Ohio State vs Illinois Preview

Ohio St. Offense vs Illinois Defense


The big question in this game is which Ohio State team is going to show up, and will it be for the whole game? Will is be the Ohio State team from the 1st half of the Nebraska game that looked like vintage Ohio State, or will it be the Ohio State team from the 2nd half of the Nebraska game which we have been seeing all year. The other big question is can Miller make it through the whole game. You can bet Illinois is going to be blitzing a lot and trying to get as many shots on him as they can. The line is going to have to protect him and he is going to need to be careful when running.

What I would like to see: Ohio State coming out playing like they did to start the Nebraska game. I want to see some creative play calling, an offensive line that dominates the line of scrimmage, and Braxton Miller keeping the defense off balance and on their heels. I want to see Miller make it through the game unscathed and keep the offense on the field long enough to give the defense enough rest so they are not gassed in crunch time.

What I expect to see: I expect to see them closer to what we have seen all year than what we saw in the first half at Nebraska. We have always struggled on offense at Illinois, so I would expect this offense to struggle at least as much as those in the past. Illinois' defense is allowing under 3 yards per carry rushing. That is not good for this offense because they are not good enough to move the ball consistently through the air.

Advantage: Illinois Defense

Illinois Offense vs Ohio St. Defense


Illinois has had an explosive and balanced offense this year. Scheelhaase is a good runner and passer, so it will be important for the defense to remain disciplined. Jenkins has been one of the 2 best receivers in the B1G this year, so it will be important to keep him from getting big plays.

What I would like to see: I want to see the defense punish Scheelhaase when he runs. The defensive line needs to come out and dominate like they did against Nebraska in the first half. The linebackers need to play much more disciplined and aggressive than they did against Nebraska. The DB's will keep the receivers of Illinois in front of them all game to prevent the big plays.


What I expect to see: I expect to see our defense struggle in this game. Our linebackers (primarily Sabino) were exposed in the Nebraska and Miami games as being undisciplined, not aggressive, and unable to get off blocks. The defensive backfield has also shown that they can be beat deep, which is not good against Jenkins. Overall, I expect the defense to hold their own, but will give up some big plays.

Advantage: Even

Advantages


QB: Illinois
RB: Ohio State
WR: Illinois
TE: Ohio State
OL: Ohio State
DL: Ohio State
LB: Illinois
DB: Even
Special Teams: Ohio State
Coaching: Illinois


Prediction: Both offenses will come out aggressive and both will be mildly successful to start the game off. Then, I see the defenses settling down and dominating the middle parts of the game. Illinois has been weak on special teams, so Ohio State will need to get a few big returns and keep Illinois from getting any good returns. I expect the Ohio State offense to get an early lead and the special teams to keep them ahead throughout the game, but Illinois will wear the defense down and score late to stay unbeaten and send Buckeye Nation to a new low.  I see it as Illinois: 24  Ohio State: 20

Look at recruiting needs

Right now we have 13 commits. We don't know how many scholarships will be taken away by the NCAA, but even if they take some away, I would not sign more than 18. My reasoning behind this is that we are not in the running for many top recruits right now. We also do not have a ton of needs right now because we already have such a young roster. Therefore, I would stockpile some scholarships for after this NCAA ruling comes down.

The biggest need right now is at Offensive Tackle. We basically have 1 true tackle coming back next year (Norwell), so anyone of any quality could come in here and start from day 1. Losing Kalis to Michigan was devastating. The only other tackle we have a shot at, that is capable of coming in and starting, is Jordan Diamond out of Illinois. He is probably going to wait until very late in the recruiting process to make his decision. Even if we get Diamond (I don't think we will end up getting him), we need at least 1 other tackle to build some depth. The problem is that the top in-state tackles are committed elsewhere. I have my eyes on a tackle from Hamilton, Adam Pankey. Most of his offers right now are from MAC schools and a few Big East schools. He would not be able to contribute right away, but I like his raw skills. He is a dominating run blocker. He explodes off the ball and finishes his blocks. He will need to work on his pass blocking, but I like bringing him in as a future Right Tackle.

