The Bone Yard

The Bone Yard enjoys having our fellow B1G fans stop by...our deal is we respect everyone.

How can one not be a homer, even if you think your team might lose? As you can see, we have differing opinions about the game ourselves due to the respect that we have for the Buckeyes.

Interesting comment about the film, I'll just leave that to the coaches.

I do think your concern about Braxton is valid. You have to know that the Huskers will try to hit him with all they've got on every play, and since he's 70-80% of your offense they will have many shots to hit him high, low and in-between with several Blackshirts. We don't wish him harm, just to reduce his ability to beat us.

This team has the ability to win every game if they can only get out of their own way with turnovers and penalties. It should be interesting to see if they can do so in the Shoe.

This is a very hungry team and coaching staff, they are on a mission and may find their way if they can play within themselves.

NU 33 - tOSU 27
NU - Brett Maher; OSU - Braxton Miller

Re: the uniforms...consensus, not sure, but most everyone liked the black helmets, but the uniform #'s not being on the front chest and large was a problem and the cut of the pants seemed to be odd. I thought Wisky's looked bad.

Great post josh. Enjoyed you explaining some of our different options on d.
Watched some film and miller likes to take it outside. We have to play disciplined and tackle well.
I like the idea of getting more speed on the field with cooper

Btw- I think he is a good coach and great recruiter but urban is a snake. Was at Florida.

Since there's plenty of Buckeye fans in here to comment, didnt' OSU move Stoneburner to WR this year?

Stoneburner has been playing WR maybe since Spring practice. To date he has been almost totally absent in the offense.
If I was Nebraska I would be just a little worried that this could be his breakout game.

I don't know if our coaching staff will be, but I know I am. He's definitely a match-up nightmare split out wide.

I'll repeat here what I predicted on the tOSU site; Ohio State 27, Nebraska 20.

Last week's game against Wiscy helped reinforce just how important turnovers are in a football game. If the turnovers are even last week, we probably win by 17-20 points. If we end up +2 like Wiscy did, (or a 4 turnover swing) we probably win by 24-30.

Unfortunately, we are a turnover prone team. God love Rex, but he's been known to cough up some critical oskies. Ameer is more likely to fumble than Rex, and between running and passing, TM is more likely to turn it over than either one of them. Do it at home and you can overcome your errors. Do it on the road against a quality team, and we are not good enough to win. It's about that simple.

I think we are improved and more mature. I don't think we will have a plethora of turnovers or a major meltdown, but unless we can force more mistakes than we make ourselves, our chances of winning are not good. Right now, I'm hoping for a game effort with minimal mistakes, where we can be in it to the finish and maybe win on a big play. What with tOSU out of the BCS hunt, this game amounts to kind of a mid-season bowl game for them. We will have to be composed, that's for sure.

I will predict a couple of specifics:

Jamal Turner throws a pass
Rex will appear in the Wildcat
Braxton Miller leaves the field at some point in time due to injury
We have a chance to win or tie in the last 5 minutes.

They don't split Stoneburner out wide. And if they do, it is for WR screens or to block in the run game.

He is basically an H-back that sits in the slot and is critical to their edge running game.

When tOSU runs power, they have Boren and Stoneburner in with Hyde providing their lead blocking on the edge. Heuerman (86) interchanges with Boren and Stoneburner with Heuerman being their 'true' TE.

Ohio State isn't concerned about the DE in getting to the edge and rely upon Stoneburner to seal the inside and Hyde and Boren to lead. They use Stoneburner, Heuerman, and Boren in a lot of edge blocking. They naturally assume they'll get to the edge faster than you can get there.

Ohio State didn't utilize Stoneburner against MSU because he was most always covered by Chris Norman when he was slotted, or inside. Norman will be playing on Sundays and is the best LB that MSU has. When Stoneburner was outside, he was nothing more than a decoy route or he was blocking for WR screens.

One thing that really sticks out is that Ohio State's WRs are very poor blockers. Smith and Brown are electric with the ball in their hand, but are easily overtaken by aggressive defensive players when trying to block. Stoneburner and Heuerman are moved to the slot and outside to give Ohio State a physical presence on their edge running plays and blocking for WR screens.

Ohio State didn't even really try to run the ball between the tackles against Michigan State, but get their speed to the outside and look to get their WR's 1-on-1.

The LB's for Michigan State were very impressive in that game. Ohio State put them to the test and they showed up well. Not sure our LB's will show up as well as MSU's did. And if they can't get Stoneburner 1-on-1 with Whaley, or Fisher, or even our NB's, look for them to attack us 1-on-1 with their WR's.

Scheming is one thing, having the players to pull it off is another.

Ohio State 'bunched' early with some success against Michigan State, but then tried to spread them out after their halftime adjustments. They had some success with both of their attacks in that game, but ultimately were only able to score 17 points due to the solid play from MSU's LB unit. Norman was awesomeness for MSU. He lets them do so many things defensively due to his presence and abilities it is scary. He is a flat out stud.

Undoubtedly Ohio State has some film of the UCLA game in which they spread us out and killed us with 1-on-1 matchups.

