GOOGLE US
Ohio State blows out Indiana, 38-15. Now, it's time to do the same to That Team Up North.
The worst thing about the Penn State loss is it was one of those games where if it occurs on a video game, which we all know mirror real life, you're demanding a runback for double the money on the first game.
The best part about the loss: It earned James Franklin a four-year extension and millions of more dollars. I disparaged Franklin regularly and will continue until Penn State wins at least a Big Ten title.
Penn State's defensive line impressed. Linebackers Brandon Bell (19 tackles and a sack) Jason Cabinda (12 tackles and a sack) impressed. Trace McSorley played like a sober but slightly less talented Johnny Manziel. You don't often see teams dominate Urban Meyer-coached teams in both trenches.
Ohio State ran out of the good plays.
Silver Bullets did their thing, though the seven-play, 74-yard one-minute PSU touchdown drive with nine seconds left in the first half and the five-play, 90-yard drive to make it 21-14 in the fourth quarter will forever mystify me.
Curtis Samuel balled. Mike Weber did his part, and J.T. Barrett performed admirably while laboring against subpar protection and no wide receiver separation.
J.T. Barrett somehow escaped this and ran for 19 yards. Might be most amazing play of season other than Noah Brown's Oklahoma TD catch. pic.twitter.com/YxVGs87K4A
— Bill Rabinowitz (@brdispatch) October 24, 2016
Despite the early wins, OSU is still "28 freshmen on the 70-man travel roster" young. However, that shouldn't stop the F.B.I. from indicting the Big Ten employee who scheduled back-to-back night games in Camp Randall and Beaver Stadium with Wisconsin and Penn State coming off byes.
Beaver Stadium brought the ruckus, but State College is the equivalent of transferring Ohio State's football program (and the Horseshoe) to Ohio University in Athens.
Penn State lacks a spare facility to toss Ohio State so it doesn't have to do its walk-throughs in a Ramada parking lot? I hope Columbus hotels and rental lodgings boycott the Nittany Lions in 2017 so they have to AirBnB a trailer park in Pataskala.
The second worst part of the loss: Michigan fans riding past on their high horse and acting like the only team they have yet to beat on the road is Rutgers, and that Penn State (without Bell and Cabinda) on the road is the same as a whiteout by 107,000 Pennsylvanians who pounded grain liquors for 10 hours. Jim Harbaugh faked a punt up 34 on Illinois, and I pray Blue is 11-0 this year with a Big Ten title on the line in Columbus.
Call it a hunch, but this conference hasn't heard the last of Meyer and the local team. There's still only one B1G school where recruits can see a legit College Football Playoff Trophy and the hunt for the 2016 one ain't dead yet.
I NEEDED THAT FLAG, THOUGH. It's only a losing fan that yelps about the refs, which is why we're talking the lack of a pass interference call on the incompletion to James Clark on 2nd and 10 from the OSU 42 with 1:16 left in the game and the Bucks trailing by three.
It didn't cost the Bucks the game, and they still may have lost with it, but damn I was salty when PSU CB Jordan Smith raked Clark's right arm and a wild FLAG chyron failed to materialize.
Kirk Herbstreit Herbiesplained the lack of a call Sunday morning on Twitter:
It ain't cheating if you don't get caught. Clark dusted Smith off the line and Barrett dropped a dime—a sequence of events far too rare this season—and Smith's gambit paid off. And even if he get's caught, 15 yards beats a touchdown. Can't hate the player, only the game.
Also, shoutout to the Buckeye disciple in Cabo. A long walk along the moonlit Pacific would've been a nice reprieve after watching Penn State pull off what is and will forever be the biggest win of the Franklin tenure.
PFF PASSES OUT THE MARKS. Football is a tough game to watch live and deliver a proper diagnosis. (Look how often coaches say "I need to look at the tape" after the big game.)
Not going to front, though... I will never watch that game again. Thankfully professional people bear that cross.
