Game Thread Game One: #1 Ohio State 35, Northern Illinois 12 (9/2/06)

[scooter1369]

How many carries will Wolfe get once NIU is down by 5 touchdowns?

 

[OSUBuckeye4Life]

Of course he didn't play good defense's, we are NIU. That ain't his fault. Do you think you would have shut down Michael Turner also?

Let's have some fun with Pittman and Wolfe common opponents.

Miami:
Pittman- 14 carries, 100 yards, 0 touchdowns
Wolfe- 31 carries, 197 yards, 2 tds

Northwestern:
Pittman- 18 carries, 132 yards, 1 td
Wolfe- 34 carries, 245 yards, 3 rds

Michigan:
Pittman- 23 carries, 85 yards, 1 td
Wolfe- 17 carries, 148 yards, 1 td

Totals:
Pittman- 55 carries, 317 yards, 2 tds
Wolfe- 82 carries, 590 yards, 6 tds

YPC:
Pittman- 5.7
Wolfe: 7.1

Mind that Wolfe has a bullseye on his back every game and is our #1, meanwhile Pittman was your #4 option. In common opponetns, Wolfe was better in every single category then Pittman was.

Those are some pretty intense numbers for a #4 option.

 

[osugrad21]

Those are some pretty intense numbers for a #4 option.

...and the scary thing is, the backup is receiving more hype than he is right now.

That is the difference here...people/fans/players will always feel slighted when discussing tOSU. However, the truth does not waiver.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Cool.

Wolfe owned Pittman in common opponents, so Pittman is no good either.

wow, he owned pittman as the only bit of offense, while pittman was a 4th option on offense. awesome congrats. lets throw a party as he racks up the rest of his yards (since i was talking about wolfe's season as a whole) against east bumblefuck U.

how many yards do you think pittman gets against E. Michigan if he was the first, second, third, and fourth option on offense? How about NW when the game isn't a complete blowout?

comparing the 2 in those situations is laughable, and is actually hurting your chances of Wolfe getting any respect.

 

[jlb1705]

So either you were being sarcastic here or you think Wolfe will run for 2.5 YPC.

How is that respect?

"Respect" in sports is such a miscarried concept.

You can respect the hell out of a player and he could still not do jack shit. I respect Wolfe - I think he's a quality back. He's gonna have the worst game of his career in Columbus though.

Actually, Jim Tressel and Jim Heacock are probably respecting the hell out of your boy as we speak. They're gonna respect him enough that they're gonna concentrate on making him a non-factor. And at the end of the game, they're gonna pay respect to the great job their defensed did in shutting him down.

Do you know who Larry Johnson is? He plays big boy football on Sundays now. That season where he ran for over 2000 yards - the Buckeyes respectfully held him to 66 yards on 16 carries. It's a different year now, but it's gonna be the same story.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

In response to G-Funk's thought that Pittman's ypc would've dropped had he had the same amount of carries as did Wolfe, here are Pittman's carries against Miami:

First drive: (TD)
17 yards
6 yards
6 yards

Second drive: (FG)
7 yards
-2 yards

Third drive: (INT)
-1 yard

Fourth drive: (FG)
3 yards
0 yards
12 yards
11 yards
12 yards

Fifth drive: (TD)
13 yards
6 yards
10 yards

Pittman was relieved near the end of the fifth drive (early third quarter) because we had flat out wore down the Miami defense and gave time to our backup RBs. Miami started to key on Pittman early in our second drive and held him to zero yards on his next five carries...then Pittman got pissed and busted off runs of 12, 11, 12, 13, 6, and 10 yards. Miami couldn't stop him despite keying on him. Hell, Pittman averaged almost 11 yards a pop on his last six carries...had he stayed in the whole game and had 25 carries, 200+ yards would've been easy for him. It's clear that Pittman got stronger as the game went on.

 

[methomps]

Shouldn't that Connecticut mercy rule come into play about now?

 

[scooter1369]

Shouldn't that Connecticut mercy rule come into play about now?

We'll at least wait until the game starts...

 

[Saw31]

Don't you have to possess the ball to get carries? If you're conceding that the NIU defense won't stop tOSU offense, when exactly is he going to get the carries he needs? Unless you think we're going to score every third play and not eat the clock...Either way, this takes the NIU running game out of the picture...There's more then one way to skin a cat. The scoreboard may just stop Wolfe more than our defense...Either way, he's still stopped...

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

OK... here's a way of looking at it.. I was thinking, when is the last time a smallish back with "heisman potential" played against a youngish Ohio State D? 2004 Fiesta.

