I was reading over on TSL, and they claimed that according to some Ohio State message boards (which I refuse to read due to their arrogance) Joey Bosa, Jalin Marshall, and Dontre Wilson, + one more receiver may be suspended for the first part of the season. Ive got no idea how true this is, and where/who this rumor came from, but if true, Braxton Millers move to receiver makes a lot more sense now. That is 2 of their best receivers, and a potential top pick in next seasons draft in Bosa.
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I'll believe it when Joe posts it. Until then I will keep my excitement in check.
Yeah, I understand. Although, like Joe, the fella's over at TSL are rather reliable too.
That really wouldn't even excite me. I want VT to whoop their ass like last fall with a full stable that brought them a championship.
I'll take a win, even if they are without a few players.
Particularly since their backups are as highly rated as most teams' starters.
And in a year or two, all people will see is the score and that we beat them twice in a row, with the second beating coming when they were preseason ranked #1. People have short memories.
A year or two? If VT beats Ohio State twice in a row (with a national championship between those two games), nobody I care about is going to care which players played the next day.
VT is already missing part of its full stable for what also appears to be disciplinary reasons.
I don't feel any sympathy for OSU nor would a victory be any more or less tainted than the one last year when they were missing Braxton Miller (and VT was missing a couple of Sr. OL's, it's leading returning RB, etc.).
Its posted on 11W...but is speculated to be just a rumor as no one will give up the source. Last I checked, VT handled all of them last year...regardless of who is on the field this year, I expect the same outcome..., come out and smack em in the mouth and play 60 full minutes of true VT smash mouth football!
I saw some chit chat about this on Eleven Warriors earlier today, didn't think much of it. If this actually has legs it has huge implications for the opener.
It sounds like hearsay to me, but if they are suspended, and we do win, then I can already hear the talking heads discrediting us for beating a 'weakened' anOSU.
for anyone that is bored:
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/ohio-state-football/2015/07/56653/tw...
That threads reads like our CJ Reavis thread....
It reads more like comments under a YouTube video...200 people asking the same questions and repeating the same non-answers or snarky replies as if they haven't read anything posted above.
It reads more like comments under a YouTube video...200 people asking the same questions and repeating the same non-answers or snarky replies as if they haven't read anything posted above.
FIRST!
I was bored, so I read. Now I'm carsick. That thing reads like the old Tilt-A-Whirl at Lakeside...RIP.
Nitpick but J. Marshall and D. Wilson are their #1 and #2 H-backs, not WR. However H-back just so happens to be the position that B. Miller switched to, so the general concept of your comment makes sense.
Definitely some smoke on 11warriors... threads about these rumored suspensions get deleted rather than refuted.
Anyone remember when the suspension of their all-star DL who missed our game was announced?
Okay then, "pass-catchers". I believe Marshall was their second leading receiver last season.
The Mods at 11W are pretty good about leaving stuff up unless it is a dupe or a troll. The poster there that I saw has very little credibility and until it gets legs from me reliable sources I'm going to wait and see. It could happen but no one has offered any real info beyond "suspensions coming..."
Thanks for the info. Always good to hear the rational OSU fan perspective!
I would have thought one of the site editors or a beat writer would have checked in to shed some light of sanity on the conversation by now.
Me skimming this quickly: "I thought we were the only ones with turkey legs?"
I wonder if this is related to the Reavis issue too.
It's all a conspiracy, man.
There is NO CAROL in HR!!!!
Any confirmation of this should come right after B1G Media Days.
Obviously I hope this isn't true but in my eyes where there is smoke there is fire. That being said there is a lot of smoke as in who it is and what the punishment might be. The most that I've seen is initials thrown out there like JB, CS, DW, and JM. This is coming from a known troll on the 11W site so take it for what it's worth but to be honest I think something will come of it, not sure what. Last time there was rumblings like this Roby and Hyde got knocked in 2013 so who knows? -_-
Even if true, Braxton Miller's move and any suspension would be purely coincidental. Rest assured, his move was months in the making...
