Michigan Monday is up again at the Ozone.
Interesting as always.
"But right now the combination of Devin Gardner and Denard Robinson is quite formidable, and as equally unpredictable."
Let's hope so. We will need points.
read it yesterday but
First you chop off an
First you chop off an alligator's head, now StephenRKass is missing. What evil machinations are next, Zander?
If I told you
sandbagging with Al you wouldn't believe me. But then again, I've become a UMgradUMdadMSUdadinlaw. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Kids these days. You try to
Kids these days. You try to raise them right.
I was too tired last night
I was too tired last night to post. I suppose Zander can do a full synopsis if he wants to, since as OP he is free to edit.
However, from reading Gerdeman, and a few other things, here are my own thoughts.
"It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up." Vince Lombardi
Glad to see your comments
Glad to see your comments here Steven R as I was worried that something might've happen to you. Because posting the Michigan Monday stuff IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE AND ANYBODY ELSE WHO DOES IT IS JUST BASICALLY PLAGIARIZING YOUR MATERIAL AND IT'S NOT THE SAME DAMMIT.
Now Zander my friend......see my lawn over there? Well you need to get off it.
I don't disagree that there
I don't disagree that there were some wide open receivers last Saturday but I also think Devin was throwing some accurate passes into NFL-size windows. I love that he can make those throws and that he has the stones to try.
It's a good writeup, although
It's a good writeup, although I have to disagree about this:
"One thing that you can expect from the Buckeyes is more power football than you saw last week. Ohio State didn't run downhill nearly enough, and the middle of the Wolverines' defense will have to hold up, as they have for most of the season."
The middle of our defense has actually been a strength, especially in short yardage situations. They want to attack the edges if they want to win.
And call me crazy, but I don't like this match up for the Buckeyes. If Gardner continues to throw the ball well, he and Robinson may make the most dangerous pass/rush combination in the country. The Buckeyes' secondary is ripe for the picking (2nd to last in the conference), and they will be under extreme pressure with Gardner and Robinson on the field. The Buckeyes will get their points, but they might have to win in a shoot out, which will be difficult with Michigan's D.
Yeah, I think "stout" is a
Yeah, I think "stout" is a good word for the middle of Michigan's defense. We don't get a whole lot of penetration, but we also don't get blown off the ball.
Knock on wood.
Tricky game for us. Our D
Tricky game for us. Our D line gets no rush and we aren't going to want to blitz Braxton a lot because if he gets loose he'll be gone. He may put up some big passing numbers but that's better than him putting up big rushing numbers since the more he passes the more chances we have for him to make a mistake.
Not sure if Braxton is the kind of guy you want to blitz
He is shiftier than Denard and can make people miss. If you blitz he can make the first wave miss and get yards. That's what OSU wants. Instead UM will do there zone blitz scheme and it should work. Give us a free man but also keep people behind the ball.
I actually think UM's DL will do well to be stout and let Braxton's impatience get the best of him. We can't give him all day and let him dance around for a play to break down. But if he's in the pocket for longer than 4 seconds than good things will happen for UM. He will get ansy, force throws, or just tuck and try to escape. That's why Roh/Clark/Beyer keeping the edge is HUGE. Don't give Braxton that escape route and UM will be ok.
Honestly, OSU's best play is 4 wide shotgun and have Braxton keep it. Sometimes they aren't even looking to pass they just want the field spread for their QB to pick up yardage. We just need to keep him in front and make him beat UM over the top and from inside the pocket.
As Hoke has said repeatedly,
As Hoke has said repeatedly, Gardner does very well when passing from the I-formation off of play action.
With Fitz out, this will be less effective. The threat of Rawls from the I does not appear to be the answer to keeping pressure off of Devin.
So . . . the question is, could Denard be an actual I-Form RB when needed? All his runs last week were off of shotgun handoffs, jet sweeps, and screen passes out of the backfield.
Could Denard be enough of an effective I-Form RB to get some yards on his own, and to set up play action for Devin?
M'Dog
I don't expect Denard in the I form as RB unless its option
I don't see Denard in the Iform unless its an option play (early pitch).
I think Rawls can do just enough to keep OSU aware of the running game in the I-form, we just need 3-4yds per carry from it. V Smith will slip in for some carries too.
The running game will largely fall to Denard at QB running the inverted veer, Denard QB Isos, and Gardner option play to Denard. I expect several speed options with Gardner at QB..only to have him go play action and over the top. If we hit a couple big throws off this play it will be huge.
Denard will probably do lots of Jet sweeps as well. Probably only get the ball 20% of the time but it will serve as a decoy play. Hopefully they are not too obvious b/c he only carries the ball in his left hand which would be only jet sweeps to the left.
Good Read...
"So how is this Toussaint injury a good thing for the Buckeyes again? Al Borges will be forced to scrap the one thing that the Ohio State defense has shown that they can defend this season." - from Michigan Monday
I dont' know that Borges would necessarily scrap the entire running game as this might suggest, as rush defense has been a strength for the Buckeyes this season, although if you look at their schedule, there are several teams on it that aren't known for their ground game. That being said, it probably does tilt the scales towards passing a bit more, and pass defense is something which several teams have exploited when playing the Buckeyes this year. As others have mentioned, the uncertainty of the Gardner-Robinson combination in the backfield would force them to wonder about basically the whole offense, not just a few people. That could certainly help us out.
"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."
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First sentence
"There's not much you can learn from a game against Iowa, unless you lose, then you've just learned that you are one of the five worst teams in America."
Made me LOL in the middle of film class
Bo' Money Bo' Problems
@GerdOzone skeered. OSU has a bad habit of getting off to slow starts. Let's hope that continues on Saturday.
@mgovideo