Why is OSU football so soft?
How did OSU football get so soft? Theories?
I believe teams emulate the personality of their leaders, starting with the head coach. So obviously, I look at Day. Too much passing, shit run game, national program of highest talent mercenaries, D-line not ready when faced with legit run gane opponent.
In our case, Harbaugh is old school, yet smart, man-ball and team embraces the identity. Grind the opponent down.
So I ask, is it all coaching /program culture, is there a recruiting angle to this, or is it just overblown by the two beating they’ll endured vs UM over the last 2 years.
They didn't look soft against Georgia.
its fun to pick on ohio but come on, they aren't soft, they are an excellent college football team filled with extraordinary athletes.
that said, i would venture the difference is that they are a bit more 'spoiled' and quite simply don't have the buy-in and team bonding that michigan does. michigan is a little bit like that old avis car rental commercial that said, 'we're #2, we try harder' and these last two games v. ohio that has shown true.
go blue, beat ohio.
soft was the very definition of their excuses following 2021 defeat, the snow, the flu, etc etc.
Ohio State tries to beat you with talent, not by being stronger and more physical.
March 12th, 2023 at 10:08 PM ^
yeah, that's why they lost to UGA by a point.
March 12th, 2023 at 10:58 PM ^
Agreed XM. That said something has felt off about their teams in the last two years. Maybe we finally just caught up to them? But let’s say for the sake of argument that something is off…I’d have to point to their o-line in the run game, the secondary, and the lack of a world beater on the d-line. By all accounts their skill positions are as good as ever if not better than usual, with the exception of CB - still getting the talent there but not developing them. The D-line has been good but lacked that unblockable guy. And the o-line has been alright against non-Hutchinson shaped objects in the pass game, but their run blocking game has seemed to be lacking. So many years when we played them it just felt like they could always pick up 5-6 yards or break a big play with one of their backs. So maybe it coaching a bit or just not hitting on a couple guys they thought were sure things at some key positions? We shall see. They are and will forever be the threat.
Shut yo mouth! Ohio St is just fine. Keep on keepin' on. Don't ever change. Move along now.
Why was Michigan so soft for so long?
March 12th, 2023 at 11:33 PM ^
The teeter totters, the pendulum swings. Lost momentum on the recruiting front is the gift that stops giving. Toss in a few miscues by the administration and the staff and we end up with a decade-long nightmare.
Uh, Bill Martin to Rich Rod, to Dave Brandon to Brady Hoke. That about covers it.
March 12th, 2023 at 10:01 PM ^
This is just so unnecessary and completely useless commentary. Point at the scoreboard the last two years and move on. Past performance is no guarantee of future success. Every season, every team is different. We had the shit end of the stick for so long that some people forget about respect and class.
March 13th, 2023 at 10:11 AM ^
We had the shit end of the stick for so long that some people forget about respect and class.
Nailed it.
From 2000-2019, ohio won 17, M won 3.
2020 was mercifully cancelled -- ohio may have just hung 100 on that team.
Michigan winning 2 in a row has barely made a dent in ohio's winning percentage for the millennium of .727.
March 12th, 2023 at 10:16 PM ^
I say enjoy the 2 victories. They are a top program, there is nothing soft about them. They have tons of 4 and 5 🌟 players that is tired of getting beat so enjoy and 1 victory at a time
"They have tons of 4 and 5 🌟 players ..."
Yep. This is the elephant (several elephants, really) in the room and it won't go away until Michigan starts recruiting at their level (or vice versa).
March 12th, 2023 at 10:18 PM ^
I don't know if they're soft but I love how bitter + defeated their former players have sounded at the combine these past two years. At the same time, they seem to be in denial. I remember reading the one story in the run up to last year's game about how they reacted to 2021 thinking, we are probably going to beat these guys again. They seem to lack the ability to honestly reflect on their failings and chart a different course. 2021 was a fluke. 2022 was a fluke. Maybe it will take a 2023 win to get through to them that they're not as amazing as they think.
March 12th, 2023 at 10:25 PM ^
OSU isn’t soft. They’re just not as good as they were. Meyer may not be a great guy, but he is an all-time great coach. As soon as he left, some degree of decline was inevitable, unless the coach who replaced was another all-time great. Day isn’t one of those.
March 12th, 2023 at 10:55 PM ^
Meyer's act was getting stale towards the end. His offense was figured out, hence 31-0 to Clemson. Day came in 2017 and installed his pro-style offense and upgraded it. OSU lost the last 2 years to UM because the defense was trash. Urban lost to the likes of Iowa and Purdue, costing playoff spots. All of Day's losses have been to good/great teams. Everyone says Knowles defense makes the big jump from year 1 to year 2 so OSU fans are hopeful the defense will be elite this year (the 2 corners from the portal are looking good).
After taking over a program that went 6-7 the year before he arrived, he went 83-9 at OSU, including going undefeated that first season, when they were ineligible for the post season due to prior recruiting violations. In seven of his eight seasons, his teams finished in the top 6 of the AP rankings. He won a National Championship. He beat Michigan every year. Day isn’t Meyer.
Sorry, but who is this "Everyone" who says Knowles' defenses make these leaps? Because I really doubt that more than 3 people outside of the state of Ohio have said anything about Jim Knowles in the last year.
