Sometimes you are lucky and sometimes chance or fortune favors the prepared (Louis Pasteur). I came away from Saturdays game with Sparty feeling very lucky! The Buckeyes had to of prepared themselves for Michigan State, they would be foolish not to considering the history of the growing rivalry. The next question is how prepared to win was Mark Dantonio? He had to believe going for two right there would have been the last time they got close to their end-zone. It was an act of a desperate man not entirely confident in his defense. Let’s hit this weeks honors.
Offensive
tOSU Offensive MVP
Scott – Mike Weber Jr. Long run led to decisive TD.
Chris – This is a pretty easy one, Mike Weber. Weber had 111 yards on ONLY 14 carries and a touchdown. He averaged 7.9 yards per carry. That’s a solid day. Who knows what would have happened if he got the ball more. The fumble hurt but it was a weird play where the ball hit right on a MSU player’s knee as Weber was falling.
Jeremy – Mike Weber is the only possible choice. Weber ran hard the few times he got to touch the ball. He showed a very aggressive side that I loved seeing. Like Chris I’m not faulting him for a fluke fumble. I’m looking forward to seeing Mike rumble against TTUN Saturday
Ryan – Mike Weber. Who else should be deserving of this award, this week?
Brad TBU –Mike Weber the Motor City Beatdown continues. Look for this guy to have his best game of the season.Next week against The Weasels From Ann Arbor.
WVa – Only the third freshman to ever gain a thousand yards at THE Ohio State University, enough said.
Mike Weber Jr. hands down
My 1,000th tweet goes to @mikeweberjr for breaking 1,000 yards today & for making the decision that this was an appropriate retaliation: pic.twitter.com/GD3vdcLyAY
— Kristiana (@kristianahunt) November 20, 2016
tOSU O-line MVP
Scott – Nobody deserves it.
Chris – Oooooooooooooooof…. The starting offensive line was awful, period. I wish I could even pick one of them out for average play. Technically the long snapper is an offensive lineman so Liam McCullough gets my vote.
Jeremy – overall this was a bad day for the OL. We are really gonna need these guys Saturday because let’s not kid our-self TTUN front line can wreak havoc if our OL plays like this again. But I’ll give Billy Price the award since he actually did a solid job blocking his guy.
Ryan – Not a single one. Inexperienced linemen from Sparty were crushing them. If they don’t step up, TTUN’s line will demolish them.
Brad TBU –Billy Price is a Grown Ass Man.The only Consistent drive blocking on the line Saturday.
WVa – The person who this award was going to be named for forever and ever had one of the worst days he possibly could and it might have something to do with just about every blitz came through the gap created by him pulling quite a bit. Billy Price however had a pretty good day picking up the slack and saved JT’s bacon a time or two.
Billy Price the grown . . , man
tOSU Offensive Unsung
Scott – There wasn’t one.
Chris – Stick with me here… Joe Thomas Barrett. Other than the touchdown pass to Curtis Samuel, he was pretty bad throwing the ball. He missed quite a few guys high and he almost got Curtis Samuel murdered over the middle on a pass thrown high and behind. However, he did have 105 yards on 24 (!!!!!!) carries for a 4.4 average.
Jeremy – I just can’t give this one out. No one else was able to do anything.
Ryan – Curtis Samuel. He caught a touchdown pass on one of the few accurate throws made in the game.
Brad TBU –Joe Thomas Barrett though passing was abysmal. But since I was at the game let me see you living room QB’s Try throwing in the face of a 15 mph wind. Let me know how that turns out for you. Jt kept the Chains moving with his legs on 3rd down. He never wavered never got nervous.
WVa – If you wanted to track a statistic during JT Barrett’s career, Tony Gerdeman says it’s third down efficiency.
Barrett carried the ball 7 times on third down and gained enough yards for the first down 5 times. He "failed" on 3rd and 10 and 3rd and 15.
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) November 20, 2016
JT Barrett is known to many but probably doesn’t get the credit he deserves for keeping drives alive in crunch time.
