noDucknewby

Yep that may be the bigger issue, total lack of leadership.

I don't necessarily disagree, just saying it doesn't happen until after the playoffs. I always attach more credibility to actual quotes from the decision makers than some random online source.

Sorry not buying it at this time when they're most likely headed to the playoffs. Also saw another recent link for vote of confidence from their AD that contained an actual quote: Ohio State AD Ross Bjork issues strong support for football coach Ryan Day WWW.DISPATCH.COM Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork told The Dispatch on Sunday that football coach Ryan Day has his full support despite the loss to Michigan. An early exit from the playoff though and I think it might happen.

I'm STD of the Sanders' dog and pony show. Of course he's a show boat, look who his coach is. That said, he's a unique player and the Heisman voters love dynamic, flashy players. Jeanty is impressive for sure, I just don't see many east of the Rockies voting for him and his numbers are somewhat inflated because of MWC opponents. Gabriel, like Nix, is "just" a really solid, cerebral team leader. Unfortunately that's not what draws Heisman votes.

Classic circular reasoning: 1. All these 2-loss SEC teams deserve to be ranked because the SEC is so tough. 2. This proves that the SEC is the toughest conference because they have the most ranked teams. And don't get me started on how worthless the ESPN strength of schedule rankings are, now who is their biggest broadcast partner?

No doubt I'm pulling for Indiana. A second tOSU loss puts them in lower bracket and maybe we don't have to deal with them again. I still think we can beat them, but they would be motivated and dangerous. IF Indiana beats tOSU convincingly in the Shoe, then sure it's possible they overtake us in the rankings. Doesn't matter we'd have to beat them anyway in the B1G Championship. That said, my gut tells me there's no way Indiana gets the #1 ranking from where they currently sit at #5. We still have the BSU win (who'da thought it would matter at the time?) and they should already be ranked ahead of Penn State which tells us what the committee thinks about them.

OK I'll state the obvious, the jury's still out on this one. We should see what the final seedings are before we start screaming bias. THAT SAID, ESPN and their shills are already lobbying hard for the inclusion of a 3-loss SEC team because "the conference is so tough, blah blah blah". Never mind that while we were in a dogfight at Camp Randall, Alabama was playing Mercer (Mercer?!) at home. You've got to be kidding me. Yes the SEC is finally showing a little parity, the same trait that branded the Pac-12 as "weak". Let's face it, there's a BIG (pun intended) gap between the top four in the B1G and the rest of the 18-team conference. In the SEC you can probably make an argument for five or six teams; too bad for them, they all can't (and shouldn't) go.

An obvious take doesn't get many clicks. If he states something contrary to popular opinion and is wrong nobody cares, but if he's right then he looks like Carnac the Magnificent.

Us longtime fans know that November has not been kind to us on more than one occasion. It's OK to be a little nervous. I'm not going to jinx anything by even talking specifics, yeah I'm superstitious. That said, I have no doubt there's a method to his madness, no point in stewing about it.

Well it's a better look than getting so drunk you eat your napkin in a restaurant.

Well maybe, but first they have to make it to the B1G Championship. They still have to get by Indiana and Michigan, while we only have to get by Wisconsin and Washington. Personally I hope Indiana wins out as well as OBD, I think that would make a great championship game (and story).

Couldn't agree more. Sure if you have a Flintstone offense, the defense stacks the line and it's the proverbial "3 yards and cloud of dust". That couldn't happen in the Pac-12 because you would just get scorched deep all the time. Even going back to Chip's "finesse" teams, you couldn't lead the country in rushing without pushing some people around.

Obviously this is a really good team. This is also a good year to enter the B1G. Michigan, USC and Washington are all down and Maryland, Purdue and Rutgers are just plain bad. Had we played last year's Michigan team in the Big House we may have had our hands full. Let's face it, the B1G top to bottom is not that great this year. Sure there's four solid, perhaps playoff level teams at the top, but that's out of 18 teams. That said, I don't see Michigan and Washington staying down for very long. USuc who knows, but they're in a death spiral for the foreseeable future. My point is that this could be a really tough conference in a year or two, especially if Indiana's run has some longevity. Fortunately we're well positioned going forward and I like our chances.

