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02-08 CB Comparison

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02-08 CB comparison

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I havn't seen MJ make the big game changing/saving INT like Gamble did so many times in '02. In fact the secondary the past 2 years has a well earned rep for dropping INT's more than ball hawking.
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That's a pretty tough rep to live up to, especially with far less pressure up front forcing some suspect passes. While Gamble clearly has the edge in game changers, MJ has turned in some of his own.
06 Tex - (or was it 05?), INT in endzone vs Sweed that was overruled... my memory is fuzzy on this one.
06 UM - INT on 4th down, overruled (another iffy call, and not following the 'indisputable' rule of replay, imo).
06 PSU - 1 score game in 4th qtr before his pick 6.
07 MIN - 1 score game (14-7), INT in endzone (prevent game tying TD) while OSU was in dogfight in 2 qtr. After that, Minn's drives were all < 11 yds until mid 4th qtr.
07 LSU - 31 straight pts for LSU, near pick 6 set up TD to wells, helped shift momentum. Following Beanie's TD, 3 & out, and OSU's O gets to the 34 before stalling. Could have made it a 7 pt game. The O's lack of execution lessens the impact of that INT.
 
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jwinslow;1210398; said:
06 Tex - (or was it 05?), INT in endzone vs Sweed that was overruled... my memory is fuzzy on this one.
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That was 06 at Texas. Sweed went up for the ball, and MJ timed his jump perfectly to get in between Sweed's arms. Appears both came down in bounds holding the ball, and MJ rips it away as they're falling down and rolling out of bounds.
 
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I went with 08, but not because of any difference with Jenkins and Gamble. I'd argue that Gamble made more big plays in 02 than Jenkins has made (or will make in 08), but I believe that's because he was seen as a WR playing corner. Cincy INT, Wisky INT, PSU INT, and his play in the NC game (on defense especially) is just story book. However, I'd say that Jenkins is a better pure corner and hits like a safety. Either way, it's a toss up there.

I give the nod to 08 because DWash is the best 2nd corner I've seen since 96 with Ty Howard. Then the 2nd stringers crush the 02 pair of Underwood and ... Dang, I forget the other... This is where 08 will outshine 02.

Actually, I was going to go with toss up, but I wouldn't be able to go on with my life if Mercer thought I was a "fucking pussy"...
 
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I have to go with 08. I do remember with Gamble all the interceptions, but a lot of those I remember were because of his outstanding closing speed. Jenkins just doesn't give his recievers enough space. He's got better ability as a corner in my opinion and can bring the hammer, to this day, Gamble isn't that kind of hitter.

Fox/Washington is close, but I gotta go with Washington in most cases.

Backups... not even close '08 all the way.
 
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jwinslow;1210398; said:
That's a pretty tough rep to live up to, especially with far less pressure up front forcing some suspect passes. While Gamble clearly has the edge in game changers, MJ has turned in some of his own.
06 Tex - (or was it 05?), INT in endzone vs Sweed that was overruled... my memory is fuzzy on this one.
06 UM - INT on 4th down, overruled (another iffy call, and not following the 'indisputable' rule of replay, imo).
06 PSU - 1 score game in 4th qtr before his pick 6.
07 MIN - 1 score game (14-7), INT in endzone (prevent game tying TD) while OSU was in dogfight in 2 qtr. After that, Minn's drives were all < 11 yds until mid 4th qtr.
07 LSU - 31 straight pts for LSU, near pick 6 set up TD to wells, helped shift momentum. Following Beanie's TD, 3 & out, and OSU's O gets to the 34 before stalling. Could have made it a 7 pt game. The O's lack of execution lessens the impact of that INT.
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Didn't he also have one against Washington when the game was still close?
 
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Plus, technically, that was 03, and we're supposed to be comparing 02 play versus our guess to the 08 play at that same position. Which comes into play in my mind with OLB comparison. Freshmen Hawk and Carp lose out to backups Terry and Rolle in my opinion simply because I think this year's backups will be better than those two IN THEIR FRESHMEN year only.

As a side note, Gamble had a down year in 03 in my opinion. The Purdue game should never have come down to a missed FG. And.... then there's Wisconsin... ugh.
 
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I went with the mentality of Gamble slightly better than Jenkins (I mean if you really go back and watch the pick against Purdue, that may be the single most important play that season. Had Gamble not come off his guy and gone 30 yards downfield to make the pick, Holy Buckeye would have just been remembered as that play that almost beat Purdue. Nickey was completely beat and turned around, the Purdue guy would have caught the pass at our 5 yard line and they would have still had 30 seconds to get a TD to beat us). Also like someone mentioned before Gamble's performance against Andre Johnson is unbelievable, considering AJ was the MVP of the national championship the year before.

Then I would also say Fox was slightly better than Dwash at this time. I think Fox gets a real bad rep, but if you go back through the '02 season he made some real nice pass breakups!
 
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I'm going with 08, and it's not all that close. The 08 two deep at CB is the best we've had in ten years, and that's got nothing to do with potential. Jenkins and DWash have seen considerable playing time since 05. With that duo, it's basically like having two #1 CBs. I think Chekwa has been fantastic at Nickel, and although Amos has not played a ton, I think he's at least equal to the 02 backups. Gamble was an outstanding athlete with great instincts, but he had a tendency to get beat on double moves. Sometimes his desire to make a pick put him out of position. He also took more than a couple PI calls. I always thought Fox was underrated. He saw a lot of action his way because opponents thought they could take advantage of a height difference, but he always managed to get a hand in there. IIRC, his vert was in the 39"-42" range, best on the team.

You could take Jenkins out of the mix and I'd still feel confident about our backfield this year (in gameplay, not in comparison to 02). Jenks, Wash, and Chek all have speed, technique, and better than average hitting for corners. If there was one I would pick out to criticize, it would be Jenkins for occasionally allowing players to get wide on him (FB pass in UW game, bunch formation by LSU), but he does plenty to make up for it. CB is probably our strongest position this year, and that's saying alot. Fox and Gamble (plus Will Allen at NB) played like warriors in 02, but from top to bottom, 08 is the better group.
 
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The fourth corner in 2002, after it became apparent in October that McNutt wasn't going to play again, I remember being Harlen Jacobs. If I remember correctly it started with Gamble just going in for red zone situations (both his Cinci and Wisconsin end zone picks were on his first defensive play), and he ended up getting the role full time once (1) it got cooler and was apparent he could play 100+ snaps (2) it was obvious Gamble was a better option than EJ Underwood or Jacobs and (3) Vance returned to good standing with the team after missing a lot of the pre season camp and the Texas Tech game due to suspension, so he could step in to take some load off Gamble in the receiving game.

I don't recall Salley ever getting mention at CB. Will Allen probably would have been the next emergency guy anyhow.
 
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