Ohio State 42 Indiana 35

[sportsfan41]

I'm confused.   I thought when the Big 10 said it wasn't going to play, it was devastating for Ohio State fans because this might have been their best team in decades.  Did something change, someone opt out?  Or are they just not as good as everyone thought heading into the season?

[John Anthony]

30 minutes ago, sportsfan41 said:

I'm confused.   I thought when the Big 10 said it wasn't going to play, it was devastating for Ohio State fans because this might have been their best team in decades.  Did something change, someone opt out?  Or are they just not as good as everyone thought heading into the season?

I’ll go with the easy answer, just not as good as everyone thought.  Well, the defense that is.  As for the “devastating” part that would have been for the B1G as a whole, who already struggles with the SEC in recruiting, who would never stop playing football, regardless of the circumstances.

[sportsfan41]

14 hours ago, John Anthony said:

I’ll go with the easy answer, just not as good as everyone thought.  Well, the defense that is.  As for the “devastating” part that would have been for the B1G as a whole, who already struggles with the SEC in recruiting, who would never stop playing football, regardless of the circumstances.

Thank God for that.  My Saturday's are basically football for 12 hours, watched a lot of SEC games this year.  

[GrantNKY]

On 11/21/2020 at 10:56 PM, sportsfan41 said:

I'm confused.   I thought when the Big 10 said it wasn't going to play, it was devastating for Ohio State fans because this might have been their best team in decades.  Did something change, someone opt out?  Or are they just not as good as everyone thought heading into the season?

We’re used to the secondary reloading every single year. That hasn’t happened this year. That’s our weakness and it’s extremely evident. The secondary sucks right now. 

[GrantNKY]

I’m not quite as down as JA is, but my concerns are getting bigger and bigger every week. Fields played the worst game of his career on Saturday. Just made some absolutely bone headed decisions that he NEVER makes. At the end of the day though, Fields will be just fine. No concerns at all about the receivers. The running back room is getting better week by week. The OL up the middle, specifically Josh Myers, is a concern for me. Stud and Day have to get the communication better between Fields and Myers. Too many missed assignments leading to free rushers. Overall though the OL has been solid, just have to communicate to get guys in the right position. They are handling their blocks really well especially Munford and NPF. Just have to get the A gap under control which has been the biggest issue so far. The front 7 is playing extremely, extremely well. Top to bottom this is the best the front 7 has played since at least the national championship team. Obviously we’re missing a Chase Young or a Bosa, but they are playing lights out still and the linebacker play has been great. Man the secondary is just brutal though. Especially Marcus Hooker. Some serious changes need to be made because this unit has regressed to a level I’ve never seen an Ohio State secondary play to. At this point, I’d consider moving Shaun Wade to safety because we can’t keep getting beat over the top like we did against Indiana. Hooker is constantly out of position. I’d like to see us roll with Proctor and Wade deep and then let the young guys get some action at the corner spots. Make teams go on 10-15 play drives and force them in to mistakes. The way the front 7 is controlling the line of scrimmage up front, if we can just keep the ball in front of us, we’ll be fine. Would we beat Bama, ND, or Clemson if we played today? No. Do I still think we can beat them if we can get the secondary sured up? Absolutely. 

[GrantNKY]

@John Anthony Curious as to your thoughts on Days decision to go for it instead of kicking the field goal to go up 2 scores on the last drive. Do you think he makes that same decision if Haubeil is healthy? 

[John Anthony]

3 hours ago, GrantNKY said:

@John Anthony Curious as to your thoughts on Days decision to go for it instead of kicking the field goal to go up 2 scores on the last drive. Do you think he makes that same decision if Haubeil is healthy? 

He would have kicked it with Haubeil in my opinion.  I almost like the fact he didn’t put Seibert in a tough spot again, after already missing a big kick.  He knows he needs Jake confident for the next few years.

[GrantNKY]

7 minutes ago, John Anthony said:

He would have kicked it with Haubeil in my opinion.  I almost like the fact he didn’t put Seibert in a tough spot again, after already missing a big kick.  He knows he needs Jake confident for the next few years.

Agreed on both parts. Just saw a lot of people upset with Day and bashing him for poor game management when I think he made the right decision we just didn’t execute. Day does have to figure out a way to somehow prevent these second half comebacks. They even came out hot going up 35-7 in the 4th. I don’t know what the answer is. Coombs and Mattison have to figure it out and Day may be forced in to having to make a tough decision with Coombs. 

[John Anthony]

9 hours ago, GrantNKY said:

Agreed on both parts. Just saw a lot of people upset with Day and bashing him for poor game management when I think he made the right decision we just didn’t execute. Day does have to figure out a way to somehow prevent these second half comebacks. They even came out hot going up 35-7 in the 4th. I don’t know what the answer is. Coombs and Mattison have to figure it out and Day may be forced in to having to make a tough decision with Coombs. 

