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
Great game, great venue and it was just good to see the Scarlet and Gray back on the football field again this Saturday.
Granted, we didn’t really “learn” much in this practice with a scoreboard, but there were some things that stood out. We’ll continue to talk more about this in the coming days, but I’m excited about the pistol formation that we saw throughout the scrimmage… yet another angle to attack and destroy.
We all identified things that we were looking for- let’s see how our folks did. We’ll be using my elaborate and completely subjective scoring system which awards as follows: 2 points for a correct answer, 1 point for a partial, mockery for everything else.
Thanks again to our friend Josh Winslow for his great photo coverage!
What player scores the first points of the game? Correct Answer: Braxton to Smith
Who’s the offensive MVP?
Correct Answer: Braxton Miller Read More
Welcome to the calm before the storm… unless you’re an NIT junkie, then your Madness has already started. In honor of Coach Calipari’s fantastic coaching job on Tuesday night, today’s soundtrack channels the thoughts of Wildcat fans as they get to watch the rest of the tournament. Hey… you think they’ll have time to join our Bracket Challenge?
It’s What We Do
Buckeye 411
How Sweet It Was
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and survived it safely! Did you get what you wanted? I decided since this is the last week of 2012, why not do a “best of and worst of” to recap all the things that caught our eye or made us angry this past year. Let’s rumble!
The Gator Bowl- The year started out with the Buckeyes in the Gator Bowl taking on the Florida Gators. The outcome and subsequent bowl ban clearly make this one of our “worst of” for the year. The catch to it that makes me crazy is listening to everyone now talk about it like they knew that the bowl ban was coming. From Gordon Gee to Gene Smith and down the line to all of us, everyone thought they would be getting probation and reduced scholarships for “Tattoo-gate”. The revisionists out there like to destroy Smith for not taking a self-imposed one year ban. There are plenty of reasons to not like Gene Smith, the bowl ban isn’t one of them.
Beating Syracuse- Everyone knows Jim Boeheim is a cranky old fart. One of the “best of” moments of 2012 was watching the Buckeyes take apart his Syracuse Orangemen to earn a berth in the Final Four. Watching him grimace and complain, knowing he was outmatched and on his way out of the tournament was a beautiful sight!
Circle Drill- Read More
The man of the week, Smooth Jazz Kenny G.
Air it out. Well, Braxton did some work on the passing game, and probably would have thrown more passes than he has in any game all season if he hadn’t gotten hurt. Considering Guiton tossed 10 (not counting his spike), that matches up fairly well.
The obvious… The defense actually did a pretty damn fine job. The first touchdown pass was fairly boneheaded, and Purdue victimized us on the edge with the throw-back passes and screens (but, honestly, we saw that coming). Most importantly, when it mattered most, they got the job done.
Special Teams keep being special. The special teams certainly had an impact. The positive side were the two blocked kicks. The negative side was the 100-yard kickoff return.
No sleepy nooner. It was sleepy for the better part of 4 quarters. It woke itself right up at the end, though.
Color coordinate. The pink out looked more like a Scarlet, Gray, and white out that someone had washed in hot water.
Less points scored for the other team. 22 points is certainly less than 49, but it was nearly enough to get the job done. I would say that’s a few too many, certainly.
Passing Braxton. I already mentioned this above, but Braxton was passing at a somewhat more frequent than average click.
Devin Smith. Catch. The. Football. He caught the one that mattered, and two total on the day. The 39-yarder was a thing of beauty at a critical moment, though.
An end to “color outs”. Please let this be the last of them. As I mentioned on twitter when the first reports of the Pink out trickled in, “Hmm…I think it’s an appropriate moment for this -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBTpjkPiVyg”
More Braxton passing please.
Air it out. I’d like to see Braxton Miller get back to work on the passing game. Test Purdue’s corners with some shots deep.
The obvious… All around improvement on defense.
Special Teams keep being special. Return a kick/punt, block a punt of field goal, special teams keep having an impact. It’s contagious and, maybe more importantly, can get into opponents heads before a game even starts.
No sleepy nooner. The game kicks-off at high noon, no excuse for The Shoe not to be electric and rocking. This team is 7-0, you’re there anyway, don’t sit on your hands and not be loud.
Color coordinate. “Pink Out The Shoe” is the theme this week to support breast cancer awareness. Typically these color coordinate attempts are a terrific failure at Ohio Stadium. This one shouldn’t be. Get a pink t-shirt or sweatshirt and wear it to the game. Then be loud.
