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

[WM Wolverine]

Two (probably) good offenses, take the over.

[WingsFan]

Looked more like the neck, I don't agree with that penalty

[lineygoblue]

Now OSU fans know what its like to hear the ND fight song in their own stadium. When I used to hear it at Michigan Stadium, it was like screeching chalk on a chalkboard.

I can't stand the Irish. I hope that series never gets revived.

[WingsFan]

Ryan Day needs to call urbs during halftime

[lineygoblue]

Looks like all's well that ends well for the bucknuts...

[AlabamAlum]

I predicted Ohio State by 10. They win by 11.


I’m setting up a 1-900 tout line.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Why don't you setup a 1-900-STFU line

[iam416]

Happy with a lot of things. Shocked at passing inefficiency. Shocked.

[iam416]

I was rightfully concerned about two ginormous red flags from the last two season. First, could Ohio State run the ball when the needed to? Second, and more importantly, could Ohio State avoid playing total taintclown defense? After a mere four quarters, the signs suggest they have an actual running game when they need it and they aren't pinkshirt bad on defense. In fact, the defense actually looked really strong. Aside from a missed tackled on the first play that gave ND a FG and a couple great catches, I thought OSU was almost always in position and, well, you know playing defense. I was merely hoping that my eyes wouldn't bleed anymore from watching the alleged "defense" play football. To watch them actually play real defense was almost cathartic.

And it was definitely nice to see the power running game.

So, on the whole, I'm thrilled with where they are out of the gate. Wisconsin in 3 weeks will tell me a lot more.

The one thing I'm not worried about CJ Stroud, who was maybe C+ last night. He had some moments in the 2nd half to keep drives alive that were great. He had some moments that weren't great, especially being late to Egbuka at the end of the half that should have been 7 and turned into a missed FG. JSN being out probably didn't help. Fingers crossed he can at least get back for Toledo and be ready to go for Wisconsin. But, I'm not going to sweat the passing game as some sort red flag for the entire season. That's just not going to happen.

All in all, I'm now way more optimistic that Ohio State can do what it takes to finish 2nd in the East. No shame in that this year when the Death Star is in your division.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Ugly first half but it constantly felt like we were stopping ourselves more than Notre Dame doing anything remarkable.

The most encouraging thing is that, unless ND is much worse than I think, the defense is unquestionably better. A Cornell man comes into town and immediately gets results. TAKE IT TO THE BANK

[Jeff Buchanan]

I watched, frustrated that ND wasn't able to sustain drives by making plays and that their defense seemed satisfied with giving up 4-6y plays to "keep everything in front of them," only to see CJ stroud make great plays to sustain osu drives and score in the red zone. That was the difference in the game for osu. talent's assessment of osu is pretty much on point looking at osu from an M fan who's a "fucking idiot's" perspective.

As for finishing in second place in the BTE," too early to tell what the contest to end the regular season in c-bus will look like. I thought osu's D looked stronger out of the gate than M's considering osu actually played a good football offense. I thought M's offense with McCarthy under center looked more diverse than osu's. We're not going to learn much from the remaining BT contests. M should be tested v. MSU and PSU, both at home, osu by the Badgers at home, MSU and PSU on the road.... making their road to being undefeated going in to The Game more difficult than M's. M's proclivity to give up a game they should win evens it up a bit.

[iam416]

It’s not even worth watching M’s first 3 games. The opponents are so overmatched that’s utterly worthless except that M has a QB battle going on and therein lies a shred of intrigue.

But, every B10 team would start 3-0 against that schedule and I don’t think any of them would play a close game.

So, I honestly don’t know how you’d really compare OSU/M based on this season. Based on rosters and what I know about the players, I think M and OSU are very comparable on offense.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Shockingly Cogent

[Hannibal]

ND's second half playcalling was awful. Unless they just don't have much talent to do anything besides what they did. Which is conceivable.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Based on rosters and what I know about the players, I think M and OSU are very comparable on offense.

The QB and OL are the heart of any CFB team's, nay any football team's, prospects on offense. So, going against my better judgement and this CFB season's personal goals, and that I have some time on my hands this Labor Day weekend, lets analyze the offenses of both M and OSU.

I looked at various analytical rankings of the QBs, RBs, WRs and OLs of the two teams from last year and yesterday's games then added what I know about the players - mostly subjective feelings ball stuff - to come up with the assigned grades on a 4.0 scale:

QBs

Cade McNamara: B- (2.8) analytics = B+ Makes plays, sustains drives, scores TDs = C+. Combined (3.33 + 2.33 = 5.66/2 = 2.8
JJ McCarthy: A (4.00) analytics = A Males plays, sustains drives, scores TDs = A. Combined 4.00

Overall QB Room Value: 6.8/2 = 3.40

CJ Stroud: A- (3.67) analytics = A- Makes plays, sustains drives, scores TDs = A. Combined (3.67 + 4.0 = 7.67/2 = 3.85
Kyle McCord B (3.00) analytics = B+ Makes plays, sustains drives, scores TDs = C+. Combined (3.33 + 2.33 = 5.66/2 = 2.83

Overall QB Room Value 6.66/2 = 3.3

RBs

Overall RB values (based on preseason PFF). M has both Corum # 3 and Edwards #14 ranked in PFF's top 25 RBs. Combined RB PFF = 90 (3.7). OSU has Henderson #4 and WIlliams #24. Combined PFF = 88 (3.3)


WRs

Overall WR values (based on preseason PFF). M has Ronnie Bell # 19 (83 3.0). OSU has Smith-Najigba #1 (95 4.0)

OLs (based on PFF)

Overall OL Values (based on preseason PFF): osu ranked #1 in the nation: 92 (A-, 3.67). M ranked # 5 in the nation: 89 (B+, 3.33)

Weighted Values (QB most heavily weighted):

M QBs 3.40 (.45) = 1.530 OSU QBs 3.33 (.45) = 1.4985
M RBs = 3.70 (.30) = 1.110 OSU RBs 3.33 (.30) = 0.990
M WRs = 3.00 (.15) = 0.450 OSU WRs 4.0 (.15 ) = 0.600
M OL = 3.33 (.10) = 0.330 OSU OL 4.0 (.10) = 0.400
3.420 3.489

One can quibble about this sort of objective analysis and the weighting but it demonstrates a point that eliminates some, but not all subjectivity. The conclusion is that by 100ths, osu has a better offense than M. IOW, "they are very close." I may do this again mid season and again just before the game. using the same weighting and current unit PFF.

To add some of my own subjectivity to assessing the offense (what I know and what I see), I think M's offense is more diverse than osu's and for now, off sets my objective finding that osu's O > M's. Given what we have now, it's going to be a great game come November 11th.