I Tell Ya' Herbie

     It's that time of the week as we list a few notes from the world of college football- I Tell Ya' Herbie.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             Is it time to consider that Miami could finish 12-0 entering the ACC title game?

Maybe, Miami finishes with home games against Duke and Wake Forest and road trips to Georgia Tech and Syracuse, which all seem winnable.

But the Canes are walking a fine line over the last three weeks, defeating Virginia Tech when a Hokies Hail Mary touchdown was overturned, rallied from twenty points down in the fourth quarter to stun a mediocre California team, and outscored Louisville in whoever scores last wins the battle.

Are they a team of destiny? Or are they a team pressing their luck and are on borrowed time?

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The story of the year to this point has to be the Indiana Hoosiers under first-year coach Curt Cignetti, who was hired away from James Madison.

Indiana is now 8-0 and visits Michigan State this Saturday before two games that could be the biggest games for the program in over a half-century (Indiana won the league in 1967 for their only Rose Bowl appearance) home against Michigan and at Ohio State.

However, before we get TOO excited about Indiana, remember this- Indiana has beaten one team with a winning record (5-3 Nebraska) and only one other team (4-4 Washington) is at .500.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The ACC game of the week last week came early as one-loss Syracuse traveled to undefeated Pittsburgh.

The story wasn't that Pitt trounced Syracuse 41-13 it was the performance of Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord, the former Ohio State Buckeye, who threw five interceptions and three were returned for Pittsburgh touchdowns.

Some had mentioned before the game that the quarterback Ohio State had jettisoned (McCord) had better statistics than the player they brought in (Will Howard).

No one was mentioning that at the end of this game.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            One thing that conferences mentioned after their expansion was the elimination of divisions to have the "best two teams" play in the conference title game.

What they didn't place into consideration for this decision was how difficult tiebreakers were going to be for bloated conferences and ties between multiple teams without a natural tiebreaker.

It's going to be a real problem for leagues, perhaps as soon as this year and it may take a few years before a move is made but I believe eventually the leagues will return to divisions of some type.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            The shocker last week was unbeaten Liberty suffering their first loss to winless Kennesaw State, which was Kennesaw's first win in Division I.

The loss stunned the Flames, who then lost again Wednesday to Jacksonville State and a team that was attempting to make an argument for being the entry from the Group of Five in the CFP will now be fortunate to make the Conference USA title game.          

Kyle McCord to enter Transfer Portal

     The transfer portal in college football is always a hectic and often controversy-filled time but the start of the portal for 2024 immediately initiated that process when Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord announced his intentions to enter the portal and seek a new home for 2024.

Ryan Day was asked during his most recent press conference about the quarterback position for the Buckeyes' appearance in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri and for next season, and Day was non-committal about the position or McCord having an advantage in holding down the spot for 2024.

This apparently led to some ill feelings about the situation and as soon as the portal officially opened this morning, McCord filed his name into the system for the right to shop his services.

McCord was solid but not excellent in his only season starting for Ohio State, throwing for 3,170 yards, and completing sixty-five percent of his passes with twenty-four touchdowns against six interceptions but may be remembered most for leading the game-winning drive in South Bend to defeat Notre Dame and throwing the interception that snuffed out the final possession in a six-point loss to Michigan.

McCord did play through much of the season with an ankle injury that made him less mobile than the usual Ohio State quarterback and he did seem to lack chemistry with the receivers other than Marvin Harrison Jr. and maybe Cade Stover but Ohio State lacked the explosiveness that they possessed under C.J. Stroud with the same star skill position players around McCord, so the only assumption to make is some of that (at least) had to be placed on McCord.

Ryan Day had to be a little disappointed with McCord's play, especially with the constant comparisons to Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, who wanted to attend Ohio State but Day chose McCord instead as his quarterback of choice in that recruiting class, and when you consider the pressure under Day and the program entering next season, it's not unfair for Day to re-open the competition between McCord, Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz and incoming freshman Air Noland to attempt a clean break from a underwhelming offensive season.

McCord's decision leaves Ryan Day with an interesting opportunity for the Cotton Bowl to give Devon Brown and Lincoln Kienholz significant playing time against a good team in Missouri.

