Ohio State False Narrative

[NWIrish]

Even though we lose a lot on the OL and Wu, I'd say next year is our best chance at a Natty that we've had since Lou.

 

[T-Boone]

We are the only top team with a known quality entity at QB next year.

the Clemson QB will be better than the ND QB, that is known.

 

[NWIrish]

the Clemson QB will be better than the ND QB, that is known.

Probably right but we really don't know. He played a couple games and looked good. But, Coan played great for all of 2019. Same thing with Young at Bama. Prob he's great too. But, we really don't know. And, with what we lose everywhere else compared with what Bama and Clemson lose everywhere else, I think it'll come down to QB. This is generally what brings any great team down a peg. They hit a dry spell at QB. Bama is the only team that normally has an OL good enough to overcome that but next year they won't be. They lose, I think, 3 or 4 guys on that OL. I'm not saying we have a good chance. Just a better chance than we've had. And, we'll be better than OSU at least (just as we were this year).

 

[NWIrish]

gonna be a big test for Bama next year. They have zero of their best athletic studs coming back. Lot of potential and Saban is the talent-whisperer, but he's never had to whisper as much as he'll have to next year.

 

[Sea Turtle]

gonna be a big test for Bama next year. They have zero of their best athletic studs coming back. Lot of potential and Saban is the talent-whisperer, but he's never had to whisper as much as he'll have to next year.

I think they will be ok. Better than us.

 

[ColinKSU]

gonna be a big test for Bama next year. They have zero of their best athletic studs coming back. Lot of potential and Saban is the talent-whisperer, but he's never had to whisper as much as he'll have to next year.

I’m sure they have players most teams could only dream of to replace those studs. They’ll be fine.

 

[Dale]

gonna be a big test for Bama next year. They have zero of their best athletic studs coming back. Lot of potential and Saban is the talent-whisperer, but he's never had to whisper as much as he'll have to next year.

O won’t be generational like this year but you’ll see a better D. That D is littered with FR and SO. Probably hinges on how good Bryce Young is

 

[phork]

I was fully onboard with ND was better than OSU entering the playoffs and would have preferred to play them. Until they absolutely embarrassed Clemson.
ND I believe is a regular top10 program now. But the top 3 are basically untouchable for the rest of the group.

BTW it's amazing how cfb has changed since we got spanked by Bama in 12. From ball control and stud defense to air raid and manageable defense.

 

[NWIrish]

I think they will be ok. Better than us.

I think it'll be the 1st year in a long time where if we have the better QB, we'll be the better team. Now, Bryce Young probably will be better than Coan. But, at least its also the first year in a long time where we don't KNOW before the season even starts that their QB is better.

 

[fightingirish26]

Let's just get a ny6 win. Don't think our ceiling is natty next season personally. But can we just please end that big bowl game narrative.

 

[T-Boone]

I think it'll be the 1st year in a long time where if we have the better QB, we'll be the better team. Now, Bryce Young probably will be better than Coan. But, at least its also the first year in a long time where we don't KNOW before the season even starts that their QB is better.

Did people rate Mac Jones at the start of the year?
I knew nothing about him.

 

[NWIrish]

I was fully onboard with ND was better than OSU entering the playoffs and would have preferred to play them. Until they absolutely embarrassed Clemson.
ND I believe is a regular top10 program now. But the top 3 are basically untouchable for the rest of the group.

BTW it's amazing how cfb has changed since we got spanked by Bama in 12. From ball control and stud defense to air raid and manageable defense.

How good would OSU have done if you erased half their defense before that game and their play caller couldn't go, but, on the flipside, Clemson had been almost completely healthy? That Clemson was at far less strength than the 1st time they played us. I'd say it is a top 2 with us, OSU and GA in that next tier and then OK and OR in that next level. OSU played 7 out of 8 games worse than our typical performance would have been against the same teams.

 

[NWIrish]

Did people rate Mac Jones at the start of the year?
I knew nothing about him.

