Poison Nut Nation

Being a Cubs fan, this summer has been a brutal one. I am so happy to have football back again. I admit I was rather apprehensive of what I might see from those Buckeyes I love so much. After all, they lost several key players from last year to suspension (or defection). They also lost one of the best coaches to ever walk the sidelines for The Ohio State University. (Perhaps the position is cursed?) My fears were for not as was proven with today's game.

Here are some of my thoughts and observations from today.

Coach Fickel
I didn't think it would be possible for the Silver Bullets to get better. One of Coach Fickel's best moves since taking over was to bring Mike Vrabel on to the staff as Linebackers Coach. Vrabel was a dominate player as a Buckeye, a New England Patriot and I'm sure learned a lot from one of the best run organizations in the NFL. Bringing that knowledge to OSU will make this defense possibly the best in the the Big Ten and maybe even in the NCAA. Ohio State could already recruit top picks with their reputation as an excellent defensive team but adding a Pro Bowl caliber and Super Bowl winning defensive beast should ensure strong recruiting classes on defense for years to come (given both Fickel and Vrabel stick around).

Second was his handling of the transition from Tressel to himself as head coach. I love that he is not addressing the past. He can't do anything about it so he is focusing on now and the future of the program. I feel confident OSU has done enough to self sanction that the NCAA should not step in with any more penalties. The recent suspension of 3 players for accepting gift bags at a charity function shows they are on top of the players and not afraid to do what is necessary when wrong doing is discovered (regardless of how ridiculous I think situation was).

Finally, the man looked like he was having fun and enjoying himself on the sidelines. Granted this was just Akron and the Buckeyes were expected to win. But everything went right today, and that is a show of great leadership and planning on his behalf. I'm very excited for the direction coach Fickel is taking the program.

Defense
90 Yards. 0 Points. Doesn't that say it all? Again, it was only Akron, but how many times in the past have we seen a team like that break out and have one or two drives because the defense falls asleep. Didn't happen today. Stand out player to me: Andrew Sweat, Sr. LB. The Linebackers at OSU always seem to just reload and Sweat looks like he's going to be the one to watch this season.

Offense
Joe Bauserman is the man. That was made clear today. Unless he breaks something or has some kind of meltdown there should be no calls for Freshman Braxton Miller to step up as the starter. During the next few weeks though it will be important for Braxton to get a good share of time on the field, shoring him up as the solid number 2 and getting him ready to take the helm next year. Stand out player to me: Carlos Hyde, So. RB. Haven't we seen great running backs at OSU named Carlos before? (Carlos Snow baby!) This guy is a sophomore and looked dominant today. One other area that stood out to me was the offensive line. I know I keep reminding myself that it was only Akron but in years past I've watched the O-Line get pushed around by these lesser teams. There was none of that today.

Conditioning
Watching a lot of football today one of the things that really stood out to me is that OSU's strength and conditioning during the off season was outstanding! I know they have one of the best training centers in all of sports (not just college) but it shows that they were taking full advantage of it. Remember it was easily 100+ degrees on the field during the game. In other games I saw so many players going down to cramping and injuries, not so with the Buckeyes. Kudos to the strength and conditioning folks.

I know it was just one game and it was just Akron (haven't I said that already?) but I feel really good about what I saw from the program today. Everything was executed with high precision and that speaks volumes for the coaching staff and the mindset of the players.

My prediction for the season - 10-2 and a Bowl Game if the NCAA allows it. Nebraska and Wisconsin are going to be the class of the Big Ten this year.

GO BUCKEYES!