Penn State Game Review

I don’t think I can recall a year with so many disappointments in my lifetime.  With all of the off-the-field problems, with all of the uncertainty, this was a season where just two weeks ago we were poised to play for a conference championship.  But, by all indications it appears as though the upperclassmen, the leaders on this team, have checked out.  This was senior day, their last game in the Horseshoe, in a rivalry game against Penn State, and they came out flat.  How in God’s name does that happen?  And they underperformed.  The freshman had to carry the load today, as has been par for the course for the past couple of weeks.  Flat out, embarrassing.

Offense

The offensive line play flat out sucked.  Michael Brewster struggled with his snaps, J.B. Shugarts false started on 4^th and 5 with the game on the line (And we ended up about a half yard shy of the first down on 4^th and 10), and the offensive line as a whole generally just played atrocious.  For a senior laden group who have at times been absolutely dominant, they have thoroughly disappointed this year.  They failed to protect Braxton Miller, as he was running for his life seemingly all game, and failed to give the running game room to get going.

DeVier Posey… WOW!  Amazing the kind of impact a player like him could have on the game.  You could just sense how much more confident Braxton is having him out there to throw to, and he made several big time plays, starting with his first catch when he made a brilliant play when Braxton was running for his life, and then the one-handed beautiful catch that earned him #1 play honors on Sportscenter.  I wonder how good our passing game could’ve been if we had him all season.

Braxton, once again, is a stud.  He just makes it all look so easy at times when he’s running the ball.  Effortlessly changing directions and making defenders look silly.  And he made some nice throws, including a beautiful deep ball to Corey Brown that was dropped as well as a drop by Evan Spencer on the second to last play of the game on a deep ball.  Kid is getting better, he just needs better coaching and a better scheme/playcaller.

Playcalling has held this program back for a decade now, and it reared its ugly head time and time again on Saturday.  Jim Bollman continually insists on running dive plays over and over again into rugby scrums with little to no success.  He tried to run draw plays when the defense wasn’t getting upfield or attacking hard while not maintaining gap integrity, and overall once again proved to be a severe handicap.  Hopefully this weekend will be the last time we have to watch a game called by him.

Devin Smith needs to start over Philly Brown.  Philly dropped a HUGE deep ball late in the game that would’ve completely changed the complexion of it on a beautiful pass from Braxton.  Par for the course for him.  Seems like he can’t ever hold on to deep passes.  Smith has been a playmaker all year long and always makes plays, I just don’t know why the coaching staff doesn’t make the change.

We have one of the best tight ends in the country, and we don’t even use him.  Jake Stoneburner actually has less receptions (But more TD’s) than he did all of last year.  That’s idiotic gameplanning and play-calling.

I think that ankle injury is hurting Boom Herron a lot more than he lets on.  He hasn’t been the same back since he tweaked it against Indiana.

Grade: D-.  Braxton’s play is the only thing that saves this from being an F.

Defense

Ryan Shazier.  What have I been saying all year long?  The kid is a baller, and he needed to see the field much earlier.  15 tackles?  That’s more than Storm Klein and Etienne Sabino combined.  He even almost had another forced fumble but instant replay reversed it.  He’s going to be a great one.

On that note, outside of Shazier, our linebackers continue to be mediocre.  Klein and Sabino can’t get off a block to save their lives, and both are insistent upon arm tackling every time.  I haven’t seen a linebacking core this mediocre in Columbus since before the Tressel era.

Continuing with the theme of things I’ve been mentioning all year long, how the hell is Travis Howard still starting?  He shows no effort to come up in run support (As demonstrated this year against Purdue when he shouldered Robert Marve past the first down marker against Purdue, and in the Penn State game), and constantly allows catches in coverage.  Dominick Clarke played great when Howard was suspended, I just don’t get how the coaches haven’t let him see the field much since then?

Tyler Moeller had an awful game.  He probably missed 10 or more tackles on the day.  He’s a great kid with a great story, and a true Buckeye, but all of the injuries and time away from the game has taken its toll and he’s a shadow of the player he used to be.

