This is my 2nd Pre-Game summary on Rivals. I hope this one is as close to the pin as the first, and I’ll make every effort to make it shorter but I’ll probably fail at that too.
Let’s get this out of the way up front. This game means NOTHING to the CFP committee.
We could win by 70, 10 or the game could be called due to lightning. They won’t care. They really wish we (and every other contender) would schedule fewer of these games. We need two more teams besides Sparty to be legitimate T25 teams in the B10East. Until then we need to make the most of what we have on the calendar. The injury to Brewer hurts us nearly as much as Va Tech.
This game means a TON in terms “The Grind”. In fact it will be the first test of the GRIND. Although the 2nd qtr of Game 1 was sort of a pop quiz you knew was coming.
A night game on Monday is a nightmare. The usual week has 2 intense practices sandwiched on both ends by a rest day and an easy practice. This sequence is time tested. Those 2 intense practices are critical. If they didn’t need them, they wouldn’t hold them.
This week had one 3/4 intense practice, one light kicking day and a day of rest on each end. Film study of VaT was constrained. Who knows how much time they had with Rainbow film. Preparation has been cut by more than HALF. I expect the team to respond like the champions they aspire to be.
Fans should not take anything on Saturday for granted. This week’s game will be a GRINDER. Depth won’t help this situation. It’s not only that 1st teamers are tired but none of the team will be properly prepared. It will BE VERY hard to stay focused and get in and stay in sync. Anything beyond one qtr of solid clean play will be a remarkable accomplishment.
Prediction: Bucks 63-20 in a game with more ups and downs than a roller coaster. Someone asked me last week how we could have lots of flaws in a game I projected to be 42-20… Ummm anymore questions? This week we answer how you can have lots of flaws in a game you win by more points than most teams can score!
Game Flow: The Bucks will come out hot. Everything points to the team buying into the GRIND and the unit leaders will get them focused off the jump. Plus the home opener, the number of new starters and kids fighting for spots on the 2 deep. It’s what happens after the first two series that I’m worried about.
I expect JT Barrett to start and the O and D will be ready to roll behind him. I have thought since before camp that Urban would start whoever sat in game one for game two. CJ is a big gamer and JT is the consummate GRINDER.
The lull will come and fans are going to moan about big plays the D gives up and mistakes that will happen early and often throughout the game. The GRIND is about fighting through tough times and The Bucks will fight through the lulls… but they are human and lulls will come back.
I expect Braxton to be featured every possible way: Running, catching AND THROWING. I thought he might take the first snaps last week. I’ll stick with that this week, and then forget about this idea at which point they’ll do it.
Norm Chow and the staff will throw the kitchen sink at The Bucks on both sides of the ball. See below for how my gut says that works out.
Things I’ll Look For: Turnover correction and Red Zone D improvement. I’ll look for these two things until I find them. Last season and last week the Bucks were sketchy in both areas. It’s hard to win a NCG that way once and I may conclude they will have to do it twice.
When the Rainbows have the Ball.
The story line here is Disney worthy. The QB who looked to be minted from Crimson and Gold at the Willy Wonka QB factory...then faded into obscurity, and an aging Offensive guru team up for one (last) shot at a few highlights on ESPN…. Wax on Wax off Wax on….Max on Max off Max on...
Mad Max Wittek is quite a leading man. He is prototypical Pro Style QB prodigy… 6-4 and 240 Lb’s...right out of Mater Dei HS. It’s not only a HS FB factory - they’ve had 5 losing seasons in their history - it’s a QB factory. The ONLY HS to produce two Heisman Trophy winners… both of them QBs… John Huarte in 64 and Leinhart in 04. In the last decade MD matriculated both Matt Barkley and Colt Brennan.
And of course Mad Max…. But the fairy tale ends there. He was an understudy for Barkley. Then couldn’t beat out Cody Kessler, then couldn’t close his grades to transfer to Texas and ended up in Honolulu with Norm Chow…THE QB Whisperer…. in a last ditch attempt to salvage his career.
Norm coached Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Ty Detmer, Carson Palmer, Philip Rivers and Matt Leinhart. That’s two Super Bowl MVPs and 3 Heisman Trophy winners by my count. and now Mad Max. His work at USC was magic. He will need it tomorrow to keep Mad Max upright and help him get on ESPN to create the ESPN moment he needs to get some scouts to sniff. Norm is more than capable.
I thought VaT was going to unload the kitchen sink to move the ball. Norm has his fingerprints on the blueprint for the kitchen sink. The misdirection wheel route to the FB VaT used for thier only real yardage is a Norm Chow special. So is the throw back to the TE for a TD.
I thought we might have the answer against VaT. Nope, that was one of the flaws big flaws.
My gut says we have some more issues here tomorrow. Norm will use mis directions and roll outs to try and sustain something and then throw deep early in series after they move the chains. This won’t happen often but the fact that it happens at all will freak out some of the less stable fan base. Expect posters to be asking for Urban to replace Ash before the game is over.
Mad Max has had turnover problems going back to HS and I don’t see this changing. Expect 2 TDs and about 4 INTs maybe more.
Norm will try and help him, but Max will want to beat us with his arm and his head will get in the way.
When the Bucks Have the Ball
Nothing can stop this Buckeye offense except themselves, and they will try hard at points during the game to do this. Actually special teams typically put up roadblocks as well. I see no reason this improves tomorrow either. ST needs practice they didn’t have this week.
I see big plays and scoring galore: Braxton accounts for at least 4 scores, Paris, Zeke, Jalin and Nick all score, and my prediction still leaves some room for someone else.
Final Thinking:
I really respect the RW’s and love Norm Chow. I won’t feel too bad if poor old Maxie throws a TD or 2. I expect the RW’s to fight all game and if the Bucks don’t embrace the GRIND, there will be a lot of negative posting going down on Sunday.