I'd even go as far as to give each player two quarters of play as the Cotton Bowl is basically an exhibition game anyway.

I don't think that this will hurt Ryan Day in the future with quarterbacks, if anything it may help him as a quarterback who may not want to sit behind a starter, particularly one not playing well (past or present) will now know that Day won't hesitate to play the best player and not adhere to loyalty as Urban Meyer had been known to do.

Ohio State now could play in the portal itself for a one-year stopgap at the position with Riley Leonard, formerly of Duke, and Will Howard, formerly of Kansas State, as the biggest portal prizes available as of now.

In the end, Kyle McCord was a good quarterback who played in the shadow of three of the best quarterbacks in program history.

McCord and Ryan Day are finding out that when you don't beat Michigan for three seasons in a row, good will never be good enough at Ohio State. 

Buckeyes disappoint in Michigan again 30-24

    A somewhat controversial call and two key turnovers cost the Ohio State Buckeyes as their comeback died inside Michigan territory with under a minute remaining for their third consecutive loss to Michigan, 30-24 in Ann Arbor.

Kyle McCord finished with 271 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, the final of which ended the game as his pass to Marvin Harrison Jr was intercepted by Rod Moore.

Marvin Harrison Jr. finished with five catches for 118 yards and a touchdown to lead the Buckeyes in what may likely be Harrison's final game as a Buckeye.

Ohio State finishes 11-1, losing to Michigan for the third season in a row, and will be selected for a New Year's Day bowl against a soon-to-be-named opponent.

Olentangy Offerings

1) Immediately, the talk from the extreme Buckeye faithful is how Ryan Day must go as some talk is in the air about Day being mentioned as a potential target for the open Texas A&M position.

I disagree.

Don't misunderstand, I'm not happy with the situation but talk of firing Ryan Day is ridiculous.

If Texas A&M wants to pay Day and he wishes to leave, fine but fire him?

Not at all.

2) The play that Ryan Day is being broiled most for is his decision to run over thirty seconds off the clock to wait for a fifty-two-yard field goal try for Jalen Fielding that was missed.

It was a fourth and two and Day had gotten his reputation as an offensive coach for his risk-taking, yet during this game, Day didn't gamble or use his strengths.

This decision didn't swing the game, but it set the narrative that Ohio State would play it conservatively and take very few risks.

3) Kyle McCord's numbers look solid but it can't denied that his two interceptions were the difference in the game.

The first one in the first quarter allowed Michigan a short field to take the first lead of the game and created an environment where Ohio State was chasing points the entire game.

4) The first McCord interception is inexcusable but the final drive's interception is a little easier to defend.

Marvin Harrison Jr. was open on the play and McCord was trying to get him the ball but McCord was hit as he threw and the ball didn't have enough zip to reach Harrison and was intercepted.

McCord could have stepped up into the pocket and perhaps that would have helped make a better throw but he didn't and the rush certainly affected his throw.

5) Ohio State had whispered all season that Ryan Day was holding some things back for this game and that was why the offense had not shown everything that they possessed during the season.

Instead, it was the same vanilla offense and it was the supposed dull team that tried some different things as backup running quarterback Alex Orji appeared under center in the third quarter and took off for a twenty-yard gain, and halfback Donovan Edwards lofted a halfback pass that gained thirty-four yards in the fourth.

6) Why didn't Ohio State do anything to open the game up to best use the one advantage that they clearly owned over Michigan in their skill position players?

We may never really know but if I was guessing, I think Ryan Day didn't truly trust Kyle McCord to play from too far behind and didn't think the risk was worth the reward.

7) TreVeyon Henderson is the type of back that gains a few yards here, a few yards there, and then makes those gains worthwhile because Henderson breaks through with a long run, and in this game, that didn't happen.

Henderson's longest run was for eight yards and finished with sixty yards on nineteen carries and a touchdown.

Henderson did suffer an ankle injury and kudos to him for playing through it but there is little doubt that while the Ohio State running game wasn't awful, it wasn't explosive either.

8)  The Ohio State defense didn't play poorly and when they needed a stop to hold Michigan to three points on their final drive, they did so but Michigan took over seven minutes off the clock, forcing the Buckeyes to use their three-time outs and left only a minute remaining to win the game.

