OSU is beatable...
- Thread starter PennState_one
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The only difference between Michigan in the 1st half and Michigan in the 2nd half of our game was the way Sean Clifford played. We had guys running wide open the entire 2nd half and Clifford just missed them. Hamler and Dotson both had easy touchdowns if Sean got them the ball. Freiermuth would have had a huge play, but Clifford missed him. They out scored us 14-7 in the 2nd half, but the same stuff that worked in the 1st half was there the entire 2nd half.
Yep and unlike Wiscy, PSU has the speed and depth to compete...
I was referring more to their offense. Their D (imo) was better but i agree we missed open shots, But their offense found it's way and were within an easy dropped pass in the EZ of tying us with a ton of momentum on their side.
IMO, Jimmah does not go for 2. He takes the tie and the mo into OT and imo we lose. It should not have been that close and if the kids learned that and learned they need to step on the throat of their opponent, then it was worth it.
How do we know OSU is beatable? How do we know any undefeated team is beatable? I suggest we will only know if and when they are beaten?
I totally disagree with a lot of people that it was an "easy dropped pass." Drop, yes. Easy catch? I've seen far easier ones dropped. Plus, the game is 60 minutes. PSU executed more plays and earned the victory. End of story.
I've seen easier, too. This was in the breadbasket of a very good receiver with no one touhing him and momentum swinging heavy to michigan. I call that an ez catch. But agree there have been drops on even easier passes.
As an OSU fan, I would say our two "weaknesses" to date have been starting slow on offense and having problems protecting Fields. When looking at Penn State as of late, this seems to fall right into your guys lap as you have a stellar pass rush and get out to early leads.
Not only are we beatable (every team is beatable), but Penn State has key ingredients to do it.
Not only are we beatable (every team is beatable), but Penn State has key ingredients to do it.
Go watch the play again. He had a defender all over his back. So no one touching him is just false. He should have caught it, but in that game alone there were easier catches that were dropped or not made. 60 minute game.
Interesting. Wonder if they still feel that way. It's bad enough that he de-committed, but then he transfers to our main rival in the conference. I'd be a little angry still if I were CJF.
Our pass rush is a bit mitigated by the fact that we play bend-but-dont-break on the back end, so it's easy for QBs to get the ball out quick. Fields's biggest challenge will be to take what's given and not try to score a TD on every play. I don't know that he's had to do this yet.
I just don't see our offense (or anyone's) scoring enough on that defense. Okudah, Wade, Arnette...that's an NFL-ready defensive backfield.
If we keep everything in front on D, hopefully we keep it close late and "look" better than a one-loss LSU or Bama
There last two drives in the Red Zone Michigan was able to score one very questionable touchdown. They did move the ball better in the 2nd half, and yes they dropped a catchable ball. ( I would disagree that it was an easy catch. Lamont Wade was right there and had something to do with the drop.) But, I don’t think we took our foot off the gas; we certainly did not execute as well in the 2nd half. That was the problem.
Chase Young is starting to get crazy #1 draft pick hype down here in Miami Dolphin land. And it is becoming increasingly clear that the Dolphins are going to make sure that they have the #1 pick. Some fans/radio personalities starting to call for "draft Young #1" and then pick the best available QB with the other first round picks that they have, or trade away the #1 pick to a team that will draft Young in order to secure even more picks. Have to imagine Mr. Young has heard this chatter and one would have to wonder if he starts to ease up a bit now that he has all of that good tape out there and the risk of injury keeps increasing with each passing play...
Don't sell yourselves short. You have the athletes to compete and will come in as the underdog with all the pressure riding on OSU (especially us fans who remember the 2015 MSU game).
Our offense relies on the run game, specifically a combination of bash and stretch at the RB position and RPOs with the threat of Fields taking off to mix up defense alignments. This helps open up Olave and Victor downfield with Hill running underneath. What has helped Fields develop is the fact that our defense is so stout, there is not a need to panic when we start off slow. What happens when the defense gives up an early TD? How will Fields and the Day as the play-caller respond?
