this year, but it will be late in the season when Ohio State needs to rely on him.  

2) I'm a little worried about all the injuries piling up in the "small speed" (as Coach Tressel called it) area - WR, DB, etc.  First off the receiver corps is so thin, OSU starts a converted RB, converted QB and high school QB at the WR positions.  I think I now understand why Urban was decimated when Noah Brown went down in late August.  I think that was a huge loss.  Also, he seemed distraught when Corey Smith went down last weekend.  And, now injuries or suspensions have hit Cam Burrows and Damon Webb.  Many of those guys are special teams studs on kick coverage, but hopefully there are guys ready to step up behind them.

3) The offensive and defensive lines are coming on.  The O-line is beginning to get second-level blocks and seem less confused by odd defensive fronts.  The young D-linemen all look good!  And, it's great to see a nice rotation to keep the defensive line fresh like during the Coach Heacock days.

4) Raekwon is outstanding...he may break Chris Spielman's record of 29 tackles in a single game at some point this season.  
 
It's possible that this whole season may be entertaining...every single game...even games that we don't expect to be intriguing.  I'll keep enjoying the ride and waiting to see if things really start to click again at some point...like they did late last year.  

Touchdowns:  Zeke, Zeke, Braxton, Jalin, Mike Thomas
 
OSU 41 Maryland 7

Go Bucks!  Beat Maryland!  Josh Perry for Heisman! 

Portly Pa

This is a forum post from a site member. It does not represent the views of Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted.

View 17 Comments