True. That shoulder is a solid couple of months at least away from being able to throw consistently day after day. No way he'd be able to practice enough to even win the job, let along play in/win many games as a QB.
I'm no doctor, but if the man cannot throw a football how is he going to handle taking on blocks / getting tackled in the open field? Or is it just the throwing motion?
These are some comments I made in a thread in late Nov last year (before anyone outside of Ohio even knew who Cardale Jones was) re: a potential QB controversy at OSU in 2015.
"Miller had an entire off-season to recover from his injury and the very first time he went live, he reinjured it. There is absolutely NO guarantee whatsoever that he will be able to play QB again."
"I think there's a good chance we see both [Miller and Barrett] on the field [at the same time]. Miller almost certainly has little future as a pro at QB, so wouldn't a shift to TB next year make sense for both him and OSU?"
Ok I had the position wrong (Elliot hadn't exploded yet either!), but if an idiot like me could figure this out 8 months+ ago (before a 3rd option even entered the picture), you can guarantee that deliberation and discussion has been going on internally for quite some time.
And as an aside, I'll bet that Bud Foster, et al weren't seriously gameplanning for Braxton Miller at QB either...
The OSU fans that come over to TKP are good people. But after reading 11W for a minute or two....wow.
If I didn't know any better, every offensive skill player they have is the greatest ever and the VT defense has zero chance of even being a speed bump.
"can't wait to drop sixty on them"
The content is excellent, but I too get frustrated by some of the comments from time to time. I will absolutely say we've got a big chip on our shoulder, not just because of the loss to VT last year, but because of some of the losses and disrespect we've gotten from other fanbases and media over the past several years. We were underdogs in each of the Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon games and haven't forgotten that either. On the other hand, there's a reason Frank Beamer has more wins than any other active coach, and there's a reason Lane Stadium gets as loud as it does, and I wish more of us recognized that not only is this game a privilege to take part in, but it won't be a pushover either.
Great comment. I have no doubt that the OSU team itself respects the situation they are coming into that evening (and if the players don't...well then shame on them because as you said there is a decent chance it could end up being a bad night for them).
Take the underdog chip you guys have and multiply by 22. Because thats how many guys are lining up in the maroon and orange with what might be the craziest atmosphere ever in Lane Stadium behind them. And, coincidentally, a good number of those guys already know they have what it takes to beat the other guys.
Respect!
Any website dedicated to an individual team is sure to be full of homerism though. So, I don't really get offended at the comments that I see...you get what you ask for.
pshhh...there aren't any homers here....
/s
Unless we talk about beer...
The OSU fans that have come over are class but you are correct about 11W. When we beat them again let's go over there and troll facts like:
Call Nebraska, they could not beat us either.
Looking forward to the You Tube vid "Hitler's Reaction To Another osu lose to VT"
Stubenville is in Ohio. That = West Virginia
How is that river fire going?
Where did that 4 star dumpster fire defense you employed come from?
Is Neil Young still doing concerts in your state?
MSU is going to kick your ass!
Lane! I told you so!
Run off another 13 straight wins!
Drop out of the Big however many and join the ACC. More chances to win @ VT.
Only other BIg team to schedule us is Wisky and they keep postponing it x 2
Urban will freak out on you sooner or later.
Have at it!
I say win with class. That says enough.
One of my favorites is attributed to a fine Buckeye, Lou Holtz: "Win with class, even if it's third class"
FTFY
Right on. There's nothing worse than shitty fans. I can vividly remember some FSU asshat in New Orleans after the NCG in '99 and pointing his finger at me saying "we won!". No shit man I was just there.
WVU fans are up there as well. I went to the awful bloodbath of a game in Morgantown in 2005. We won the game, but I walked out of that stadium feeling defeated by the treatment they gave me (I was 13) and my family.
FSU does has some asshats. Hell everybody has asshats though, including us unfortunately. FSU, more than some though
Auburn after the Sugar bowl were fancy peoples too
Hm, not crazy about the Neil Young one, and Purdue may be a bottom feeder's bottom feeder but they still count as Big Ten.
Southern boy don't need him around, anyhow.
While you're here, can you explain the "seven yards and a cloud of dust" t-shirts?