He played well coming in for Tua. And he's a Senior. Young could be great. But, over the past 10 years, more than half of the 5-star 1st year Frosh/Soph QBs have crapped the bed mentally/emotionally.

 

[T-Boone]

He played well coming in for Tua. And he's a Senior. Young could be great. But, over the past 10 years, more than half of the 5-star 1st year Frosh/Soph QBs have crapped the bed mentally/emotionally.

I agree with this.

I bet if Young is not great Saban just goes back to what he knows with that big RB Robinson and whoever else they have and they dominate against everyone that way again.

 

[NorthDakota]

I agree with this.

I bet if Young is not great Saban just goes back to what he knows with that big RB Robinson and whoever else they have and they dominate against everyone that way again.

If they can't throw the ball effectively, they'll lose some games. That's the way of the world now.

 

[GATTACA!]

I think it'll be the 1st year in a long time where if we have the better QB, we'll be the better team. Now, Bryce Young probably will be better than Coan. But, at least its also the first year in a long time where we don't KNOW before the season even starts that their QB is better.

The dream is that Coan comes in and lights it up like a Burrow-lite. Makes it clear that Wisconsin's scheme and lack of skill position talent was what was holding him back.

I haven't watched anything more than one highlight vid of him so no idea if it's even reasonable. But that's how you win it all net year.

 

[NDFAN420]

Oh wow! Are you guys really comparing ND to OSU?

What part in NDs recruiting the last ten years would make you think ND is on par with the likes of Bama, Clemson, or OSU? Do you believe that all of a sudden all of NDs 3 and 4 stars are going to divinely morph into 5 stars like those three teams have?

Ive read the Bible many times and I dont recall God coming to earth in flesh to save ND football, then or now.

ND is a great university. It is a good football team. It wins more than most programs.

It isnt a great football team. It loses against the great programs 95% of the time like all other teams do.

Just blows my mind that people expect ND to be on par with the elite teams when they arent anywhere similar in academic sense...you know, what universities are actually supposed to be about?

Love your team for what they are, not what they are not. If you want to love for NCs, cheer on another team.

Reminds me of Knute Rockne and the great speeches in ND history.

"Rock," he said, "sometime, when the team is up against it -- and the breaks are beating the boys -- tell them to go out there with a suck it attitude and give up... just for the Gipper"

Inspiring.

 

[Chicago Domer]

I remember watching Coan play. In one game I thought he was a world beater and the next Ian Book against an elite team. I hope I’m wrong, but I think we have an Ian Book clone.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of bringing in Coan. For one thing, it gives us experience we don’t have right now. Just don’t expect him to be the next Joe Burrow who will lead us to a Natty.

The younger guys will have a chance to compete as well.

 

[arahop]

I find it interesting how suddenly people who (justifiably) anticipated that OSU would get crushed by Clemson are now thinking that they are on the same level as Clemson and Alabama. 4 of those touchdown passes, if replayed 10 times, would have been intercepted or incomplete 8-9 times. Additionally, Clemson's D (and rush d in particular) was crippled with Turner out the 1st half and Davis and Skalski out the 2nd, as well as three other starters out for most of the game. Ohio State was playing a skeleton crew and got lucky. On the flipside, Clemson lost their playcaller in GAME WEEK!

Playing 10 games w/ everyone healthy, Alabama and Clemson are a wash and Notre Dame beats OSU 6 or 7 out of 10 times. Clemson and Bama beat OSU 8-9 times out of 10.

Alabama may have beaten us by less than OSU beat Clemson, but nothing they did was lucky. None of their passes could have easily gone the other way. Likewise when we beat Clemson the 1st time (aside from that McKinley catch) and when Clemson beat us. OSU's tight ends didn't have separation on 2 of those TDs. They got lucky. One cover man was in front of the TE and just wiffed on the INT and Fields threw into double coverage on the other and got away with it. OSUs WRs didn't have separation on the 2 bomb TDs. It was a coin flip both times.

