Written by Mike Furlan

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The most important part of being a writer is knowing your audience.   The audience here at The Cleveland Fan is a discerning group that is not concerned with objectivity or the niceties of the National Media.  The audience at The Cleveland Fan is much more interested in straight shooting and going beyond the obvious generalities and crap analysis (based solely on statistics) that plagues most of the large media outlets. 

1.   New Proof of Parity?  How many of you guys are ready to get your James Madison vs. Boise State National Championship Game tickets?  I already have mine reserved.  Last week, the media was convinced that Boise’s victory over Virginia Tech proved that the Broncos deserved to be in the championship game (as long as they beat the rest of the cupcakes on their schedule).  Well, I figured the same should hold for JMU then.  I am still trying to make my reservations now, but count me as the first to jump on the Dukes’ bandwagon.

2.  A One Week Stand?  Speaking of the national nitwits, have you ever seen a group of guys back pedal so fast?  With some fluid hips, Pat Forde and company could make great NFL cornerbacks.  Last week, Boise found seven new first place votes in the AP poll.  The Broncos took this week off to celebrate and somehow lost all seven votes without ever taking the field.  What gives?  So now that Virginia Tech is not good strength of schedule matters?

3.  What have you done for me lately?  The Big Ten has recently become the media darlings, the same guys who were bemoaning this conference of “slow, plodding farm boys” two years ago are now singing the praises of Wisconsin, Iowa and of course Ohio State.  Oh but fret not, due to the “Law of Conservation of Happiness” (Happiness cannot be created nor destroyed only transferred) they had to find a new kicking boy, and find it they did.  The ACC is now operating under the microscope of media overreaction.  Last week was certainly not a banner week for the ACC, but let’s face it, if you accept the ACC teams for what they are, this start is really not all that surprising.  The ACC starts every season with FSU, Miami, VaTech, Georgia Tech and one of Clemson, North Carolina, or Boston College in the top 20 only to see all of the above listed teams finish disappointing seasons with several questionable (and horribly boring losses).  One of them will finish in the top ten because someone has to win the conference, but really the only surprising thing about the ACC start was Virginia Tech’s loss to an FCS team.

4.  Do any of these guys actually watch the games?  It will not show up in the box scores, but Penn State looked better than I thought against Alabama.  The Lions defense was not embarrassed and they played the typical PSU smashmouth game and kept things reasonable.  The Lions offense moved the ball much better than I thought they would and if it were not for 3 untimely turnovers, the product of having a freshman QB playing his second game, the score would have been a lot more competitive.  Now, that said, I still think ‘Bama would have won the game going away, because Saban did seem to take his foot off the gas a bit toward the end, but the game was not as bad as the 24-3 score would lead you to believe.

5.  Who should we really be making fun of?  Howcome everyone gets to kick the crap out the ACC for losing games but no one is making fun of the Big Least?  That conference is terrible, it has been for the last five years and no one says a word about it.  Honestly, I think the MWC is a superior conference.  Let’s play the match up game to prove it:

Best vs. Best:  WVU vs. TCU (I’ll take TCU)

Next vs. Next:  Pitt vs. Utah (that game was already played)

Next vs. Next:  Air Force vs. Cincinnati (I’ll take Air Force)

Next vs. Next:  BYU vs. UConn (I’ll take BYU)

Next vs. Next:  Wyoming vs. Syracuse?

OK, I suddenly lost interest, but you get the point, The Mountain West is better (at least at the top than the Big East) and I don’t really think it is that close and if you are a Big East homer hanging your hat on the fact that South Florida is clearly superior to New Mexico, well then you are further proving how far the Big East has fallen.

Finally Let’s Talk Bucks:

Obvious Observation #1.  The Buckeyes ran a well balanced attack and looked impressive against Miami. 

Not so Obvious Conclusion #1:  Think about it, were the Buckeyes as bad as everyone said they were in ’06, ’07, ’08 or ’09?  Nope.  Are they as good as everyone says in 2010?  Nope, not yet.  Remember things are never as good or as bad people tell you and you will see that this will be the theme of the article today.  There is still a lot of work to be done in the redzone and in the Special (as in “Short Bus”) Teams.