Not too mention, they have a wildcard in Miller. Urban fully expects him to make the first guy miss, or to make the free guy on defense unaccountable for because of the dynamic his QB brings to the table.

Urban and OSU's offense will stress you defensively from sideline to sideline, and they are physical on their edge runs in the blocking schemes.

Our DE's and LB's have to show up big time. Our DB's have to be physical.

This is easily our toughest test this season on both sides of the ball.

I've been thinking about my score prediction and I have to admit it is homerish (is that a word? LOL!!)

I can't stand behind my prediction because the Huskers have yet to play consistently in big games. I really do not know what to expect from them from game to game.

Sadly, what I can expect is that Nebraska will meltdown at some point in the game, and who knows how long it lasts. Nebraska has thrown up on itself in every big game (Wisky, Ohio State, Michigan, South Carolina) since last season, except Sparty last year. The only time they have been able to pull their head out was Saturday. Sorry fellow Huskers, if Miller does not go down we do not win that game last year.

I really really want to think that this team turned a corner and came of age in the second half Saturday, but to do so would be because I am drinking the

I am hard pressed to predict a straight faced win until the last three weeks (Penn State, Minnesota Iowa) of the season and even that worries me.

Hi Nebraska fans!

Way to beat Wisky last weekend. Not trolling, but I wondered what was going on over here (I am a Buckeye). Sounds a lot like our board, worried as hell, trying to maintain confidence. Well, you're right about Braxton, he should be your biggest worry. However, that may play right into OSU's hands. Expect Meyer and Co. to go for broke from the first play. They think the secondary is suspect and had we executed a few weeks ago, the first play was a bomb TD that didn't happen. My point is, don't focus everything on Miller. Yes, he is a threat and as most people think, OSU is one-dimentional. That is where the flaw is. OSU will pound, pound, pound Carlos Hyde and it's backs. Just when you expect another Hyde rush, OSU will hit the TE down the seam and he's gone. Your secondary better bring it or it will be a rough day (not taunting, just saying). OSU has several hard-running backs. Finesse runner, Jordan Hall is out. That means the screens to Hall are out, which means the bull-rushing is back in with Hyde. If you keep Hyde under 100 yards, expect to win. You won't contain Miller, but he can't win the game single-handedly. He won't rush 35 times, that's the good news. However, the X-Factor is not Miller, it is Hyde and TE Jake Stoneburner. All year, Miller has not been keying Stoneburner, and last year he was one of our best, as you know. He's been a non-factor this year, but that is miller's fault, not Stoney's. If I'm NU, I focus on containing Hyde and Stoney, with a watchful eye (on the first series) on Devin Smith (playmaker). Not elite, but finds a way to make the play.

You definitely know your football, joshwfo and Skerz. Your analyses are good. A few tidbits and then I'm done...

Our Defense is much better than advertised. Our DC has taken a lot of criticism because he has the keys to a lot of talent but can't seem to deliver. Now, the talent is good, the LB's a little suspect and the DBs have flashes of brilliance and then their fair share of idiocy. However, if you look at the the defensive playcalling from game-togame, the defense has become much more aggressive and here's why. The DB's are playing much more man-press 1-1 coverage, which , will force TMart to pass because he'll have 1-2 safeties either (a) blitzing him or (b) shadowing his every move. I believe Urban and Company puts its money on "stop the run and make TMart beat us with the pass". That's why my prediction is whoever throws the most INT's loses. Braxton is suspect in forced passing downs as well. Look for a few key freshman to get PT on the DL. very talented pass rushers. Yes, we stopped MSU from running at all (34 yards), but that was in a pro-style attack. NU is a spread attack and that has a lot of us on our board very worried. Screens kill us. That's all I will say.

Just a few quick things: If we didn't have Meyer, I'd want Bo Pelini in a heartbeat. He's from my hometown and he's the man. You have a great coach. Hopefully no one at NU is teabagging him for every little thing. He's a good one. Lot of heart and a lot of passion for the game.

Regardless of the outcome of the game, beat some SEC team's ass later this year in a bowl game since we can't have an opportunity to do it ourselves.

I was reading through your "predictions" and the best one I saw (sorry I didn't copy or quote it) was a prediction of 31-31 going into OT. In the end, I see the winner being the team that throws the least INT's. Braxton and TMart are very similar in that neither is a strong passer from a decision standpoint. That's what I see.

It's going to be a great game.

Finally, one of my best friends is a great NU fan and even before you joined the B1G, he told me everything I ever wanted to know about NU. By the way, FWIW, he hated the new jerseys. I told him I liked the helmets though. NU seems like a classy place with a great fan base.

I'll take any UV's you'll throw my way.

Stay Classy, and Good Luck.

I didn't really think about it much until you said it. Our teams do seem to be mirror images of each other. Maybe that's why both fan bases are having a tough time being confident going into this. Whichever way it goes, the shoe will be rocking, and it should be fun to watch on TV. Anyone going to the game should pop into Bucknuts and get some advice on places to go and things to do while they are in town.