“You are never as bad as you look, but you are never as good as you look either. The truth is you are somewhere in the middle.”
It is an old sports adage that has elevated the feelings of a downtrodden team or brought the lofty dreams of a fan base crashing back to reality.
I opened last weekend’s piece saying it would be easy to ignore how bad the Buckeyes looked in South Beach, and it would be easy to dismiss how good the team looked against Colorado.
Reality and perception might be far apart as to how good Ohio State was against Colorado, but the 180 degrees this team turned in a week was an impressive feat.
Sure, Colorado look bewildered the first quarter and half of football. When you play that bad on special teams, it is pretty easy for the opponent to seize momentum and never look back.
As Ohio State rolls towards a showdown with Sparty in the ‘Shoe, it is time to address some of the more pressing questions from Buckeye nation after a solid win.
What should people think of Braxton Miller’s performance against Colorado?
This is one of the more difficult questions that were asked after the game last weekend. The numbers were solid. The freshman sensation had 83 yards rushing and threw for two scores. The touchdowns were some of the few highlights the passing game produced. Miller was 5-13 for just 83 yards passing. In his defense, however, he was victim of a few dropped passes.
On the surface it is clear there are still some issues in the passing game, but at the end of the day the numbers were tolerable, especially when there were no turnovers by Miller. Even Terrelle Pryor threw an interception is his first start at quarterback.
Miller has a few kinks to straighten out in his game, but all in all it was a good debut for Braxton Miller.
What should we make of the Silver Bullets performance last weekend?
One thing that seems lost in all of the hype was the performance by the Ohio State defense. There were several people who had assumed the Buckeyes would be very stingy against the Buffs. Considering that Tyler Hansen had thrown for almost 500 yards in the second week of the season, it wasn’t so much of a sure thing in my opinion.
The Buckeyes made some interesting adjustments to their depth chart prior to kick off against Colorado. Christian Bryant took over for Orhian Johnson, and Jim Heacock rotated defensive linemen all afternoon long.
All of this added up to a very confused Colorado offense during a good chunk of the first half. The Buckeyes even got a few turnovers in that first half as well, which was certainly a welcome sight.
The biggest question seems to be discipline. When the Buckeyes read their keys and are in position, they seemed to shut down plays immediately. Too many times in this game, players (I’m looking at you Travis Howard) were out of position which led to big gains. The touchdown pass to Toney Clemons was especially frustrating, because if Howard were in position, the play should have resulted in an interception.
The overall verdict should be a solid outing with room for improvement.
Can Braxton sustain a beating like he took last weekend for the remaining eight games?
Anytime a player takes to the field, there is always a chance of injury. It is this fear that made many hold their breath each time the young signal caller sacrificed his body to gain an extra yard.
Someone tweeted that Ohio State is an injury away (Miller) from being a really average football team. Looking at the offensive production last weekend, it is pretty easy to understand that theory.
The problem that Braxton is likely to face, like many young quarterbacks have before him, is the realization that one extra yard isn’t worth nearly as much as his health and well-being are concerned.
The short answer is that Miller will not be able to play with the reckless abandonment he played with last Saturday and stay healthy.
He is not that big of a guy.
Terrelle Pryor was three inches taller and nearly 25 pounds heavier, and even he had to miss some plays after getting banged up.
Jim Tressel used to tell his quarterbacks, “Live to fight another play.”
Jim Bollman, Nick Siciliano, and the rest of the offensive staff needs to make sure they say it enough so that every time Braxton is tempted to lower his shoulder he hears the voices in his head telling him to live to fight another play.
How good can this offense be?
This is the million dollar question for every party concerned.
This unit can be pretty good by the end of the season, but the coaching staff is going to have to earn their paychecks.
As mentioned before, there needs to be a concerted effort to make sure the offense is set up for success.
Miller’s biggest asset is his feet, but there needs to be an effort to make sure he realizes he won’t be able to rely on his feet when the Buckeyes need a big play.
Help is on the way in the form of Devier Posey, but Ohio State has to get by Michigan State. At some point, Mark Dantonio, who is known for his defensive game planning, will load the box with seven or eight guys to contain Braxton. He will need to know to stand in the pocket and throw the ball.
It is unrealistic to think he will get this right away, but the staff used to make a rule Troy Smith could not run during certain parts of practice. Maybe the coaches should use this rule again and shackle Braxton during practice.
What are the Buckeyes chances against Michigan State?
There seemed to be this conception that the Spartans are going to come to town and leave with a relatively easy victory at Ohio Stadium.
While it appears that this stance has been softened a bit since last weekend, but the overwhelming majority of pundits probably still have the Buckeyes penciled in for a loss this weekend.
Plain and simple, Ohio State is going to make a game of this.
Whether the Buckeyes walk away with a victory will hinge on three things: how effective the running game is, how effective the pass defense is, and whether Braxton can make Michigan State pay for loading the box up.
It is very plausible to see all of this happening.
The Spartans looked pretty bad against their toughest competition to date when they were beaten handily by Notre Dame. The Irish gave up 70+ points combined in their first two games of the season, and Michigan State only managed to tally 13 at South Bend.
Ohio State’s defense is better than Notre Dame’s, and it is easy to see Sparty only managing no more than 17 points in this game.
As most games will go this season, the game’s outcome will hinge mainly on the offensive production. The Buckeyes should be able to move the football.
Adding the home field advantage in Ohio State’s favor, it would be mildly surprising if Ohio State doesn’t pull this one out at home.
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