Buckeye Blogger NetworkWe’re excited to add Jason to our merry band of miscreants, and look forward to his weekly “review” of Saturday’s game. If you haven’t already, give him a follow on the old twitter-bot.
| Well here we are. September 1, 2012 has come and gone. Before we get into what we witnessed yesterday, a quick update and comment. Those of you familiar with my ramblings/writings/blogs- I can’t tell you how honored I was to be asked to contribute to this site. To our loyal readers and the great people who write here and run the site, I won’t let you down!For those of you who don’t know me, I take a different look back on the game that has just been completed. I don’t typically get in to the stats of the game, more so the atmosphere and feelings I’m left with after it.Without further ado, let’s get into the bashing that was Ohio State vs. Miami yesterday. |
Jitter bug
I don’t honestly know that things could have looked any worse in the first quarter. Then I think “What if Miami hadn’t dropped so many balls?” and I realize it easily could have. First game jitters and nervous energy seemed to be radiating from the sidelines all the way to the broadcast booth infecting the comments by the stooges giving us play-by-play and analysis on the Big Ten Network.
It had to be expected: New coach and coaches, all new schemes, new pregame rituals on the field, the list goes on and on of “firsts” accomplished on Saturday. All it took was a little spark from the offense and everything seemed to suddenly be right in the state of Ohio. Read More
Coach Meyer’s comments following his first game as head coach of Ohio State, courtesy of Fox Sports Ohio: (transcription provided by the Ohio State Athletic Department)
COACH MEYER: Obviously pleased with the win, very pleased with the win. Obviously the first quarter was very poor football on our end. But you also want to give credit where credit’s due, and that’s Miami Ohio did a really good job defending a certain formation that we ran out, which is a base formation. Concerning down the road we need to make sure we make quicker adjustments, which we made some halftime adjustments.
But they have some good players. At quarterback, we were concerned going into the game that a future NFL football player will be hard to contain because he’s going to throw the ball. Gets it out real fast. Can’t really get it to him. That’s exactly what happened.
But I think one of the things about Braxton Miller that I really had to see, and I did see today, is that the objective with Braxton is to make him from an athlete playing quarterback to a quarterback that manages.
And a quarterback position is a unique position in all sports, where he’s got to manage so much. He’s got to manage basically the entire offense. He’s got to stay positive, his leadership. He has to be a leader.
And he showed that today. I told him in the middle of the second quarter, because he started ‑‑ he kept positive even when it was ‑‑ we all saw what it was. Read More
Every week, we try to be nice to one of the folks from the other side of the field. This week’s conversation was easier than usual, as our friend and MAC expert Matt Sussman from SBN’s Hustle Belt returns to spill the beans on the RedHawks.
Hugs!!
1. How important is the experience between QB Zac Dysert and WR Nick Harwell to the team as a whole and how does it free up others to be successful?
They’re definitely the names on the scrolling marquee, but the issue is: who else can make plays? Andy Cruse, maybe, but right now that’s the list. Teams can game for those two and let Dysert have his 300 yards. But if a semblance of a running game can manifest, or if the offensive line can block, then you can use Harwell in all sorts of ways to make the rest of the team better.
2. Miami took a shot at Florida last year and very nearly caught the Gators napping. Is there a feeling around the Redhawk program that we might see something similar again this season?
I do remember that Miami-UF game, and a lot of it had to do with simply pouncing on turnovers and capitalizing on mistakes. If I recall the RedHawks didn’t score a touchdown that game, but it took until the fourth quarter for the Gators to finally pull away and make it look like a decent win. Now, MU teams are always annoying to opponents so they could make this one look close in the first half just like that game. But it’s going to require the complete cooperation of a Buckeyes offense running a new system with butterflies in their stomachs.
3. How do you see the Redhawks attacking this Buckeye defense on Saturday? Read More
Buckle Up
As a part of the 2012 season, the Buckeye Bloggers Network is pooling their expertise to give Ohio State fans the most in-depth coverage possible for Saturday’s game.
This week tBBC looks at the special teams matchup with the Miami University RedHawks . Be sure to check out the rest of this series via the links at the bottom of this post!
As the Buckeyes look to start the Urban Meyer era, there will be many changes that fans will experience.
However, the emphasis on solid special teams, a hallmark of the previous administration, will continue under the new regime… and perhaps even be more of a point of pride.
Like the Vest, Coach Meyer has called the punt the most important play in the game. Indeed, the fact that he has taken charge of the Special Forces’ planning and preparation highlights that the man is serious about the kicking game. While at Florida, this was certainly evident- the Gators prided themselves on their ability to aggressively get after the punt and the fact that their return teams were almost expected to score every time the ball was on it’s way.
Instead of being another time to gather a fresh beverage, Buckeye fans will need to stay glued to their seats during the specialists’ time on the stage.
Murphy meets Meyer, 2010
But before we look at what the 2012 version of the OSU Special Forces will be, let’s take a gander at the visitors from Oxford. The RedHawks return a good portion of their specialists from 2011, including punter Zac Murphy and kicker Mason Krysinski.
Murphy, a former walk on who earned third team MAC honors as a freshman, averages 39.1 yards per punt in each of his first two seasons, as well as having a long of 66 yards to his name. He was also responsible for dropping 13 punts inside the 20 last year, but had two kicks blocked in the 2011 campaign.
Krysinski, a 3.98 GPA student, struggled a bit in 2011. To go with his season long 45 yard FG against Bowling Green, he averages 56 yards a kickoff with only one touchback. It will be interesting to see if his numbers improve with the change in NCAA guidelines regarding kicks this season… and no better time to experiment than the first game of the season. He was 2-6 in field goals, and missed four extra points in 2011.
At this point, return specialists have not yet been identified, although the Miami media guide indicates that 50% of the punt return yards and 98% of the kick return yards return for the 2012 campaign. My guess is that, barring a new face deep to receive (Freddie McRae?), we might see defensive back Dayonne Nunley or receiver Dawan Scott awaiting kicks.
The RedHawks coverage team excelled at times last year, holding punt returns to a 7 yard average and kickoff returns to just over 14 yards per attempt. They allowed one punt return for a TD, and scored none themselves.
Ok. Now to the good guys. 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
The Ohio State Buckeyes continue their battle with flying mascots and with non-conference play on Thursday against those RedHawks of Miami…of Ohio. It’s been an up and down year for this MAC squad. They’ve beat some very tough competition including in state opponent Dayton and a top notch Belmont team.
But fresh off a 77-75 loss to Evansville on Tuesday, that saw the Aces put together a 16-2 run to start the 4th and a 7-0 run to cap the game — there is a lot to prove and improve on for head coach Charlie Coles’ squad.
| School: | Miami University |
| Location: | Oxford, Ohio |
| Founded: | 1809 |
| Student Population: | 18,863 |
| School Type: | Public |
| Division: | NCAA |
| Conference: | Mid-American |
| Stadium: | Millett Hall |
| Seating: | 9,200 |
| Built: | 1968 |
| Head Coach: | Charlie Coles |
| Year: | 16th |