They received points for making the stop eventually but they allowed too many conversions on the drive that could have saved valuable time.

9) The Ohio State special teams haven't been good all season and punter Jesse Mirco wasn't good in Ann Arbor, averaging thirty-six yards on three punts, and zero inside the twenty-yard line.

Special teams coach Parker Fleming might be one of a few changes on the Buckeye staff in the off-season.

10) Marvin Harrison Jr. finished with over 100 receiving yards in a game for the fifteenth time in his Columbus tenure, breaking a tie with David Boston for the most in Ohio State history.

Harrison would be unlikely to play in another Ohio State game unless the path would somehow open u for a trip to the CFP.

11) I've waited this long for the one thing that worked against the Buckeyes that wasn't their own fault.

I thought the second-quarter touchdown pass of twenty-two yards to Roman Wilson from J.J. McCarthy should have been overruled as an interception by Denzel Burke.

Wilson never completed the catch with possession and it was Burke that emerged with the ball.

The referees called it a touchdown on the field and the replay didn't change the call.

I think if this game is in Columbus, it's changed but that's the home-field advantage for you.

That's seven points off the board in a game that you lost by six but that doesn't mean the decision cost the game for Ohio State.

That play was early enough in the game that Ohio State could have overcome it.

12) Ohio State wasn't out-toughed and they weren't out-battled, they just lost a close game.

I'm not sure what changes next year because I'd wager OSU will lose Marvin Harrison, TreVeyon Henderson, and perhaps Emeka Egbuka.

They are in a position to handle receiver losses better than any school in the country, and in ways other than the game-breaking speed, Dallan Hayden might be a better back than TreVeyon Henderson.

I think they have to find someone to run special teams other than Parker Fleming, and the time may be right to consider moving on from Corey Dennis (Urban Meyer's son-in-law) as the quarterbacks coach.

Ryan Day is returning unless Texas A&M throws huge dollars at him and he decides to leave, and so is Kyle McCord, who I just can't see Day not picking as the starter, even if there is a competition announced

The pressure is only going to increase on this program over the next year and with no excuses for next season's game in Columbus, everyone involved with Ohio State football is going to have to look at next season's game as more than a must-win for the season.

It may be a must-win for the future of the program entering a new era in college football. 

Ohio State nudges past Notre Dame 17-14!

     Chip Trayanum burrowed his way into the end zone with one second to play to give the Ohio State Buckeyes a 17-14 win over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in South Bend in a game that will be remembered for a long time by both teams and their fans.

Kyle McCord finished with 240 yards and notched his name into Buckeye history with a final drive that saw him throw for third or fourth down conversions three times.

TreVeyon Henderson finished with 104 yards rushing with sixty-one on a third-quarter touchdown gallop with Emeke Egbuka leading the receivers with seven catches for ninety-six yards.

Ohio State improves to 4-0 and will have next Saturday off before playing currently undefeated Maryland in two weeks,

Olentangy Offerings

1) Jim Ross used to call particularly intense matches in pro wrestling as "one of the most physical battles etc...." and that phrase came to mind watching this game as both teams pounded away at each other with offenses that may not have been terrific but with power.

The hitting was hard and the grit was through the roof, so that's what one loves to see from high-level college football.

2) Ryan Day may have given Buckeye fans what they have been looking for with his post-game comments with NBC's Kathryn Tappen (more on that later) but his play calling again ranged from great to questionable.

His going for it in this first half rather than kicking a field goal made the game-winning drive more stressful than it had to be and I wondered about his play call on 4th and one with a jet sweep with Emeka Egbuka.

Day talked about toughness after the game which I liked but with the game possibly on the line, Day rolled the die with a finesse play.

3) The winning touchdown drive by Kyle McCord was one that no matter how McCord's career plays out will make him a player memorable to Ohio State fans.

McCord's cool demeanor allowed him to convert two third downs, including a third and nineteen to move the ball to the Notre Dame one and a fourth down on the final drive to give OSU the win.

I wouldn't say that McCord has taken away every worry about the offense but he did come through when Ohio State needed him most.

