Jon Joseph

I saw two college football teams not playing their best by far on the O-side of the ball. Game 16 for one and Game 15 for the other. We are in a new CFB territory here. I believe in many respects that the players may be worn out. At least, where it requires more coordination and finesse, the O-side of the ball. I saw a tremendous Ohio State D that could have had the same number of sacks it had vs. OBD but for outstanding play from QB Ewers and a game plan designed to give Ewers good and quick looks. Hats off to Sark and Ewers. Sark watched the Rose Bowl and knew that his highly touted O-line was not going to nullify the Ohio State front 7. Bracket Smith for a half, fine. But not to account for this at half, perhaps run more motion to shake Smith open, I don't get it. This game plan looked a bit like Chip vs. Michigan. Many fruitless plays and punts. The Ohio State O personnel is better than this. The Texas run game not matching the effort vs. Clemson I get. ASU stymied the Horns run game. Georgia twice stymied the Texas run game. So did Vandy and Arkansas in games Texas could have lost. A very good football team but no team received more ranking respect, especially when considering the schedule than Texas this season. In the other semi-final game, how in Hades do you not give Tyler Warren more than NINE (9!) touches? How do not complete ONE pass to a WR? But if Abdul Carter doesn't exit the game, Notre Dame IMO does not win the game. The semifinal games were interesting rock fights but CLASSICS? I did not see great in-game coaching in the semifinals and notwithstanding the modern press's typical hyperbole, neither game will be revered in the long-term annals of CBB. It will be fascinating to see the Buckeyes host the Longhorns in Columbus on 8/30/25. Come On Chip! Come on Ryan! Win the Day vs. the Domers.

With all respect to the post and the comments on the post, I'm tossing this game into the Trash Can. I hope this HORROR show is parsed by the coaches and never shown to the players. Stuff Happens. Next case. Next case will see OBD in the 2025-26 Playoff.

When a group of folks are willing to pay Carson Beck $4M, a guy who kind of went MIA in 2024, is there a ceiling? The House Settlement establishes a 'NIL Clearing House.' Seven Deloitte employees will determine whether an NIL deal is within 'Market Value.' THIS will end lawsuits? 🤣 Sorry, but market value = what you can wring out of the 'market'. The market includes savvy folk and idiots. It's a CFB transfer 'seller's market" and in such a market you will find many the sucker.

Some PO and PO teams factoids. 1936 - The last time Notre Dame defeated a tOSU football team. Elmer Layden was the ND head coach. Franklin Roosevelt was the U.S. President. Francis Schmidt coached tOSU. Thousands tuned in to listen to the game on the radio. The game at Notre Dame drew a then-record @50,000 fans. In 1936 The Shoe, which today sits 102,780 sat 66,210. The USA's population in 1936 was slightly over 102 Million people. College Football was King. Professional football was in its fledgling years. $2.6 MILLION DOLLARS 🤑 - OBD's share of the B1G's PO proceeds. Which is nice. 👍👌😍 Indiana is coming to town on 10/11/25. The schedule may have been soft but no team in 2024 had two 'better losses' than the Hoosiers. On the road at Ohio State and on the road at Notre Dame. And unlike Bama, the Fighting Cigs beat Michigan.😁 B1G teams in the Portal top 25 - 6. Nebraska/ 11. OREGON👍/ 13. Wisconsin - Billy Edwards Jr. who QB'd Maryland last season will be back in Autzen with the Badgers on 10/25/25/ 17. Indiana - Picked up QB Fernando Mendoza, RS Sophomore from Cal. 18. UWho 😒/ 20. UCLA/ 24. Minnesota. On OBD's 2025 schedule - SC 40/ Rutgers 46/ Penn State 58. And Michigan comes in at 35. The portal will again open for business after Spring Practice. Tying this into the thread (I hope) OHIO STATE after the 1st Portal go-round comes in at 45. Lots of talent of course on the Buckeyes roster but the D Line in particular is losing quality players including the now legendary Jack Sawyer. BUCKS, Keep the Streak Against the Irish Going! Win and OBD will have the season's 'best' loss. BTW: CFB is not the only one sowing Bad Seeds. 😁 Report: NFL may reevaluate playoff seeding format for next season WWW.YARDBARKER.COM After expanding the playoffs to 14 teams (seven in each conference) in 2020, the NFL has seen a new problem develop in its postseason format.

Whether Prime moves on or not his hire was one of the best moves by an AD ever. The money paid to Prime and the NIL money paid to players he brought in including a Heisman Trophy winner? One of the best ROIs if not the best ever scored in the history of CFB. A CFB non-entity post-McCartney (RIP) for the most part became must-watch TV. Folsom Field went from @20,000 fans a game to sold out with a long line of folks on the waiting list. This will be a loss for CU and for a B12 trying to reamain relevant in CFB.

