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Game Thread Game Two: #1 Ohio State 24, #2 Texas 7 (9/9/06)

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Zurp said:
:huh:

Is this the way I sound when I've been at the bar for 10+ hours?

"It would have been 29 if Melton didn't think he was Reggie Bush." Are you referring to the goal line stand when Texas was trying to put the Bucks away? If so, are you guessing that the extra point would have failed?

And is Henry Melton a defensive back? I don't understand. And I don't weigh 270, and I probably shouldn't try to run over him for a television.

You say that Vince played a bad game that day. Are you saying that because he simply played a bad game, or because Ohio Stadium was "crazy loud," or because Ohio State's defense was that good? (Or maybe all three?)
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my mistake we had 23 i was thinking 22. and tv was a typo for td
 
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Zurp said:
:huh:

Is this the way I sound when I've been at the bar for 10+ hours?

"It would have been 29 if Melton didn't think he was Reggie Bush." Are you referring to the goal line stand when Texas was trying to put the Bucks away? If so, are you guessing that the extra point would have failed?

And is Henry Melton a defensive back? I don't understand. And I don't weigh 270, and I probably shouldn't try to run over him for a television.

You say that Vince played a bad game that day. Are you saying that because he simply played a bad game, or because Ohio Stadium was "crazy loud," or because Ohio State's defense was that good? (Or maybe all three?)
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10+ hours of bar time, Damn Zurp, I can get that wasted and go through the whole "Woe is me, what a freaking miserable life I have melancholy drama spill" with a Pint 1/2 of Scotch and the Beatles greatest hits CD in 1-2 hours tops.:biggrin:
 
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The young QB's WILL make mistakes, there is no doubt. How costly the mistakes are is the question...
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The quarterback is not the only one who can make mistakes. Better execution by the more experienced players can potentially make up for inconsistent play by the QBs.

Examples from last years game.
1. Selvin Young has the ball pop out of his hands while he is untouched leading to a fumble. He has since become far less fumble prone.
2. Charles does a poor job executing a toss on an end around leading to a 14 yard loss and killing a promising drive. Charles was not ready in his first big game for that kind of play, but he is now.
3. On first and goal from the five a lineman is called for a false start and Texas only gets a FG.
4. Another false start killed another drive. False starts should be less of a problem on our home turf.

Those are 4 key mistakes that along with the Melton TD were he difference between UT scoring 50+ points or not, and the QB was not responsible for any of them.

Vince Young did kill two other drives by throwing INTs, so his net game was not his best. I think that if our young QBs don't do anything spectacular, but don't turn the ball over, their game will be just as good. And, if they do screw up and cause a couple turnovers, the rest of the team has the ability to perform well enough to bail them out.

I don't want this thread to come off as whinning about ifs and buts, but rather that proper execution is a team issue. Even with a freshman QB it is entirely possible that the offense will execute better than last year overall.
 
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xrayrandy said:
The quarterback is not the only one who can make mistakes. Better execution by the more experienced players can potentially make up for inconsistent play by the QBs.
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I see your point, and I'll raise you a nickle. Aside from the center, the quarterback is the only one who touches the ball on every play, making his execution of the designed plays more of an issue than anyone else's. If one receiver does a great job with his route, and another gets wide open on a post route, the quarterback still has to recognize that the post is wide open. And he then has to get the ball to the receiver. Or the line can open a 4-yard hole on the left side for the running back, but if the quarterback turns to hand off the wrong way, you've got the deck stacked against you.

I don't think anyone is saying literally that Vince Young single-handedly won last year's game. He probably couldn't even beat Temple if the rest of his players were of my athletic ability. But it seems to me that a lot of people who were praising the guy 6-12 months ago now seem to be sending the message of "VYoung really didn't do much to help that team."
 
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osugrad21 said:
Funny thing is...most of the Buckeye fans (me included) were saying these same things about Vince Young last year.

I had huge admiration/respect for VY before the game last year...and even more after his performance in the 'Shoe.

I have a feeling most of the Horns will feel that way after this game...focus on Ginn please. Take him out of the equation...

That just leaves a seam for Gonzo or a fade zone for Hall or a slower step from your LB while Pitt or Wells slides into the 2nd level.

Wait, I didn't even mention Troy Smith...well, no need to do so I guess.

Please, really, I'm serious here...focus on Ginn. Gameplan for him.
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And we won't have a running game either. Count on it and tell 'em you heard it right here. I understand that we're so light back there that they are going to put a novice with one game's experience in there with Pittman. Nope, shut down Ginn and you'll have the Buckeyes by the short and curlies. You can trust me, by the way, I'm in marketing. :wink2:
 
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campies said:
Ok, so you "gamplan" against the mediocre pass defenses (Iowa) to not emphasize Ginn but he isn't really needed, in the same way as you do against the good defenses (Texas) when he really would be needed?
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Heysoos Frickin' Christo. What part of "game plan" and "Ginn was developing as a WR" can't you fathom? We spread the ball to five other receivers other than Holmes against Texas to our best receiver (Holmes) open. And the game plan was to run more than pass (which we did: 36 rushes to 26 passes) because of the QB situation, so Ginn wasn't a major part of the plan for that game. In fact, Ginn wasn't a major portion of our game plans on offense until the end of the season when he started running better, cleaner routes.
 
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xrayrandy said:
The quarterback is not the only one who can make mistakes. Better execution by the more experienced players can potentially make up for inconsistent play by the QBs.

