For anyone at the game,,,it was REALLY cold and somewhat windy. Coldest day this fall I think. Tough on both teams passing game. We did have one terrible drop by J Dixon which may have been a TD if he makes a good move on the dB in space on the 20 yard line. Had one bad overthrow on the long deep ball to T Mac #83. DH completed enough passes to move the chains. I'm glad the refs caught the MSU guard illegally downfield on that TD they had. It was a game we would not want to be behind in the 2nd half in.
Couple Offense
observations.
1---Our two OT's are slow in reacting and kinda got abused by that MSU former walkon Wilkees more than once. We have to come up with something like using the TE's to help block the edge.
2--Part of the reason the running game has sputtered along is because DH is zero threat to run the ball,,and possibly the least mobile QB OSU has had since JIm Karsatos of 1986.
3--Tate Martell finally got a look to see if he could help in that dept. I think it's a key element in beating UM. Did anyone else notice how wide open a QB keeper would have been during the zone read plays where he kept giving the ball to Weber. It will be interesting to see if he gets significant opportunities vs Maryland this next week.
4--Good to see Weber running hard and bouncing plays after first contact. He looked really quick. I wonder if his extended touches over JK was because the game was in his home state. In the UM game, something to consider is their defense has not gone against backs as quick as Weber and Dobbins all year. For whatever reason,,,I think we will run the ball better on them than we initially thought a couple games ago.
Couple Defense observations
1---Brendan White, Shaun Wade, Damon Arnette ,Jeff Okudah , Kendel Sheffield and Jordan Fuller are healthy and looked very good. It took awhile to figure out,,,but we can play at a high level with this group of 6. In fact, I think this group might actually contain UM's passing game better than most people think.
2---The LB's actually played very well,,,although the MSU offense was so bad they couldn't help but look good. Where was Baron Browning?
3---Not much of a pass rush. I see Haskell Garret getting a chance in there finally. The run defense looked better than it has in weeks. The UM running backs and OL are light years better than MSU
4----Getting healthy in the secondary and finally playing the right guys is just what the doctor ordered for this defense. A healthy Bosa playing at DE and this group of 6 in the backfield and we'd be undefeated and people would be talking a whole lot different about our defense this season. As it stands, I feel much better about our chances of containing Patterson in 2 weeks. I hope Schiano comes up with something special for that game to slow him down. I feel like the pieces of that situational puzzle may be coming to light.
Special Teams
Fair catching the kick off's needs done without question. We just don't seem to have a guy who consistently returned kickoffs and got us better than the 25 yardline.
In the UM game we need to field the punts cleanly and at worse case don't let the ball hit and bounce back 15 yards after initially hitting the ground. unless KJ is inside the 10 then let the ball bounce into the end zone (hopefully) .
Our Punter and our coverage team is a real advantage for our team. The MSU game was about as good of job in that dept as I can remember.
Finally-----where are we? Another game of small steps in the right direction on defense. Got 3 turnovers,,, which it seems like forever since we had that many. Solid tackling and coverage.
Offensively,,gotta utilize TM. He might be the X factor to turn on the running game even more. Loved the double reverse with Parris Campbell.. Do we have a WR who can throw a pass? Can anyone else besides me envision a play where TM is in the game and we run a play where he hands the ball off to someone on a reverse and Tate slips into the secondary for a wide open TD. You heard it here first.
Couple Offense
observations.
1---Our two OT's are slow in reacting and kinda got abused by that MSU former walkon Wilkees more than once. We have to come up with something like using the TE's to help block the edge.
2--Part of the reason the running game has sputtered along is because DH is zero threat to run the ball,,and possibly the least mobile QB OSU has had since JIm Karsatos of 1986.
3--Tate Martell finally got a look to see if he could help in that dept. I think it's a key element in beating UM. Did anyone else notice how wide open a QB keeper would have been during the zone read plays where he kept giving the ball to Weber. It will be interesting to see if he gets significant opportunities vs Maryland this next week.
4--Good to see Weber running hard and bouncing plays after first contact. He looked really quick. I wonder if his extended touches over JK was because the game was in his home state. In the UM game, something to consider is their defense has not gone against backs as quick as Weber and Dobbins all year. For whatever reason,,,I think we will run the ball better on them than we initially thought a couple games ago.
Couple Defense observations
1---Brendan White, Shaun Wade, Damon Arnette ,Jeff Okudah , Kendel Sheffield and Jordan Fuller are healthy and looked very good. It took awhile to figure out,,,but we can play at a high level with this group of 6. In fact, I think this group might actually contain UM's passing game better than most people think.
2---The LB's actually played very well,,,although the MSU offense was so bad they couldn't help but look good. Where was Baron Browning?
3---Not much of a pass rush. I see Haskell Garret getting a chance in there finally. The run defense looked better than it has in weeks. The UM running backs and OL are light years better than MSU
4----Getting healthy in the secondary and finally playing the right guys is just what the doctor ordered for this defense. A healthy Bosa playing at DE and this group of 6 in the backfield and we'd be undefeated and people would be talking a whole lot different about our defense this season. As it stands, I feel much better about our chances of containing Patterson in 2 weeks. I hope Schiano comes up with something special for that game to slow him down. I feel like the pieces of that situational puzzle may be coming to light.
Special Teams
Fair catching the kick off's needs done without question. We just don't seem to have a guy who consistently returned kickoffs and got us better than the 25 yardline.
In the UM game we need to field the punts cleanly and at worse case don't let the ball hit and bounce back 15 yards after initially hitting the ground. unless KJ is inside the 10 then let the ball bounce into the end zone (hopefully) .
Our Punter and our coverage team is a real advantage for our team. The MSU game was about as good of job in that dept as I can remember.
Finally-----where are we? Another game of small steps in the right direction on defense. Got 3 turnovers,,, which it seems like forever since we had that many. Solid tackling and coverage.
Offensively,,gotta utilize TM. He might be the X factor to turn on the running game even more. Loved the double reverse with Parris Campbell.. Do we have a WR who can throw a pass? Can anyone else besides me envision a play where TM is in the game and we run a play where he hands the ball off to someone on a reverse and Tate slips into the secondary for a wide open TD. You heard it here first.
