http://www.elevenwarriors.com/11w/2016/08/73365/the-oral-history-of-eleven-warriors-10-years-on-the-wild-ride-of-the-largest-college-sports-team-site-on-the-internet

 

Eleven Warriors turns 10.

Well I think you're going to be surprised when Smith plays over Lattimore.  EVERY scouting site ranks Smith over him.  They can't all be wrong, right?  Also I know a guy (knew more when Tress was there) currently on the OSU coaching staff.  I can tell you they are in love with this kid.  Sorry man, I'm going with what Im hearing from my source over anything I hear on an internet forum.  He'll be in the two deep at the beginning of Fall camp. At least, thats what's expected.   

 

Depth chart released. Lattimore, who is finally healthy, is starting at CB. Smith, now a junior, is the backup to Hooker, a sophomore. I win  8-)

Disappointing that both Smith and Cam Burrows (not even on depth chart) didn't/haven't turned into more impact players.  I do believe Smith has played a lot on special teams, though.

Burrows, much like Lattimore, has been slowed by injuries.

Better watch out with UC going to the Big 12, we will see who owns the bUCkeye state. 

 

:) just having  a little fun

Aaaaand of course they announce yesterday they Burrows could miss all of 2016 with a foot injury (presumably the same one last year).

The eve of the 2016 season is here.  As always, lots of expectation for the Buckeyes.  But lots of uncertainty for this season too - probably more than usual:

• Ohio State has one of its youngest teams ever, and will be one of the youngest teams in the entire FBS.  Only 6 starters return from last year's 12-1 team.  And beyond that, 46 of the 93 players on the roster are either true or redshirt freshmen.  But those youngsters also come from two of the top recruiting classes in the nation.  So it's probably why OSU starts out ranked #6 in the AP poll and #5 in the Coaches poll.

• Having Urban Meyer returning for his fifth season as head coach likely counts for some of this confidence too.  Meyer's first four teams went a combined 50-4!  This is the most wins and the top winning percentage for any four-year period ever at Ohio State.  Plus there was that little thing called the National Championship!

• It isn't like the returning talent cupboard is completely bare.  The offense is led by 3-year starter J.T. Barrett at QB and the defense is led by 2-year starter Raekwon McMillan at middle linebacker.  It's the supporting players that are either young or unproven right now.  Here's the 2-deep roster for the opening game:  http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2016/08/73415/depth-chart-ohio-state-releases-two-deep-for-season-opener-against-bowling-green

• And the schedule is plenty tough this year.  There's an early test at #3 Oklahoma on Sept. 17.  Back-to-back B1G road games at Wisconsin (10/15) and at Penn State (10/22).  And the final two B1G games at #12 Michigan State (11/19) and hosting #7 Michigan (11/26).

Still, the expectation is reload over rebuild.  Last year's offense seemed in flux with the loss of OC-coach Herman to Houston and attempting a two-QB system for much of the year.  After going with JT at QB and putting the new OC up in the skybox, the team ended 2015 with strong wins over Michigan and Notre Dame.  This 2016 season will likely rise or fall with the play of the new and unproven starters.  Particularly WR Noah Brown, RB Mike Weber and HB Dontre Wilson at the offensive skill positions - but also the replacements for starters lost in the offensive line, defensive line and the secondary.

With the exception of an opening drive Pick-6 given up to Bowling Green, it was all Ohio State today in a 77-10 romp that saw OSU rack up a school-record 776 total yards:  http://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400869260

 

- Junior HB Curtis Samuel was an offensive standout with 9 catches for 177 yards and 2 receiving TD's plus 13 carries for 84 yards and a rushing TD.

 

- J.T. Barrett recovered from the opening Pick-6 to throw for a career-high 349 yards with 6 TD passes plus a rushing TD, before backup QB Joe Burrow came on midway in the 3rd quarter.

 

- RB Mike Weber was solid in his first start with 19 carries for 136 yards.

 

- Dontre Wilson had 2 receiving TD's while splitting carries at HB.

 

- Noah Brown and K.J. Hill each had a receiving TD.

 

- Reserve frosh RB Demario McCall added a rushing and receiving TD in the 4th quarter and frosh DB Rodjay Burns closed out the scoring with 4th-quarter Pick-6.

 

- Malik Hooker had 2 INT's, one of them this spectactular grab in 2nd quarter:

 

I've been waiting for this type of breakout performance from Samuel. He is the best athlete on the team IMO.

 

Malik Hooker is "as advertised".  Kid's a beast. He has the potential to be our best DB since Antoine Winfield. Complete package.  Him and McMillan up the middle should force offenses to the edges all season.

 

I need some type of analysis of the tap water being fed into the Bosa residence in Florida. I'm not sure there isn't some top secret government expirement going on there.

