Bottlegate

WHO: Marquette Golden Eagles (1-0) @ #20 Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0)

WHERE: Value City Arena, Columbus, OH

WHEN: Tonight, 7:30 PM ET

TV: ESPN2

Teams met in Milwaukee on November 16th of last year…game was tied 19-19 (!) at half, Ohio State went on to win 52-35.

Buckeyes

Beat UMass Lowell River Hawks 92-55 in season & home opener last Friday
Starting 5 was Scott, Russell, Thompson, Loving, A. Williams
Russell – 16 pts (led team), 2-6 from 3, 4 reb, 6 ast, 3 steals, 1 turnover in 26 min
Scott – 9 pts, 11 ast (led team), 30 min (led team)
Lee 13 pts, K. Williams 12 pts (2-4 from 3) off bench
Tate led reserves in minutes (25)
Ten players played at least 10 minutes
Buckeyes have won 13 consecutive nonconference games in Columbus

Golden Eagles

Long time Duke player and assistant Steve Wojciechowski in his first year as Marquette’s head coach
Defeated UT Martin Skyhawks 79-63 in season & home opener last Friday
Sophomore forward JuJuan Johnson led the team with 20 pts, 4 steals and 2 blocks
Senior forward Juan Anderson also pitched in 16 points and a team-high 7 boards
No player taller than 6’7″ on the roster
Senior guard & captain Derrick Wilson suffered a leg injury against the Skyhawks, is questionable to play
Team was picked tied for 7th in preseason Big East coaches’ poll

Quick summary of yesterday’s game:

Let’s look at the game tape.

Swaggs looked magnificent per usual

JJ Watt split out wide on offense, caught a TD pass, and everyone at ESPN collectively had to change their underwear.

Joe Haden’s interception was a thing of beauty #NoFlyZone

Favorite pic of the game. A punter patting the best defensive player in the NFL on the head. So disrespectful and I love everything about it.

The Browns one shining moment all game. Nice downfield blocking by Austin

Turning point of the game right here. If Crowell doesn’t fumble this, we go up 10-7 or 14-7. It doesn’t help that the broadcasters mushed the fuck out us

Sigh. The Shark might want to close his eyes during film study on this play

Couldn’t tell if that was Marshall Faulk or Alfred Blue wearing #28 for the Texans yesterday

“Trust me, you don’t want to be out there against Watt, Clowney, and Cushing.”

This is how I felt watching the game

Welcome to life as a Browns fan, kid. Get used to it.

#PrayForKarlosDansbysKnee.

Quick thoughts:

-That game sucked. Whatever. We’re 6-4 and now we’re right in the thick of things in the AFC North. We don’t control our own destiny anymore so our two games within the division mean even more now.

-I don’t understand our running back rotation at all. A week ago against the Bengals Terrance West had 26 carries. Yesterday he had 5. I’m fine with Crowell being the featured back, but I don’t understand the carries distribution.

-Hoyer played like shit. 30 incompletions was a franchise record for most incompletions in a game. He looked off the entire game. He easily could have had three interceptions. Last week it was “Sign Hoyer long term!” This week it’ll be “Play Johnny!” Can’t wait for talk radio this week. Ugh.

-Paul Kruger catches that INT, Cundiff makes that 38 yard field goal, and if Crowell doesn’t fumble that’s a totally different ballgame. We’re not a good enough team to miss opportunities like that.

-The rush defense continues to get gashed. Losses in the front seven will do that to you I guess.

-Is it that hard to stop a simple out route? Seriously. I think Mallett had half of his completions throwing simple out routes.

– I was at the game. Did this officiating crew look as bad on TV as they did in the stadium?

-I don’t think Johnny would have performed much better but Hoyer’s last 3 games leave a little to be desired. I’m not calling for Manziel by any means but that doesn’t mean I’m not curious.

I asked Twitter if the Browns would have won if Johnny was under center and these were the responses:

@Bottlegate I don't believe we would have won, team chemistry just seemed completely off.

— TheHomelessmanofErie (@HomelessmanErie) November 17, 2014

https://twitter.com/M3X2music/status/534159010443059200

@Bottlegate unless Johnny plays D-line, they weren't gonna win anything today.

— Bill Forsythe (@wforsythe) November 17, 2014

https://twitter.com/themiketerrell/status/534159789631098880

@Bottlegate Hoyer looked bad, but our o and d line was abysmal. Manziel might have been able to scramble more but I don't see a huge change.

— Joe K (@Stowcenter93) November 17, 2014

@Bottlegate duh.

— T Coan (@t_coan) November 17, 2014

https://twitter.com/AaronPikeCPA/status/534173362407620609

@Bottlegate No. Once again #Browns lose game closer than final score. Early fumble, 104 yrd TD called back, missed int. #Texans steal one

— 🔥 Babalou2 🌵 (@robashworth) November 17, 2014

Yesterday was a reminder that we’re not as good as we thought but we’re not as bad as the media will make it seem this week either…. Hey, anything cool happen next game?