I'll add my .2 cents.

Boy there is a lot going on here.  We lost an absolute superstar of a DB coach in Jeff Hafley to BC.  I heard from the time he got on camps, "wow, this guy is a ROCKSTAR."  Damon Arnette came back because he believed in him, Damon Arnette went from a 6th or 7th rounder, to a first round pick.

We don't have a very talented secondary.  Yes, at OSU we're thin on secondary talent.  How does this happen?

Okudah, Arnette, Fuller go to the NFL.  Cam Brown, our #2 CB, achilles injury in week 2, he's done for the year.  Shaun Wade, went from the slot corner to the outside.  This has been a tough transition for him, it's a new position that requires island coverage skills, that he's never had to use.  We have two players, that are no longer a part of the team, nor should they be due to off field issues.  We gave Marcus Hooker a scholly because his brother is Malik Hooker, enough said.  We lost Jordan Battle to Alabama at the last minute a few years ago, and the cherry on top is that we ran Brendon White, the former Rose Bowl MVP off to Rutgers, who is their starting safety.  

Expect more young guys to start playing, like a Lathan Ransom.  We gotta start to move on from some of the upperclassman not getting it done.

[John Anthony]

Targeting call missed on JF at the end of the game.  I mentioned to Shaun Wade’s dad after the game, that Day has to say something.  Day had an “hour long” meeting with the B1G about missed calls today.  Nothing will happen though, would they miss this call on Trevor Lawrence? @TheDeuce @GrantNKY @theguru

 

[GrantNKY]

10 hours ago, John Anthony said:

I'll add my .2 cents.

Boy there is a lot going on here.  We lost an absolute superstar of a DB coach in Jeff Hafley to BC.  I heard from the time he got on camps, "wow, this guy is a ROCKSTAR."  Damon Arnette came back because he believed in him, Damon Arnette went from a 6th or 7th rounder, to a first round pick.

We don't have a very talented secondary.  Yes, at OSU we're thin on secondary talent.  How does this happen?

Okudah, Arnette, Fuller go to the NFL.  Cam Brown, our #2 CB, achilles injury in week 2, he's done for the year.  Shaun Wade, went from the slot corner to the outside.  This has been a tough transition for him, it's a new position that requires island coverage skills, that he's never had to use.  We have two players, that are no longer a part of the team, nor should they be due to off field issues.  We gave Marcus Hooker a scholly because his brother is Malik Hooker, enough said.  We lost Jordan Battle to Alabama at the last minute a few years ago, and the cherry on top is that we ran Brendon White, the former Rose Bowl MVP off to Rutgers, who is their starting safety.  

Expect more young guys to start playing, like a Lathan Ransom.  We gotta start to move on from some of the upperclassman not getting it done.

Pretty much sums it up. We don’t have the talent or depth to play the schemes we’re trying to run. You didn’t even mention Isaiah Pryor transferring to ND. It’s crazy that this is where we’re at, but we have to get Ransom, Cavazos, and Watts a shot. That’s the future and it’s not like they could do any worse than what’s out there right now. Get those guys out there and let them get their wits about them the next 2 games. It’s just a crazy year because the front 7 is playing lights out. We have the best front 7 in the country imo but that’s just even further proof of how bad the secondary has been playing. Obviously Okudah and Arnette aren’t walking through those doors, but Coombs will find a way to get these guys serviceable. It’s not even skill level that’s the issue right now, it’s discipline. So many guys out of position. Something tells me they’re going to figure it out. I don’t think this is a situation like 2018 where the defense just flat out sucked. Indiana was our Purdue game of 2020. Time to use that game to do some soul searching in the secondary. 

[GrantNKY]

10 hours ago, John Anthony said:

Targeting call missed on JF at the end of the game.  I mentioned to Shaun Wade’s dad after the game, that Day has to say something.  Day had an “hour long” meeting with the B1G about missed calls today.  Nothing will happen though, would they miss this call on Trevor Lawrence? @TheDeuce @GrantNKY @theguru

 

Big 10 officiating has been horrendously bad all year. Obviously it was bad missed targeting call that should’ve gone our way, but it’s not even limited to our guys. How about the bogus offensive pass interference call in the game on Friday night against Purdue. One of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in a game. 

[TheDeuce]

10 hours ago, John Anthony said:

Targeting call missed on JF at the end of the game.  I mentioned to Shaun Wade’s dad after the game, that Day has to say something.  Day had an “hour long” meeting with the B1G about missed calls today.  Nothing will happen though, would they miss this call on Trevor Lawrence? @TheDeuce @GrantNKY @theguru

 

Hard to tell from a still image. I don’t know about Trevor Lawrence specifically, but I think JF will have the same issue getting these calls as say a LeBron does. JF is a big, strong kid, so these hits most of the time won’t look as bad on him.