Here for the Wins

It’s inevitable. Were chasing too many things that’ll lead down that path.

There’s no doubt you have talent all over the board. You’re trying awfully hard to convince yourself that you’ll have a “nasty” defense. You are aware that this Curry of which you speak has 4 career games in which he’s logged 20 or more snaps. Against Western Kentucky, Purdue, Purdue and Northwestern. Him playing well in big games is no more a sure thing than our Oline being ready. Again one of your interior did not play infinitely more than Hero. A guy who likely sits about equaly on our depth chart, if not potentially lower. Your defensive line is not more talented/experienced than guys we’ve seen. Your stadium/crowd is not wholly different from places we’ve been. You are rotating out a front 4 that logged some 7,000 snaps for one with about 1,000. You lost considerable experience on the back-end too. But sure expect no drop off.

No, not very experienced. Only about as experienced as one of three members of the greatest of all time interior lines. Both with enough experience to prove useful this year.

I understand you Buckeye fans can’t help it. I never said your defensive line wasn’t good. Dominant, whatever, I don’t care. It’s winning and losing. But they were 4th and 5th year guys. And perhaps they were most responsible for your victory. However, they are now gone. It’s unlikely, in two weeks, that your new Dline will be as good. I gave you data. I gave you references. So then you tell me not all experiences are equal. No kidding but to act as though Goosby’s experience against 2 first rounders from Uga and 2 from A&M is not significant is interesting.

Now, you’re being a dumbass. And representing the shittiest fan base I’ve ever encountered. And now it comes out in you. Congrats. You can be thankful we started a RT that was hurt, probably still hurt. In spite of that he was drafted by the team to have one of the top Olines in the NFL. If you asked the fanbase, the knowledgeable portion, it’s probably close to unanimous that in retrospect he shouldn’t have played. OSU had two runs - a 22 yarder and an 18 yarder, which we screwed up our alignment. We had an additional sack. That was the difference in the run game. You weren’t exactly dominant there. And one of your Tackles was the best olinemen you had and he probably had the tougher matchup.

I quoted you some snap counts. A guy you call a non-starter for us has 1,300 snaps. Hinzman has 1,355. DJ Campbell has 1,800, which is double the amount of snaps of your highest Olineman last year. Goosby had more than Montgomery and started two games with two additional 40+ snap games amongst A&M, Clemson, Arizona State and Georgia, which may have some 1st rounders in that bunch. Now, we have a potential starter at LG in his 4th year and a primary backup also in his 4th year. They haven’t played much, but they’ve been behind multi year starters. Then I believe a 5* at RT in his 2nd year. So 3,500 snaps. Now 17 seasons on campus. All but 1 have been around 2 final 4 appearances. They’ve worked against the highest drafted DTs for parts of that time in practice. Top notch DEs too. It is certainly reasonable to claim we have the best G of the bunch and the best T. Like I said, we’ll see. But you tell me. Is that experienced?

I get it. But that’s not an indication you’d be better on the interior. I think much of these are tossups, and it’s a matter of who brings their A game. I can’t speak to your team, but our staff is good at mixing skillsets, which is not the same as compiling talent, which we do as well. People act as though Arch is young and inexperienced. This is his 3rd year. That’s not young. He is relatively inexperienced, but he’s not without experience. We’re balanced in our youth and maturity. There will not be reliance on a freshmen or many true sophomores. They’ll be pieces to the puzzle or already proven commodities. In a sense, the loser of this game may be better served for the end of season run. Im always confident, but I think we win by two scores.

For some more consideration, of the top 5 PFF graded Olinemen with 100+ snaps, you lose 4 of 5 with only #4 returning. Who by the way had fewer snaps than Goosby. Ultimately, I’m not certain your Oline is more experienced than ours. We need our returnees to step up bigger.