There was a silver lining to Holden's ejection and consequent suspension--the emergence of Justius Lowe. Not saying he makes up for Tez, but certainly he softens the blow if Tez is out for a while. Even with Tez out, we'd probably still have the best starting lineup we've ever had with Stewart, Holden and Lowe, not to mention our TE depth. McClellan looked good in the spring game and Dickey was a coveted 5* who's battled injuries, maybe he'll get his chance to shine. Hoping for the best with Tez, but the cupboard is hardly bare in the receiver room.

I understand the strategy when blowing out inferior teams--dumb down the offense, milk the clock and rest the starters whenever possible. The problem I see is that it seems to be leading to a third quarter letdown regardless of the scenario. We score a TD on our first drive against Michigan and that game is essentially over, but we let them hang around and their QB starts to get in a rhythm. Of course a third quarter TD in the Ohio State game would have been even bigger. That said, it's clearly become a point of emphasis for DL and when he attacks a problem like that it usually gets solved (see OL turnaround).

One thing I see is that the home field advantage is not as big as it was in the Pac-12. Every year a mediocre team wound up knocking off a contender at home. Despite the Bay Area and LA schools, places like the Palouse, Rice-Eccles, fusky and bean dip stadiums and the desert teams at night can be very difficult road games. Of course the rest of the conference absolutely hated coming to Autzen. I just don't see that in the B1G as much. Maybe Camp Randall or Happy Valley, otherwise I'm just not seeing it.

Besides the fact that I generally root against tOSU, a Penn State win serves us better IMHO. Currently there are 4 teams vying for 2 spots. A Buckeye loss pretty much eliminates them from the B1G Championship. For me the best scenario is for Penn State to eliminate tOSU, then the Buckeyes knock off Indiana at home. IF Oregon and Penn State win out then that gives us a top five matchup in the B1G Championship game, the winner then would have an excellent chance at the #1 seed in the CFP (certainly no lower than 2). That said, if we take care of our business then this one game probably won't matter either way.

The Ryan Day whinefest after the Oregon game is just embarassing. I don't hear him complaining about the officiating in the Nebraska game that went his way. I'm pulling for Penn State to put a whooping on them. In the B1G right now there are three deserving teams to fight it out for the championship. Ohio State isn't one of them.

College football is a multi-billion dollar industry. Pay the refs well and hold them accountable (that goes for the replay officials as well). Managing officiating at the national level would probably be desirable, but IMHO just too unwieldy with so many schools and conferences. It probably makes the most sense for the conferences to police their own, but they have to actually do it. As with the rest of college football, if the B1G and the SEC take the lead, the rest of the country will follow. As for rule changes, I like the NFL system for reviews. All turnovers and scoring plays are automatically reviewed, the rest are coaches challenges. College views targeting differently than the pros, so having targeting calls automatically reviewed makes sense, since these can be difficult to judge in real time. What I hate is the booth reviewing a play for targeting when it wasn't called on the field. The refs are pretty flag-happy with targeting as it is. Also--Put a time limit on reviews for criminy sakes. If it can't be decided in the first minute or so, then there is no incontrovertible evidence to overturn it and the play should stand.

At this juncture Cignetti is a no-brainer. That said, their schedule gets tougher with Michigan (still no pushover, ask Smitty) then a trip to the Shoe. They make the B1G Championship game it's a done deal win or lose IMHO.

Agree on your observations, not so sure about your conclusion. There may be better ways of getting him the ball in space (wheel route, screens, etc.) than lining him up as a receiver. This one is a bit of head scratcher to me, but clearly he is not the back he was before the injury, despite DL/WS efforts to get him back on track. Really liked what I saw from Harris (granted in garbage time) against Purdue, personally I would like to see him in relief of JJ a little more. IMHO Limar doesn't have Harris' upside, although he is rock solid and a great special teams player.

I don't think you can overstate the importance of this win, which is clearly Lanning's signature win up to this point. That said, it's ONE win. Can we check a couple of these boxes before we get out the annointing oil? 1. Win against the fuskies!!! 2. Win in the Big House, the Shoe or Happy Valley. 3. Conference title. 4. Playoff appearance 5. NATTY!!!

Personally I'm loving the poetic justice in the LA teams becoming cellar dwellers in the B1G.

Can't say they don't represent.🤣