Game Thread Game Two: Texas 25, Ohio State 22 (final)

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Perhaps, the SI CURSE?!




.. err, wait, see: playing calling, like in my other two posts I've created tonight

 

[Bucklion]

He played fairly bad (as a WR), plain and simple, in my opinion. He dropped the couple like you said, and he never got open. Not much you can do to get him the ball passing when that happens. They could have used some runs with him....I thought they would do that, but they didn't.

 

[methomps]

He was probably in Santonio's hands since that beast caught everything.

 

[AirForceBuck]

As I said before in another post...Teddy Ginn only had THREE - YES! THATS RIGHT ONLY 3!!! - touches from the line of scrimmage! I didnt know if he was a lil too nervous, he had some growing pains, he wasn't getting open, or we just didn't have enough faith to throw it down field?! The only thing I saw of him was two drop passes and them him telling Smith that he wanted it thrown in a certain spot to him. He, unfortunately, is a victim of his own successes last year. They were gunning for him, no doubt, with two man coverages and spies. However, if you plan on being Ohio State number one flanker and donning a coveted #7 on your jersey - you better be prepared for EVERY play, every game - to respect the former greats who have touted it (Joey Galloway, Chris Gamble, and even J Tressel at BW). We needed him to step up from "getting it done" to "outstanding playmaker" and it didn't happen. Too many questions to know the breakdowns. I will give my props to Holmes and Gonzolez for making beautiful catches and helping to sustain drives.

Who knows - maybe our OC saw things we didn't?? - We wont know until next week....

Go Bucks!

 

[NFBuck]

And I hate to say that, because I respect the coaches a lot, but it didn't do us much good tonight.

You're not alone. Troy had the O moving pretty consistently all night. I am no one to question the staff's decision to put JZ in there for the last drive. But I know I wouldn't have done it

 

[808 Buck]

There are a lot of positives that can be taken from tonight:
1. Our back defensive seven players are pretty darn good.
2. The kicking game is as solid as ever. This will be huge in the Big 10.
3. We ran the ball fairly well on first down. I'd like to think that our OL and
RB are improving.
4. This team has heart. Denying Texas a final TD after the late fumble
shows this.
5. Once again in a big game, Tressel put us in a position to win. Granted,
there were decisions that we as fans will question, but we had our shot.
How can we get better:
1. Settle the QB issue and define our offensive identity.
2. The DL needs to step up. We have seen flashes from Pitcock and Kudla
but more is needed.
3. Find some semblance of a red zone package.

 

[stagtennis]

im sorry but i think JZ actually looked in command of the offense.. maybe it ws just me....but that is ust my opinion. we need to name a starter from here on out....

 

[BrockSamson]

the Horns' young RBs now realize that college ball is not 'just like high school,' though Charles seems to be legit... did Ramonce Taylor have ANY touches?

Ramonce didn't line up (or atleast didn't get carries) at RB. He had two receptions at WR with little success. Oh, and he ran that lucky kick return.

Both teams left a lot of points out there. The red zone Ds for both teams beat the red zone Os. The game could have gotten into the high-30s for both teams if they could finish off the drives.

Overall, I like what I saw out of our team. Various players are stepping up, and the intangibles are there.

 

[lvbuckeye]

You're not alone. Troy had the O moving pretty consistently all night. I am no one to question the staff's decision to put JZ in there for the last drive. But I know I wouldn't have done it

Troy threw several ill-advised passes, that by all rights should have been picked off... at least three hit a defender, who couldn't reel it in... i think that despite the lack of TDs from Justin, he was better than Troy in this game... it wasn't Justin's fault that TG2, Gonzo, Hamby, et all dropped so many passes that hit them in the hands... i think that Tressel's rationale was that it was better to have a dropped pass than a possible interception...

at least HALF of JZ's incompletions were drops...

 

[powerlifter]

Texas is a great team..Congrats to them. Ohio State flat out deserved this loss. For the life of me I can't get out of my head how you don't score more then one touchdown when you have Ted Ginn and Holmes as wideouts...It's simply amazing I didn't see more gimmick plays to just let someone run wild.

Last week I seen a buckeye team they were lining up 4 wide, passing all over hell and back. Tonight(grant it texas is a great team) I got to see the good ol I form..Putting up no points once again..

