• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

Pre-Season: Ohio State Football

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Apathy

shalom
Joined
Jul 11, 2010
Messages
1,303
Reaction score
1,465
Points
113
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2012/03/opening_day_of_spring_drills_a.html

First spring practice was on Wednesday, and it seemed to be just a gauge for Meyer and his staff to see what they're dealing with this year.

Interesting notes:

There were questions on how the offensive line would be configured after losing three starters, but though it was only the first day, the answer seems clear. The first team was Jack Mewhort at left tackle, Andrew Norwell at left guard, Corey Linsley at center, Marcus Hall at right guard and Reid Fragel at right tackle.

Cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs may have been the star of the first practice, with the former coach at Cincinnati bringing his in-your-face enthusiasm to his position group. At one point he told a player, "Do you know how good and how bad that was as the same time?"

^^^^ This guy sounds awesome

The running backs rotated, with Jordan Hall, Carlos Hyde, Rod Smith and early-enrolled freshman Bri'onte Dunn all getting reps. Meyer said that group has momentum and "as long as that continues the talent there is fine."

Meyer worked with the quarterbacks and running backs on executing the inside handoff, and receivers Philly Brown and Devin Smith were also motioning into the backfield and taking handoffs as part of the offense.

Meyer said the offense should be installed by practice five or six, but if the players can't handle that, it may take until practice 10 or 11.

Nothing too shocking so far. According to Meyer there are glaring weaknesses at O-line and the wideout position. I'm looking forward to see if coaching can be the difference maker in that one, or whether that will just have to be solved by recruiting.

I'm glad to see the incoming recruits get reps. A little disappointed I didn't see any highlights of Warren Ball, who I think is going to be a fucking force on the gridiron. Other than that, Cardale Jones is tall as shit and Bri'onte Dunn looks great in scarlet and gray, as opposed to maize and blue.

Discuss
 
One thing that surprised me was that Philly Brown didn't line up with the first team of receivers. I thought for sure that he would be the headliner of the group considering his overall speed, although he did have issues holding on to the ball last season. It was nice to read that TY Williams made some nice catches but he needs to do that in games and not just in practice. Receiver is really the most unknown position on offense so hopefully Brown, Williams, Devin Smith, Evan Spencer and Chris Fields can show Urban something during spring camp.

Also, just to note, Warren Ball is not yet enrolled. He will be entering in the fall.
 
One thing that surprised me was that Philly Brown didn't line up with the first team of receivers. I thought for sure that he would be the headliner of the group considering his overall speed, although he did have issues holding on to the ball last season. It was nice to read that TY Williams made some nice catches but he needs to do that in games and not just in practice. Receiver is really the most unknown position on offense so hopefully Brown, Williams, Devin Smith, Evan Spencer and Chris Fields can show Urban something during spring camp.

Also, just to note, Warren Ball is not yet enrolled. He will be entering in the fall.

Damn, could've sworn I read he was an early enrollee. Dah well, thanks for the reality check.
 
I go to school right by Bri'onte and saw him play. He's not human.
 
Nice recruiting weekend. RB ezekiel elliot from st louis and toledo central catholic DB Jayme Thompson commit. Both 4 atars. Im on my iphone so i cant post highlights but if someone would it would
be much appreciated.
 
Recruitburglar_medium.gif
 
Strong rumor that Chris Fields, redshirt junior WR from Painesville, has quit the team. Surprising considering he was with the first team receiver group last week.
 
Sad to hear the news about Fields. Presently, this stings seeing as how weak our wideouts already are.
But in the long run, this wont be a huge detriment seeing as Fields wasnt a large contributor by any means.
Also, this opens up a schollie. Look for Urban to take 4-5 WR's in this years class. (plus Marshall, who serves as a RB/WR threat)
 
So that means, so far for 2013 we have Thompson & Elliot we committed on the 1st, plus 5 others on the ESPN 150 watch list, not bad so far.
 
Ohio State's Shot to go Undefeated; 20 Teams That Could Win it All

Last season was one of the most difficult campaigns in the recent history of the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was the first time since 2004 that the scarlet and gray did not win at least 10 games, and they finished with a losing record for the first time since 1988.