4) The forgotten play might be Kyle McCord hitting Julian Fleming for exactly seven yards on a fourth and seven.

McCord put the ball exactly where he needed to and give Julian Fleming credit for driving forward against the Notre Dame tackler because where Fleming caught the ball, he needed to push past the defender to be assured of reaching the first down line.

5) Some of the reasons that Notre Dame began to wear down the Buckeye defense was the amount of time that the defense was on the field in the second half.

Ohio State had only two possessions in the third quarter and one of those drives lasted only one play when TreVeyon Henderson ran sixty-one yards for a touchdown.

When a physical team like Notre Dame has the ball for that much time, any defense will wear down a bit.

6) Still, the Ohio State defense stood tall against Sam Hartman and looked very good for most of the game.

They didn't force turnovers but for the most part, they made the stops when they needed to (with the exception of the last Irish score) and it is easy to be generally happy for the defense.

7) And the final drive never happens if the defense doesn't step up and stop Notre Dame on five plays shortly after Ohio State was stopped on a fourth and one.

Sam Hartman hit Rico Flores for a twelve-yard gain on first down and Aurdic Estime ran for eleven on the next play, and it wasn't unrealistic to think one more first down could put Ohio State against the wall and two could mean never touching the ball again.

8) Instead, the Buckeyes dropped Sam Hartman for a loss of five, J.T.Tuimolau blew up a Hartman screen pass, almost intercepted the ball, and he would have walked into the end zone then and there for a score before stopping a run play for three yards to force a punt.

9) In the first half, Chip Trayanum was barreling over the Irish, and with a third and goal from the one, Trayanum came out and Miyan Williams came in and was stopped cold.

Ryan Day decided to go for it and Kyle McCord's pass was incomplete, leaving the Buckeyes with nothing to show for a strong drive.

10) My issue with Ryan Day's playcalling in clutch situations is this- all too often the play he calls on third down suits fourth down better and vice versa.

Take the example of number nine, the time to catch the defense off guard when they expect a run and have Kyle McCord throw is on third down and on fourth down, when the defense has to count for any possibility, that's when you slam the ball at them.

11) The short yardage game needs some work, failing on two fourth and one opportunities, and making the Chip Trayanum game-winner much closer than it had to be, especially against what proved to be only ten Irish defenders.

You can bet your Buckeye that Penn State, Michigan, and Wisconsin are watching the Buckeye struggles in short yardage and taking notes.

12)  Marvin Harrison Jr. injured his ankle in the third quarter but did return to the game after checking out medically.

Harrison did move the chains with a diving catch for nineteen yards on the final drive but I'm glad that Buckeyes have an off week next Saturday to give Harrison some time to hopefully return his ankle to the lineup.

13) Finally, the Ryan Day promo to Kathryn Tappen.

Day was fired up by something former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz had said earlier in the week, picking Notre Dame because Ohio State was always soft in the clutch.

Day got pretty emotional about Holtz's comments and discussed his teams' toughness along with the doubts that some in the media have had on the topic.

Ryan Day hasn't always been easily accepted by the fanbase as someone from outside of Ohio as the head coach and his rant has to be embraced by Buckeye fans.

I understand why he is sensitive to the criticism of the program's perceived toughness and it has to feel good to win a game than came down to toughness to a degree.

14) I really liked the Notre Dame green jersey and like it better than their regular navy blue version.

Wish the Irish would consider using them more often.

15)  All things considered, this wasn't the smoothest game ever or the biggest win but it might rank near the top for Ryan Day, and it might be a win that helps a young team gain confidence in themselves for a road win against a top ten rated team.

How important it eventually becomes will play out over the season but it was a win that Ohio State needed for their state of mind and for the perception of the program.

Ohio State crunches Western Kentucky

   Kyle McCord celebrated his first start as the designated first-team quarterback by throwing three touchdown passes as the Ohio State Buckeyes blew out the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 63-10 at Ohio Stadium.

Marvin Harrison Jr. caught five passes for one hundred twenty-six yards, one of the catches a seventy-five-yard touchdown and Emeka Egbuka caught two touchdowns out of his four scores.