Examples from last years game.
1. Selvin Young has the ball pop out of his hands while he is untouched leading to a fumble. He has since become far less fumble prone.
2. Charles does a poor job executing a toss on an end around leading to a 14 yard loss and killing a promising drive. Charles was not ready in his first big game for that kind of play, but he is now.
3. On first and goal from the five a lineman is called for a false start and Texas only gets a FG.
4. Another false start killed another drive. False starts should be less of a problem on our home turf.
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so as proof of players performing at 100% can make up for inconsistency at the qb position you note 4 instances in which non-qb players made mistakes ending drives? care to explain how this supports your claim?

i can give you several examples of mistakes made by troy smith in the tOSU texas game that led to drives stalling and the loss of potential points, and he only played half the game.

Those are 4 key mistakes that along with the Melton TD were he difference between UT scoring 50+ points or not, and the QB was not responsible for any of them.
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so had those mistakes not been made texas would have scored 50+ on the bucks eh?

Vince Young did kill two other drives by throwing INTs, so his net game was not his best. I think that if our young QBs don't do anything spectacular, but don't turn the ball over, their game will be just as good.
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i assume you mean similar stats right? i aslo assume you mean vy going against the best d in the nation vrs. one of your young qb's going against a reletively young group of db's?

And, if they do screw up and cause a couple turnovers, the rest of the team has the ability to perform well enough to bail them out.
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good to know that your team is so superior to the bucks that even with turnovers and mental mistakes we have no chance. all the same, i think we're still going to waste our time in making the trip.

I don't want this thread to come off as whinning about ifs and buts, but rather that proper execution is a team issue. Even with a freshman QB it is entirely possible that the offense will execute better than last year overall.
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i think i see where your going with this. so long as your "hasn't started a college game ever" qb executes greater or equal to the guy who finished 2nd in the heisman running and all but carried you to a nc... you should be just fine. on this point in think we completely agree.
 
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Dryden said:
I don't think Tressel's strategy, if what you're stating is/was actually his strategy, is unsound.
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Depends upon which strategy Tressel was employing. If the strategy was to be ready to play your "must win" game, then Tressel has only missed that twice. OSU must beat Michigan to get in a good bowl and when they get to the bowl they have to show to national audiance what OSU and Big 10 football is all about. Tressel has been nothing short of phenominal at that. If, however, the strategy was to win the NC with all the talent we had on both sides of the ball last year, then he wasn't ready.
The bottom line is that no Big-10 team stands much of a shot at getting to the national title game without first winning the conference..
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No argument there. That was Hayes philosophy. But when you have a schedule as good as ours was last year you've got to be ready to play at "Michigan" level early. It's my contention that last year's team was not ready for that level of comp early on.

I don't know what went through Tressel's mind during the pre-season, but as I go back over our collective thoughts from this time last year we all anticipated that Zwick would get the start against Miami and that Troy would be ready and would START against Texas. In fact we spent quite a bit of time talking about what would happen if Zwick had a great game against Miami... in short we were anticipating the very situation that followed.

I assummed, and I think most of the other people on this board assummed, that Tressel would be thinking the same thing. Instead he gave Zwick the nod and if he (Zwick) had managed to pull out a win against the Longhorns he'd have been the starter all season long. BUT Zwick wasn't capable and Smith WASN'T ready.
What we've seen happen in the past with Oklahoma and Nebraska was an anomoly within the system, which has since been (presumably) corrected.
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Not sure what your point is here.

Secondly, despite needing four or five games to find its offensive rhythm, Ohio State's fortunes for the entire season fell on two plays. Pick any one from the Texas game (missing the tackle on Texas' botched KO return for a safety, Huston's sixth FG, Hamby's TD pass, the sack of Zwick, a pass breakup on VY's last toss) and any one from the PSU game (Smith's INT, Hali's sack/forced fumble). If the ball bounces differently on two plays than its an entirely different season.
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Coulda, woulda, shoulda, Ohio State didn't.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda, Texas and Penn State did.

OSU was not playing at a NC level in September isn't true. These are all plays that the 2002 team would have made. For whatever reason, it just wasn't in the cards.
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I think everyone agrees that the defense was ready and played at NC level and that by the end of the season both offense and defense were at that level, then you're argument is back to coulda, woulda, shoulda...

Tressel put the kids in a position to win each game, and a national championship, which is far more than we ever would have gotten from Cooper. The players didn't come through, I don't think it is entirely on the coaches.
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Of course it's a combination of the two, but for 2 years OSU had had a miserable running game and by the end of the 04 season OSU knew Smith was the QB who could be the difference maker and for whatever reasons he wasn't ready to play and OSU still didn't have the reliable running game necessary to make the Zwick-drop-back-passer offense work.

I'll take a loss to Texas if it means beating Michigan and winning the Big 10. I'm sure Tressel made the best decisions he could at the time, but starting Zwick and not having Smith ready are two decisions I think Tressel would like to have over again.
 
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martinss01 said:
so had those mistakes not been made texas would have scored 50+ on the bucks eh?
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Really, aren't you paying attention? Every single play Texas ran against every opponent last season would have gone for a TD if somebody hadn't made a mistake!

After all, Texas did hang 50+ on UL Lafayette, Rice, Missouri, Texas Tech, Baylor, Kansas and Colorado -- all paragons of defensive excellence, no doubt. Clearly they could have done that to anyone else if they so chose.

jerkit.gif
 
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