Grading the Bucks--Week 5: Michigan State.....GROSS

Offense: F
What a pathetic display! I thought this was Ohio State but apparently not. Under 100 yards of offense until late in the 4th and shutout until 10 seconds left....putrid. It's painfully clear that we do not have a quarterback on the roster. I still support Bauserman but he's the lesser of two evils. Miller has happy feet and is afraid to hit the hole. The running lanes open but he dances rather than just running. His passing has much to be desired as well. JB shows that he can throw...sometimes, but he can also overthrow the receivers by 20 yards. The running game took a giant step back and the best O-line I've seen obviously was a fluke. Jordan Hall failed to step up to the plate for his audition and the offensive line was pathetic after 2 solid weeks of above average play. Maybe the suspended players will make a difference but it's hard to envision fixing all of these holes. Give some credit to MSU's D-line but the guard play and QB play at OSU is inexcusable. Who starts at QB next week? God only knows. Personally, I'd start JB on the road, but I'm not comfortable with it. I expect Fickell to go with Miller, but there is no good answer.

Defense: A- (Side grade--Travis Howard: F-----)
How can you fail to gain more than 100 yards until the 4th and still have a (legit) chance to win in the waning seconds? Have a defense that plays sound and bends but doesn't break. While the offense was throwing up on the field, the defense never seemed to get a break. Yet, they continued to run out there and shut down the senior QB. The return of Nate Williams from injury and Solomon Thomas from suspension to join John Simon and Jonathan Hankins will make the front four very very scary. The run defense was stout but the secondary had some holes. The hole is named Travis Howard. BJ Cunningham (the leading receiver in MSU history) absolutely torched the Buckeyes because Howard was burnt toast on every play. Yes, Cunningham is good, but no adjustments to help Howard (or simply pull him) is just dumb. OSU defense is certainly not the reason for the loss, but I've seen that opposing teams will learn to pick on the weak link. Look for number 7 on the D to be continually beat (just think, some booster actually paid him extra benefits!!).

Special Teams: B-
Nothing special here, but the punting was not as good this week. Buchanan was asked to do a lot, but he wasn't a sharp as usual. Returns and coverage were fine, but the punting has been above average in the last few weeks. Simply average this week. With all the punts, you don't expect perfection but I don't think the net average was as good as the past few weeks. Passable but nothing to wow me.

Coaching: D
Sorry Luke, you never had a chance. Lost in the talk of Fickell is the fact that he was not allowed to hire his own staff. His defensive staff is just fine and the addition of Mike Vrabel is very good, but the offensive coaching staff is just awful. Jim Bollman (the OC) has been terrible since he began coaching and he has arguably regressed. OSU hasn't learned about simple plays to relax your QB like screens and quick slants (and this has been true since I arrived at OSU). Every play is a dave block run or a deep pattern down field. Without simply underneath, slant, or intermediate routes, the QBs cannot get into a rhythm and make the defense respect any semblance of a passing game. Also, while the first half showed an absolute failure by the offense, the second half showed that no one knows how to adjust as we just got more failure. Nothing is changing. The coaches seem to be beating their heads against the wall expecting to have the wall to apologize. If it doesn't work with your personnel, you must adjust. Fickell is a great guy and probably a great coach. He has coached up the defense to a high level without the top level talent, but there is just no hope for him if he gets no help from the offensive coaching staff. It's pretty much a done deal that Gene Smith is targeting Urban Meyer right now. Just think that every weekend, Chris Spielman calls games with Urban Meyer. Wouldn't be surprised if he's dropping hints during commercials. Nothing against Luke, but the situation pretty much screwed whomever got the interim job.