osu 63, Michigan 39

[iam416]

I will say this -- they scrapped pretty hard in EL to beat Sparty. And they didn't pack it in against Maryland, and, sadly, they had about 4 chances to do that. I don't think they're going to quit.

I do think they're going to get beaten very decisively. But that won't have anything to do with quittery.

[Niffla]

Yeah maybe quit isn't the right word. I just wonder what kind of effect something like that could/would have -- knowing the coach you're playing for is (possibly) on his way out. Could have a negative effect, may have no effect at all, or heck maybe it motivates guys even more, idk. But at the very least one would think it would be on the minds of many of the players IF they knew anything definitive on their head coach leaving at season's end.

I'm probably making too much of it, though. It's one of the best rivalries in sports (normally I would say it's the best but it hasn't been much of a rivalry for a long time because of how dominantly one sided it has been), and it's in Columbus to boot, so I'm sure Ohio State will be plenty ready.

[Jeff Buchanan]

.......I'm probably making too much of it, though. It's one of the best rivalries in sports (normally I would say it's the best but it hasn't been much of a rivalry for a long time because of how dominantly one sided it has been), and it's in Columbus to boot, so I'm sure Ohio State will be plenty ready.

You are.

Once these two teams get a couple of plays under their belts, a couple of hits, all those intangibles that seem to be such a big part of The Game to us aren't for the players.

You either execute or you don't.

Going a bit deeper, I think how an athlete deals with pressure affects execution. When the pressure is channeled into production it can work for you. If that doesn't happen, things go wrong, mentally and physically. What goes on when coaches sit a unit down after a series and start coaching, what they say and how they say it is hugely important.

If you've ever competed or participated in any event or job that requires a high level of strength or skill or endurance or any combination of those - high performance undertakings - you know what pressure feels like and how it affects your own performance. Sports Psychologists know all about this and they work with all types of athletes that are competing at a high level and under a lot of pressure to perform.

Coaching that involves play to play decisions and management of the game clock matters. In close games that is even more important. We have all seen both good and bad calls and decisions by coaches. I don't think I need to remind anyone what a huge impact that can have on a game both good and bad. Pressure affects coaches in the same way it affects players. Great coaches handle it in various ways but the mantra, " never let them see you sweat," is pretty important in big games between evenly matched opponents. That's all part of knowing how to channel pressure.

So, I'll give you these intangibles but the rest of them, meh.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Starting to become overkill but there are some things to be seen here. The link below is every Maryland offensive snap v. osu's defense. I'll provide my take. It's a short video but there is a lot to be seen.

• Scheme issue #1 is how osu executes a switch of S and a LB coverage pre-snap in a one hi scheme (usually man). I repeatedly saw Maryland motion - usually a TE - moving a player to strengthen what appeared to be the play side only to have the ball carrier run the ball on the back side - usually into empty space where the OT and G have little guys scrambling to get back into position to block. Several of McFarland's first half runs came off this action. osu slanted to the play side which didn't help. It appeared to me that Schiano stopped that altogether in the second - at least I didn't see any gigantic space to run inot for McFarland.
• osu showed a propensity to get edged but it wasn't consistently bad; it just wasn't consistently good. Whoever #2 (playing a position that looks like Hudson's viper role) was victimized multiple times by pre-snap motion or a ball fake by Pigrome. McFarland is fast and got to the edge pretty well whenever who ever had responsibility to seal that edge derped by stepping away from it.
• WRs got separation - plenty of it. Pigrome hit some of those guys deep and that is not in his wheelhouse so that should tell you something.
• The osu defense is not all bad. They cover the short passing game well and defend in-between the tackles on short yardage situations well.
• I didn't see a lot of TE action in Maryland's offense. They use 22 personnel formations but those guys are just road graders for McFarland. On plays that look a lot like what M runs using a pulling guard or center along with 2-3 TE to block for a Higdon run through the C gap, either Maryland doesn't block that kind of play well or osu is good at defending it. I'm going to go with the former becasue McFarland has great vision. If there is a crease opening up, he is going to hit it. Higdon needs a thoroughfare and he often gets it.
• I didn't see Pigrome run any RO where he kept it. He did run RPO and he is a decent scrambler that got some plays with his legs doing that. My sense was that osu doesn't do well when a play breaks down and you've got a scrambling QB, even an average one like Pigrome, running around in space. Pigrome hands off a lot and throws the ball a little. His deep throws weren't terrible.
• Defensive pressure from the osu DEs? Another inconsistency. Maryland had decent not great tackle play. They did get beat on occasion by a speed rush causing Pigrome to get happy feet (he's not great at that). He also broke the pocket on several plays where somebody got through the A or B gap when osu brought more than 4 on passing downs. Maryland didn't seem to use RBs to block blitzers. They don't have a FB, at least I didn't catch one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y867...ature=youtu.be

