How Bad is Denzel Burke?

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BrewstersMillions's picture

Matthews got roasted at the end and saved a TD with a PI to.

Oregon was killing this team with small speedy guys and motion. It is what it is. 

Michigan Cheated

+ 2 HS
nafimafi's picture
+ 35 HS
BrewstersMillions's picture

You are correct.

Michigan Cheated

+ 6 HS
Knarcisi's picture

Our guys weren’t beat on the PI calls. They’re just naturally handsy. Poor technique  

+ 2 HS
WorthyBuck's picture

Yes, they were beat.  
 

Burke was terrible.  Literally cannot cover anyone, or tackle.  He looked like a slow chump who did not even want to compete.  Others got beat as well, but he got roaster=d deep multiple times, and gave huge cushions as well.  And the tackling was embarrassing.  
 

our DL getting completely manhandled and allowing Gabriel all the time he wanted did not help.  
 

The D simply got beat at every level.  

+ 9 HS
Buckeye_36's picture

According to tonigh, he effing sucks!

Go Bucks!

+ 4 HS
Wcbuckeye80's picture

They get paid now. They’re professionals. When they suck, we can say so. He suxks 

+ 67 HS
BuckeyeFanInBoulder's picture

That is admittedly hard to argue with.

+ 11 HS
DaiTheFlu's picture

Yeah, it's a bit of an adjustment for all of us.

We can't stop here; this is bat country...

+ 4 HS
Scarlet_Lutefisk's picture

Because OP is clearly mentally challenged?

-2 HS
dbill27's picture

Everyone on Ohio state defense looks good against iowa, Purdue etc 

that’s why the critical comments getting bashed after huge wins are dumb. If you want to win a natty it means nothing you’re beating up western Michigan, you need to critique the fine details.

+ 29 HS
Brandon26841's picture

It drives me insane that people still don't understand this. I was very concerned with what I saw from the defense in the first halves against Michigan State and Marshall, and even Iowa was converting a decent amount of 3rd downs at times it felt like. This defense was clearly going to be exposed in ways whenever it finally saw good competition. 

+ 17 HS
linepilot15's picture

Agree! Pointing out obvious deficiencies does not make you a bad fan. I noticed the lack of pressure on QBs early on and the inability to throw down field. When you mention it on here you get accused of not being a fan. OSU is good and will win most of their games but I thought the goal was a national championship.

linepilot

+ 6 HS
BuckeyeRealist13's picture

They completely shut down the best offense in the SEC last year…

And was better against the national champions than any other team, including Alabama & Washington.

Lets not be low IQ

-1 HS
Buckeye71's picture

I agree, but I would also point out that in modern football it is impossible to stop really good offenses. We lost a really close game to Georgia a couple years ago and people wanted to ream out our defense. What they seemed not to grasp was that the GA defense was regarded as one of the best of all time. Against that all-time-great defense we scored over 40 points and lost by one. No one would even have remembered how our defense played if we had kicked one more FG. If anyone here thinks that Oregon is not a good offensive team, or not well coached, or their OC didn't call a great game they don't know football.  On top of all that, any good team that has a QB who is really good and plays near flawless foootball is very, very hard to stop. Gabriiel is very good, and he played his best against us. We needed a better pass rush, and that might be on the coaches, but poor play by a couple of our "star" players (Ransom missed two critical tackles) is just part of the game. Gabriel played flawlessly. Bruke and others on our side did not.

RoseBowl1's picture

Don’t forget that our DL was just as bad.  

RoseBowl1

+ 28 HS
DaiTheFlu's picture

That was worst DL performance since...Michigan 2023.

We can't stop here; this is bat country...

+ 5 HS
nafimafi's picture

im not going to lie, this game completely changed my perception of burke. ive seen talkative dudes like lattimore and 2019 arnette really back up that talk, and all this "im elite" talk now is nonsense. 

those speed dudes oregon have are twitched out. jermaine has shown more speed than our current starting corners

+ 38 HS
The Rill Dill's picture

SPEED does not mean you can cover.

-9 HS
oldbird5's picture

Agreed, but slow definitely means you can’t cover

+ 31 HS
AZ Buckeye13's picture

Burke, for some reason, kept looking toward the QB instead of staying with the receiver. Hopefully he learns from this and history doesn’t repeat itself.

Buck Pooter's picture

Burke is fast enough. He was beaten deep as he bit on stutter steps.

The Velvet Frog

+ 4 HS
bd2999's picture

It was a bad game for him but most of the year he has been pretty good. Oregon has pretty fast players and they did alot to use motion and formations to get one on one looks. Some of it was picking on Burke but others was just whomever was on that player. The bunch formation caused them alot of problems. Same for a few other plays. 

To their credit, they made good catches against good coverage at times too. I wish OSU's DBs would turn and play the ball though. 

Matthews got beat too. He got that PI but I did not think that was a bad call on his part. 

+ 1 HS
nafimafi's picture

unless im missing some other play, that was hancock, not matthews.

+ 12 HS
weirdscience's picture

Most of the year he's been matched up against MAC-level WRs. Credit to Oregon, but Burke got exposed as being less than elite in coverage. 

What have you done to beat TCUN today? 

-1 HS
cecsix's picture
  • He goes against NFL receivers in practice every day, this doesn’t hold up. 
+ 1 HS
OSUtopia's picture

He's pretty bad apparently. It comes as a shock to me as I always thought he was an elite corner. Turns out, he's Shaun Wade 2.0.

