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Thoughts on Yesterday, 24 Hours Later..

+8 HS
DaiTheFlu's picture
November 27, 2016 at 3:11pm
52 Comments

After almost a full day, I think my heart rate is finally back to normal. Yesterday was one of the most exhilarating, stunning, maddening and frustrating experiences of my football-watching life, but it damn sure feels good to be on the positive side of history, especially considering the stakes of the game. Here are a few random thoughts I've had, none of which probably warrant their own thread. Feel free to add any of your own. 

1. JT Barrett is a straight MAN. Obviously he played awfully for 3 quarters, but he had little help from his offensive line, running game AND his WR's. Aside from the Penn State game, JT has stepped up and delivered when the team needed it the most, and yesterday's performance in the 4th quarter and OT will go down in history. I will admit to feeling pretty hopeless after Michigan went up 10 right before the 4th quarter, until Jerome Baker made one of the biggest defensive plays in Buckeye history. Speaking of which:

2. Our LB corps. Holy shit, has a group of Buckeye LB's ever had a better game with more on the line than yesterday? All 3 starters had double digit tackles, Baker had a huge sack and Worley and McMillian were all over the field. Baker, in particular, was impressive, considering how poorly he played last week. I was extremely concerned that Deveon Smith or Peppers would gash us on the edges like Scott did last week, but the defense completely shut down the running game. 

3. Isaiah Prince. Not much to say here, really. The poor kid was abused constantly and played about as poorly as he did in the Penn State game, which PFF rated as one of the worst graded individual OL performances in their history. Elated that we came away with the win yesterday, and I believe we make the playoff, but I don't even want to think about what happens when our O-line goes up against a Clemson or Bama DL. I just hope like hell we implement some schemes to give Prince some help via TE or RB. 

4. WR's/Passing game. Much like the OL issues, this is another problem that rears its ugly head at the most inopportune times. While our guys made some huge plays in the 4th quarter when their backs were against the wall, the first 3 quarters were abysmal, with several drops and multiple occasions where there was miscommunication between the WRs and QB or where the WRS just didn't run out their routes. We knew that TTUN would be all over Samuel, so it was my hope that someone like Dontre Wilson or KJ Hill or even Noah brown would step up, but it didn't happen. Then again, that WAS the #1 defense in America, so that probably had something to do with the struggles. Regardless, this is another area that needs a ton of work in bowl/playoff preparation, if we wish to compete against a Bama or Clemson. 

5. What a season. At the beginning of the year, even the most optimistic of predictions for the year hovered around 10-2/11-1. With the toughest regular season in recent memory, coupled with an incredibly green and inexperienced roster, it was unreasonable to EXPECT perfection and a playoff berth. And yet, here we are. There have clearly been some struggles and growing pains, in particular with the offensive line, WRs and QB play (which is due in part to the issues of the aforementioned line and WR corps), and yet we managed to finish 11-1 with wins against teams currently ranked #5, #6, #7 and a fluke loss on the road to #8. We also rolled #23 Nebraska by 59 points. Even mighty Bama can't match that, as their previously vaunted schedule has collapsed, leaving them with wins over #10 three-loss USC, #18 Auburn and #21 LSU, the latter 2 of which are FOUR LOSS teams. 

6. Urban Frank Fucking Meyer. 61-5 in 5 years, which means we average 12 wins a year. TWELVE. With yesterday's win, he's now 16-3 against ranked teams at Ohio State, a winning percentage of .842. That's straight insane. While I question his hire of Tim Beck and am not sold on Warriner as a play caller, his ability to inspire a team - especially one this young - is unparalleled. The alternative uni's? The team had no clue that was happening, and Meyer clearly anticipated that the surprise would add just enough extra "juice" to propel his team to play their hearts out. This team has a lot of flaws, mostly due to inexperience, but they've proven themselves this year time and time again and Urban Meyer is the main reason why. 

Long post, I know, but what else did I miss? The weeping and gnashing of teeth coming from AnnArbor is GLORIOUS and will certainly sustain me through a long, wet and gray Pacific Northwest winter. Life is so good. 

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

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