CFN comes through again

[CausticMick]

Martinss, good post. However, he is damned if he does and damned if he does not.

People wanted a wide open attack...they got it, but now complain about not running enough. 3rd and 4 or 5, we throw the fade. How many fans screamed for that type of gutsy call last year? Probably the same amount (and probably the same people) now screaming that he should have run it.

Martinss, I know what kind of poster you are, so this rant is not directed to you bro, but sometimes I wonder if some of the armchair coaches who are always so smart in hindsight actually understand the thought processes in a game. Everything is based on tendencies and calls against what you have studied SHOULD happen. This all happens in the span of about 30 seconds...you must find out down/distance, get personnel in/out, listen to the opinions of other coaches, and make a call fast enough for the offense to get to the line and have enough time to get the play off.

The same thing is going on with the defense...same procedure, same call procedure.

It is damn easy to make the right choice when you are in the cooker...or even looking back on the choice and weighing results.

I'd say JT trusted his playmakers...they didn't perform. JT did not miss one tackle, did not drop one pass, or miss a FG.

He put the team in a position to win the ballgame...that is his job.

As always, great post OG.

 

[tsteele316]

for all the clamoring that "tressellball" cost osu this game and JT was outcoached, I have one point to raise.

If Texas would have implemented Tresselball after they went up 10-0 and tried to grind it out, play field position and not do anything risky against osu, with their defense, they probably would have won easily.

you must ask yourself, if the situation were reversed, and osu turned the ball over 4 times, especially in their own territory, would that game have even been close? No. JT called the game his way and had it there for the taking, but nobody stepped up and took it. That is all there is to say about it.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

for all the clamoring that "tressellball" cost osu this game and JT was outcoached, I have one point to raise.

If Texas would have implemented Tresselball after they went up 10-0 and tried to grind it out, play field position and not do anything risky against osu, with their defense, they probably would have won easily.

you must ask yourself, if the situation were reversed, and osu turned the ball over 4 times, especially in their own territory, would that game have even been close? No. JT called the game his way and had it there for the taking, but nobody stepped up and took it. That is all there is to say about it.

see that is what people don't understand. It isnt that Tress doesnt want to make plays he just doesnt want to make mistakes, b/c he trys to let the other team make them and win off their mistakes, he will take chances when he has too. He has won like that in the past and came very close to doing it saturday.

 

[BB73]

I agree with the article, including the thought that JT should have allowed Texas to score to go up 8 right after the fumble with about 2 and half minutes remaining. I was up in the stands saying just that before Texas snapped the ball. I haven't seen any post-game interviews yet, was JT asked that question? That was the only thing I wanted him to do differently.

 

[lvbuckeye]

great points as usual, 21... one thing that boggled me in the post-game free-for-all, especially over on BN, was people complaining that we shouldn't have been in the Power-I...

now, i'm not saying i'm the smartest football fan, but i'm damn sure that we were NEVER in the Power-I during that game... sure, we ran a couple of power sets: Ace-twins for one, and IIRC, Pittman's longest carry was from that set- an 18 yarder over right tackle... i know we were in an I-twins set for a couple plays...

but it just made me wonder if these people actually knew what certain formations even look like... then again, i guess those are the people whom i should just note for later, so that i don't have to bother reading their ignorant comments...

 

[strohs]

JT's offensive game plan was not up to par, defend all you want but 9 points off of 3 critical turnovers will NOT win big games.
Secondly if JT had picked a QB and stuck with him thru thick and thin, be it Zwick or Smith, we win the game.
I know most people on here are very defensive concerning Coach, but sometimes he deserves some criticism too.

 

[osugrad21]

JT's offensive game plan was not up to par, defend all you want but 9 points off of 3 critical turnovers will NOT win big games.

I didn't realize he failed to execute on the field...

I'd say the Texas defense deserves some credit as well.

Why wasn't the gameplan up to par? What adjustments did you see when you realized they were leaning on Teddy?

 

[NightmaresDad]

As much as I hate to see this, hate to *think* it, really - this was the play that played over and over in my head as I restlessly was laying awake Saturday night. First, I was upset at Ryan, but the more I think about it, I feel bad for him. As upset as all of us are, how does he feel? He'll be reliving this moment the rest of his life and wishing he'd brought that pass in. What a bummer. :(

But I hate to 'blame' anyone for a loss. It's a team game - lots of missed opportunities. Lots of great plays, too. Certainly a classic.

