Buckeye Blogger NetworkThe Scarlet and Grey game for 2013 is in the books. Who stood out? Who can change the game? It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Scarlet and Grey 2013
Remember back around the last week of December and on through New Year’s when everyone was upset and moaning about the Buckeyes not being bowl eligible? Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it? I told you time would fly by, and here we are with summer camp and the 2013 season opener as the next events on the Ohio State football schedule. 
Like a lot of you I wasn’t able to logon to the Big Ten Network’s live stream of the game or listen to the radio play-by-play online. I followed along on twitter for some of the pregame and a little bit of the first quarter and decided to wait it out and stay away from it until the BTN broadcast at 7 on Saturday night. Then I didn’t even have a chance to see it at 7. Good thing for DVR’s. Read More
After a weekend filled with excitement and disappointment, it’s a bit of a quiet mood at tBBC headquarters. We like baseball, and know that OSU sports are amazing even if not the “got to be on television” variety, but I’d be lying if I didn’t confess that there’s a bit of a let down these days. Ah well… only two songs possible for today’s soundtrack. Onward.
Buckeye 411
Well, howdy-do, Buckeye nation! Thanks for paying attention to my little neck of the sunshine state… hope it works out as well as last time Ohio State had a team out here. You know what? Since we’ve already got a visit scheduled to the Bay Area for September, what say we just go for the trifecta and come on back out this way in January. Multiple options for today’s soundtrack- Vintage, Old School, Hippie, Country, Top 40, Hip Hop, Rock. Oh, and I’ve got a great recommendation for a place to stay.
Silver Bullet, Knotts Berry Farm
Buckeye 411
That was a much better result than last week’s game, I’m sure everyone will agree. That said, though, there’s still a long way to go before this team is anywhere near as good as we’re used to. Let’s see how entertained we were this week.
Storm Klein's sack helped the defense look like the usual Silver Bullets defense.
Big Plays. We saw a few big plays, including four players who made plays of longer than 15 yards. The longest of the day was a 32 yard pass to Devin Smith for a touchdown.
Start Fast. Well, the first drive was a quick three and out, but the Offense did move the ball effectively for a touchdown on the 2nd drive. The team was also able to take a 17-0 lead before Colorado was even able to score.
Defense being the defense. The defense certainly looked presentable. They did a good job of limiting Colorado all day long. The unit is still showing some weaknesses, particularly in zone coverage, but they’re doing good work so far.
Rush the BRAXTON. You wanted 50+ running yards from Miller, you got 83 yards on 17 attempts. I think that gets the job done! They even focused on the running game for the first drive, so they took this idea to heart.
Start Strong. How about entering the second quarter with a 10-0 lead? Is that strong enough?
Receivers at Ohio Stadium. Devin Smith caught 3, T.Y. Williams caught one, and Chris Fields caught one. The receivers were on display today in a bigger way – though they clearly still have a long way to go.
Stop the Big Play. Colorado’s biggest play of the day was a 27 yard run by Rodney Stewart. Several CU receivers picked up more than 15 yards on any given pass – many over the middle of the field. Colorado had success, but in general the big play was not available.
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Well, that game was more than a little interesting. It’ll be hard to gauge this team over the next week, and I’m certain many are going to be expecting bad things in Coral Gables. Let’s see what the staff wanted to see again, and how much of it actually came to be.
Chris Fields gave the Buckeyes a boost when they needed it most.
- More of the same. I certainly don’t think we can qualify the entire game as “more of the same” as Akron. That first drive was a thing of beauty, but the rest of the game was a fight the whole way.
- New wrinkles. Nothing particularly new here, nope.
- Ebner Touchdown. Would it be too much to ask? For this game, apparently so.
- No False Starts. Shugarts took care of this one, and not in the good way.
- Continued QB play like the we saw this past Saturday. Miller never saw the field, and Bauserman didn’t have quite the same day he did against Akron. Though 16/30 for 189 yards and a touchdown isn’t bad.
- More speed from our team. We had our moments – such as Chris Fields’ punt return – but for the most part, I don’t think we saw a lot of speed anywhere.
- Big Plays. Outside of Fields’ return, the longest play was of 36 yards – one of which was Hyde’s first touchdown run.
- A three to four touchdown win. So much for that.
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Freshmen phenoms Evan Spencer and Devin Smith. The future.
The receivers are one of the least experienced groups on the entire team. The suspension of Devier Posey compounds the issue significantly.
As young and inexperienced as they may be (and let me reiterate, they are), they are also extremely talented- as you would expect from any group at Ohio State.
It may take a few games to work out the kinks, but if the passing attack starts rolling, these players are fully capable of taking over a game.
The good news is that they don’t need to take over games; they only need to take some pressure off the running backs by giving the defense something to worry about.
At this, they should be more than capable, no matter who the quarterback ends up being.
Jason Winrow returns for another excellent Radio Hour! Jason talks about what he’s hearing regarding the Ohio State offense, in particular which players are beginning to step up into their potential starting roles. Positions of interest include Quarterbacks, Runningbacks and Wide Receivers.
They also spend some time discussing the Ohio State schedule, and give a hat-tip to the Miami (FL) scandal, and how it might effect their game with the Buckeyes.
All this and more on this week’s Radio Hour!
And don’t forget, you can subscribe to us via iTunes! Just search “The Buckeye Battle Cry Radio Hour” (or click that link) and you’ll be sure to find us! Don’t miss any of our old episodes, including the lost first episode with Malibuckeye!
Some players will be watched with more excitement than others, but everyone will get a chance to show what they've got.
The Buckeyes need to fill some pretty big holes on offense this year thanks to graduations and compounded by suspensions. Luckily, Ohio State always has ultra talented players waiting in the wings to show what they’ve got.
As a fan, you can only hope that one or more of these players can make a name for themselves and become the next great Buckeye at whatever position they happen to play. The spring game is a great chance to see what some of the young players can do.
Here are the players to watch on offense in the spring game on Saturday.
