Here are a series of questions presented to Kevin Noon, managing editor of BuckeyeGrove.com and his answers following.
1. Ohio State was clicking on all cylinders against Wisconsin with Cardale Jones. What does Cardale bring as a QB compared to JT Barrett and Braxton Miller? Did the offense look significantly different as compared to what Urban was doing with JT?
At the end of the day the system is what makes the quarterback for Ohio State. Braxton Miller is a generational athlete in terms of his running ability and knowledge of the read-option but still is not going to be mistake as a high-level thrower. J.T. Barrett has a much better arm than the other two in terms of accuracy and being able to make "all the passes". Cardale Jones can throw a ball through a brick wall but has struggled with accuracy during his Ohio State career and that has largely kept him down on the depth chart.
Jones is probably not going to be able to run the read-option the way that Barrett did. Jones made a couple of bad reads in the B1G Championship game and while he will have three plus weeks to work on things, practice snaps versus live snaps are night and day and going against a great defense won't make that learning process an easy one.
The biggest thing Cardale has going for him are fast receivers, namely Devin Smith who had three TDs against Wisconsin and an interesting fact, Ohio State is either 20-0 or 21-0 in games that Smith has caught a TD. Granted, Ohio State is also 36-3 in the last three seasons so there has been a lot of opportunity to pad those numbers but there was also the 6-7 season under Luke Fickell when the Buckeyes couldn't do much of much right.
My final point here is that Ohio State only attempted 17 passes in the B1G title game but that was more of a result of Ohio State being up 38-0 at the half and really not needing to throw the ball the rest of the way. Ohio State would prefer to be closer to a 50-50 offense but running the ball is in Ohio State's DNA, regardless of who the coach is and who the QB is but Jones did throw less than you would have seen under Barrett.
2. What do think are the keys for OSU to beat Bama in the Sugar Bowl?
1. Lock Amari Cooper in an equipment shed the way that Mike Leach locked Adam James in one.
Okay... seriously now...
1. Have to always account for Cooper, he is just stupid good and while the Buckeyes are much better against the pass this year than last year, Cooper could put this whole game on his back and just turn a close game into a blowout. Doran Grant has had a good season for the Buckeyes at corner but he is not going to be able to do it by himself and the Buckeyes are going to need to have help.
2. Pressure Blake Sims. Ohio State is one of the top teams in TFLs and sacks this season. In starting to do some research I did see that Alabama has only given up 13 sacks this season so getting pressure will be a challenge for the Buckeyes with just four. That creates a gamble of sending five or six and getting there and not letting Sims find OJ Howard or someone in the second level where a blitzer vacates. If Ohio State is able to get some pressure they will have an opportunity to make some things happen.
3. Jones needs to have early success throwing the ball. He has not had to deal with adversity because he has started one game, a 59-0 game and then all of his other playing time has come in garbage time. Jones has never played with the team trailing and that can be a lot for a green QB to deal with. Ohio State needs to get him some high percentage plays early so he can get in a groove and then see where things go from there.
4. Establish the run. This does not have to be Zeke Elliott up the gut for huge runs but Ohio State needs to either attack the edge, work the middle or both to try and soften some things up. Ohio State popped off that 81-yard TD run early in the B1G title game and then the Badgers (who were allowing 104 ypg going into that game on the ground in the league that has the best RBs in CFB in my opinion) were never able to really find any confidence in the run defense.
All of these are things that the Buckeyes would like to accomplish (among others). Liking to and being able to do are two very different things and it will be fun to see what comes of that.
3. IYO, where do you see OSU outmatching Bama?I need to see a lot more of Alabama before I can really have a good read on that. Earlier today I did just a stat comparison of the two teams just to give my readers an idea of more than two dozen categories but that means little once the game starts. There are going to be numbers that are skewed one way or the other based upon the schedule that each team plays.
If Cardale is able to have time to throw then I really like Ohio State's receivers out in space. The wildcard is a quarterback making his second start in the Sugar Bowl, a car ride away from Alabama.
I also like Ohio State's defensive line but I am concerned about the depth, Ohio State really has not had a second line step up and are not rolling eight or nine like they would like and guys could get tired. I know in a previous post that I am aware that Bama has only given up 13 sacks this year and there are some great DL in the SEC but Joey Bosa is somebody that Nick Saban wanted desperately (just like younger brother Nick Bosa who is looking at Bama and OSU) and is on the cusp of setting records at OSU as a true sophomore.