This shows us: 1), even when you are outclassed, you can still win and win big if you at least put yourself in a position to get lucky. Had Clemson intercepted those 4 passes (not to mention 2-3 other bombs that had very little or no separation), which just as easily could have happened, OSU loses by 40+. But had OSU played it safe, they lose by 20 every time. So, OSU had to take the chance regardless and it worked out for them this time. Maybe it'll work out again against Bama. But the fact is that, unless they throw up 50/50 luck bombs, they would never beat either team assuming equal team health. 2). when Notre Dame or anyone else plays safe against a superior team, they literally have an almost 0% chance of winning.

Nostradamus is that you?! You were spot on.
Rep this man!

 

[NWIrish]

Nostradamus is that you?! You were spot on.
Rep this man!

LOL, thanks. More specifically, a couple posts after that, I said:

"I'd bet almost anything that unless OSU completes at least 3 50/50 balls of at least 40 yards and has 1 INT or less, they lose to Bama by 21+. Bama doesn't have to complete a single 50/50 ball to win."

This was obvious though and no one would have predicted any different than that if Alabama had played OSU in Round 1. Just goes to show how college football fans can throw everything they've seen and all the analytics out the window because of something so flimsy: Justin Fields connecting on a bunch of 50/50 balls and Trevor Lawrence connecting on zero, Clemson without half its D and missing its playcaller.

Really unfortunate that ND fans were the ones bowing down to OSU the most, when, just a week earlier, most would have said we were better than OSU. Anyone who follows the analytics would say that, given equal luck, ND plays Bama tougher 9 out of 10 games than OSU and that OSU gets blown out by Bama this much or worse 9 out of 10 times. They were without Devonta Smith and their defensive qb safety for the entire second half, got zero luck balls, no INTs, had a fumble of their own and still drilled OSU.

 

[NWIrish]

Its good to not be Kool-Aid drinkers and expect more than we are capable of but just as bad to be perpetually negative. The truth is, we were clearly the #3 team in the country this year, in our own tier. We were a 1 lockdown corner, 1 gamebreaker WR and a QB willing and able to throw the long-ball away from being equal to fully healthy Clemson and Bama. Every other area we were their equal. OSU lacked on both lines, at LB, at safety and at tight end. A & M, Georgia and Florida would all beat OSU more than half the time.

Next year, with every top 10 team losing so much, we should be in the top tier at every position group other than CB (unless we can somehow pick up 1 stud in transfer portal), assuming Austin and Lenzy are healthy. Only Bama and Clemson will have as complete a team as we. We are the only top level team that can legitimately expect our OC to improve significantly and we shouldn't see a drop off at DC. Clemson stays the same and there is no way whoever Bama brings in will be as good as Sarkisian at OC. We are the only team who returns its best defensive player and who can expect that player to be better. We are the only top team to return its game-changing RB1 and likewise expect him to be even better. I would argue that Mayer will be the single most effective offensive weapon of any top team next year. Bama, Clemson, OSU, A & M, Florida, etc all lose their top weapons. And our schedule is the easiest we'll see for the next decade so our health should be better through the season than Bama or Clemson.

 

[NDohio]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There have been 21 CFP games. 17 have been won by Alabama, Clemson or Ohio State. Expanding the playoff, which I haven't been a fan of, will not give us more title contenders, but it might be necessary to create more excitement among fan bases currently not in the CFP.</p>— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisfallica/status/1348859808225632258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

These kind of tweets are what help promote the narrative that Ohio State is a part of "the big three" in college football.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">21 College Football Playoff games in the books, 10 decided by 20 points or more. Fourteen of the 21 CFP games have been won by Alabama or Clemson.</p>— Tim Bourret (@TimBourret) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimBourret/status/1348858331859968007?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This shows the real dominance in the sport. Why does 3 victories in seven playoffs warrant tOSU being part of the top tweet?

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Its good to not be Kool-Aid drinkers and expect more than we are capable of but just as bad to be perpetually negative. The truth is, we were clearly the #3 team in the country this year, in our own tier. We were a 1 lockdown corner, 1 gamebreaker WR and a QB willing and able to throw the long-ball away from being equal to fully healthy Clemson and Bama. Every other area we were their equal. OSU lacked on both lines, at LB, at safety and at tight end. A & M, Georgia and Florida would all beat OSU more than half the time.