He cost himself millions of dollars in pro money tonight. 

OSUtopia

+ 39 HS
Eph97's picture

I can't imagine an NFL GM willing to risk even a 3rd round pick on him. Can't cover NFL talent and can't even tackle. How many times was he dragged for an extra 3-5 yards after the catch?

+ 8 HS
Six six three's picture

Wasn’t one of them between 15-20? 

ROLL BUCKEYES!

+ 7 HS
Six six three's picture

Watching the all 22. He got dragged for18 yards on the first one. Sheesh! Weight room!

ROLL BUCKEYES!

+ 4 HS
The Rill Dill's picture

All the ‘elite player’ nonsense stopped tonight.

+ 7 HS
USArmyBuckeye's picture

He’s had such a weird trajectory. Very solid as a freshman, a liability as a soph, elite as a jr, now seemingly back to sophomore form. 

It always seems impossible until it’s done

+ 12 HS
O H Y O's picture

Like the rest of the defense in 2023, Burke has the luxury of not having to go up against an offense with a great passing game. This Oregon team was the first team with a passing offense with NFL talent at WR that Ohio State has faced since....oh God, Clemson?

+ 2 HS
cecsix's picture

At least Wade had the excuse of injuries derailing him. Burke is just a bad player. 

+ 2 HS
typeOHpositive's picture

Someone explain to me why they don’t read the receivers eyes and turn around snd play the ball!?….if it’s in the air play it like it’s thrown to you and avoid the PI….IE, play in the endzone , receiver was against the line and db was facing him the whole time…Play the Ball!

"I don't want to be around average, why be around average!" -UFM

+ 6 HS
The Rill Dill's picture
+ 6 HS
oneflbuck's picture

Pretty much depends on what you are taught or coached to do.  Seems like they have transitioned from mostly playing press coverage to either soft man or some type of zone.  To me it looked like they were not comfortable in the coverage.  Reaction from all the db's was not good.  As bad as Burke was Ransom and Styles are just plain terrible.  

The other thing with Burke is with how secretive the coaching staff is he could of been playing with some sort of injury.  Never have seen him look so bad.  In terms of tackling he did the same thing when he was a sophomore and had a bad shoulder.  

+ 4 HS
DataBuck's picture

That's what I was wondering as well... is he hurt and they're just not saying anything?

The truth is in the details...

Optobuck's picture

He's got a lot to prove right now.  Like, RIGHT NOW.

+ 7 HS
AlltimeTE's picture

Trash, but the dude probably makes $250K in NIL. Such a swindle…

+ 7 HS
c11058's picture

If he doesn't improve, that'll be the most annual $$ he'll ever make in a football career.

+ 4 HS
Drbuck10's picture

Too many peaks and valleys with him. While he has flashed the potential of a first rounder he’s also been burnt in too many big games. It’s the lack of consistency that’s the most frustrating, I’d prefer a consistently average player than one where you have no clue what you’re going to get. Dude definitely cost himself millions tonight

When life gives you lemons, thrown them at the zombies

+ 7 HS
YoungBossBuckeye's picture

Denzel was utter trash. That’s all there is to it. He is what he is. Evan Stewart ate him alive. This entire defense got humiliated. 

+ 9 HS
DowntownBuck's picture

Dude lost a lot of $$$$ tonight. No way around it

Those who stir the shit pot should have to lick the spoon.

+ 5 HS
MediBuck's picture

I'm more mystified that we didn't put Matthews in for a few drives to break him and see if we could calm Burke down. CB is an extremely mentally-taxing position, and I can see a guy like Denzell going on tilt after getting burned a few times. The fact that he was allowed to stay in the game as a clear liability when we have an elite understudy in the wings is frustrating.

"There is a force that makes us all brothers, no one goes his way alone." --Woody Hayes

+ 16 HS
AZbucks77's picture

Yeah, we saw the return of Denzel's sophomore year again tonight.  

+ 13 HS
Wishbone5's picture

Rough night for him. He still has his chances to prove, but did not look elite. I was hoping he (and others too) would force a turnover. Never happened.

wb5

+ 4 HS
Wcbuckeye80's picture

I can’t wait to hear Denzel tell the media about how he’s a dog and the best corner in the nation 

+ 9 HS
Buckeye71's picture

His draft stock dropped like a rock today.

+ 11 HS
linepilot15's picture

Not only did he get burnt numerous times he allowed smaller receivers to break tackles and one literally carried him 15-20 yards.

linepilot

+ 11 HS
SuaveOlave's picture

Denzel Burke reverts to Denzel Burnt

+ 16 HS
JM's picture

Denzel really should have been sat at some point. He reminded me of a macOS spinning beach ball. 

Sometimes the only way to fix the problem is a hard reset. I don't think they did him any favors leaving him in and on an island.

+ 14 HS
Badjuju's picture

Denzel Burnt has returned. Sure he looks great against bad teams, but when he has to rise to the occasion he fails tremendously.

+ 5 HS
MattDaddy's picture

Tonight it seemed he was playing with no respect and no fear of the Johnson and Stewart.  He refused to respect their speed and his eyes drifted to the backfield and Gabriel.  Coupled with that, he tackled poorly.  If Matthews had been rotating in all year long, the TD to Stewart may never have happened.  Whether Burke as a 4th year started believed it or not, he could have used a series or two on the sideline watching and refocusing on his assignments.

+ 11 HS
rbc3az's picture

He’s Undrafted Free Agent at best.  I always felt he was overrated and was disappointed to learn he would forgo the draft. Now he’s taking up a valuable roster spot being a defensive liability.