Great comments above but I am far from convinced that Ohio State defeats the Ducks eight or nine times out of ten games. The Bucks caught the Ducks in a tsunami, a perfect storm, aided and abetted by the Ducks having close to thirty days off before playing the Bucks. If 2024 had seen a 'traditional' Rose Bowl game and not a Rose Bowl playoff game, Ohio State would have been on the bench longer than Oregon. On the bench, while being pounded by the naysayers and not coming off a stellar victory at home vs. an SEC team. Also, please tell me where the ten games will be played. Would all of the games be played in Columbus or on a neutral field? This would not happen. Would Oregon have all hands on deck and healthy? Yes, in 2024-25, Ohio State had the bluest of the sports combined recruiting and portal picking, Blue Chip Roster. It had the same roster when it stumbled and bumbled vs. a Michigan team Oregon easily handled in Ann Arbor as in Pasadena. Chip Kelly was calling the plays vs. the Wolverines and called a horrible game. How was Chip's play calling vs Texas? Smith was shut out in the first half, where were the adjustments at halftime? Ohio State broke a long play at the end of the half. It had an impressive drive on its first possession. After that? Thank goodness for Sark getting tricky at the goal line and the strip sack return by Sawyer. A great play by Sawyer but one that isn't happening in the majority of football games. How was Chip's play calling and execution vs. Texas compared to Dilly who was a non-call away from playing Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl? As Lou Holtz says: You have a different team every week. If the coaches decided how best to maximize the talent on the roster only after the players beefed, something is not right with the coaching. In regard to the talent being homebred and developed within I agree in general. But without Howard, Caleb Downs, the AA center, etc.? In today's world of unfettered free agency, you build the best roster you can however you can. Day has been the HC for five seasons and before that assisted Urban Meyer who recruited talented players. As Jim Harbaugh noted, 'Some coaches are born on third base.' Dan has been coaching on the West Coast for three seasons as was noted in the above excellent comments. He will learn. The Ohio State D once again came through in the Cotton Bowl. Ewers pulled a Houdini act or he would have been sacked as often as Gabe in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes O was missing in action. I'm not convinced that this Ohio State team will have its way with Notre Dame. Al Golden is a terrific DC and he has good game tape from the Cotton Bowl to use as a primer. All the comments were terrific but I do not want to value Ohio State on its two best efforts of the season that came in the postseason or value the Ducks on a Rose Bowl meltdown. In comparing Chip's O vs Penn State and Will Stein's O, I'm going with Will. Beat the Domers!

$4M for a 3rd-round QB Who Led the SEC with 12 Interceptions. 🤪 Behind Miami's multi-million-dollar push for QB Carson Beck, who lands a top-tier NIL package to transfer - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Beck's deal is less than his believed initial asking price but still among the highest-paid players in college football

More OBD Love! Bucky and J-P-J, and Evan Williams on PFF NFL Rookie All-Star Team. PFF's All-Rookie Team: Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels headlines the offense, Rams' Jared Verse shines on defense WWW.PFF.COM Khaled Elsayed reveals PFF's All-Rookie Team for the 2024-25 regular season.

The Sporting News Picks Ohio State to Win and Cover. Ohio State vs. Notre Dame predictions: Expert picks and odds for 2025 College Football Playoff championship game WWW.SPORTINGNEWS.COM Ohio State and Notre Dame will meet for the third straight season, and the winner of this one will take home a national championship.

Saturday Tradition's First Thoughts on the Champ Game Ohio State vs. Notre Dame: First impressions of the national championship SATURDAYTRADITION.COM The 8th-seeded Buckeyes will take on the 7th-seeded Irish for the national championship in Atlanta on Jan. 20. The 8th seed versus the 7th seed? 🤮

CBS Sports Gives tOSU a B+. I'd give the Bucks D an A and the O a C-. College Football Playoff grades: Texas earns 'C+', Penn State gets 'B-' on semifinals report card - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Here is the report card for each team that played in the CFP semifinals

With the presser 😁 he was under I thought Ewers played a terrific game. Ohio State could have had eight sacks 😒as was the case in the Rose Bowl. I guess this guy HATED Sark's post-game press conference? Both Os underperformed. Both Ds stepped up.

Today, at 1:30 Pacific, Justin Herbert and the LA Chargers at the Houston Texas. OBD QB Justin against Texans QB CJ Stroud from tOSU. Tomorrow, at 10 AM Pacific, Bo Nix leads the Broncos into sunny Buffalo. Go Justin! Go Bo!

USA's, obviously better take 😜 than my effort, story on Day closing in on getting nuts Bucknuts fans off of his back. (But Ohio State grad Marcus Freeman has other ideas.) Ohio State just one win away from rewriting its narrative for good WWW.USATODAY.COM After being left for dead in December, Ohio State clinches spot in national championship game with Jack Sawyer's stunning play.

