Michigan State Review

On Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes welcomed the #25 ranked (Coaches Poll) Michigan State Spartans to the Horseshoe to kickoff the Big Ten slate. The end result was less than desirable, as the Spartans (4-1) won a good old-fashioned Big Ten slugfest 10-7 over the inept Buckeyes (3-2). The weather for the game was pretty bad, with temperatures in the mid 40s and sleet falling for most of the first half, and didn't make it too great to sit in the stands, but anyways, lets get down to business.

Offense
- Braxton still has a long ways to go. He missed open receivers, seemingly had happy feet in the pocket, and just plain did not look comfortable. The lack of protection from the offensive line took away his running ability, as did the fence the Spartans put around the pocket to prevent him from running.

- The offensive line... just wow. Friday I was ready to declare this the best offensive line Ohio State has had since Orlando Pace was here back in 1996, but then they put up one of the worst offensive line performances in a decade. There were no holes to run through. Brewster struggled trying to call protections with the blitz schemes, Shugarts play was laughable at RT (In additon to his usual false start), both Hall and Linsley struggled at RG, and no one really played well. This group gave up 9 sacks when we were in max protect on a majority of occasions (Aka sending out only 3 WR and keeping a TE and a back in). A lot of work to do upfront with a big game against Nebraska looming next week.

- Building on that, the running game was very poor. But the backs didn't really have much room to run. Shoot, I remember one play where Braxton got tackled before he was even able to hand the ball off. Weren't really helpful in the passing game either though, but I'm not sure they were designed to be.

- Receivers didn't do much either, but they didn't really have much of a chance. Devin Smith has to either come down with that deep pass, or knock it down. Such a crucial play on that one.

- Jim Bollman needs to go. That was the most awfully called game I've seen in my life as a Buckeye fan, the offense was just plain anemic. No bubble screens to make them respect the perimeter. No screens to slow down the blitz or the pass rush. No quick passes to get Braxton some confidence or move the chains. Waits to roll the QB out until he puts in the senior, immobile quarterback. He needed to be gone 5 years ago. It's painfully obvious that he's not cut out to be an offensive coordinator at an FBS school.

- Zach Boren, is pound for pound one of my favorite football players I've had the privledge of watching at Ohio State. He's the best fullback in the country, bar none. But he is also an outstanding leader. Teammates identify him as the leader in the offensive huddle, and at halftime he apparently launched into a fiery speech about emotion and what the game means. Great example of a Buckeye right here, and a fine young man, and considering the family he comes from I expect no less.

Grade: F-. I've been watching Ohio State football for a long time, and this was perhaps the most inept offense I've ever seen. At least against Miami we were able to run the ball, we literally could not do anything. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and the offensive line struggled, and Jim Bollman's incompetence plus the fact that being Tressel's VCR technician does not qualify you to coach quarterbacks at Ohio State (Looking at you Nick Siciliano) are really showing.

Defense

- Bradley Roby has really looked good and I'm very impressed by the kid. He played great in coverage, and had a great play on the ball to tip it back to C.J. Barnett for the interception, and also snagged one of his own later in the game.

- Travis Howard should not be starting at corner anymore. I'm not sure if its rust, coverages, or what, but he has been getting abused and playing poorly since he returned from suspension. All the talk of "Howard Island" and turning pro early can be put to rest, he got burned all day by B.J. Cunningham and his idea of tackling is apparently jumping on a players back and holding on for dear life. Also, he looked very slow in the hips and bit on seemingly every double move. Dominic Clarke's play early in the year definitely warrants an "OR" on the depth chart at the very least.

- Flat out, we are really missing Nathan Williams. John Simon, and Jonathan Hankins are great players, but they aren't the guys with the athleticism to be chasing around the QB, and it showed on Cousins touchdown pass to Cunningham. Steve Miller and J.T. Moore have potential to be a great LEO in this system, but they are so young and lack the necessary game experience. Pass rush isn't very good because we lack athleticism. This defense is excellent against the run, and can be very versatile with the types of guys on the line, but overall they struggle to get pressure on the QB because, for the most part we don't have a Thad Gibson, a Vernon Gholston, or a Nate Williams.

- I was very impressed with the way the defense played against the run. They held the three-headed monster at running back to a combined total of 27 carries for 85 yards (aka a little over 3 yards per carry). The defensive line collapsed well, and the linebackers filled the gaps solidly, with the defensive backs doing their job in run support.

- Very confused as to why Heacock didn't change up the coverage schemes when MSU started attacking with short quick passes. Sitting back in cover 3 against that won't do much, but he seemed content to let Cousins hit Cunningham and pick up 6-7 every time. Maybe it was a lack of confidence in Howard, but a 2 shell with aggressive man to man, or even zone would have been ideal, and would force them to attack further down the field and give the pass rush time to get to Cousins.

- Big ups to the defense for making plays. Barnett and Roby with interceptions, and Hankins with the fumble recovery to give us a chance late in the game. These kids are ballers.

- This defense is very young. With Hankins, Bennett, Roby, Bryant, Barnett, Clarke among others getting reps, these guys are gonna be big time players in the future.

- This game was very close to being 14-7 Ohio State thanks to the defense. Christian Bryant nearly had a pick-6, and on Michigan State's FG drive, Travis Howard dropped a pass that he surely would've taken to the house at their 20 yard line.

Grade: A. Given the circumstances, the defense did the best they could with the hand they were dealt with the offense. They bent but did not break, and kept us in the game with a shot to win it throughout. They made plays (4th down stop, interceptions, fumble recovery), and balled out. Best positives I've seen so far are the young guys progressing on defense, and that can't be understated.

Special Teams

-Not really sure what was up with Ben Buchanan. He has been great all year, but had a truly atrocious game and hurt us in the field position battle. Hopefully he figures it out and gets things together, because we're going to need him next week in Lincoln.

- Not really much to say about Drew Basil. Hit his one extra point, had a kickoff for a touchback and laid a great onside kick that we should have recovered. Good day for the young man without too much work.

- Return game did decent with the opportunities they had. Hall didn't get many chances with the ball, but he did have a nice little punt return and had a 32 yard kickoff return as well.

- The biggest thing that stood out to me was the bad snap on MSU's first punt of the game. That should've been blocked or the punter tackled there, and it would've given OSU the ball inside the 10 yard line or better. Completely changed the complexion of the game at a very early point.

Grade: C+. Did decent overall, but with Buchanan's struggles I just can't give them any higher of a grade.

Overall, that was one of the most disappointing and hard to watch games that I can remember. When Tressel was here, it always felt like a play was made right when we needed it regardless of how surprising it was. I kept waiting for something like that to happen, like an interception for touchdown ala Chris Gamble against Penn State in 2002, but it never did.

From the sounds of the post-game locker room, I think Fickell is losing this team. There's reports that Mike Vrabel and Jim Bollman got into a dust-up in late September. It seems as though this team is coming apart at the seams, and the recent news that Boom Herron and DeVier Posey are out for Nebraska and possibly more may be killer to the morale.

Buckle up Buckeye fans, its about to be a bumpy ride. We'll see who the true fans are when the dust settles at the end of this year. I'm not sure what will happen, who will be coaching, whether or not we'll be in a bowl game, or even how many games we'll win. But what I do know, is that I consider this season a success with a win over Michigan. That's literally all that I care about out of this season right now.