3 yards and a cloud of dust refers to Woody Hayes' bread and butter, the fullback straight up the middle for three reliable yards. Ezekiel Elliott averaged 6.9 (let's go ahead and round up to 7) yards per carry last season. Now we've been talking about cocky OSU fans around here, but part of that comes from the fact that Elliott's wrist was broken during the VT game last year - in the final three games of the season, Elliott averaged - averaged! - 11, 11.5, and 6.8 yards per carry, respectively.
We also have "85 Yards Through the Heart of the South" referring to the 85 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter, and since SEC victories are comprehensively shared by all, so too was the dagger through the conference we so deservedly plunged into their collective hearts. I'm still high on the Sugar Bowl if you can't tell. I was there :)
If they win do you want them to troll here?
Lets not act like this game is a win already. Especially not when that is the exact thing we are knocking the commenters on 11W for doing. As ridiculous as it is for them to be predicting that they drop 60 on us, they do have more of a reason to be confident about a win than we do.
Any other year and the national title team starting the season against a 7-6 team that had to win their final game to even make a bowl wouldn't even generate discussion. The only reason this is even a question, and the only reason anyone in the media is even giving us a 10% chance is that we looked really good when we beat them last year.
Granted we are all fans of the team, and we followed the injuries, and saw that the team who lost 6 of 9 games after OSU was not the team that beat OSU. Still, from a casual observers standpoint, a win versus the national champions sure looks like a fluke. I wouldn't have picked Kentucky to beat LSU again the year after LSU won their most recent title.
The only good thing in Ohio is the turnpike and that takes you to Michigan where you can go fishing.
This is the content that separates TKP from any other website
Correct sir but it was fun! I would never truly do that. I feel like we always treat our opponents with true respect. Even wvu and they do not deserve it. That is a fact.
Now dammit! Some of us Hokies may be born and raised and proud of our fine state of Ohio. This also means I am still getting every inch out of that win by massively rocking my VT stuff around the buckeye state
I am right there with you Brew! Funny tidbit, at the celebrity game for the all star event Urban was booed almost louder than Andy Dalton. Cincinnati... Funny town!
I hope they all play. No excuses, no bellyaching. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. So bring on Bosa, Marshall, Jones, Elliott, Miller. Line em up and play.
Couldn't agree any more
The original rumor started Saturday and only concerned two unnamed WRs. As you would expect, rumors grow and every knucklehead with an internet connection "knows someone who knows someone", and now you get four or more players "involved". Until Meyer says anything, many Buckeye fans are blowing this off...
Hmmmm, last time this Buckeye fan base blew something off it bit them 35 times.
Oops
one of the Ohio State posters on the college football subreddit posted the following players and their infractions:
Jalin Marshall (WR/HB) - marijuana
Dontre Wilson (HB) - marijuana
Corey Smith (WR) - marijuana
Joey Bosa (DE) - cutting class
some of the Ohio State posters are trying to research the subject and are posting what they can confirm. if you want to follow the action, here's the link
Well at least they were good teammates and followed the puff puff pass suggestion
you must be referring to "puff, puff, puff, pass (on class)", right? LOL
All speculation. You have knuckleheads like this clown making claims:
Yeah but he knows the names AND the initials. Gotta be right. /s
What's a rumor? True or not, one could hardly blame Bosa for skipping class. He's got a couple-million dollar signing bonus to attend to. The man's got a future.
While it is more than likely true Bosa could get kicked off the team, kicked out of the university and still enter the draft and more than likely still be one of the top picks to some team that doesn't care about his off-field issues, he would be burning numerous bridges in the process and tarnishing his name and the name of his university. I hate to think someone could be so selfish.
ohh kill emm..
PS Pryor had to get some sort of written letter/approval from OSU so that he could go and do the Browns Scrimmage at the shoe,
This can't be true, please for the love of everything holy this can't be true. My wife, her entire Columbus family, and many articles I've read this entire year have gone on and on about the young offensive line, inexperienced Barrett, bear front, cover 0, a full moon causing strong ocean waves that impacted Urban Meyer's ability to make adjustments during a live football game, improbable VT 3rd down conversions, nearly intercepted passes by OSU at the end of the game, no mention of missed picks by VT backfield, how the scoreboard made it look like a bigger loss than it really was.
