Tag: Justin Fields

Buckeyes up on Michigan at half despite giving up big plays through the air

Ohio State used a big play offense and opportunistic mistakes by Michigan to go into the half up 28-16.

The Ohio State offense has been moving the ball in the typical fashion we’ve seen all year long and carry a lead of 28-16 over Michigan in the first half. However, it’s the defense that is looking suspect so far today. It might have something to do with the absence of Shaun Wade.

Wade was dressed and participated in the pre-game warm up, but has yet to make an appearance in the contest. His absence is being felt in a big way as the Buckeye D has given up more passing yards in one half than in any one game this season. Of course, it doesn’t help matters that the refs seem to be okay with the Wolverine offense line bear hugging Chase Young.

Hard to complain about a 12 point lead. We’ll see what the adjustments the Buckeyes can make at the half to slow down the Michigan passing game.

JK Dobbins has three rushing touchdowns and 103 yards, and passed Ezekiel Elliott to become the second all time leading rusher in Ohio State history behind only Archie Griffin.

The Buckeyes will have the ball to start the the second half.

 

 

 

Ohio State vs. Michigan: 5 reasons the Buckeyes win The Game

The Game between Ohio State and Michigan is getting closer and closer. Here’s five reasons the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines Saturday.

It sure seems like we’ve said this on more than one occasion, but Ohio State is most likely about to meet its greatest challenge of 2019. The turnover bug hit a little bit last week against Penn State to keep things close, but the Buckeyes have still beaten every opponent on the schedule by two scores.

Now comes the big one, the annual grudge match against Michigan. And even though Ohio State has rented out the Wolverine program like a cheap timeshare over the last couple of years, Jim Harbaugh seems to have this team playing its best football of the season.

Still, there’s no denying that OSU is the more talented and deep team across the board. Here’s five reasons the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines on Saturday at high Noon.

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Next … Athlete on athlete

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5 Players to Watch Against Ohio State

Michigan football takes on Ohio State in the season finale as the Wolverines try and pull off an upset. Who are the five players to watch?

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Michigan’s biggest challenge of the year, Ohio State, is this week as the Wolverines look to try and pull off something nobody has been able to do this season, beat the Buckeyes. Michigan is coming off a 39-14 win over Indiana. Ohio State is coming off a 28-17 win over Penn State that made the Buckeyes look human.

Ohio State’s playoff hopes are on the line this week as a loss would put them up in the air. A win in the Big Ten championship off a loss to Michigan would put them right back in the fight. A loss could still be something as if they beat Michigan, then lose in the title game next week, their season could be over. Beating Michigan gives them a cushion if they lose the conference championship game next week.

Michigan would love nothing more than to ruin the Buckeyes playoff hopes and undefeated season. For that to happen, they will need everyone to help out and contribute to their absolute best. Check out which five players to watch for Saturday’s game below.

1. QB Shea Patterson – MICHIGAN

When you talk about Michigan’s recent success, it all starts with the quarterback play by Shea Patterson. Patterson has been playing the best football he’s ever played lately, throwing for 1,001 yards, 12 touchdowns and an interception in his team’s four-game winning streak. Patterson is taking control of the offense and doing things we haven’t seen until recently.

He’s taking shots downfield, letting his receivers go up and grab the football where the defender can’t grab it. He isn’t running as much as he was earlier in the year, but that can certainly change this week when going up against the best defense in the country. Patterson needs to keep playing with the hot hand that he’s had recently if he wants to keep his record in Ann Arbor without a loss.

For Ohio State’s offense, their quarterback who is in the Heisman race this year…
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Five reason to be thankful as Ohio State fans

Ohio State fans might be spoiled, but that’s because of the success the Buckeyes have had over the years. Here’s 5 reasons to be thankful.

It’s Thanksgiving and we all have reasons to be thankful… food on the table, family and friends, health, and of course our Ohio State Buckeyes. We thought, on this day of thanks, it would be nice to share five things were thankful for concerning the Scarlet and Gray.

Only five reasons to be thankful? There’s plenty more, but we know you only have so much time before the tryptophan kicks in fast asleep in your La-Z-Boy.

Let’s give thanks.

No. 5 – The Transfer Portal

Let’s give thanks for the transfer portal. Without it, no Justin Fields. That’s not a knock on Tate Martell, but let’s be honest, Fields has been better than anyone could’ve expected.

Maybe Tate Martell could’ve been the guy for the Buckeyes this season. But Justin Fields has shown poise and maturity far beyond his years. His numbers aren’t as gaudy as some other QBs on nationally ranked teams, but he has been one of the best in college football all season long.