Garrett Wolfe:
5'7" 174 lbs.

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=bg4 align=middle><TD align=left>Player</TD><TD align=middle>RUSH</TD><TD align=middle>RUYD</TD><TD align=middle>RUYA</TD><TD align=middle>RUTD</TD></TR><TR class=bg2 vAlign=center align=right height=17><TD align=left>Garrett Wolfe</TD><TD align=middle>243</TD><TD align=middle>1588</TD><TD align=middle>6.5</TD><TD align=middle>16</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Darren Sproles:
5'6" 181lbs
Credentials:
2003 - First team All-American
2003 - Finished 5th in Heisman voting
2003 - Ranked #3 in the nation in rushing yards per game

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>RUSHING</TD><TD align=right></TD><TD align=right></TD><TD align=right></TD><!--<td align="right">G</td>--><TD align=right>Att</TD><TD align=right>Yds</TD><TD align=right>Avg</TD><TD align=right>TD</TD><!--<td align="right">Yd/G</td>--></TR><TR bgColor=#dddddd><TD>Darren Sproles</TD><TD align=right></TD><TD align=right></TD><TD align=right></TD><!--<td align=right></td>--><TD align=right>306</TD><TD align=right>1,986</TD><TD align=right>6.5</TD><TD align=right>16</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Ohio State Defense (Players who made at least 1 tackle in the 03 game (Does not include Mike Nugent and Reggie Arden, both of whom did not play D..Arden may have, though he was certainly not a regular.)

44 Reynolds, Robert LB Sr.
47 Hawk, AJ LB Soph
42 Carpenter, Bobby LB Soph
9 Whitner,Donte SS Fr.
37 Fox,Dustin CB Sr
4 Allen,Will SS Sr
21 Salley,Nate FS Fr.
7 Gamble,Chris CB Jr
75 Fraser,Simon DE Jr
56 Scott,Darrion DT Sr
93 Smith,Will DE Sr
54 Anderson,Tim DT Sr
97 Patterson, David DE Fr
90 Pitcock,Quinn DT Fr.
94 Green,Marcus DT So.

6 Sr.
2 Jr
3 Soph
4 Fr.
The starting crew was 6 Sr., 2 Jr., 2 Soph, 1 Fr.

Projected 2006 starters:
DE Lawrence Wilson, Sophmore
DT Quinn Pitcock Senior.
DT Dave Patterson Senior.
DE Jay Richardsonn Senior
OLB James Laurinaitis Sophmore
MLB John Kerr Senior
OLB Marcus Freeman Sophmore
DB Malcomb Jenkins Sophmore
Safty Jamario O'Neil Soph
Safty Nick Patterson Soph
DB Kurt Coleman Fr. (although I think it'll be Amos, a R-Fr)

4 Sr.
0 Jr.
6 Soph
1 Fr

Now, I admit that the 03 D was slightly "older" but I didn't expect to find a 1:1 correlation. This, again, is as close as I can get to the last time a "youngish" OSU D played a small Heisman-ish RB...

But then. Sproles had almost 2000 yards in 03, was the clear focal point of his Offense. In my mind this qualifies Sproles as slightly (In effort to offset the "slightly" older D) better than Wolfe. Not to mention, by the time Sproles played against OSU, he had, in fact put up big numbers against, largely, Big XII competition. Whereas, Wolfe has yet to gain 1 yard in 2006. His last years stats were largely against MAC competiton. I'm no fan of the Big XII, but it's more powerful than the MAC, I think we can agree.

Now then, on to the resutls:

Darren Sproles rushed for 38 yards on 13 carries. He also caught 3 passes for 5 yards. OSU had it in their mind - STOP DARREN SPROLES. And they did, and the win followed.

 

[NIUHuskies]

Yes, an experienced D-Line and some senior LBs.

NIU has scored their share of upsets, but the 2006 squad won't be near as strong as some of the previous teams since 2003. On offense, NIU loses their star WR, Sam Hurd, and their #2 WR, Shatone Powers. The best returning WR, 3rd on the team in receptions and yards is Britt Davis, who began 2005 as the 3rd string QB. NIU also loses four senior starters on the O-Line. That leaves one returning T on the O-Line to block for Wolfe, Doug Free, who is comparitively light at 276 lbs. Free is an outstanding player, and was considered their best pro prospect last season, but he can't make up for the loss of the rest of the line and the top two receivers on the outside.

Our DEs face tougher competition in practice.

