An Opportunity At Hand
The Buckeyes walked off the field at Penn State last year more stunned than dejected. The shock would eventually wear off and the emotions would seep in.
Ohio State was able to overcome that loss and make the playoffs. They probably won’t have that same opportunity this year. If they lose, the division is lost, and so are their playoff hopes. The Buckeyes don’t want to lose two years in a row to Penn State, but they never want to lose, so each game is its own incentive.
Yes, this is a very big game, but it’s big for its own reasons here in 2017.
“It’s an opportunity,” said center Billy Price. “You always reflect on the things you did good last year and the things you did bad last year. We always say that the game of football is a game of one play. One play can change a season, one play can destroy a season, create a season, get that spark. In 2014 you started seeing guys take off. In 2015 and 2016 it was kind of a hiccup. It was a hiccup and the play kind of defined the season itself to where we know where we could have been and should have been.”
There are lessons to be learned from the past, but the Buckeyes must remain in the present. Last year’s game at Penn State hurt, but those wounds have healed. Now they have an opportunity to inflict some damage of their own.
“We just didn’t get the job done,” Price said. “So I think this is an opportunity for us to make sure that we have a lot of attention to detail, make sure that we take care of our assignments. It’s a great opportunity, right now I think they are ranked number two in the nation. I know those guys are going to bring it.”
An Appetite For Destruction
There are nothing but positives to having the kind of depth that Ohio State has at defensive end. The Buckeyes can roll in fresh pass rushers for all 60 minutes with no slow down in their aggression or tenacity.
With OSU playing five-straight overmatched opponents, those defensive ends are playing even fewer snaps than they normally would. They haven’t complained, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to play more.
Have they been bored over the last month and a half?
“I wouldn’t say bored,” defensive end Sam Hubbard said. “We’re just having fun with it seeing the young guys get in there, cheering them on to make plays. Definitely not bored. It’s just a different kind of fun.”
This week against Penn State, they’ll get their opportunity for the kind of fun they all signed up for and they are looking forward to it.
“Yeah, definitely, we’ve been patiently waiting for it,” Hubbard said. “I’m happy with beating teams that bad but we’re practicing like we’re going to play 60 plays in a game, practicing for it so when it does happen we’re ready.”
Keeping the defensive ends fresh has also kept them lean and hungry, which probably wasn’t unintended.
“I’m dying to play a full game, it’s been a while,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “I played like 20 reps the past five games. It’s getting a little old. I’m ready to go get into a dogfight and play to the end. I’m ready to get into a real one, and obviously this is going to be one.”
Who Is The Starting Mike?
Middle linebacker Chris Worley is said to be full go now from his injured foot. Urban Meyer said the Buckeyes were healthy for the most part, including Worley in that group.
Worley played mostly in nickel packages against Nebraska because they were easing him back into the rotation. Redshirt freshman Tuf Borland has played well in his absence and it looks like a rotation will continue.
When asked last week if Worley would step back into his role as the team’s starting middle linebacker, defensive coordinator Greg Schiano wasn’t entirely sure.
“I think, but we’ll have to see when he’s healthy where we are,” he said. “I hate to ever predict that stuff because everything is so fluid. We may move a guy to another linebacker position or move Chris, who knows. What we try to do is deal in the present and right now we felt like he could handle those nickel reps, and that’s basically what he did. He played a little base, but mostly nickel reps. I think that’s a good way to ease him back into the action. That was our philosophy in doing it. I know Chris wants to play more, I just want to make sure that we don’t set him back to where he can’t help us when we need him.”
