Good rejoinder. I won't prolong the repartee. We'll all know more about both teams by this time Saturday.
Oh, by the way. I think these are yours.
Ohio State deserves to be favored--but we have a real shot
- Thread starter martypsu
- Start date
Good rejoinder. I won't prolong the repartee. We'll all know more about both teams by this time Saturday.
Oh, by the way. I think these are yours.
Good rejoinder. I won't prolong the repartee. We'll all know more about both teams by this time Saturday.
Oh, by the way. I think these are yours.
Whatever. You got it all figured out. Like I said before I guess there isn’t any point in playing the game. All the mighty Bucknuts have to do is show up and the PSU players will be shaking in their cleats because I mean this is the greatest team ever.
My biggest concern, even more then our porous back end defense, is the way our offense operates setting up for a game against a truly explosive team like this. In a way, the old Paterno teams would be better suited even-though Franklin has been more competitive against the bucks. As a 19 point underdog, you almost want a ball control offense. A team that can control clock and move the chains and keep OSU's offense off the field. You would tell your team, let's keep it close, then we take a few shots in the 4th and steal the game. Our offense doesn't really possess the ball meaningfully. It dates back to Joemo, we either score a 20+ yard Touchdown, or we lull to death. I know people are going to reference the 18 play drive from this week, but forget about that BS, we aren't running 18 plays with this offense on the Bucks, no way they let that happen. So what do we end up with mostly on offense? Probably more shots deep than we should take(as they stop the clock and help get the OSU offense back on the field) or a bunch of inside read's to the backs for 1 yard and then we punt. I just have 0 confidence we can sustain drives against this defense. I look back to Purdue in the second half, Michigan in the second half with 30 yards on 6 possessions. I guess I am cherry-picking, we moved the ball on MSU and on Minnesota a bit. I guess my big point is a productive offense that gets first downs and moves clock is the best weapon against these guys, even maybe more-so than scoring quickly. Worst case scenario, our offense has a ton of 3 and outs that don't move clock and our Defense plays one of these games that we tend to like where they are on the field for 38 minutes and 110 plays by the opposing team. If that scenario plays out, and I fully expect it to, you are looking at a game that could have people heading to the exists by halftime. I know we should fear no-one, but our coaches need a conservative gameplan supremely focused on first down's as oppose to pop plays. They need to protect this defense as much as possible, and this defense is frail and not playing with confidence at the moment.
With only Rutgers remaining after OSU (and at home, no less), this is quite simply our season finale. This is it. We can put everything into this game.
And with the 19-point spread (wow! That's a lot!) and OSU being ranked #2 and being called the team of the century and having Chase Young back....and being at home in Columbus...and OSU having THEIR game of the season the next week with "The Game" against scUM...they will NOT be bringing their best effort on Saturday. Mentally, the game is already won for them, except that they have to play a talented PSU team that can pull the upset.
I still don't know if we can win...but there is not a better circumstance for us to be in.
And with the 19-point spread (wow! That's a lot!) and OSU being ranked #2 and being called the team of the century and having Chase Young back....and being at home in Columbus...and OSU having THEIR game of the season the next week with "The Game" against scUM...they will NOT be bringing their best effort on Saturday. Mentally, the game is already won for them, except that they have to play a talented PSU team that can pull the upset.
I still don't know if we can win...but there is not a better circumstance for us to be in.
No one said our players would be frightened. No one said OSU is the greatest team ever. I don't know if they're even the best team in college football this year. What most objective observers realize is that they are a lot better than we are. We are 9-1, ranked 9th, and are a 17 point dog for a reason. Hey, I hope the blue and white pom pom shakers are right and we win, or play em' close. I will happily eat large dose of humble pie if either of those things happen. We'll see Saturday.
