What I Know, What I Think, What I Wonder — Youngstown State Week Edition

I know that the Youngstown State game is little more than a practice, so it’s okay to skip past it and start talking about Western Kentucky. If you look at this defense as a bar that is being renovated by renowned bar renovator Jon Taffer, the matchup with the Hilltoppers could be considered a stress test. In this analogy, Taffer is being played by Jim Knowles. Knowles will invite Western Kentucky into his defense and he’s going to see how the Silver Bullets handle the new menu and drinks – which actually haven’t changed.

I think the more apt analogy would be if Jon Taffer had to rescue the bar he rescued the year before. And never left after the first rescue but got rid of some of the staff and also discovered this one 6-foot-4, 230-pound bartender who raked in tips because of his personality and quickness but was also classically trained in French cuisine (like poutine). A hybrid kind of bartender, if you will.

I wonder what the breaking point would be for a defensive coordinator to run around yelling, “SHUT IT DOWN! SHUT IT DOWN!” Although now that I think about it, defensive coordinators probably yell exactly that every single week.

I know freshman safeties make coaches nervous, but when you have a guy who is routinely around the football, that’s a certain type of consistency that you can build upon.

I think a better overall game from Carson Hinzman will make everybody else better. He missed some calls on Saturday. That’s fixable. It wasn’t unexpected. Combine a redshirt freshman making his first start against a defense with new pieces and directives, and crap is going to happen. There’s no need for concern here yet.

I wonder if we will see Lincoln Kienholz this week. And if we do, has Ryan Day decided he’s never again going to have a redshirt freshman quarterback who has never thrown a pass yet? Youngstown State is making good money to make the Buckeyes better, after all. May as well let everybody sling it around.

To read the rest of this edition of What I Know, What I Think, What I Wonder, you can click here, but you must be a premium member of Buckeye Huddle. Additional topics include more thoughts on the safety situation with Josh Proctor, Malik Hartford, and Ja’Had Carter, when Sonny Styles may face his first real test, what a great performance from Devin Brown this week would mean, why last week wasn’t the time for CJ Hicks but this week is, the struggles of left tackle Josh Simmons, some thoughts on Michigan, and a whole bunch more.

Go to discussion...