The Buckeyes' game plan to turn things around in what will be their 100th season in the Big Ten started with the hiring of two-time BCS national championship coach Urban Meyer.

Meyer won't get a chance to direct Ohio State to a BCS title berth in 2012 due to the Buckeyes' not being eligible for postseason play (hence the reason for the asterisk included in the logo for this series). But they still have the potential to post one of the best seasons in the nation in 2012, placing in the top 10 of Brian Fremeau's PFEI rankings (check out the series page for more details).

What are the odds the Buckeyes can be a top team this season, and possibly even enter the AP national title discussion with an undefeated or one-loss campaign? Let's take a closer look at their situation to find out.

Why OSU could have a dominant 2012 campaign

The offense is a lot better than generally thought
Meyer said he didn't look at film of last year's team because he wanted everyone to be able to start with a clean slate. That is especially understandable on the offensive side of the ledger given how poorly that unit played at times, but the truth is that in many ways this offense wasn't nearly as bad as its reputation.

For example, according to cfbstats.com, the Buckeyes ranked third in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game and yards per carry in conference contests. The return of two of their backs with 100 or more carries (Carlos Hyde and Jordan Hall) and Meyer's ability to customize game plans around the talents of his rushing talents are two reasons the Buckeyes made my list of the best running back committees in college football.

Quarterback Braxton Miller's abilities as a runner are another reason to be optimistic about the OSU offense. His production on designed runs improved as the 2011 season progressed; he increased his yards-per-carry average from 5.6 during his first six games (with no touchdowns) to 9.1 in the last six (with seven TDs), according to ESPN Stats & Info.

The passing game wasn't up to that level (Ohio State ranked 115th in the nation in passing yards per game), but it should be pointed out that the Buckeyes' 6.7 yards per pass attempt (YPA) ranked seventh in the Big Ten, and that their 2 percent interception rate ranked tied for 19th-best in the FBS.

The main reason for this low interception rate is that Miller had a superb 2.1 bad decision rate (BDR) in 2011, his freshman season; this number is well below the 3.5 percent rate that serves as the rough midpoint for college football in this metric. (Note: BDR measures how often a quarterback makes a mental error that leads either to a turnover or a near turnover such as a dropped interception.) Miller also flashed his potential as a passer when he got outside the pocket last season (see chart at right, via ESPN Stats & Info). If he can keep up that success while also improving some of his inside-the-pocket numbers, the passing game could take a step forward.

This side of the ball will have to deal with the suspension of starting tight end Jake Stoneburner, but will see the return of Devin Smith (9.3 YPA on 20 targets) and Corey Brown (7.0 YPA on 26 targets). When that is combined with the passing progress shown in the Buckeyes' spring game, the odds that the offensive platoon can carry its share of the load looks to be quite promising.

The defense has many strong suits
The Buckeyes were quite good at preventing big plays, as the defense ranked 17th in the FBS in number of plays allowed that gained 10 or more yards. The D was also tied for 14th in allowing plays of 20 or more yards.

Key to this effort was the strength of the Ohio State defensive line, a group that is headlined by Johnathan Hankins and John Simon.

Hankins ranked 11th on Mel Kiper's first Big Board for the 2013 NFL draft, with Kiper describing him as having the "size of a nose tackle but agile enough to be moved around." Meanwhile, Meyer has repeatedly raved about Simon, a first-team All-Big Ten selection last year, even going so far as to call him "Tebowish."

The Buckeyes also can ball-hawk quite well, as they snagged 11 out of 22 interception opportunities (for a strong 50 percent mark in this category) and return four players who had at least two interceptions last year.

The Buckeyes have a huge amount of returning talent
Over the past few years, not many teams have drawn from the recruiting well as effectively as Ohio State, as the Buckeyes have placed in the top nine of the ESPN recruiting rankings in three of the past four seasons.

Most of that talent still remains on this squad, as Ohio State has eighteen returning starters (nine on defense, seven on offense and both the punter and kicker).