 He reminded me of Tuff Borland against Devontae Smith. Lost, out of position, slow.

 The worst part is the coaches are too soft to pull him out or too stupid to develop someone who can take over the starting spot.

+ 6 HS
Sevo1's picture

Is it possible our best cover corner is Jermaine Matthews?

Sevo1

+ 9 HS
Ortonhallalumni's picture

hard to know with lack of playing time...

+ 8 HS
GovTressel's picture

We clearly didn’t respect Gabriels ability to throw deep.  Couple that with the d-line not getting any pressure on actual drip backs and this is what you get.  Knowles 2022 would have possibly been better…make them dink and dunk all the way down.  

Tyler Baker

+ 6 HS
Mean Mr Mustard's picture

Yeah, most people were saying that Oregon is a 40% RPO team and that is not the case.  

+ 1 HS
CaptainPicard2014's picture

Yes it is. Oregon ran a shit ton of RPOs yesterday. 

+ 5 HS
Mean Mr Mustard's picture

What I was trying to say is that it is not all that they can do

+ 3 HS
HOLYbucknut's picture

Not elite, but why are we putting him on an island if we aren’t gonna try to blitz and get to the QB?

+ 16 HS
DaiTheFlu's picture

This shit right here. You don't have the 2009-10 Jets and "Revis Island" without a disruptive front 7 that can dominate and get pressure, creating havoc. I legitimately don't understand the strategy yesterday, unless Knowles was trolling all of us for consistently asking him to run press man...

We can't stop here; this is bat country...

+ 1 HS
Mean Mr Mustard's picture

The question is "How did they not see this when they were going good again good in the spring and fall camp?"

+ 5 HS
cdub4's picture

This is my question. If OSU has the best WR core in the nation, shouldn't he be having trouble against Smiith and Egbuka and Tate also.

Iron supposedly sharpens iron.

+ 6 HS
allinosu's picture

I was screaming at the TV most of the first half after sideline pass after sideline pass, Throw the G..d... ball downfield. It was obvious the coaches felt the protection would not hold or they are just stupid.

+ 5 HS
Wcbuckeye80's picture

Because Howard can’t throw down the field. 

+ 6 HS
Buck Pooter's picture

Howard had a very good game but doesn’t appear capable of consistently throwing a decent deep ball.

The Velvet Frog

-1 HS
GovTressel's picture

Final play aside, Howard played lights out.  He was the reason we almost won despite the defense getting manhandled and the run game doing little outside of one drive.

Tyler Baker

+ 4 HS
Copyguy's picture

This is unfortunately the case, every deep ball is underthrown.

-1 HS
JBuck5's picture

Jermaine Matthews is not happy currently and he's making it known on twitter. Why they didn't put him in for 1 series at minimum is beyond me. Im a huge Day supporter/defender, but last night he got out coached by a 2nd year HC

+ 3 HS
CaptainPicard2014's picture

He has one tweet and it’s 4 angry faces…. This is you just making shit up. Everyone on the team is pissed

+ 12 HS
JBuck5's picture

Nope, it's been common theme all off season from him on twitter.

-2 HS
CaptainPicard2014's picture

So he’s not tweeting anything and you’re just making it up. Got it

+ 2 HS
JBuck5's picture

No, he's tweeted and deleted things.

+ 2 HS
CaptainPicard2014's picture
-5 HS
JBuck5's picture

Yeah, hard to prove deleted tweets, Captainobvious.

-4 HS
vegaskid's picture

Yeah, hard to prove deleted tweets, Captainobvious.

Ever heard of a screenshot?  I can show you how.

+ 3 HS
JBuck5's picture

No, new to this technology world LOL. You'd think I said he was transferring, just said he's unhappy and has made it known through various tweets this off season.

-3 HS
JBuck5's picture

Well, add Sanchez to the growing lost of people who seemingly know Matthews is upset

https://x.com/Devin2416/status/1845635433134219537

Can't wait to see how Captain Pricktard spins this one. It's clear that seemingly everyone knows Matthews should be playing and is frustrated because he's not. Matthews removed the angry face tweet from last night, guess it never existed due to no screen shot by anyone in here LOL

bucleyeabroad's picture

The entire DB unit was exploited yesterday. This miserable performance is on the D scheme, prep and position coaches. And yes, it likely cost Burke million$.

Hopefully he and the rest of the unit / coaches can figure out what the hell went wrong and fix it. Not optimistic on this issue but what the hell do I know.

WahooFanChicago's picture

Burke had an absolutely horrible game last night.

i don’t remember anything close to this from him other than his sophomore year after being injured.

He’s been a good Buckeye and I’m hoping he had some sort of injury last night that was limiting him.  
 

Also, all of us who have played sports know that sometimes you have a particularly bad game.  Sometimes you can’t even figure out why—some combination of you just being off, making some mental mistakes and the opposition just having a great performance at the exact same time you had a bad game.

Im not going to write him off over this very poor performance.   Hoping he bounces back and returns to form the rest of the season - we’re going to need him to.

+ 5 HS
WahooFanChicago's picture

^the other thing I should have added is that our pass rush and Knowles scheme did our DB’s no favors.   Gabriel often had 4-5 seconds to scan the secondary since we had very little pass rush - our DE’s were getting handled by their tackles and Knowles didn’t blitz often enough or run twists and stunts.
 

You give a quality QB and quality receivers that much time and even all-American corners are going to give up big plays.   
 

