TBux

I agree. Both defenses too good, 2 young QB's. Two deep, talented and evenly matched football teams. Much like last year, whichever team can impose their will and execute in the red zone wins. We got it done last year on both sides, you didn't and that was the difference in the game. Ohio State wins, low scoring rock fight. Homefield advantage makes a difference in this one 20-13ish

Nice to hear from you Nostradamus! Stick around, it's a good group 👍

I agree with you, no doubt it was.....find me a game, any game where every holding infraction is flagged. Every fan base across the country always cherry picks a clip that show their guy being held and whines about it.....suck it up, don't whine, happens to everybody only the losers whine. BFD go play.... BTW, Simmons is a monster and I expect him to have a major impact on Saturday. He'll have plenty of eyeballs on him, he's a game wrecker

lmao.....are you telling me that neither Sawyer or JTT were held or Kenyatta when JT went down were never held??? Stop it....I think it would not be an shock to say that Sawyer and JT were also held on occasion and they managed to have a big impact on the game

Of the 3 returning OL, Siereveld and Hinzman started all 4 CFP games and Montgomery rotated in the 1st two CFP games and started the last two versus Texas in the Cotton Bowl and in the ND national championship game. We've seen what they can do against the best fronts in college football on the biggest of stages with all the chips on the table at crunch time. They can play championship football

nope, wasn't me. I'm one of those opposing fans that actually understands that the other guys can have great players also and not every player on my team is better than every player on your team. Both these teams have stacked rosters with great talent. Same with coaches, I'm a Sark fan always have been but our guy is pretty good too. Endries is a good football player and was a nice pick up for you guys. I guess we're so happy to have Klare is that's a proven talent that's gonna complement well our threats on the outside and not something we utilized alot last year. Sort of like a new toy that will goes really well with the other shiny toys in the box. I think he's going to add another dimension to the offense

I don't think he's Brock Bowers either. Prob not even Tyler Warren but maybe his game is closer to Colston Loveland. Both 1st rounders by the way. In any event, he's without question one of the top TE in the game and offers a big, talented target with tons of experience in the middle of the field that we didn't have last year and we are better as a result. With all the attention given to our outside receivers, I expect him to be very productive and could play himself into a 1st round pick

Yep, we got more than our fair share of stupid drunken fools. Not something to be proud of for sure. Night games are a problem, if we happen to lose, it seems it's open season for all the idiots.

Not at all. I think Sark is one of the great offensive minds in the game, right up there with Ryan Day. Both our coaches are on the short list of best play callers in college football. I couldn't have any more respect for Sark. That said, it's alot easier for him to prepare for something he's seen a body of recent work on tape. He's not going to have that in this case, Patricia hasn't coached a college game in over 20 years so he's gonna be guessing what he's gonna see. Obviously he's gonna go back to what structures and schemes Patricia ran in the NFL but there's necessarily more uncertainty as a result because the NFL is a different game and he's going to have to be ready for a greater variety of looks. Tougher to do in the first game with a young QB under center on the road.

That's a helluva story your spinning there. You're asking us to believe Belichick hired a young incompetent, kept him on his staff for 16 years, trained him up in a variety defensive coaching positions and then promoted him to DC for a couple world championship runs because he's such a sweetheart of a guy or what? Good luck with that one.....

I'm very familiar with him. You're making things up. Where did I say he was the GOAT DC? I said he has 16+ years of experience in the league and 3 rings, at least one as a DC. I said Sark and his staff aren't going to have any relevant tape because he wasn't here last year with this personnel and hasn't coached at the college level in 20 years. About his term with the Lions, it was terrible, so what? Spurrier, Saban, Meyer, Holtz et al sucked in the NFL as head coaches but they have a whole helluva lot of college rings. Suit yourself, he may not be the GOAT but if he's good enough to be Belicheck's DC for several years and Super Bowl victories and Ryan Day thinks he good enough to hire him, he's plenty good enough for me. If he sucks as badly as you believe, you should have no problem moving the football and lighting up the scoreboard. I'm thinking that ain't gonna happen.....

Fair enough....I see two young, inexperienced QB's playing against two of the best defenses in the country. We know that typically defenses are ahead of offenses early in the season and Sark and his offensive brain trust don't really have any relevant tape to study re: our new DC Patricia and it's gonna be a tough environment for them. I see a defensive battle and barring a rash of turnovers, I see a one score game with a multitude of lead changes for 60 minutes.

I agree 100%, That's why I expect a solid dose of QB run early to try and stay ahead of the chains. 3rd and long is gonna be a helluva challenge having to go silent count for a newbie QB in that environment. I can't see Sark trying to push the ball downfield much on 3rd down. Much easier for task for Sayin not having to deal with the crowd noise. Sayin is not the same run threat as Arch but the kid has a quick release, a good pocket presence and is mobile enough to extend plays. Wouldn't be surprised to see short yardage/goal line packages for our backup QB Kienholz, not unlike Arch was used last year. We did lose alot of experence on the back end but we've got a 3 year starter on the field corner and our #3 corner last year taking the boundary. At safety we did lose Ransom who had played alot of football, but we still have Caleb Downs, who many believe is the the best defensive player in college football our coach on the field. Replacing Ransom its gonna be one of two less experienced but very talented kids prob with more upside than Ransom. New DC in Matt Patricia, tons of experience with 16 years in the NFL earning 3 rings. We'll be more multiple than last season with a ton of plug and play kids that will allow him to get as creative as he wants with coverage and disguise. Gonna be a big challenge for Sark, Arch and the offensive staff as they're gonna have to prepare for something different and go back to NFL games for tape.