[iam416]

[hack]

One day -- and I'm sure it's just around the bend, because he's been at it for years now -- but one day, Talent is going to have converted this group into the most realistic and Spockian fanbase in sports.

[iam416]

[Detroit Dan]

The Michigan game at E Lansing was good prep for Saturday's affair in Columbus. Michigan has faced pressure on the road this season and prevailed. So I don't think the team will get rattled. They've been through hell after the Spartans took that 2nd half lead.

[Jeff Buchanan]

No, osu's secondary does not suck. I didn't say that so, nice try.

Guys, just guys, not dudes, got separation. osu has had that issue all season. They're not awful, they are inconsistent. In comparison, Lavert Hill and David Long are consistent.

Schiano's attempts to mitigate that inconsistent CB play with various tactics have failed. You've seen it so stop.

Now, if it will make you feel any better .......if you haven't seen Brian's UFR Defense v. IU, M's D showed some inconsistencies and those are all in the area where Haskins is good and/or osu MIGHT, just might have a run game.

M's DTs are just guys. Against IU in the first half, they got handled; double teams were saved for Gary and Winovich and that worked because the DTs on the inside are just OK. The downside for osu is that Don Brown does whacky things to mitigate those problems. He did that in the first half, got some run with that, tried 4 man fronts and then abandoned 4 man fronts in the second and inserted another guy in there ..... Scott ran for under 3ypc. Brown is really good.

Brown has a well understood tendency to let his defenders get out of their lanes with aggression in hopes of creating this chaos thing in the back field. It works ..... sometimes. When it doesn't, big plays ensue and IU, yes that IU with Debord as OC, burned Brown doing this with slants - that is Haskins best throw. The burn rte increases with good OL play and IU had it. Brian thinks it was the best OL M has faced. I don't know, but it would seem to me that osu's OL is as good, if not better, than IU's. So, back-off, stay in your fucking lanes.

I'm ready for our respective teams to line it up and start playing. Tired of talking about it.

[maxreturn]

Geez Talent...there you go using those million dollar words. Fealty? Had to look that one up. LOL!

[Tom W]

I'm ready for our respective teams to line it up and start playing. Tired of talking about it.

Ah Jeff, we all know that you will NEVER tire of talking about "it" ;-) Happy Thanksgiving!

[Jeff Buchanan]

Decent ........

https://theozone.net/2018/11/michigan-monday-glimmers-hope/

[iam416]

[Jeff Buchanan]

IU left M's DTs mostly undoubled and then doubled Gary and Winovich on the edges. Doubling M's meh DTs and not the DEs exposes the run game to backside pursuit.

IU didn't have to deal with that problem and just down blocked the DTs. This is where Scott got some run on standard downs between the tackles until, as the discussion talks about, Brown brought a guy down, usually Metellus. He can do this with Long and Hill at CB to cover verts or slants but that slot guy can cause issues for Kinnel who can get mis-matched with guys like Campbell or Hill. IU had some success in the passing game when Brown did that to try to limit Scott.

But, as the discussion also points out, osu has to run the ball a bit to try to force that guy down. osu's OL has not demonstrated it can control the LOS in the run game against DTs like M's that are just guys. Brown may or may not actually have to bring a guy down. A part of the game worth watching.

osu still has to deal with Bush and/or Hudson in the middle pressing the A & B gaps in the run game. I think osu has to put a priority on controlling M's DEs not the DTs overall and esp. on passing downs. Even with Winovich injured, Uche has proven to be a decent fill-in. When Dwumfor is in on passing downs, it's a pretty hard front to deal with. Kemp has been a bit better in the run game than Mone so, there are options for Brown that don't necessarily require him to bring a S into the box to stop the run.

[iam416]

Well, yeah, I mean if they can't block M's "weak" links 1v1 then they have no chance. I'm not particularly confident that they can.