Defensive
tOSU Defensive MVP
Scott – Gareon Conley. Why not?
Chris – My irate inner-fan wants to say that nobody gets it on the defense after LJ Scott had 161 yards on the ground. The rational part of my brain then notices that Ohio State won and MSU couldn’t throw the ball. I’m going with Chris Worley. He had 7 tackles (5 solo), a tackle for loss, and that interception.
Jeremy – Damon Webb! I mean this was his best game. No blown coverage’s, tied for lead with 7 tackles and 1.5 TFL plus broke up a pass. Webb is great in run support. I hope he builds off this game and plays even better Saturday!
Ryan – Listen, that rushing yards given up are concerning, but they shut down the passing game, so I have to give it to the entire No Fly Zone.
Brad TBU –The Defensive Backs as a group kept Sparty’s WR’s in check came up with huge turnovers.
WVa – I am on board with the secondary, 8 completed passes the entire day and one of them hurt a bit but that play did not happen again. Gareon Conley saved the day and Marshon Lattimore had the best tweet of the day too.
https://twitter.com/shonrp2/status/800100913050316800
Someone check on No. 8. #SCtop10 https://t.co/VHw888X5cv
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 19, 2016
Gareon Conley get’s the most mentions! Although the entire No Fly Zone got two as well.
tOSU D-line MVP
Scott – Sam Hubbard.
Chris – TYQUAN LEWIS IS A GROWN-ASS MAN! Unfortunately his mom probably won’t read this and like it but the weekly tradition on Twitter continued this week. He played better than anyone on the defensive line. They all had a pretty rough day when you look at the MSU rushing numbers. Tyquan stood out with 3 tackles and a sack and a half.
Jeremy – Jalyn Holmes/Tyquan Lewis. this duo seems to be in the backfield and disrupting qbs timing more frequently as the season goes along. They both had timely plays and was great to see Holmes return from injury.
Ryan – Jalyn Holmes. He is ALL over the field. Literally, every play, he’s lurking around somewhere close to the ball.
Brad TBU –Hubbard was the most Consistent D-lineman on Saturday
WVa – Tyquan Lewis has been making it impossible for teams to focus on Sam Hubbard and has been getting the lying share of double-teams especially after making a big play. Sparty forgot to check and see where he was late in the game.
Three-way tie for this one between Hubbard, Lewis and Holmes.
tOSU Defensive Unsung
Scott – Malik Hooker.
Chris – Gareon Conley. Hard to say that the guy that had the game sealing interception was unsung but other than that play, he wasn’t that visible. Played good coverage and had one assisted tackle.
Jeremy – Denzel Ward. Teams are targeting him in the passing game as they know Conley and Lattimore aren’t giving up anything. Today Ward limited catches and yards after catch. Didn’t allow the Big play. Definitely a confidence building game for him
Ryan – The interceptors. Worley, Hooker (which didn’t count as an INT because it was the 2 pt conversion), and Conley.
Brad TBU – Worley Came up big a couple of times.
WVa – This was a tough one for me this week. Denzel Ward and Damon Webb have both been playing pretty inspired football for the Buckeyes. Hard to get a mention in when you are playing with the types of players they are. Just know that there is no drop-off while they are in the game!
Those who are playing in the secondary are making the front seven look better and better in pass situations, lock down central.
Odds and Ends
tOSU Special Teams MVP
Scott – Cameron Johnston.
Chris – I’ll go with Cameron Johnston here since I mentioned Liam McCullough earlier. He did have a nice day punting considering the wind. He didn’t drop any wet, wind-blown snaps. Would have liked to see that one touchback die inside the five though.
Jeremy – the Aussie had a good day punting.
Ryan – Cameron Johnston.
Brad TBU –Cameron Johnston not only for his punt. But if you check the stat line he was also credited with a pressure. Not bad for a punter.