This was an overall bad performance from our D and our defensive staff.

+ 5 HS
DoctorRocks0's picture

Not as bad as Simon. 

Swallowed up on the Gabriel TD run for no reason. Missed the tackle on James for their big run. 

Burke will play on Sundays. Simon has like 10 games left in his life. 

--
OSU will win title this year - Dr R, 10/13/24

+ 6 HS
CaptainPicard2014's picture

Unless Denzel has an amazing final 7-10 games he is not playing on Sundays. It’s one thing to give up big plays. But his tackling was also atrocious. And Oregon’s WRs are not some elite WRs like a Naibers, Rome, MHJ, JSN that are for sure 1st rounders. 

+ 1 HS
DoctorRocks0's picture

Evan Stewart was the number one wide receiver recruit in the country

https://247sports.com/player/evan-stewart-46096676/high-school-244804/

--
OSU will win title this year - Dr R, 10/13/24

-1 HS
CaptainPicard2014's picture

Jack and JT were the top 2 DEs in their class. Kyle McCord was a 5* while Howard wasn’t even in the top 800. Recruiting rankings don’t matter once in the game. None of Oregon’s WRs are elite WRs that alleged first round DBs should struggle to cover

+ 1 HS
DoctorRocks0's picture

They’ll all play on Sundays. 

Do you believe all that is alleged?

Evan Stewart might just be better than Burke. It’s that simple. 

--
OSU will win title this year - Dr R, 10/13/24

+ 2 HS
Buckeyebobby1968's picture

Burke had one of his worst games, but so did the defense as a whole. JTT got baited by Gabriel and he ran it in for the easy score. No pressure, no blitzing, missed tackles, and bad angles. They’ll probably be watching so much tape next week that their eyes will pop out of their heads. I would rather have an early loss than a loss in the playoffs. Hopefully, this loss will set them straight and play with better focus

+ 9 HS
Trout dog's picture

I’m not surprised watching this defense. It’s not like a bunch of first round picks came back for another year because of the brotherhood. They were all mid round picks at best excluding Ty Williams so they grabbed a bag that Ryan Day was happy to give out. How in world on Caden Curry or Jermaine Mathew’s not starting?  

Trout Dog

+ 3 HS
actionstanleyjackson's picture

As bad as Burke was Ransom was in that same boat with him. Guy was out of position, missed tackles and got trucked twice. 

Stay gold, Ponyboy.

+ 4 HS
JBuck5's picture

Been a common theme with Ransom his entire career here. The slip vs UGA still gives me nightmares. For every 1 good play he has made, he makes 2 bad ones

-3 HS
Buck Pooter's picture

Ransom has been the weak link in the defensive backfield for the better part of two seasons. Burke let him off the hook against Oregon.

The Velvet Frog

-2 HS
Buckeye71's picture

On the Gabriel TD run people here have criticized JT for crashing the meash point. But if you look closely just before the snap Sonny mooved up to the line just outside of him and was talking to him and pointing. Not sure he was telling to go inside and Sonny would handle the outside, but I can understand why JT went inside. As it turns out Sonny had to drop back to take the TE. That left a big gap, but not problem Lansom was right in the hole. Right? He had a 10 yard run to generate steam and finally for once punish Gabriel ... except he completely whiffed. Not sure he even touched him, let alone laid him out. He also missed a big, and easy, tackly at another critical point.

Dgeneral's picture

Almost as bad as Burke was Sawyer. He played almost the entire game and had 0 solo tackles, 0 sacks, and didnt see any pressures on the QB. He did rush in 20 times, lose has balance, whiff and fall down alot.

Benchwarmer

+ 9 HS
youra6's picture

I don't think I heard the commentators mention his name even once.

+ 5 HS
I'm Ron Burgundy's picture

Since we're piling on here, was it me or was the defense (specifically Sawyer and Simon) looking over at the sideline confused when the ball snapped, and thus not ready to play. It was droving me crazy. Hard to get a pass rush of your Sawyer and you're not even paying attention at snap.

+ 2 HS
OSUtopia's picture

Wait, Sawyer played last night? I didn't hear his name all night.

OSUtopia

+ 7 HS
tcm1968's picture

I don't think Burke is trash or bad, I think he just got matched up against dudes he couldn't run with. Even at the NFL level you don't have a ton of WRs that can run 4.2 40s. Tez Johnson and Stewart are FAST.

The failing was not recognizing this and giving him help over the top after that first big play. Probably should have had help from the opening kickoff, and I'd assume if we see them again in Indy he will...

They did make the adjustment in the 2nd half and that fixed the issue..

Go Bucks!!!!

+ 5 HS
DillyBuck's picture

Thinking they say this week that Burke was playing hurt. Thats how this stuff works.

+ 4 HS
sstein55's picture

Yea not understanding why Matthews was not brought in to spell Burke, who struggled mightily last night. 

Steve

+ 8 HS
Cottonswab's picture

IMO, I think they should have subbed Matthews in once it became clear that Burke didn't have the speed to cover Oregon's receivers.  To Burke's credit, he was not blatantly holding / PI, like Igbinosun and Hancock.  Burke isn't the only one deserving criticism.  

I would rather see a guy play a clean game and get beat than commit holding / PI on every play.  

+ 2 HS
static_chaser's picture

I'm really surprised that they kept him in or didn't change things up to help.  This was a moment he could have pulled a Saban and got the next man up or made a defensive adjustment.  Oh well, this is a crazy season, I don't know if any team finishes undefeated.  I don't mind the loss, I just want to see progress on the defensive side.