The other need is a weakside DE that can rush the passer. Luckily, we are high on the list of the best one in Ohio, Adolphus Washington. He is an absolute beast. He would be a huge get, and he could probably come in and be in the 2 deep right away. I am hoping we can also get Ifeadi Odenigbo out of Centerville. He is a bit of a project, but he has amazing raw talent.

If we could get Diamond, Washington, and Odenigbo, I would be ecstatic about this class. If we could get all three, I would still go after Dwayne Stanford, because we can always use a big receiver, and Pankey. That would give us 18. If we don't get Diamond, I would probably go after another Tackle project.

Around the NCAA (Week 6)

National Top 10

1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Boise St
5. Wisconsin
6. Oklahoma St
7. Clemson
8. Stanford
9. Oregon
10. Arkansas

B1G Power Rankings

1. Wisconsin
2. Michigan St
3. Michigan
4. Illinois
5. Nebraska
6. Penn St
7. Ohio St
8. Northwestern
9. Iowa
10. Purdue
11. Minnesota
12. Indiana

SEC Power Rankings

1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. Arkansas
4. S. Carolina
5. Georgia
6. Auburn
7. Florida
8. Tennessee
9. Mississippi St
10. Vanderbilt
11. Mississippi
12. Kentucky

Big 12 Power Rankings

1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma St
3. Kansas St
4. Texas A&M
5. Baylor
6. Texas
7. Texas Tech
8. Missouri
9. Iowa St
10. Kansas

ACC Power Rankings

1. Clemson
2. Georgia Tech
3. Virginia Tech
4. North Carolina
5. Wake Forest
6. Florida State
7. Miami
8. Maryland
9. Virginia
10. NC State
11. Duke
12. Boston College

Big East Power Rankings

1. West Virginia
2. Rutgers
3. Cincinnati
4. Pittsburgh
5. S. Florida
6. Syracuse
7. Louisville
8. Connecticut

Pac 12 Power Rankings

1. Stanford
2. Oregon
3. Arizona St
4. USC
5. Washington
6. Washington St
7. California
8. Utah
9. UCLA
10. Oregon St
11. Arizona
12. Colorado

Conference Rankings

1. SEC
2. Big 12
3. B1G
4. ACC
5. Pac 12
6. Big East

Initial Reaction to game

Well, that was unexpected. I don't think anyone saw this game playing out like that. A combination of the best half we have played all year, followed by probably the worst half of the year. I am disappointed in the loss, but I a little happy to at least see a little bit of progress. Here are my grades:

Quarterbacks: B-  -  Miller played much better than expected. It is too bad he got hurt on the terrible field. If he doesn't get hurt, I don't see us losing that game. Bauserman played exactly how you would expect him to play. I don't blame him, though, because he was put in a horrendous situation. They continued to run the same plays as they were for Miller. Bauserman cannot be expected to roll out and they can't run long developing plays that require him to throw deeper passes. Going forward, I don't see how they can keep Bauserman as the backup to Miller. He has proved repeatedly that he cannot play quarterback at this level.

Running Backs: B+  -  Hall and Hyde played very well, especially Hyde. I was glad to see Hyde finally running hard and finishing his runs. He is going to be a very good one.

Wide Receivers: C+  -  It was nice having Brown back from injury. He was finally able to give us someone who can get separation. He would have had 2 touchdowns if the QB's would have made good throws. The other receivers were below average, as usual.

Offensive Line:  B+  -  This was the most pleasant surprise of the game. The pass blocking was great. The run blocking was pretty good, but could have been much better later in the game. There was also the obligatory false start by Shugarts

Defensive Line:  B  -  Hankins is a stud. He led the defensive line in dominating the entire first half. They just got completely worn out in the second half. I don't understand why there was not more of a rotation throughout the game, especially in the 2nd half. When the offense continually goes 3 and out and turns the ball over, the defense is going to get worn out. The coaching staff needs to recognize this and make adjustments to the rotation.

