Tag Archives: Michigan State

KENNY’S KEYS FOR OHIO STATE TO BEAT MICHIGAN STATE

Posted: Nov 8, 2014 by . Filed under Blog Posts, Feature Articles | 47 Comments

JT Barrett and O-Line vs Maryland

1) Protect The Pigskin – No Turnovers! OSU is not good enough where they can cough up the football and give the Spartans extra possessions or a short field. So “Protect The Pigskin”!

2) Unplug The Pressure Cooker – If the Buckeyes can score early, maintain the lead  into the second half to take the crowd out of it, then they’ll have a chance late to win a close game.

3) Avoid Burnt Toast – OSU’s secondary can’t give up the deep ball and get burnt deep by Tony Lippett for long touchdowns. Lippett averages 21 yards per catch and has 9 touchdowns. QB- Connor Cook will look for him early and often and will test a secondary that he torched last season in the Big Ten Championship game.

4) Protect and Create – Urban Meyer’s offensive line must play it’s best game keeping J.T. Barrett clean and healthy while creating holes for Ezekiel Elliott, Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and Curtis Samuel to run through.

5) Release and Create – When Tom Herman calls pass plays, OSU’s wide receivers must avoid getting jammed at the line of scrimmage, run precise routes and then create yards after the catch. It’s time for Michael Thomas, Dontre Wilson, Evan Spencer, Devin Smith and Jeff heuerman to make some big plays in the passing game against a quality opponent.

Urban Meyer In Game vs Navy

6) Watch For the Fake – Mark Dantonio likes to gamble on special teams, so Ohio State’s special teams coach, Urban Meyer must be ready anywhere on the field for Sparty reaching into their bag of tricks on punts, field goals or extra points.

 

MY Q and A WITH OHIO STATE HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER ON THE MICHIGAN STATE GAME

Posted: Nov 4, 2014 by . Filed under Audio, Current Interviews, Feature Articles | 36 Comments

During Tuesday’s Big Ten conference call with Urban Meyer I had a chance to ask the Ohio State head coach a few questions about Saturday’s “Big Time” – “Prime Time” match up with the Spartans. Listen here –

Urban Meyer Big Ten Media Day 2014 - 2

BIG 10 MEDIA DAYS PODCAST WITH STEVE HELWAGEN FROM BUCKNUTS.COM

Posted: Jul 29, 2014 by . Filed under Audio, Feature Articles, Podcasts | 50 Comments

Bucknuts.com’s Steve Helwagen and I tackle everything from Braxton Miller, to OSU strengths and weaknesses as well as Ohio State’s Big Ten title chances and their Nation Championship hopes, as Steve joined me from Chicago where he was covering Big Ten Media Days.

Steve Helwagen photo

BIG 10 THINGS I LEARNED FROM URBAN MEYER TODAY ABOUT THE 2014 BUCKEYES

Posted: Jul 28, 2014 by . Filed under Blog Posts, Feature Articles | 33 Comments

Urban Meyer Big Ten Media Day 2014 - 2

1) Quarterback Braxton Miller is 100% healthy and in the best shape of his life and ready to roll for his senior year after having off- season shoulder surgery.

2) The offensive line is his biggest concern after losing four starters from a year ago. The battles continue for a few starting spots.

3) After the O-Line, the secondary is next on the list of concerns for the 2014 Buckeyes. Meyer said they have totally blown up the secondary from a year ago and started from scratch with the help of new co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Chris Ash.

4) The strength of this team will be its defensive line not only because of the stud players they have, but also the depth they have at those positions, and new defensive line coach Larry Johnson.

5) Meyer is expecting big things from his linebackers this year, calling it one his stronger groups based on chemistry and trust, the leadership of Josh Perry and Curtis Grant and some talented young players like Raekwon McMillan.

6) In order for his team to be a Big Ten Title contender, the trust and chemistry and development of some of the younger players will need to be there, as well as staying healthy.

7) Meyer feels that the Big Ten’s East Division is one of the toughest divisions in all of college football with Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State, Indiana, Rutgers and Maryland.