All of these guys, and especially Bosa, better be on the field come Labor Day, because if we pull this game off and I have to listen to another round of excuses I am going to lose my mind. If they win, I'll gladly tip my cap after about a day of being pissed off.
Id rather win either way, it would be easier without them. Let the loser make the excuses, they are still the loser.
i agree.
we just lost Reavis and they recruit very well so not having very good backup options is not an excuse. like what i read in posts before, "next man up."
Yeah, you guys won simply because your team is better than Ohio State, which is precisely why we won the national title and you guys finished 7-6. I haven't posted much here and haven't really said a lot out of respect for the board and recognizing that this is a Hokie board, and not a Buckeye board. But if you truly think for one picosecond that the fact the our OL was only in their second start ever, as was our QB (his second start since early in his senior year in high school) didn't play into the game result, then you either have your head in the sand, a complete homer, or don't know the game of football. Toss in a least one dropped TD pass by Corey Smith (one of the kids suspended) coupled with the fact several of your players played the game of their lives. Enjoy your "perfect storm" win, because it will not repeat itself.
yo chill
The problem is that that narrative can be told for us as well. We had a new QB in his second game. And a new OL under a new OL coach. We had new WRs and a new TE. From the Hokie perspective it just seems tired since the same could be said for us. That day on the field we were the better team, but you won the golden vag. Personally I like your result better, but I'll take the win.
The OL we fielded that night was the second least-experienced OL in the entire country, with something like six starts total entering the season. By season's end, that same line went from one that gave up seven sacks to you to becoming one the best in the entire country (just ask the DCs of Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon--especially the Oregon DE who collapsed on the sideline near the end of the national title game).
Although you also had a new QB, he wasn't thrust into the starting job less than 10 days before the season started. Barrett was our third-stringer up until a few days before Miller got hurt, and got very little practice reps until a week before then season started. Fairly different scenario.
Perhaps I'm misrembering but wasnt Miller out for the sprng of 2014 and Barrett and Jones split 1st team reps? Also did Miller even take reps in fall camp of 2014? Barrett wasn't as inexperienced as you make him out to be. There were PLENTY of rumors that Miller was still hurt and I cant believe that Meyer held on to that nugget and just "thrust" Barrett in there without proper prep.
Nobody can even pretend he had less prep than Michael Brewer for that game.
Nah Meyer set him up to fail and moved him from 3rd string to starter 10 days before kickoff without any practice or notice.
Not exactly arguing about the end-result that you mentioned, but check out this article from French that showcases the flaws in the gameplan's of Alabama and Michigan St when playing against Ohio State.
Did your QBs participate in spring practice in 2014? Because the VT QB didn't set foot on campus until June and his first practice ever with the team was in August -- and he wasn't declared the starter until mid-August. And then he had to develop timing with 2 true frosh WRs (August arrivals as well), a r-fr TE (who had never ever played a single down at the position in a game before -- HS or college) and had two true Frosh behind him at TB (because the leading rusher from the previous season was out due to a broken leg). Not that different of a scenario if you take off the red and grey glasses. All of this on the road, mind you.
VT's line wasn't exactly experienced either -- with 2 anticipated senior starters suffering career ending injuries before the season began.
Frankly, if you've got a QB returning from major shoulder surgery who can't even go live in practice until mid-August and the coaching staff hasn't planned for one of its two back-ups to be ready to play, that's either total ignorance, total incompetence or total arrogance (or all of the above).
Actually our QB had LESS practice reps than your QB did, both your backups had the entire Spring practice and every practice up until the start of the season. IF Urban Meyer failed in his job to get them prepared to start then thats on him... Brewer didn't get on campus til the Summer, and didn't have any team practices until the Fall. Somehow our coaching staff got our new QB ready to go while yours failed??
As others have pointed out, our team was just as young last year. In fact, I believe even with Miller and Spence out the two teams were returning the same number of starters...
