Willyville Guy

Well, like you said elsewhere, can’t count the Tide out until they’re eliminated.

My view is that this year's Buckeye team is not as good as last year's team. I'm really surprised to see the interior OL struggle as much as they are in run blocking, and the defense has been a extreme work in progress all season. As for the rest of the country, it's just chaos out there. Wake Forest leading the ACC tells me that conference is having a down year. Oregon beat the Bucks, but I do believe that if OSU's current defense played that day the result would be different. The rest of that conference looks like a mess-- we'll see what happens when Oregon goes to Utah. The Big 12 looks like it's having a down year with an undefeated Sooners team not getting the national respect I would expect to see in any other year. As for the B1G and SEC, it's harder for me to tell how those conferences are really doing until the end of the year. So, with all this uncertainty, I'm hoping the Bucks can "survive and move on" each week like Day says and see what happens.

Every game will be tough from here on out.

Stumbling against Purdue today would be very on brand for Michigan State.

Garrett Wilson will not play today. Apparently he has concussion-like symptoms following some tough hits by Penn St. Hope he’s okay. It will be interesting to see how Day handles Fleming and the rest of the WR group with Wilson out.

Seems to me that it is built for one hell of a classic college football debate about whether to put in a one-loss OSU team with far better wins and a far better loss, or a one-loss Oregon team with a head-to-head advantage. As an OSU fan, I'd rather avoid that debate even though I think it should be and would be resolved in favor of my team.

Putting in Oregon with a loss to Stanford is questionable, but I guess I get it. Would have preferred to see Cincy recognized in that spot. Surprised and delighted to see OSU at 5 -- thought they would be more like 7ish. I guess that means the Buckeyes should be in if they beat Mich. St. and win the rest of their games.

That’s impressive.

Absurd— weapons everywhere

Go Bucks, Chris Spielman. Legend.

Also, Garrett Wilson’s moves at the line before running his routes are turning CBs into pretzels.

Checking in with a few bullet points (did I just make that up? no chance): The Buckeyes are back. I love this team and the rest of these highly ranked B1G teams better watch out. The offense is absolutely electric. Stroud looks like a different person than who we saw in the first three games. He credits his shoulder's God-given, supernatural ability to heal quickly. He's spreading the ball around and keeping a lot of talent fed out there. At one point I was watching him and "system QB" came to mind. But some of those passes against Maryland -- the 4th down TD to Wilson, third and long to Njigba -- man they were dimes. Having Henderson right now is like catching lightning in a bottle -- who knew he could even catch passes like that out of the backfield? He makes it a whole lot easier to watch some recruits who got away like Bijan Robinson run wild elsewhere. The defense appears to be "good enough" and maybe even better! Everyone out there is playing with great energy and toughness, which is really all I ever really need to see out of the silver bullets. Mixing up the personnel, the coaches, and the looks appear to be working. Massive kudos to Day for jumping on that and not waiting around until after the season. With an offense like OSU's, the defense doesn't need to be No. 1 in the nation -- they just can't be the worst like they were in the beginning of the season. Even if they end with the number 15 or 20 defense, then I think the Bucks have a great shot. The comments from Kerry Coombs yesterday about sticking with and loving the brotherhood even during a public demotion that he didn't like or really think he deserved... that man is one of a kind.

Is that good?

Well, that was awesome.

Meanwhile, one of the many things that stood out on Saturday was the play of Evan Pryor. He seemed much quicker and more comfortable than I remembered, and he would probably be on the field a bunch at H-back if the last guy was still here. Day had this to day at his presser today: Day says Evan Pryor has done a good job of not trying to compare himself to anybody else, and that doing so would not be a "recipe for success." Day says "I think you're gonna see a very good player here in the future." Could be getting ready to break out. Then again, could be another Demario.

Tress and Urban stuck with their seniors to a fault at times. I'm glad Day is walking the walk on playing the players who make plays regardless of their age. That's a change I've been hoping to see for years -- at least since Tua came in and won the natty for Alabama.

Dave Biddle reminded me this morning that Robert Smith quit the team in 1991 and came back in 1992, so maybe Pope will come back strong lol! I do feel badly for the kid though -- it has to be frustrating to be a senior LB in a year where that unit is taking a lot of heat and playing time is really tight. Some people work twice as hard in that situation. I guess others say "fucc ohio state" and move on. Best of luck, Pope!

He's going to be sweet, but it's going to be against Akron, and so this will be a tricky game to evaluate. Still, I'm excited to see him play.

Many thoughts on Stroud and the QB situation in general. Overall I accept that he's 19 and has just three college games under his belt. He seems like a talented quarterback and a potential NFL prospect. His on-field demeanor as a leader needs significant development, which I think can only come with time, experience, and coaching. This team has some real issues; I don't Stroud is one of them. That said, the defense has this team in a situation where they need to score on almost every drive, and so far I don't see the urgency or accuracy from Stroud to meet that unfortunate need. I agree that he's missing high, and the few picks have been untimely. I'm concerned that Penn State is going to feast on him next month unless something changes. So, given the needs of the team right now, I'd like to see Day mix in McCord if the offense is sputtering mid-game. I'm not giving up on Stroud, but after three games I'd like to see what else we have here.

@H2o

That’s unfortunate. My sense was that Nevada had serious inside info during the Tress years, but his sources faded during the Urban era and beyond. He may have been desperate to stay relevant. Barton… that’s surprising.

I’m open to the idea that OSU and other programs severely impacted by the pandemic have lost meaningful development time, and that issue would certainly show up on the field – that could be what you’re seeing. I think it’s too soon to tell though. Programs like the ones you mentioned have personnel options at several positions every year and usually spend at least a few weeks figuring out the right mix. (And in the case of Ohio State’s defense, they’re trying to figure out a lot more than that.) So I typically expect to see the quality of play improve from week to week at the top end of college football. Interesting issue to keep an eye on. If there has been an overall step backwards, and players in the draft appear less polished and NFL-ready than we have come to expect, then hopefully the Bills will trade down to stack picks and save cap space.