True that but it makes more sense to me to say that given they beat them in 2023 and 2024 that it's possible they could beat them in 2025 than it is to say I know they beat them in 2023 and 2024 but it is not possible for them to beat them in 2025, no? I know we're all fans here, but no excuse for any of us to completely abandon our ability to reason

I'm very aware of Caden's experience, I've watched him. I'm certain he will play well in big games because he already has, I've seen him. Simply because he didn't play alot of snaps with JTT and Sawyer in front of him is not the same as saying he didn't play well when he rotated in....he did, I watched him. If he couldn't play, he would not have seen the field period. Re: Hero...why did he transfer? He transferred because he saw a greater probability of getting more playing time somewhere else. If it doesn't work out for him in Austin, he's prob about the same spot he was in Columbus We did lose some experience on the back end. We still have Caleb Downs and proven, game tested replacements. We'll be fine. Last years defense was nasty, by many accounts the best in the country. Will this years version be as good? Who knows. If the front plays as expected, I think they have a chance to be as good or better. Even if they are not as good as last years monster, they're can still be nasty. Your new QB, with a relatively new group in front of him, hasn't seen anything like he's gonna see....how many drop back pass attempts does he have in front of a hostile crowd of 100,000+? That's what I'm talking about

.....and just for the record, I don't know what fellow Buckeye fan is smoking, but there is a virtually zero chance we score 31 on your defense. The only way that happens is if Arch struggles with the noise, the pressure and disguised coverages he's gonna see in the back end and turns the ball over too many times which is a distinct possiblity. I expect both defenses to control the game for the most part. At the end of the day I think we have more weapons and home field advantage that is the difference....still working on score prediction but we ain't scoring 31 without Arch's help but I just don't see Sark giving him that kind of rope

Not that I'm wanting to say nice things about the team up north but didn't they just beat Alabama the last two years in a row? Most recently in a bowl game a few months ago?

Your point is well taken but I still expect Curry to start over Atkinson. If he's not on the field first he'll see at least as many snaps as Atkinson. In truth tho if Atkinson does prove to be the better player that just tells me our DL will be better than expected as we know Curry is fully capable of playing well in big games against great teams. If Curry can play well and Atkinson turns out to be an improvement, that tells me there is every reason to believe that Atkinson will step up and perform as well. You guys are trying mightily to convince yourselves that this OL isn't gonna struggle on the road against a nasty defense in a loud and hostile environment with a new QB. I don't buy it, you had a more experienced group struggle in the friendly Cotton Bowl behind a vet. It's gonna be tough for em. Sark knows that Arch is not gonna be able to hear himself spit, have to go silent and knows he's not gonna have time or space to throw the ball downfield. You couldn't run the ball in Dallas and I don't think you'll be able to run it in Columbus. He's gonna have to rely on Q run alot more than he'd like early in the season. Nobody likes to see the QB take a pounding in game 1 but it may be your only shot at moving the ball. It's gonna be a great game between 2 stacked teams in a great environment. There is a reason Texas is ranked #1, there is also a reason they're underdogs in Columbus

We've recruited as well as anybody over the last 5 years so it only stands to reason that your friendly Buckeye visitors think we have a stacked roster.....we do. So do you! Here's my take much similar to my fellow Buckeye... Oline: very good/excellent depth QB: talented, but young and inexperienced RB: above average/very good WR: elite TE: elite DL: very good/experience limited LB: Very good to Elite Corner: very good Safety: Elite - any unit with Caleb Downs leading is gonna be elite Kicking Game: Average at best I don't expect a repeat, but if the DL is serviceable and the young QB grows into the postion throughout the season, I know we'll be a handful by the end of the year wouldn't be surprised by a strong run. It's a pick em game in Columbus, I see both rosters stacked and pretty much equal. I think the home field is a massive advantage for us facing a young QB with new OL

The jury is still out on whether they'll be among the best in the nation, if they do I honestly believe this years defense will be superior to last. We can all speculate all we want but we do know this, 3 of the 4 DL that you'll face in Columbus played meaningful snaps and performed very well in the Cotton Bowl last year against that OL. I see no reason to think that they won't play well again this year against this years reworked version

Reworked is fine, but these kids are legit players with a ton of experience, if not starts. Every one of this years "starters" on the DL played meaningful snaps in last years Cotton Bowl. Kenyatta Jacksoon DE played almost the entire 1st half after JTT went down early and another KMac DT was in the game on the 4th qtr stand at the goal line. They performed very well then, on the biggest of stages at crunch time and I have no problems putting these kids on the field against anybody anywhere

I don't see that at all but Sayin is no stiff either...excellent pocket presence and maneuvers well in the pocket. Very capable of extending plays when the pocket breaks down and he's got a few weapons he can look for downfield. My take is that we have two young and inexperienced QB's. One is at home facing a great D front - are they the best we'll see, I don't know but certainly one of the 3 best we'll see all year - with an experienced group in front of him that has been thru the wars. The other is on the road in front of 100,000+ hostile fans with a re-tooled inexperienced Oline facing a very good Dline - all of whom have played alot of meaningful snaps, just limited starts - and what I believe to be one of the best back 7s in the game. If the Dline plays as well as expected, this years Buckeye defense will be better than last. It's gonna be loud, I think your Oline is gonna struggle to protect Arch and he's gonna have his hands full and if he tries to force things into that back 7, it's gonna be a problem. Young QB, inexperienced Oline, big home field advantage here..... I think that's the difference in the game