Doctor Jack, you are far from alone in your observation. Texas, Steve Sarkisian crumble to Ohio State in Cotton Bowl after curious play call WWW.USATODAY.COM Texas was just one yard from tying the Cotton Bowl but a failed sweep and subsequent sack and fumble clinched the game for Ohio State.

Great comment, 30. Thank you, Sir. The QB play in the SEC this season but for Dart at Ole Miss, and he melted down vs. Florida and played poorly in the home loss to Kentucky. Beck without Bowers and McConkey was lost. The QB play was not at the level we have become accustomed to seeing since Saint Nick opened up the Bama O. Good call on the Rose Bowl but I'd refer to it as the 'Greg Sankey Format Law.' In fairness, Sankey knew the format was FUBAR after the Pac-12 disappeared (Offense intended Beavis.) Sankey and others were able to get a unanimous vote to go from 6 conference champs and 6 at large to 5 and 7 but not to change the top four conference champs having the preferred, or so it was thought, seeds and a 1st round Bye. Professional football players sit out one week and then play on their home field and not in Pasadena. The format set up perfectly for a Buckeyes team that was being buried by its fans for the Michigan loss. Charles is spot on, last night we did not see the Ohio State team that played Tennessee in Columbus and OBD in Pasadena. We saw an Ohio State team that won in Pasadena and was rewarded with a game in Dallas vs Texas, the 15th game of the season for tOSU, and the 16th for Texas. The season needs to start in Week 0 for all involved and end earlier. And they will still be played because of media contracts but why play a conference champ game? Even if four teams are tied at the top of the Power 2, all four are odds on to make the field. In postseason football playoffs managed by the NCAA the respective playoff begins one week after the regular season and top-seeded winning teams play at home before the champ game. What a concept! I did not see any team in the semis playing fast and furious. Both games featured the play of the defense and were decided by mistakes on offense and not the great play of the offense. We will see a new format in 2026 but so long as ESPN owns the college playoff and the college off-season likely will not see more than a 1st round game on home-fields. Oregon plays the winner of No. 9 Boise State at No. 8 Indiana in Autzen and it's a different ball game. DUH! Next case. OBD will be back in the playoff in 2025-26.

Are Chris Fowler and Herbie both losing IT? "No doubt, Texas has been the best team in the SEC all season." Fowler OBD has a few friends down Athens way in the Peach State who might disagree with you, Chris. 'Facts are stubborn things,' said John Adams; UGA fans simply say: SCOREBOARD x 2! The season isn't over, it's too darn long IMO, but the odds for next season's champion odds are out. Despite significant roster changes, Ohio State +450 has the best odds and OBD is tied with Texas +600 for the 2nd best odds. OBD will not see tOSU in 2025 unless both make the Champ Game in Indianapolis. (And try to take a loss? 😁) GO BUCKS!

From Buckeyes Wire - Ohio State football defeats Texas: 5 takeaways from CFP semifinal BUCKEYESWIRE.USATODAY.COM Things didn’t come nearly as easy for Ohio State against Texas in a CFP semifinal, but in the end, the Buckeyes did what they needed to win and advance to the College Football Playoff nationa…

Oregon is a half-share media revenue partner through the next media deal but gets 1/18th of what OBD, Indiana, Penn State, and Ohio State bring in from the CFB PO and the B1G makes from the CBB Tournament. We sure as 💩 ain't sharing any of our share with the Pac-2!

Who knew, Jeremiah Smith could be covered? The D except in Autzen, never let Ohio State down the entire season. It wasn't pretty but it sets up a shot to stuff the Domers. The ACC facilitates ND's independence. $20M + so far for ND and the good Fathers aren't sharing the loot. Buckeyes open -9.5! Marcus Freeman beat PSU and James Franklin but I don't believe he will defeat his alma mater.

Spot On but I don't think Sark will fire himself. Second year in a row, we have a champ game without an ESS EEE SEE team in the mix.

Beck + the Canes open at 'home' on 8/30/25 vs Notre Dame. Game No. 4 is also in the Dolphins home stadium against a Florida team that significantly improved during the season. I'll take the Over on the Gators having more fans on hand. Good luck. Yuck, yuck.

And travel is terrible for the student-athletes. That's why we just added NO. Ill. as a football member.😉

After handing OBD thorns in the Rose Bowl, how about making the loss slightly less painful by winning it all? The Ultimate Cotton Bowl Playoff Preview: Ohio State has achieved liftoff. Can Texas bring the Buckeyes back to Earth? SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Ohio State looks unbeatable. Can Texas derail the Buckeyes' championship dreams? We break down the Playoff semifinal and pick the winner.

Et tu, Saturday Tradition? Little Game James strikes again in Penn State’s crushing Playoff loss SATURDAYTRADITION.COM James Franklin just can't shake the moniker. He's now 4-20 in games against Top 10 teams, and this loss was the worst of all.