And without the transfer portal, Buckeye fans would have had to wait a year or maybe he never even transfers with the old rules of having to sit out a year.

Maybe the portal comes back to bite OSU in the future and we lose a prize recruit, but for now, we give thanks for the transfer portal that brought us Justin Fields.

Now about Joe Burrow … well – there’s that.

Next … the new head man in charge

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Wolverines face unique, yet familiar challenge in Justin Fields

Michigan’s defense has a tall task this weekend against Ohio State, and it starts with trying to contain Buckeye quarterback Justin Fields.

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Michigan has faced gunslingers at quarterback over the course of the last five seasons. The Wolverines have faced mobile quarterbacks too.

But in all the games Michigan has played since Jim Harbaugh took over in 2015, the Wolverines may not have faced a better opposing quarterback than Ohio State’s Justin Fields.

Fields is a combination of three Buckeye quarterbacks that gave Michigan nightmares. His size and passing ability rivals that of Dwayne Haskins. His speed and athleticism induces fear like Braxton Miller. And his grit and toughness reminds you of J.T. Barrett.

Let’s throw in a fourth, from a different era, just for fun:

Think Troy Smith, but bigger.

Fields’ ability to hurt a defense in multiple ways isn’t lost on Harbaugh, who had plenty of good things to say about the quarterback on Monday.

“Justin Fields has had a tremendous year, playing winning football at all times,” Harbaugh said. “Really athletic, runs the ball extremely well. Gets a lane, gets a throw, he’ll make the throw. And also when there’s a lane, he’ll escape and he’ll do damage with himself running the football.”

Completing 69.4 percent of his passes, Fields has thrown for 2,352 yards with a staggering 33 passing touchdowns against just one interception. He’s also carried the ball 105 times for 445 yards and 10 touchdowns. Due to this running ability, Fields is an especially frustrating guy to defend on third downs.

“He’s a good dual-threat guy,” Harbaugh said. “He can hurt you in the passing game. He’s got a lot of good receivers and tight ends. Also, if they’re covered, he can pull it down, make the yardage, make the first down. Extend the drives, extend the plays. A very good player.”

If there is one criticism you can direct at Fields this season it’s this – he’s fumbled eight times in 11 games, losing four. Two of those lost fumbles came last week against Penn State, the second of which helped the Nittany Lions get within 21-17 after being down three touchdowns.

Fields made up for that later, however, throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Olave to put Penn State away.

“He’s just very dynamic, he’s very good,” said Michigan defensive tackle Carlo Kemp. “And, as you can see, he makes little mistakes. It’s just going to be [doing] whatever we can to cause those mistakes to happen.”

The Wolverines have grown accustomed to facing dynamic Buckeye quarterbacks. But familiarity hasn’t led to success.

Of all the quarterbacks mentioned above, it’s possible that Fields will be the most difficult to contain. Michigan’s defense knows the challenge that’s ahead. It remains to be seen if they have an answer.

“Execution,” defensive captian Khaleke Hudson said. “Executing the job. Every defense that we have is made to stop the run and pass. All of our guys executing our job, doing what we’ve gotta do for every second of the game — we’re gonna get that done.”

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Jim Harbaugh extensively breaks down what he sees from Ohio State

Appearing on the Inside Michigan Football radio show, the Wolverines head coach went in-depth about what he sees from the Buckeyes.

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Michigan has a daunting challenge ahead of it on Saturday, with an Ohio State team coming in that’s not only beaten the Wolverines seven straight times, but also might be the most complete team in the nation.

The Buckeyes haven’t shown many, if any, weaknesses across the board, and have blown out all but one team, as Penn State kept it close en route to a 28-17 loss in Columbus this past Saturday.

Appearing on his weekly radio show, Inside Michigan Football, with host Jon Jansen, Harbaugh spoke about just how good this OSU team is.

“They’re a really good team, no question about it,” Harbaugh said. “They have one of the top defenses in the country. And offense is one of the top offenses in the country and they have a very potent ground game and also passing game. Really good on the special teams and all different units. A good team.”

From there, Harbaugh moved onto a litany of topics when it came to the Buckeyes, including key players on both sides of the ball.

Chase Young

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges Michigan will face on Saturday is keeping defensive end Chase Young at bay.

Harbaugh and some Wolverines players discussed Young earlier on Monday, but the Michigan head coach elaborated a little more with Jansen on the radio show.

