I needed time to chew on that game and something to do on my flight this morning. As John Holmes said, “sorry for the length.” First, Ewers left some big shoes to fill. I bet he slept like a baby last night in his fancy Miami high-rise overlooking the beach. God bless him. But credit to Manning for a much better second half. Dude was dropping dimes. The throw to the TE (we didn’t see enough of them) down the left sideline was as precise as it needed to be—over the coverage and in front of a fast-closing safety. Pinpoint. Both TD throws were also gorgeous, but only one of them was caught. We were a gnat’s pube from beating the defending national champ and No. 3 team in the country, in their house. And OSU still has an elite defense, and Ohio Stadium is as hostile as it gets for a first road start.
Second, Sarkisian didn’t do Manning many favors yesterday. Ryan Day protected his QB with three-step drops and quick throws—elaborate stunts and blitzing were effectively negated—while Sark schemed as if Ewers were still under center (Ewers would’ve hung 4 TDs on OSU yesterday). Sark leaned too much on Manning: Manning’s arm, and Manning’s legs especially. It showed. Manning pressed, he forced throws into coverage, he didn’t check down, and as a result missed wide-open options—e.g., on 3rd and goal, when Wisner went in motion and no defender followed. And on the overruled interception, where he had Moore uncovered short left, and after the throw Moore just sort of throws his hands in the air like, “What the f*ck?” That said, anyone saying Manning “sucks” either had unrealistic expectations to begin with, drinks burnt-orange Kool-Aid, or just mindlessly bought into the ESPN/Finebaum hype. My opinion—and just my opinion—is that Finebaum is not a friend of the program. I advise taking what he says with a heavy dose of “why would he be saying that?”
Third, the receivers struggled to separate, and frankly, there’s not a “go-to guy”—not yet. By the time Sark finally got around to scheming them open, it was early in the 4th quarter (or maybe that was just Patricia playing it safe). The OL was solid. The freshman RT is very good but got beat a couple of times by a straight-up bullrush, and the new starter at LG is a dominant run blocker—Texas could have run behind him at will, which makes the failed QB sneaks even more frustrating. The lone obvious missed assignment I’m aware of - and some would argue I’m not aware of much - was on the final snap when someone didn’t hear a call to slide over and pick up the blitz. Running backs both had great days: 166 total yards, and Wisner clearly hasn’t missed a beat. If the plan was to soften them up with Baxter and then hit them with Wisner when they were a step slow, it worked. I’m still happy and shocked Baxter is back at all, based on what I had heard about his injury and the surgery this time last year.
Fourth, defensively, Texas really has an outstanding defense, but a pair of silly penalties ruined a near-perfect day by helping OSU extend scoring drives. Otherwise, they were a jump ball away from shutting them out. The negated safety was a turning point, shifting the game from “we have a chance” to “we are so f*cking snake-bit today.” Seeing two true freshmen enter the game early (Jackson and Littleton) was a nice surprise.
Bottom line: Sarkisian finally adjusted. The uptempo pace, putting people in motion pre-snap, and the tweaks to receiver routes—it worked. For the record, I don’t have a problem with Sark going for it on 4th down instead of taking the points. That’s who he is. My issue is with his decisions on first, second, and third down. He needs to stop calling the first three plays like he has the luxury of a foolproof fourth-down play in his back pocket. He clearly doesn’t, and for me, that mentality is the source of our problems in the red zone. Way too conservative play-calling all day, especially over the first three quarters. Nothing to help get Manning into a rhythm. He bounced the first pass of the game on a designed-to-be-easy roll to the right, and Sark immediately graduated him to difficult, advanced throws. It’s exactly what happened to me with Spanish 3.
All in all, Sark eventually figured it out, and Manning looked much better after he did. We got the ball back with 2 minutes left, and OCSpur and I were actually discussing whether to go for 2 points and the win, 15-14. I would never have imagined that conversation an hour or two earlier. You could hear the sphincters tightening of the douchebags that had just been chanting “SEC! SEC!” minutes earlier.
Despite three or four new starters, the offensive line looks like a strength, the defense is as good as advertised, and the new punter is an absolute weapon.
They have 35 days to sort it out. The game in Florida may well make or break the season. Win and we likely go 10-2. Lose and it’s 9-3. They’d still make the playoff, but the Aggies might be the last home game of the season.
Scattershooting re Ohio State:
With the 9-game conference schedule, that may have been our last trip to Columbus, which is a shame. I love watching Script “Ohio,” and “Carmen Ohio” at the end of the game is the only thing in college football that comes close to touching “The Eyes of Texas.”
Lastly: OSU will not win the Big Ten with that QB.