Obvious Observation #2.  The Offensive line struggled to open the holes to ignite the running game.  The Bucks were able to amass 180 yards on the ground, but much of that was Terrelle Pryor making things happen on broken plays. 

Not so Obvious Conclusion #2a:  It is true Terrelle Pryor did the bulk of the work on the ground for the Bucks today, but the offensive line actually did VERY well against the Miami defensive line.  How many times did you hear Adam Bailey’s number get called?  Once?  Twice?  Take a bow JB Shugarts.  Mike Adams was equally impressive on the other side, and there are no concerns about the middle of the line.  As a matter of fact, this line is the best I have seen at OSU in a long time.  So why were the Bucks unable to run?  Well, I was puzzled over this at first too, until I went back and rewatched in super slow motion.  The issue really was excellent play by the Miami’s linebackers.  They read the plays and filled the holes.  There was nothing wrong with the calls or the line execution, it was just great defense.  Take a bow ‘Canes linebackers.

Not so Obvious Conclusion #2b:  There is an issue with these runs though, and it is the inability of Brandon Saine to actually see cutback lanes.  Now before I go and bury Brandon Saine, please remember that I was among those that called him the second coming of Robert Smith four years ago; I will own my mistake.  Boom Herron gained 66 yards on 14 carries behind the same line, against the same defense that Saine struggled with.  It is time for everyone to realize that Herron is just a better ball carrier.  Saine is a gifted receiver, but he does not make one cut and go.  He does not adjust his runs to the defense. Don’t get me wrong, Saine will look awesome when the right play is called against the right defense, but he cannot or will not cutback against the grain when the gap is defended.

Not so Obvious Conclusion #2c:  The depth chart is probably upside down right now.  The current depth chart has Saine, Herron, Thomas then Berry.  When in all actuality it looks like it should be Berry, Thomas, Herron then Saine.  Now, hopefully these next couple of cupcake games are ugly enough that Berry and Thomas can truly climb the chart.

Obvious Observation #3:  The Buckeyes can now play with the fastest teams in the country.

Not so Obvious Conclusion #3:  Duh, they always could.  That said, there are some issues on this team.  The Miami CBs did not respect the OSU WRs and it turns out they didn’t have to.  Now, OSU will not see another set of CBs that good all season, but it is pretty telling that the U was able to put its two showcase corners on an island with OSUs CBs and the Bucks were only able to make them pay once downfield.

Obvious Observation #4:  The Buckeyes secondary was impressive in keeping this explosive Hurricane offense underwraps.

Not so Obvious Conclusion #4:  That is a fact.  The secondary, the part of the team I was most concerned about going into the game, was very impressive.  What is shocking is how they did it; they channeled Jack Tatum, even CJ Barnett, who has a bit of a reputation for not being that physical was an animal out there.  Devon Torrence looked particularly strong against the run.  Now that said, I would have preferred a more “fundamental” approach to coverage, but in the end you cannot complain about the results.  The ‘Canes caught a wicked case of “Gator arms” and I am sure that the hitting had to be the reason.  Hankerson certainly seemed much more hesitant after Barnett left him curled in the fetal position on the field.  The Buckeyes will not see a pair of WRs even close to what they saw this week for the rest of the season, so I am no longer concerned.  As a matter of fact, I love the hard hitting.

Obvious Observation #5:  Terrelle Pryor was very effective as a game manager and it was Jacory Harris’ inability to manage the game that cost Miami.

Not so Obvious Conclusion #5:  Pryor did an excellent job running with the ball and keeping plays alive.  He had a lot of time and missed a lot of open wide receivers.  He was also very fortunate that at least three passes were not intercepted.  Miami’s defensive backs just didn’t come up with the ball.  Jacory Harris was victimized by drops, poor WR play and a very opportunistic defense.  While Harris will carry all four of those picks statistically for the season, two of them should be saddled onto his WRs.  It is still pretty clear that both QBs have some work to do this year, and this performance could be really good news to Buckeye fans, as it is pretty obvious that Terrelle Pryor needs a fourth year in the NCAA and I think he is smart enough to stay for it.