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

[iam416]

Their RBs have been hurt a lot. I don't think either is healthy. Henderson is probably not close to 100%.

Miyan has been the better back. He has better vision and the ability to get tons of yards after contact. Henderson is more explosive, but he doesn't break many tackles and he doesn't see holes that well. He was really not good against Penn State. Whereas Miyan, e.g., ground out a TD run that Henderson would have never done.

But, even that said, it's not anywhere near as effective as it needs to be. Earlier in the season, they showed some promise in the power run game -- gaining yards when the needed to. It's one of the bigger reasons their RZ offense was preposterously efficient until the Iowa game. Now it's not reliable for that yard, especially into a known run situation. Right now they need to pass to run. And that WILL work. It's good enough that they can stop you from cheating against the pass.

But, honestly -- it's a mix of not quite good enough, some dubious play-calling and RBs that are nowhere close to healthy.

M is living the charmed life with its key players. Ohio State has missed JSN all year and both Henderson and Miyan have been hurt in some form all year.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[Hannibal]

Their RBs have been hurt a lot. I don't think either is healthy. Henderson is probably not close to 100%.

Miyan has been the better back. He has better vision and the ability to get tons of yards after contact. Henderson is more explosive, but he doesn't break many tackles and he doesn't see holes that well. He was really not good against Penn State. Whereas Miyan, e.g., ground out a TD run that Henderson would have never done.

But, even that said, it's not anywhere near as effective as it needs to be. Earlier in the season, they showed some promise in the power run game -- gaining yards when the needed to. It's one of the bigger reasons their RZ offense was preposterously efficient until the Iowa game. Now it's not reliable for that yard, especially into a known run situation. Right now they need to pass to run. And that WILL work. It's good enough that they can stop you from cheating against the pass.

But, honestly -- it's a mix of not quite good enough, some dubious play-calling and RBs that are nowhere close to healthy.

M is living the charmed life with its key players. Ohio State has missed JSN all year and both Henderson and Miyan have been hurt in some form all year.

Interesting.

How much of it is CRD not emphasizing the run game as much as the previous coaches?

UM and OSU now have diametrically opposed philosophies on offense. It looks like Michigan devotes way more practice time to running than passing. I wonder if the opposite is true for OSU.

[iam416]

He wants to run. If you watched them play ND, you see what he sort of wants to do. My biggest complaint, honestly, is that he's not using his strength to set up his weaker options -- that can be good options if they're set up. But no on is single-covering Harrison. No one. If they do, then throw it to him until they do.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Uhh O.

osu 0 - NW 7

[Jeff Buchanan]

Yes, the wind but osu looks awful on offense and defense.

[Cody_Russell]

End of the 1st:
OSU 0
NW 7

NW is driving in OSU territory. Shocking.
Obviously it won’t hold. OSU assumed they could just show up and blow out NW by default. Reminiscent of the Eagles vs Texans game being close in the 1st half a few days ago.

No reason to get our hopes up of seeing the greatest upset in Big Ten history.

[Jeff Buchanan]

If I were an osu fan I'd be concerned. There's no indication that osu can count on "obviously it won't hold up." They just spent a quarter getting handled up front. That's not a weather factor.

[klondike]

You need to run in these November wind rain etc. games. But right now the Wildcats are better up front.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Will this be the nutz' Iowa or Purdue fiasco?

[Cody_Russell]

Makes it interesting if weather is a factor in the M vs OSU game. Luckily for OSU… if they can get past M, their remaining games would be indoors.

OSU needs to adjust today vs NW with simpler throws. Go for short yardage / higher completion percentage throws and get the ball in your playmakers’ hands. Can’t be throwing downfield as much.

[Hannibal]

Is the wind really that much of a factor or does the team just look sleepy?

[Jeff Buchanan]

There's a passing game to be had to drive NW Ss out of plays. Use those to chip your way to 1st downs. Harrison is your man to do that. Sprinkle is some runs. crd's deep throw calls are nutz. Lot's of head scratching play calls from him. It looks like osu's D woke up to mini-Corum, Hull in the 2nd quarter. Still, osu didn't come ready to play in this weather. This tells the story on the weather factor as much as it does on osu appearing to be unprepared. osu's 3rd down conversion is telling:


0su.jpg

[WingsFan]

Both, I saw before the game the flu bug was going around osu locker room (?) Slow sloppy start osu will dominate the 2nd half, I don't see NW scoring again 28-7

[Jeff Buchanan]

WIngy, you were right about NfW not scoring again but buckeye fans will not like how this game was won. I saw lots of flaws on both sides of the ball. crd's play calling was suspect given the weather. Nevermind that if osu can't run against NfW, that's not a good sign.

21-7 osu survives.