2002 Nat Champs compared to 2014 Nat Champs

[cincibuck]

NJ Buck posted this on the Championship Game thread:

Tony Gerdeman ‏@GerdOZone 52m52 minutes ago
“In the next 3 yrs, if I was a betting man, I would have to put some money on Ohio St to win the nat'l championship.” - Tim Tebow, Apr 2012

And I began to think back. The last time I felt that way was in 2003. Like this year, the idea of an NC was at least a year away, so as I read his post I tried to think of differences in the teams.

Here's what I think those are: 1. The most glaring to me would be at quarterback. Krenzel was not a game breaking runner even though it was his running that often played an important part in winning. As a passer he is no match to any of the the current trio. His biggest asset was not making many mistakes.

2. We never got to see MoC as a sophomore. What a shame. Based on Mo's one injury-riddled year it's hard to see much difference between Zeke and him. I think Zeke may have more speed, but Mo was an effective receiver down field, something we haven't seen (or needed) out of Zeke.

3. I'm not ready to place Joey Bosa ahead of Will Smith as a defensive beast, but he's certainly close.

4. The current linebackers may turn out to be better than Wilhelm, Cie Grant, Reynolds, Hawk, Carpenter and D'Andrea, but they may also be benefiting from the lean years that preceded them.

5. I love Jake Boren, but he's not Nick Mangold and if there's another Shane Olivia in the bunch he's yet to step forward.

6. Nugent wins hands down over Nurenberger. I don't know about punters. Johnston vs Andy Groom and B.J. Sander.

7. Sentiment makes it hard to find anyone in the current crop of DBs with the talent of Chris Gamble or the heart of Will Allen, but this group is being led by sophs and frosh and the depth is far greater.

8. How to compare Tressel with Meyer? How do you top a 10 - 1 record against Michigan, an NC and 2 NC runner ups finishes? Only time will tell. But tress won his NC with a team loaded with talent recruited by Coop. Meyer won his with his own recruits and there is no question that the current team is younger and deeper than the 2003 champs. Oh, and even Tress didn't go 3 - 0 against Michigan in his first three years.

9. Meyer certainly benefits from the long term trauma and coaching crisis Tress created in Ann Arbor.

 

[Zurp]

8. How to compare Tressel with Meyer? How do you top a 10 - 1 record against Michigan,

Tressel's teams were 9-1 against Michigan.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Corrected the years in the thread title.

Tressel and Meyer are two different coaches style-wise. Tressel was more touchy-feely (no Pedster jokes, please) with his players...Meyer pushes his players harder, although caring as much for them as Tressel did for his. Tressel played conservative nearly to a fault, especially with a lead...Meyer loves to go pedal-to-the-metal, regardless of the score. Tressel placed a little more importance on keeping Ohio talent home...Meyer does want to get the very top Ohio talent, but will take better national talent when possible.

As for the teams themselves, they are pretty reflective of their head coaches. The 2002 team ground out yardage on offense and stonewalled the opposition on defense. The 2014 team attacked aggressively both on offense and defense, which led to producing a record amounts of points on offense but occasionally getting burnt badly on defense. I don't think we'll ever see another Buckeye defense as good as the 2002 one, but I think the upcoming 2015 defense could be in the ball park. As for the 2015 offense, I think it's going to be one for the ages...

 

[ScriptOhio]

As for the 2015 offense, I think it's going to be one for the ages...

The 2015 team (and this isn't a stretch by any means) could easily be better than both the 2002 and 2014 teams. As for the 2015 offense, I think the big challenge is going to be keeping everyone in the skill positions involved and happy. On any given offensive play we are going to have 5 or 6 legitimate big time "playmakers" and/or "game breakers" out there; and there is only 1 football. Also, we are going to have 2nd, 3rd, and maybe even 4th stringers at some positions (i.e. QB, RB, and HB) that could start at a lot of other schools. I don't think you can platoon 3 or 4 guys at one position and "get in a rhythm", maintain any momentum, and/or have a consistently effective offense. The coaches are going to have to make the tough decisions as who gets the majority of the playing time/touches. Which is always the case; however, in my opinion, it is going to be much more difficult this year.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

The 2015 team (and this isn't a stretch by any means) could easily be better than both the 2002 and 2014 teams. As for the 2015 offense, I think the big challenge is going to be keeping everyone in the skill positions involved and happy. On any given offensive play we are going to have 5 or 6 legitimate big time "playmakers" and/or "game breakers" out there; and there is only 1 football. Also, we are going to have 2nd, 3rd, and maybe even 4th stringers at some positions (i.e. QB, RB, and HB) that could start at a lot of other schools. I don't think you can platoon 3 or 4 guys at one position and "get in a rhythm", maintain any momentum, and/or have a consistently effective offense. The coaches are going to have to make the tough decisions as who gets the majority of the playing time/touches. Which is always the case; however, in my opinion, it is going to be much more difficult this year.

