Saw Art Briles "guest coaching" the Cleveland Browns and deleted the "team" from my memory for the rest of the year.
My Sundays are looking up, baby!
BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL. "Bulletin board" material is a trope almost as old as sports... or at least as old as the bulletin board.
We all know how it works. An opponent pops off at the mouth with some dumb shit like, oh, I don't know, "They have a basic defense, and I think Baker Mayfield will light them up," and next thing you know the local team is up 21 in the fourth quarter.
It's dumb to think Ohio State's defense tried harder than it would've if Austin Kendall hadn't said what he did on an Oklahoma football-produced show. But there was Raekwon McMillan (and teammates) parading a "Basic Defense" sign around the field in the aftermath of the win in Norman.
Urban Meyer is all about this stuff too, lest we forget him literally adorning the Florida workout facility with fake media quotes leading up to the 2007 BCS title game.
So, it's worth something, at least to the man who earned a psychology degree from Cincinnati, which is a fact a lot of people don't know about Meyer.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin, it allowed ESPN to sit in with first-year Badgers DB coach (and former All-American safety) Jim Leonhard as he prepared his charges for their primetime date this Saturday with Zone-6.
From espn.com:
Leonhard stood in the front, wearing a red Wisconsin crewneck shirt and gray Badgers sweatpants. He informed his players that Ohio State's run and pass game are simple in concept but effective on the field. The Buckeyes rank third nationally in points per game (53.2). He encouraged players that if they lock in, they will have an opportunity to win.
[...]
"I have yet to see a guy play good technique in press on him," Leonhard said. "He is very good. If he gets you a step behind, he is damn good at trapping the ball, going and attacking it, making plays over the top of corners. But I have yet to see a corner play it from a good position. So the way you play in press, he is not going to run past you. Same thing when you watch that on tape. He is never more than this far away from a guy. Haven't seen it yet. So you can challenge him."
[...]
"Watch the deep curl," Leonhard said. "Watch 80 [Brown]. I don't know. I don't think he's threatening your speed, right? Trust who you are. Know who he is. I don't think he's going to run past you."
The article is insightful and offers a rare glimpse into big game preparation, and nothing Leonhard said is wrong. Ohio State runs a simple offense because simplicity = speed. As he noted, the simplicity hasn't stopped the Buckeyes from putting points on the board.
And Noah Brown, for all his amazing attributes, isn't torching players downfield regularly.
No harm, no foul, right? That's true in reality, where we reside. But Meyer is in a bunker, and you're high if you think this won't be twisted into another "basic defense" in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
We'll see if it matters Saturday night, but I'm not about to stand in the way of anyone putting another chip on Brown's shoulder. After hibernating against Rutgers and Indiana, we could be poised for another big game from No. 80.
That said, these comments from Wisconsin running backs coach John Settle about Ohio State freshman running back Antonio Williams were much more incendiary than anything Leonhard said.
From 247sports.com:
"There's a reason he's not here," running backs coach John Settle said. "We talk about smart, tough dependable. If a guy doesn't fit that criteria, he wouldn't do well in this environment."
[...]
Following Wisconsin's 10-6 loss to Iowa in the 2015 Big Ten Conference opener, Williams tweeted, "We will not be elite until Stave leaves."
[...]
"We didn't chase him," Settle said. "After he made some comments about one of our family members, I think it was a forgone conclusion that he was welcome to go look at other places.
"The players didn't want him here."
Ah yes, who can forget the 2015 Big Ten and national championship Wisconsin won behind the electric arm of Joel Stave?
Seems dumb to me to cut ties with a talented #teen based on a tweet he quickly deleted, but the dumber move is not taking the high road and instead dropping quotes that wouldn't look out of place on a Tennessee message board when a recruit doesn't volunteer for the Volunteers.
Williams may not play much Saturday night, but Settle will get a front row seat to what happens when you insinuate a Buckeye brother isn't smart, tough, or dependable.
BARRETT REFLECTS ON TUMULTUOUS YEAR. When Braxton Miller went down in the summer of 2014, people thought Ohio State's title hopes went with it. Then J.T. Barrett burst on the scene. But when he went down against Michigan, people who are not me thought Ohio State's title hopes died a second death.
When 2015 rolled around, Barrett and Cardale Jones both looked out of sync during large swaths of play. Eventually, Barrett supplanted Jones; however, he promptly surrendered his starting spot when Columbus Police pinched him for driving under the influence.
From espn.com:
"I was like, 'Man, you could have hurt somebody,'" Barrett said. "'You could have hurt yourself, which would have affected your family, how much they care about you. And also your teammates and all these different things. This is way bigger than you, brother. Let's be honest about it. It's bigger than you. You could have hurt somebody else. You could have hurt somebody's mother, father, son, daughter, auntie, uncle, brother, sister, all these different things that you don't even think about when you do that.'"
A year later, Barrett said, he's thankful that he got pulled over.
"I'm glad that it happened," he said, "because if it didn't happen, I probably still would have been drinking and driving. ... Who knows? I could have killed somebody. I could be in jail. All these different things that could have happened. Fortunately, they didn't."
Meyer says in the article he couldn't believe the text message informing him of Barrett's arrest. I couldn't either. I woke up that Saturday in Boone, North Carolina thinking my friends pranked me.
