Before I get into the offense and defense, I just want to take a moment to thank Coach Luke Fickell for everything he's done this year. He will never truly receive the thanks and graciousness from Buckeye nation that he deserves, but he took on an impossible situation of leading this team, with no promises of having a permanent job, and held them together through it all - Suspensions, injuries, tough losses - to make a bowl game. He's a damn good coach, an outstanding recruiter, and embodies what it means to be a Buckeye. I am overjoyed at the fact that he will be returning as part of Coach Meyer's staff next year.
Offense
- Obviously, we're going to start off by talking about how amazing Braxton Miller played. He accounted for 90% of our offense in the game, and played absolutely brilliant. I loved when he saw how they were aligned defensively, and checked to a QB dive in the second quarter, and busted it for 21 yards. I loved how he found the open man and got the ball out to him. He certainly had some throws that needed more polish (Missed about 3 touchdowns, including what could've been a game winner to DeVier Posey with 1:48 to go), but he's a gamer. He's going to be a great one.
- Braxton had 335 yards of total offense on the day. For the record, that's more than Troy Smith had in his Heisman Trophy sealing performance against Michigan in 2006 (328). And before the final drive, he had a great completion % going for him as well.
- For the 3rd straight week, the running game outside of Braxton was non-existant. I'm just not sure what happened to the dominant offensive line that we used to have, they failed to open holes and overall just haven't been very good in the past couple of weeks.
- It would've been great to have Posey all season long. He dominated the Michigan secondary, and could've had as many as three touchdowns on the day if Braxton had been able to connect with him. His big-play ability and ability to get seperation is just incredible, and will be sorely missed.
- Philly Brown had a big day as well. He's always been our best WR in terms of getting seperation, but he actually caught the ball this week! No lie, part of me was thinking he would drop the first touchdown pass. But he had a pretty good day and it could be a big stepping stone in his development.
- Jake Stoneburner suffered an injury on his lone catch of the day. According to Bill Greene at Scout.com, word is he may be out for the bowl game.
- Jim Bollman, a tip of the cap to you good sir. You called the best game I've seen from you in your decade on the job. You broke tendencies, designed beautiful plays, and had great rhythm in your play-calling. The drive to make it 37-34 was perhaps the best drive play-calling wise I've seen from a Buckeye team in all my years as a fan. You certainly saved your best for last.
Grade: A-. Would've been even higher, but the lack of a running game outside of Braxton brings it down. Fantastic performance, and for some of our younger guys it really sets the stage for the possibilities of what next season could bring for them.
Defense
- Ryan Shazier is an absolute warrior. He played the majority of the game with a torn MCL, on a pain that he rated as '7 out of 10', and he pretty much played on one leg. He's going to miss the bowl game, but he'll be back for spring ball. Can't get over his grit, and his big strip of Denard Robinson to set the Bucks up with great field position, which they capitalized on.
- Besides that, there really weren't any positives to take out of the game defensively.
- The defensive line didn't really do much of note. They occupied blockers for the most part, but weren't real disruptive and didn't get the penetration we needed.
- The linebackers were very poor. The fact that we had a freshman out there on one leg should tell you all you need to know about how this group played. Etienne Sabino completely blew it on Denard's first touchdown run, and he was out of position, taking bad angles, and missing tackles all day long. I just wonder why he continues to be on the field, and why superfrosh Curtis Grant hasn't gotten any game reps of note?
- Safety play was again abysmal, and the corners and other members of the secondary did nothing to impact that characterization either. Bradley Roby was once again the lone bright spot, this time though for coming in run support.
- This was likely Jim Heacock's last game as a coach... and if it turns out to be, what a way to go out. The defense seemed unprepared, unmotivated, and just plain bad. The defensive line (the position he coaches) didn't do much of note either.
Grade: F-. The worst defensive performance I've seen from an Ohio State football team. If I gave any other defensive performance an F this year, bump it up to a D-, because this game deserves a category all in its own.
Special Teams
- Ben Buchanon had a very good day. He dropped two punts inside the 20 yard line, including a booming 58 yarder that was just what we needed to flip field position.
- Drew Basil was clutch, with the big FG to cut into that place north of Toledo's leads twice on the day.
- Great job by Tyler Moeller to cut Will Hagerup down on the, uh, mishandled punt snap.
Grade: A. When called upon, Basil and Buchanan did their jobs very well, and the punt coverage unit reacted brilliantly on the botched punt by the other team.
Overall, I can't be too angry about how this game went. Yes, to point out the obvious, I'm livid about the fact that we lost to those rotten little weasles. But Braxton's play, along with the news of Saint Urban's hiring, have me thinking about just how special the future can be because of what happened today. So, to sum things up, Brady Hoke and the rest of your cohorts in that state with a northern peninsula, I hope you enjoy this one. Because the stakes are getting turned up to levels you haven't even dreamed of.
Also, note how I avoided using the actual name of our opponent from last Saturday throughout the entire article, including the title.