+ 1 HS
Trout dog's picture

Where is Tim Walton in all of this. You go to the recruiting boards and he is considered a GOAT. Our d backs are meh. 

Trout Dog

+ 4 HS
AlltimeTE's picture

Best impression of Marlon Kerner (used to call him burnt toast),  pretty weak they didn’t bench him last night.

+ 2 HS
Buck Pooter's picture

Oh man, I’d (thankfully) forgotten about Marlon until your comment.

The Velvet Frog

+ 2 HS
BEasy732's picture

Burke lost a lot of money last night. He was absolute toast the entire game. Looked lost, looked slow, lacked physicality, and can't fucking tackle. He was terrible, and he's one of the main reasons OSU lost, if not THE main reason.

The whole team played like shit and should be embarrassed. They need to keep their mouths shut the rest of the season and figure out how not to blow another big game, but that's what Ryan Day coached teams do

+ 5 HS
Poofdads's picture

What we’ll hear is how this loss is going to motivate the team. What will happen is they will exposed yet again when they play a team with equal talent. Our 5 star recruits look great playing bad teams. Not so much playing teams with a pulse.

+ 3 HS
DoctorRocks0's picture

Burke mis played the first throw as the ball was in the Sun. The TD was a great catch. The last Bomb was bad. His tackling was the real issue. 

Evan Stewart is a higher nfl pick than Burke. So relax.

Ohio state will win the chip this year. 

--
OSU will win title this year - Dr R, 10/13/24

+ 2 HS
High St Heismans's picture

Disagree but uv'd you anyway - this is a solid loss travleing west into a tough place to play. The Bucks "could" win the chip but imo would lose to Texas on an neutral field or anyone else that was hot at the time based on last nites D-play

Wcbuckeye80's picture

Ohio State will be lucky to win the BIG. 

-6 HS
DoctorRocks0's picture

With fans like you, yes

--
OSU will win title this year - Dr R, 10/13/24

+ 1 HS
oztintacius's picture

Bro the sun was behind him going that direction. He was peeking in the backfield and isn't fast enough to catch up to an elite receiver (few would).

-1 HS
RunEddieRun1983's picture

He's really good... if your team has no capability whatsoever to throw the ball 

The Excellence of Execution, the Best there is, the Best there was, the Best there ever will be!

+ 1 HS
BuckShotGinn's picture

He had a rough game, but I'd still take him over Delta Burke at the position.  Glass half full outlook is that humility can be a great teacher sometimes and can motivate him to an obsession for improvement instead of believing the BIA talk. 

+ 1 HS
pv's picture

Burke got beat bad on the first play. On the long TD we rushed 2 , one was a LB, we had 5 guys about 5-7 yds deep.  That's 7 people guarding nobody with Gabriel left alone to throw the ball. Maybe Burke could have done better but 4 DBs guarding 5 recievers dores not compute.

fremontguy

+ 3 HS
OSU2002Grad's picture

He doesn’t have elite speed. Oregon knew it and they exploited it. That’s it. There’s not a whole lot more to it than that. 

The rest of the defense, except for Caleb Downs, struggled as well. We all expected better from that side of the ball with everyone returning. But it turns out that guys like JTT and Sawyer are never going to live up to the hype. 

+ 5 HS
oztintacius's picture

They're both good strongside DEs - neither are WDE in a 4-3 front. It's been square peg/ round hole and probably goes back to recruitment when they both committed in the same class but played the same position. 92/97 should be on the field the whole time and 33/44 should be on the other side.

They have a bye week to figure out how to get pressure from the front four - CJ Hicks should be part of that discussion, but just like Baron Browning, he won't because LJ didn't recruit him.

+ 2 HS
High St Heismans's picture

Buckshot and Pv - good observations,Oregon brought in 14 experienced portal players into their lineup tOSU brought in 6 - that experience and home field counted

-1 HS
WeSkrongDen's picture

OSU also brought their entire defense back which should be a bigger experience advantage because of familiarity with the system. No excuse for defense to look like garbage

+ 3 HS
Brutus1972's picture

It appeared to be more technique/discipline than athletic ability, which means that is fixable. I was not impressed with the defense as a whole and most especially not getting a hand on Mr Gabriel nearly often enough. Oregon is a good team but we should not have had that much of a problem defensively. Someone already mentioned it but it is time to simplify the defense, play more press man, and start getting some pass rush.

Go Bucks

+ 2 HS
LetsGoBucks76's picture

These guys are all making 6-7 figures. And they are not kids. It’s fair game to openly criticize them nowadays. 

+ 8 HS
Buckeye Chuck's picture

That's one opinion, but calling Buckeye players "trash" will always = automatic down vote from me.

The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.

+ 4 HS
LetsGoBucks76's picture

I’m sure it tears them up when they’re driving their Lamborghini to the Woody in the morning. 

+ 1 HS
pv's picture

Generally when the coaches are suprised by what the other team is doing the players are too. The Def. coaches should have seen just about everything and should react to it.

fremontguy

+ 4 HS
GABuckeye's picture

Last night??? Really freaking bad

+ 3 HS
Crandog62's picture

The way Burke tackled, was disturbing. He went high every time, got stiff armed away a couple times, then tried to ride a guy 5-10 yards like he was in a rodeo competition. So why did he keep doing that? I’m thinking a tweaked shoulder, arm or some upper body injury! Or, he is not coachable in his tacking technique. I was embarrassed for him. Secondly, yeah, it’s been said here…..why not rotate Mathew’s in for him. If Burke struggles like that, watching from the sidelines gives perspective and understanding. Like wow, that’s how you stop this guy. Or, just sit him and give the young talent a shot!