It honestly seemed like every pass,whoever was the qb for osu was running the ball instead of passing it..A lot of that is a testament to the Texas d...Some of it is just a lack of people getting open.

I honestly was just getting to a point where i was hoping Ted Ginn would play qb again since noone bothered passing the ball. Hell at least he's faster then smith or zwick. If you arent gonna throw it makes no difference.

When you have a possible 42 points you have have scored and come away with 15...Maybe once or twice you say..Our players didn't execute..Maybe another mishap...But sooner or later you have to say we aren't calling the right plays to get the job done..period...There's no excuse for not getting into the endzone with that much talent..

 

[ProdigyDub]

I just wanted to clarify one thing...

That was not 1/4th of the Longhorn Band. It was more like 2/3's. Normally away games call for a 50 or so member band, but for this game considering it's magnitude, we worked it out to get more than 200 of the 360 band members up there. That's one of the reasons it was so loud (though I'm not sure why it was louder on TV than the OSU band, that makes no sense).

 

[AirForceBuck]

Next week its San Diego St. We NEED a solid QB that an offense can gel with on every down. We NEED a BIG win! We need this win to be bigger and stronger than Miami (OH) and a complete shutout. Before the game Demetrius Stanley (former OSU WR) said that we should start Troy and if he doesnt play well, put in Zwick, and then ride the WHOLE GAME out with the best performer. I agree, and he should know as an alumni. After Justin failed two drives in a row to motivate the team, Troy took over the reins in the secnd quarter down 10-0 to ralley the troops to 10-16. Before Smith came in our whole team was down. Our defensive mood had no spunk because our offense had no spark - till Smith. Heading into the half OSU had all the momentum and the offense knew how to play with Smith behind them. They came out and there was Justin behind center - ??!. Zwick has the talent, I love the kid to death. HOWEVER, Smith is more athletic and brings a demension to this team that no Justin cant seem to do. Smith seemed more effective when he would throw on the run rather than dumping it over the middle for an incomplete like Justins. Personally, we would have won that game if we would had kept Justin in the entire game. The momentum was everything against #2 Texas and Justin just didnt have it. We found out the hard way and now its time for Tressel to sit their ass's down in his office Monday and say "HEY! We've got Iowa in 2 weeks, and we need a blowout win this week. What I need from you is a competetion this week to prove who is #1 and who rides pine until he takes over the top spot!"

Justin is now 5-4 as a starter (with a helping hand in demolishing OK St.).
Troy is 4-1 (with a blowout win on Michigan).

Make a choice Mr. Tressel! Please, now is the time to be a coach and not a friend.

 

[AirForceBuck]

I just wanted to clarify one thing...

That was not 1/4th of the Longhorn Band. It was more like 2/3's. Normally away games call for a 50 or so member band, but for this game considering it's magnitude, we worked it out to get more than 200 of the 360 band members up there. That's one of the reasons it was so loud (though I'm not sure why it was louder on TV than the OSU band, that makes no sense).

Sorry, couldnt quite hear the bands over 105,500 people. THAT was the only noise you could hear. Sometimes when a bit settled down you could hear the bells ringing though.

 

[SC"U"Mbuster]

Teddy needed more touches, plain and simple. No matter what he did the first few times he touched the ball, he needed more because he can strike at any time, from anywhere on the field. Even if the schemes aren't perfectly suited to him on every play, we need to get him the ball more often to let him do his thing...turn on the afterburners and blaze into the end zone. He should be getting 15-20+ touches a game, not 3-7 touches.

 

[lvbuckeye]

i'm pretty sure that if TG2's 3 touches hadn't gone for 0 (dropped pass right in his hands), 0 (dropped pass, just a tiny bit behind him, which he should have caught and not started bitching at the QB about) and minus-whatever yards (defense busted up an end-around, and Teddy gave ground) he would have gotten a few more touches... you are only going to get so many chances to be productive before your window of opportunity gets slammed shut...

as an aside, though he ran out of gas, i am now a solid Tony Pittman fan... that kid left it ALL out there on the field... i think it's too bad Tressel didn't give Maurice Wells at least a shot out there... he's very fast, and maybe could have gotten something going... i hope we see a steady dose of those two against San Diego State...