Game Thread FIESTA BOWL: tOSU 21, Texas 24 (01-05-09)

[ProdigyDub]

Hi folks,

I haven't posted here since the game in Austin in 2006, but wanted to drop in and say good game and all that. I was impressed with how your team improved over the course of the season. If you guys play all season like you did on Monday night, you beat PSU easily and would have made a hell of a game out of it with USC.

Secondly, I went to the game with my buddy, and the two of us sat in your section (with the alums, not the students). I have to say it was, overall, a great experience. A very classy group of fans, except for 1 or 2 outliers (but what school doesn't have that?) And of course, it's much more difficult to be classy when you lose a tough game, so I have all the respect in the world for those Buckeye fans that were in my section. They showed true class, despite their disappointment with the game's outcome.

Best of luck to you all in the offseason. Maybe we'll meet again in the near future...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

2 QBs for 12 plays exposed what?

Wednesday, January 07, 2009 Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter

Glendale, Ariz.- Plays existed in Ohio State's two-quarterback system that went the other way as well. The Fiesta Bowl on Monday night could have seen not only the Todd Boeckman-to-Terrelle Pryor touchdown pass, but one that went from Pryor to Boeckman.
"I wouldn't mind going up there and catching one like Terrelle did," Boeckman said after Ohio State's season ended with a 24-21 loss to Texas.
"There [were] some plays, but we didn't end up running any of that stuff," Pryor said. "Todd started getting on fire. He played a good game, so he kept going in."
Otherwise, the 12 official plays Ohio State ran with Boeckman at quarterback and Pryor also in the game were the brunt of the two-quarterback package the Buckeyes had worked on during practice.
"I guess I can give all the secrets away because I'm done, huh?" Boeckman said with a laugh.
"But you guys pretty much saw everything except for me going wide."

Cont...

 

[EngineerHorn]

Not sure about this statement. Nobody game a damn who Texas was until the OU game...and that was because we forced them too. Even after the OU game some of the talking heads were still reluctant to acknowledge us. When asked if we should be ranked number one that night Mark May kept dodging the question. Most people had us 4th or 5th best in the Big 12 this year.

I'm going to go ahead and agree with this. If there was any UT blowing, it was between the win against OU and the loss TT (that's 3 weeks), and even then it wasn't anywhere to the extent the media usually blows a #1 ranked team.

Mizzou, Tech, and OU were all unanimously picked ahead of Texas this year, and some had us behind oSu and Kansas. Even after the win against OU, half the country picked Texas to lose to Missouri.

 

[Buckeyefrankmp]

I think we should certainly be positioned in the top 5 next year and here's why.

First Defensively

First off Both offensive and defensive lines as you said should be better. The pressure off the edges from Williams/Gibson should be one of the better we've had in a while. The DT's should be insanely deep as well which in turn will allow the young LB's to transition in nicely.

Second, Sabino is a tremendous talent (5 star) and has shown to be a bigger hitter on special teams. You add him with Homan (who really played well this year) as well a trio of Moeller, Sweat, Rolle/Bell will do a great job as well.

Another reason is the DB's while we lose the best corner in the nation should also be very talented. We'll have Donald Washington as well as Chikwa as corners with tons of experience, and we'll have one of the best saftey groups in the nation with Coleman/Russel. Also at nickle is Hines who IMO is going to be the most talented DB we have next year, and passing on our bucks could be a hard task

Over all we don't lose that much one defense. We'll get Wilson back (again) on the D-line and with a very strong Dline/secondary we should be extremely hard to move the ball against. Only question is obviously can our Lb's step in and make an impact, but with the way our LB's in the past have filled in we shouldn't have troubles.

On Offense

First, The offensive line. While we lose three starters we, IMO, will be much much better. You'll have three 5 star talents on the line in Shuggarts, Brewster, and Adams who are just Nasty! Then you will have Boren as a lock at one gaurd who I hear is very impressive, and Cordle/Browning at another gaurd spot.

Second, the QB play. Terrelle Pryor with spring ball and fall practice under his belt is going to make him that much better. With a more talented offensive line he'll also have a better shot with his already freak talent. Improved Knowledge of the game, and more work on his passing abilities is going to take him to that next level.