That same line was hardly flawless the rest of the year. While the run blocking improved, you guys still gave up 11 tfl and 3 sacks against Bama, 3 sacks against Indiana, and were 74th in sack rate on the season- perfectly average. Furthermore, you aren't really accounting for the differences in scheme and the skill sets of the personnel for the teams you mentioned. Perhaps most notably, Alabama and Oregon were 92nd and 75th in sack rate respectively. We were #1 in the country. Fairly different situation.
Others have pointed out the flaws in your second argument, but I'd like to point out that Brewer was named the starter exactly 3 days after it came out that Braxton Miller was going to be out for the season. And that was with him having been in the system for ~2 weeks compared to a full year and a half for Barrett. So, uh, yeah...
Did tOSU not realize they were going to be playing football for the entire year? You play the game on the schedule that week. Plain and simple.
Show up prepared. No excuses. The game is decided on the field, not based on experience, or number of starts, or how well the team played the game before....
Actually, most people would be terrified at some of the thoughts that have lasted for at least a picosecond inside my head.
This is so Leonard.
Classic Leonard.
What players of ours played the game of their lives exactly?
Was it the QB making his second start that had been on campus even less time than JT? Or does that only count when making Buckeye excuses? Was it our 2 starting WRs that were making the 2nd start of their college careers? Definetely not them. Was it our stud TE that was also making his 2nd start as a R-Fr? No not him either. Was it our All American cornerback that played very well. Probably not, I have seen better games from Fuller. Or maybe our other high end CB that was injured during the damn game and played pretty well? Also probably not him.
Clearly you are talking about Sam Rogers. Every game he plays is the best game of his life because....Sam Rogers.
Or maybe you are talking out of your buckeye, because a young VT team beat OSU man to man, and the only difference in personal was the QB that was so awful he won 11 straight after playing us or whatever it was.
Lose the saltiness, because you are right you are not on a Buckeye message board. It almost sounds like you are starting to rationalize reasons why we are going to beat you again here real soon.
Cardale Jones was the second stringer up until just before Miller got hurt, and was a redshirt sophomore with PT the previous season. Barrett got the nod over Jones just before Miller's injury because Meyer felt he was slightly better overall. Barrett ended up winning 10 straight after the VT game despite growing pains and several close games (2 OT at Penn State, trailing at home against Indiana 20-14 until Jalin Marshall bailed us out with 4 TDs in the second half.
It should be pretty apparent that your young team played over their heads in scoring 28 offensive points in Ohio Stadium, lest they would've scored more than 6 points at home against Miami and 3 points in 2 OT at Wake Forest.
Remember that offensive line that you said got better as they went along? Well unfortunately for Virginia Tech, they got injured as they went along. Ohio State (with the exception of QB) got healthier as the season went along, allowing them to build experience and play better together. Virginia Tech got eaten alive by the injury bug as the season went along, which explains the downturn throughout the season. So no, it's not pretty apparent that the team "played over their heads". It is in fact entirely possible that they played at the level they were capable of.
You seem to be suffering under some misapprehension. VT had some struggles later in the season, but were also missing some key players that were there for the Ohio State game.
VT isn't generally as deep as Ohio State, so a few personnel mattered a lot.
You shouldn't kid yourself that it was just a fluke game. But if you like, go ahead. I'm happy for you to believe that, and we'll certainly get the chance to see if you're right in September.
I think it is just as likely that our young team played exactly at the level they are capable of playing, with positive trajectory moving forward.
Your comment makes a lot more sense if VT hadn't been devastated by injuries after that game.
Basically, every single significant skill contributor VT had on offense in that game was starting no more than their 2nd game ever for this team. Brewer, Ford, Phillips, Hodges (should I mention the RBs that were by the way injured during the season?)
I don't need to make excuses for why VT didn't defeat OSU that night...because you know, we won. But the Buckeyes are full of em. There was nothing fluky about it, and no one thinks less of their ultimate accomplishments because of that particular L. 22 guys lined up on each side and OSU got beat that night. Thinking there is no chance that it might happen again will be at your own peril.