Crandog62

+ 6 HS
ChillicotheBuck's picture

Matthews and Curry please.   I hope Day goes Saban.  Coach Day call Saban and see what that man did when players were not performing well, you may just get you one of those rings that he has.  Go Bucks.

C. Brian Massie

+ 4 HS
TTUN@SS@SIN's picture

At least let Mathews play a series. Burke at least needed a break. It was clear he had lost confidence. The tackleing was juat pathetic. With how strong our Safeties are I can't believe they were not attempting to jump the routes with them throwing to the same player over and over.

“Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.” - Mark Twain

+ 2 HS
southbay's picture

I think the problem with Burke and others is that they just weren't sharp, largely because the other five teams on the schedule thus far were lousy competition and none of them had a WR that anyone has ever even heard of. Except maybe Foster at MSU but really there was no one anywhere near as good as the Oregon receivers. 

Also, I remember thinking "this is too good" after the Buckeyes got off to a great start, uncharacteristically, because maybe then you have guys thinking "we got this" way too soon. Rat poison.

Then there was a lot of confusion back there in the secondary. The whole thing was a clown show. I recall a play in which Tez Johnson was all by himself at the goal line after motioning across and the Bucks were just lucky Gabriel lost track of him.

I think Burke will prove his worth during the remainder of the season. But if he doesn't that's real trouble.

+ 3 HS
Buck Pooter's picture

Very reasonable take.

The Velvet Frog

Mantis's picture

We can talk all we want about how great Jermaine Matthews is, but he's never really played meaningful snaps yet, so why are we just assuming a guy that can't crack the starting rotation is that amazing?  I have no doubt he is great and when he does start next year, he will do well, but there's probably a reason why he's where he's at right now based on what he's shown in practice, etc.  

All that being said, Burke absolutely deserved to sit before the end of the game last night and Matthews should have been given a chance.  He literally couldn't do worse since Burke gave up a pass every single time he was targeted.  

-2 HS
Sevo1's picture

He started against Penn State last year and was awesome in that game.

Sevo1

+ 13 HS
Squatchy's picture

Matthews Jr has played in 17 games. I cannot say if I have ever seen a drop-off at the Corner position when he is in the game. I'm not saying that he should definitely be starting, but definitely should have played.

How firm thy friendship

+ 4 HS
Dethsyth47's picture

He's better than you are at the game football. That I know.

-6 HS
bubbag1234's picture

This recent piece hasn't aged well:

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2024/10/149699/quick-hits-denzel-burke-says-he-s-built-for-big-time-games-josh-fryar-views-the-oregon-game-as-a-big-test-to-see

"...we’re going to be the first great set of DB’s that he’s going to see, so really excited for this matchup Saturday.” "

BubbaGumps

+ 4 HS
CandygramForMongo's picture

Denzel Burke played like Delta Burke.

+ 3 HS
BUCKEYE3M's picture

I think Burke is a scapegoat for the dreadful defensive plan. I heard Dillon Gabriel threw the ball tot he right side of the field 12 times all season. On Saturday night, they attacked it and It isn't just on Burke. He never went where the play went. In my opinion, that's on the coaches. They prepared him for one thing and Oregon did the exact opposite.

Oregon out-coached Ohio State, plain and simple. 

+ 8 HS
pcola_buckeye's picture

That is really interesting, 3M. 

So, based on data like that, it'd be reasonable that the defense put Burke on an island to the side the opponent doesn't throw to very often.  Adjustments/corrections didn't come and/or didn't come in time!

Not enough pressure on Gabriel allowed him to find open receivers consistently, but he was not nearly as good on the few occasions he felt even a 'little' pressure!

I also think folks ought to ask themselves how they would have answered the OP's question BEFORE the Oregon game.

"College football cannot be explained by science or religion, which is why it remains perfect." ~ Ramzy Nasrallah

+ 3 HS
BUCKEYE3M's picture

Yeah, I'm not trying to say Burke didn't have a bad game. He did. But, he wasn't alone. His teammates and, most importantly, his coaches had a bad day also. 

I think it's intellectually dishonest to slam a guy who is heralded as one of the premier DBs in CFB for a bad game when I believe he was set up for failure by his coaches. 

+ 5 HS
ZachBuckeye5's picture

I agree with you 3M. Burke was a borderline 1st round pick if he came out last year, he didn't just become bad overnight. He obviously had a bad couple plays and probably got in his head. He isn't Darrelle Revis, so leaving him on an island with nobody over the top is impossible to stop when the QB has 4-5 seconds to throw the ball every time. Coaches needed to adjust and didn't

+ 2 HS
CaptainPicard2014's picture

He wasn’t beat in 4-5 seconds. He was beat immediately 

+ 5 HS
BUCKEYE3M's picture

Both things are true, IMO. 

Yes, he got beat immediately, but he didn't put himself in a 10-yard cushion with bail technique and then jump every route. He was coached all week to do this in the game because Oregon set them up. Then, he got torched because Gabriel had enough time for an Uber Eats delivery before he was forced to throw the ball. 

There is a problem with the defensive coaches & I think at this point I'll die on that hill. Day needs to fix it immediately, even if that means LJ retires. 

