M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[Hannibal]

We should hire Luke Fickell so that we can get some of that vibe and the Ohio recruiting base too.

[iam416]

Keep your paws off of Fickell.

M hadn't given up more than 14 points in its last 4 games. Ohio State scored 14 in every quarter yesterday.

[paul daugherity]

Yeah, it was bad. Brown should have kept his mouth shut before the game. Another point of stupidity, annoyance and aggravation by this staff.

[Hannibal]

Fickell is probably going to be Michigan State's next coach unless Dantonio sticks around too long and he goes to better job first.

[Hannibal]

I don't know what to make of Don Brown. He has punched above his weight for pretty much his entire career except for the last two OSU games and the occasional scattered turd throughout the years. I think that the problem on Michigan's side is one of piss poor mental preparation and Harbaugh's players being completely soft. All of those dumb mental errors -- offsides on a punt, dropping passes (especially in close games when they matter most) late hits, fumbles, etc -- are ultimately head coaching issues. That is John L Smith type of stuff.

Remember that before Brown arrived, a struggling OSU offense suddenly found its stride against DJ Durkin and shitkicked our defense for over 300 rushing yards. Harbaugh's dumbass stunt of crushing a Buckeye not on Bo's grave just made him look like more of a clown than he already was.

[drok]

I think Brown deserves a lot of credit for last year's fiasco, but this year felt more like a magician's job to cover up for a very weak interior DL. It got exposed by the two programs most likely to do so...Wisconsin and OSU. I think that if you have a few players there, that could have made a pretty big impact on the nature of the game.

[paul daugherity]

That seems accurate. My question then is, why is the interior DL depth in the situation it is in?

[drok]

Audrey Solomon transferring was extremely impactful.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Thanks Drok. Of all the irrational BS floating around the CFB blogosphere yesterday and continuing today, the real issue for M against opponents that were most likely to be able to exploit it - Wisky and osu - was M's interior DL. The more rational takes on the game revolve around this fundamental problem for M on Saturday v. osu.

Brown did a very good job of utilizing Uche Hitchinson and Danna - all DEs by trade - to help out Dwumfor and Kemp. Then he added in the switching he did with his LBs and Ss to gap security and M found itself with a statistically very good front 7 as measured by YPC, total rush yards and pressures. Well, as the game went on that approach didn't do well.

WM mentioned the weakness in the DBs. They're good but fundamentally Brown's life long scheme relies on effectiveness of the front in whatever configuration he deploys it in to protect the back end. The back end didn't get protected v. osu. It did againt everyone else except maybe also Wisconsin.

dobbins is quick to the hole and has both the vision and acceleration to negate what Brown was doing trying to squeeze running plays into numbers in the middle. I also thought that osu's OL did a very good job getting to the second level to defeat Brown's work with LBs and Ss as gap defenders. These guys were routinely blocked/not getting off blocks as dobbins whizzed by them. I hated watching it and it was easier to watch play to play on replay. osu's OL just out talented Ms DL. My gut tells me a lot of film study was done by osu's OL coaches and players to both out scheme and outplay what Brown rolled out this season.

I thought Brown's plan to deny short crossing routes, screens and drags was ok. To do that, he doubled those reads and singled deep throws. I think both Miller and Olave got singled with bad matchups for big plays a couple of times. In their defense, osu's receivers are elite and going to beat most coverage.

[iam416]

It's starting to look like Ohio State might actually have a chance of hanging on to the #1 spot. The CFP rankings give the B10 a ton of credit and basically treat their best teams as well as the SEC's best teams. Obviously, it's going to extremely difficult to beat the same team twice, especially one as good as Wisconsin. And the point spread is plummeting despite most bettors backing Ohio State -- Vegas and the sharp money know Wisconsin will make this a real fight.

[Tom W]

You probably should have hired a full time staffer to examine Wisconsin if they scare you guys so much.

[Dr. Strangelove]

OSU offers an online course called That School Up North: How to Humiliate Those Sanctimonious Putzes.

Justin Fields enrolled, aced the exam. You had to show up in person too, believe it or not.

[Hannibal]

Talent -- you have mail/PM.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Pelini >>>>> Fickell

[Dr. Strangelove]

Pelini's had one good year out of five at Youngstown