Ohio State goes Urban

With the "resignation" of coach Jim Tressel before the beginning of this season, the Buckeyes have been torn on what to do with their head coaching position. They had two choices: let interim head coach Luke Fickell keep the job or hire a big name coach at the end of the year. Ohio State has gone with the latter of the two choices, hiring former Florida head coach Urban Meyer.

If anyone has the credentials to take over the program at Ohio State, it's Urban Meyer. Meyer won two National Championships in his time with Florida, was raised in Ashtabula, and was an assistant coach under Earl Bruce at Ohio State before going off to be the head coach at Bowling Green. Meyer is clearly a talented enough coach to take over a program like Ohio State.

Probably the biggest positive from hiring Meyer will be the windfall of recruits Ohio State will now be getting. Meyer is a masterful recruiter and is widely known as being one of the best recruiters in the country, if not the best. Meyer has alreadly landed a few ESPN Top 100 recruits, most recently the no. 4 recruit in the entire country. His recruiting will also benefit from the Penn State scandal, which will have former Lions' commits flocking to other Big Ten schools.

 The only downside to the Meyer hire is the concern about how he left his former job at Florida. While at Florida, Meyer resigned twice, coming back almost instantly after his first resignation and leaving to be an analyst at ESPN after his second resignation. Meyer cited his health and needing more time with his family as the reasons for resigning.

For Buckeyes fans, these concerns shouldn't be too troubling. After what happened at Florida, Meyer has learned how he needs to run his program to prevent this from happening again. He decided he can't micromanage every detail of the program anymore, and he is dedicated to building the best coaching staff in teh country to prevent that from happening. He has also said that he's found balance with his job and his family, which takes care of the other problem for him.

Buckeyes fans should be excited about their new head coach. He's Ohio grown, he understands what the expectations are in Columbus, and he's a proven winner. Meyer his sure to bring the football program back to national relevance and competing for a National Championship year in and year out.

Buckeyes Defense Manhandled by Michigan in Bitter Loss

Denard Robinson sprints to a 41-yard TD run

At 2926 days, the streak is finally over for the Buckeyes. That's how many days it had been since Ohio State had lost to Michigan, and the bitter taste of defeat at the hands of the Wolverines is as painful as ever.

Watching the Big House after the 40-34 win over the Buckeyes brought a sick feeling to the stomachs of Buckeyes fans everywhere.  Before this game, the Buckeyes had won seven meetings in a row, which is one of the longest streaks in the history of this rivalry and it was difficult to see that streak come to an end. Missed opportunities, poor coaching in critical moments, and Denard Robinson all combined for the heartbreaking loss for Ohio State.

The missed opportunities for the Buckeyes were the most difficult thing for them to overcome. Freshman quarterback Braxton Miller, who had an otherwise impressive game statistically, had troubles hitting open receivers throughout the entire game.

Miller was throwing the ball better than usual for just about the entire game, but he missed at least three open receivers for touchdowns throughout the span of the game. These missed passes would've completely changed the momentum and could have led the way for a huge upset for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State coach Luke Fickell came into this game knowing that, aside from a possible bowl game, this would most likely be his last game as head coach of the Buckeyes and you could see it in the way he coached. Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Jim Bollman were unusually aggressive in their play calling, which helped the Buckeyes' offense tremendously and ultimately gave them a chance to win.

All of this good coaching was undone by a single call late in the fourth quarter when the Buckeyes were on their final offensive drive. On third down, Fickell did what even a coach of a grade school football team knows not to do: he spiked the ball on third down. That gave Ohio State just one more chance to get the first down, which they failed to do.

Lastly, the defense just couldn't find a way to stop Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson. Robinson is one of the most explosive players in all of college football, but that is no excuse for a defense that is as talented as the Buckeyes to fail to come up with a way to adjust to his play and slow him down.

This devastating loss to the Wolverines is a tough end to the regular season, the Buckeyes' winning streak against Michigan, and Luke Fickell's tenure as the head coach of the Buckeyes.

Ohio State Upset in West Lafayette by Purdue

Surprise! Ohio State came out looking flat for a noon game that they should've handled without a problem. Noon games tend to be the Buckeyes' weakness, especially if it's against one of the teams at the bottom of the Big Ten. This proved true last weekend as the Buckeyes were upset by Purdue in West Lafayette for the second time in a row.

The blame goes to the anemic offense yet again. Watching the Buckeyes with the ball is almost a chore because they are so incredibly boring and predictable. The run-heavy offense was held to three three-and-outs to start the game by a defense that has been absolutely horrendous against the run in the past few games. After having three 100+ yard rushers the game before, this seemed like a favorable match up for Ohio State, but it ended up working out in Purdue's favor.

