A few observations after the SDSU game

[Onebuckfan]

We showed Iowa nothing

Iowa will probably only look at two films anyway the OSU scUM mismatch, when Tressel and TS looked dominant. THEN will look at last years Iowa OSU mismatch and try to decide what OSU team will show up. If Iowa can score 28 points OSU may be in for a struggle.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

I don't disagree with your reasoning, but there's something to be said about doing what you think you're capable of doing in a game.

That was Cooper's Philosophy. The whole playbook was available from the first snap. Tress builds the playbook as the season progresses.

Can the Bucks go deep in practice? I don't know. But if you don't show that you can do it in a game situation how does anyone, your own players, the coaches, your fans or the media know?

I've never seen practice, so I can't say for sure, but I'm confident that they deep ball is available in practice. I don't care if the fans and media know if OSU can do it. I'm certain that he coaches know, and I'm equally confident that the players do too. That's enough for me. Plus, I don't need a series of long passes to enjoy Buckeye football... an opinion that appears to be in the minority among fans these days. I'd rather watch a dominating D with little O than a shootout. But, that's just me. I like D better. And even on O, I'd prefer to see a long run to a long pass.

IMO I don't think Tressel was trying to hide anything today. We have an anemic offense despite the presence of some very talented receivers.

I have to disagree. Tressel wasn't "hiding" so much as he wasn't showing. I doubt they button up the play book in practice like they do in games. I suspect you'll see something different against Iowa. Something very different. SDSU was a game to work on balanced offense (which we had) and blocking (which was good) It was to knock some rust off of Smith (why else was it clear he'd get the nod from Tuesday on? The Coaches believe he'll be the guy come November, and they decided it's time to get him ready NOW rather than tinker around with Justin and a 2QB system)

We have not demonstrated the ability to sustain drives aganist Miami or SDSU. We have not demostrated the ability to run against anybody, even if they line up to deny us the pass.

Pure unadulterated nonsense. Especially against Miami, where OSU did what it wanted to when it wanted to.

Our biggest sin is that we can't punch the ball in from the 20 or exploit the field position we get from excellent special teams and an incredible defense.

This, however, is a problem. I can't believe it'll last all season long, but dag... Against Texas OSU had such a superior advantage on Field Position... You're right, you HAVE to be able to punch it in when you get short fields like that.

I suppose this is by design a bit too... I mean, how many times have we heard Tress talking about not taking points off the board. "Hey, guys, we've got 3, don't fuck it up" mentality. My thinking is, when you get the ball on the 15.. or sometimes even the 38... after a big TO... your first shot is in to the endzone. Stick the knife in. Tress, apparently disagrees.

 

[OSU1978]

Troy has no timing at all and needs to release the ball quicker. We had guys open for a few seconds before he would throw them the ball. He seems to wait a couple seconds after the WR break to throw the ball.

 

[scarletngrey11]

Iowa will probably only look at two films anyway the OSU scUM mismatch, when Tressel and TS looked dominant. THEN will look at last years Iowa OSU mismatch and try to decide what OSU team will show up. If Iowa can score 28 points OSU may be in for a struggle.

Iowa will not score 28 points on us, they dont have a liable running game, and Drew Tate is inconsistent. At 6'0" 185 lbs, he is injury-prone, and will take many shots this rematch.

That bad taste from last year is still in our player's mouths.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Iowa will not score 28 points on us, they dont have a liable running game, and Drew Tate is inconsistent. At 6'0" 185 lbs, he is injury-prone, and will take many shots this rematch.

That bad taste from last year is still in our player's mouths.

I agree, there is no way Iowa can score 28 on us and the revenge factor is certainly there as well.

This offense will continue to make games be a lot closer than they need to be however and thats just not going to get it done in the beauty contest that is the AP/Coaches poll.

P.S. its a viable running game, not a liable one, the difference is significant.

