2023 Ohio State Season Thread

[847badgerfan]

Those night games were hard for me. I rarely (almost never) drank before games. 

Made for some long tailgates, since we'd start at 6AM no matter that game time was.

[bayareabadger]

Oh yay. Coming off of a tough, physical game and heading into a Camp Randall packed to capacity with screaming drunken 🧀 cheeseheads jumping around, sounds like a blast!

Now I’m just thinking about declining to go see OSU-UW last year. Just a good call.

[847badgerfan]

I never turned off a Badger football game, until last year. 

[MrNubbz]

Oh yay. Coming off of a tough, physical game and heading into a Camp Randall packed to capacity with screaming drunken 🧀 cheeseheads jumping around, sounds like a blast!

No worries they'll have started quaffing well before Gameday comes on and won't find CRS until the 2nd Qtr.If they're not passed out or knocking each other down like dominos by the end of Jump Around then they'll they show themselves out resembling Peter Boyle as Frankenstein's monster. 847 use to choreograph all of this

[medinabuckeye1]

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2023/07/139771/luke-montgomery-in-the-competition-to-start-at-offensive-tackle-for-ohio-state-as-a-true-freshman-in-2023?amp

This probably isn't a good sign. There is a good possibility, a nothing possibility, and an ugly possibility:

The good:
Orlando Pace started as a True Freshman because he was just THAT good. If this guy isn't the next Orlando Pace then move on:

The nothing:
There is a strong chance that he isn't REALLY in the mix and this is just "coach-speak", Day trying to encourage him or keep the others on their toes or both.

The ugly:
Luke Montgomery is NOT the next Orlando Pace but he IS in serious contention for a starting spot anyway because Ohio State is REALLY lacking in quality tackles.

[medinabuckeye1]

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2023/07/139744/denzel-burke-on-ohio-states-secondary-returning-to-its-best-in-america-standard-this-season-its-gonna-happen?amp

This article really explains what has been wrong with Ohi State's defense the past few years. From 2014-2020 Ohio State had six DB's drafted in the first round and another five taken later in the draft.  That is an average of almost one first rounder and almost two selections per year.

Not long ago Ohio State had a strong claim to the title of "DBU" but not lately. In the three NFL Drafts from 2021-2023 the Buckeyes had just one DB selected, Shaun Wade as a fifth rounder in 2021.

The first half of the Michigan game is a perfect example of both the strengths and the glaring weakness of Ohio State's recent defenses. In that half Michigan had seven possessions and Ohio State forced three-and-outs on four of them. That is the strength and that is great but the weakness becomes apparent when looking at the other three:
On Michigan's first drive:

• The front seven forced a 3rd and 6,
• The secondary gave up a 12 yard pass for a first down.
• The front seven forced a 3rd and 8,
• The secondary gave up a 33 yard pass for a first down in scoring position at the tOSU 24.
• The defense got a 10 yard sack to effectively end the TD threat and Michigan kicked a FG to make it 7-3.

On Michigan's fourth drive:

• The front seven held Edwards to 2 yards on first down.
• The front seven pushed Edwards back a yard on second down to force a third and nine.
• The secondary gave up a 69 yard TD pass on a play that should have been easily stopped for 5-6 yards and another three-and-out.

On Michigan's fifth drive:

• The defense gave up a 75 yard TD pass on the first play.

Ohio State was feast-or-famine like that a lot this year.

More than half of Michigan's first half drives went basically nowhere. The defense forced three-and-outs which is about all you could ask for. The problem all year in general and in that game specifically was that when the opponent did get past the guys up front, it wasn't a 10-15 yard gain and we set up and try again, it was (in this case) 33 yards into FG range, 69 yards for a TD, and 75 yards for a TD.

[Honestbuckeye]

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2023/07/139771/luke-montgomery-in-the-competition-to-start-at-offensive-tackle-for-ohio-state-as-a-true-freshman-in-2023?amp

This probably isn't a good sign. There is a good possibility, a nothing possibility, and an ugly possibility:

The good:
Orlando Pace started as a True Freshman because he was just THAT good. If this guy isn't the next Orlando Pace then move on:

The nothing:
There is a strong chance that he isn't REALLY in the mix and this is just "coach-speak", Day trying to encourage him or keep the others on their toes or both.

