Game Thread BCS National Championship Game: tOSU 24, LSU 38 (final)

[OregonBuckeye]

It is ironic that the team that put up 38 points tonight did not attempt to go deep one time. It was just flat out getting to the first down marker, something that Ohio State got away from.

That's a good point. LSU consistently put themselves in 2nd & medium and 3rd & short while we called a lot of slow developing plays which allowed LSU to pin their ears back and bring pressure. I think the LSU corners are the unsung heroes of the game. They stuck on our receivers like glue and that gave Bo Pelini a lot of freedom with his defensive playcalling.

 

[cincibuck]

Just reviewing the last few pages of posts... It's not poor play calling if it works... then you're a genius.

The personal fouls really hurt... 30 yards, or more than one third, of LSU's first TD drive came on penalties.

How can you say that a team that came out and scored on its first two drives was "too tight?" LSU made beaucoup errors throughout the first quarter until they got their focus, helped greatly by OSU personal fouls.

"The lay off hurt..." The lay off also helped Beanie get back to full speed. It also helped LSU get three players back, not the lezast of which was the Dorsey I saw when LSU opened their season at Mississippi State. Note that the Big 10 has agreed to let teams play a game after the third Saturday in November, but not until 09. Seem to recall Michigan playing a game after The Game, a few years back.... maybe Hawaii?

The problems I saw with our wide receivers were the same ones I saw at the Purdue game. Robiski and Hartline do not have the speed or route running skills to get open the way Ginn and Gonzo did. It will be some time before you see a receiving corps with as much talent as the 06 team had. You may recall OSU giving up at least three interceptions in the Purdue game on deep balls and never got the ball back after giving up a long ball in the Illinois game. It was a problem the team dealt with all year long, and the coaches acknowledged it and tried to correct it by putting Saine in a receving slot for this game.

For this team to go 11 - 1 after losing so much talent the year before, to win an outright Big 10 title after being picked no higher than third, and to stand up against a team that was acknowledged to have the most talent in the nation on day one of the football season in what was clearly an away game... well, I'm still proud to be a Buckeye. Thanks to this team for a wonderful season and a beautiful graduation present to Mssrs, Henne, Long and Hart.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

The problems I saw with our wide receivers were the same ones I saw at the Purdue game. Robiski and Hartline do not have the speed or route running skills to get open the way Ginn and Gonzo did. It will be some time before you see a receiving corps with as much talent as the 06 team had. You may recall OSU giving up at least three interceptions in the Purdue game on deep balls and never got the ball back after giving up a long ball in the Illinois game. It was a problem the team dealt with all year long, and the coaches acknowledged it and tried to correct it by putting Saine in a receving slot for this game.

While the Brian's are no Gonzo or Ginn, I don't think their speed was the problem. Small has speed and he wasn't getting open either. I just didn't see much creativity or variety with the routes which is in stark contrast to what LSU was doing. Had we called some hitch routes or quick out patterns or any fast developing pass plays, I think that would've helped draw in the corners and set up some opportunities for deep balls.

 

[NW_Buckeye]

Rehring deserved that penalty from what I saw, and on the sidelines they had the wrong # but he still got hit. Questionable? Yes, but not unrealistic. They were trying to keep the game from getting dirty, and they called more 15-yarders than many crews do. That's their business. The players must adjust accordingly, wrong or not.

If you want to believe that,fine. But I would have like to have seen just as tight of a game called against LSU. There were multiple times that an OSU player was hit right after they left the field of play, but no call on LSU. When Boeckman coughed up the fumble, why wasn't LSU called for hitting the QB in the head? Sure, those would have been ticky-tacky, but that's what they would have called against OSU.

The refs saw OSU with the wind at their backs, and gave it back to LSU. If the refs were fair, why did the refs only EXTREMELY reluctantly throw the intentional grounding against LSU only after Tressel ran on to the field and screamed at them. That's why OSU lost steam at the end of the 2nd quarter, they knew what everyone else knew by that stage, they would not be allowed to win.

I know it sounds like sour grapes, but both teams should have gotten a fair shot, and that didn't happen.

 

[osugrad21]

For me, the night is simply summed up with:

Personal fouls
Roughing the punter
Robo not making a play he usually makes in his sleep
LSU with 3rd and 1 again...
OSU abandoning the run

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Oregon -

Do you realize, after two paragraphs of talking about how the O didn't have any wrinkles and didn't adjust, etc. you followed that up by recognition that Ohio State moved the ball with relative ease?

The Buckeye's scheme was fine. It worked. It just wasn't executed as well as it could have been. A pick and a fumble or two, some bad penalties, a blocked kick (after the robo drop), a great opponent. These are what lost the game. The Buckeyes moved the ball just fine most the night.

Defensively, it occurred to me what the difference is between 02 and now. In 02, it seems to me, the philosophy was "You're not gonna beat us deep very often, so we're gonna take away the short stuff" Much more aggressive. Now OSU seems to be worried about getting beat deep and content to allow the short stuff. LSU did exactly what Florida did.. what Illinois did... dinked and dunked all the way down the field. The did well on 1st down, leaving 2nd and short, and 3rd and short. If there is one adjustment I'd like to see it's to take away the short stuff a little more while trusting the DBs to not get beat deep too often. But... that's just me.

In any case, the Buckeyes were not embarrassed last night. The coaching staff did a fine job with a game plan (Brandon Saine didn't qualify as a wrinkle?) it just didn't get executed to perfection. That happens in football. And it happened to the Buckeyes last night.

