Wisconsin Game Review

I was in the 'Shoe in 2003 when we beat NC State 44-38 in triple overtime, on a stop at the one yard line.  I was in the 'Shoe last year when we pulled off the biggest comeback in the Tressel era to beat Penn State 38-14.  But the game against Wisconsin, topped every football game I've ever been to, and the second greatest Ohio State game I've ever watched (Next to the 2003 Fiesta Bowl against Miami,  of course).  Braxton Miller to Devin Smith will forever live in Buckeye lore, and it stands as quite possibly a defining moment in both of their careers, and in the career of Coach Luke Fickell.'

The atmosphere was incredible.  Just electric from start to finish, and I think when Smith caught that ball it might've been the loudest the 'Shoe has ever been.  Had to have a huge impact on recruits, no doubt, of which there were a lot of highly regarded ones in attendance.

Offense

- This was Braxton's coming out party.  He finished just shy of 100 yards on the ground, but had two touchdowns, one where he faked Wisconsin end Brendan Kelly out of his shorts and walked in, and a huge 44 yarder off an option keeper to make it a two score game.  But the best thing I saw was his development as a passer.  He hit Corey Brown several times in tight coverage, and threw a beautiful ball to Brown along the sidelines on a deep out, aka an NFL quality pass.  If not for drops by Brown on the first series on a deep ball and by Stoneburner on a medium pass for a first down then his stats look even better.  And of course, the amazing pass at the end of the game.  Loved how he kept his eyes downfield this week as he scrambled, and considering he was throwing back across his body on the run, I don't care how bad the ball fluttered on that one.  Like I said before, kid is going to be special.  He will own all of the passing records here by the time he walks out of the Horseshoe for the last time.

- Corey Brown really played well.  The early drop on a deep ball that hit him in the hands was bad, but he made up for it with an oustanding catch along the sidelines where he just barely got his feet down.  Like I said before, he is a difference maker in the passing game.

- Is there a player that means more to this team than Boom Herron?  He ran for 160 yards on the day, and just kept finding a way to get it done when we needed it most.  The best part is, he missed a lot of holes and left a lot of yards on the field, by his own admission, but it was only his second game back, so he's still just getting back into the swing of things.

- This offensive line is good.  Very good.  They blew Wisconsin off the ball and paved the way for 268 yards on the ground and allowed the Buckeyes to control the pace of the game.

- The crazy part about the last play is that apparently they weren't even running a play.  The WR's switched sides prior to the play, which created confusion, and according to Corey Brown, only Devin Smith ran the correct play, while the rest of them just ran 'playground routes'.  Incredible that it all worked out.

- Jim Bollman watch: meh.  Very predictable play-calling in the ground game, but I liked the routes we ran in the passing game outside of the fact that once again we still don't know what a screen pass is.  Putting up 33 points against the #6 scoring defense in the country deserves some props, although it was largely due to the players.

Grade: B+.  I am grading this harder this week, but for good reason.  As the season progresses, I expect more and more out of the passing game.  The ground game was dominant, and the passing game was servicable, but it needs to take the next step before I start talking about dishing out A's,

Defense

- John Simon has had two outstanding weeks, and is quietly developing int oone of the best defensive lineman in the country.  He dominated Wisconsin's OL that they tried against them, and he just would not quit.  He's going to continue to get better and considering he'll be back next year, that's outstanding news.

- The safeties did not play well this week.  Christian Bryant made an inexcusable mistake on the Wisconsin touchdown to take the lead, as in Cover 2 his responsibility is to take the man running deep into his half of the field, and he instead bit on the pump fake across the middle, leaving a man wide open for the go ahead touchdown.  He also made was overagressive on Montee Ball's early touchdown, as his miss allowed ball to get into the endzone, although it can be argued it took a great play by Ball to stop Bryant from picking the ball off.  Barnett also struggled and gave up a couple of big plays, and the two nearly allowed Wisconsin to get down inside the 15 yard line if not for Nick Toon's drop.