After going into the half losing 17-7, the Buckeyes seemed to pick it up a little bit. They forced a stop right out of the game that seemed like it would get things going, but the offense still was lagging behind. It took a miracle touchdown pass from Braxton Miller to Jordan Hall to even force an overtime. But overtime could have been avoided if it weren't for the mishap on the extra point attempt.

After scoring a touchdown to even the game up at 20 apiece, all the Buckeyes needed was an extra point to sneak out of West Lafayette with a win. Apparently that task was too much to handle for the special teams. The offensive line was overpowered by Purdue's line and they blocked an awful extra point attempt from kicker Drew Basil. Had the kick been a high one and not a low line drive, it probably would have gotten in.
Nevertheless, Ohio State still had overtime. But the offense was stopped in three plays and was forced to kick a field goal and hand it over to Purdue. After having the Boilermakers at third and twelve, quarterback Robert Marve completed a 14 yard pass to the half-yard line. He followed it up with a one-yard QB sneak to wrap up the upset and basically end Ohio State's chances of making it to the Big Ten Championship Game.

Luke Fickell: Should He Stay or Should He Go?

First year head coach Luke Fickell is now more than halfway through his season-long tryout for a permanent job. Fickell has been handed a lot of crap in his first year, which makes the difficult task of winning over one of the nation's top fan bases even more difficult. Although the Buckeyes are only sitting at 5-3, Fickell has made himself a strong case to be considered to be the long term answer for the Ohio State football program.

Luke Fickell has done an outstanding job of helping his team improve. Since week 2, there has been steady improvement each week in a team that seemed nearly hopeless against Toledo and Miami (FL). Since then, it has been easy to see that the Buckeyes have been coming together as a team. The struggling offense is finally beginning to mesh in its most critical stretch of games in the season and his fledgling quarterback, Braxton Miller, has grown into the leader that the offense needed. The defense has been stellar all season long, except for the second half meltdown against Nebraska, but I still think that the offense was also to blame for keeping the defense on the field for so long.

Fickell is also doing a good job of setting off-field distractions aside and getting the wins he needs to keep the Buckeyes in Big Ten title contention. Backup running back Jamaal Berry was charged with assault over the last few days just weeks after almost being charged with the same crime in a separate occasion. But Fickell has been able to look past the Berry situation and get solid production out of the running game that has fueled consecutive wins against ranked teams.

Although it will be tough for Fickell to compete against the big-name coaches that are being tossed around in discussions for who will be coach next year (Urban Meyer), I think that he has done a good job so far. He has overcome a shaky start to the season and brought Ohio State back into the Big Ten title discussion. He's found a way to have the offense hit its stride when they need to most, and in my book he's doing what he needs to do to get a new contract at the end of the year.

A Wild Win at Home Against Wisconsin

Finally! The Buckeyes pulled together the offense and defense for a solid performance against a quality team. After facing former #17 Illinois two weeks ago and having a bye week, the Buckeyes were ready to play and take on another ranked opponent in former #12 Wisconsin.

At first it seemed like the same old story: a lethargic offense for the Buckeyes wouldn't be enough to overcome another great outing for the defense. With the score 7-3 at halftime in favor of the Badgers, the defense had still kept them in the game. But the offense turned it around in the second half.

The Buckeyes stormed out of the locker room with motivation and, now, momentum. You could feel the energy the Bucks were playing with, which was driven by the crushing defeat Wisconsin had handed the Buckeyes last year that ended their National Championship hopes and put Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. But now it was the Buckeyes' turn to play spoiler. Although most people had already written the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten Championship hunt, if the Buckeyes won out the rest of their schedule and Penn State lost one more game other than a loss to the Buckeyes then they would make it out of the Leaders division and into Indianapolis for the championship game. But it starts with a win against Wisconsin.

Ohio State came out and took the lead, with the score at 17-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter. The beginning of the 3rd quarter began the most exciting quarter of Buckeye football this season. Ohio State got a quick 9 points with a Drew Basil field goal and a Braxton Miller rushing TD that was followed by an unsuccessful two point attempt. But with the Buckeyes up 26-14 with only 4:39 left, the Badgers came storming back. Wisconsin scored two quick touchdowns and a two point conversion to make the score 29-26 in favor of the Badgers. But you couldn't count the Buckeyes out. Braxton Miller cooly led the Buckeyes down the field in a time where most freshman quarterbacks would've been frantic. His leadership proved to be invaluable. Miller took the snap at the Wisconsin 40 with only 0:30 to go and a restless crowd clamoring for a score. He was flushed out of the pocket and forced to scramble to his right where he heaved up what looked to be a desparation pass to the end zone, but Devin Smith was wide open waiting for the game winning pass to fall into his arms. The Buckeyes staved off Wisconsin's attempts at a miracle and secured their biggest win of the season by far. This season-changing win showcased why Braxton Miller is clearly the QB to go with for the rest of the season and the rest of his tenure at Ohio State. Although he didn't have an outstanding statistical day passing (7/12), he made plays with his legs and used leadership to power the offense to victory. His 99 rushing yards and 2 rushing TD's were key to this huge win in Columbus.

