Crimson Red Sports

Well we won the SEC.  Great.  Now let's move on to the real goal.

I know very little about Ohio State.  It never occurred to me that we might see them in the playoffs until about halftime of their game yesterday when they had such a huge lead.  As luck would have it, I did NOT record any of their games this year either.  So I will be going into this game blind.  I guess I will have to go back and study the stats to get a feel for what we are up against.

My knee jerk reaction is that this game is basically a bye against a Big 10 team that hasn't played anyone and is on their 3rd QB.  But the way they dominated yesterday makes me wonder if there is more too this team than I am giving them credit for.  The team they beat, Wisconsin lost to LSU 28-24, and we beat LSU in OT.  Something does not add up here.

1)  How much did LSU get better over the course of the year after their close game with Wisconsin?
2)  Is the Ohio State defense really better than LSU's defense?
3)  Was the fact that Wisconsin was a 1 dimensional offense a big key to stopping them and shutting them out yesterday?

There are a lot questions that must be answered in the next 3 weeks, and those 3 are just a start.  Their dominating performance yesterday will hopefully be an advantage to us in getting the team to take them seriously and focus on the task at hand.

Well that didn't take long.  We are going to destroy them.  98 to nothing.  HTH.

My game face was on when the clock hit 00:00! :makemyday:

1) A lot, until we beat them, then the gas leaked out of their tank.
2) No, no and no.
3) Emphatically yes!

At least your predictions are consistent, Super.  It always builds my confidence even though you're always wrong (so far).

Ohio State has played a bunch of weak opponents, but scored more than 50 six times.

My first thought was we own the Super Bowl, but then recalled last year.  Still, we'll blow them out like we did those Yankees from South Bend.

The 24-hour rule?  I'm still celebrating Auburn.

I don't understand the committee putting OSU ahead of TCU.  Both teams only had one loss, TCU lost to Baylor (pretty good team all season) while OSU lost to Virginia Tech (barely decent all season).  IMO the TCU strength of schedule is stronger simply because they played a 9-game Big 12 schedule as opposed to a weak Big10 schedule...

Oh well, I think we'll beat them by  17-28 points...

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/12/6/7346767/ohio-state-wisconsin-final-score-recap-59-0

Wisconsin had four turnovers, and OSU had a 220 yard rusher.  I highly doubt that they'll be able to duplicate that against us.  OSU's quarterback only threw 17 passses.  He was 12/17 for 257 yards.

This is Bama's game to win or lose.  If our guys play smart and execute they win, and win big.  If not, OSU is good enough to take advantage and win.

We have a huge advantage in that OSU has not played a team worthy of playoff consideration this year.  We've played at least three, and maybe 4-5, that would probably be in the playoff if they were in any of the other major conferences.  MSU, Ole Miss, and Auburn would almost certainly be undefeated if they played in the Big 12, ACC, or Big 10. 

Ready to move on to the big games. We have to be careful here and not let somebody sneak up on us just because we belittle them. I am not sure but to beat someone that is not ranked 59-0 is big. So, here was Wisconsin ranked #15 and osu beat them 59-0. I think our coaches will be more ready here than most games because we get some huge people rested and healed. So we will see what happens now. RTR!

I am recording the Wisconsin game tonight.  They are replaying it a couple of times this week.

I also found highlights of most of their games on video on demand from the Big 10 Network.  I think they are going to be worse than 2012 Notre Dame.

I watched all of the season highlights.  #16 Barrett, the QB that was injured against Michigan, was a huge part of their offense.  I don't know how well they will play against an SEC defense without him.  You would think the 3rd string QB was 3rd string for a reason.

On defense, expect to hear a lot about #97 Bosa.  I wonder if he has an imaginary girlfriend.  :eyeroll:

We've done the same thing against all young or running QBs: stop the run and make them throw.

The big difference is that this season we have a stronger D-line, so hopefully we can stop the run and pressure the QB.  If we can keep him in the pocket (e.g., Denard Robinson of Michigan, 2012), we'll cruise to victory.  If the OSU QB suddenly develops an accurate arm (e.g., Nick Marshall, 2014), we'll win 55-44.

 :popcorn2:

From what little I saw of the game, the 3rd string QB is good.  He hit some long passes into tight windows.  Meyer played Barrett, his first QB recruit at OSU, for most of the season.  The current QB, C. Jones, is a red shirt sophomore who was already at OSU when Meyer arrived.  He is 6'5", 250 lbs. 