At the end of the day I don't see a game where one team is going to hold a decided advantage in a whole category over the other team. Both teams have stars up and down the lineup, it is going to be about execution and how coaches make adjustments to adjustments to adjustments.
4. First congrats for making the playoffs. Secondly the Bama nation sends their condolences for the death of the OSU player. What weakness does OSU think they can exploit against Bama? Thank you and good luck in the game.Thanks for the well wishes. Yes, it has been tough around here after the news of the death of Kosta Karageorge.
I am not sure that OSU can just take the Ole Miss game or the close win against Arkansas and just say, "This is what we are going to take from there, now go" really. I think that would be the same as Alabama taking the VT game and just trying to mirror that.
I feel Ohio State has to really do everything that it can to try and slow down Amari Cooper and let the rest of the chips fall as they may. I will start building my own spreadsheets this week where I chart what each player did in each game of note and start to have a clearer picture of the opponent and at this point I just know from the bits and pieces that I have seen that "putting your corners on an island" with Cooper = a really bad time.
The Buckeyes ultimately have to be who they are on offense and if they get beat then so be it. Ohio State is not going to try and get really cute and try and do some things that are foreign to them just to try and make something happen. That doesn't mean we can't see Jalin Marshall in the wildcat a dozen times in a game with Jones being a big guy and not as shifty as Marshall, but the Buckeyes have gotten to where they are at by putting the ball in the hands of playmakers and letting them make things happen.
For the last two weeks (Michigan and Wisconsin) I have gone on national radio talking about how Ohio State needs to attack the edge on offense because the middle of the defense is so unyielding, apparently the staff doesn't care what I say because they keep attacking the middle.
Ohio State is going to try and just score points (isn't that the object of this game however?) because I think a low-scoring game does not suit the Buckeyes well. The Buckeyes have been held under 30 points one time this season (Virginia Tech) and while this is going to be a much better defense, the Buckeyes are going to try several things, use tempo when they need to go and slow things down when the defense needs a rest to try and put up some points and put it in the hands of the defense and the scary task of limiting Cooper.
https://alabama.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=427&tid=207585714&mid=207585714&sid=885&style=2
1. Ohio State was clicking on all cylinders against Wisconsin with Cardale Jones. What does Cardale bring as a QB compared to JT Barrett and Braxton Miller? Did the offense look significantly different as compared to what Urban was doing with JT?
At the end of the day the system is what makes the quarterback for Ohio State. Braxton Miller is a generational athlete in terms of his running ability and knowledge of the read-option but still is not going to be mistake as a high-level thrower. J.T. Barrett has a much better arm than the other two in terms of accuracy and being able to make "all the passes". Cardale Jones can throw a ball through a brick wall but has struggled with accuracy during his Ohio State career and that has largely kept him down on the depth chart.
Jones is probably not going to be able to run the read-option the way that Barrett did. Jones made a couple of bad reads in the B1G Championship game and while he will have three plus weeks to work on things, practice snaps versus live snaps are night and day and going against a great defense won't make that learning process an easy one.
The biggest thing Cardale has going for him are fast receivers, namely Devin Smith who had three TDs against Wisconsin and an interesting fact, Ohio State is either 20-0 or 21-0 in games that Smith has caught a TD. Granted, Ohio State is also 36-3 in the last three seasons so there has been a lot of opportunity to pad those numbers but there was also the 6-7 season under Luke Fickell when the Buckeyes couldn't do much of much right.
My final point here is that Ohio State only attempted 17 passes in the B1G title game but that was more of a result of Ohio State being up 38-0 at the half and really not needing to throw the ball the rest of the way. Ohio State would prefer to be closer to a 50-50 offense but running the ball is in Ohio State's DNA, regardless of who the coach is and who the QB is but Jones did throw less than you would have seen under Barrett.
2. What do think are the keys for OSU to beat Bama in the Sugar Bowl?
1. Lock Amari Cooper in an equipment shed the way that Mike Leach locked Adam James in one.
Okay... seriously now...
1. Have to always account for Cooper, he is just stupid good and while the Buckeyes are much better against the pass this year than last year, Cooper could put this whole game on his back and just turn a close game into a blowout. Doran Grant has had a good season for the Buckeyes at corner but he is not going to be able to do it by himself and the Buckeyes are going to need to have help.