Linebackers:  F  -  This is the position that deserves most of the blame for this loss. I have no idea what Sabino was doing. He was lost out there. He was out of position almost every play. Martinez was Sabino's assignment on most of the option plays, yet Sabino continuously ran right by the hole that was his responsibility to try to chase the running back, and Martinez would run right by. Sabino also appeared to be just jogging and running through the motions half the time. As soon as a blocker engaged him, he basically gave up on the play. Sweat and Klein weren't a whole lot better. They made very few plays.

Defensive Backs: D-  -  Missed tackles, bad coverage, and penalties cover it for the defensive backs.

Special Teams:  C  -  Punting was good, but not great. Punt coverage was good, but kick coverage was average. Would have been nice to have a reliable field goal kicker to allow us to kick that long field goal, but since we don't, I think it was the right call to punt.

Coaching:  D  -  The playcalling with Miller in the game was much better...they actually ran a screen and rolled Miller out!!! However, once Miller was out of the game, the play calling should have been adjusted for Bauserman. Instead, they ran the same type of plays and allowed Bauserman to throw the ball way too much. Defensively, I already mentioned that they should have been rotating the line to keep them fresh for the 4th quarter. I would also like to see some kind of emotion out of Fickell and maybe some coaching on the sideline.

Officiating:  B  -  There were some missed holding calls and the late hit on Moeller on the final drive was a joke, but overall the officiating was pretty good.

Announcers:  C  -  They were very annoying, but I am chalking most of that up to my bad mood from being on the losing end. Millen provides nothing. You don't learn anything from him. He provides very little insight beyond the obvious.

Ohio State vs Nebraska Preview

Ohio St. Offense vs Nebraska Defense


Can Ohio St. do anything on offense? That is the key to the game. The good news is that this is not a vintage "Black Shirts" defense for Nebraska. They got completely manhandled by Wisconsin, though our offense is definitely not Wisconsin. Nebraska is 64th if the FBS in Total Defense and 73rd in Points Against. This should give Ohio State's offense a little better chance than against Michigan State.

The big question to me is how conservative will Ohio St be.  If they come out playing predictably conservative, like they have all year, then this is going to be another long night. Nebraska is going to stack the box all night to stop the run and will blitz Miller at every chance. Will Ohio St be able to pass the ball to keep Nebraska's defense honest?

What I would like to see: Everyone assumes Ohio St will come out very conservative, so I would like to see Ohio St. come out in the "I" formation and run a play action deep ball the first play of the game. Then, I would like to see a heavy dose of play action bootlegs, WR screens, and RB screens throughout the first few possessions to hopefully keep the defense honest, so they cannot tee off on the running game and blitzing Miller.

What I expect to see: I expect to see a lot of the same. I expect to see Ohio St come out running the ball and playing very conservatively. Most likely, Ohio St will run almost every first and second down, leaving Miller in tough 3rd and longs all night.

Advantage: Nebraska Defense

Nebraska Offense vs Ohio St. Defense


The key to this matchup is whether Ohio St. can stop Nebraska's running game. Ohio St. needs to be able to stop the run and force Martinez to try to win the game through the air. Martinez is a 50% passer and is prone to making mistakes (5 interceptions this year).

What I would like to see: I am hoping to see Ohio State's defensive line dominate this game. The buckeye defense needs to stop the Nebraska running game, and force them into obvious passing downs. I then want to see the DB's make plays. I want at least 2 interceptions, including a much needed defensive touchdown. They have been close a few times this year to getting Int's that would have turned into pick 6's. This is the game they need to convert some of those Int's.

What I expect to see: I expect to see Nebraska play fairly conservative offensively. They have to know that Ohio State's offense is going to have trouble scoring any points, so they will not too many chances.

Advantage: Ohio State Defense

Advantages


QB: Nebraska
RB: Nebraska
WR: Nebraska
TE: Ohio State
OL: Nebraska
DL: Ohio State
LB: Nebraska
DB: Ohio State
Special Teams: Nebraska
Coaching: Nebraska


Predicion: Both teams will come out conservative on offense and aggressive on defense. This will be another low scoring game. Ohio State's only chance is to get the lead early and try to hang on. It will also be important to get some big defensive and special teams plays. I see the defense keeping it close, but I can't see our offense being able to do enough in a hostile environment to win the game. I see it as Nebraska: 20  Ohio State: 13