It's apparent more people than the football team at Ohio state have been smoking weed.
I LIKE to hear your excuses, because you know what it means?
Your team lost.
Pump the brakes man. We beat you guys on a level playing field. It is what it is regardless of how you package it. You're getting a chance in a few weeks to even the score. In the meantime, let's not try and pretend that we know the outcome of a future game played largely by young men not old enough to buy a 6 pack at 7-eleven.
I don't like flame wars, but you kinda went full hardo there, no? I do appreciate your energy for your team.
That said, now I must leave you with this because picosecond. Cheers man, and good luck to the bucks this season.
Your argument in fundamentally flawed in that it presumes we went 7-6 last year solely because we were a bad/mediocre team while entirely ignoring mitigating circumstances and match ups. Also, nobody is arguing that we are the better team overall, but rather that VT deserves recognition for the talent and accomplishments that it does have as well as the match up problems that the team poses Ohio State.
Anyway, on to the mitigating circumstances.
From the starting lineup against OSU alone (along with some contributors):
Bucky Hodges
Michael Brewer
Cam Phillips
Shai McKenzie (tore his ACL two weeks after OSU game)
Marshawn Williams (missed ~6 games with injuries)
Sam Rogers (broke his arm in the bowl game)
Laurence Gibson
Jonathan McLaughlin (out for the year)
Augie Conte
David Wang
Caleb Farris
Ryan Malleck (missed ~3 games with ankle issues)
Defense
Ken Ekanem
Detrick Bonner
Kendall Fuller
Chuck Clark
Brandon Facyson (played injured for 2.5 games, out for the rest of the year)
Kyshoen Jarrett
Chase Williams (out for ~4 games, 3 of our losses)
Deon Clarke
Dadi Nicolas
Luther Maddy (played injured for 4 games, out rest of the year)
Corey Marshall (missed the game after Ohio State and was limited in two others)
Throw in that Mark Shuman, Brent Benedict, Kalvin Cline, Trey Edmunds, Jerome Wright, and JC Coleman were all expected to be starters at one point and were hurt in the preseason and we had 11 guys who were starters at one point hurt for significant periods of time. No one loses essentially half of their starters and doesn't miss a beat.
Don't forget that Kendall Fuller played with a bum wrist for a majority of the season, our run game didn't improve until Wyatt Teller played guard, we always played with a somewhat limp Wang, and Michael Brewer got the sh!t knocked out of him every game leaving him battered and bruised. But that didn't contribute to ANY of our losses...
Another thing- no one on our team played the game of their lives. Brewer was about average in terms of QB rating and didn't really complete many "miracle" throws, he just had guys open most of the night. While he converted third and long fairly frequently, a lot of that was because of matchup advantages granted by your defensive scheme (primarily tight ends, fullbacks, and slot receivers on linebackers, nickel corners, and even safeties), a scheme which other teams we faced later in the year do not run. Overall, the offense and run game were below their season averages. The only thing that was truly above average was the redzone efficiency and a lot of that was because we ran plays that we hadn't shown before, which is likely to be true again this year.
As for defense, last year the defense as a whole was #11 in S&P+, #2 in FEI, #6 (I think) in ESPN's defensive efficiency rankings, and most importantly #2 in passing defense S&P+ and VT's defensive line was #5 in adjusted line yards and #1 in adjusted sack rate. While other teams who were better match ups schematically were able to take advantage of injuries on defense, the defensive performance that night was no fluke. They were just good.
Urban Meyer is a genius. In order to make sure that we're the ones feeling over confident going into the game, he leaks a rumor that 4 of his top players will be suspended for the game. Then when we take the field BAM - they're all suited up and ready to go. Next thing you know, Miller is in at QB with no inhibited throwing motion at all.
Now for a non-biased, objective post. Of the four players we lose for the game, obviously Joey Bosa is the biggest. He will likely be replaced by either true sophomore Jalyn Holmes (whom VT highly recruited IIRC) or redshirt freshman Sam Hubbard. Holmes got some PT last season and was decent, but not eye-popping. Hubbard was redshirted as he grew out of his safety body (went from something like 220 to 260 after he arrived). He was so good during scrimmages that Meyer seriously considered burning his redshirt midway through last season. Obviously there will be a noticeable dropoff with Bosa out, but it may not be that bad. And with the rest of the defense intact, I feel confident that they will attack your offense without relent.
