M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I was really impressed with osu even tho Rutgers is for sure poop. None the less you still have to make the plays and Barett looked really good.

I was also really impressed with Wisconsin's D, especially the LBs. It's a very aggressive defense with the LBs having the skills to attack or drop back into coverage. Good speed as well.

I don't think osu will run well but it will still run enough with Barrett getting his share. What's going to most likely get osu the win though is Barrett's passing. But it ain't going to be easy in Madison. Would hate an upset reminiscent of 2015 that kept osu out of the CFB Playoffs because osu is clearly the best CFB team right now and probably will remain so for the season. No way do I see M going to c-bus and stealing a win all things remaining equal as of this Sunday. Looking for a Satan/ufm match-up for all the marbles and bragging rights for the BIG Ten if osu pulls off a win.

[Rocky Bleier]

OSU ain't U-M because Barrett, unlike Speight, will actually change his snap count to keep the Badgers from hitting the LOS with momentum. Barrett, unlike Speight, will not throw floaters into tight windows. Barrett, unlike Speight, will not throw over the head or at the feet of open receivers. Barrett, unlike Speight, will scramble for first down yardage.

Barrett >>>> Speight.

[The Oracle]

So we've established JT Barret is better than Wilton Speight.

Can't get that kind of analysis just anywhere folks. All for free right here!

[iam416]

Ohio State's defense has conceded 23 points on 54 possessions this season. Granted, it's against crap, but still.

Indiana will change that, but it's a good start.

[AlabamAlum]

Ohio State is the best team in the country. And I'm not kidding or trying some reverse hex voodoo.

[iam416]

They're still largely untested. I think they have 7-9 future first round picks starting for them at the moment, but I dunno...they still haven't had to line up and play a super physical team. If they can somehow scrape by Wisky in Madison at night, then I may start to think they have some promise.

So, I'm cautiously optimistic. They've waylaid awful teams. That's about it.

[WM Wolverine]

We won't find out how good OSU might be till they play @Wisconsin in a couple weeks. I think they are really good, but I'll hold off on crowning them a spot in the CFP till after that game. Only other potential trip-up before The Game is when they host Nebraska.

[Rocky Bleier]

So we've established JT Barret is better than Wilton Speight.

Can't get that kind of analysis just anywhere folks. All for free right here!

We've established? I'm the one who did all of the heavy lifting.

[The Oracle]

Hahaha

[WM Wolverine]

Ohio state has a Heisman candidate at QB, M doesn't.

[iam416]

Yet. JTB is just a bigger name.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Ohio state has a Heisman candidate at QB, M doesn't.

I really think that's the difference right now. The other differences plus and minus either way in terms of personnel are niggling.

If M played osu this Saturday and with both current rosters healthy, the way Brown has his defense playing the short zone and with Stribbling and Lewis at the Corners, Long and Hill at Safety, I like the match-ups in the passing game.

What I don't like is barrett's ability to create and ufm's prep and in game play calling that would give osu some chunk plays most likely those generated with big runs.

Speight isn't a creator like jtb is. He's not awful even though PFF didn't like him much v. the Badgers (62.7). On their scale, that's a very average to below average performance).

Still, though, JH and UFM have installed very different offenses - fundamentally. jtb is a good fit for spread to run and he runs it very well. Speight is a good fit for Harbaughoffense whatever you want to call it; against a good D, he was terrible in converting 3rd downs. Something like 2/15. He hit a couple of big plays but jtb is much more consistent in runing ufm's O, keeping the chains moving and inside the red zone he's that extra back you have to account for. That's hard. osu is pretty efficient there. Big edge to osu right now.

It'll be interesting to see how well osu does on O versus the Wisconsin D. I think Wisky's LBs are better than M's and that includes new guy Cinchy who proved his metal in replacement of Beigle. That just shows good coaching. That will give us a gauge and maybe a model of M needs to play barrett ..... or not.

[WM Wolverine]

Difference between the offenses is OSU has the perfect QB for their system, M has Speight who is no Andrew Luck.

I talked a lot about M only needing a game manager this off-season. Speight is that guy and has exceeded most everyones expectations yet he's still limiting M's offense from being excellent. To score points against defenses like OSU's or even Wisconsin, a game manager isn't quite good enough. Defense & special needs needed to repeatedly give M short fields and they still only managed mostly FG attempts.

[iam416]

IMO, Ohio State's OL is significantly more talented than M's. I think there are 2 first round picks playing on the line (Efflein and Prince--in 2018 ) and maybe a third (though, I'm not going to crown M. Jordan just yet).

Ohio State also has a hybrid player that the defense must account for. And the rest of OSU's skill players are good, too, and most have already flashed a bit this year.

M's problem on offense isn't Speight, IMO, it's the inability to consistently run between the tackles. Yes, JTB is probably better in OSU's system than Speight is in M's, but I don't see that as the major difference in offenses.

We'll see how OSU does against Wisconsin. IMO, they're able to create significantly more stress on the defense than any offense Wisky has faced to date. If the OL is as good as I think, then OSU should move the ball fairly well.

Defensively, I'm thrilled -- I mean thrilled with the way the LBs other than McMillan and the secondary is playing. They trot out athletes across the board. I mean, 23 points in 54 possessions. That's good in skeleton.

Indiana will give them a much more difficult time. They have some athletes at WR, so we'll see how the secondary does locked up in press man against them. And Redding is a solid back, although he's the worse RB they've had in several years.

Then I'll start worrying about Wisconsin. Lots of bad memories playing night games in Madison.

[AlabamAlum]

Lagow is a decent, QB, too. He does throw into coverage too much, but he's decent.