I work with a guy who went to Moeller w/ hamby and still hangs with him on occassion. He says Ryan is VERY down on himself right now, and won't answer his phone - even when the calls are from friends.
I hope Ryan can use this as motivation and doesn't let it affect him negatively in the future - it's already cost him and the team a bunch, don't let it cost you more later.

 

[strohs]

I didn't realize he failed to execute on the field...

I'd say the Texas defense deserves some credit as well.

Why wasn't the gameplan up to par? What adjustments did you see when you realized they were leaning on Teddy?

Not the execution, he obviously cant catch the ball for Ginn or Hamby.
I like vanilla, its my favourite ice cream, but it cant win a game like that, and well, it didn't.

His failure to pick a QB however, was by far the biggest problem.
Regardless of the play calling, if we had stuck to 1 QB, we win that game.

 

[IronBuckI]

It's very unfortunate that Hamby is taking a large part of the blame as well. Yes he missed a catch that he should've had. Antonio Smith missed a safety that he should've had. Zwick made the right decision in taking a sack that resulted in the difference of making and missing the final field goal. There were a lot of mistakes and a lot of missed opportunities in the game Saturday night. Vince Young made a lot of mistakes, that could've called for the crucifixion of Mack brown, had we won the game.

What I've had to keep reminding myself after a sleepless Saturday night was that these are college kids playing in a game so big that I don't know if I could've even left the locker room if I were asked to play in it. Level heads need to win out here. What we need to take from this game is that at the very least A.J. has set his name in stone as a Butkus finalist, if not the winner. We still have a chance at the Rose Bowl, and a rematch, if we can get some help from the west coast. Huston is for real as a clutch kicker. Holmes is a stud and has also, sadly enough, made his audition for the NFL next year. Our secondary is not as weak as we feared, even if it's not as strong as it needs to be. I take away a lot more positives from this game after standing back and realizing how far this team has come in the last year plus.

 

[osugrad21]

I like vanilla, its my favourite ice cream, but it cant win a game like that, and well, it didn't.

His failure to pick a QB however, was by far the biggest problem.
Regardless of the play calling, if we had stuck to 1 QB, we win that game.

I'll just agree to disagree. We are all entitled to our own vision.

 

[strohs]

I take away a lot more positives from this game after standing back and realizing how far this team has come in the last year plus.

I thought watching the game that we were the more talented team.
Both teams have excellent athletes, and lots of speed, but I felt we had more of both hands down.

 

[RMosack]

JT

I kind of agree that the Cooper QB Shuffle was a problem. I not only think he should've stuck with one QB, but based on the entire situation, it had to be Zwick.

Argue all you want about Troy Smith's ability or lack thereof, but it doesn't matter. He hadn't played in a game in about 10 months. It doesn't even truly matter whether the reason for his performance was due to rust or the possibility that Tressel didn't trust him to run specific plays (note the overabundance of QB draws). The bottom line is that the Bucks weren't going to get a good performance out of Smith for either reason.

This played out in the game. Again, without trying to slam Smith, he made some plays, but was generally ineffective. He went 5-11 and looked fairly lost most of the time. Half of those incompletions could've easily been picks, too. Again, his performance may have been different if he'd been playing recently, but he hasn't been. Three near picks (dropped, luckily!), a couple of fumbled snaps and way too many basic QB keepers did more to waste golden opportunities to put Texas away than any excess of "Tressel vanilla". He looked like an athlete who hadn't played in a while, instead of like a polished QB.

I think they should've simply gone with the guy that proved highly effective in the bowl game and the opener. Any experimental QB shuffling to bring Smith back into the fold should've been saved for a weaker opponent like SDSU - not #4 vs. #2 in the Shoe in the biggest OOC game in years. In limited time, Zwick looked like a QB back there. He did what he was supposed to do and didn't appear panicked, rusty or forced. He went 9-15 and half of his 6 incompletions were perfect throws that were simply dropped.

In a vanilla offense or a wild and crazy offense, Tressel needed a steady QB to take advantage of the great defense and special teams we had on Saturday. Instead, the Cooper QB Shuffle led to way too many non-drives following awesome field position and FG attempts.

That's my only gripe with Tressel. This QB thing could've and should've waited for SDSU.