+ 2 HS
NorthPoleBuckeye's picture

There is a problem with the defensive coaches & I think at this point I'll die on that hill. Day needs to fix it immediately, even if that means LJ retires. 

Yep, the coaches are not giving the players a chance to be successful.

+ 1 HS
Sanitarian2's picture

Perhaps, but after someone hits you up the side of the head with his off hand, three or four times, one might want to pay closer attention. 

Sani

-1 HS
OSUnWV's picture

I try not to call out individual players but yes , Burke was terrible last night , it happens . Im guessing he knows how bad he played and wont let it happen again . He may get to see the ducks again , you never know

+ 3 HS
JBuck5's picture

Just read, Bruke was targeted 8 times. He gave up 8 catches for 179 yards and 2TDs, he was that bad last night

+ 6 HS
DaiTheFlu's picture

That was the worst CB performance in a big game in Buckeye history. Roby against Sammy Watkins was the only other thing coming to mind. He humiliated himself and his team..that being said, i don't think he'll play that poorly again the rest of the year, so here's hoping he bounces back. Just wish he could have done that in the 2nd half.

We can't stop here; this is bat country...

+ 3 HS
fatboyslim's picture

Roby didn’t play in that game. He sat out to get ready for the draft. 

+ 10 HS
BuckShotGinn's picture

I think that was "Pittsburg" Corey Brown who got burned.

+ 4 HS
jrs77's picture

For Will Howard's next interview, I'll be disappointed if a reporter doesn't ask him what he needs to see from Denzel Burke.

+ 4 HS
Copyguy's picture

Oh please, someone make this happen!

-1 HS
Juanbuckeye's picture

This post is emotional and does not understand what happened as a whole. I won't call it stupid, but it is narrow-minded. The first TD that Burke "gave up" was simply a great catch.  Burke was in the guy's underwear with him and he simply made a great play.  This happens.  

Yes, you can fault Burke for biting on the hesitation fake on the TD but the larger issue was Knowles having his head crammed firmly up his butt and constantly leaving our CBs on an island with no safety help, all while refusing to apply pressure with the D-line.  

Oregon has fast players.  You cannot leave Burke alone THE ENTIRE GAME and expect a QB who is not being pressured in any way to not eventually exploit that.  It is too much to ask of anyone.  We have CBs guarding their best players with no safety help while our safeties and d-lineman guard grass in shallow coverage.  It makes no sense.  It's simply a dumb scheme.  

I have never liked the 4-2-5 but it is a workable scheme provided the DC doesn't go insane with fear and let the opposing QB just sit back and wait for players to come open.  We went from one basic scheme under Combs and that pressured every play to another scheme that has castrated our best defensive linemen and made them ineffective.  Knowles is so scared of being beaten by a big play that he literally created a situation that allows big plays.  

The 4-2-5 was developed for teams with less talent to keep up with faster and better players.  We have the players now.  We aren't using them. 

"Where are you, you som' bitch?!

+ 8 HS
oztintacius's picture

Burke had outside leverage pre-snap and got beat to the outside on the TD... that should have been a pick based on the playcall if Gabriel doesn't come off the fade.

+ 1 HS
Bucktown 5.7x28's picture

have never liked the 4-2-5 but it is a workable scheme provided the DC doesn't go insane with fear and let the opposing QB just sit back and wait for players to come open. 

preaching to the choir my man. That scheme is not akin to what OSU defenders skillsets are. They need to be attacking and swarming to the ball. You see very little aggression from what was seen at Eugene on Saturday. Knowles defense has had really good moments, like in the cotton bowl, his defense was the only bright spot. Adamant lesser completion and second halves his defense has been good for the most part. But fourth quarters when you absolutely need a stop you don’t get one with this scheme. Some posters in here will tell you that the 4-3 and 3-4 defenses are dead but with this version of a 4-2-5, this is about as dead as one could be 

When telling the truth becomes a revolutionary concept, it’s wise to join the revolution 

-1 HS
CaptainBucknut's picture

I’m on the side of it was a bad time to have an off day. 
 

I prolly don’t have anything new to offer that has not already been said. 
 

I recall a team that got stymied by the likes of VaTech and that was by 2 touchdowns at home, not by 1 point on the road in what is arguably one of the loudest and toughest places to play in college football. They’ll fix this and be better for it. 
 

Go Bucks.

Captain Bucknut

+ 5 HS
CaptainBucknut's picture

I’m on the side of it was a bad time to have an off day. 
 

I prolly don’t have anything new to offer that has not already been said. 
 

I recall a team that got stymied by the likes of VaTech and that was by 2 touchdowns at home, not by 1 point on the road in what is arguably one of the loudest and toughest places to play in college football. They’ll fix this and be better for it. 
 

Go Bucks.

Captain Bucknut

+ 2 HS
SubDude's picture

Burke doesn’t have the speed?  Please….he stayed with those receivers or caught up to them after they passed him.  The issue wasn’t speed…the issue was giving a QB 3-4 seconds to throw the deep pass….and uncannily Dillon was right on those throws.  A little pressure would have helped.  Playing straight up man didn’t help either.  If you ever played you would know there’s no DB on the planet who can stay with a receiver for more than 3.5 seconds.  

landMax713

+ 4 HS
buckeyeguy0615's picture

The issue wasn’t speed…the issue was giving a QB 3-4 seconds to throw the deep pass

Not saying speed necessarily but Burke fell for every single stutter step and he was the only one getting picked on. If it was JUST the pressure on the QB, surely some other DB's would have been getting beat like that. He was identified as a weak link.