Why OSU could struggle

The passing game turnaround still has a ways to go
The abysmal nature of the Buckeyes' passing game last year becomes readily apparent when one realizes they were nearly as productive on short passes (6.5 YPA on passes thrown 10 or fewer yards downfield) as they were on vertical passes (7.3 YPA on aerials thrown 11 or more yards. Note: these totals measure productivity in games against BCS conference foes.).

Compounding these woes is the fact that Ohio State also has only four returning players who have as many as 20 career receptions. They also have two new offensive coordinators, a new offensive line coach, a new running backs coach and a new wide receivers coach. One offseason simply may not be enough time to get everyone on the offense on the same page and up to full speed.

The pass defense was mediocre last season
The Buckeyes' ball-hawking numbers mask some significant coverage weaknesses. Ohio State gave up double-digit YPA totals in both the vertical (11.2 YPA) and stretch vertical (11.6 YPA) categories, both of which are unacceptable marks. The Buckeyes also had a terrible 1.7 percent BDR, meaning that they forced quarterbacks to make an error on less than one out of 50 plays.

The problems get even worse when looking at the coverage personnel. Cornerbacks Travis Howard and Bradley Roby, both of whom are currently listed as first-team starters for the Buckeyes, allowed a double-digit figure in stretch vertical YPA last year (10.0 YPA for Howard, 10.3 YPA for Roby), and Howard nearly combined that with a double-digit YPA total on vertical passes (9.8 YPA).

The Big Ten may not have a slew of quarterbacks with 3,000-yard potential, but if this level of coverage does not improve, opposing teams will still find a way to exploit these personnel liabilities.

The schedule is unforgiving
While the schedule starts off with four straight home contests, there are road games at the Michigan State Spartans, Penn State Nittany Lions and Wisconsin Badgers (a team with a strong BCS title case that will be looking for revenge for last year's heartbreaking, last-minute loss to the Buckeyes).

Ohio State also has home games against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (a nine-win team with 18 returning starters), Purdue Boilermakers (a potential Big Ten sleeper) and archrival Michigan Wolverines.

Since the Buckeyes cannot play in a postseason contest, their entire AP national title hopes will boil down to the regular season, and anything less than an undefeated campaign would probably make them fall short. This type of schedule makes going unbeaten (or even close to it) quite a difficult challenge.

The projection

Brian Fremeau provides his projected record for Ohio State in 2012, in addition to the "swing" games on the Buckeyes' schedule. Projections are a function of the win likelihood of a team in each regular-season game, based on Football Outsiders' F/+ projected team ratings and home-field advantage. Projections for all Football Bowl Subdivision teams will be published in the FO Almanac, available in July.

Most likely result: 10-2 (30 percent likelihood)
Projection window: 8-4 to 11-1 (90 percent likelihood)
Swing games: at Michigan State, versus Nebraska, at Penn State, at Wisconsin, versus Michigan

Our projections for the Buckeyes are very favorable due to Ohio State's loaded roster and a five-year track record that suffered only a hiccup in an abrupt transition last season. Meyer's proven success is a huge asset, as well, and he should have an immediate and significant impact.

On offense, Miller's development will help the Buckeyes sustain drives -- they were slightly above average in avoiding three-and-outs but struggled to generate value drive opportunities (101st). Defense and special teams have been hallmarks of Meyer's teams in the past, and they'll translate into scoring opportunities throughout the season. The secret stat common to Ohio State's success under Jim Tressel and Florida's success under Meyer was dominant field-position advantages on an annual basis.

The Buckeyes are the heavy favorites, according to our projections, in all four nonconference games (all at home), and a schedule that features eight total games at the Horseshoe is the key to the season. We give Ohio State a 72 percent chance of losing no more than one game at home, but a 45 percent chance of dropping two or more road games. Can the Buckeyes go undefeated? Our numbers give them a 5 percent chance, and an 18 percent chance of finishing 11-1. -- Brian Fremeau

Ohio State Buckeyes' chances to go undefeated in 2012 - NCF - ESPN
 
We'll be 12-0. Guaranteed.
 
Yes it will. It will be the ultimate FU.
 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-13: "Backup Bash Brothers"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top