"Where did you read this?"
"A site you may know," my friend replied. "Eleven Warriors dot com."
Reading Barrett's comments between the lines, it looks like that arrest was only a matter of time. And he's right—thank God he didn't kill or hurt anybody.
"I'm glad it happened," could be taken out of context, but he's right. The worst things that happen in life can be turned beneficial with the proper response.
E+R=O. It's the most beneficial algebra equation of all time.
THAT WISCONSIN DEFENSE. The last time Ohio State played Wisconsin, it dropped 59 points on the Badgers' skulls. Unfortunately, those points won't carry over to Saturday.
The Buckeyes are in for the stiffest test of the season, which would've been intriguing even before the passing game struggled against Indiana.
The Badgers defense has also prepared for the Buckeyes offense the last two weeks.
From campusrush.com:
Their formula relies on a stout run defense that allows minimal gains on first down, which limits offenses' options on second down, then applying the heat on third, when Wisconsin has held opponents to just a 23.0% conversion rate. In Ohio State's power spread, which is averaging 53.2 points and 537.6 yards, the D will face its toughest test this season. Sophomore linebacker Chris Orr, who tore his ACL on Wisconsin's first defensive series of 2016, still travels with the team and watches film with [Wisconsin defensive coordinator Justin] Wilcox. The keys to stopping the Buckeyes, he says, are exactly the things the Badgers do well: Line up fast, play with tempo and dominate in the trenches. The pass rush will also be crucial, which means the Badgers will need linebackers Garret Dooley, a junior, and Zack Baun, a freshman, to continue to play at a high level. "People try to hype up football like it's a bigger game than it is," Orr says. "It's really simple: Play fast, play smart, play physical." Still, to come out with a win, Wisconsin's defense will have to be close to perfect—a reality that bothers not one of its players.
[...]
[Current LSU defensive coordinator Dave] Aranda was the mad scientist behind that mentality. During his three years in Madison the Badgers were first in the country in yards allowed per game, surrendering just 289.4. Their scoring defense ranked second, passing defense second and rushing defense fourth. Wilcox, who arrived after two seasons at USC, inherited a group light on big-name recruits (among the starters there are just two four-star prospects and no five-stars) but long on both experience and that very Wisconsin brand of tough. In light of the team's success Wilcox knew major changes weren't in order. Instead, he took the 3–4 man defense Wisconsin has run for years and tweaked it, changing only the terms for play calls, not for reading offensive formations. He drilled down on fundamentals during spring ball to help forge a defense in which technique would become instinct, so that regardless of talent or athleticism, Wisconsin could line up and play with anyone.
By the time camp started, the new coordinator was able to set his players (relatively) free. "Once they understand the concepts of the defense and the techniques that they can use at their position, then they need to go play the game," Wilcox says. "I just don't want them to be robotic, and there's a fine line in there. Freedom is a bit of a relative term. But as long as you know where you fit within things, then yeah, play the game."
The Badgers' hopes of winning this game rest on their defense's ability to muddy the game. Fortunately for them, they should have some help from Mother Nature.
As of now, forecasts call for thunderstorms throughout Saturday night in Madison, which could hamper Ohio State's passing game.
We could be in store for an old-fashioned Big Ten slobberknocker, folks.
BOBBY LANDERS WILL DUMP YOUR ASS. Malik Hooker is my favorite member of the Buckeye defense, but Bobby Landers could close that gap with another strong performance against Wisconsin.
What I love most about him is he's the smallest guy on the line but plays like he's the biggest. He's my favorite defensive tackle in a long time.
From theozone.net:
If the defense shuts down the Badgers on first and second down like it did the Hoosiers, it's a wrap for Bucky.
Also wanted to throw this in here, because Landers won't be the only one involved in swamping the Badgers offensive line:
Ohio State's top 8 DL-men (Hubbard, Jones, Holmes, Lewis, Hill, Bosa, Landers, Hamilton) have combined for 93 tackles and 1 missed tackle.
— CFB Film Room (@CFBFilmRoom) October 12, 2016
GURUS TAB THE LOCAL TEAM. The numbers were crunched, so we may as well not even play the game.
From profootballfocus.com:
This will without question be the Ohio State offense’s most difficult matchup to date, and it will be intriguing to see if Barrett can bounce back after a poor performance through the air last week. If he struggles again, Wisconsin likely has the front seven to neutralize the run game better than what the Hoosiers could muster last week. On the other side, Wisconsin’s offense doesn’t appear to present much of a threat, but coming in fresh off a bye week and playing in front of the home crowd could give it the boost it needs to exceed its level of play to date. Barring a significant advantage in the turnover battle, however, the Buckeyes look to have enough to escape from Madison with the win.
Ohio State 21, Wisconsin 17
That article is a #goodanalyticalread, but the conclusion is enough for me. Style points aren't necessary when it comes to Wisconsin cheese parlor brawls.
THOSE WMDs. Masked and anonymous... Keeping the world's first stealth airplane a secret was nearly impossible... Chase made the perfect high for credit card junkies... The towns that say "Yes, in my backyard!" to nuclear waste... The strange and curious tale of the last hermit.