 

 

- Malik Hooker had 2 INT's, one of them this spectactular grab in 2nd quarter:

 

 

Good thing he wasn't playing LSU--he would have gotten leveled after that play!

dang - if the games were only 4 minutes long bg would have won.

48-3 throttling of Tulsa:  http://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=400869516

 

Another early-season blowout.  But not done with the record-setting offense numbers of the opening game.  In this one, the defense needed to jump-start the offense with two Pick-6 TD's in the first half.  The first came from the defensive MVP of the BG game, Malik Hooker.  The second came just before halftime - on an unwise attempt by Tulsa as the heavy rains were arriving - from Marshon Lattimore to put the Buckeyes up 20-3 at halftime.

 

After halftime and a lengthy weather delay break, the Buckeyes had 4 rushing TD's in the second-half during monsoon-like conditions to close out the win.  Mike Weber got his first college TD, along with two from J.T. Barrett and one from Dontre Wilson.  The Buckeye defense ended up with 4 INT's and recovered 2 fumbles.

I wonder what could've been if Noah Brown had not broken his leg last year. Him and Marshon Lattimore finally being healthy have added a lot of big play potential to both sides of the ball.

That 45-24 road win at Oklahoma was mighty impressive:  http://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=400869613

 

Ohio State's "basic" defense shut down the Sooners.  OSU's offense was balanced and efficient.  And Noah Brown had his coming out party with 4 TD catches (3 in the first half).  His TD catch just before halftime being an amazing catch-of-the-year candidate:

 

what's the verdict Conley's injury?

I wonder what could've been if Noah Brown had not broken his leg last year. Him and Marshon Lattimore finally being healthy have added a lot of big play potential to both sides of the ball.

 

Its so hard to repeat, the team would have been flat most of the year regardless of the injuries last year. If only they could have escaped vs MSU, it would have been the #1 seed in the playoff and match with OU last year. If they were in the playoff, I thought they were better than Bama last year and would have won again.

what's the verdict Conley's injury?

 

'Should be fine' - Meyer

what's the verdict Conley's injury?

 

'Should be fine' - Meyer

 

"shoulder stinger"

 

http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2016/9/17/12956066/ohio-state-oklahoma-2016-gareon-conley-injury-update-news

Feels like another Bama-OSU showdown coming in the playoffs.  A long away, of course, but Saban and Meyer have dominated the sport for nearly a decade now.

 

Ohio State came in with the least experience in the FBS, thanks in part to a historic NFL draft - this is supposed to be the "down" year.  They look like a well-oiled machine moving everything in its path.

 

They should coast now - Bye week, Rutgers, Indiana.  That will take them to 5-0 and then they get the back-to-back roadies at Wisconsin and Penn State before a bye week against Northwestern.  Those road games suddenly don't look that intimidating after silencing Oklahoma in Norman.

watching the game Sat night with friends, we were talking about how different the team would be even if they had 2 more starters back on either side of the ball.  I'm not talking Zeke Elliot and Joey Bosa, just any of the players - 2 more per side instead of leaving...

^Interesting question, but i'm not sure sure where the drop off is all that drastic. 

 

I think our DBs are actually better this year.  Hooker and Lattimore are more talented than anyone who played last year IMHO. 

 

It's debatable whether Perry/Lee were really that much better than Booker/Worley are now.... Lee is better than Worley but I think Booker is better than Perry ever was.  Then you also have Jerome Baker as that third OLB to bolster that unit.

 

Adolphus Washington was scary good, but also frustratingly undisciplined at times.  That said, I'm not enamored with our DT's, especially now that Sprinkle is gone for the year.  Our DE depth this year is outstanding, with Hubbard, Lewis, and Holmes are all a year older, and Nick Bosa is already terrorizing opposing QBs as true freshman.

 

On offense, the line is probably bigger and more physical than it has been in awhile.  We have some real road graders at all five positions.

 

The TE's are more involved in the passing game and H-Backs (Samuel and Wilson) are touchdowns waiting to happen every time they touch the ball.

 

The drop off, if any, is at WR.  But Noah Brown replaces Michael Thomas and then some IMO.  Ideally, we'd have found that deep threat to replace Devin Smith, but we didn't have one last year either.

 

In the backfield, you have an older and wiser JT Barrett, who didn't come into camp competing for his position and a deadly combo in Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel, both of whom can take it to the house.

^^Nah, give me these hungry dudes who have been sitting behind NFL talent for a year or two.  We saw what happened last year with ridiculous expectations.  This team seems to have a bit more swagger as an underdog and a bunch of guys trying to prove they belong.  Not worried about ifs/ands/or/buts.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are flying high.  The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are not.  So it's no surprise that the second-ranked Buckeyes blew away Rutgers 58-0 today:  http://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400869635

 

JT Barrett, Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel had an impressive day.  But so did the OSU defense - holding Rutgers to 83 yards rushing and only 33 yards passing.

