@SpaceCoyoteBDS with the definitive ohio state takedown
coyote used to come around here quite a bit, but i haven’t seen him for a while…he almost always comes with realistic, specific analysis (as opposed to feelingsball, which also has real value). anyway, bullets:
- seeming lack of game prep
- lack of confidence in the strengths they did have (power running game, improving offensive line)
- lack of recognition of limitations of the available players
twitter thread, here:
https://x.com/spacecoyotebds/status/1740952903450571110?s=61&t=RXc5fcpfiPJBICMYVeRaBA
December 30th, 2023 at 12:37 PM ^
yeah it was terrible for OSU that we sucked for a long stretch there. Really hurt them.
December 30th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
Something amiss at the core of their culture? Like the team being soft? Lou Holtz, as much as he annoys me, called it correctly. No toughness to this OSU team.
December 30th, 2023 at 10:58 AM ^
I don't think they're soft; I think they're brittle.
December 30th, 2023 at 12:38 PM ^
Yes! I'll still mock them for softness as it rolls off the tongue easier and really triggers them, but brittle is a more accurate descriptor overall. Very dangerous in the right circumstances but easily broken in the wrong ones
December 30th, 2023 at 8:14 PM ^
IMO, they did not have any excitement to be playing (other than Jack Sawyer). And that jives with what we heard happened at halftime of The Game where they had no one hooting and hollering going up the tunnel. I think there is some cultural issue in that locker room. IDK if it's every man for himself, or they are just irritated with the results and it spiraled, but something isn't right. #LoveIt.
December 30th, 2023 at 9:34 AM ^
NONE of the players looked like they wanted to play that game last night. I’m really starting to think that stars do not matter near as much as I once thought. 5 stars and all this NIL money definitely is taking away from the team mentality/culture which is so important in the game of football.
I’m sure keeping a locker room together is a tough challenge under those conditions but Day may also be in over his head. Kinda fun to watch.
December 30th, 2023 at 9:35 AM ^
The left guard for Mizzou, I kept thinking he would look nice with the winged helmet
December 30th, 2023 at 9:45 AM ^
and it would be so easy for him, able to keep most all of his block-M swag.
December 30th, 2023 at 10:06 AM ^
I couldn’t believe the stat when I saw it that the 2nd string OSU QB hadn’t taken a snap since the early part of the year. I’m so used to seeing our 3-4th string (every position) out there every 4th quarter that it blew my mind they don’t take advantage of getting younger players live reps the way we do. I feel like we also discover talent more obviously watching live reps, (Loveland and Semaj Morgan come to mind immediately) not sure how Day overlooks such a simple practice but I’m no longer that surprised…
December 30th, 2023 at 10:16 AM ^
Too many of their games were uncomfortably close in the 4th quarter to do that.
December 30th, 2023 at 10:54 AM ^
But this is mostly a false narrative-certainly relative to how Michigan operates. Jim Harbaugh clearly understands the value of real game experience to the advancement of game skills for the next (lower) tier of players. Otherwise, in this regard, this is a part of the many indications that Ryan Day is quite insecure-and allows the playing of the games to define who he is. Our lives are full of failures-or at least actions we take that are not our very best effort. Jim Harbaugh understands that these "failures" are simply a part of the human condition...accepts them and does his best to offer his players and his teams the opportunity to obtain an optimal experience. Coach Harbaugh is not perfect but it is most interesting how much criticism he receives for operating at a level that so many (including people with very large megaphones) clearly do not understand.
(At this very minute-as I am typing, I am listening to a podcast by Yuval Noah Harari about "Unstoppable Us"...which includes, among other things, components of how we humans achieve at an optimal level.)
December 30th, 2023 at 10:21 AM ^
If you're talking about Devin Brown, he got hurt in a game and was out for a while.
December 30th, 2023 at 11:25 AM ^
I'd add that Kienholz played against Minnesota and Michigan State, two November games that weren't close. Their backup QB showed up in the box score in 7 of their 12 games (including Penn State, when I think McCord went out for a few plays with an injury).
The other five were arguably too close to put in the second string QB. They beat Maryland 37-17 and Rutgers 35-16, but those games were close (20-17 and 21-16) at the start of the fourth quarter. Notre Dame came down to the last minute, and Wisconsin was within a touchdown for most of the fourth quarter.
And of course they didn't have a chance to put a backup in against Michigan.
December 30th, 2023 at 11:27 AM ^
I wondered who was making line calls last night. They switch the RG to C because apparently Hinzman had gotten the yips in practice. And the RG actually played C in high school.
But I saw the guy make proactive calls at the line maybe twice all night. Many times when Mizzou added a DB near the line to threaten blitz C had his head down not looking at anything at all. Didn't even see much "check with me" stuff from the sideline.
Long term I think Kienholtz has potential. Sacks are very much a QB stat. Brown managed 3 sacks in 9 dropbacks. Kienholtz had 3 sacks in 20 dropbacks. Not bad given he was a late arriving true frosh who saw almost zero meaningful practice snaps until bowl season. And, as Space Coyote pointed out got little support from Ryan Day's "gameplanning".
December 30th, 2023 at 12:58 PM ^
They switch the RG to C because apparently Hinzman had gotten the yips in practice.
That's one version. At 11W they're saying he was benched for "offering insight into NIL."
December 30th, 2023 at 12:36 PM ^
Whatever. How many Harbaugh teams checked out of their bowl games after a season crushing loss to OSU? I'd wager almost all of them.
Ohio is no different. They know their real season was over and it was crushing and getting a team to focus when it's no longer on the line is too difficult for many to overcome.
Bowl games are fading in importance as the playoff is ascendant. How many NFL teams would really fight in a consolation game after being knocked out of the playoffs. It's not happening.
I put zero stock in the Cotton Bowl this year.
Same goes for the Peach Bowl result. It's a bullshit game and will be a valid marker of which team got a more raw deal.
December 30th, 2023 at 3:42 PM ^
Its not this complicated. Kevin Wilson was the architect of the OSU offense. He transitioned Ohio from power run spread to air raid. He has been running that offense for decades going way back to Oklahoma and Indiana. Ryan Day was never the OC or play caller. This was Day's first year at Ohio that he was responsible for designing the offense and calling plays. It showed. He has pigeon holed himself into a corner by hiring Hartline as his OC. Hartline is not a OC and is still nothing more than a functioning WR coach with a better title and pay grade.