“He’s really athletic,” Harbaugh said. “He’s one of the best pass rushers I’ve seen in the college game in quite some time. Physical in the run. Can take on blocks. Can also shrink the edge. Also athletic enough to get penetration, flow down the line of scrimmage.

“In all those ways, he’s really good.”

Justin Fields

But most of the talk is about how the Wolverines defense — no slouches themselves at No. 4 in the country — will be able to handle Ohio State and the No. 6 offensive attack in the nation.

It all starts with quarterback Justin Fields, the former five-star who was rated nearly as high as Clemson star Trevor Lawrence. Fields started his career at Georgia but transferred to OSU this offseason and has been a difference maker with both his arm and legs for the Buckeyes, with 2,352 yards passing (69% completions), and 33 touchdowns to just one interception. That’s just through the air — he also has 445 yards on 100 carries and 10 more touchdowns on the ground.

Harbaugh noted that the Wolverines will be on high-alert when Fields has the ball in his hands.

“He’s a good dual-threat guy,” Harbaugh said. “He can hurt you in the passing game. He’s got a lot of good receivers and tight ends. Also, if they’re covered, he can pull it down, make the yardage, make the first down. Extend the drives, extend the plays. A very good player.”

J.K. Dobbins

But Fields isn’t alone as the sole offensive playmaker.

While there’s still a bevy of receivers — Chris Olave, K.J. Hill, Binjimen Victor, Austin Mack — there’s the backfield duo of J.K. Dobbins — the junior out of Texas — and Master Teague.

The two have combined for 2,197 yards on the ground, but Dobbins is the bigger threat of the two.

“(He’s an) explosive runner,” Harbaugh said. “Slashing type of runner, but he can be very elusive. And he’s got very good speed. He gets into the open, he can go a long way. Plus, he can make people miss.”

Team speed

Last year, the Wolverines got gashed mostly by what seemed to be superior team speed by the Buckeyes.

But, Harbaugh doesn’t feel like that will be an issue this year.

“Yeah, we’re pretty fast, too,” Harbaugh said. “I’ll just leave it at that, I guess! No question they’re going to tough to beat, but we’ll be tough to beat, too.”

Ryan Day

Harbaugh didn’t have much to say about his counterpart on the other sidelines in head coach Ryan Day, who took over the program after Urban Meyer stepped down at the end of last season.

This will be Day’s first year as the head coach going up against the Wolverines, and Harbaugh praises the job he’s done in Columbus to this point.

“He’s doing a heckuva job,” Harbaugh said. “Him and his entire coaching staff have prepared their team well and are playing really good football.”

Offense

Lastly, given the challenges of an ascending Michigan offense going up against the No. 1 defense in the country, the Wolverines will need to play close to perfect to have a chance to take down Ohio State.

But, if there’s one thing to like about the maize and blue heading into this matchup is that, not only are they not shying away from the challenge, they feel like there’s a lot to prove about their own team — especially on offense.

“We’re not gonna talk schematically at all, but all things are options,” Harbaugh said. “Wanna see our team play good, play good football.

“And like I said earlier, the team is playing good football, the team is confident. The players themselves believe that there’s even more for them. There’s more out there in the running game and the passing game from an offensive standpoint. And our defensive players feel the same way. They’re hungry to do even better.”

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At least four Buckeyes named finalists for College Football Awards

Four Ohio State Buckeyes have been named finalists for major college football awards to be handed out in a few weeks.

Four members of the Ohio State football team have been named as finalists for a total of five major college football awards this year. Chase Young, even with his two-game suspension, is a finalist for both the Chuck Bednarik Award (best defensive player) and the Maxwell Award (best overall player).

Three other Buckeyes are finalists for their respective awards. Justin Fields is one of the three finalists for the Davey O’Brien Award for best quarterback. Former Buckeye Joe Burrow is another, along with Jalen Hurts.

Jeff Okudah is a finalist for the Jim Thorpe award for the best defensive back, while J.K. Dobbins is up for the Doak Walker Award for best running back.

A lot can still happen in the final two weeks, but Young will most likely win the Bednarik Award. Burrow will probably win the Davey O’Brien Award, and Chuba Hubbard of Oklahoma State seems to be the favorite for the Doak Walker Award.

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There will, of course, be plenty more awards and trophies given out at the end of the season–including the Heisman Trophy. The nine pictured in the tweet above above are some of the biggest. The last Buckeye to win one of these awards was when Malcolm Jenkins won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2008. (Pat Elflein and Billy Price did win the Dave Rimington Trophy for best center in 2016 and 2017, though.)

