Buckeye Blogger NetworkThis week, there’s only one song that will suffice for Buckeye Nation. Enjoy!
Shiny
Buckeye 411
The “reveal” was a part of the Beat Blue rally in the Student Union on Monday night, and saw former Ohio State running back Raymont Harris taking the catwalk at the party. The biggest question is about the Buckeye leafs awards on the helmet- the jersey will have seven of them to commemorate the seven national titles, but it’s unlikely that the awards the players have won this season will make the helmet. That being said, the official Nike blog has a Buckeye sticker on the helmet, so there may be something in the works.
My take: I like these the most of the ones we’ve seen, although I wish they’d stop screwing around with the gear for Mich1gAAn week. But, the students like them, as do all of the recruits who will be in attendance... and that’s the target demographic.
“You’re taught at a very young age who the enemy is, but you have a lot respect for the enemy.”
He spoke fondly about this year’s senior class, and how he’s been impressed that they stuck around once the bowl ban was announced. He talked about the need to be ready for both Denard and Devin at quarterback on Saturday, and that there was more than likely a chance for something “interesting” to happen. On his own quarterback, Coach Meyer talks to him daily and reminds him that the goal is to be a QB that can run rather than a running back who throws the ball. “It’s a big week in Columbus Ohio”
A Lot To Work On
Ugly.
That’s all there is to it. That game was simply ugly.
In a game that was a lot closer than it seemed it should be during the 2nd quarter, the Buckeyes evaded the Cal Golden Bears 35-28. California did an excellent job of keeping the game close until halftime before putting in their 46 defense as an adjustment to confuse the Buckeye offense. The result was a motivated Cal team that managed to take the lead early in the 4th quarter. The Buckeyes regained control only to see it get tied up again. A final deep shot over a corner and safety that had bit on a possible Braxton Miller run gave Devin Smith the go-ahead Buckeye Touchdown.
This team has a long way to go before they’re going to be anything like what Urban Meyer wants to see on the field. The defense still seems to have communication problems, and also struggles to tackle. This is not the kind of defense that’s going to do well against the Big Ten at this point. They need to really get it together if they want to be even a half-way decent OSU defense. That said, it was the defense that had to dig deep at the end and stop California to secure the victory. They have it in them, but it isn’t quite there yet. Hat tip to Christian Bryant for picking up the interception to secure the victory.
Props to Jeff Tedford and company for their great gameplan, including the confusing use of the 46 defense. If not for their field goal kicker missing three shots during the course of the game, this might have been a different story in the end.
As for the offense, it has its moments. It is pretty clear that they aren’t 100% there on understanding the system, but they’re taking the steps towards getting there. At some point, this offense is going to be insane – but that may not happen until next year.
It’s finally Saturday! The Buckeyes are set to take on the California Golden Bears at Noon EST on ABC. The Liveblog will kick off 30 minutes before gametime.
While you wait, check out the great members of the BBN: Our Honor Defend, Men of the Scarlet and Gray, Buckeye Empire, Silver Bullet, The Buckeye Blog, Unscripted Ohio, and Fox Sports Ohio.
Looking forward to seeing you there! Go Bucks!
For this week’s Across the Web feature we visit with our friends from SBN’s California Golden Blogs. The CGB was gracious to take some time and answer our questions and they even took it one step further for us. We get the insight from a couple of different members as Kodiak and NorCalNick give us some of their views and opinions.
1. What do you make of last weekend’s PAC 12 success over the Big Ten. UCLA, ASU, and Oregon State all with wins?
Kodiak: Well, as good Cal fans, this naturally gives us a feeling of doooooom. The early reviews would be that UCLA and ASU have upgraded their coaching. Both schools seem to have underperformed relative to their recruited talent lately, particularly UCLA. Oregon State is always a bit under the radar, but Mike Riley does a great job. He might be the best coach in the Pac-12. He’ll have a down year here and there, sure. When he has veteran players, I wouldn’t want to face him.
NorCalNick: I think it’s clear that those three teams have improved immensely over last season, which isn’t a huge shock – UCLA finally has a head coach that won’t allow the talent they have to underachieve, and last year’s Oregon St. squad was unbelievably young and unbelievably injured.
That said, I think the fact that all three games were played on the west coast might have something to do with the clean sweep. Playing at home is always an advantage, but that advantage only seems to get amplified when one team is travelling 2/3rd of the way across the country.
Headed To The League
2. Cal has regularly had a speedster receiver returning kicks. Is there such a player on the roster today that OSU should worry about?
Kodiak: Brendan Bigelow is the designated speedster on kickoff returns. He’s finally recovered from a couple of HS knee injuries. Prior to getting hurt, his highlight films were a bit unreal. We haven’t really seen him unleash his potential yet, but there is plenty of coachspeak hype with how he’s starting to light it up in practice.
The guy to worry about is Keenan Allen on punt returns. He’s not a true burner, but has amazing agility and instincts in the open field for a bigger receiver.
On the other hand, Cal’s special teams units are poorly coached, so it’s all about individual brilliance by the returners and not so much a well-executed blocking scheme.
3. Given that the rest of the Nation only ever hears about USC and Oregon out of the PAC 12, we often have trouble identifying players on other teams. Name a player on each side of the ball we will know about after the and why? Read More
Spiral bound and everything!
Another Wednesday, another mainstream media member making less than accurately informed statements about issues they think they understand…
Buckeye 411