Running backs-Sure we'll most likely lose Beanie but we do reload rather nicely. As stated on here I'm not so sure Beanie/Pryor in the same backfield as ever that great of a set. Pryor thrives in shotgun and Beanie thrived in the Iformation so perhaps it will make the offense even more diverse having a back like Herron who seemed to do well no matter what the formation? I personally also feel like Hyde from florida will have a HUGE impact (think beanie 06), and you add Berry who is electric as well so things aren't as bleak as you think.

Recievers- We lose Robo, but we are going to be STACKED at the WR position. IF hartline returns great, but if not then we'll have tons of talent either way. Posey, Sanzo, Thomas, Stoney, Washington, and Small is a great set of WR's. With the incoming Freshman class maybe including Marlon Brown we should be very talented.

Overall Pryor should have more time to throw, and a better grasp of the game which in itself can make our offense better overall than this years squad. The new talent stepping in IMO is just sadly to say more explosive than this years version (Thomas, Stoney, Berry).

I certainly think we should be right up there with the best. Texas, USC, Florida, and Bama are going to be AMAZING. However, PSU not so much IMO with the loss of those three recievers. IN order I think it would go something like this

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. OSU
5 Bama

It'll come down to USC/OSU in that second week again to determine who's season is going to be great IMO I dunno if we can do it but we should atleast have the horses now to compete greatly with USC. Quick worry, That USC offensive line does worry me, but hopefully a better Defensive line helps erase that.

Good analysis. I think the two questions will be Pryor's passing and the play calling. I would love top see an offense like we saw with Texas. McCoy was throwing little screens that the receivers were catching "in space" and running for 5-6 yards. After watching Texas, I can see how McCoy's completion percentage was so high. He would throw it to a receiver at the line of scrimmage, the other receivers would block their men and the kid with the ball would use his speed to slant for a couple of yards, get hit in the legs and dive for another yard or two. You do this enough times and pretty soon you are in the end zone.

With Wells gone next year I do not see us as a Power I offense. I did not like the one time I saw Pryor do the option read play. Then again it was the only time he did it all game. Can the coaches figure out an offense to use the weapons we have to the best of their abilities?

 

[Dryden]

Excerpt from the CPD article grad posted above

Pryor, who is extremely self-critical after losses, was complaining about his passing after completing 5 of 14 passes for 66 yards.

"I think I did poor," Pryor said. "I don't think I played good at the quarterback position. Look at the game and you tell me."

"Someone will have to step up and be a leader, and me, for one, I'll be a leader," Pryor said. "We'll be on a mission. That's the only way I can put it, a mission. We'll be on a mission until we complete that mission."

 

[Dryden]

I'm going to go ahead and agree with this. If there was any UT blowing, it was between the win against OU and the loss TT (that's 3 weeks), and even then it wasn't anywhere to the extent the media usually blows a #1 ranked team.

Mizzou, Tech, and OU were all unanimously picked ahead of Texas this year, and some had us behind oSu and Kansas. Even after the win against OU, half the country picked Texas to lose to Missouri.

I'd spin it another way. From my perspective, you guys were absolutely part of the media lovefest, and critical to the discussion of the Big XII's strong year. The only reason you didn't get more pub than you did was because it was a foregone conclusion that you were going to drop a game because of the schedule.

 

[EngineerHorn]

I'd spin it another way. From my perspective, you guys were absolutely part of the media lovefest, and critical to the discussion of the Big XII's strong year. The only reason you didn't get more pub than you did was because it was a foregone conclusion that you were going to drop a game because of the schedule.

From a perspective outside of Texas and the Big 12, this is probably a fair conclusion to come to. My view is still admittedly (and I think fairly) biased because of the OU leapfrog mess.

It's been discussed plenty on this thread, but I'd like to reiterate how nice it was to see the exchange between Laurinaitis, Freeman, Jenkins, and McCoy at the end of the game. I've been really impressed by the off-field behavior of Laurinaitis before and after the game. Quality human being and a great linebacker.

 

[Zander42]

Is it a forgone conclusion that McCoy is leaving this year? I could have swore I heard him say to JL, "See you at the combines" in that postgame prayer video.

-z

 

[Buckeyefrankmp]

Is it a forgone conclusion that McCoy is leaving this year? I could have swore I heard him say to JL, "See you at the combines" in that postgame prayer video.