Next year, with every top 10 team losing so much, we should be in the top tier at every position group other than CB (unless we can somehow pick up 1 stud in transfer portal), assuming Austin and Lenzy are healthy. Only Bama and Clemson will have as complete a team as we. We are the only top level team that can legitimately expect our OC to improve significantly and we shouldn't see a drop off at DC. Clemson stays the same and there is no way whoever Bama brings in will be as good as Sarkisian at OC. We are the only team who returns its best defensive player and who can expect that player to be better. We are the only top team to return its game-changing RB1 and likewise expect him to be even better. I would argue that Mayer will be the single most effective offensive weapon of any top team next year. Bama, Clemson, OSU, A & M, Florida, etc all lose their top weapons. And our schedule is the easiest we'll see for the next decade so our health should be better through the season than Bama or Clemson.

I don't agree with the bolded. OSU more than held their own at the line of scrimmage with Clemson.

 

[Dale]

I don't agree with the bolded. OSU more than held their own at the line of scrimmage with Clemson.

Agreed. Worst kept secret in CFB and all Clemson fans know it is their OL is underwhelming. OSU didn’t just hold their own there they kicked Clemson tail.

 

[NWIrish]

I don't agree with the bolded. OSU more than held their own at the line of scrimmage with Clemson.

You mean Clemson's 2nd and 3rd string on OL and DL? Yeah, you're right.

But against Clemson's 1st string DL, had ANY of them been healthy for even a half, OSU OL would have performed the same way as they did against Northwestern and even Indiana, not to mention Bama...badly.

As for OSU's DL? Yep, they played pretty good against Clemson's mostly 2nd string OL.

But against Clemson's 1st string OL, had they been healthy and actually had a playcaller they had ever worked with before that day, which if you've played football is confusing as hell especially if you aren't even your normal unit...they would have been trucked...just like they were against Indiana and even Rutgers, not to mention Bama.

Geez, this reminds me of the guy who sucker punches a drunk boxer in a bar and then suddenly thinks they're as tough. Clemson is >>>>>>> OSU and ND is clearly > OSU. There's no way we'd ever win less than 6 out of every 10 from them this year. Not a chance.

 

[Dale]

You mean Clemson's 2nd and 3rd string on OL and DL? Yeah, you're right.

But against Clemson's 1st string DL, had ANY of them been healthy for even a half, OSU OL would have performed the same way as they did against Northwestern and even Indiana, not to mention Bama...badly.

As for OSU's DL? Yep, they played pretty good against Clemson's mostly 2nd string OL.

But against Clemson's 1st string OL, had they been healthy and actually had a playcaller they had ever worked with before that day, which if you've played football is confusing as hell especially if you aren't even your normal unit...they would have been trucked...just like they were against Indiana and even Rutgers, not to mention Bama.

Geez, this reminds me of the guy who sucker punches a drunk boxer in a bar and then suddenly thinks they're as tough. Clemson is >>>>>>> OSU and ND is clearly > OSU. There's no way we'd ever win less than 6 out of every 10 from them this year. Not a chance.

The 2nd and 3rd string parts I don’t think is entirely accurate

 

[Irishize]

The 2nd and 3rd string parts I don’t think is entirely accurate

I don’t either. It was reported before the season started IIRC that Clemson’s OL could be a major concern and I don’t recall there being much, if any, attrition between the ACC CG & the tOSU game.

 

[BeauBenken]

So here are your teams to win a playoff game:

Alabama - 8 wins (8-3 in appearances)
Clemson - 6 (6-5)
OSU - 3 (3-3)
LSU - 2 (2-0)
Oregon - 1 (1-1)
Georgia - 1 (1-1)
...

That's it.

The records of everyone else?

Oklahoma - 0 wins (0-4 in appearances)
Notre Dame - 0 (0-2)
Washington - 0 (0-1)
Florida State - 0 (0-1)
Michigan State - 0 (0-1)