WVa – Cameron Johnston is up for some awards and rightfully so, he is the best punter in the nation right now.
The Aussie!
tOSU Needs Improvement
Scott – everything.
Chris – I’m absolutely, positively not going to freak out over a game against a team that has been conditioned to hate everything about Ohio State. MSU players have a very real hatred for Ohio State. I wish I had a witty analogy to put in here to illustrate my point but it’s been a long day. The weather didn’t help at all with the offense. What does concern me, is the offensive line play. I made a joke on Twitter, early in the first half, about the wind affecting the line. They were REALLY bad for the most part. I know that Ohio State rushed for 224 yards but look who is running the ball. Pass protection was just horrible. The offensive line has to play better next week.
Jeremy – I said it last week and I’ll continue it this week.. JT Barrett’s mechanics. I mean some of those passes off balanced, flat footed and staring down receivers to give dbs chance to make play on the ball. These things are fixable but in a week? We shall see.
OL has got to get pissed off at their play. They have got to step up to the level that earned them starting jobs. I mean run blocking was even subpar today. We need a drastic change so we can sustain drives Saturday.
Defense… wrap up tackling, shedding blockers quicker to get to ball carrier, and can we stop the receivers who get the pitch? TTUN will run it with McDoom, Peppers, and Perry. We have to take that play away from them.
Durbin please let that be your only kick out of bounds!
Ryan – The offensive line continues to be an issue. JT’s mechanics (as Jeremy said) is an issue. The amount of rushing yards the defense gave up is an issue. The fact that we’ve regressed and look completely predictable again is an issue.
Brad TBU –Against Sparty their failure to contain the edge explaining why LJ Scott almost went Biakabutuka Saturday. Fickel & Schiano will have that corrected next. Saturday. IT’S BEAT THE WEASELS WEEK. Urban will have them ready.
WVa – I am going to roll with the mechanics issue JT has been having and say that I have been wondering if he has a shoulder issue they haven’t told us about? It isn’t like he has always had this issue and it could be the real reason they don’t try down field that much or why we never see him use finesse on the football. May hurt too much to use his arm in that motion.
JT’s mechanics
tOSU Next Big Star
Scott – KJ Hill
Chris – It’s the eleventh game of the season. Nobody is going to really stand-out at this point that we haven’t already noticed. I do agree with Scott, though. I really think K.J. Hill will be a star at Ohio State.
Jeremy – Mike Weber (yes I know he’s a star already) but I don’t think we’ve seen everything this kid is gonna be yet. So much room to develop and improve on.
Ryan – Let’s go with Nick Bosa, again. I saw him get into the backfield a couple times, and he’s constantly double-teamed. Dude is a stud.
Brad TBU –Landers & Jones are continuing to be a force on this defense.
WVa – Keep your eyes on KJ Hill this week, really believe he is coming along quickly and will be a key part to victory against TTUN.
KJ Hill is the rising star we think he is!
TB1G Coach of the Week
Scott – Mark Dantonio. Had the boys ready.
Chris – Ugh… There weren’t a lot of coaching bright spots this week. Dantonio made some really dumb calls at the end of the game that cost Sparty. Seems like everybody else did what they are supposed to. I can’t even sarcastically mention Kevin Wilson because they really played awful in the second half. How about Tracy Claeys? Minnesota beat Northwestern to keep that B1G Western Division four-way tie a possibility.
Jeremy – Kirk Ferentz for not letting his team have a hangover game vs Illinois. I honestly expected Iowa to lose. And I’m sure Kirk got some kind of bonus for reaching 7 wins in his insane contract
Ryan – Uh, yea, so um, yea… I got nothing. Dantonio minus his decision to go for 2, maybe? Kevin Wilson minus his team realizing that they’re Indiana and suddenly forgetting how to play, possibly?
Brad TBU –James Franklin is turning this Penn State Run into a Coach of the year award.
WVa – I have nothing this week. All of the coaches stunk it up in pretty good games
Mark Dantonio for being prepared.
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