Florida International University at #2 Penn State (12:00 EDT, BTN)

Lazy Dave said:
When was the game competitive though? At what point did you bite your nails or worry that they might get a break or 2 and pull the upset?

Score indicates #2 team played like crap as a 40+ pt favorite. Offensively at least. If you feel like their defense rose to the occasion, then perhaps I could understand thinking they were competitive. I'm not talking coach-speak though. We hurt outself much more than they hurt us.

Still means we have plenty to work on.
Click to expand...
They were competitive. I didn't ever feel like we were in jeopardy of losing but we didn't look dominant until the very end. I think we underperformed and they showed up not intimidated.
 
Jerry said:
Yes, the coach himself emphasized that we have plenty to work on in the BTN interview right after the game.

For me, by halftime there was never a doubt we were going to win the game and I posted here in the thread that it would amaze me if FIU managed to get 10 points.

In fact, I actually saw some things to take encouragement from...even though I had hoped for something more impressive from the offense.

Still, in the end, it's a 34-point shutout. Yet I come away from it with the same concerns that I previously expressed here about playing 3 cupcakes in a row before the big game on September 27.
Click to expand...
I watch these "throw away" games while keeping UO and OSU in mind. Their DCs will be focused on breaking Allar's confidence and encouraging bad decisions. It's up to Kotelnicki to anticipate this when putting together the game plans. BTW, that TD to Ross would have more than likely been picked off against the Ducks or the Bucks.
 
Beyond the obvious concern with Allar the other concerns are:

-O-Line still looks like they have difficulty pushing people off the ball to make 3rd and 3-4 and 4th and 2, for example. This could be a major problem in our big games.

-We gave up a sack or maybe two. We should not give up any sacks versus an opponent like this. Perhaps this was more of an Allar issue.

-We seem super susceptible to a mobile QB who can get out of the pocket then hit the mid range 8-10 yard throw. Or even staying in the pocket we give this up a lot.

-Didn't like how FIU was able to run the ball. They didn't do it consistently but they definitely had success.

I do think we underestimated them and they were better than we thought.

This whole season hinges on Allar taking the proverbial next step and coming up clutch in our big games. This game does not give me a lot of confidence. His first test will be vs Oregon.
 
Lazy Dave said:
Spot on. The defense is better than expected this early, even if they have some warts to clear up. Offense is meh. We expected more early on, returning the players we did.
Click to expand...
Even though we pitched a shutout which is great, this defense is showing a lot to clean up. We are playing more young guys on D though so that is understandable. I don't think that they are ahead of schedule. At best, I have the D close to on schedule.

The offense has been pretty disappointing thus far. I'm not going to give up on them by any means, but I did think that they would be more dominant in these first 2 games. The pieces are there. For some reason (seems like Allar is a big part of this and so is the OL surprisingly) they aren't putting it all together.
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
Even though we pitched a shutout which is great, this defense is showing a lot to clean up. We are playing more young guys on D though so that is understandable. I don't think that they are ahead of schedule. At best, I have the D close to on schedule.

The offense has been pretty disappointing thus far. I'm not going to give up on them by any means, but I did think that they would be more dominant in these first 2 games. The pieces are there. For some reason (seems like Allar is a big part of this and so is the OL surprisingly) they aren't putting it all together.
Click to expand...
OL was dominant from Oregon game on last year. We expected them to pick up where they left off. Maybe that wasn't realistic.
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
Even though we pitched a shutout which is great, this defense is showing a lot to clean up. We are playing more young guys on D though so that is understandable. I don't think that they are ahead of schedule. At best, I have the D close to on schedule.

The offense has been pretty disappointing thus far. I'm not going to give up on them by any means, but I did think that they would be more dominant in these first 2 games. The pieces are there. For some reason (seems like Allar is a big part of this and so is the OL surprisingly) they aren't putting it all together.
Click to expand...

DEs - ahead. We've asked all off season, who could step up. We have 4 currently that are doing well. Dani is playing well above expectations. Looking like a 5*. Fish had a nice return. Harvey improved week over week. Chaz is disruptive.

DTs - ahead. We have subbed out Ford and Durant quite a bit. Gilliam, Blanding, White are playing solid. More disruptions from this room than We've seen under JF.

LBs - close. Amare is a tackling machine. Tony is playing better, but he and Deluca don't always attack the gaps correctly. No apparent 4th guy Knowles trusts yet, but he told us that.

CB - incomplete. Nobody has really threatened them yet. Then again, maybe nobody is open? Has anybody targeted a Harris covered WR yet? AC hits, tackles hard. I think they limited Tracy. I don't remember him much.

S - close. Wheatley with the PBU of the day. Some solid play, but most of the receptions have come against these guys. Lane seems out or the doghouse. He played as much as Belgrave Shorter today it seemed.

This isn't end of year playoff run Buckeyes, but I don't think anybody expected that out of the gate.

Offense is just ugly. Too much zone read for Allar not to keep it. Not enough play action to move the LBs or hold the Safetys. A lot of slow developing runs today. I don't remember those from last year.

Allar played poor for long stretches. Need more Jekyll, less Hyde.
 
Lazy Dave said:
DEs - ahead. We've asked all off season, who could step up. We have 4 currently that are doing well. Dani is playing well above expectations. Looking like a 5*. Fish had a nice return. Harvey improved week over week. Chaz is disruptive.

DTs - ahead. We have subbed out Ford and Durant quite a bit. Gilliam, Blanding, White are playing solid. More disruptions from this room than We've seen under JF.

LBs - close. Amare is a tackling machine. Tony is playing better, but he and Deluca don't always attack the gaps correctly. No apparent 4th guy Knowles trusts yet, but he told us that.

CB - incomplete. Nobody has really threatened them yet. Then again, maybe nobody is open? Has anybody targeted a Harris covered WR yet? AC hits, tackles hard. I think they limited Tracy. I don't remember him much.

S - close. Wheatley with the PBU of the day. Some solid play, but most of the receptions have come against these guys. Lane seems out or the doghouse. He played as much as Belgrave Shorter today it seemed.

This isn't end of year playoff run Buckeyes, but I don't think anybody expected that out of the gate.

Offense is just ugly. Too much zone read for Allar not to keep it. Not enough play action to move the LBs or hold the Safetys. A lot of slow developing runs today. I don't remember those from last year.

Allar played poor for long stretches. Need more Jekyll, less Hyde.
Click to expand...

Save it for the complaints thread ,)
 
Jerry said:
I have to agree with you, Rick.

This is Drew's 3rd year as a starter and he's yet to show the kind of consistently dominant performance that you would hope for from a guy who arrived with his hype and ratings.

I mean, yes, he's been good on the whole...but not what you'd call elite. And let's face it, he hasn't even been good in the biggest games against the Michigans and Ohio States of the world. Some want to blame that on the coaches or the receivers but the fact remains.

All this said, he can still change the entire narrative and I hope he will. It starts on September 27...and then must continue for a bunch of games thereafter.
Click to expand...
Good summary Jerry.
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
They were competitive. I didn't ever feel like we were in jeopardy of losing but we didn't look dominant until the very end. I think we underperformed and they showed up not intimidated.
Click to expand...
Their coach in the post game spoke more about his team's competiveness against PSU, i.e., not intimidated, playing hard four quarters against the #2 team in the nation. I don't think they felt PSU was elite and right now PSU is not.
PSU OL and Allar lack the mentality and consistency to dominate. That has to change.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top