TreVeyon Henderson rushed for eighty-eight yards with two touchdowns and the Buckeye defense scored two touchdowns on their side of the ball.

Ohio State improves to 3-0 and will travel to Notre Dame next Saturday night for their first season test against the Fighting Irish.

Olentangy Offerings

1)  Ryan Day announced earlier in the week that Kyle McCord had finally won the starting quarterback job over Devin Brown and the decision seemed to allow McCord to relax a bit.

McCord completed nineteen of twenty-three passes for over three hundred yards and three touchdowns and for the first time this season, looked comfortable and poised in the pocket.

2) McCord also played more than you would expect in a non-conference pummeling but that was more to get McCord extra snaps, which carries the risk of injury.

However, getting a quarterback who hasn't played that much in three years as many snaps as you can before the biggest game of the year to date is worth that risk.

3) Marvin Harrison Jr.'s seventy-five-yard touchdown catch and run showed why the numbers don't always matter and why he is still the nation's best wide receiver.

Give McCord credit for the throw but Harrison had five yards on the defensive back and it was just flawless how he shifted gears.

4) The offensive line protected Kyle McCord and later Devin Brown well in the game and the Hilltoppers finished with just one sack on the afternoon.

5) The Buckeyes scored thirty-five points in the second quarter and few teams can match that output but the thing that I liked best was getting the ball back with under a minute to go in the first half with Ryan Day throwing the ball to go for the throat of the Hilltoppers, ending with a fourteen-yard strike to Emeka Egbuka.

Day can be such a strong playcaller but tends to almost show mercy at times.

When Day is aggressive, Ohio State is tough to defeat!

6) Ohio State forced four turnovers, two interceptions, and two fumble recoveries and while Western Kentucky isn't a top team, they do move the ball and rank among the best offensive teams among the Group of Five level, which is very encouraging as far as my hopes for the defense.

7) I loved the physical play from the linebackers and secondary!

Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock both delivered jarring hits that forced Western Kentucky fumbles that Ohio State recovered with Burke's hit resulting in a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Tyleik Williams.

8) TreVeyon Henderson has often been criticized for running "soft" but I have seen a difference this year with a willingness to put his shoulder down a bit more.

Perhaps that is due to the competition being smaller but Henderson is gaining a bit of physicality to his game, hope the trend continues.

9) The defensive breakout player so far has been defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, who made more impact than his fumble recovery in the end zone.

Williams finished with a sack, and a tackle for loss, and was in on seven tackles on the afternoon.

Williams is stuffing the run well and adding a pass rush up the middle from the interior line.

10) And now the preliminaries are over, it's on to Notre Dame and the conference schedule and even though the opener against Indiana is a league game, the feeling is that the real season starts next week in South Bend.

Things appear to be rounding into shape a bit but we will know far more after next Saturday!

Buckeyes pound Youngstown 35-7

   Kyle McCord threw three touchdown passes to lead Ohio State to a 35-7 home victory over Youngstown State.

Marvin Harrison Jr. caught seven passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns with Emeke Egbuka catching five tosses for ninety-four yards and a score to lead the offense.

Ohio State will host Western Kentucky next week in their final tuneup before Notre Dame.

This will be a little shorter than usual as I did miss some of the second half due to work issues.

Olentangy Offerings

1) Kyle McCord looked better than he did against Indiana and to me, clearly established himself as the starting quarterback.

McCord throws a pretty pass and while he still needs to show what he can do against better teams, I think McCord is the best option under center.

2) I was happy to see Devin Brown receive some playing time but Brown finished seven of thirteen passing and lost a fumble.

Brown's skills and style make me think that he might have been a better fit in an Urban Meyer offense rather than a Ryan Day version.

3) I also hate Brown being number 33.

While I like the respect for picking 33 to honor Sammy Baugh, I always think it's a trick play from the fullback when I instantly see 33.

4) Twenty-five percent of the offense moved through Marvin Harrison and Emeka Egbuka, which was a radical change from the Indiana game, but I think the Buckeyes are looking for a happy medium from the two games.

5) I expected the pass rush to explode against the Penguins and it didn't finishing with two sacks.

That will have to improve as the season progresses.