Post by tigercpa on Dec 23, 2020 15:49:43 GMT
We need a home and home series.
Clemson (Ryan Kantor) and OSU (Gene Ross) bloggers got together to discuss the season, and of course the upcoming semi-final playoff game.
Ross on Fields:
This season has not been as impressive for Fields, as he has had some uncharacteristically poor performances against teams like Indiana and Northwestern. I think a large reason for this has been a mixture of Fields pressing a bit to try and boost his stats in a year where he was only going to play a max of eight games in the regular season, and Ryan Day’s over-commitment to trying to hit the home run play too often. Most of Ohio State’s issues in the passing game have revolved around running slow-developing long pass plays against teams that like to blitz. Losing Olave for the B1G championship game obviously did not help either.
Ryan: The Buckeyes amazingly had three defensive players taken in the first round of the NFL draft last season: DE Chase Young (2nd), CB Jeff Okudah (3rd), and CB Damon Arnette (19th). How have they replaced all that talent from the defense?
Gene: The short answer is: they haven’t. Ohio State’s defense is certainly not what it was a year ago. Chase Young is about to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and replacing a guy who put up 16.5 sacks in 12 games last season is an impossible ask. The secondary has also taken a step back, as Shaun Wade has not excelled as an outside corner as much as he did in the slot, and the guys around him are inexperienced and have not really gotten to hit their stride with all the starting and stopping this season has produced. Ironically, they may actually miss safety Jordan Fuller more than any of those guys (other than Young), as he was a perfect safety net at the back end of the defense.
Ryan: Coach Day caught everyone off-guard by coming out with an up-tempo passing attack early in last year’s game against Clemson. It worked well enough to build a quick 16-0 lead. Clemson’s defense finally looks healthy and dominant. How do you expect the Buckeyes to attack it?
Gene: I almost think Ryan Day could catch people off-guard again by going with the complete opposite attack to start the game. Ohio State has been a pass-first team all season long, as the loss of J.K. Dobbins has been reflected greatly in the run game. The Buckeyes’ rushing stats on paper look great, but I can assure you the ground game is not nearly as explosive this time around as it was when Dobbins was toting the rock. However, as you may have seen in the Big Ten Championship Game, OSU has potentially found themselves a new weapon in Trey Sermon.
Sermon’s 331-yard performance against the Wildcats really came out of nowhere, as up to that point he didn’t even look like the best running back on his own offense. However, now that the offense line is back at full strength, the run blocking was absolutely tremendous, and Sermon looked like a man possessed. I don’t expect a 200-plus yard performance from the Oklahoma transfer against Clemson, but i do think that Ohio State could utilize the ground-and-pound approach early against the Tigers to try and get a few more guys in the box and open up the passing game for Justin Fields.
Ryan: Finally, we just saw the Big Ten adjust their protocol around player quarantine to be shorter and more in line with the science. With the change, what players, if any, are at risk of missing the Sugar Bowl?
Gene: Ohio State has not exactly been incredibly transparent when it comes to their COVID-19 testing this season. In both instances where the team has suffered small outbreaks, we did not find out which players were missing until the Saturday morning before kickoff. The Big Ten lowered its mandatory quarantine from 21 days to 17 (big whoop), which means that any player that missed the B1G title game for COVID-19 will have to had tested positive before last Tuesday.
The one player we know for sure the Buckeyes will be getting back is Chris Olave, who Day specifically mentioned in an interview with ESPN. Ohio State was also missing wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba as well as starting linebacker Baron Browning against Northwestern, and it is unclear if either will be available against Clemson. When asked if everyone would be back, Day responded “a good amount of them,” would be, so I guess we will have to wait and see.
Clemson (Ryan Kantor) and OSU (Gene Ross) bloggers got together to discuss the season, and of course the upcoming semi-final playoff game.
Ross on Fields:
This season has not been as impressive for Fields, as he has had some uncharacteristically poor performances against teams like Indiana and Northwestern. I think a large reason for this has been a mixture of Fields pressing a bit to try and boost his stats in a year where he was only going to play a max of eight games in the regular season, and Ryan Day’s over-commitment to trying to hit the home run play too often. Most of Ohio State’s issues in the passing game have revolved around running slow-developing long pass plays against teams that like to blitz. Losing Olave for the B1G championship game obviously did not help either.
Ryan: The Buckeyes amazingly had three defensive players taken in the first round of the NFL draft last season: DE Chase Young (2nd), CB Jeff Okudah (3rd), and CB Damon Arnette (19th). How have they replaced all that talent from the defense?
Gene: The short answer is: they haven’t. Ohio State’s defense is certainly not what it was a year ago. Chase Young is about to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and replacing a guy who put up 16.5 sacks in 12 games last season is an impossible ask. The secondary has also taken a step back, as Shaun Wade has not excelled as an outside corner as much as he did in the slot, and the guys around him are inexperienced and have not really gotten to hit their stride with all the starting and stopping this season has produced. Ironically, they may actually miss safety Jordan Fuller more than any of those guys (other than Young), as he was a perfect safety net at the back end of the defense.
Ryan: Coach Day caught everyone off-guard by coming out with an up-tempo passing attack early in last year’s game against Clemson. It worked well enough to build a quick 16-0 lead. Clemson’s defense finally looks healthy and dominant. How do you expect the Buckeyes to attack it?
Gene: I almost think Ryan Day could catch people off-guard again by going with the complete opposite attack to start the game. Ohio State has been a pass-first team all season long, as the loss of J.K. Dobbins has been reflected greatly in the run game. The Buckeyes’ rushing stats on paper look great, but I can assure you the ground game is not nearly as explosive this time around as it was when Dobbins was toting the rock. However, as you may have seen in the Big Ten Championship Game, OSU has potentially found themselves a new weapon in Trey Sermon.
Sermon’s 331-yard performance against the Wildcats really came out of nowhere, as up to that point he didn’t even look like the best running back on his own offense. However, now that the offense line is back at full strength, the run blocking was absolutely tremendous, and Sermon looked like a man possessed. I don’t expect a 200-plus yard performance from the Oklahoma transfer against Clemson, but i do think that Ohio State could utilize the ground-and-pound approach early against the Tigers to try and get a few more guys in the box and open up the passing game for Justin Fields.
Ryan: Finally, we just saw the Big Ten adjust their protocol around player quarantine to be shorter and more in line with the science. With the change, what players, if any, are at risk of missing the Sugar Bowl?
Gene: Ohio State has not exactly been incredibly transparent when it comes to their COVID-19 testing this season. In both instances where the team has suffered small outbreaks, we did not find out which players were missing until the Saturday morning before kickoff. The Big Ten lowered its mandatory quarantine from 21 days to 17 (big whoop), which means that any player that missed the B1G title game for COVID-19 will have to had tested positive before last Tuesday.
The one player we know for sure the Buckeyes will be getting back is Chris Olave, who Day specifically mentioned in an interview with ESPN. Ohio State was also missing wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba as well as starting linebacker Baron Browning against Northwestern, and it is unclear if either will be available against Clemson. When asked if everyone would be back, Day responded “a good amount of them,” would be, so I guess we will have to wait and see.