The ugly:
Luke Montgomery is NOT the next Orlando Pace but he IS in serious contention for a starting spot anyway because Ohio State is REALLY lacking in quality tackles.

You may be overthinking this.  They have some very talented guys ahead of him in terms of experience- so it might be a touch of coach speak. They have recruited well. 

The transfer ( Simmons) is said to be very athletic so we will see how he looks in live reps- but he starred 13 games as a freshman at SDSU.
And don’t forget, Montgomery was a highly recruited guy, and they say he is well over 320 now.

Lastly- it may be a way of keeping him positively engaged. He has been a vocal recruiter for OSU, and his brother was believed to be their focus as the 2025 QB.  But they went with Tavien St. Clair instead.

[medinabuckeye1]

You may be overthinking this. 

Who, me? Never!

They have some very talented guys ahead of him in terms of experience- so it might be a touch of coach speak. They have recruited well. 

The transfer ( Simmons) is said to be very athletic so we will see how he looks in live reps- but he starred 13 games as a freshman at SDSU.
And don’t forget, Montgomery was a highly recruited guy, and they say he is well over 320 now.

Lastly- it may be a way of keeping him positively engaged. He has been a vocal recruiter for OSU, and his brother was believed to be their focus as the 2025 QB.  But they went with Tavien St. Clair instead.

Agreed, of the possibilities I listed, "coach speak" / nothing to see here is by far the most likely, IMHO.

[MaximumSam]

I don't think it's much of a secret that OSU wasn't too satisfied with their tackle situation. They made a strong push in the transfer portal and clearly aren't sold on the options they have. 

[Honestbuckeye]

I don't think it's much of a secret that OSU wasn't too satisfied with their tackle situation. They made a strong push in the transfer portal and clearly aren't sold on the options they have.

I think they are wishing that Wypler hadn’t left- wasnt expected.  But he nailed it v Georgia 

But that left 3 departures- and a huge lack of experience. They are appropriately high on their young guys- but were shooting for experience in the portal. Experienced line players are critical.  

[MaximumSam]

My statement aside, I actually think they might be pretty good on the line. Day has valued pass blocking almost to a fault - these guys may not be special there but they might be pretty motivated to mash some people.

[medinabuckeye1]

My statement aside, I actually think they might be pretty good on the line. Day has valued pass blocking almost to a fault - these guys may not be special there but they might be pretty motivated to mash some people.

I'll add that a decent rushing game to bring some balance to the offense would be a humongous help. It would prevent opponents from focusing so much on stopping the passing game.

Rutgers more-or-less contained the tOSU passing game last year. Stroud was a fairly pedestrian 13 of 22 for 154 yards (7.0 per pass) with 2 TD and a pick for a QBR of 78.7.

The problem for Rutgers was that even without Henderson, the tOSU rushing game was able to make them pay for their focus on the passing game. Williams carried 21 times for 189 yards (9.0 per carry) and FIVE TD's.

Statistically Michigan did about the same against the tOSU passing game. Against them Stroud was 31 of 48 for 349 yards (7.3 per pass) with 2 TD and 2 INT for a QBR of 70.0.

The tOSU rushing game wasn't able to make them pay. The leading rusher was Chip Trayanum with 14 for 83 (5.9 per) and no TD's. Williams had 8 for 34 (4.3 per) in limited duty and nobody else carried more than twice.

[Honestbuckeye]

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2023/07/139843/ohio-state-freshman-quarterback-lincoln-kienholz-high-school-boys-athlete-of-the-year-by-usa-today

Between their current quarterback, candidates, McCord and Brown, Air Noland, coming soon and Tavian Saint Clair - this guy is fresh in Columbus this spring and he’s the guy nobody’s talking about. I have a funny feeling about this guy just like I did about Joe Burrow.

[847badgerfan]

ND going with the solid green look for the OSU game.

In typical fashion, the alternates are garbage compared with the standard uniform.