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

[The Oracle]

Game went about exactly how i thought

[iam416]

Sort of. Still waiting for backdoor.

[iam416]

You throw at Denzel Ward 38 times sooner or later he'll get one.

[AlabamAlum]

I knew I should have taken Ohio State for more than $500.

[Hannibal]

IU is decent defensively. On offense, it's Lagow, a couple of big receivers, and nothing else. And Lagow is pretty bad if he is forced outside the pocket.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Looks like Schiano figured some things out at halftime.

Good second half. First half wasn't as ugly as some other games but very troubling.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I knew I should have taken Ohio State for more than $500.

I didn't even place a bet because, well, the first half.

Opening games are a bitch. Favored team on the road and all that. By the end of the half I had doubts osu was going to win let alone cover.

Needless to say, classic ufm win ...... early troubles, keep working, snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Well, that's hyperbole. osu had the game well in hand after ufm went for 2 to put osu up 35/21.

The combination of new receivers and Barrett's continuing inaccuracy downfield, given how IU played them defensively, has to give osu fans pause though.

Regardless, osu is going to be a load for any team suiting up against them and they proved they can stay focused and win on the road.

[AlabamAlum]

IU had a chance to be up 14 or more going into half. You could sense that when they didn't take advantage of how OSU was covering it would end badly for them.

Make no mistake, IU had some miracle catches. Can't do much about a perfect throw and catch; however, too many times, the OSU corners refused to play the ball and got burned. As a corner, if you're looking at nothing but the back of the WR's jersey the entire route, you're gonna have a bad night. Or a half in this game. Adjustments were made. You could sense the frustration on the IU WRs. It was like they wanted to yell, "No, play like you played in the first half!"

[Jeff Buchanan]

Yeah, phenomenal catches by Cobb and that other guy. Schiano was slow to stop playing one-high and keep 2 safeties back to help the CBs. Once he did that (or versions of it because he got a little sneaky with it) that changed Legow's reads ...... he struggled with it.

I also thought DeBord screwed the pooch by calling those quick outs in response to Shiano's D changes to the sidelines that were immediately handled by osu. Wasted plays. Then kept doing it ...... classic Mike DeBord! That got into Legow's head and when the osu sideline got osu's CB's heads out of there asses in coverage, game over.

BTW, I streamed the ESPN Sky Cam flawlessly with no buffering most of the game because the ESPN video feed was awful over my Roku. Audio was fine (i.e., the data rate for audio was not a problem). First I thought it might be my router, internet speed, whatever but that the Sky Cam was flawless rendered that reason moot. Anyone else stream and have that issue. If not, I'll need to check out my network.

[Jeff Buchanan]

So, I've read both 11 Warriors and The O-Zone .........

I actually like both of these rags. The commentary is crisp. My only gripe is that they don't back it up with the kind of thing mgoblog (Brian) does in his UFRs ..... at least I haven't seen it. Maybe I'm missing something.

Anyway, from an M perspective, I said in the live thread that I thought osu's offense was "incoherent" as it evolved in the first half. kevin wilson eluded to why in his post game comments: running against bad fits. Apparently and subsequently got that fixed. dixon is good and that's an understatement. ufm said weber would start against OU next week. We'll see. If weber's ready the osu rushing attack is going to be an awesome two (three if you count barrett and you should) headed monster.

The DL is, well, very, very good. They were in IU's backfield on every snap. DeBord/Legow to Sammi Cobb and that other wide-out seemed to handle it well to start the game but then went pretty much full-DeBord, repeating useless play after play from his playbook in the third. Legow floundered because of it, IMO. osu's D feasted on the poor guy. That's DeBord in a nutshell. Good luck with him, IU.

osu's receivers are fine. Droppsies in the first game? No problem.

I also thought the turn around by the CBs on the over-the-shoulder catches and fades they were giving up in the first half was an indication of the kind of side-line coaching osu/ufm have at their disposal.

Frosh punter - no worries. He was pretty good.

Yeah, this is a good to great osu team that is going to shade to great on jt barrett's shoulders ...... or not. I don't think he is a Heisman candidate. Good DL and well played defense that can contain/shut him down on the ground are going to give urban fits. OU, PSU and M might do that. MSU? eh ..... the double A gap blitz they run has been deciphered. Iowa? Maybe, I don't know them at all.

It's very early but there's a road-map to neutralize (to some extent), osu's great DL and make no mistake, it is great. Really accurate two step drop back passers like Legow at his best might have a chance. Dual threat QBs that osu will face. No chance. Speight? Unknown at this point. We'll learn more tomorrow on that score. He is rumored to have gotten more accurate and has improved his mechanics (from his typically slow release) from last season. I'm not betting on it though.

M showed last season a good D can contain barrett ....... for a while. But he will kill you just when you think you've got the game in hand and him in your grasp and the offense figured out. He's a heady playmaker.

osu will be in the hunt in late November maybe totally in charge if any of the contenders nationally fade. I really don't think, from a talent level, M is close. but then, there is HARBAUGH!!!! Sweet Jesus if a one loss M, playing at home, can scuttle an undefeated osu run at the BTCG. I'd liken that to Clemson shutting out osu ...... never mind, I dislike Dabo a whole lot more than urban.

[Jeff Buchanan]

[THE_WIZARD_]

Summary of the OSU-Hoosiers fuckfest:

[iam416]

OSU passing game is still a concern. Otherwise, pretty happy after 4 quarters. But, that assumes IU is actually decent.

[AlabamAlum]

They're MissState with better uniforms.

[Jeff Buchanan]

....... and no fucking cow bells. Yeah, way better in those terms anyway.