Offense: B+ 1st half/F 2nd half
Have to split this up after what I just saw. The 1st half showed a competent OSU attack. Good solid blocking, strong runs, and some decent (not great but ok) passing. OSU effortlessly moved the ball effectively right through a porous defense that the Cornhuskers boast. Miller looked confident (even though he still throws a horrible ball) and he actually started to hit the hole. I'm still scared with the way he carries the ball but he is definitely maturing. Jordan Hall seems to be regressing in the running attack but Carlos Hyde has been a pleasant surprise. Why 34 wasn't in the game more, I'll never know. The O-line protected MUCH better and was opening holes (see Carlos Hyde). Now to the elephant in the room. Bauserman. I'm done. I defended him and thought he could do it. I was wrong. I believe a lot of this regression is due to the TOTAL lack of faith by everyone in Columbus, but I don't care about the why anymore. He just can't lead this team anymore. With that being said, anyone saying we lost because of Bauserman is just plain ignorant and stupid. He entered the game with a 14 point lead. He didn't give up the 28 unanswered points. All the defense had to do was make A stop. Bauserman was terrible I agree and his time is done, but he wasn't the reason we lost. In fact, the turning point of the game was Miller handing the ball to the Nebraska LB and the D giving up a 22 yard run immediately to wake up the Sea of Red. Bauserman didn't help us maintain the lead, but he didn't cause the Buckeyes to fall down. Trust me, this collapse was a team effort.
Defense: A- 1st half/F 2nd half
Now we come to the problem. The first 30 showed the Bullets back to form stuffing Martinez and Burkhead. They flew all over the field and gave up next to nothing the 1st half. After the Miller fumble, I think Greg Robinson took over. The defense was confused and out of position on seemingly every play. They looked like the normal OSU defense that can't handle the option/ zone read. The offense shut off but you'd imagine the OSU D that has only taken 2 series off all year would hold.......nope. This collapse was much MUCH more troubling on the defensive side. To be clear, the athletic talent on the OSU defense is not as good as the recent past, but they've played above it. This week, in the 2nd half, it all crashed to earth. All the defensive finger pointing from last week toward the painfully horrendous offense was turned right around. I don't think I've ever seen an OSU defense collapse like that. Vrabel, Fickell....looking at you.
Special Teams: B+
Another solid enough week for the specialty teams. 1/1 on field goals and some nice punts inside the 20. Punt coverage was pretty good, but the kick coverage was definitely taking a step back (hence the lack of an A). Why didn't they try the long field goal? Not the special teams problems....but it was due to:
Coaching: B 1st half/ F---- 2nd half
The experiment is over. The walrus looked like he was calling a decent game in the first half, but what happened? Here's a stat for you: Miller threw 8 passes in 2.75 quarters (completing 5). Bauserman enters the game (WITH A 14 POINT LEAD!!!) and in 1.25 quarters of work, he throws 10 passes. 10!!! And he completed 1. WHAT KIND OF A GAME PLAN IS THAT?!?!?! When it doesn't work, TRY SOMETHING ELSE!!! The ground game with Hyde was working, and yet, Jordan Hall was getting the ball to run into the lineman. Bauserman is sent into the game due to injury and Bollman opens the playbook? What are these monkeys doing? Everyone gets on Bollman (mostly deserved) for running on EVERY 1st down...here's the difference this week: it worked. Then in comes Bauserman. Since he's essentially equivalent to Aaron Rodgers, we go run and shoot. Joe B doesn't call the plays. Blame the idiots up top. Now to Fickell, you have a 7 point lead and the ball at the 32. You defense can catch a cold.... what do you do? Punt?....What?!? KICK THE FG!!! At least try it. You aren't Tressel. He had defense to bail him out. It was clear ours already left Lincoln. Love you Luke, but good luck at Akron next year. Bring on Urban.
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