Let’s get this out of the way up front. This game means NOTHING to the CFP committee.
We could win by 70, 10 or the game could be called due to lightning. They won’t care. They really wish we (and every other contender) would schedule fewer of these games. We need two more teams besides Sparty to be legitimate T25 teams in the B10East. Until then we need to make the most of what we have on the calendar. The injury to Brewer hurts us nearly as much as Va Tech.
This game means a TON in terms “The Grind”. In fact it will be the first test of the GRIND. Although the 2nd qtr of Game 1 was sort of a pop quiz you knew was coming.
A night game on Monday is a nightmare. The usual week has 2 intense practices sandwiched on both ends by a rest day and an easy practice. This sequence is time tested. Those 2 intense practices are critical. If they didn’t need them, they wouldn’t hold them.
This week had one 3/4 intense practice, one light kicking day and a day of rest on each end. Film study of VaT was constrained. Who knows how much time they had with Rainbow film. Preparation has been cut by more than HALF. I expect the team to respond like the champions they aspire to be.
Fans should not take anything on Saturday for granted. This week’s game will be a GRINDER. Depth won’t help this situation. It’s not only that 1st teamers are tired but none of the team will be properly prepared. It will BE VERY hard to stay focused and get in and stay in sync. Anything beyond one qtr of solid clean play will be a remarkable accomplishment.
Prediction: Bucks 63-20 in a game with more ups and downs than a roller coaster. Someone asked me last week how we could have lots of flaws in a game I projected to be 42-20… Ummm anymore questions? This week we answer how you can have lots of flaws in a game you win by more points than most teams can score!
Game Flow: The Bucks will come out hot. Everything points to the team buying into the GRIND and the unit leaders will get them focused off the jump. Plus the home opener, the number of new starters and kids fighting for spots on the 2 deep. It’s what happens after the first two series that I’m worried about.
I expect JT Barrett to start and the O and D will be ready to roll behind him. I have thought since before camp that Urban would start whoever sat in game one for game two. CJ is a big gamer and JT is the consummate GRINDER.
The lull will come and fans are going to moan about big plays the D gives up and mistakes that will happen early and often throughout the game. The GRIND is about fighting through tough times and The Bucks will fight through the lulls… but they are human and lulls will come back.
I expect Braxton to be featured every possible way: Running, catching AND THROWING. I thought he might take the first snaps last week. I’ll stick with that this week, and then forget about this idea at which point they’ll do it.
Norm Chow and the staff will throw the kitchen sink at The Bucks on both sides of the ball. See below for how my gut says that works out.
Things I’ll Look For: Turnover correction and Red Zone D improvement. I’ll look for these two things until I find them. Last season and last week the Bucks were sketchy in both areas. It’s hard to win a NCG that way once and I may conclude they will have to do it twice.
When the Rainbows have the Ball.
The story line here is Disney worthy. The QB who looked to be minted from Crimson and Gold at the Willy Wonka QB factory...then faded into obscurity, and an aging Offensive guru team up for one (last) shot at a few highlights on ESPN…. Wax on Wax off Wax on….Max on Max off Max on...
Mad Max Wittek is quite a leading man. He is prototypical Pro Style QB prodigy… 6-4 and 240 Lb’s...right out of Mater Dei HS. It’s not only a HS FB factory - they’ve had 5 losing seasons in their history - it’s a QB factory. The ONLY HS to produce two Heisman Trophy winners… both of them QBs… John Huarte in 64 and Leinhart in 04. In the last decade MD matriculated both Matt Barkley and Colt Brennan.
And of course Mad Max…. But the fairy tale ends there. He was an understudy for Barkley. Then couldn’t beat out Cody Kessler, then couldn’t close his grades to transfer to Texas and ended up in Honolulu with Norm Chow…THE QB Whisperer…. in a last ditch attempt to salvage his career.
Norm coached Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Ty Detmer, Carson Palmer, Philip Rivers and Matt Leinhart. That’s two Super Bowl MVPs and 3 Heisman Trophy winners by my count. and now Mad Max. His work at USC was magic. He will need it tomorrow to keep Mad Max upright and help him get on ESPN to create the ESPN moment he needs to get some scouts to sniff. Norm is more than capable.
I thought VaT was going to unload the kitchen sink to move the ball. Norm has his fingerprints on the blueprint for the kitchen sink. The misdirection wheel route to the FB VaT used for thier only real yardage is a Norm Chow special. So is the throw back to the TE for a TD.
I thought we might have the answer against VaT. Nope, that was one of the flaws big flaws.
My gut says we have some more issues here tomorrow. Norm will use mis directions and roll outs to try and sustain something and then throw deep early in series after they move the chains. This won’t happen often but the fact that it happens at all will freak out some of the less stable fan base. Expect posters to be asking for Urban to replace Ash before the game is over.
Mad Max has had turnover problems going back to HS and I don’t see this changing. Expect 2 TDs and about 4 INTs maybe more.
Norm will try and help him, but Max will want to beat us with his arm and his head will get in the way.
When the Bucks Have the Ball
Nothing can stop this Buckeye offense except themselves, and they will try hard at points during the game to do this. Actually special teams typically put up roadblocks as well. I see no reason this improves tomorrow either. ST needs practice they didn’t have this week.
I see big plays and scoring galore: Braxton accounts for at least 4 scores, Paris, Zeke, Jalin and Nick all score, and my prediction still leaves some room for someone else.
Final Thinking:
I really respect the RW’s and love Norm Chow. I won’t feel too bad if poor old Maxie throws a TD or 2. I expect the RW’s to fight all game and if the Bucks don’t embrace the GRIND, there will be a lot of negative posting going down on Sunday.