Braxton Miller will now have to chance to shine at H-back, as he'll be the replacement for Marshall and Wilson, so we expect no dropoff there, and maybe even some improvement (many think Miller was going to jump them anyway). Corey Smith was a decent WR last year, but was essentially the third or fourth WR. Michael Thomas will be our big-play WR this year, filling in for the departed Devin Smith. Several other burner WRs who had PT last year (Noah Brown and Johnnie Dixon) will fill in, so the loss of Smith won't be that great.
Obviously, losing starters, especially an consensus AA and probably top-5 NFL pick hurts, but our talent depth should somewhat limit the damage. As the old saying goes, "we don't rebuild, we reload."
Just going to say, a non-biased post would have to come from a fan of a team other than Ohio State or Virginia Tech...
I don't know if losing a player that a large number of "experts" consider perhaps the best defensive player in college football this year will "likely be replaced" by some guys that will be seeing their first real significant playing time in a hostile road environment. Not saying those guys won't be good players, but lets be real...
The issue that seems to be getting ignored is that the VT defense matches up well with Ohio St. I don't know if that match up swings back in OSU's favor by losing playmakers.
I guess that's why the teams have to actually play the game.
Ohio State will definitely be favored, but this doesn't hurt VT's chances.
MB we started 4 true freshmen that night on the road along with a QB that had been with the team for 60 days but we had the advantage over the past 4 top 10 recruiting classes that the Buckeyes had? Were you vaping with the boys? The fact is you were out coached not that all of our boys had the game of their careers. Fact.
A non-biased, objective post would never assume that a former QB - no matter how good an athlete -- will shine at position he's never played before, that nobody has ever seen him play before, and that he will not be a drop-off or maybe even an improvement from the suspended incumbents.
Did you just describe Bucky?
Around here, I see PT and think physical training.
Unbiased opinion alert, you lost me at Devin Smith gone, not a big deal. I own a TV, oh and watched almost all your games last year (remember me, head in the sand, don't know anything about football, wife a die hard Buckeye fan). You anticipate very little drop off losing Devin? It wasn't just Devin's speed (which was incredible), it was his hands and body control full sprint, but you knew that, of course you did. So correct, you have Thomas who is ridiculously talented, but doesn't spread the field as well as Devin; however, you make up for it with with Brown and Dixon, easy fix, got it.
Also glad to hear you have someone readily available to cover the #1 or #2 NFL draft pick with only slight drop off. You called me a homer? Am I reading all of this correctly? Are you reading it outloud to yourself?
These photos have been around OSU's lockers for months. Don't think that hell won't be unleashed...
FWIW, most of us hate that T-shirt as much as the OSU fans probably do, if not more.
Agreed, but that top graphic is kind of slick and made me laugh.
It's a dumb shirt, as far as I'm concerned.
I don't think a sports team from Ohio has the capabilities to unleash Hell. That's more of a Biblical thing. But if you are insinuating that they resent last years loss and will be looking to beat us on Labor Day, I think we get the point. We want to beat you guys too. That's why the game has been scheduled. Give us your best and we'll give you our best. And unless there's some BS call that influences the outcome of the game, I won't have much to say either way.
Big deal. Do you really think that the only bulletin board material is in the OSU locker room? VT is the one with a chip on its shoulder, not OSU. And do you really think that after the first play, it really makes much of a difference anyway? Fans make far more of this stuff than players.
Where is that other OSU guy that can handle rational, level-headed debate and not post t-shirts we all hate clearly marked with a different website? See the giveaway is the .com at the....never mind, let's start over.
I guess it was fun while it lasted.
Finally someone gets it! Ohio state champs!
Looks like there will be at least one more, according to a post over on 11W. Hearing anywhere from 1-3, but the 1 is because of a less-than-stellar GPA.