Here are the top grades from Pro Football Focus, an industry-leading analytics site.
| RANGE | GRADE |
|---|---|
| 0-59.9 | POOR |
| 60-69.9 | BELOW AVERAGE |
| 70-79.9 | AVERAGE |
| 80-89.9 | HIGH QUALITY |
| 90-99.9 | ELITE |
| OSU O | OSU D | PSU O | PSU D |
|---|---|---|---|
| RG BILLY PRICE (77.5) | CB MARSHON LATTIMORE (81.5) | RT BRENDAN MAHON (87.6) | DT KEVIN GIVENS (86.8) |
| QB J.T. BARRETT (75.5) | DE NICK BOSA (80.4) | C BRIAN GAIA (79.7) | DE GARRETT SICKELS (81.7) |
| RB CURTIS SAMUEL (74.3) | S DAMON WEBB (79.6) | QB TRACE MCSORLEY (71.4) | CB JOHN REID (80.5) |
| C PAT ELFLEIN (67.6) | DE JALYN HOLMES (76.8) | RB SAQUON BARKLEY (73.3) | CB GRANT HALEY (79.0) |
| TE MARCUS BAUGH (66.1) | DT BOBBY LANDERS (75.1) | WR SAEED BLACKNALL (67.7) | DE EVAN SCHWAN (78.5) |
| WR TERRY MCLAURIN (60.8) | WR CHRIS GODWIN (56.0) |
Damon Webb as OSU's third-best defender might surprise some people, but the other top four won't. I disagree with labeling Barrett's game "average," so here's how the gurus explained it:
So much of J.T. Barrett’s performance was assured, accurate and kept the Ohio State offense ticking, but what was lacking for Barrett was a single big play that might have turned this game in Ohio State’s favor. The lack of that big play kept the Nittany Lions hanging around, and ultimately, the pressure surrendered by his offensive line ensured that after the blocked field goal touchdown return that gave Penn State the lead in the fourth quarter, the shell-shocked Buckeyes couldn’t recover. Barrett completed a lot of passes in the short and intermediate range but couldn’t deliver deep last night. Pressured on more than 50 percent of his dropbacks, he went 0-for-4 on deep balls and could only pick up two gains of 10 yards or more on the ground, as the Penn State pass rush ultimately limited his impact on the game.
No college quarterback would've looked elite under that pass rush. And the game-ending fourth-down play was as doomed as I've felt in the Meyer era. It's year five and it was one play, so I found it in my heart to forgive him.
One sentence that rang true:
Three of the top five graded players on the Ohio State defense Saturday night were not among the starters, with defensive linemen Jalyn Holmes, Nick Bosa and Robert Landers staking their claims for increased playing time in the coming weeks as the Buckeyes look to rebound from this loss.
All three are good football men, but don't sleep on Holmes, who gets caught up behind Bosa's (rightful) hype and Bobby's blossoming. The d-line only dragged McSorely down once, but that's a testament to his legs and creativity.
ET TU, PAPA? Louisville basketball hired hookers for #teen 'croots, which of course Rick Pitino says Rick Pitino had no knowledge.
I would've figured hooker hiring fell in line with the #brand values of Papa John's Pizza, or at least its CEO, Crunk Papa. Apparently, the Louisville campus benefactor is fed up:
He's yours now. Thanks for the stadium, ya Hoosier. pic.twitter.com/0UVM3In7dP
— TBG (@ThatBoysGood) October 23, 2016
No coincidence Kentucky dumped Mississippi State. (I contracted leprosy Saturday night when a commenter called for Meyer's job because he can't win with four- and five-star recruits; has anyone made a thread about hiring Dan Mullen and Charlie Strong when they both get canned?)
What's also hilarious is Hunt Brothers Pizza—literally gas station pizza—replaced Papa John's at Rupp Arena in September. Looks like UK owes him one, and debt is no jovial matter to an hombre like Papa.
No word yet on how this possible allegiance switch by the Papa affects Lamar Jackson's Heisman campaign.
THOSE WMDs. Penn State upsetting Ohio State was the biggest win in Beaver Stadium history... NFL is losing the export game to English soccer... Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after war... The Dutch slang those tulips... Making a promise we cannot keep... Buzzfeed turned Tasty's recipes into a viral hit.