- The defense played outstanding against the ground.  Before Montee Ball had a 40 yard run late in the game, they had been held to 48 total yards on the ground.  To hold Wisconsin to that is incredible and unbelievable.  But then again, I can't say I ddin't see it coming.  Our defensive line is rather large and built for stopping a power attack, and they more than did their job out there.

- LB Andrew Sweat played outstanding and had by far his best game of the year.  He had a key stop on 4th down, and led Ohio State in tackles, and was seemingly involved all over the field.  Etienne Sabino also had a key part in the 4th down stop by sealing the edge to allow Sweat to make his tackle.

- Bradley Roby continues to prove to be a future star.  He had a big time pass break up on Nick Toon on a deep pass at about the 5 yard line, and overall just played outstanding once again.  He's blossoming into an outstanding shut-down corner.

- Once again though, just like the Nebraska game, the defense played bad down the stretch.  They had shut Wisconsin down all game, but allowed them to march all the way down the field and score twice in the final 5 minutes.  It's either youth, fatigue, or poor coaching.  Very puzzled by the decision to go cover 2 on the Wisconsin go-ahead TD pass as well.

Grade: A-.  They overall played an oustanding game, but the safety struggles and the breakdown down the stretch pull this down from where it would've been.  To make Russell Wilson once again look human (Although the stats do beg to differ, but that's why we watch the games), and shut down the vaunted Wisconsin rushing attack that came into the game ranked 8th in the country and hold them more than 160 yards below their season average is incredible.

Special Teams

- Ryan Shazier made one of the plays of the year with his punt block.  That was such a huge play, and fellow freshman 'backer Curtis Grant came through with the recovery at the 1 (I thought it was debatable over whether he had possession in the endzone).  This is where the freshman need to make plays, on special teams, and they will see increased opportunities over time.  Shazier also had a big time block on one of Jordan Hall's punt returns as well.

- Around the second quarter, I was just saying to my girlfriend how awesome it is having a dependable guy like Jordan Hall back returning punts because he hasn't dropped one yet.  Then, he proceeds to make several poor decisions on fair catches and get blown up, and also muffs one punt that would've been disasterous, and then muffed another that was disasterous.  Hopefully it was a one-time issue, but that could be quite concerning.  That said though, he did have a huge play on the kick return to set up the game-winning touchdown.

- Ben Buchanon once again had a great game.  He had one less punt than Wisconsin's punter and still had more yardage.  Had a couple inside the 20 and allowed OSU to really flip field position.  Although at the same time, he had a couple of punts where he outkicked the coverage, but they came through with key tackles.

- Drew Basil was solid.  He got very lucky on the FG he made where it bounced in, but I would rather be lucky than good.

Grade: B+.  The punt block was outstanding, Jordan Hall's kick return set up the game winning touchdown with excellent field position, and Buchanon and Basil were both solid.  The two muffed punts brings it down though. 

This was a huge win for this team, and for Luke Fickell.  Prior to the game, most had assumed he was done, but according to inside sources, he put his name back in the hat.  He's not the #1 choice by any means (That would be Urban Meyer, whom it's rumored will be targeted with around 5.5-6.5 million dollars in annual salary), but he really helped his chances.  If we win out, win the Big Ten Title, and go to a BCS game, I really wonder what happens.  I would love Urban Meyer, and anytime you can get a coach of his quality you go for it, but I would love to see Fickell earn the job on a permanent basis.  The same inside source also indicated that if he is not chosen as the new head coach, he will stay on the staff if given the opportunity by the new head coach.  He loves Ohio State, this is where he wants to be, and his wife has an excellent job in Columbus.  The man is just a true Buckeye.

We've got Indiana next week, who may be the worst FBS team in the nation.  We'll have to keep our eye on Penn State and hope they drop at least one game against Wisconsin and Nebraska (and to us of course), and also Michigan with a road date against Purdue sandwiched between Indiana and Penn State.

It will be a very interesting finish for the Buckeyes, not only because of the B1G Ten Championship race, but also because it very well may decide who will be coaching here next.