@EdJames Yes, that was a very bad call. I also think the Dobbins TD dive was actually a TD as well, though some may disagree.
My husband very much agrees with you on that. I think it could very well have been called a TD, but I could see the other POV as well.
I think that we agree, had they converted even 2 of those red zone opportunities in the 1st half to TDs rather than FGs, the game would have been much different. I point to that as the main reason that they lost. However, Clemson is a very good team, and they let them fight their way back to victory. In the category of "other factors" I am convinced that Justin Fields was not the same player without both wheels in good working order. Although he tried to make a few runs, he was not as effective as when healthy. Clemson saw that, and they knew the chances of Fields keeping it, or pulling it down to run, were just not something that they needed to worry about. A factor in Clemson holding the Buckeyes at bay in the 2nd half. And Dobbins had a bad foot/ankle in the 2nd half as well.
I also don't think that the Buckeyes expected Lawrence to run as often as he did, and they couldn't come up with an adjustment during the game to counter that...
Completely agree with this assessment. Fields was clearly not healthy, and that very much affected his mobility, which was key to many of the overwhelming victories during the regular season.
I also think that Lawrence ran as much as he did due to the NFL quality secondary the Buckeyes had. Clemson clearly adjusted their game to OSU, and Lawrence ran very well.
We may disagree somewhat on the whole subject of "bad reffing." While I don't believe that they are many (any?) instances of an official making a call because they "favor" one team over an another, I think that they do make bad calls because of incompetence, or lack of ability to see everything at game speed. And these blown calls do impact games.... if not in the immediate way of a team losing points as time runs out, in that these bad calls can shift the momentum of a game greatly.
A very mild disagreement here. I agree completely that bad calls can change momentum and there are plenty of them during any game. I guess my point, beyond the opinion that outcome of very few games are actually determined by bad calls (with the disclaimer that some clearly are), is that after pretty much any game, the loser, or fans of the loser of the game will scream about the reffing. It's human nature to see calls the way we want to see them and blame the refs for calls we don't like while ignoring the bad calls we do like.
When I first responded to this on this thread, I was amused that people were blaming the refs for the Buckeyes win against the Badgers, and ignoring the fact that the Buckeyes just plain won the game in the second half in spite of a very bad first half.
It's so typical, if one doesn't like the outcome, to blame the refs, and I just don't see that happening as often as the losing team claims it does.
In almost every NFL game played, one can see at least one or two former Buckeyes that are doing a good job for their current teams, of course Bosa is one of them!
True enough. If you root for every team in the NFL with a Buckeye standout on it, you'd be rooting for practically every team!
As far as the NFL, I am rooting for Andy Reid and Pat Mahomes, I would like to see them in, and win, the SB this year.
If they play anything like they did this past weekend, they've got a great chance of going on to win. I don't dislike or love any of the remaining teams, so this is the kind of SB game I like best. I can pick a team to root for, but I don't get upset if the other team wins!
As far as tonight's game, I previously noted that I prefer Clemson because of liking Dabo better than Orgenon.... however, I tend to like (former Buckeye) Joe Burrow better than Lawrence, so I am just hoping for a close game that isn't messed up by the Zebras....
I always want a close game when I really don't care who wins. I still think LSU will win decidedly, and will gladly root for a SE Ohio superstar!
Now here is a question for someone that I know watches every single Buckeye game, every season...
What do you attribute the difference in Chase Young's play, prior to that 2 game suspension, versus after it?
To me, it was remarkable.... my only guess is that the normal adjustments that the competition makes against a star opponent just happened to coincide with the weeks that we was away.... I think that there was one of the "week offs" in there too... he just didn't seem nearly as effective for the rest of the season, as he was up until that suspension....
That's a very, very good question. There's no doubt that Young was neutralized at the end of the season, and even though he affected many plays with his presence, he just wasn't the same monster he was before the suspension.
I do think that the opponents' double-triple teaming made a difference (and a good deal of holding that wasn't called.... speaking of bad reffing!) But the rest of the defense (as proven during the suspension) was certainly up to the task in filling in for him.
I also wonder if he didn't back off a bit for some reason? I was extremely curious as to his seeming lack of effectiveness at the end.
Still think he's going to be WAY up toward the top in the NFL draft. The guy's a beast.