8) I expect a larger and more impactful role from Dontre Wilson this year on offense after hearing Meyer talk about him today, saying he’s gained weight and is much stronger .

9) Even though Michigan State won the Big Ten Championship last year by beating the Buckeyes 34-24, Meyer still only sees one rival on Ohio State’s schedule and it’s “That Team Up North”. But in case you disagree with Urban, OSU plays at M.S.U. on November 8th at 8pm on ABC. The Michigan game is November 29th in Columbus this year, start time TBA.

10) Meyer is expecting the receiving core to take a major step forward and carry their own weight on par with the rest of the football team. Meyer said in his first year they didn’t, and last year they got much better, but he said he’ll be disappointed if that group doesn’t improve even more this year.

PODCAST – “NOTHING BUT NET” – MARCH MADNESS STYLE

Posted: Mar 24, 2014 by . Filed under Audio, Podcasts | 32 Comments

A Breakdown Of My Sweet 16 Picks

PODCAST – MY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PICKS

Posted: Mar 20, 2014 by . Filed under Audio, Podcasts | 32 Comments

Listen to find out who I picked to win it all in March Madness 2014

RODA REPORT 1-2-14

Posted: Jan 2, 2014 by . Filed under Feature Articles | 35 Comments

Either Urban Meyer/Ohio State and David Shaw/Stanford didn’t respect Michigan State’s defense, both are too stubborn for their own good, or they just had a major brain cramp by calling the plays they called in late game situations against the Spartans defense in the Big Ten title game and the Rose Bowl.  Why play to the strength of Michigan State’s defense in those short yardage situations? Stupid coaching decision by two of the very best coaches in college football!

Speaking of stupid, you could argue the Browns front office is just that after firing head coach Rob Chudzinski after only one year on the job. From everything that was said all season long and even before that, in last year’s off season, the team was supposedly building for 2014 and trying to establish continuity and stability. Instead Chud gets canned after one season and Jimmy Haslam, Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi are back to drawing board of yet another coaching search.  In order to fire Chud, this next coach they hire better be the second coming of Bill Belichick and what scares me is that the guy they reportedly have the most interest in, Josh McDaniels, they feel is the second coming of Belichick. Only time will tell if getting rid of Chud was a good move or if indeed the “Three Stooges” are running the Browns!

I have a bad feeling that after winning 24 games in a row, Ohio State is on the verge of losing its second game in a row in the Orange Bowl versus Clemson. The Buckeyes defense, which gave up a combined 75 points and over 1,000 yards in its last two games to Michigan and Michigan State, will be without two of their best defenders against the Tigers in cornerback Bradly Roby and defensive end Noah Spence.  How is that defense supposed to stop Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins if they couldn’t shut down the less explosive Wolverines and Spartans with a healthier defense? Add to that Braxton Miller has been very pedestrian in throwing the football in his last four games and this has the makings of another BCS Bowl disappointment for OSU. I expect it to be a shoot-out and the team that has the ball last will probably win the game, so let’s hope it’s the Buckeyes have the pigskin last.

If Johnny Manziel and Blake Bortles join Teddy Bridgewater in this year’s NFL draft, it’ll be interesting to see who is ranked highest on the QB list by the media and more importantly by NFL teams.  I don’t see a slam dunk in any of those three like I did with Andrew Luck. Will Manziel’s backyard, crazy legs style fly in the NFL? While Bortles has the size, does he have the experience and the smarts? Bridgewater looks to be the most complete of the three, but the lack of competition he played against in college; does that move him down in the rankings? I want to see these guys at the combine, hear about their interviews and see them with Jon Gruden at his quarterback school before I give my final rankings, but for now I have it 1) Bridgewater 2) Bortles and 3) Manziel.

