Grading the Bucks--Purdue (yeesh)

Another near miss.  I'm stunned this team is undefeated.  Credit them for the 0 in the loss column, but if we keep playing with fire, we're going to get burned....

Offense: D+
I'll be honest, I would have gone much much lower were it not for the herculean effort by Kenny Guiton.  Yes, a backup at OSU should be able to beat Purdue, but the way he did it and the situation into which he was placed made it that much more special.  Let's be honest, this offense is about as bland as last year's...in a different way.  It seems to me that the only thing that we run is the zone read and screens.  Hyde seems to be a bruiser between the tackles, but we refuse to run I-formation up the gut.  I believe halftime had Hyde with over 50 yards on 7 carries.  That's over 7 yards a carry for you non-math people and he only got 7 CARRIES?!?  Braxton is electric, but play to your strengths...and this year, the O-line and Hyde are the bread and butter when Miller isn't there.  Obviously, his passes were completely out of sync all game, and his first and only play of any substance was the long run that ended in injury.  This is why Kenny G is so incredibly useful as a backup: he doesn't have the physical, raw talent of Braxton, but I believe he has stronger decision making skills.  It's very cliche, but the 'game manager' status of Guiton is underrated.  When Miller dropped out, there was very little drop off.  Yes, he threw a pick, but there was no residual effects as he led the game winning drive.  Give him credit for being a phenomenal leader and never giving up.

Defense: B
After the first play, the defense played pretty darn well.  Hankins completely ate up the middle of the line and the remainder of the line played very well.  I'd grade the secondary and linebackers as below average in terms of performance, but the effects (13 points given up) deserve the above average grade.  Let's also not forget the pick in the endzone that saved the day.  Perhaps this is somewhat of an over-correction to the crapfest in Bloomington, but 13 points given up by the D should be a gimme win with this offense.  The first play had Barnett WAY out of position leaving Klein on an island and the other TD drive was an embarrassment of not adjusting to the same bubble screen (although, we might not have the athletes healthy to cover that adequately). Other than that, they played well.  I love Roby, but I thought he had his worst game of the year.  With the patchwork secondary, the stars need to step up.  Think about this: our linebackers are good (Shazier), fullback (Boren), hurt freshman (Perry) and guy kicked off the team and reinstated (Klein).  With that lineup, I'll take 13 points given up any day.

Special Teams: D+
Blocked PAT may have been the difference, but let's not forget the missed FG and the kickoff return.  This is absolutely inexcusable.  Stay in your lanes and tackle soundly.  I'm very concerned if this game comes down to a FG as Basil hasn't seemed like the same guy.  Also, Meyer doesn't seem to have the same faith in Basil we've seen in the past.  The defense stepped up and the special teams and offense let us down.  Punts were ok.  Lost in all this has been the exception improvement in the kick return game.  Rod Smith has held on to the ball (!) and has been getting us starting field position around the 35 every time.  Give him big time credit for that.

Coaching: C
I don't understand the bland offense.  It's not Dave every play, but it's just as boring.  Where are the slants? Posts? Fades? I-formation? Mixing it up?  Nope, always shotgun--zone read or screen/bomb. Everyone says how exciting this team is to watch.  I don't see it.  Miller is big play machine, but it's not due to design; just talent.  The coaches need to step up and start to bring more creativity.  By the way, every time a WR motions into the backfield, it's ALWAYS a triple option.  Defensively, they're doing what they can, but scheme is a bit sit back and hope it works.  I think inventiveness is lacking as a staff and more needs to be shown to step up to the next level.

Overall: C