The Buckeyes are underdogs and aren’t projected by many to have a chance against Georgia, last year’s [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] champion.
To say the Bulldogs are unbeatable, however, is false, even though they have not yet lost this season. They bring a 15-game winning streak and a 27-1 record over the last two seasons into this game.
It is not an easy task for [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] and [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag], but that is why they play the game. For the Buckeyes to come away with a win and play for a national championship, they are going to have to play one of their most complete games of the year. There will be plenty of keys to getting a victory against Georgia and here are a few that stick out.
The Buckeyes have a need in the secondary and those aren’t just filled with one recruiting class but many. Head coach [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] knows that and with the new scheme that [autotag]Jim Knowles[/autotag] brought in, there were bound to be a few players that didn’t fit what the new Ohio State defensive coordinator wanted to do.
It looks like Knowles has found an East coast prospect that fits what he is looking to accomplish in the secondary, Maryland’s [autotag]Edrees Farooq[/autotag]. The Buckeyes offered a scholarship to the 2024 safety joining other schools like [autotag]USC[/autotag], [autotag]Michigan[/autotag], [autotag]Tennessee[/autotag], [autotag]Penn State[/autotag], [autotag]Ole Miss[/autotag] and others.
The safety stands six-feet tall and weighs 185-pounds. Even though Farooq isn’t rated very high, his list of offers shows you the quality of recruit he is and should be rated higher when outlets re-evaluate his class.
Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby is among highest paid coordinators from 2022.
For the most part, the Oklahoma Sooners offense had a really good season. Jeff Lebby’s first season as offensive coordinator wasn’t perfect, but the offense was productive, had moments of explosiveness, and produced a 1,000-yard wide receiver, Marvin Mims, and a 1,000-yard rusher, Eric Gray.
The Sooners ranked 35th in the country in points per game, 32.9. Take away the 49-0 shutout, and the Sooners averaged 35.89 points per game, which would have moved them into the top 20 in the nation.
The Sooners were 18th in yards per game, ninth in plays per game and 24th in first downs per game.
Sure, there were moments the offense didn’t rise to the occasion. Specifically, third and fourth down were a struggle for the Sooners. Oklahoma converted on third down just 39.9% of the time and was worse on fourth down.
Heading into the offseason, the Sooners have to figure out their money-down offense. Their inability to convert on third and fourth down crushed this team, especially late in the season.
Because the offense had a lot of good moments, the Sooners could have won a few more games had the defense held up its end. Perhaps the biggest issue was not having a reasonable plan at quarterback when Dillon Gabriel went down.
Lebby didn’t trust Davis Beville to throw the ball and didn’t give him the chance in the second half of the TCU game or much in the Texas game. When it was clear Beville wasn’t the answer, they could have given Nick Evers some snaps to see if his athleticism could have provided a spark. Instead, Evers didn’t come in the game until the final few minutes and ran one series.
The Sooners have to find a better option at backup quarterback this offseason unless they believe that Jackson Arnold is the answer should something happen to Dillon Gabriel.
Games like these bother me, and they will continue to do so until the Buckeyes head to Ann Arbor the weekend of Thanksgiving next year. It’s an odd feeling, for the majority of my OSU fandom, we have dominated TTUN, with the exception of a few John Cooper years. Jim Tressell took over when I was a sophomore in Morrison Tower and it’s been smooth sailing against our rivals until the last two contests. At some point, these questions will be answered, but for now, these are the thoughts that haven’t left my mind since Saturday afternoon.
In case you missed the weekly Ryan Day press conference, you can watch the Michigan preview in its entirety here. #GoBucks
There are a lot of weeks in which we look forward to the weekly Ryan Day press conference, but there’s one week that we are more interested than ever. That would of course be the week in which Ohio State plays Michigan. That moment took place on Tuesday when the head coach met with the media in Columbus to preview one of the biggest matchups in the history of the two arch-rivals.