-z

I though I heard that as well. Actually as I re-watched it it was another Texas player who came in before the prayer.

 

[Nutriaitch]

I'm going to go ahead and agree with this. If there was any UT blowing, it was between the win against OU and the loss TT (that's 3 weeks), and even then it wasn't anywhere to the extent the media usually blows a #1 ranked team.

Most fans don't hear the good things said about them in the media.
I know I didn't really notice/appreciate all the positive press we got during the season last year until well after it was all over and done with.

All we've heard about all year is how great the Big 12 offenses were.
Colt McCoy is the most accurate QB in the history of organized sport, has more rushing yards than Vince Young.
No other conference in the country can keep up with the Big 12 this year, hands down the best in the nation, not even close.
And most talking heads were on UT's side when they saw how that tiebreaker went down.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Pryor, who is extremely self-critical after losses, was complaining about his passing after completing 5 of 14 passes for 66 yards.

"I think I did poor," Pryor said. "I don't think I played good at the quarterback position. Look at the game and you tell me."

"Someone will have to step up and be a leader, and me, for one, I'll be a leader," Pryor said. "We'll be on a mission. That's the only way I can put it, a mission. We'll be on a mission until we complete that mission."

Not being critical of TP but of this general theme of things we hear from the WHAC.

Personaly, I'm sick of hearing this stuff. I know they have to say it and they probably even mean it but how many missions have we gone on since Jan '07? No more motivational dvd's, no more door lock combinations, quit telling us what you are going to do, just go do it.

Less talkie, more winnie.

 

[JCOSU86]

ok, I realize last night's loss was a tough pill to swallow.

But seriously, y'all D played lights out from what I saw.
McCoy's numbers looked a lot better than he did.
He threw a pick in the red zone, fumbled (and was lucky as hell it went out of bounds), had another ball begging to be picked right before that 4th down conversion on the last drive. Not to even mention that one TD drive that was assissted by some rather questionable calls in the 3rd quarter.

He looked rattled and constantly seemed on the brink of making a huge mistake to cost his team the game. He hasn't looked like that in any other game I've seen him play.

Once JT let the offense loose, UT couldn't stop y'all.

Y'all were right on the brink of beating a team the media has been blowing all season, from a conference that has also taken over the media darling role.
Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of at all. Y'all will be back in the mix next year once again.

P.S. believe me, it's better than going 7-5 after climbing as high as #2 in the polls this year

Damnit. I bet the over (+4) on the "y'all"s

 

[jwinslow]

Not being critical of TP but of this general theme of things we hear from the WHAC.

Personaly, I'm sick of hearing this stuff. I know they have to say it and they probably even mean it but how many missions have we gone on since Jan '07? No more motivational dvd's, no more door lock combinations, quit telling us what you are going to do, just go do it.

Less talkie, more winnie.

Not sure it's fair to compare Pryor saying those things to some veterans. Has he not gone and done it? When did he tuck his tail when things got tough to justify flashbacks to empty talk before LSU/etc?

I realize you're frustrated, but these seems pretty unfounded to me. Pryor (& Todd) did it. Their defense just came up a few inches short afterwards.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Not sure about this statement. Nobody game a damn who Texas was until the OU game...and that was because we forced them too. Even after the OU game some of the talking heads were still reluctant to acknowledge us. When asked if we should be ranked number one that night Mark May kept dodging the question. Most people had us 4th or 5th best in the Big 12 this year.

Mark May dodging a question? I don't believe. He is a bastion of journalistic integrity in a sea of over-the-top sports "reporters".

 

[jwinslow]

Most fans don't hear the good things said about them in the media.
I know I didn't really notice/appreciate all the positive press we got during the season last year until well after it was all over and done with.

All we've heard about all year is how great the Big 12 offenses were.
Colt McCoy is the most accurate QB in the history of organized sport, has more rushing yards than Vince Young.
No other conference in the country can keep up with the Big 12 this year, hands down the best in the nation, not even close.
And most talking heads were on UT's side when they saw how that tiebreaker went down.

This is true to an extent, but the nation did forget about Texas far too much after they lost to Texas Tech, and this cost them the Heisman and BCS votes needed (both wrong, imo).