SubDude's picture

By the way…the original Op Ed of calling him ‘trash’ is beyond ignorant.

landMax713

+ 4 HS
oztintacius's picture

Lanning is from the Smart tree, you know they talk. UGA went right after Ransom and Burke when they needed a TD and didn't even think twice about it.. Stetson Bennett the 18th said after the game he was throwing it to that guy before the ball was snapped didn't matter = QBs do not fear #10.

-2 HS
joevans1's picture

I played safety in college, the corner back because of his position loses 2 to 3 yards transitioning (turning around) when the out is on a simple fly pattern.  I watched him on a few of those deep pass completions, yes he did bump the wide out, and yes he did lose ground when checking on the QB.  there are other keys that he should be focusing on, the receivers hips, shoulders head turn, etc.  My question is were is was the deep coverage?   I did not watch the backfield (I watch the line) and I am not sure of the coverage call, but after the first deep completion, Knowles should have adjusted the coverage to provide a over-the-top help.  Just my humble opinion. 

+ 1 HS
oztintacius's picture

There were 5 guys underneath - he WAS the deep coverage and caught peeking twice.

-1 HS
Copyguy's picture

Burke is a liability period. Teams are going pick on him now that he has been shown to be a fraud. While we are talking about the DBs. IGB could be called for PI on any given down, that dude is way to handsy and grabby.   BIA my ass.

-3 HS
thirtytrap's picture

I am wondering if he just doesn't pay attention to coaching because he thinks that he is such a good athlete and he will make up for bad technique with ability?

-3 HS
Edgebuckog's picture

Jermaine is just a better player than Burke. I have no doubt in my mind that what we saw against PSU is what you would see weekly with him.

But football is often about politics and now NIL is part of that process. There is no way in the world that Burke should have been playing over him Saturday by halftime. These coaches are afraid of making tough choices and it's why OSU doesn't finish, IMO.                   

Adam Meyers-White is inappropriate to write.

+ 1 HS
bull1214's picture

I think Mathews has the short area quickness to matchup with a guy like Stewart better than Burke. Burke is a better matchup on a more physical receiver like a J.J. Smith. They didn’t find the fish and Burke isn’t a bad player, it was just a bad matchup for his skill set. My only gripe is that the OSU coaches PLURAL didn’t realize that sooner. 

+ 2 HS
JoelRifkin's picture

The real question is. How bad is Knowles and his scheme??? No creativity, no shifts, no disguises, no pressure. Vanilla in all aspects except for a cover Zero blitz on 3rd and long. Knowles is a fraud and should not be retained if Ryan Day wants to win the CFP.

-7 HS
HINYG8's picture

I'm more disappointed that we continued to leave him on an island and didn't adjust to get him some support. I don't think we ever put a safety over the top to keep a lid on those downfield throws.

Yeah, he had a terrible game...but the coaches didn't get him any help and the DL didn't do him any favors either. No pressure, not help up top....pitch and catch. 

And on fourth and one... would you believe?

+ 2 HS
vball10set's picture

OP, are you insane? the kid had a bad game--have you ever played an organized sport beyond CYO? that's what I thought...

Leave no doubt

-1 HS
Bucktown 5.7x28's picture

HOW BAD IS DENZEL BURKE?
 

He’s so bad that a pop warner wide receiver er would carry him an extra 15 yards to the end zone 

When telling the truth becomes a revolutionary concept, it’s wise to join the revolution 

-2 HS
Sloopy1976's picture

My understanding is that Oregon went entirely against its tendencies that it showed in the first half of the season. They didn't try to stretch the field too much and instead designed short and intermediate routes to get the ball into the hands of their playmakers, who would then make things happen with YAC. OSU and Burke studied the film and Oregon broke that tendency and Burke got torched. However, he made no in-game adjustments; he kept falling for it over and over and over again.

BuckeyeRealist13's picture

It was just a bad game. Time to move on.

Denzel goes against the best wide receivers every day in practice and never has an issue.

+ 1 HS
cantguardmike's picture

He gave up 8 for 8 passing and 180 yards. How in the world are some of you making excuses for that is beyond me

-1 HS
vball10set's picture

He gave up 8 for 8 passing and 180 yards. How in the world are some of you making excuses for that is beyond me

This comment was just as ignorant as the first time you said it.

Leave no doubt

-1 HS
HINYG8's picture

Is it not accurate? I have seen it posted multiple places that he was targeted 8 times and all went for completions. Do you know the actual attempt and catch counts into his coverage..or perhaps better asked: how many times did they throw his way?

There were certainly 8 catches for 180 yards. However, I may be overlooking other attempts that he broke up or went incomplete because the coverage was tight. 

And on fourth and one... would you believe?

+ 1 HS
Squatchy's picture

Idk the more I think about it, the more it seems Denzel and some other guys on the defense are really good, solid college players. That works for 10-11 games a season. Like the rest of the team, I think there is another gear in Burke. I just hope he figures it out when it matters most.

How firm thy friendship

bubbag1234's picture

In the end, it was one performance. There is no way to conclude whether this was a really bad day or symptomatic of a larger issue.  We will learn more in the coming weeks. I tend to suspect the former.  Either way, his draft stock took a big hit in primetime. To rehab his draft prospects, he needs to put in the kind of performances that leaves no doubt that this was only a fluke. 

BubbaGumps

OhioStGoon's picture

The ENTIRE defense was CHEEKS......

GO BUCKS

+ 1 HS