Day was joined by defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, and if you missed any of what the duo had to say, we’ve got the entire press conference here thanks to the Ohio State Buckeyes Facebook page.
In it, you can hear about what it means to play in this game, how motivating the loss to Michigan was over the offseason, a brief touch on some of the injury concerns, and much, much, more.
Ohio State and Michigan will put the football down on the turf inside Ohio Stadium at Noon on Saturday, with Fox having the live broadcast. What will the next chapter of the greatest rivalry in sports look like?
Oklahoma looks to get back on the right side of the win column when they host No. 24 Oklahoma State. Here are this week’s Sooners Wire Staff predictions.
The Oklahoma Sooners (5-5 and 2-5) will host their Bedlam counterparts the Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-3, 4-3) on what will be a cold Saturday night in Norman.
The Sooners need a win in the worst way. They’re on a two-game losing streak and haven’t clicked on either side of the ball in crunch time. Taking on an Oklahoma State team that’s also in the midst of a disappointing season, the Sooners are 7.5-point favorites at home.
Can the Sooners end their losing skid and reach bowl eligibility? let’s take a look at how the Sooners Wire staff predicted the 117th matchup between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in Bedlam.
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Up Next: Sooners Wire Staff Predictions
The Cowboys were hit hard when [autotag]Jim Knowles[/autotag] left for Ohio State. Their defense ranks at the bottom of the Big 12 in nearly every category.
The OU offense is going to attack, attack, and attack some more. This has the potential to be like the Kansas game, in which the Sooners racked up over 700 yards.
The nonsense ends tonight. The Sooners WILL get a decisive Big 12 victory against Oklahoma State at home under the lights. Eric Gray will run hog wild all over the Pokes for 150 and a score.
Marvin Mims will have a bounceback game, getting a score and over 100 yards.
Hear from Ryan Day, Jim Knowles, and some of the players after the victory over Notre Dame. #GoBucks
It wasn’t pretty, but nobody on the Ohio State football team needs to apologize for gutting out a hard-fought, 21-10 victory over a top-five Notre Dame squad.
The defense came to play, pitching a shutout in the second half, and the offense found its big boy pants and took control of the line of scrimmage late. At the end of the day, it’s a win to start the year and certainly better than the alternative of having to answer for a loss out of the gate.
In fact, the team (and coaches) seemed very pleased with the way this one unfolded and how everyone pulled together through adversity and won by being the bully instead of being bullied. Ryan Day, some of the players, and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles met with the media after the game to field questions and provide commentary on what they saw from the team, and in case you missed any of the comments, you can get caught up thanks to the below video from the Ohio State Buckeyes Facebook page.
Hit play below and hear the team discuss the toughness it displayed, the play of the defense, now challenging it was to play a team the caliber of Notre Dame, and more.
With the victory, Ohio State turns its attention to preparing for Arkansas State. It’s time to put the tape on and learn from a real, live football game.
New D-coordinator Jim Knowles has very high expectations for the defense this year. #GoBucks
When Ryan Day lured Jim Knowles away from Oklahoma State, he did so knowing that his defense needed a boost. Thus far, it seems like the new defensive coordinator is doing just that and he’s brimming with confidence at the same time.
Recently, Day was asked what his expectations were for the defense in the upcoming season after a few down years by Ohio State standards. The head coach’s reply was to be ranked in the top 10 nationally. Apparently, that was a low expectation according to Knowles.
Knowles was asked about living up to producing a top 10 defense and he seemed to take offense to the notion, feeling like Day was expecting too little.
Knowles reply… “I wish he would’ve said top-five. That’s our expectation.”
Jim Knowles on Ryan Day’s challenge to produce a top-10 defense in his first season at OSU:
I like the confidence the new DC is bringing to the unit. And it seems to be rubbing off on his players as well. Teradja Mitchell was also asked about expectations for the defense and took it even a step further saying, “My standard and the way we work, I feel like we should be aiming for No. 1.”