Less points scored for the other team. It seems there’s a great debate brewing among Buckeye fans: is the problem the defense, or the special teams? For now, I’ll just say “fix it all” and allow Purdue less points than Indiana. Or, better yet, less points than Michigan State.
Passing Braxton. Wisconsin ran all over Purdue, so I imagine we’ll see a lot more running from the Buckeyes too. However, I’d like to see the team continue to work on Braxton’s passing, if only to keep the Boiler’s secondary honest.
Devin Smith. Catch. The. Football. Dear Devin. If the ball hits you in the hands catch it. Do not be the next coming of Braylon Edwards.
An end to “color outs”. Look, I don’t want to be the curmudgeon in the room, but can we just make a gentleman’s agreement to stop it with the lame color outs? Let Penn State have their white-out, since it’s at least original, and the rest of us can go on with our lives. I get that this is for a good cause, but it’s getting old…fast. Here’s my prediction for what will happen tomorrow – half of the stadium will be wearing pink, the other half will wear red or gray…just like last year.
Corey Brown had a decent day, but didn't contribute heavily to the freak show.
Stay on the Gas. Part Two. Well, it wasn’t the 100 point game. The offense did their best to keep their end of the bargain up, but the defense decided to sleep on the job.
Young Guns. Part ?. We saw quite a few young guns in the defense, which may have hurt us more than it helped. The offensive side of the ball, however, saw very few young guns doing anything productive – beyond Rod Smith’s 6 carries for 40 yards anyway.
Freak Show Coming together. Just About. We got a blocked punt for a TD thanks to Travis Howard. Rod Smith also did a fair job on the kick-off returns. Balance that with a blocked punt for Indiana and a missed field goal.
End the Misconception. Well, we did not manage to end any misconceptions, when we needed just about every point we scored to claim the win in the end. We’ll have to step on someone’s throat in a different game.
Start strong on O, Stay strong on O. The Buckeyes scored the first 10 points, including a touchdown on their first drive. Unfortunately they went into a lull for 10 minutes at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second before scoring another pair of TDs. There’s still a little on-and-off, hot-and-cold to this offense, though it seems to be improving.
Passing yard practice. We threw a bit more, but only completed 13 of 24 passes. Two of those are special thanks to Devin Smith, who should have had 4 receiving touchdowns on the day. Think of what you could have done by yourself Devin…just think. More practice is clearly called for.
Bring your kids to work day. I couldn’t actually tell you how many of the youngsters on the D-Line made it into the game. Someone else will have to save me on this one.
Nate Williams is out, and Zach Boren has been moved to linebacker. And that’s just what we knew about heading into the game; a matchup that Ohio State dominated until mental lapses and a “never say die” Hoosier team made the contest too close for comfort late.
Since Eric is at a wedding and Tim’s got work, you’re stuck with me for the recap. Buckle up.
First Quarter
Guapo Being Guapo
Braxton was able to get enough of the passing game going over the middle of the field to keep the Hoosiers honest, and found Jake Stoneburner for an early first down catch on a close call. A pass interference call kept the Ohio State drive alive, and Braxton made a good read on an option pitch to Corey Brown for the first Buckeye score. After a three and out by IU, the Buckeyes took over again and began to feed Carlos Hyde. After one first down, though, the Buckeyes were forced to punt, and IU began on their own seven yard line. The Hoosiers continued to have the dropsies, and IU punted back to Ohio State. Rod Smith reported for duty for Ohio State on their third drive. After a couple of nice runs, Devin Smith dropped a sure touchdown forcing Braxton to scramble on third down to pick up the long first. A couple of times during the first quarter, Ohio State showed a new wrinkle of a “touch pass”- they were unsuccessful in converting, though, and Drew Basil added his third field goal of the season.
Indiana got their first first down of the game, and began to move up tempo. Indiana ran an off-tackle play to Stephen Houston who ran 53 yards for the score, and the Hoosiers drew within three. Heuerman dropped the first down pass attempt, and Indiana was able to feather the option attempt and stop Braxton from any gain. A false start put OSU at third and 15; Braxton was only able to pick up five yards and the Buckeyes punted… and it was blocked by Indiana. The Hoosiers started at their own 17, and gained two yards prior to the end of the quarter. Read More
