Buckeye Blogger NetworkThis week’s soundtrack is colorful, but has a bit of a different taste to it: trust me, it makes total sense in the grand scheme of things. Enjoy… language warning.
There’s no denying it… one group of conference-mates had an incredibly difficult Saturday.
Positioned for excellence, and featured in a number of nationally significant matchups, the on the field results just did not help dissuade the critics who argue that they have lost their prestige, and are rightfully scorned by college fans across the country. Once seen as powerful contenders for titles, it seems as if the results on Saturday have shown that the game may have passed them by.
Yup, it was a terrible day for the Big 12 expats. Who did you think I was talking about?
Texas A&M, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska all dropped matches on Saturday, with two of these being significant “upsets” in terms of rankings and so forth. The Aggies, after a week full of bravado regarding their new allegiance to the “we can spell three letter words” conference, saw the early lead against Florida disappear in the waning moments of the game, and couldn’t count on Kyle Field to help carry the day. You’ve got to wonder if the different understanding of the word “cheerleader” might have had something to do with it. Ah well, you know they’ll just say that they won later… it’s the SEC way.
Mustard? Really?
Missouri also opened SEC play by welcoming Georgia to play between the… uh… rocks in Columbia. The Bulldawgs emerged victorious, but you’re right in realizing that Mizzou is excited to be in a new home. There were too many Longhorns in the last one, and the B1G never returned their phone calls, so you can’t blame them for being OK with a loss in their prestigious opener. So excited about the new opportunities were they, that they broke out their new school clothes… or someone else’s old school clothes from when they were in the Arena League. As goofy as they looked, though, they didn’t win our “awkward haberdashery of the week award”… more later.
Ah, CoLOLorado… See, here’s how it works. You schedule a FCS opponent in the pre-season, you get them at home, you beat them and build up your alumni/student confidence in your program = profit. But, the Buffs are constricted by no man’s social norms, and instead chose to allow the mighty Hornets of Sacramento State to kick a field goal with time expiring and upset the Buffs in Boulder. I’m sure the fans will have to find some way to console their grief.
Which brings us to Nebraska. Read More
Straight Up The Olentangy...
Midweek look at news and notes from around Ohio State and the nation… getting ready for what’s been predicted to be a very wet weekend.
Hey! Have you signed up for pick-em yet?
Buckeye 411
William Buford banks a layup in over the outstretched hand of Ryan Evans.
The Buckeyes started out the game in their usual away game slump. The only exception was Jared Sullinger who single-handedly dragged the Bucks through the early stages of the game. Part of the struggles were due to the usually tough Wisconsin defense, that was causing the OSU offense to stagnate. Wisconsin also took advantage of OSU’s early struggles by finding defensive gaps and sank a couple open three-pointers to keep the game close.
Matta made a surprising adjustment early in the game replacing Aaron Craft with Shannon Scott after Craft took a horribly ill-advised 3. Scott performed admirably as a replacement for the sophomore point guard, picking up a steal and generally making Jordan Taylor’s life difficult on the defensive end. The switch did not last much longer than a few minutes – probably just long enough for Craft to get a talking-to – before Craft was back in the game leading the Bucks.
The Badgers grabbed the lead back with an 8-0 run off a couple ill-advised Buckeye turnovers and some poor Ohio State defensive rebounding. For one stretch Wisconsin forced the Bucks into 90 seconds of defense as they collected several rebounds on the offensive end. The Bucks also found themselves struggling to find their offense against the stout Badger defense, and particularly found it hard to get the ball to Sullinger under the basket. Considering Sullinger was the most consistent scorer, and the most fucused Buckeye, that was an unsurprising defensive strategy for Bo Ryan.
Read More
The Bucks have traveled up north to Madison to play shooty hoops with the Badgers of Wisconsin! ESPN is airing the game today, which is set to tip at 2:00 PM in the Kohl Center.
While you wait, go checkout our Buckeye Blogger Network friends! the Buckeye Blog, OSU Silver Bullet, Buckeye House Call, Our Honor Defend, Men of the Scarlet and Gray, and Fox Sports Ohio. They will all be joining us at 1:30 PM for the start of our liveblog.
If you’re looking for web-video for the game, try First Row Sports (warning: pop-up ads). Click the basketball tab, and you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the right game.
Go Bucks!
The Buckeyes are looking for their 20th win of the season in a game that Jared Sullinger has very likely been eagerly anticipating for an entire calendar year. Let us deal with the Wisconsin Badgers.
Deal with it Bucky. Just deal with it.
| School: | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Location: | Madison, Wisconsin |
| Founded: | 1848 |
| Student Population: | 42,099 |
| School Type: | Public |
| Division: | NCAA |
| Conference: | Big Ten Conference |
| Stadium: | Kohl Center |
| Seating: | 17,230 |
| Built: | 1998 |
| Head Coach: | Bo Ryan |
| Year: | 11th |
Eric, Joe, and Michael from Our Honor Defend join up to discuss the excellent Ohio State win over the Wisconsin Badgers. In particular they discuss the game planning and overall play of the team, especially in the waning seconds of the game. They contemplate if this win was enough of a signature victory for Luke Fickell to keep his job, and ponder what should happen with Jim Bollman. They also talk about the future of the conference race and try to divine which teams are most likely to make the first ever B1G Championship Game.
All this and more on this week’s Postgame Show!
There’s only one correct answer to this question after last night’s performance – totally entertained. This team stepped up and got a huge win over a good team exactly when they needed it the most.
Plus, who doesn’t get entertained watching Wisconsin lose? That holds double for when they lose to the Buckeyes.
Boom Herron had a spectacular day on the ground.
Controlling the line of scrimmage. We certainly didn’t get any turnovers in the game – Ohio State committed the only turnover when Jordan Hall muffed a punt return. That said, with Wisconsin gaining only 89 yards on the ground, and Ohio State breaking 260, there is absolutely no question who won the battle in the trenches.
Ability to hold coverage. Wisconsin managed to pick up some huge plays by taking advantage of the exact same coverage issues that Michigan State had. That said, OSU’s last touchdown came in a similar situation, so it’s not like we were the only one’s having coverage problems.
Control the tempo. 268 yards on the ground plus a nearly 36 minute time of possession means that the Buckeyes dictated play the whole game.
Raucous crowd. The fans could not have been any better last night. The stadium was rocking most of the evening. We even got to see the crowd rush the field – as much as it appears that there is open debate whether that was a “good” thing or not.
Coaching. The game plan was there on both sides of the ball. The offensive playcalling was a tad frustrating a times, but they did a good job of sticking to what they do well and setting up counter plays to be successful.
It’s time for another great Buckeye LiveBlog, after we spent a week scouting our next opponent – the Wisconsin Badgers.
As usual, we’re joined by Our Honor Defend, Men of the Scarlet and Gray, Silver Bullets blog, and Fox Sports Ohio.
The game starts at 8 pm Eastern, the liveblog is scheduled to get going at 7:30 pm. It should be a party, and we’re looking forward to chatting with you.
Go Bucks!