The last time the Buckeyes won more than one of these awards was in 1995, when Eddie George won the Doak Walker and Maxwell Awards, while Terry Glenn earned the Biletnikoff. Winning three might be tough this year, but the Buckeyes should take multiple pieces of hardware home in a few weeks.

Ohio State vs. Michigan 2019 football Preview And Prediction

Ohio State travels to Michigan to renew the annual grudge match in The Game. We’ve got your preview and prediction for Saturday.

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Records

Ohio State (11-0), Michigan (9-2)

Broadcast, TV, Game Time

Date: Saturday, November 30
Game Time: Noon ET
Network: FOX
Venue: Michigan Stadium – Capacity: 107,601
All-Time Series: Michigan leads 58-50-6
Last Meeting: Ohio State defeated Michigan 62-39 in 2018

In a season that was supposed to finally be the year for Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines to get over the hump, it’s been more of the same. Unfulfilled expectations.

On the other side, Ohio State was picked as low as fourth in the Big Ten with new coach Ryan Day taking over for Urban Meyer. However, the Bucks have just kept rolling with a high powered offense and a new look defense.

Michigan has been steadily improving as the regular season winds down. This isn’t the same team that squeaked by Army and got trucked by Wisconsin and TTUN would like nothing more than to knock the Buckeyes down a notch and give Harbaugh his first win over Ohio State.

This one is setting up to be an epic battle in the Big House. Throw the records out the window for The Game – it’s officially Michigan week!

Next … The game plan

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Justin Fields “good” says Ryan Day after injury scare against Penn State

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said that quarterback Justin Fields is “good” after an injury scare late in the 4th quarter vs. Penn State.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields finally got to feel what it’s like to play four quarters in a college football game. It didn’t look that way early on with Ohio State getting out to a 21-0 lead early in the third quarter, but some mistakes allowed Penn State back in the game.

So, Fields stayed in to finish the deal and lead the Buckeyes to a hard fought and resilient 28-17 win in front of a sold out Ohio Stadium crowd.

It wasn’t without a scare though. That same crowd that was noisy and boisterous all day became as quiet as over 100,000 fans can when Fields went down in a heap after a hard tackle by Penn State late in the game. At the time, the Buckeyes were leading 28-17 and went for it on 4th and five with just 2:17 remaining in the game.

The crowd came to its senses once again with applause when Fields sprung up and jogged a little under his own power. This all after being checked on by the medical staff for a couple of minutes with some pretty astronomical goals still hanging in the balance.

After the game, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was asked about the injury and how Fields is doing. It should also be noted that the Buckeye signal-caller did come back into the game to take the final knee.

Day said that Fields was “good,” and went on to equate him to a warrior and said he had “a heart of a lion.”

More like ripped the heart of a (Penn State) lion out.

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Ohio State can ill-afford to lose Fields if it has designs of continuing this special journey the team has been on. Not when a trip to Ann Arbor, Indianapolis and beyond is next along the way.

Sorry Michigan fans, it looks like No. 1 will be slinging it around next week in the Big House.

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Ohio State beats Penn State: 5 things we learned

It wasn’t pretty, but Ohio State fought through some weather and turnovers to beat Penn State. Here’s five things we learned.

It may not have gone exactly as Ohio State would have liked, but it’s still a W in the win column. There were some uncharacteristic turnovers, a little rain and wind, and some key penalties that kept Penn State in the game, but in the end the Buckeyes did what they needed to stay undefeated.

With it, Ohio State clinches the outright Big Ten East title and will head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game for the third straight year. It doesn’t even matter what happens against Michigan next week, at least for all those things to happen.

But more on that later.

Here’s five things we learned about Ohio State in a 28-17 victory over a top ten Penn State team.

It took a lot for Penn State to even be in the game

With all due respect to Penn State, Ohio State was clearly the better and more talented team. It took three turnovers, some uncharacteristic penalties, and almost every single replay review going the way of the Nittany Lions to even keep this thing in shouting distance.

OSU outgained PSU 417 yards to 227, ran all over a Penn State defense that was one of the best in the country, yet this thing was still a game into the fourth quarter. That’s because Justin Fields fumbled twice, J.K. Dobbins dropped it on the turf once, and some bounces and plays went the other way.

Frankly, Ohio State is probably at least three touchdowns better on any other day. But, credit the Nittany Lions for clawing and fighting in this one.

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Next … Penn State fought in this one

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