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

[martinss01]

Just to recap things, overall we looked pretty good, and I'm very happy with the win.

• Smith looked sharp

i think id venture more along the line of, troy was lights out tonight. i thought he was a little rough last week. but one thing the talking heads were right about. troy is without question a big game qb.

• Gonzalez WAS perhaps the most underrated player in college football... not anymore

it absolutely blows my mind that opposing teams are still being "surprised" by gonzo...? htf can you study our film and this kid not jump out at you? *shrug* not my problem. heres to opposing teams continuing to overlook him.
:cheers:

• The pass defense is the heart of our defense, and I can't remember a pass defense so solid under Tressel

hmmm... i think its early to make that statement. texas nor niu really attacked us in the air. primarily because both teams enjoyed a decent amount of success on the ground and the only one with similar/same talent was starting a freshman qb. not to say your statement is wrong. im just not ready to agree with you yet :p.

• The rushing defense and tackling HAVE TO step up; it's early in the season, and there's plenty of time for improvement. However, with such a tough schedule, we can't progress slowly

agreed. the biggest weakness i see is tackling in the open field, shedding blocks, taking proper angles, and ATTACKING the ball. but they are still young yet and while i haven't rewatched the game yet. i think they did much better this week than last. this could be a lights out d by the end of the year.

• The kicking needs to step up, too; I'm VERY unimpressed with the kicking game (one of the areas where we've always been solid at, under Tressel

eh, field goals are a mixed bag. if you recall even nuge had a rough freshman year. to be perfectly honest, im very happy with our kicking game. sure the field goals are iffy. how bout the long punts, kickoffs, and very nice coverage for both?

ya know... the field goal issue might be our fault. has anyone been chanting the kickers names? hmmm..

 

[Adam Locked]

How true is this. And the fact that they wouldn't shutup about VY during the broadcast tells you how important he was to that school. Face it, they couldn't win without him before he came there, and they can't win after.

... Although I thought that McCoy kid was real good. He took some serious shots in the face all throughout the game. He only threw the ball downfield like maybe 3 times the whole game though. They really didn't give him an opportunity to do anything special.

 

[kinch]

It bears repeating that Texas did not adequately attack our pass D in a way that would define it. For now our DB's rating is an incomplete. I believe in them, but this game was not a defining one.

 

[FriscoBuckeye]

Thanks Badger, who else are you missing this year??

GO BUCKS!

 

[ashlandbuck]

IMHO, Texas won the battle in the trenches. Very strange to see the more physically dominant team lose so badly. Ohio State's O-line looked suspect at times

I disagree. Strongly disagree. You are not giving the O line enough credit for protecting Troy Smith. He simply wasn't pressured very often. They did a good job of picking up blitzes. Yeah, Pittman didn't have 100 yards rushing.
He was 21 yards short. The Bucks had almost 350 yards of offense against one of the top five teams in the country. You do not lose in the trenches and put up 350 yards of offense and score 24 points.
Boone had some serious mistakes, the movement penalty in the second half was huge when JT wanted to start wearing down the Texas Defense by running the ball. It forced them into a passing situation. Boone is still very young and these mistakes will happen. But again, that is just a few instances out of how many offensive plays that were run?
The O line did a hell of job and did not lose many battles, let alone the war

 

[SanClementeBuck]

post game I watched ex-nd coach and M. May unenthusiastically remark on the Buck's victory over Texas. Neither "sport entertainer" had much to say.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

I disagree. Strongly disagree. You are not giving the O line enough credit for protecting Troy Smith. He simply wasn't pressured very often. They did a good job of picking up blitzes. Yeah, Pittman didn't have 100 yards rushing.
He was 21 yards short. The Bucks had almost 350 yards of offense against one of the top five teams in the country. You do not lose in the trenches and put up 350 yards of offense and score 24 points.
Boone had some serious mistakes, the movement penalty in the second half was huge when JT wanted to start wearing down the Texas Defense by running the ball. It forced them into a passing situation. Boone is still very young and these mistakes will happen. But again, that is just a few instances out of how many offensive plays that were run?
The O line did a hell of job and did not lose many battles, let alone the war

I saw Smith under a lot of pressure, more than I can remember (maybe PSU last year?). Pittman had a couple of nice holes (one on third and long when everyone was expecting pass), but Texas pretty much stuffed the run tonight. But hey, let's give Texas some credit - they have a couple of All Big 12 d-linemen (Frank Okam and Tim Crowder), and Brian Robison played a great game.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

Whoever did the stats at the top of the page needs to fix them. Troy Smith is 35/52 not 35/58.

 

[martinss01]

i think lou is dead on. garalitis had a GREAT game tonight. someone needs to interview that sanatonio holmes guy on gonzo's play *snickers*. atleast noone said garnet and grey today hehe.

 

[ashlandbuck]

post game I watched ex-nd coach and M. May unenthusiastically remark on the Buck's victory over Texas. Neither "sport entertainer" had much to say.

I did like that Holtz said he was finished doubting this defense with so many new starters. They won him over tonight.
Mays is an Ass. It seems the whole game came down to Three dropped passes by UT players. He gave no credit to OSU at all.

 

[kinch]

I saw Smith under a lot of pressure, more than I can remember (maybe PSU last year?). Pittman had a couple of nice holes (one on third and long when everyone was expecting pass), but Texas pretty much stuffed the run tonight. But hey, let's give Texas some credit - they have a couple of All Big 12 d-linemen (Frank Okam and Tim Crowder), and Brian Robison played a great game.

Smith did a great job today of making the pressure not look as intense as it was. He threw it away, scrambled a bit for some time a few times, and got rid of the ball at the right time all day. This, to me, made the pressure look less impressive than it was. It also shows the maturity and intelligence of Smith.

 

[t_BuckeyeScott]

My bro and I spent a lot of time laughing at Musberger - he's a B10 homer but does he ever know what he's talking about. He managed to say that Cris Carter and Eddie George played togethter.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Smith did a great job today of making the pressure not look as intense as it was. He threw it a way, scrambled a bit for some time a few times, and got rid of the ball at the right time all day. This, to me, made the pressure look less impressive than it was. It also shows the maturity and intelligence of Smith.

Agreed!

 

[martinss01]

I saw Smith under a lot of pressure, more than I can remember (maybe PSU last year?). Pittman had a couple of nice holes (one on third and long when everyone was expecting pass), but Texas pretty much stuffed the run tonight. But hey, let's give Texas some credit - they have a couple of All Big 12 d-linemen (Frank Okam and Tim Crowder), and Brian Robison played a great game.

yep, i think texas' d line played to atleast a draw tonight against our o line. and anytime the d line pulls out a draw, thats a win for the d. though as i watched the game we seemed to got more and more push as the game went on. makes you wonder how things would have progressed without the time limit changes. it makes games shorter and as a result, helps to keep offensive lines from exhausting d's.

 

[Adam Locked]

That defensive play in the endzone in the third quarter, I believe, was HUGE. I think they were throwing to Sweed (?) and I forget who was covering him. The pass ended up being out of bounds anyway, but he still made a great 1 on 1 defensive play.