That's what I'm thinking. Yes maybe we get all the breaks liked Baylor did on the first half of their game... But I'd give our win probability at less than 10%
Our last 3 games with these guys were 3 points or less. In 2015 when we were severely overmatched on the road it was a 24-10 game with us in the red zone with a chance to get within 7 in the 4th quarter. 2014 went to OT. Over the last 5 years, the gap between our programs has gone from sizeable to razor thin. Players on both sides know this. This is a game where I think our schedule and stretch of tough games gives us an edge. The edge takes place at the start where they have to adjust to a team that's as fast as them. If we can hang around into the 4th quarter, the edge comes into play again because we've had high stress games into the 4th quarter where they have not. It's easy to play with the lead when everything is going your way. Putting some doubt into their minds might be tough but if we can get it there, it's something that will be new for them. I know how the transitive property works in football.. it doesn't.. this week is brand new. How do we match up with Ohio State.. not Indiana or Michigan State. All those game have no relevance to Saturday. I just hope we can go there, maintain our poise and get it into the 4th quarter with a chance to win. No reason at all to fear them. Just play our game and see how it plays out.
I like your attitude but I do think OSU will be bringing their best game. Should be interesting if we bring our's. Maybe we'll pull some things out of the hat. Hope so.
If that's trolling, there are a lot of us about. Most here are saying exactly what I am. I don't hate the team. I just spent the past 24 hours defending Franklin. Some on this board can't face reality when it stares them in the face. I don't exclude the possibility we will win, or at least play it close, but a 17+ point spread when you are 9-1 and ranked 9th tells you what others outside this board think. I hope we collective naysayers are wrong. Time will tell.
Let me add I don't hate Penn State. I hate those who run it. If that makes me a troll I embrace the title.
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Gambi,
Don’t let the blue-goggled Pollyanna turds get to you. Their next step is to call you a racist. It’s all they have.
There is nothing wrong with being a realist.....as in realizing that OSU seems to have a really good team this year, is playing at home and will likely beat (handily) PSU.
You're right, and reality is in short supply at times on this board. Still, I am somewhat taken aback by how many agree that disaster looms in Columbus on Saturday. My heart would like nothing better than for so many of us to be wrong, but my brain tells me otherwise. (Some will say the brain part guarantees a Penn State win.
)Yep. I wish this were just hyperbole, but this Ohio State team is the best CFB team we will have faced in my lifetime. I think we have the ability to win, but we're going to have to pull it together to a level we haven't yet seen.
There was a time, many years ago, when I would have approached this game as some here have done....... .....puffing my chest and suggesting that anyone who felt we were likely to lose was traitorous. Reality is not disloyalty. We have a slim chance at victory but the chance does exist. Let's hope it all comes together on Saturday and we who doubted can return to this board and bemoan our lack of faith.
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Except it will be senior day and the last time guys like Wade, Dobbins, Okudah, etc play in the shoe. Young will absolutely bring it 100%. This game clinches the division for either team. Poor take.
All I know is that I don’t want to see Penn State turtle against OSU like we saw far too often in Joe Paterno’s later coaching years. One thing CJF has done since he has been here is play OSU tough, no matter the situation. Dare I say it, this game needs to be coached like Bill O’Brien coached during the sanction years, when Penn State was often outmanned. That means we need to go for it on 4th downs, try some trick plays, maybe run some exotic blitzes and mix up coverages to confuse Fields.
We need to get OSU on their heels and place some doubt in their minds. Punting from their 40 yard line ain’t gonna cut it on Saturday. If we lose by being aggressive, so be it. But let’s go down swinging.
We need to get OSU on their heels and place some doubt in their minds. Punting from their 40 yard line ain’t gonna cut it on Saturday. If we lose by being aggressive, so be it. But let’s go down swinging.
Well if Chase Young was suspended for more than the obligatory 2 games the NCAA conveniently gave OSU and if Justin Fields hadn’t been conveniently declared eligible by the NCAA for being subject to an alleged racist comment from a Georgia baseball player ~ and thus subject to ‘mitigating circumstances’ that are outside the student-athlete’s control that directly impacted his health, safety and well-being at the University of Georgia (cough, cough), as a student athlete (cough, ‘er corespondent student athlete), then Penn State would have an excellent shot at upsetting the Buckeyes.
