Ohio State Football - 2018 Season

[bucksfan2]

Losing Nick for 4-6 weeks is a bummer. He should be back for the stretch run so that is positive. The DL is pretty much the strength of the defense so the loss shouldn't be HUGE. If anything, Chase Young needs to step up and take his game to the next level. The nice thing is, with the way Jones is playing, if you line both guys up on the same side, its tough to double each one.

I think PSU is good, probably a little over-rated. I do think the equalizer in this game is the "White Out." I think last year was their year, and while their QB is back, they lost a lot from last years team. OSU's last two games there really shouldn't have become games, they went into a shell in 2014 and allowed PSU to come back and then in 2016 they had a blocked FG and blocked punt. Weird things happen there, but most of OSU's issues have been self inflicted in Happy Valley.

[HeatherC1212]

Yeah, weird things do seem to happen when they have to travel there. Hopefully this is the year they just play good football and win without any weird flukey things!

IIRC, they've played PSU later in the season the last few years (I think most of the recent games have been in mid-October). Do you guys think it's a benefit to be playing them a bit earlier this year?

[bucksfan2]

Yeah, weird things do seem to happen when they have to travel there. Hopefully this is the year they just play good football and win without any weird flukey things!

IIRC, they've played PSU later in the season the last few years (I think most of the recent games have been in mid-October). Do you guys think it's a benefit to be playing them a bit earlier this year?

I don't know what to think. The 2014 PSU team wasn't very good, Barrett hurt his knee before half, and OSU limped into OT pulling out a win. The 2016 game in which PSU blocked a FG and Punt to win the game saved Franklin's job. Had OSU continued to dominate the 2016 game, Franklin is coaching elsewhere.

I think Franklin is a good recruiter and really knows what PSU football means to the area (and the state.) He recruits like PSU hasn't recruited in about two decades and has probably the second most talented team in the B1G. I don't know how much I like him as an actual game coach. An early season game often benefits the "older" team, but I don't know what to think. PSU lost a lot from last year (including their D-Coordinator), but has its QB back. OSU has had a tumultuous season so far, but they have coaching continuity. OSU is the far more talented team and should win that game. I think PSU needs to have a couple of big time plays go their way in order to win. I don't see a blocked FG/P again, but if they can score on some chunk plays OSU has been prone to this season.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Yeah, weird things do seem to happen when they have to travel there. Hopefully this is the year they just play good football and win without any weird flukey things!

IIRC, they've played PSU later in the season the last few years (I think most of the recent games have been in mid-October). Do you guys think it's a benefit to be playing them a bit earlier this year?

I think we win by at least 3 TDS.

[GAC]

My buddy texted me last night and wants me to play golf Saturday around 3 PM. So I have a choice ..... play golf or watch the Buckeyes slaughter Tulane?

I'm playing golf, while DVR'ing some other games.

[Sea Ray]

Ohio State used a 100 yr old man to dot the i in script Ohio today. He joined the OSU band one yr after the script Ohio was started. He's also a WW II vet. Cool. Very cool indeed.

PS: He looked pretty good for 100. He was a little wobbly but walked w/o a cane or walker

[BuckeyeRed27]

Ohio State used a 100 yr old man to dot the i in script Ohio today. He joined the OSU band one yr after the script Ohio was started. He's also a WW II vet. Cool. Very cool indeed.

PS: He looked pretty good for 100. He was a little wobbly but walked w/o a cane or walker

Yeah that was a cool moment. Much better than anything that happened in the second half of the game haha.

[Assembly Hall]

So what do you Buck fans think of the game this week-end?

[BuckeyeRed27]

So what do you Buck fans think of the game this week-end?

I think as long as OSU avoids turnovers it should be a pretty comfortable win. Haskins isn’t going to be rattled by the environment and I think they will have a tough time slowing the Buckeye offense down. McSorley is a good college QB and I think they will be able to score, but just not nearly enough. I think it’ll be something like 45-27 OSU.

[Assembly Hall]

I stand by my thoughts that I haven't been impressed with the Lions.

[bucksfan2]

I think as long as OSU avoids turnovers it should be a pretty comfortable win. Haskins isn’t going to be rattled by the environment and I think they will have a tough time slowing the Buckeye offense down. McSorley is a good college QB and I think they will be able to score, but just not nearly enough. I think it’ll be something like 45-27 OSU.

Yea turnovers are probably PSU's best hope. I think its fair to say that OSU will have the most talented team going into this game. McSorley is a good college QB who will make his fair share of plays. I think there needs to be a bit of OSU turnovers and McSorley playing a great game. It can happen, and OSU's struggles at LB so far this season are somewhat troubling, but I don't think PSU has been all that impressive this year.

[BillDoran]

I hope we're able to outscore them. Thus far, Haskins looks as advertised. I think his passing skills can take this offense a long way. On the other side of the ball is a different story. If the defensive line can create havoc, we're in good shape. Still not very comfortable with the back seven though. I'm worried about Miles Sanders. He's not too far off Barkley talent-wise, and that's saying something. Between McSorley, Sanders and Hamler there's a lot of big play threats. Hope the defense can limit the home runs.

[bucksfan2]

I hope we're able to outscore them. Thus far, Haskins looks as advertised. I think his passing skills can take this offense a long way. On the other side of the ball is a different story. If the defensive line can create havoc, we're in good shape. Still not very comfortable with the back seven though. I'm worried about Miles Sanders. He's not too far off Barkley talent-wise, and that's saying something. Between McSorley, Sanders and Hamler there's a lot of big play threats. Hope the defense can limit the home runs.

OSU had done a good job of stopping marquee players in the past. Barkley returned the opening KO last season, but after that had a pretty muted game. Same can be said about Jordan Taylor of Wisconsin. What scares me about PSU is if McSorley can throw those deep jump balls that he has made a career out of successfully. I think PSU scores around 21 points Sat night, the key for OSU will be to score more than that (obviously) but also to keep the big plays in check.

[puca]

It's a real tough environment to play in. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Ohio State loses. They are going to have to outscore Penn State, which they are certainly capable of, but if I were an Ohio State fan I'd be worried about the Penn State offense and their big-play capabilities. Unless their back 7 suddenly improves, they are going have their hands full on Saturday.

[BuckeyeRed27]

One thing that has developed as a pattern with Penn St is starting slow and throwing up a bunch of second half points. Maybe their coaches are really smart and they make great adjustments. More likely is they are relying on overcoming outmatched opponents as the game goes on and they absolutely won’t be able to do that Saturday.