cablebuck
Half Man, Half Buckeye
This is the question I've been asking myself since the end of the Purdue game. The only logical conclusion I can come up with is that OSU will win if they 1. win the turnover battle, 2. keep the score low like 12-10, 3. score on special teams, 4. play better pass defense.
There are a few things I'm really worried about.
1. The defensive play calling. For instance- OSU ties the game vs. Purdue 17-17 with about 4 minutes left. The game is tied and OSU goes into PREVENT defense!!!!!!! The DB's play 15 yards off the ball the entire drive and the result- Orton goes 6-6 for about 80 yards and throws the game winning TD. Why in the name of all things sacred does OSU ALWAYS play that sorry freaking zone defense. Opposing teams chew up huge chunks of yardage and the defense is left with their backs against the wall in the red zone. If they play this defense vs. mich they'll get killed by 30 points. They might want to consider putting TG2 on Edwards to keep him from having a 15 catch-200 yard day.
2. Troy Smith won't throw the ball. His move is to take a drop, look for 1-2 seconds, then tuck it and run. He is afraid of throwing the INT, so he chucks it out of bounds or tries to run. The bad thing is that he's not getting all that much out of the run. And considering he threw 2 INTs vs. Purdue he's gonna be even more reluctant to throw it vs. Mich. How will OSU be able to move the ball? He did make a great throw to Holmes, but opportunities like that one were out there all day.
2. Ginn- he didn't play very well vs. Purdue. Two drops and one resulted in an INT. He lined up in the backfield most of the day vs. Purdue and mostly only ran routes into the flat to get a swing pass- only 1 was thrown to him. He had 7 touches , but he needs more. How do they get him the ball? Everyone will be keying on him and Purdue did a good job of it. Michigan won't punt to him. Purdue was happy with punting it 25 yards straight up in the air, instead of letting him get his hands on it (only 1 return). Purdue knew that even if they gave up field position, OSU wouldn't be able to move it far anyway. Ted Ginn Jr. was the scoring punch OSU needed for 3 games in a row. Now I don't know how OSU will be able to utilize him more. I thought that having him in their as a threat would open things up for the running and passing game, but I was wrong.
He had 2 carries for 47 yards. If he isn't utilized more vs. mich OSU won't have a chance of seeing the end zone.
I am the model of optimism about 99.9 % of the time, but I don't think I ever been more concerned about an OSU-mich game than this one.
I hope the Buckeyes find a way to prove me wrong.
:osu:
There are a few things I'm really worried about.
1. The defensive play calling. For instance- OSU ties the game vs. Purdue 17-17 with about 4 minutes left. The game is tied and OSU goes into PREVENT defense!!!!!!! The DB's play 15 yards off the ball the entire drive and the result- Orton goes 6-6 for about 80 yards and throws the game winning TD. Why in the name of all things sacred does OSU ALWAYS play that sorry freaking zone defense. Opposing teams chew up huge chunks of yardage and the defense is left with their backs against the wall in the red zone. If they play this defense vs. mich they'll get killed by 30 points. They might want to consider putting TG2 on Edwards to keep him from having a 15 catch-200 yard day.
2. Troy Smith won't throw the ball. His move is to take a drop, look for 1-2 seconds, then tuck it and run. He is afraid of throwing the INT, so he chucks it out of bounds or tries to run. The bad thing is that he's not getting all that much out of the run. And considering he threw 2 INTs vs. Purdue he's gonna be even more reluctant to throw it vs. Mich. How will OSU be able to move the ball? He did make a great throw to Holmes, but opportunities like that one were out there all day.
2. Ginn- he didn't play very well vs. Purdue. Two drops and one resulted in an INT. He lined up in the backfield most of the day vs. Purdue and mostly only ran routes into the flat to get a swing pass- only 1 was thrown to him. He had 7 touches , but he needs more. How do they get him the ball? Everyone will be keying on him and Purdue did a good job of it. Michigan won't punt to him. Purdue was happy with punting it 25 yards straight up in the air, instead of letting him get his hands on it (only 1 return). Purdue knew that even if they gave up field position, OSU wouldn't be able to move it far anyway. Ted Ginn Jr. was the scoring punch OSU needed for 3 games in a row. Now I don't know how OSU will be able to utilize him more. I thought that having him in their as a threat would open things up for the running and passing game, but I was wrong.
He had 2 carries for 47 yards. If he isn't utilized more vs. mich OSU won't have a chance of seeing the end zone.
I am the model of optimism about 99.9 % of the time, but I don't think I ever been more concerned about an OSU-mich game than this one.
I hope the Buckeyes find a way to prove me wrong.
:osu: