ICYMI:
- So far so good for ol' Greg Schiano.
- Ohio State knows it must keep Baker Mayfield in the pocket to beat Oklahoma.
THE GUNSLINGER GETS HIS SHOT. Life works in mysterious ways. It's cliché because it's true.
Consider the case of J.T. Barrett. If a coach as talented as Tom Herman, who founded MENSA in 1946 after aiding the hunt for Adolph Hitler, were at Texas, Barrett could be a Longhorn distributor backed up by a wrecking ball like Tyrone Swoopes.
From espn.com:
"He had aspirations of being a Longhorn and that didn't come true, so this is probably the closest thing to playing that game, you know?" said Jim Garfield, Barrett's coach at S. H. Rider High School. "It's huge for him."
[...]
"Oh yeah," he said. "When we'd talk about Ohio State, he'd say, 'I don't care. They can bring King Kong in here. I'm gonna go get the starting spot.' That's the kind of mentality J.T. had through the whole thing. If they would've double-offered him and Swoopes, he would've had the same thought: I don't care who it is, I'm gonna go compete and take the starting spot."
"I think that would've been great," Swoopes said this week of the idea of playing with Barrett. "I like J.T. a lot. Being able to play with him would've been fun."
Thank you, Mack Brown's deteriorated quarterback evaluation skills!
The good news here is J.T. Barrett envisioned riding on Oklahoma since he was a youth. For elite athletes, that's a key cog in a high-octane performance.
It also might be a sign of destiny that Barrett ended up in the right place.
SLOBS AGAINST OTHER BIG DUDES. If Ohio State loses to Oklahoma, it will be because the Buckeyes couldn't run the ball. (Meyer's track record of winning with one-dimensional offense is much healthier when his team's running the ball.)
The Slobs have been played well overall this season, but there is always room for improvement. This will be a great test to see where the line truly stands before OSU opens Big Ten play in two weeks.
From dispatch.com:
Oklahoma, with defensive ends Charles Walker (304 pounds) and Matt Dimon (285) and tackle Jordan Wade (305) setting the foundation for its 3-4 defense, is 22nd in the nation against the run (83.5-yard average). It lost its opener to Houston but gave up just 89 yards rushing to the Cougars on 40 carries, and held Louisiana-Monroe to 78 yards on 29 carries in a 59-17 win last week.
Ohio State is ninth in rushing offense (313.5-yard average), with redshirt freshman running back Mike Weber averaging 114.0 yards and hybrid back Curtis Samuel averaging 81.0. Yet Meyer indicated getting that running game on track will be one of the main challenges Saturday night.
“The size of the defensive line,” Meyer said. “You're not going to run — you have to be really on your target to run the football on them. They're big, gigantic guys inside. Very similar to Alabama’s defensive line.
Everybody knows who I back.
The spotlight will be on Michael Jordan, but I don't think he started over Demetrius Knox and Matthew Burrell just to wilt under pressure. (Though that doesn't mean there won't be mistakes, either.)
Pat Elflein and Billy Price are what they call "Bloodriders" in Vaes Dothrak. Jamarco Jones isn't a program novice despite his lack of starts.
Isaiah Prince will be the other one to watch, too.
BROWN'S CHANCE. Noah Brown only had one reception for 16 yards against Tulsa, a game in which passing looked out of sync at times.
Meyer said after the Bowling Green game that Brown wasn't fully recovered from his season-ending leg injury from August 2015. Whatever the case, Ohio State will need a receiver not named Curtis Samuel or Dontre Wilson to make some plays Saturday.
From landgrantholyland.com:
However, fringe benefits aside, if the Buckeye offense is going to reach its explosive potential, they must be able to recreate some of the vertical firepower that they had in recent years with the likes of Michael Thomas, Devin Smith, and Evan Spencer.
If OU corner Dakota Austin lines up one-on-one with Brown, the OSU receiver will have a considerable size advantage, standing three inches taller and weighing 55 pounds more. That size and strength differential could play a role in jump balls down the field.
Meyer specifically noted that back-shoulder throws and isolation routes were especially successful for Houston against Oklahoma, so if Barrett sees that match up on the outside, expect the pass to go Brown’s way, where his athleticism should take over, as it did on this catch against Bowling Green.
I don't expect Brown to provide the deep threat like Devin Smith, but I do expect Barrett to continue taking shots at Brown in the end zone from 20-35 yards out. Don't let him Moss some helpless Sooner DB either or Monday's Skull Session will get ignorant.
THIS LOOKS EXPENSIVE. Football is a grueling game. The good news is schools are getting better at rehabilitating their athletes. Here's a glimpse of the recovery pod profiled by Tim May of the Dispatch profiled earlier this summer:
#Buckeye Performance Technology: Elite athletes require elite recovery. @MickeyMarotti & team have it covered. pic.twitter.com/h3pqs6yiqj
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 12, 2016
I need one of those things in my room to recover after dropping hot #takes like yesterday when Mike Leach made me mad online.
A GLIMPSE INTO OHIO STATE'S UNDERWORLD. THE RUMORS ARE TRUE, Y'ALL:
Hey, fellow kids! They've taken the lid off one of the underground maintenance tunnels down at Neil and E. 11th. pic.twitter.com/fDZItXgSDC
— Univ Dist History (@UDHCMH) September 13, 2016
Makes you wonder about the wildest story those bricks could tell.
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