Christian Bryant can lay the wood to people.  He got a few nice licks in there today, but a couple of them came after the player had already gained a good amount of yardage, and once again he tried to arm tackle and failed.  Seems to be a theme for this defense.

Jonathan Hankins battling his knee injury really hurt us up front.  Big Hank is a monster and usually requires a double team on a constant basis, but this limited his effectiveness and really hurt our flexibility and overall effectiveness up front, as evidenced by the constant lack of a pass rush on Matt McGloin.

I’m not sure if its offenses gameplanning around him, an injury, or just things not unfolding the right way on the field, but John Simon has disappeared for the past two weeks.  He’s still the emotional leader of the defense, and really of the team, but we need him out there dominating the line of scrimmage in order for our defense to be successful.

I’m not sure what Jim Heacock was thinking defensively.  Penn State’s passing game was a virtual copy of last year’s first half, when they cruised up and down the field running slants en route to a 14-3 lead, and their running game this year was just unstoppable.  When they went into the wildcat it was almost like we had no idea what to do and they burned us not only with that, but Silas Redd ran all over us as well.  It’s the 3^rd time this year we’ve given up 200 yards rushing or more in a game, that’s embarrassing and should not happen at Ohio State.

Grade: D.  Uninspired (Outside of Ryan Shazier), poor play.  Missed tackles seem to be the theme of the season, and giving up 200+ yards on the ground does not a good defensive day make.

Special Teams

Buchanan did what he was supposed to do, but turning a couple of those touchbacks into punts downed inside the 20 would’ve been critical, as opposed to a 15 yard net punt.

The return game was pretty average, but at least Jordan Hall apparently learned how to fair catch

Grade: C.  Very average, didn't really do anything noteworthy.

When I took a look at this season back in August, I laughed at people predicting 5 or more losses.  Now, I didn’t think we were going to go undefeated by any means, but a 9-3 season seemed very likely to me.  And, two weeks ago, it was a very real possibility, and a spot in the Big Ten Championship game was ours for the taking if we won out.  But, we blew the season against Purdue, and then the game against Penn State.

So, there’s one game left in the season.  We don’t mention that school’s name in these here parts, for a good reason.  It’s a swear word.  And we don’t like using swear words.

As big of a disappointment as this season has become, it can be salvaged simply with a win on Saturday over That School Up North (TSUN).  This is the chance for this team, for these seniors, and these coaches, to decide how they want to be remembered.  They are in the enviable position of being able to dictate their own legacies, and being able to become legends.

With all of the cryptic talk of leaders and legends in Big Ten expansion, this is the opportunity for this program to show it has cultivated both.  This is the chance for these young men to show what leaders they have become, and for them to show what legends are made of.

It’s been a rough year.  We’re hurting in the court of public opinion due to NCAA investigations, we’re hurting in the locker room because of rumors and speculation, and we’re hurting on the field because of poor play and losses.

However, to quote the late, great, Wayne Woodrow Hayes, “There is nothing that cleanses your sell better than getting the hell kicked out of you.”

This is the chance to prove that quote right.  This is the chance to be remembered forever, as the team that went up to Ann Arbor under a cloud of uncertainty, starting a 3 game losing streak in the face and the possibility of not being allowed to play in a bowl game, and despite all of that, won The Game.

In less than 6 days, the most beautiful and passionate 60 minutes of football in the world will kick off.  This is our National Championship.  This is, EVERYTHING.

The late, great Herbert Brooks, coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team that won the Gold Medal in stunning fashion against the Soviets once said, “Great moments are born from great opportunities.”

This is a great opportunity.  We come into the game as a touchdown underdog, Michigan fans are expecting to end the decade of dominance, and many, even in our own fanbase are counting us out.

I just hope this team grabs the opportunity by the horns, and takes full advantage of it, because when the clock strikes zero, the legacy of this team will be forever cemented.