And what kind of ridiculousness is this? We had two different first-year DC's, both of whom were still in diapers, come in and make very good defenses happen in year 1. Great coaches take dogshit and make chocolate mousse in year 1. Jim Knowles came in and did exactly what a Big 12 DC @ OSU would do. Overpowered lesser teams with talent. Then shit the bed with a horrible scheme against the one good team on their schedule. He also gave up 42 to Georgia.
March 12th, 2023 at 10:48 PM ^
Let’s not be them. We work better as an underdog. We serve humble pie.
Michigan needs that chip on their shoulder.
March 12th, 2023 at 10:50 PM ^
They have matched up poorly against Michigan otherwise they've done all right. Let's hope it stays that way (at least the first part).
March 12th, 2023 at 10:56 PM ^
Be humble. Work harder. Fight like every day you are the underdog. Don’t give your opponent fuel.
March 12th, 2023 at 11:31 PM ^
They almost beat Georgia and probably would have if that dude didn’t light Harrison Jr up. That Georgia team was really, really good. Like better than any team in the Big Ten in probably almost ten years. So I would say it’s overblown. OSU is still legit.
March 12th, 2023 at 11:44 PM ^
Theory #1: Pad level
Theory #2: Pad level
Theory #3: Pad level
You see, it's all about ... Pad level.
March 12th, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^
Wow. Why are people posting so much trash. This really does show that some fans are out of control. Great motivational speech, Bo!
born on third base the program, people go there to not go to class and coast and feel entitled to wins because they have the most talent.
Also im drinking.
From 1970–1975 Bo won only one game against OSU. Why were we so soft?
Yardstick quality was down in those years, They broke too easily.
Maybe we should wait until we have a 5 game win streak to reach any conclusions about “softness.” Bad defensive coaching by OSU and Day’s bulletin board material surely made a huge difference the last two years, as did Michigan adopting a more multiple defense that slowed down the OSU passing game.
I know winning is great, and I especially love beating OSU, but we won 2 games in a row. Remember the tressel years? The Meyer years? Buddy, slow down a bit. They ended the season with a very narrow loss to Georgia and an 11-2 record. The year before: 11-2 record. I think you're overstating things a bit here.
I don’t know if they’re soft so much as poorly matched against us, like we were poorly matched against them in 18/19.
Is there a "recruiting angle" to this? Hmmm... Can you name the last year when Michigan had a recruiting class that was higher ranked than the Buckeyes? Off of the top of my head, I cannot.
IMO, Michigan has had success the past two seasons against the Buckeyes for the following reasons - 1) sound game plan on both sides of the ball, 2) Offensive Line, 3) defensive schemes (which moved from what Don Brown was doing to what we've seen the past two seasons), and 4) special teams. If I was a smart alek - then, perhaps I'd add "weather" to the list.
One slight difference might be - the focus on "The Game" in the locker room. Both Michigan and OSU recruit nationally - and, I don't know what percentage of their respective rosters reflect "local" players - who grew up around the rivalry. However, if you're really honest - The Game hasn't been the Ten Year War much in the last twenty years - which reflects local and national awareness. And, yes - I do believe JT was short.
The most material difference, again - IMO, what the approach the team took with Hutchinson about years ago - and, the changes in Michigan's coaching staff with the team culture.
This is pretty ironic coming from one of the softest OP's on the board. Trying a little too hard.
March 13th, 2023 at 10:05 AM ^
or is it just overblown by the two beating they’ll endured vs UM over the last 2 years.
What did Michigan do the previous 20 years?
Go to bed, you're drunk.
I think Michigan needs about 10 more wins in the next 11-12 years to have this conversation.
March 13th, 2023 at 10:10 AM ^
tOSU football under Day reminds me a lot of Minnesota football under Jim Wacker, just with 4* and 5* talent.
Wackers' teams put up some good numbers on offense and could pass and pass to run, but they couldn't run clock when needed and their defense was always soft.
Could be when you build a finesse team that passes to enable the run, no matter the label applied to the type of O, you just get soft D since that's what they see in practice all the time? tOSU just has soooo much talent, their O works better than Wackers' ever did and the softness on D isn't as pronounced, resulting in many many more wins.
March 13th, 2023 at 10:19 AM ^
I attribute it to Zach Smith leaving. He was the one who spiked their gatorade with sildenafil citrate.
March 13th, 2023 at 10:33 AM ^
Halfway to hanging a 100 downvotes on this terrible post
March 13th, 2023 at 10:42 AM ^
They should try Roman... or Hims.
March 13th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
Do these thoughts just randomly occur on a Sunday night in March?
April, May, June, July, and August are on the table
March 13th, 2023 at 11:39 AM ^
I don't think OSU is so "soft." Look at the Georgia game, which Ohio should have won. I think they're just getting outsmarted (and maybe a little psyched-out) by Michigan, which is built specifically to beat OSU. Like in the olden days, which were glorious.
That said, I do think Day seems to gag a bit under pressure. OSU's playcalling during the Michigan game was absurd on both D and O. He was playing not to lose -- which is great way to lose. You could almost see how frustrated his players were when he chose to kick a FG instead of go for it, despite having Stroud and great receivers.
“We” beat the three times since any of those current players have been alive, if they are soft, then what does that make “us”