So, the offense isn't going to be all that good because we have too many good players...got it.

 

[Mike80]

The 2015 team (and this isn't a stretch by any means) could easily be better than both the 2002 and 2014 teams. As for the 2015 offense, I think the big challenge is going to be keeping everyone in the skill positions involved and happy. On any given offensive play we are going to have 5 or 6 legitimate big time "playmakers" and/or "game breakers" out there; and there is only 1 football. Also, we are going to have 2nd, 3rd, and maybe even 4th stringers at some positions (i.e. QB, RB, and HB) that could start at a lot of other schools. I don't think you can platoon 3 or 4 guys at one position and "get in a rhythm", maintain any momentum, and/or have a consistently effective offense. The coaches are going to have to make the tough decisions as who gets the majority of the playing time/touches. Which is always the case; however, in my opinion, it is going to be much more difficult this year.

I think last year showed us you need a rotation of guys to succeed....and especially early in the season it'll be important to save EZE some carries for later on as well as ensuring that the QBs are all able to touch the ball multiple times in varying situations.

Ohio State got very lucky Cardale was capable of doing what he did on basically a week's worth of practice before the Wisconsin game - part of that was the coaching staff's ability to get him meaningful touches even in blowouts, but also because Cardale kept his own mental processes sharp and was able to let his natural abilities take over when the time came.

 

[Mike80]

And we've discussed this previously multiple times before, but I've absolutely love to see a game between the 2002 and 2014 Buckeye squads.

 

[Yertle]

Fun thread. I wonder how many other Big 10 teams have threads like this on their message boards... oh yeah, none. Unless of course they're comparing players that their granddad told them about.

 

[Zurp]

Fun thread. I wonder how many other Big 10 teams have threads like this on their message boards... oh yeah, none. Unless of course they're comparing players that their granddad told them about.

You don't know Penn State fans, apparently. The delusion runs strong and deep with them. They often compare their current teams to 1994 - never favorably, because 1994 was the greatest team to ever play the sport, but usually it's pretty close.

 

[OSUK]

When I think of those 2 teams I focus on how I had a lot of faith in the 2002 defense and the 2014 offense - not that the 2002 offense didn't have it's moments and stars (Clarett was fun to watch and Krenzel had a knack for doing the miraculous) and not that the 2014 defense didn't have its moments (particularly in the last 3 games). But I have realized that I enjoy watching the explosive offense/semi-questionable defense combo over the dominant defense/semi-questionable offense combo. Those games like Purdue - where it was 7-3 late in the game and it took a Kudla fumble recovery in the endzone to secure an OSU victory - are games I don't miss. I prefer knowing that a deficit can be erased - like when you are down 15 to Alabama, but you score 21 straight to take control of the game. All that said, love both teams.

As for the 2002 OL - for sure, a great group. But I have to wonder what they would have been with some competent coaching from, say, Ed Warriner.

 

[cincibuck]

As for the 2002 OL - for sure, a great group. But I have to wonder what they would have been with some competent coaching from, say, Ed Warriner.

A hell of a lot better.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Fun thread. I wonder how many other Big 10 teams have threads like this on their message boards... oh yeah, none. Unless of course they're comparing players that their granddad told them about.

That Crazy Legs Hirsch was a real humdinger, I tell ya...

 

[Yertle]

You don't know Penn State fans, apparently. The delusion runs strong and deep with them. They often compare their current teams to 1994 - never favorably, because 1994 was the greatest team to ever play the sport, but usually it's pretty close.

"Strong and deep" should NEVER be used in the same paragraph as "Penn State."

 

[RB07OSU]

Every time I start doing this debate in my head, I just say fuck it and be glad we have to NC's so close together and with two equally miraculous runs imo. '02 was a ton of nailbiters with a team nobody thought would make the title, let alone beat a team that many thought may be the best ever...even that was done in epic fashion. Then you have this year with all the adversity and down to Cardale. Don't get me wrong, this year was epic...but the talent was so overwhelming on our team that by playoff time, I always felt in control pretty much. Which also has a major plus in that I don't have to hear "Oh that was a lucky pass interference" or some other bullshit. We kicked everyone's asses so bad that nobody could even question it. Then you also have the fact that now there is a CCG and two playoff games. Would the '02 team have pulled that off? My gut says yes with their determination and team play. I think the fun part is not so much which team is better, rather how unique both title runs because they were not even close to the same.

 

[cincibuck]

I had no doubt that the Sugar Bowl was going to be the real NC game. My fear was that the Buckeyes have not played well against SEC/southern teams in bowl games and that even this talented group would fall into a preordained mindset. Urban never let it happen. Once Alabama was defeated I felt nothing but confidence.