Buckeye Blogger NetworkAgain, huge thanks to Bob Bell of the Ralphie Report for being our guest this week- he’s really popular! If you haven’t already, check out his thoughts in this week’s tBBC Radio Hour as well as Eric’s visit to the Ralphie Report podcast.
What are the initial impressions of Jon Embree so far? How big was the win over in state rival Colorado State for him?
Vision for the future
Ultimately, the Buffs have had a chance to win the two games they lost, especially California who beat the Buffs 52-7 last season. So that is an improvement. I think offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has done a solid job calling plays in his first stint at running an offense. The thing we at the Ralphie Report are judging this year on is game over game improvement which we have seen. Some of the things that are still frustrating fans after three games are the mental mistakes and penalties. Colorado continues to be one of the highest penalized teams in the nation, something that carried over from the Dan Hawkins era apparently.
The Buffs are lacking in depth and overall talent which is something Embree will have to improve over time. If Embree can get that talent, I think this coaching staff has the ability to be a good one.
As for getting his first win, It is certainly better than losing to Colorado State and going into the game 0-3 with absolutely no momentum. The good news for Buff fans is the team progressed from the game against Hawaii to the game against California. We saw some flashes of brilliance but still plenty to improve. And while many are still uneasy about this team after the Colorado State game, getting a win was still a positive step forward.
While the Colorado passing game is extremely dangerous, the running game seems to be nearly non-existent, despite having a Senior at running back. Is this a cause for concern, or do you expect the running game will play second fiddle to the passing game during Jon Embree’s tenure? How much do you think getting David Bakhtiari back will change that philosophy?
Eric, Jim and JoeD are back together again for another Radio Hour! This week, we look at the matchup with Colorado, though we likely spend far too long talking about what the team needs to do to bounce back than actually talking about the Buffaloes. Jim and Joe have plenty of thoughts to share about the Buckeyes, and about Fickell as well.
For this week’s interview, we invited Bob Bell, editor of the Ralphie Report, SB Nation’s Colorado blog. We talk about their recent move to the PAC-12, and how good of a decision that is turning out to be with the current Big 12 uncertainty. We also look at their new coach, Jon Embree, and look investigate the workings of the Buffaloes offense and defense.
It’s certainly one you don’t want to miss!
Update: The guys over at Ralphie Report were nice enough to invite me to chat with them about Ohio State on their RR Radio program. You can find that podcast here.
Don’t forget: you can subscribe to The Buckeye Battle Cry Radio Hour on iTunes!
