Quote:
Originally posted by victim:
Oh, and Notre Dame wins by 10. Weis breaks Tressel in half post game.
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On paper this game isn’t even close the disparity in talent between OSU and ND is ridiculous. You must assume Tressel is among the likes of Les Miles, or Lloyd Carr, while I agree Weiss is the better offensive mind its asinine to even think it'll be a 10 point difference in the game.
OSU Offense vs. ND Defense
1) Does ND have 3 DB's that can match up on Ginn, Gonzalez, and Holmes (whom Mel Kiper by the way rates as the #1 Junior receiver)? The Stanford game answers that question.
2)An answer for Troy Smith? The best way to stop a mobile QB is with excellent linebackers, (OSU vs. Texas, PSU vs. OSU) I don’t think ND has the linebacker talent to even begin to compare with Penn State, Texas, or Ohio State.
3)The OSU ground game with Pittman isn’t nearly as good as what ND faced in the season, namely in USC. While I don’t expect Pittman to be entirely shutdown, I don’t see him having a monster game either.
OSU Special Teams vs. ND Special Teams
OSU is light years ahead here, no need to waste anyone’s time.
OSU Defense vs. ND Offense
1) Lets go ahead and get this one out of the way right now. ND wont run on Ohio State period. If Darius has more than 65 yards rushing it'll coincide with the unanimous declaration of the UAB's government to make an Island in the shape of a four leaf clover, and Charlie will be made king of it.
2) Pass Rush. With Bobby Carpenter the Silver Bullets are usually good for at least 4 sacks a game if not more (vs. MSU 12). Without him we are noticeably lacking one, as showcased vs. Michigan. I do think OSU will get to Quinn a few times since a team like Stanford was able to, but not nearly to the extent we would with #42 factored in. So Mr. Quinn will have time to throw...
3) Pass Defense. Statistically the worst part of Ohio State's defense and rightfully so since its near impossible to run on us. If the secondary could cover as well as they tackle the Colts couldn’t pass on us, however that’s not the case and the unit been exposed by MSU, and Minnesota.
The secondary has looked brilliant at times this year only to succumb to stupid mistakes that usually cost us. Salley needs to cover like he did against Michigan, and Ashton Youtbotty needs to look more of his previous form in 2004. OSU's secondary is comprised of future NFL drafts, if Salley and Ashton are solid ND will rack up 200 yards passing, if not Quinn might chalk up another 300 yard passing day.
To Sum up the defense Ohio State will line up in a Nickel most of the game like it did against Michigan. Having Carpenter is key since he is usually dropped down to defensive end to add to the pass rush, aside from Kudla and Pitcock our d-line isn’t anything special. I fully expect OSU to be able to shut down Darius in a Nickel D since our secondary tackles better than any I’ve seen this year. Without Carpenter id expect Quinn to have a decent amount of time to pass, and ND should move the ball well inside the 20's, but wont be converting much inside the red zone.
To Wrap things up
The thing i love about our defense is we can sit back in a base D and just watch what the other team does before we game plan. We did this against Northwestern and they scored on their first drive, but didn’t sniff the end zone afterwards. What will be largely underrated in this game is the ability of Jim Heacock to adapt with our talent to Charlie's game plan almost as easily as he is able to change it.
Troy Smith on Co. shouldn’t have any problems unless we start gift wrapping the football like we did against Michigan.
If we don’t turn the ball over, this game will look much like the '96 game in South Bend did. Any prior knowledge of this game and the match-ups and similarities of the current and past teams are strikingly sickening..
OSU wins by 13 but will make it seem more like 21.
[ December 04, 2005, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: buckeye ]