 

[Nate]

Iowa will not score 28 points on us, they dont have a liable running game, and Drew Tate is inconsistent. At 6'0" 185 lbs, he is injury-prone, and will take many shots this rematch.

That bad taste from last year is still in our player's mouths.

I agree. Iowa won't score that much on us. This defense is playing possesed and Tate better watch out.

Hamby mentioned in a postgame interview that nobody has forgotten what Iowa did to us last year. I'd say they're ramping up for Iowa coming to town.

 

[Onebuckfan]

I agree. Iowa won't score that much on us. This defense is playing possesed and Tate better watch out.

Hamby mentioned in a postgame interview that nobody has forgotten what Iowa did to us last year. I'd say they're ramping up for Iowa coming to town.

We own Iowa at the Shoe...that said the O needs a confidence boost.. early success by the O would be nice..

 

[RCollett]

Why don't we run the shot-smith?

That way Zwick can throw and smith can run his little heart content. These two guys are at the opposite end of the spectrum from one another. I think this is part of JT's dilema with play calling. He wants to run the spread with Zwick, but his inconsistancies are keeping him out of the game. Smith can keep a drive alive but pulls the ball down if one reciever is covered. I want W's just like the rest of the fans and all of the players, but we are not living up to our potential.

I only have one comment about Teddy, not that it is worth much, but I think he is playing scared. It really did not matter if he was waited to recieve a put or out for a pass. It seems like he doesn't want to get hit. Letting punts bounce in front of you or running out of bounds to avoid a hit is not going to help our offense produce. Let him play both ways, because he sure isn't getting enough touches on offense to wear himself out.

Anyway lets hope we get it together soon.

go bucks!

 

[scarletngrey11]

On the Iowa rivals board, they were complaining that their D-line was being pushed around by Northern Iowa's O-line. That is a division I-AA team!

45-21 is not a convincing win over a I-AA team. Iowa has faced Ball State, and Northern Iowa, they havent faced anything worthy of being a division I-A football team, meanwhile we have played Miami-Oh, and Texas.

 

[cincibuck]

I agree. Iowa hasn't shown anything like the preseason predictions. ISU just blasted them in every way you can... Drew Tate was dead meat early in the game and his sub was the only scary thing I saw from them the rest of the day.

Our D will carry us past them. My fear is that our offense will be so inept that they'll still be close enough to win with a lucky pass late in the game...the ghost of that evening in Wisconsin two years ago...

What I don't like about Tressel ball is that, while it puts you in position to pull off big upsets (Miami, Michigan), it leaves you vulnerable to upsets and very close calls by teams with half your talent (Northwestern, Wisconsin, Marshall, Cincinnati).

 

[daddyphatsacs]

They have got to get Ginn the ball up field. His confidence is sinking........you can plainly see it. I'm scratching my head as to why we haven't attempted many long passes, especially with the speed we have at receiver.

This year you can't blame it on the offensive line either.........which is kind of sad. I wasn't very thrilled about Smith's decisions yesterday, but think he gives us the better chance at winning the Big Ten title with his option ability.

 

[ScarletNGry]

A poor mans take on our team

Here is where I think we are right now.

Running Game

We have the potential here but are not giving it a chance to get in sync. I think Pittman has all the tools to to be a 1500 yard back and we not letting him use them. We line up in out standard spread offense, we give him the ball on straight running plays and send him to the short side of the field where the recievers are trying to block straight up. I think we are better off just lining up in a "Running" formation and smacking them in the mouth or if we insist on the spread offense, let the recievers clear the DBs deep and give him the ball delayed and take off against only 4 or 5 defenders. As far as SMith running, see below.

Passing Game

I think most of you have covered this. Bad reads, bad decisions, poor execution, all while we have had very good protection. Couple of ways to look at this. Troy Smith could be pressing and trying to make too much happen on each play. He could still be getting his game back from the long layoff, remember he did not come in guns blazing last year, he built up and got better each game he played all the way to the Michigan game. Whatever it is, we need to get our WRs into the game more. We are getting the dropsies and I think it is because they are getting frustrated at the lack of chances to catch the ball.

