This week on the Eleven Dubcast, we get the mea culpas out of the way early. George and I both picked against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl — the only 11W staffers to do so (and the second time in a row I've been wrong!) — and if you want to call us fake Buckeyes or haters or gigantic idiots, go for it. I used to be a high school teacher and there's not a single thing you can say that a Monster-fueled teenager hasn't already thrown at me at 8:15 in the morning 50,000 times.
Also, there isn't one person on this planet who thought that Ohio State would jump out to a 34-0 lead against the top ranked team in the country, which is what the majority of this Dubcast is about. That is to say, trying to wrap our heads around one of the most improbable performances we've seen in a very long time.
We talk about how and why it happened, particularly in terms of playcalling on offense and individual performances on the part of the defense, but there's so, so much more to unpack. So let's get into it!
- This is pretty easily the most surprising win for Ohio State since the Big Ten Championship in 2014. Not that Ohio State won (hell, they were favored), but in how they won.
- Dan Lanning took Jeremiah Smith's bait, and the Buckeye offense deployed an incredibly proactive gameplan that put the Oregon defense into immediate conflict.
- Defensively, Tuimoloau and Sawyer finally had elite performances at the same time, and at linebacker, Cody Simon is quietly turning into Jim Knowles' secret weapon.
- As far as Texas goes? Hell, we're not betting against the Buckeyes. It'll likely be closer and a lower scoring affair than the Rose Bowl, but this team is rolling and just passed two difficult tests with flying colors.
- Ask Us Anything, which you can do by sending us questions to dubcast@elevenwarriors.com, wants to know our shows of the year and also wants people to know exactly how stupid I am (very).
- We talk briefly about the other CFP games (ASU got screwed, Penn State is whatever, Georgia fell flat on their faces as expected), and go over the tally of bowl predictions between myself and George. Spoiler alert: he won, by being slightly better at flipping a coin.
- Hockey teams win in Wrigley! Men's basketball looks bad in January! Soccer Heisman! Will Howard gets denied a spot on stage!
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Thank you for listening, check out the Dry Goods store, and we'll see you next time!
