Ohio State Buckeyes 2022

CJ Stroud is good at football.

Good to see Hayden get some time and do well.

Ballard had a good night and that was good to see - even tho it makes Tigerpaw happy.

Still some things to tighten up on defensively with explosive plays, but I do like the pressure being applied and that the DL is living in the backfield.

Finn is a heckuva athlete. Fun to watch.
 
Hayden looks promising. Surprising how Henderson seems to be fading into the background.
 
Still not sold on Knowles D. Reminds me of former UM DC Don Brown. They do a lot. When you out man 98% of the country you line up and let your athletes go. The great and talented defenses do not have to do a lot. Instead they just get really good at what they do. Having Jack Sawyer play a hybrid stand-up read and react assignment is a waste of his talents.

I also think a Ryan Day staple is they are not overly physical. They look amazing beating up bad or overmatched teams but when someone hits them in the mouth it is a different story. But hey, they hung 77 points and Ryan Day's offense stats are off the charts.
 
irish_buffalo said:
Still not sold on Knowles D. Reminds me of former UM DC Don Brown. They do a lot. When you out man 98% of the country you line up and let your athletes go. The great and talented defenses do not have to do a lot. Instead they just get really good at what they do. Having Jack Sawyer play a hybrid stand-up read and react assignment is a waste of his talents.

I also think a Ryan Day staple is they are not overly physical. They look amazing beating up bad or overmatched teams but when someone hits them in the mouth it is a different story. But hey, they hung 77 points and Ryan Day's offense stats are off the charts.
Click to expand...
It's hard to say. Because all really talented teams are the same way, as talent will almost always win, regardless of scheme. The thing with Don Brown was that they actually didn't have elite talent. so his scheme only worked vs lessor talent. I certainly do not like Knowles philosophy that we will give up some big plays, but that is ok, as long as it isn't too many. I think the Oak State game vs ND was an example of him being right however. In the first half of that they gave up lots of chunk plays, then really none in the second half.


Agree to an extent on the Jack Sawyer thing. Given his size, he is too big to be a LB type player. So I can't see maximizing his talent, all the while requiring him to do things that don't exactly match his skill set.

The Ryan Day is too soft is really not supported by the totality of his record. They have lost one game where they were "out physicalled", that is hardly a trend.
 
The “Ryan Day is soft” narrative has picked up steam amongst some. I don’t buy it, but apparently it’s a thing.

Look, dude’s not Urban Meyer. And like .0000001% are even able to be mentioned in the same breath. Urban coached to create discomfort. Everything was a competition. He would publicly challenge/borderline call out players and position groups in sending a message. This clearly worked in college. Not so much in the NFL - clearly.

Day has created more of a family atmosphere and inclusive culture since taking over. And that likely rubs some old-school folks the wrong way for some reason. Of course the proof is in the Natty’s at the end of the day, and if Day can’t deliver with talent like this, then that’s on him and the staff to a large degree.

Back to physicality, as I think the O-line is nasty, the LB’s are getting better & tagging people, and the young interior D-lineman are physical. No need to question Miyan. He’s a beast that’s looking for contact. The backend has some questions for sure. But there were so many random players out yesterday (McCallister, Proctor, Hall Jr., and Hancock), that I’m willing to be patient. And as nwwarrior mentioned, Styles jumped off the screen in limited action/garbage time. I would not mind seeing him inserted if that backend continues to see inconsistency.
 
utsherman said:
The “Ryan Day is soft” narrative has picked up steam amongst some. I don’t buy it, but apparently it’s a thing.

Look, dude’s not Urban Meyer. And like .0000001% are even able to be mentioned in the same breath. Urban coached to create discomfort. Everything was a competition. He would publicly challenge/borderline call out players and position groups in sending a message. This clearly worked in college. Not so much in the NFL - clearly.

Day has created more of a family atmosphere and inclusive culture since taking over. And that likely rubs some old-school folks the wrong way for some reason. Of course the proof is in the Natty’s at the end of the day, and if Day can’t deliver with talent like this, then that’s on him and the staff to a large degree.

Back to physicality, as I think the O-line is nasty, the LB’s are getting better & tagging people, and the young interior D-lineman are physical. No need to question Miyan. He’s a beast that’s looking for contact. The backend has some questions for sure. But there were so many random players out yesterday (McCallister, Proctor, Hall Jr., and Hancock), that I’m willing to be patient. And as nwwarrior mentioned, Styles jumped off the screen in limited action/garbage time. I would not mind seeing him inserted if that backend continues to see inconsistency.
Click to expand...
Michigan fans are clinging to the hope that Ohio State has gone soft.
 
Hammerdrill said:
Michigan fans are clinging to the hope that Ohio State has gone soft.
Click to expand...
While Michigan has looked undeniably superb thus far, let’s consider their schedule. Colorado State, Hawaii and UConn. Not exactly a murderers row. Don’t get me wrong, as tOSU has not benefitted from a down ND & mediocre Arkansas State. But I would take UT to comfortably cover against any of UM’s opponents to date.
 
Inconsistent or goes soft at times I think is a better description. When you lull into long offensive spells when it's nothing but pass, pass, pass, it's easy to lull into finesse and it becomes difficult to change gears IMO.

Defensively I think they still have a lot of question marks, but they appear to be making some improvements. It will take some time with how bad things were last year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top