There has been a lot of debate the last week as to how much the loss to Michigan hurts. Under ordinary circumstances, nobody on either side of the greatest rivalry in sports would want to lose the contest called “The Game.” As the seconds ticked off of the scUM’s first win in seven years over Ohio State, I had an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was a feeling I have not experienced after losing to the state up north. It was pride.
Some say there is no pride to be had in losing, but this was a gutsy performance by the Buckeyes. It was clear the defense needs help. It was evident that Braxton Miller needs to work on his accuracy with the deep ball. The one thing that was most apparent was the Buckeyes have heart too. For 60 minutes in Ann Arbor, Ohio State went toe to toe with one of the more prolific offense the scarlet and gray saw all season long.
Then it was just 48 hours that a Buckeye Christmas came early. Now that we are all in the holiday spirit, let’s talk some season ending issues in the latest Scarlet and Gray Q&A.
After watching Braxton Miller play his best of the season, where does he rate in comparison to Terrelle Pryor?
When you take a look at both Pryor’s and Miller’s stats from their freshman year, the numbers are nearly identical. Passing the football Braxton was 67-134 for 997 yards, 11 TD, and 4 INT. Comparing those with Pryor, the former Buckeye was 100-165 for 1,311 yards, 12 TD, and 4 INT. What is somewhat baffling in all of this is why the Buckeyes attempted 31 less passes than they did in 2008. It is hard to explain the exact reasons why without combing through every game situation from three years ago, but it is quite a head scratcher when you consider that Miller was considered a better passer than Pryor was when he came to Columbus.
When it came to running the football, Braxton ran the football 144 times for 695 yards and 7 TD. Pryor carried the football 139 times for 631 yards and 6 TD. There is very little discrepancy with these numbers, and the scoring is identical with both accounting for 42 points during the freshman campaigns.
The major difference that I have noticed may lie in the performances of each during the game against the maize and blue. We all know about Miller’s numbers (14-25 – 235 yards – 2 TD), but what about what Pryor did. He was just 5-13 for 120 yards and two TD. Both players threw an interception, but we can excuse Braxton a little bit more, making his under duress at the end of the ballgame. Maybe it is sour grapes due to how Pryor’s career ended at Ohio State or perhaps its being optimistic, but Braxton Miller seems to be ahead of Pryor at this point in his career. Braxton’s performance against Michigan leads me to believe that he does throw the football a bit better than Pryor. Only time will tell, but after the negativity surrounded Braxton at certain points this season, he definitely seems to have turned a corner.
With Urban Meyer now being named the head coach, what does his hiring mean to the program and the B1G?
Ohio State naming Meyer the head coach changes everything about who Ohio State will look to hire and who everyone in the B1G conference will hire from here on out. Think about the history of hires in the B1G. Can anyone name a big name that was hired to replace a coach? Michigan gets little known Brady Hoke. Wisconsin promotes Bret Bielema. Minnesota hires Jerry Kill. You get the picture. When I think the biggest name hired in the B1G in the last 15 years, it might have been Mark Dantonio. He was somewhat established in a BCS program (put your snarky comment about the Big East here), and he seemed like a slam dunk hire after John L. Smith was canned in East Lansing in 2005.
Meyer joining the ranks of the scarlet and gray is the biggest hire in the history of the school. No one who has been hired to helm the Buckeyes has been an established name quite like Meyer. His hiring changes how business is done from here on out, and every subsequent coaching search will be judged based upon this move by Ohio State.
When I was on my radio show the other day, I was breaking down the press conference with my co-host. He said something ironic to me during our discussion. When talking about my feelings on the introductory presser, he felt like Meyer was all business and didn’t do the rah-rah things that most new hires do. There was no “You will be proud of our young people in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan” or any kind of Brady Hokey lines to get the fan base jazzed about the new football coach.
While he was right, it was already evident to me that Urban Meyer doesn’t need to do that. That’s why this is such a drastic shift in the hiring of coaches in the B1G. There wasn’t any need to make Buckeye Nation fall in love with him. We already were. We were salivating at the thought of Meyer leading Ohio State out of the South tunnel at the ‘Shoe against Miami of Ohio next September. Rarely do dreams come true, but with the holidays approaching, Buckeye fans will have visions of Meyer stomping scUM in 2012 dancing in their heads this year.
How impressive has Meyer been in his first 96 hours as football coach?
Meyer’s hire provided the Buckeyes with instant credibility that normally doesn’t come with a new hire. His actions have proved how much that reputation means to the rest of the college football universe. Early commits celebrated their good fortune. Prospective players, who were already considering Ohio State, sat up and took notice. This is impressive. Where Meyer has been most affective has been with the supposed untouchables. Guys, who has crossed Ohio State off their short list, suddenly were checking that list twice (I know another cheesy Christmas reference).
Case in point is current Michigan State commitment Se’Von Pittman. Pittman eliminated the Buckeyes from his list of choices as soon as Jim Tressel was let go in May. He was thought to be about as much of a slam dunk as there could be to end up with the Spartans. That was until Meyer’s name started to be bandied about as the next head coach of Ohio State. Now Pittman is leaning heavily towards taking an official visit to Columbus later this winter. His story is just one of many nationally. Top recruits like Noah Spence, Doral Green-Beckham, and Jordan Diamond now aren’t just considering Ohio State; they have the Buckeyes towards the top of their lists. If Meyer can turn this mediocre class into a Top 10 one, we could be in store for a windfall of talent over the next few seasons.
What will Luke Fickell mean to the new coaching staff?
Fickell’s role on this new staff may be the single most important one any assistant has ever filled. Depending on how effective he is in his new role will likely determine how long Meyer coaches the Buckeyes. We all know about Urban’s health scare and burnout towards the game of college football. Fickell is likely to be the buffer between Meyer and the excruciating minutiae that comes with being a college football coach.
Luke knows Ohio State, and he learned that the ire of Buckeye Nation will spare no one from making their life miserable. If a guy can’t get a break taking over a program in the state that Fickell took over earlier this year then no man will. It is clear Urban is a no nonsense kind of guy, and he will likely not be able to handle the hate mail like Tressel and other coaches before him did. What Fickell will be is the crutch that Meyer will lean on during times of adversity and during times of success. How successful Luke is at doing all of this will decide largely if another burnout for Meyer is in the cards in the next few years or not.
Where do you think the Buckeyes will bowl at this season?
While there are plenty of questions remain about the Buckeyes postseason remain like how the preparation will be and whether Ohio State receives a bowl ban or not, there are some games clamoring to have the scarlet and gray participate.
The two games that seem likely in play are the Insight Bowl and the Gator Bowl. This team looked like it may have been in line for the Motor City Bowl and the Sun Bowl, but those two games are likely off the table in light of Meyer’s hiring (yes, he has had an effect in this area too.) Everything seems to be pointing to the Gator Bowl. This depends on whether or not Florida would accept an invitation to play opposite the Buckeyes on January 2nd. The Gator Bowl has long wanted to get the Florida Gators to play in their game, and as always, the storyline and interest that would develop with Meyer’s new team playing his old team may be too good for the Jacksonville based game to turn down.
If the Buckeyes don’t end up in the Gator Bowl, it seems like they will end up at the Insight Bowl in Tempe. The Insight Bowl is run by the Fiesta Bowl committee, and the group has always had an affinity for Ohio State. The Buckeyes have made five trips to the desert since 2002 when they played against the Miami Hurricanes for the National Championship. The Ohio State fan base is known to travel well, and while the attendance may not be quite what it has been in the past, the Insight Bowl would not likely pass up the opportunity to have Ohio State play out in the Valley of the Sun again.
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