Offense Overall

Troy Smith needs to get all of our weapons involved. That is the job of the QB. He needs to quit running every play and execute the play that was called to the best of his ability. If that means going to his 3rd read and dumping it to the TE or RB short that is what we need. There will be times for him to run, when that middle of the field opens like the Red Sea and he can gash the defense of 15-20 yards, but teams are going to start playing him like we did Vince Young and then he will have no choice but to pass the ball. If he cannot do that we are going to be in real trouble.

Defense

Other that the first play from scrimmage (where I think we were still trying to beat TExas from last week) we played about how I expected us to play. Very dominate performance. Very sound football with almost everyone doing their jobs. Nice to see the rest of the defense starting understand their roles and make the plays that come to them. AJ Hawk no longer needs to make 15 tackles a game, although I am sure he would have no problem doing that if he needed. I think this defense will rival some of the greatest Buckeye defenses by the time we get to the end of the season.


Overall Team

This team has lost mental focus on more than a few occasions. Personal fouls are starting to rear their ugly heads and not the ones that happen with hustle plays. We are seeing the after the play is over pushing and shoving. Very Un-Tressel like. the Seniors need to take the team to task and let them know that is not Ohio State football.


Final Thoughts

We have a very good football team that does not know what kind of football team it is just yet. We have alot of althetes out there making plays but not using each other to our strengths. Once we figure out how all of these pieces fit together, look out. If we can keep winning these games in between this time and when we realize what we are, we are going to be playing for the Big Ten title and maybe more. Our athletes always seem to play up to their opponents (or down to their opponents as it were yesterday). We need to try and get everyone to play to the best of their abilities on every play. And finally to the fans. To anyone who Boo'd Hamby on his drop yesterday, get a life and pick a new team to be a "fan" of cause that shit is pathetic. Then to turn around and give him a standing ovation for making a simple catch is not helping anyone either. He knows when that he can catch the ball. He just needs to relax and play his game. Support our team and cheer like crazy but don't patronize our young men. They know the difference. We also had some morons Booing because we were not trying to extend the score before halftime. Well maybe those boobirds are the worlds greatest coaches and know better than our coach about what our team is capable of, cause if not they need to shut the fuck up and let our real coaches do what they feel is best for the team and the game.

If you read all of this, I thank you. I don't post often but I wanted to put this out there and see who agrees/disagrees with me.

 

[Golferdow01]

Although I agree Iowa probably won't put up 28 points on our D, I tend to give them a little more credit than I'm seeing here on this thread. Iowa beat us all over the field last year. Yes we have the revenge wild card, but they are still a good Iowa team. I think the deciding factor will be if our offense decides to show up. If they do, we can run the field on their D

 

[scarletngrey11]

Chad Greenway is being torn up on the Iowa boards, which is very pleasant to read, especially after all of the Greenway over Hawk comments and such. Iowa hasnt played anyone even close to the skill level of the Buckeyes, that will hurt them, while we are playing up to par with Texas, they are losing to a far inferior Iowa State team.

 

[BrutusMaximus]

That was Cooper's Philosophy. The whole playbook was available from the first snap. Tress builds the playbook as the season progresses.

Sorry man, but I dont buy that. Have heard the same thing for 5 years now. The ONLY game in that 5 years where I saw a real offensive scheme was against scUM and Okie St.

Now granted I believe Troy is a bit rusty, and he will come around. I didnt see "great" pass protection yesterday. It was ok, not bad, but Troy did get flushed on several occassions. Still wonder if the line is slow, but I cant really make a judgement on that until I see them more. No reason for the offense to struggle this much with all the weapons we have.

Now on the lighter side, my god do I love our D. Talk about overpowering, fast, strong.......and 50 other adjectives. If we win each game 3-0, that's fine, long as we win. However we have the weapons to have an offense like USC's, and nobody that knows how to use em.