 

Good weekend for OSU running backs.  The current RB (Mike Weber) was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.  And the previous two starting RB's for OSU (Ezekiel Elliott and Carlos Hyde) faced each other in the NFL.

 

http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2016/10/3/13148218/ohio-state-football-mike-weber-big-ten-player-of-the-week-2016

 

http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2016/10/2/13123260/ohio-state-buckeyes-in-the-nfl-week-4-stats-highlights-video

Sometimes a team just needs to grind out a win.  And that's what the Buckeyes did with their win over a much improved Indiana team fresh off their MSU upset: http://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=400869643

 

OSU's passing was mostly grounded yesterday.  So the running game and defense once again led the way.  Defense and special teams help decide the game in the 2nd quarter when the defense caused and recovered a fumble inside the Indiana 10 - then Parris Campbell returned a kickoff inside the Indiana 10 with under one minute left in the half to give OSU a 24-10 halftime lead.

 

The OSU running game and defense sealed the win in the second half.  Indiana was held under 300 total yards of offense.  While the three-headed ground attack of Barrett (26-137-1TD), Samuel (9-82-1TD) and Weber (15-71-2TD) led the way to a tougher win than the final 38-17 score would indicate.

Biggest game of the year so far tonight at Wisconsin.  (Yes, bigger than at Oklahoma)

 

ESPN College GameDay!  Corso headgear pick!  ABC Primetime!  4th-Quarter Jump Around!

 

I've had this game circled on the calendar from the beginning.  Camp Randall is always a difficult road game.  Wisconsin is always a tough team to face.  And we haven't faced them since that 59-0 B1G championship game in 2014, so they might be extra extra motivated for payback tonight.

 

All of those things add up a typically tough test at Wisconsin.  The Badgers are always strong on the offensive and defensive lines.  Their overall defense is up there with OSU's.  Where the Badgers fall behind the Buckeyes is on offensive production.  They've got a redshirt QB who has looked good at times, but had a poor game in their 14-7 loss to Michigan.  Below are a couple of game previews:

 

http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2016/10/14/13289882/ohio-state-wisconsin-preview-podcast-hangout-in-the-holy-land

 

http://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=400869644

The boys showed some grit to comeback and win that one in OT. You need games like this which test you in order to become champions.

 

That said, the WR corps now has me worried. Too many balls which hit the hands were not caught

^ Well said.  Last season we couldn't gut out a win over MSU - and that one blemish on OSU's record cost them a repeat trip to the National Championship Playoff.  It wasn't pretty at times, but they did what they needed to do for the win. (including Noah Brown's game-winning OT catch!)

 

OSU - WISCONSIN GAME HIGHLIGHTS

 

http://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=400869644

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/137609/ohio-state-stays-on-playoff-path-with-comeback-win

 

^ Well said.  Last season we couldn't gut out a win over MSU - and that one blemish on OSU's record cost them a repeat trip to the National Championship Playoff.  It wasn't pretty at times, but they did what they needed to do for the win. (including Noah Brown's game-winning OT catch!)

 

 

That wasn't his game winner, right?  He scored on the near side

What? That's definitely the OT touchdown.

the OT catch was incredible. 

 

Giving credit to Wisconsin defense but the offense was really sputtering.  We are missing a power back like Elliot to power through and get 5+ yards and occasionally break a long one.  Samuel & Weber are good backs but they aren't moving the chains with consistency.  Elliot would have taken the game over in the 2nd half and put it away.  We need a bruising RB to draw the defense inside - over the top & outside plays will be much more open then.

IMO it's unrealistic to expect a steady stream of RBs like Zeke Elliott. He was a once in a generation beast of a player, who's now equally dominating the NFL. There were some drops from receivers and some sloppy execution on the offensive side, but against a top 10 team and with the rain for part of the game, I think the Bucks did pretty well. That was a hell of a game.

I think for myself I am starting to realize how special Zeke Elliott was.  The guy is tearing up the NFL, that doesn't come around too often in college. 

 

That said, OSU had a big win.  Wisconsin is uber tough and they got a really good defense.  They have tremendous size and speed in their linebacking corps and secondary.  That's a big win for OSU to go into Camp Randall.

 

Now, as a huge Hawkeye fan, I am a bit nervous with Wisky coming to Iowa City on Saturday.  Iowa has really played a lot better the last two weeks, so hopefully they can keep improving and possibly be in position to win, because Wisconsin has a heck of a ground game but not so much in the air.

 

The Big Ten however comes down to Michigan v OSU.  Big stakes coming up in an exciting year of B1G Football!

