Hubbard said:
Nothing to say about the offense, since I am not familar with yours at all, BUT I must take acception to this:
We have two receivers that would love to challenge for that title and I think Braylon Edwards is the best WR this year htough (hurts me to say that). Santonio Holmes and Tedd Ginn Jr. I am sure you will be familiar with them by the time the game rolls around. This site will have an excellent write up on the game as well so keep checking back.
This needs a little bit of balance IMO. I love Holmes and Ginn as much as the next Buckeye. But they are not AA candidates by any stretch. You mentioned Edwards. Stubblefield at Purdue is also better than our guys.
Holmes has very good speed and is a real player. If he were taller, he'd probably be a top-10 pick after next season. However, he disappears at times, sometimes for whole games. Since I'm out of state and am watching on TV, I can only speculate as to why this happens. Since he's the #1 wideout, I think it's wishful thinking to say it's all on the oline or QB. He sometimes fails to get open. From what I've seen, he's not a sloppy route runner so it must be something else. Perhaps he gets jammed too often? Perhaps he doesn't always find the holes in a zone? Perhaps his moves without the ball aren't as good as with the ball? Point is, he is at times an impact player but not all the time. If the descriptions of Woods the younger over at oOSU is correct, Holmes is not quite of that calibur.
On to Ginn Jr. He simply has sick speed. It's rediculous. He makes everyone else look slow, everyone. Quite good moves too. He is absolutely a world-class game breaker.
However... he's a true freshman. He came in as a DB and switched to offense/punt returner about 4 games into the season. The punt return success has been documented, but at WR he had some early struggles. Sloppy routes, dropped balls, etc. As recently as Purdue (game 10), he let a slant get through his hands and it was picked...ending tOSU's chances at a comeback.
Barring catastrophy, Ginn will be the next great one at tOSU. He may already be there as of the Alamo Bowl. But it's early yet, and he still may also make the freshman mistake.
Hubbard said:
Lol, your defense sounds like ours. Plays lights out first two downs and gives up whatever the opposing teams needs on third. We did get better at this later in the season (that can be said about most our team), but it's still frustrating.
In '02 and '03, this was a pretty good description of our defense (outside the red zone.) This year too, except we only sometimes play lights out on 1st and 2nd.
We lost 3 NFL DLs after '03 and replacing them has been a struggle. It's been more apparent against passing teams honestly because the current DE corps is just not as good.
But some running teams have gashed us as well this year and I think oOSU will be no exception. Hope I'm wrong. <g>
The key for tOSU's D will be at the DL. Against mich, they ate up all the blocks allowing our excellent LBs to roam free and shut 'em down in all phases. That hasn't been the norm this year by any stretch. Everyone around here is on cloud nine after our last game, but I'd say it's hardly a guarantee that our DL will match their best game of the year in San Antonio.
Hubbard said:
As to our Special Teams, look no further than Mike Nugent (best kicker in the land, no question) and our freshman sensation Tedd Ginn Jr. (took 4 kicks back for touchdowns and didn't become full time until later in the season).
You'll get a fight around here proclaiming the oOSU kicker as the best at anything. <g> Our guy Nugent really is special. Nate Kaeding (Iowa) was drafted in the third round last year by the Chargers. He's a good K, but I'd be shocked if Nugent doesn't go higher. Heck, he's a team captain and team mvp this year. A kicker!
Taude