People talk about Fields, Dobbins, and the offense, but where we have improved the most is on the defense. I would expect PSU to use your TE down the seam to exploit the gaps in our base Cover 3 (shifts to Cover 1 on occasion) and try to get Hamler in the slot against Wade and work some RPOs; similar to what happened against Michigan. Wade is better than UM's safety, but Hamler beat him last year.
Not a surprise, but I think OSU wins. With that said, I expect it to be close; the first game all year we would have a close game (Maryland and Rutgers won't be close), which is another dynamic we haven't seen.
Come to this board enough and you'll see that our fans routinely "sell ourselves short."
Come on Howie. Nobody on this board sells PSU short. We are all positive about everything PSU football...
Sorry, Wade had no impact on the drop (aside from he was in the receiver's head...if so). It was bad drop and will haunt that poor kid for a very long time.
We held on to win, but we could easily have lost a won game.
That has to stop.
Fascinating psychology for the final two games for OSU. IF--still an IF in my mind--we are 10-0 and ranked in the top 4 and Michigan wins out and is ranked in the top 10 (9-2)...how will Ohio State line up for such a gauntlet?
Senior Day versus PSU...the team with whom they are the lowest point spread favorite all season (I'm guessing 10-point favorite in the Shoe?)...top 4 match-up...one of the few 10-0 versus 10-0 match-ups in history...College GameDay (OSU's first of the season)...a must-win game for the Big Ten East title...
BUT
The following week is their precious "The Game" versus TSUN. The game that's a one-game micro-season for those bozos every year.
Obviously they can't "overlook" PSU...because the winner of that will be the Big Ten East champ (and Indianapolis rep)...but they have a HUGE game to follow...and not to mention a HUGE game after that if--and they will be favored to indeed win all three games and be the 13-0 Playoff participant--they beat PSU and Michigan.
It's going to be VERY tough mentally to prepare for that gauntlet.
(PSU, on the other hand, will be able to treat the OSU game--where they will be a major underdog on the road against a higher-ranked team--as the Super Bowl. They will realize...the regular season is OVER if they lose...so they MUST leave everything on the field. We should be supremely focused on OSU...whereas OSU might be divided in their preparations.)
Fascinating.
Senior Day versus PSU...the team with whom they are the lowest point spread favorite all season (I'm guessing 10-point favorite in the Shoe?)...top 4 match-up...one of the few 10-0 versus 10-0 match-ups in history...College GameDay (OSU's first of the season)...a must-win game for the Big Ten East title...
BUT
The following week is their precious "The Game" versus TSUN. The game that's a one-game micro-season for those bozos every year.
Obviously they can't "overlook" PSU...because the winner of that will be the Big Ten East champ (and Indianapolis rep)...but they have a HUGE game to follow...and not to mention a HUGE game after that if--and they will be favored to indeed win all three games and be the 13-0 Playoff participant--they beat PSU and Michigan.
It's going to be VERY tough mentally to prepare for that gauntlet.
(PSU, on the other hand, will be able to treat the OSU game--where they will be a major underdog on the road against a higher-ranked team--as the Super Bowl. They will realize...the regular season is OVER if they lose...so they MUST leave everything on the field. We should be supremely focused on OSU...whereas OSU might be divided in their preparations.)
Fascinating.
I watched a good chunk of the OSU vs. Wisconsin game tonight, a few observations
> OSU sold out on the run. They played with 8 men in the box quite a bit and Taylor struggled with that all night
> Wisconsin played a soft zone, often only putting 3 on the line. The soft zone led to Lots of pitch and catch and dobbins and fields had little resistance at times. I wasn’t impressed with the wisky game plan
> Fields was sacked a lot...he has a tendency to sit back just a bit too long. Good passer and good on his feet, but looked like a freshman at times.
> Coen struggled. I give OSU credit and it was raining, but I wasn’t terribly impressed.
There was no way Wisconsin was going to win that game. Way too one dimensional on both offense and deFense. I think OSU is likely the best in the country, but I don’t think Wisconsin was as big of a test as we would have expected.
> OSU sold out on the run. They played with 8 men in the box quite a bit and Taylor struggled with that all night
> Wisconsin played a soft zone, often only putting 3 on the line. The soft zone led to Lots of pitch and catch and dobbins and fields had little resistance at times. I wasn’t impressed with the wisky game plan
> Fields was sacked a lot...he has a tendency to sit back just a bit too long. Good passer and good on his feet, but looked like a freshman at times.