But the Buckeyes have both of these ‘elite semi-professional’ athletes eligible and playing this Saturday, so I don’t hold much hope for the upset at the Horseshoe. CJF has significantly narrowed the huge gap in talent that existed from the sanctions the past 3-4 years and has played evenly with OSU the past 3 years, but this appears to be too big of a mountain to climb on Saturday IMO. We’d have to play nearly the perfect football game and likely need a few big breaks going our way to pull off the upset. And just in case we do play an outstanding game with few mistakes, the BIG has conveniently assigned John O’Neill and his crew to officiate the game. Enough said. The Big Ten will not idly sit back and enable a potential upset that would keep the Bucks out of the CFP playoffs this year. Take it to the bank.
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It will be interesting to see what game plan psu has. Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face, but Penn State can punch too.
Whatever happens, I hope this team plays angry and through the whistle on Saturday. Let them know they were in a football game.
Whatever happens, I hope this team plays angry and through the whistle on Saturday. Let them know they were in a football game.
Why not us? Someone has to be the Rocky that stuns Apollo with an uppercut. Why not us? It's so easy to take the high road and say we will lose, then you save face when that happens...but it's not like you will lose your shirt if you pick PSU....so I pick PSU to win...why?....because my life won't change either way...the bills will come...the mortgage will too....insurance....PSU will come to play and Fields will pay for not committing to the BLUE AND WHITE...and even if we lose I will always fvking h8 OSU not matter what...so it all remains the same
I think we have a shot. I like Todd Blackledge's take on the game when he said, "Penn State is the only team in the Big 10 that can match up athletically with Ohio State." We have better athletes than anyone else that they have played. Also, they have never been stressed. Every game a blowout. If we can hang with them for the first half I think we have a decent shot at winning.
That sounds great coming from an alum...reality check comes Saturday when Fields exposes the secondary while both Dobbins and he have their way rushing....and the D led by Young will have Clifford running for his life. OSU 48 PSU 17
Yea, that is the likely scenario. However, we can have some hope. We do have better athletes than OSU has faced this year at most positions. We do have a lot of team speed.
I appreciate your approach but simply disagree. I didn't pick OSU to save face. I picked them because I honestly believe they will beat us, and by a large margin. I don't see the point in believing that and then picking Penn State. As you say, it doesn't matter either way, so I might as well be honest in making my pick, and I was. I only hope that I am wrong, as I often am.
You don't think Michigan matches up better, simply schematically, than PSU? They have a more rugged and physical D-line and a better tackling secondary. Doesn't mean that Mich won't lose or get blown out, same with us, but PSU has allowed 80% comp the last two weeks and over 800 yds against Minny and IU....u think we match up better? Not sure I agree. Although, who really matches up well with OSU, they are damn good.
Our only chance might be if somebody starts a new tattoo shop close to the athlete's dorm and there is a new Mercedes dealership with a special opening at noon on Saturday. That might cause the OSU players to skip the game.
We HAVE to clean up that secondary. They have looked INCREDIBLY slow, out of place, and just utterly confused.
Worst I've seen the secondary look in years, if ever. I hope they prove me wrong this week.
Agreed...I mean, I think we match up poorly vs OSU...we don't have anyone in the secondary or even on defense that can save the bacon. YGM had his first sack vs IU in a month...our secondary can't tackle and gets spun around more than a windmill and our LB's are all out of place in pass defense...Fields and Dobbins have to be getting lots of touches this week.
HAAA!!!! I like your term "gets spun around more than a windmill". That describes it perfectly. : ^ )
Wow, lots of negativity here but it's BWI so I shouldn't be surprised. On paper is OSU better? Yes. Does that mean they will win? Nope. PSU will be fired up for a shock the world opportunity. They will have some confidence based on the fact that no other team has challenged the Buckeyes like PSU over the past 4 seasons or so. We have athletes and speed that can do a lot of damage. One lapse in execution on defense by OSU can result in a touchdown, just like any other team. This OSU team has been on cruise control and hasn't really been tested all season. How will first year started Justin Fields respond if his back is against the wall in the 4th quarter? Nobody knows. OSU is favored and for good reason but I'm certainly not writing us off.
