Grading the Bucks--Week 12 Penn State

Offense: C-

The one good thing about this game is we won't have to see Jim Bollman in the Shoe ever again. Playcalling was as expected with unimaginative runs up the middle on most of the plays. Surprisingly poor play our of Senior Mike Brewster was offputting to say the least. Also, the return of Posey is quite infuriating seeing the impact he has on the field. If only he wasn't so stupid, perhaps a few more wins could have been squeezed out of this trying season. Braxton can still run but his passing is not up to FBS standards let alone OSU. He is late on throws and they are consistently off target. The bomb to Philly Brown should have been caught, but had it been thrown early, he's wide open and waltzes into the endzone. Hopefully defenses don't realize that our option plays consist of Option 1: Miller run and Option 2: Miller run. The turnovers killed us (Hyde and Hall....looking at you). More to come on this in the coaching section.

Defense: B-
2nd half featured some play by the Bullets. The goal line stand was spectacular but that can't hold up against the missed tackles and poor pursuit angles in the first half. The first TD by PSU was blamed on the Lion wildcat but it was really a sense of poor angles (see Orhian Johnson). The PSU running game was sufficiently bottled up (except for the wildcat). McGloin clearly can't pass but our secondary makes anyone look like Montana. Travis Howard went back to being beaten every play then bringing the wood...too late. Opposing offenses have learned to avoid the beasts inside of Simon and Hankins and just pick on the edges of our defense. Quick releases and screens nullify the pass rush....if only we could figure that out.

Special Teams: B-
Nothing good, nothing bad. Can't comment much here. Buchanan was inexplicably sent in to punt at the OSU 38 and it sailed 10 yards deep. That's a loss for the special teams unit. Nice tackling but nothing else of note.

Coaching: D-
Slants, screens, sneaks, short passes, etc. These are all illegal for the Buckeyes according to the coaches. How do you get a young, inexperienced and semi-talented QB used to throwing the ball? Run quick routes or screens. Miller can't get in a groove or get used to reading defenses because the routes drawn up take way to long to develop. The most glaring error is the incredibly stupid/forced use of the wildcat. What is the purpose of the wildcat? To get the ball into the running backs hand earlier so he can make something happen. Who is our best runner? OUR QB!!! You can run the 'wildcat' with Miller. It's call a QB draw! There's no need to bring Hall or Hyde in to take the snap. Just call the 'wildcat' plays with our best player taking the snap. OSU has dropped from the top 20 in total offense in 2010 to the bottom 20 this year. How big the impact the loss of one head coach can make. Great defensive adjustments at half, but the whole offensive staff is bye bye. To whom it may concern: Urban Meyer will be the coach of OSU next year, it has been discussed (not 'officially'), and most likely agreed upon by both parties (in 'principle'). Read his statements and he doesn't deny the possibility. It will happen. Just wait and let this team and staff finish the season. Fickell deserves this last hurrah and let's face it, this game is all that matters. Fickell's short tenure at OSU will be completely ruled by the outcome of this next game. GO OHIO, BEAT MICHIGAN!!!