Garrett Wolfe is a great RB, and Phil Horvath is a pretty good QB too, but there is no longer any experienced depth. NIU's #2 and #3 RBs, Adrian Davis and AJ Harris, have also graduated. They accounted for 30% of the teams' total carries in 2005. Subtract Wolfe's carries and Horvath's scrambles/sacks, and the back up RB stable is 70% of the rushing offense. Up and down the offensive depth chart, there appears to be nothing but a whole lot of Sophs to fill a ton of important roles.

Look, Michigan's defense has been nothing short of a train wreck that last several years -- we all know this. UM started a pretty green (and very bad) defense against a highly skilled NIU offense loaded with seniors last season. Garrett Wolfe busted loose and ripped off 175 yards against the Wolverines in the Big House. The result? UM coasted to a 33 - 17 win.

I have a great deal of respect for what Joe Novak has done with the NIU program. Taking his NIU squad to Tuscaloosa and beating Bama; getting Maryland to go to DeKalb and beating them; or going to Madison and very nearly upsetting an excellent Wisconsin team were all amazing accomplishments ... but this ain't 2003.

In any other year I'd be mildly concerned about a quality mid-major like NIU stealing an upset, but this year, heck no. 2006 OSU v 2006 NIU won't even be close.

Wow, good try but you got a lot of facts wrong!

First off, our offensive line returns 2 starters, both at the tackle position (Doug Free and Jon Brost). Btw, Doug Free is not 276 lbs. In fact, he is 6'7" and 302 lbs. and known as "Doug Freak"! He is a sure 1st day 2007 NFL Draft pick and most have put him going in the 2nd round. Our other tackle, Jon Brost, is 6'6" and 296 lbs. NIU returns 3 other offensive lineman with significant playing time, 6'4", 277-pound senior OG Matt Rogers who missed 2005 due to academics and owns 9 starts and 665 snaps in 17 appearances, 6-5, 335-pound junior Matt Biondi with 120 plays in 13 career games, and 6-5, 304-pound junior Chris Acevedo with 74 plays in nine career games. Only position that NIU lost its two-deep on was at Center. 6'2", 265-pound center / long snapper Eddie Adamski will most likely be our starter. He has great footwork and has been likened to our previous 1st team All-MAC center, Brian Van Acker. I see Eddie Adamski gaining a good amount of weight by the time of the OSU game. Our TE, Jack Nordin, has received national attention as well. Some sports analysts have put him as one of the top 6 TE's that will come out of the 2006-2007 senior class. He has great hands and athleticism.

You talk about NIU losing its top 2 WR's, but we have WR's with experience and talent to replace them. Britt Davis, last season's #3 WR, recorded the best freshmen receiving record in NIU history. Shatone Powers, our #2 WR, only had 50 more receiving yards than Davis. Powers was good, but Britt Davis has a lot more potential, talent, and upside. Britt Davis will be our go-to receiver next year with his speed and height. Davis is 6'2" and runs a 4.45 40-yard dash. We also have Marcus Perez who had 7 games of experience his 2004 freshmen season. He sat out last season due to academics, but has fixed that and will return this season. This kid is even faster than Britt Davis as he runs a 4.38 40-yard dash and is also a proven and experienced kick returner. With Britt Davis, Marcus Perez, and Jake Nordin alone NIU will be just fine in the receiving game.

Garrett Wolfe will run all over OSU's inexperienced defense. Any time a team loses 9 of its 11 defensive starters it is going to be at a disadvantage. I even read in an earlier blog on ESPN.com that one of those 2 defensive returnees was injured and did not play during spring practice. I don't know if he is healthy now, but there is no way a team that could potential only return 1 to 2 starters on defense is going to mesh and gel for their first game of the season. NIU will take advantage of this. Plus, i have heard from many OSU fans that their weakest defensive positions will be in the secondary this season. Combine our fast and proven WR's, Britt Davis and Marcus Perez, with a weak OSU secondary and OSU is asking to get burned in the passing game. If QB Dan Nicholson is our starter for the OSU game then OSU will have to be very careful with the deep passing game. Dan Nicholson has great accuracy and throws rocket balls with a lot of zip on them.