> Coen struggled. I give OSU credit and it was raining, but I wasn’t terribly impressed.
There was no way Wisconsin was going to win that game. Way too one dimensional on both offense and deFense. I think OSU is likely the best in the country, but I don’t think Wisconsin was as big of a test as we would have expected.
Check out our schedule the past couple of years and you'll know how we felt.
Very fair. PSU will have to really get after Fields to win. Because, our secondary is good but not elite. When given time to throw, Fields will be good enough IMO. We don’t have those 1st round athletes in the secondary like:
OSU, LSU and Bama.
Of course, turnovers and special teams can even out any game. Like Barkley’s KO return in 2017.
I’d be surprised if we consistently move the ball on you guys. Gonna need big plays. Possible, difficult to count on road and against a top defense.
I just really hate Justin Fields face. I want to throw something at him when he's on tv.
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2016 was a great win, but unquestionably OSU overall was the better and more talented team.
2017 was a heartbreaker (I was there), but IMO a lot of the successful first three quartered was OSU making numerous mistakes with dropped balls, turnovers, and penalties. Never felt like the D was stopping them. And then in the fourth, OSU stopped making mistakes and Barrett played out of his mind. PSU was also hurt by a couple of injuries, especially on OL that could not protect Trace in the fourth. And I also thought OSU overall was the better more talented team.
Last year was different. I thought PSU outplayed OSU and was just as talented overall, with PSU making costly mistakes that cost them the game. With this trend, and with the talent I see on PSU after a lot of strong recruiting classes, I fully expect for PSU to be very competitive against OSU this year. While I’m not expecting a victory, PSU has more than a fair chance of pulling it out. I’ll be there to see the game and can’t wait.
2017 was a heartbreaker (I was there), but IMO a lot of the successful first three quartered was OSU making numerous mistakes with dropped balls, turnovers, and penalties. Never felt like the D was stopping them. And then in the fourth, OSU stopped making mistakes and Barrett played out of his mind. PSU was also hurt by a couple of injuries, especially on OL that could not protect Trace in the fourth. And I also thought OSU overall was the better more talented team.
Last year was different. I thought PSU outplayed OSU and was just as talented overall, with PSU making costly mistakes that cost them the game. With this trend, and with the talent I see on PSU after a lot of strong recruiting classes, I fully expect for PSU to be very competitive against OSU this year. While I’m not expecting a victory, PSU has more than a fair chance of pulling it out. I’ll be there to see the game and can’t wait.
I hear ya. No problem though, both UM and PSU will dismantle the sucknuts and make Fields sorry he ever went there !!!!!!!
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Difference wasn’t just Sean’s performance in a vacuum. UM had defenders in his face constantly in the 2nd half. Our OL couldn’t contain them.
He was asked that in a recent interview and mentioned that he played in some games in high school where the temps were below freezing. He noted that he actually thought it would be less of a problem in college than high school given sideline heaters, heated benches, helmet warmers, etc. Now snow storms, sub-zero conditions, etc would be a different situation entirely
Thanks. Weather obviously affects both teams, but I often wonder about how skill position players from warmer climates adjust to Big 10 weather. Both schools obviously get guys from the South, but since Fields touches the ball on every offensive play and this is his first year "up north" it will be interesting to see how he does (and if it affects game planning) if/when he encounters a really cold game.
Let's hope that weather doesn't play a factor and both teams can put their best on display for what should be the largest TV audience of the year. I expect a classic with two very talented and worthy teams battling for a play-off shot
I've watched it several times and the ball is there and coming out before Wade hits him. He dropped it.. it wasn't a matter of Wade doing anything.
Now if you are saying the mere presence of a defender caused the receiver to have nerves issues (etc) then we can agree.
Chase Young is a beast - yes. But the problem that no one is addressing is their DTs. They rotate 4 excellent DTs and sliding an OL to double team Young is begging for trouble on the inside. As time goes on, it wears on a less deep opponent. That's why I believe the two deepest teams on OSU's schedule - UM and PSU - have a shot and will beat the suckeyes