In looking at last years Texas v Ohio State, the 3 DLine guys I see referenced played a total of 39 snaps. They’ve been around 2, 3 and 4 years. Your last years front 4 were 4th and 5th year guys all with tons more plays. Kanu played as many snaps as one other dude. As best we can gather, he’s 3rd team here. As for our Oline, we have two guys that have logged over 1,000 (1,300/1,800). Goosby had as many or more than your 3 returning guys on the Dline last year. Our 4th hasn’t played a ton but been here a long time. So our inexperienced OLine is more experienced in our system than your Dline is in yours.

I understand. You just churn WRs. We’re kinda getting there across the board. One guy moves on the next one steps up. It starts and mostly ends up front. For both sides. If your QB has all day, then your pass catchers have a day. If we harass him all day, that lowers your chances.

I’m aware. Maybe he’s #2 this year. Maybe #3. But he is the most veteran of your experienced skill players returning in this offense.

1. When it comes to our pass rush, it is your OTs that will have their hands full. Your most successful pass blocker versus us last year is gone. We have considerable experience and talent there. We’ve lost guys 3 years running on the defensive interior. We coach it well. 2. Our guys have practiced against 1st rounders themselves. Played your guys too. 3. Statistically they are very similar. Mocks. We shall see how that turns out. As to your depth, if they are the typical OSU TEs, then that doesn’t move the needle. 4. Moore has the best single performance outside of Smith. Wingo has multiple 50 yard plus plays. You know somebody is putting up yards. I get it. Limited experience, but they went up against the best secondary daily last year. 5. Here is what you haven’t seen out of our DTs. You haven’t seen them in our environment. You can’t double them because our other units will bury you. We’ve got lots of them. We can mix and match for relative strengths. It’s a bit tbd but to assume you’ll win there is more let’s wait and see from my perspective. Do not be surprised if our offensive gameplan is more focused with more surprises than what you saw in Dallas. If the line holds up, that may create some opportunities.

Exactly why is your Oline one of the best? Wingo likely has the best size/speed combo of any WR your guys have seen this year or last. The wonderful C Tate has 5 career TDs, 2 versus Northwestern. He has 3 games with 6 or more catches at approximately 10 yards per catch there. His numbers will undoubtedly go up, but he’s yet to produce big plays. He versus Moore is a virtual push. I am not sure Klare is markedly different than Endries. Seems as though you are undervaluing the Wngo/Moore/Endries group. It will come down to who wins more often upfront. I believe you will see a different level of pass rush from us this year than you did last. You were not dominant in the run games against our D. I don’t see that differently this year. It certainly could come down to who breaks some unexpected big plays.

Well, sure, in retrospect. From a fans perspective, there are some limiting factors regarding our knowledge. NIL. They had a good grasp on the two deep. So how much cash do you have for that extra guy? It’d also seem a guy like Agbo is a type you could get. Was he flat out told there’s no room or did he not like the options? The past two years we’ve played basically six guys until injuries hit. We’re not willingly reaching into our depth. Outside of QB, we use backups in all places but Oline. We’ve largely operated with 7 guys the past two years. Similar for 3 and 4 years ago. The 3rd Tackle, the 3rd Guard are likely to operate either on the right or left side. In the 4 years, we haven’t gone more than 8 deep to speak of. I’d wager this staff has had few years in which they go deeper and rarely hit that 11th guy. If you’re a transfer and aren’t one of the top 3, you aren’t getting much playing time. If you’re an upperclassman and sitting down the depth chart, you will struggle to ever see the field in future years particularly if we have younger guys in front of you. If you can’t offer playing time or presumably cash, what are you offering to incentivize a guy to provide depth? And you haven’t gotten to the discussion point that your freshman lineman that you believe are the future are slowed from a development standpoint because their reps are more limited. Options are going to be limited. Resources and opportunities limited. And it may impact your roster in a negative sense for guys you believe have a better future. The depth people desire probably hasn’t existed since scholarships became limited.

And if you lose a swing T, there’s a damn good chance the next man up is a first or second year guy (meaning 3rd team guy to 4th T). Or a dude you never expect to see the field.