^Didn't Iowa lose to a division 2 team this year?

alright, so if everything stays the same until he last game of the season and alabama wins theirs and osu beats michigan, are the buckeyes still number two? would they dare do that given anumber two team beat a number three ranked team? it would seem like that should guarantee osu ends up top ranked, but the way everyone talks about bama i'm not so sure that would happen. thoughts??

What? That's definitely the OT touchdown.

 

Right you are.  I assumed that picture was taken from the sideline, but on second glance it was taken from the opposite end zone.

^Didn't Iowa lose to a division 2 team this year?

 

The best division 2 team.  :-D

^Yes they lost to North Dakota State who is the 5-time defending D-1aa champion, not D2.  A bad loss no doubt.  That said, they switched up a lot of things on the team and are playing a lot better after also losing to Northwestern.  IF they can beat Wisconsin, they are in the drivers seat of the B1G West sans Nebraska, so still a lot of season to play on the West end of the division.  After those two bad losses, that is about all you can ask for is the team to rebound and play better, so will be interesting to see how they match up with Wisconsin.

^FCS, not D1-AA.  There is no such thing as D1-AA anymore.

Yes, FCS formally D-1AA, like FBS formally D-1A

 

That said, there is a big difference between D2 and FCS

^Yes they lost to North Dakota State who is the 5-time defending D-1aa champion, not D2.  A bad loss no doubt.  That said, they switched up a lot of things on the team and are playing a lot better after also losing to Northwestern.  IF they can beat Wisconsin, they are in the drivers seat of the B1G West sans Nebraska, so still a lot of season to play on the West end of the division.  After those two bad losses, that is about all you can ask for is the team to rebound and play better, so will be interesting to see how they match up with Wisconsin.

 

I haven't seen Nebraska play yet this year but looking at their record, they haven't really beaten anyone yet.  Barely beat Oregon who was #22 at the time (and has now lost 4 straight)

^Yes they lost to North Dakota State who is the 5-time defending D-1aa champion, not D2.  A bad loss no doubt.  That said, they switched up a lot of things on the team and are playing a lot better after also losing to Northwestern.  IF they can beat Wisconsin, they are in the drivers seat of the B1G West sans Nebraska, so still a lot of season to play on the West end of the division.  After those two bad losses, that is about all you can ask for is the team to rebound and play better, so will be interesting to see how they match up with Wisconsin.

 

I haven't seen Nebraska play yet this year but looking at their record, they haven't really beaten anyone yet.  Barely beat Oregon who was #22 at the time (and has now lost 4 straight)

 

I watched a lot of their game against Indiana.  They have a good couple of running backs.  Their QB is still crazy at times throwing in the middle of nowhere when he gets flushed from the pocket.  Indiana wasn't good enough to capitalize on the interceptions this year, they would have last year.  It all depends on how their QB plays.  I think Wisky and Ohio State beat Nebby.  Still hard to tell early in the B1G season though.

ABC Primetime game at Penn State tonight.

 

Penn State isn't that bad this year (4-2 but with a blowout loss at MICH), but they're not the powerhouse they used to be.  However, their White-Out tradition is still going strong and will be in full effect tonight.  IMO the "white out at night" is one best looks in all of college football.

 

That had to suck. What a way to lose a game.

I'm shocked.  Just shocked. but the way my weekend has gone, this is par of the course!

Well, the Buckeyes can still make the playoff if they win out, which is pretty much what they needed to do regardless of the outcome of last night's game.

 

Is there any team in the country that plays more night road games on primetime television than the Buckeyes? No excuses, it comes with the territory of being a powerhouse, but it's tough to keep winning games like this...especially when your opponent has a bye week before playing you, which Wisconsin and Penn State both did. I wonder if the Michigan State game will also be at night? (Even though Sparty is terrible this year.)

That had to suck. What a way to lose a game.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a special teams meltdown like the Buckeyes had that swung a game by 13 points in the 4th quarter!

 

http://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=400869645

Well, the Buckeyes can still make the playoff if they win out, which is pretty much what they needed to do regardless of the outcome of last night's game.

 

Oddly enough, last night's loss didn't dramatically change what the Buckeyes need to do going forward.  They still need to beat Michigan and then win the B1G Championship Game to make the playoffs.

 

There was some talk that if OSU was undefeated going into the Michigan game, that they still could've made the Playoff Final Four if they lost that game.  But that seemed iffy at best.  Now it's crystal clear that OSU needs to win out.

There will be some 3-way tie shenanigans if OSU wins out and PSU wins out.  All 3 (plus UM, assuming they only lose to OSU the rest of the way) will be 8-1 in conference.

 

Short version - we are HUGE Sparty fans against PSU and UM now.