Just like Dak Prescott.   ;)

OK boys, we have trouble.  I have watched the first half of the Wisconsin game.  He is the 3rd string QB because he isn't really a run threat.  As we all know, CUM utilizes a dual threat QB in his system.  This kid was already on the roster and doesn't really fit the system.  He could go elsewhere and start for most schools running a pro style offense.

Don't let the 12/17 passing fool you.  He threw the ball all over the yard right from the beginning, and has a cannon for an arm.  When I first saw 12/17, I just assumed they were running the ball and letting him dink and dunk a little just to have some semblance of a passing game.  That was not the case at all.  He only threw the ball 17 times because the game was way out of hand in the 2nd quarter.  He started out 7/9, with a couple of nice deep TD passes.

Wisconsin was, keyword was, the #2 defense in the country and #4 scoring defense.  Ohio State dominated this game in all phases, and could destroy 2012 Notre Dame.

Oh, did I mention their punter?  He is just as good as ours.  True statement.  Of course I only saw them punt 2 times.

We will have to bring our A game to win this one.  If we loaf around the next few weeks and play sloppy like we have on occasion, we will be in trouble.

Having said all of that, I am still hoping for 98 to nothing.

I don't think their defense is nearly as strong as it would appear based on this game though.  It was a shut out, but really that was because Wisconsin got so far behind early and had to abandon their running game.  Of course Wisconsin's strength is their running game, and when you become one dimensional using the weakest part of your game you aren't going to accomplish much.  The big score made it pretty easy for the Ohio State defense.

We may end up in a shoot out.

I like our chances. We actually did destroy 2012 Notre Dame.  8)

Hoover High could have done that.

I have seen osu play 3 times this year i think it was and they looked good all 3 times. I actually turned the TV at end of first QTR because I knew that the game was over and who would win at that point. This is why I say we have to be ready to back up what we say. These 4 teams can not be a dreamer they came as far as we did and got in the playoffs. Let's have fun and prepare to be ready for this bunch and win the game. RTR!

Their regular season record over the past three years is 35-1.

Last year they lost to Michigan in the Big 10 championship game and to Clemson in the Orange Bowl.  If Clemson could win, we certainly should.

... be able to beat them with our scout team 98-0.  Easily.

 :)

I am trying to compile a list of Big 10 games with the other Power 5 conferences.  Here is what I have:

Losses
Ohio State lost to Virginia Tech (6-6, ACC) 35-21
Michigan State lost to Oregon (12-1, PAC 12) 46-27
Maryland lost to West Virginia (7-5, Big 12) 40-37
Michigan lost to Notre Dame (7-5) 31-0
Michigan lost to Utah (8-4, PAC 12) 26-10
Wisconsin lost to LSU (8-4, SEC) 28-24
Minnesota lost to TCU (11-1, Big 12) 30-7
Iowa lost to Iowa State (2-10, Big 12) 20-17
Illinois lost to Washington (8-5, PAC 12) 44-19
Northwestern lost to Cal (5-7, PAC 12) 31-24
Purdue lost to Notre Dame (7-5) 30-14

Wins
Maryland beat Syracuse (3-9, ACC) 34-20
Rutgers beat Washington State (3-9, PAC 12) 41-38
Indiana beat Missouri (10-3, SEC) 31-27
Nebraska beat Miami (6-6, ACC) 41-31
Iowa beat Pittsburgh (6-6, ACC) 24-20
Northwestern beat Notre Dame (7-5) 43-40

6 wins and 11 losses.  Their only good win was Indiana against Missouri.  The only other win against an opponent with a winning record was Northwestern against Notre Dame.  The combined record of the teams they beat was 35-38.  The combined record of the teams they lost to was 81-53.

As a contrast, the SEC West did not lose to any team outside of the conference, a perfect 28-0.  The SEC West was also 10-4 against the SEC East.  All 4 of those losses came against the top 2 teams from the East.  Georgia beat Arkansas and Auburn, while Missouri beat Arkansas and Texas A&M.

E-cred for very impressive research!

I think the Saturday we beat API the SEC had 4 teams lose to ACC ones. Must have all been our Eastern bunnies.

They were all from the east.  That is the first thing that popped into my head that day when Danny Kanell was crowing about that on one of the halftime shows.