Teradja Mitchell’s response to Ryan Day’s challenge for a top-10 defense:
“My standard and the way we work, I feel like we should be aiming for No. 1.” pic.twitter.com/Boz76LNJsG
There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance and this is pure confidence. Arrogance says we deserve it just because we’re four and five-star guys. Confidence says we’re doing the hard work now and because of that work, we’re going to be successful.
That’s the kind of attitude you want to see as a team who has national championship aspirations as they prepare for a top-five matchup up in week one of the season. In just a little over three weeks, we’re going to find out how much confidence the Buckeyes really have.
Quinn Ewers is one of the two most influential names in college football this season.
The Texas Longhorns have waded through mediocrity for the better part of 12 years. National college football commentator Josh Pate is curious if Quinn Ewers can change that.
On Sunday, Pate shared two individuals who could leave their mark on the 2022 football season. Redshirt freshman Quinn Ewers was one of them.
Texas fans are familiar with Knowles. The innovative defensive mind was a talent maximizer at Oklahoma State before leaving for Columbus, Ohio.
As for Ewers, Pate’s statement gives credence to the young quarterback’s high school rating. Though you could not tell by his mullet, scraggly beard and average build, Ewers was the No. 1 quarterback in two recruiting classes before joining Texas.
Undoubtedly there will be growing pains, but the Southlake Carroll standout has a tremendous opportunity should he win the starting job. We will see if the generational arm talent can elevate Texas’ play to its hype level for the first time since Colt McCoy wore the burnt orange.
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Are you excited for the new look Ohio State defense in 2022? #GoBucks
You usually get the best assessment of someone else when those comments are under the cloak of anonymity and secrecy. That’s why we’re pretty partial to checking out Athlon magazine’s anonymous coaching comments because there are usually some pretty good nuggets that come from it.
It’s that time of year again because if you’ve walked by your local grocery store or newsstand, you’ve probably noticed that the annual Athlon College Football Preview has been set out for inquiring college football minds that want to know.
As it turns out, the annual mag believes Ohio State is going to have a pretty fantastic year on the gridiron again, but when you leaf through to the anonymous coaches’ comments, it’s also clear that there is a lot of jealousy in the league when it comes to a so-called down year in Columbus. These comments are thanks to 247Sports.
“Most coaches in the country would do anything to have a season that’s considered a bad year for Ohio State,” one anonymous coach said. “Their bad year is a great year for anyone else. When we broke down their roster last season, it was like editing your NCAA video game on dynasty mode and you put everyone at 99. Essentially they could do whatever they wanted on offense for most of the season.”
And yeah, by OSU standards that have been set as of late, 2021 was a bit of a letdown with two regular-season losses — one to (burp in my mouth) Michigan, and no Big Ten title. But hey, that Rose Bowl victory was pretty fantastic and memorable.
Still, the defense more or less kept Ohio State more than arm’s reach away from the College Football Playoff and a shot at the national title, but another anonymous coach believes that’s about to change on the banks of the Olentangy.
“The sole issue that kept them out of the playoff has been fixed,” the second coach said. “It’s all about how fast (Jim) Knowles gets them fit for what he wants. If you’re looking for a criticism here, they’re short superstars on this side lately.”
I know these things are anonymous, but I’d love to know where the comments come from. You can bet the offense is going to be a dynamic one again, so if this second coach is correct, the Buckeyes could very well have a monster year this fall.
We’re also going to go out on a limb and guess that whatever two anonymous coaches made these comments weren’t wearing khakis and a hat with a suit, a.k.a — this guy.
Jul 19, 2019; Chicago, IL, USA; ÊMichigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during the Big Ten Football Media Days event at Hilton Chicago. Mandatory Credit: Jim Young-USA TODAY Sports
We are only two and a half months away from the college football season and we’re here for what we believe Ohio State is going to do in 2022.