 

[IronBuckI]

Not sure what the hell happened, but it looks like all of the speed talk has gotten into the heads of the Big Ten coaches. Trying to prove that we can spread the fast teams out and beat them with our speed rather than sticking to what got you there. The power running game. Wisconsin did it on fourth and two, and it cost them the ball game. We did it with Beanie only getting nine first half carries last night. MSU did it by letting their average QB try to be a playmaker. The Big Ten has the speed to compete with any other conference in America, but there's no excuse for Big Ten coaches to go out there and try to get cute with their playcalling.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

For me, the night is simply summed up with:

Personal fouls
Roughing the punter
Robo not making a play he usually makes in his sleep
LSU with 3rd and 1 again...
OSU abandoning the run

Personal fouls - Yep. You can't give LSU that many yards. And it wasn't just the net fouls. It seemed to me they were always "at a bad time" whatever that means.
Roughing the punter - Man... that's one of those things... he was there for the block. He blocks it and people sing Spitler's praises. But... he didn't. Can't fault him coming up the gut like that and getting the 15 for roughing for an aggressive play, but paired with the PF and LSU getting 7 when they had been held to zero was huge.
Robo - That drop in the EZ was big too, as you know. From a 17-10 lead to a 10-10 tie after the block. Momentum swing. Not Robo's "Fault" but he's gotta hang on to that one.
LSU 3rd and short - Yep. Success on 1st downs really put them in a good spot all night.
Abandon the run - Yeah, I guess if you're not gonna go to the well, it'd be wise to maybe put a little hop in your step... some urgency in the passing game. Its tough to keep handing the ball off when you're trailing by 3 scores though.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

The refs saw OSU with the wind at their backs, and gave it back to LSU. If the refs were fair, why did the refs only EXTREMELY reluctantly throw the intentional grounding against LSU only after Tressel ran on to the field and screamed at them.

Extreme reluctance? Didn't seem to be any hesitation to me. I would agree that some of the PF.. well.. really, the only one that sticks out to me at the moment was the first one, late hit OB that wasn't really a late hit OB.. were garbage, but the officials didn't steal this one from the Buckeyes.

LSU executed better than Ohio State did. Plain and simple.

 

[scarletngrey11]

This one hurts.

I know it was supposed to be a rebuilding year, but if you think the 'SEC Speed' and '0-8 vs. SEC in Bowl Games' was bad, watch how bad it gets now.

I can't remember the last time I watched such an undisciplined Tressel-coached team. All those fucking personal fouls, I would've expected that from LSU but not us.

Hard to blame the refs at all for this loss. I went over to the Scout Ohio State board and can't believe some people are saying that. We didn't deserve to win this game.


EDIT: Chris Wells is a fucking beast.

 

[NFBuck]

Defensively, it occurred to me what the difference is between 02 and now. In 02, it seems to me, the philosophy was "You're not gonna beat us deep very often, so we're gonna take away the short stuff" Much more aggressive. Now OSU seems to be worried about getting beat deep and content to allow the short stuff. LSU did exactly what Florida did.. what Illinois did... dinked and dunked all the way down the field. The did well on 1st down, leaving 2nd and short, and 3rd and short. If there is one adjustment I'd like to see it's to take away the short stuff a little more while trusting the DBs to not get beat deep too often. But... that's just me.

'02 Defense: Bend but don't break.
Last two BCSCG: Bend, bend, bend, bend...snap!

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

This one hurts.

I know it was supposed to be a rebuilding year, but if you think the 'SEC Speed' and '0-8 vs. SEC in Bowl Games' was bad, watch how bad it gets now.

I would recommend you ignore it. It's not particularly hard to do. The Big 10 looked fast enough running for a 65 yard score. I dont recall Holloway running past people and the camera man having a hard time keeping up. 0-9 is what it is. It sucks, and one of these days the Buckeyes are going to have to win one. But, 0-9 doesn't include regular season results. Hell, OSU was 1-0-1 v. LSU all time.... ever hear about that from the national guys? Of course not. Oh and nine is a bowl game result only. Who friggin cares? I mean, yeah.... care... but... who gives a rats ass what grand over-done conclusions the idiot media take that to.

I can't remember the last time I watched such an undisciplined Tressel-coached team. All those fucking personal fouls, I would've expected that from LSU but not us.

Hard to blame the refs at all for this loss. I went over to the Scout Ohio State board and can't believe some people are saying that. We didn't deserve to win this game.

Ohio State did too deserve to win this one. But, they didn't execute as well as LSU did. There was no real magic to what LSU was doing. No real trickeration (the TD to the TE out of that 4 man bunch was about it). They flat out executed better. End of story, really.

 

[NFBuck]

The flat out executed better. End of story, really.

Doucet breaking 3 tackles to get into the endzone epitomized that.

 

[RuGettinIt]

While the Brian's are no Gonzo or Ginn, I don't think their speed was the problem. Small has speed and he wasn't getting open either. I just didn't see much creativity or variety with the routes which is in stark contrast to what LSU was doing. Had we called some hitch routes or quick out patterns or any fast developing pass plays, I think that would've helped draw in the corners and set up some opportunities for deep balls.

I don't recall us throwing to the TE all night, which I think was there with the rush LSU was coming with. It seems like we kept trying to get 15 or 20 when all we really needed was 4 or 5. THe hitch and quick outs or comebacks would have been good options...

 

[buckeyesin07]

For me, the night is simply summed up with:

Personal fouls
Roughing the punter
Robo not making a play he usually makes in his sleep
LSU with 3rd and 1 again...
OSU abandoning the run

Couldn't agree more. When Robo failed to make the catch in the end zone, I looked at one of the people I was watching the game with and said, "That's the kind of play Ohio State has to make if they want to win this game." Of course, missing the field goal a minute later took us from possibly being up 17-10 to still being tied 10-10 with all the momentum on their side.