2. Pressure Blake Sims. Ohio State is one of the top teams in TFLs and sacks this season. In starting to do some research I did see that Alabama has only given up 13 sacks this season so getting pressure will be a challenge for the Buckeyes with just four. That creates a gamble of sending five or six and getting there and not letting Sims find OJ Howard or someone in the second level where a blitzer vacates. If Ohio State is able to get some pressure they will have an opportunity to make some things happen.
3. Jones needs to have early success throwing the ball. He has not had to deal with adversity because he has started one game, a 59-0 game and then all of his other playing time has come in garbage time. Jones has never played with the team trailing and that can be a lot for a green QB to deal with. Ohio State needs to get him some high percentage plays early so he can get in a groove and then see where things go from there.
4. Establish the run. This does not have to be Zeke Elliott up the gut for huge runs but Ohio State needs to either attack the edge, work the middle or both to try and soften some things up. Ohio State popped off that 81-yard TD run early in the B1G title game and then the Badgers (who were allowing 104 ypg going into that game on the ground in the league that has the best RBs in CFB in my opinion) were never able to really find any confidence in the run defense.
All of these are things that the Buckeyes would like to accomplish (among others). Liking to and being able to do are two very different things and it will be fun to see what comes of that.
3. IYO, where do you see OSU outmatching Bama?I need to see a lot more of Alabama before I can really have a good read on that. Earlier today I did just a stat comparison of the two teams just to give my readers an idea of more than two dozen categories but that means little once the game starts. There are going to be numbers that are skewed one way or the other based upon the schedule that each team plays.
If Cardale is able to have time to throw then I really like Ohio State's receivers out in space. The wildcard is a quarterback making his second start in the Sugar Bowl, a car ride away from Alabama.
I also like Ohio State's defensive line but I am concerned about the depth, Ohio State really has not had a second line step up and are not rolling eight or nine like they would like and guys could get tired. I know in a previous post that I am aware that Bama has only given up 13 sacks this year and there are some great DL in the SEC but Joey Bosa is somebody that Nick Saban wanted desperately (just like younger brother Nick Bosa who is looking at Bama and OSU) and is on the cusp of setting records at OSU as a true sophomore.
At the end of the day I don't see a game where one team is going to hold a decided advantage in a whole category over the other team. Both teams have stars up and down the lineup, it is going to be about execution and how coaches make adjustments to adjustments to adjustments.
4. First congrats for making the playoffs. Secondly the Bama nation sends their condolences for the death of the OSU player. What weakness does OSU think they can exploit against Bama? Thank you and good luck in the game.Thanks for the well wishes. Yes, it has been tough around here after the news of the death of Kosta Karageorge.
I am not sure that OSU can just take the Ole Miss game or the close win against Arkansas and just say, "This is what we are going to take from there, now go" really. I think that would be the same as Alabama taking the VT game and just trying to mirror that.
I feel Ohio State has to really do everything that it can to try and slow down Amari Cooper and let the rest of the chips fall as they may. I will start building my own spreadsheets this week where I chart what each player did in each game of note and start to have a clearer picture of the opponent and at this point I just know from the bits and pieces that I have seen that "putting your corners on an island" with Cooper = a really bad time.
The Buckeyes ultimately have to be who they are on offense and if they get beat then so be it. Ohio State is not going to try and get really cute and try and do some things that are foreign to them just to try and make something happen. That doesn't mean we can't see Jalin Marshall in the wildcat a dozen times in a game with Jones being a big guy and not as shifty as Marshall, but the Buckeyes have gotten to where they are at by putting the ball in the hands of playmakers and letting them make things happen.
For the last two weeks (Michigan and Wisconsin) I have gone on national radio talking about how Ohio State needs to attack the edge on offense because the middle of the defense is so unyielding, apparently the staff doesn't care what I say because they keep attacking the middle.
Ohio State is going to try and just score points (isn't that the object of this game however?) because I think a low-scoring game does not suit the Buckeyes well. The Buckeyes have been held under 30 points one time this season (Virginia Tech) and while this is going to be a much better defense, the Buckeyes are going to try several things, use tempo when they need to go and slow things down when the defense needs a rest to try and put up some points and put it in the hands of the defense and the scary task of limiting Cooper.
https://alabama.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=427&tid=207585714&mid=207585714&sid=885&style=2