Buckeyes Choke in Near-Upset of Nebraska

It seemed like the game was in the bag for the Buckeyes. They were leading by 21 with just 23 minutes left in the game. It almost seemed impossible for Ohio State to blow such a commanding lead, but with the way things have been going this season, you knew they'd find a way. And they did, losing what might be the most disappointing Buckeyes game I've watched for years.

Ohio State entered this game as a heavy underdog for the first time in a very, very long time. Going on the road to #14 ranked Nebraska is a challenge for any team, but for a Buckeyes team that's been struggling like they have, especially on the offensive side of the ball, it didn't seem like they stood any chance at all. Braxton Miller and the Buckeyes' offense apparently didn't hear any of this criticism because they went out there looking like a championship caliber offense. Braxton Miller was nearly unstoppable, throwing for 95 yards and rushing for 91 more. He was helped tremendously Carlos Hyde, who is emerging as Ohio State's top running back. He ran for 104 yards and two TD's, including a 63 yard touchdown run in the second quarter. It was all going great, with the Buckeyes leading 27-6 after their first possession of the second half. But everything changed after that.

It started with a Braxton Miller fumble. As he was falling to the ground, he had the ball stripped out of his hands by a Nebraska defender. This turned into the first touchdown for the Cornhuskers, but the better result for Nebraska was that it gave them some hope. Hope was the last thing the erratic Buckeyes offense needed the Huskers' defense to get. On the ensuing Ohio State possession, Braxton Miller went down with an ankle injury. Ohio State's hopes of pulling off this season-changing upset went down with him. His injury forced in the incredibly ineffective Joe Bauserman, and nothing sucks the life out of the Buckeyes' offense like Joe Bauserman. After Bauserman entered the game, the offense gained just three more first downs. They were led by Bauserman's 1 for 10 performance in which he racked up a total of 13 yards for a passer rating of 0.9. No, that's not a typo, his passer rating was actually 0.9. Meanwhile, the defense was getting tired and letting up big plays, which just added fuel to Nebraska's fire. After they tied the game up at 27 apiece, you could just feel that the Buckeyes would blow it. Of course, that feeling was right and they gave up the go-ahead touchdown drive on Nebraska's ensuing possession.

If Ohio State even wants to become bowl eligible, they're going to need to get a few signature wins in the upcoming games. This is the perfect week for that win against #16 Illinois. This game gives the Buckeyes a chance to do what Illinois did to us in 2007: go into their house and ruin their undefeated season. If the Buckeyes can get revenge against Illinois this week, it could end up being a game where we will look back and see where they turned their season around.

Spartans Smother Buckeyes' Offense

The Michigan State Spartans absolutely manhandled the Buckeyes' offense in yet another embarrassing loss for the Buckeyes. The fire in the Spartans' defense combined with the apparent listlessness in the Ohio State offense for another painful to watch performance by the declining Buckeyes.

Out of all of the Buckeyes games I've watched over the past few years, this was easily the most depressing. I could tell from the get-go that the offense was going to be flat, but what ended up unfolding on the field was even worse than I expected. The Bucks were limited to just 178 yards on offense, and even that low number is padded by a meaningless last-second drive that resulted in the only points for the Buckeyes. There were pretty much no positives to take out of this game from the offense point of view. The passing numbers were poor at best with 143 yards with an interception and a meaningless touchdown. The rushing numbers were even worse, amassing a dismal 35 total yards.

This game snapped the fifth-longest home winning streak in the nation at 16 games. The last-second touchdown saved the Buckeyes from their first shutout at home in the last 183 games and their last shutout at all in the last 17 years. The only good thing that could be taken out of this game was the defense and its ability to force critical turnovers. Their two turnovers saved the Buckeyes at least 10 points and were the only reason they still had a chance of winning at all.

The offense is going to need to pick it up soon if the Buckeyes even want to become bowl eligible this year. As of now they have yet to play ranked opponents Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan and they still have to play Penn State who is on the verge of being ranked. It's not going to be an easy road to a bowl game for the Buckeyes, but if it's going to happen, the charge needs to be led by Braxton Miller and this young Ohio State offense.