NIU's defense will be even better than last season. NIU started a lot of freshmen and sophomores with no experience at defense last season. This is why early on in the year NIU gave up so many points to Michigan, Northwestern (although NW had arguably one of the top 3 offenses in the Big Ten and #8 in the nation in total yards at 492 ypg.; better than OSU's offense), and Akron. Take a look at NIU's later games in the season and you will see how the defense improved greatly. In the first 5 games of the season the NIU defense gave up 149 points (29.8 ppg). In the last 6 games of the season the NIU defense gave up 80 points (13.3 ppg). We gave up 69 less points in the course of the last 6 games than the first 5 games. We played just as good offenses in those last 6 games including #16 Toledo (#14 in scoring ppg), #36 Central Michigan, and #44 Western Michigan (#30 in scoring ppg) in total offense. HUGE DIFFERENCE!

NIU's offense doesn't have to be as good as the last two seasons when it was #14 and #16 in the nation against an inexperienced OSU defense. Although, i would expect the NIU offense to be in the top 20 in the nation this season as well. Plus, our more experienced defense will be able to pick up for any slack in the offense, which will be little anyway!

NIU has a definite chance for upset. I hope the team dismisses NIU just as much as many of the OSU fans seem to be doing.

 

[scooter1369]

The team won't dismiss NIU. They likely won't show much mercy either. With two legit Heisman candidates and a third with an outside look for the Doak Walker, the offense isn't going to let up.

This defense is hungry and tired of hearing about the nine guys leaving. Everyone playing on 9/2 has legit gametime experience and aren't as wet behind the ears as people think.

Get your hopes up. The fall is going to be a hard one for you.

 

[sandgk]

I agree it would be a bad plan to drop seven constantly, but we are going to have to find a way to cover Ginn. Our safties (Utch and Reiter) are more run guys and lack ideal speed. Our starting corners (Hansbros they are twins) really don't have alot of speed either. The only thing I can see us doing is maybe using Sophmore CB Bradley Pruitt and have him trying to cover Ginn (not 1 on 1 ovbiously). If I remember right we did a pretty good job against Breaston last year, and I know he isn't as good as Ginn but it is the best comparison i had.

methomps asked if the Connecticut wuss-out rule should apply - I thought G-FORCE had gone fetal right about when he said the above. Oh and G-F - Breaston, Ginn - no its not a fair comparison in real game play. Teddy has more talent and sheer drama wrapped up in one of his prime games than Breaston may display in several. Teddy is a force of nature, and we may not see someone that good in Buckeye garb again for a long, long while. BTW, did you catch the ND game last year? Lack of speed for all but one of the ND DBs resulted in huge plays again and again for the Buckeyes - through the air, and on the ground. If your confessional assessment of NIU's lack of defensive speed is true I'd be very worried about this game getting well out of hand.
Thankfully, JT only likes to lay the heavy hand of the Buckeyes in top gear on arrogant know-it-alls that diss him in public.

BKB -excellent parallel and analysis - though, to be fair and balanced K. State was ALL about Sproles. I'm guessing that G-F will remind us of the passing game they had to put up on Akron when they stuffed the NIU rushing game.

Which means we have to dig up a good example of when tOSU stuffed the focus of the opposing team, made the other side one-dimensional AND stopped that second-tier game. I'll have to come back on that one.

Frankly, it is a good thing that NIU cannot be taken as a walk-over. I hope they do get our young D's attention, and if they do, I am confident the coaching staff will have them ready to play tough.

 

[NIUHuskies]

"Respect" in sports is such a miscarried concept.

You can respect the hell out of a player and he could still not do jack shit. I respect Wolfe - I think he's a quality back. He's gonna have the worst game of his career in Columbus though.

Actually, Jim Tressel and Jim Heacock are probably respecting the hell out of your boy as we speak. They're gonna respect him enough that they're gonna concentrate on making him a non-factor. And at the end of the game, they're gonna pay respect to the great job their defensed did in shutting him down.

Do you know who Larry Johnson is? He plays big boy football on Sundays now. That season where he ran for over 2000 yards - the Buckeyes respectfully held him to 66 yards on 16 carries. It's a different year now, but it's gonna be the same story.

As if every other team NIU has played the last two seasons has not tried to concentrate on Garrett Wolfe anyway!

Look how well that has worked, over 3,200 yards in only 20 career games (or 160 ypg. rushing)!

 

[sandgk]

As if every other team NIU has played the last two seasons has not tried to concentrate on Garrett Wolfe anyway!

Look how well that has worked, over 3,200 yards in only 20 career games (or 160 ypg. rushing/game)!

Selective memory - or lack of reading the full thread, you the gentle reader can decide.

What happened against Akron part deux?

Did the Zips just decide NOT to focus on Wolfe, and your head coach, befuddled and bemused give up on the running game?

If you are going to join the fray on page 14 at least scan through to see if we have covered the obvious.
Oh, yes welcome to BP