Here’s the dilemma the Cavs have right now after a (10-21) start. If they make a trade for a player like Pau Gasol will that really impact their chances of making the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference this year and how much will that benefit them in the long run? On the flip side, if this season is headed in the wrong direction and it’s going to take another year for this team to be a legit playoff team, would it benefit them more if they ended up in the lottery one more time for what is considered to be one of the deepest NBA Drafts in recent history?   That’s the decision owner Dan Gilbert and G.M. Chris Grant have to make. The team has been healthy all season and with the off season moves of Bynum and jack they are still a lottery team as of today. Would adding Pau Gasol via a trade with the Lakers really make that much of a difference and gain them valuable playoff experience or would they be better suited to take their chances back in the lottery and maybe land so-called future stars like Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle or others?

OSU FINAL THOUGHTS

Posted: Dec 8, 2013 by . Filed under Feature Articles | 39 Comments

I was shocked at how poorly the Buckeyes came out of the gates and played in the first quarter, a quarter they had dominated all season! I don’t know if it was because they took Michigan State lightly or if they felt the pressure and played tight. Whatever the reason, it was a big factor in losing to the Spartans.

I’m still trying to figure out why Tom Herman and Urban Meyer didn’t give the ball more to Carlos Hyde. He’s been the best player on this team since he returned from his 3 game suspension and “Ride Hyde” to victory worked so well leading into last night’s game. Very poor decision making by the Buckeyes coaches and in it cost them the Big Ten title and more importantly a shot at the National title.  I never was worried about the coaching match up in the game thinking OSU had a big edge, but Mark Dantonio and his staff outcoached Urban Meyer and his staff.

Braxtion Miller is good, but he’s far from great. While he made some improvements throwing the ball this year, he still has a long way to. You can’t go 8-21 in a championship game like he did and expect to be a champion. Another solid off season and more games will hopefully make him better suited to lead the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title next year and maybe more.

The Ohio State defense was their achilles heel and they were exposed in great detail the last two games, giving up 41 points and 603 yards to Michigan and 34 points and 438 yard to Michigan State.  It’s not all Luke Fickell’s  fault, but his time as the Buckeyes defensive coordinator has to end. He hasn’t coached up these players to the point where they’re getting better, instead they’re getting worse!  In fact, since he took over as head coach and in the last two years as defensive coordinator, the Buckeyes have played some of the worst defense I’ve ever seen at Ohio State.

The “Silver Blanks” gave up 34 points in the last two 4th quarters costing them one victory and almost another. That’s right they were outscored 20 to 7 at Michigan only to be saved by Tyvis Powell’s interception on the 2-point conversion and after taking a 24-17 lead over MSU, the Spartans erased that lead with the game’s final 17 points, with 14 of those coming in the 4th quarter.  If you can’t protect a lead, you usually don’t win big games

The Ohio State wide receivers are still just average. In their first big test against a physical secondary they all had trouble getting open with the exception of maybe Philly Brown. Major progress needs to be made there in coaching and recruiting.

I along with the OSU coaching staff over hyped freshman Dontre Wilson. I kept waiting all season long for him to electrify us with an amazing kick return or reverse or anything and he failed to do so. Yes he’s only a freshman and maybe that should be more on us than him, but big things were expected and he didn’t deliver.  The thing he’ll be known for the most his freshman season is getting in a fight and getting ejected in the Michigan game and that’s not good.

The national pundits were right. Playing a weak schedule the last two season is probably a bigger factor in Ohio State winning 24 games in a row than playing great football. The highest ranked team the Buckeyes beat the last two years was #16 Northwestern this year and the Wildcats finished the regular season unranked at (5-7) and thus not even bowl eligible. It was a nice run while it lasted, but if you’re being honest, there wasn’t one true signature win over a quality opponent in those 24 straight victories and the one chance they had, they lost by 10 to Michigan State.

Here’s hoping the Buckeyes end up in the Orange Bowl opposite Clemson, because if they were to go to the Sugar Bowl and play Alabama they would get killed. They match up much better with the Tigers and would have a chance to win that game as opposed to getting crushed by Bama and ending the season on a 2-game losing streak!

“INSTANT ANALYSIS” – MICHIGAN STATE 34 OHIO STATE 24

Posted: Dec 8, 2013 by . Filed under Podcasts | 33 Comments

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW – OHIO ST. vs MICHIGAN ST.

Posted: Dec 6, 2013 by . Filed under Podcasts | 34 Comments