Not much good to say here. Let's just get to it.
Offense: D+
Talk about ineptness. 2 completed passes before the last 2 plays....2. Many will hate me for my opinion, but here it is: Bauserman is and must be our quarterback. There is no doubt that Miller is the more talented of the two but he is just not ready. If we throw him to the wolves now, we will waste his talent and potential for future success for another win or two this season. Bauserman is serviceable (no matter what you think) but he needs help. Many point to the stats and the throw-aways (to the ghost men). The stats don't tell the story of failure by our receivers who dropped at least 6 passes that were on the numbers--by the way, our receivers caught, you guessed it, 0 passes. If those passes thrown away were forced in to the covered receivers (and they were covered) he would have at least 3 interceptions. Given the choice, I'm fine with it. He managed the game well, but he isn't a playmaker (all of ours are suspended). Miller can be a GREAT quarterback in the future, but he needs to learn first. I have seen this story before with an old quarterback benched for the flashy freshman. Learn from the past, Luke. I gave D+ rather than an F because there was a HUGE positive on this side. The best unit on the field for the Buckeyes was the offensive line (never thought I'd say that). They were opening up monster holes and the Buckeyes had great success with Jordan Hall running (why we abandoned that, I'll never know). The Buckeye offense will be boring this year, but it COULD be effective if we run. the. ball.
Defense: B+
This unit would deserve an A if it weren't for the first 2 drives where they obviously though the game started at 8:00. The Buckeyes could have been absolutely smoked if the defense didn't tighten up after the first 2 possessions. They came up with some Jacory Harris picks but dropped another two. With that being said, you can't expect the defense to stop the opposing team and score the points. They stiffened up and really gave the Buckeyes life until the last 2 minutes of the game but they definitely dug a hole from which this offense could not come back. The defensive line is not as deep as the past and the loss of Nate Williams really hurt. Giving up nearly 200 yards to a running back is inexcusable (even though most of those came on the first 2 drives. Clean up the slow start and some sloppy tackling and we'll talk.
Special Teams: A
Yes ladies and gentlemen, you read that right. The Ohio State Special Teams gets my coveted A grade for what seems like the first time ever. Ben Buchanan was phenomenal punting the ball and constantly flipping the field after the offense stalled (usually after 3 plays). Beautiful punts and very nice coverage prevented the big play from Miami. Also, Drew Basil made his first (and second) field goals of his career which will give him much needed confidence for the future. If special teams can get help from the offense, we might win some games. Absolutely loved the punting game but would rather not punt the ball that much anymore.
Coaching: F
Ok Luke, I think we've found you're in over your head. The camera caught the deer in headlights on the sideline which was difficult to watch. As I stated, the biggest mistake of the coaching staff in my opinion is the exact opposite of the greater Columbus area. Bauserman needs to be the guy and we need to run the ball (almost to the exclusion of the pass). Miller will learn and improve over time, but he's not there. When he was running free, Columbus was screaming MILLER TIME but I could see the cockiness in his eyes. I was waiting for the mistake and wasn't disappointed. Again, he. will. be. great. Not yet. Let Bauserman hand it off and run Woody style offense (3 yards and a cloud of dust) with the bevy of great backs and surprisingly good offensive line play. It will be boring, but it will work better than what we are seeing. The playcalling was forced and felt like they had to call a balanced game. Play to the strengths and ignore the pass until the run is stopped. The biggest coaching error occurred in the waning seconds of the game and had no effect of the outcome. As a coach, you never, ever, EVER give up on your team. EVER. Fickell had 3 timeouts in a 2 score game (1TD and 1FG) and he stuffed them in his pocket for a later date. I know that we had a 1 in a trillion chance of winning, but you always hold on and show your team belief in them and their abilities. By giving up, he showed me more than ever that he cannot stay without a major overhaul. I'd love to see Earle Bruce rip him a new one for giving up. I know Woody or Earle wouldn't slink away with his tail between his legs after this. He would claw and scratch until the clock strikes zero. We weren't going to win and you could see Luke thought that, but you never give up even when the world is against you....what about the lesson you're trying to teach with the off the field, 'us against the world' mentality. His actions showed his philosophy was nothing but empty words and that was the most painful thing about the loss.
Here's to leaving this week behind and hitting it hard for another day. Go Bucks!
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I agree with the analysis except for the quarterback situation. Most of the dropped passes in the Miami game were off the mark: the one to Stoneburner in the end zone was behind him, others hit receivers in outstretched hands that they had no hope of bringing in. Yes, the receivers ran terrible routes and didn't bail him out with any good catches, but it wasn't like Ryan Mallett was hitting guys in stride like in the Sugar Bowl.
Bauserman did NOTHING in that game. Sure, he didn't turn the ball over, but in a game when you're trailing by multiple scores and the coach is still calling pass plays, you have to try to make something happen. There's a difference between being a "game manager" and being timid and ineffective.
Imagine if 2008 Terrelle Pryor had played the majority of the Miami game. Sure, the turnovers would have been there, same as with Braxton, but remember how amazing he was at making something out of nothing. Recall that he engineered a come-from-behind victory at Wisconsin his freshman year, facing a much tougher team in a much more intimidating environment. I don't think Braxton is that far off from where Pryor was as a freshman, and there's no need to bench an All-Big Ten QB to put him in. Braxton needs to learn from getting real game experience and, yes, making costly mistakes.
We cannot afford to waste this season waiting for a 1-year quarterback to take the training wheels off. Bauserman has failed his audition. The future is now.
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