The Buckeye Beat

The 2018 Ohio State Buckeyes How do we feel about this team? I wanted to write a post about this current team because there's just something about this group. The start of the season has been a slightly odd mix of incredible results, like beating Penn State for the second straight comeback win against the Nittany Lions, passing an early against against a ranked TCU and lighting up the scoreboard like very few (or any) Ohio State teams have since I can remember. But then there are the odd, gashing big plays given up by the defense. I mean, this was THE year that we gave up the longest running play in the history of the program. And an unusually high number of big passing plays given up against the cornerbacks.  So, how are we feeling about this team so far? The talent on offense is at the highest level that I believe I've personally seen at Ohio State. The 2005 Buckeyes had some big offensive names - Troy Smith, Santonio Holmes and Tedd Ginn Jr. The 2015 team

Buckeyes Win at the White Out WOW. What. A. Game.  The Ohio State Buckeyes counter-punched Penn State Nittany Lions late in the football game for the second straight season in an intense 27-26 comeback win on the road to bring the Buckeyes' record to an undefeated 5-0.  Just when things looked about as bleak as possible, Dwayne Haskins and the cavalry rattled off 13 unanswered points in just shy of six minutes of game time for the second straight comeback victory against the Nittany Lions.  Did I say comeback? Takeaways There are good football players on the Ohio State defensive line. Even without Nick Bosa, Ohio State has a couple (NFL) guys that can pick up the slack very well. Chase Young (Predator, best nickname?), Dre'Mont Jones and Jonathan Cooper picked up their level of play and intensity. Which is everything Ohio State fans could have asked for. And having a guy with dreadlocks dominate on national television is great for street cred. Trace M

Battle In Happy Valley In honor of the upcoming, highly anticipated matchup between #4 Ohio State and #9 Penn State, I'm going to skip over the 49-6 victory over Tulane and that recap. Ohio State dominated from the start and took many of their key players out by halftime. It was a open-and-shut case; Ohio State won the game on Monday that week. Not much else to be said.  Now on to the big one. As an Ohio State fan, the white out games make me nervous, even though Ohio State has actually had a lot of success playing Penn State in recent memory. Since 2002, Ohio State has a 12-4 record against Penn State, including being 5-2 on the road.  So why am I so nervous? It's because I have post traumatic stress disorder thinking about Tamba Hali's devastating sack on Troy Smith and the subsequent fumble on our way to a 17-10 loss in 2005. It's because I remember watching the 2016 game (I admit, I actually was in and out of the TV room at a party), thinking &quo

Buckeyes Win Down in Texas The Buckeyes and the Horned Frogs squared up at AT&T Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas in a Top 15 match-up in the 3rd week of the college football season. In stand-in Head Coach Ryan Day's post-game press conference, he told reporters that he tried to prepare his players for a fight and to make sure they showed resiliency when they got hit.  And that's exactly what happened.  TCU came into the game with a clear game plan; get the ball on the outside and in-space and make Ohio State's linebackers chase and their defensive backs tackle. Get the ball out of quarterback Shawn Robinson's hands quickly to avoid pressure from the Ohio State defensive line. And that plan worked for 2.5 quarters. TCU hung with the Buckeyes and were up on the scoreboard for much of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Robinson got the ball effectively to wide receiver Jalen Reagor, who had a nice first half, finishing the game with 7 catches for 98 yards. TCU runnin

Week 3 Preview and Prediction - Ohio State v TCU Preview Ohio State comes into their week 3 matchup ranked #4 in the country as TCU boasts a respectable #15 ranking. Both teams are coming off double-digit wins and presume to be coming into the contest confident. Although the site is considered neutral, being played at AT&T Stadium in Forth Worth, Texas, the TCU campus is a mere 27 minute drive to the stadium. TCU I watched the TCU game against SMU, a game in which the Horned Frogs beat the Mustangs 42-12 on the road. KaVontae Turpin seems to be TCU's best player and biggest offensive threat. Not only is he extremely fast, but his acceleration to top speed is impressive. He finished the game with four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown as well as another touchdown off of a punt return. The Ohio State defense will have to play well on punt returns as well as be aware of quick slants that will allow Turpin to get loose in the open field.  The TCU quarterback, Shaw

Big Win for the Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes picked up right where they left off at the end of Week 1 with a 52-3 win over Rutgers in Week 2. Very similar to last week, the defensive line was dominant, the receivers caught everything thrown their way and the dual-threat of Weber and Dobbins at running back is a luxury. That's not even mentioning Dwayne Haskins going 20/23 for 233 yards and another 4 touchdowns. No interceptions either, by the way. And lastly, Ohio State got some young guys a lot of playing time and the depth of the roster was on full display.  Takeaways As the competition gets better, it's still going to difficult to cover Ohio State's wide receivers for four quarters. Oregon State and Rutgers were two opponents that were over-matched and it was evident in many areas of the game, specifically how much time Haskins has had to throw and how open the receivers seem to be. One would assume that will change as Ohio State goes to play TCU in Texas th