For nearly every football game, I watch with either my grandpa, or my fiance's grandpa, if I am not in the Shoe. Both are die-hard Buckeye fans. I'm not a fan of the bar scene, nor a fan of parties for game watching. I generally get so annoyed when I am watching a game with someone who does not care. I'm sorry Linda, but now is not the time to try your fruit cake, or talk about my wedding date. 

However, on Saturday, we had Thanksgiving with my Mother's side of the family and I felt obligated to go. They will watch, and understand football, but they are not really Ohio State fans. Usually, The Game, is the only game they watch all year. In this family, is my uncle Nathan, who played college football at Ohio University, and coached at a small military academy in North Carolina. Watching the game with him was really amazing. As an Ohio State fan, I know all the players, and know how good everyone says they are. But him, he just watches the game. He doesn't follow the talk, doesn't know the players, he just tells you what he is seeing. It was so interesting, that I decided to hang out and watch the Alabama/Auburn game with him as well. My favorite part from the Buckeye game, was listening to him analyze the Bucks. 

I just wanted to share some of his opinions with you guys. It is one hell of an experience to be able to talk about football with a former D-1 player for 6+ hours.

1. This may be the most interesting. He absolutely loved the play-calling with Haskins in the game. He credited the two long runs on the final drive to "Repeatedly punching it up the middle". He believes the Buckeyes should start every game with the same mindset, because it opens up holes later in the game.
2. After I said "Other than the throw to Mack, Haskins didn't do anything JT couldn't have done". He said, that is sort of true; however, he completed a few short crossing routes that broke for big plays. JT can, and has done that. However, Haskins extra 2-3 inches makes it much easier for him to see those open up, as well as keeping the ball from being deflected at the line. 
3. He also noted Haskins throwing stance. While Haskins is only listed as being 2 inches taller than JT, he noted that Haskins has a much taller stance. He said, "JT throws the ball with his knees more bent, and that Haskins also releases the ball higher up above his ear. So really, that 2 inches actually could be as drastic as 4-5 inches at the release point."
4. He believes that Weber should receive 20 carries per game, and that Dobbins should get 12-15. Did I mention that he played College Football for Ohio U in the 90s? He loves smash mouth football. 
5. Denzel Ward is going to be an NFL stud. 
6. He hates the rule that a fumble through the end-zone gives the other team the ball. This was brought up as I SCREAMED for Haskins to not fumble the ball into the end-zone on his long run. He believes the ball should be placed at the location that the fumble occurred. 
7. Noted how Nick Bosa causes havoc on nearly every play. Even with just 6 sacks, he believes him to be one of the best he has seen all season. He said he notices a clear difference with the entire pass rush when he is in the game. However, he still agrees with the 10-12 man rotation. Ohio State got to O'Korn much better in the 2nd half and that is all because we were rested, and they were not, he said. 
8. He noted that Borland is a "solid" middle linebacker. He said he looked a little less athletic than the rest of the defense; however he plays very disciplined. He noted one play where he couldn't change direction quick enough to make a tackle on UM's running back.  But he is still a solid starter. This blew my mind because I believe this was exactly how OSU coaches described him. 
9. Also on the linebacker front, he loves Malik Harrison. Said the linebacker unit will be just fine after Worley and Baker depart.
10. Here is my favorite. He literally sounded like Urban Meyer with this comment. He said, "JT is Rajon Rondo from the Boston Big 3. You surround him with great players, and he will orchestrate an offense to perfection. If you start to take away his options, he will be able to take-over for a period of time (noted Rondo vs. the Cavs in 2010); however, this is not sustainable (look at Ronda when he went to a bad team. His teammates have to step up, and more importantly, Urban has to have faith that his other players can step up. 
11. Similarly, he believes Urban does not trust this team the way he trusted the 2014 team. Said Urban's sideline antics (bending over, jumping nervously), indicate he is over-coaching. He said one of two things, he doesn't trust the players, or he doesn't trust the coordinators. Found this interesting because Urban himself said he struggles in this area and needs to get better at letting everyone do their jobs. This bring me to a side-point. If you haven't heard the story of the two-point play call against Purdue in 2012 to send the game into overtime, I suggest you look it up. Meyer wanted to run the ball up the middle, and Herman essentially told him to let him do his job and call the plays, and guaranteed his pass play would work. Very interesting. 

Just wanted to share these with you. Not saying I agree with all of these, but nonetheless, coming from a former player and coach, I found them intriguing. Especially with the fact that he knows none of the players and has never listened to one interview, and yet still came to some similar conclusions. Go Bucks! Beat Wiscy!

Edit: Sorry guys, I left out one really important and interesting observation. He loves Weber, but as a former coach, he has never loved his body language. Found that interesting.