L.A. Blues ... or some post-game thoughts

[matcar]

So much talk before the game about our receivers getting space and seperation. I actually thought our receivers were open quite a bit and doing a good job in that dept. There was some good dialog from Grad about how vanilla we were in prior games and how the routes chosen etc would probably open up the space. I thought that was enlightening discussion. So, I thought I'd ask this: I was amazed at how much space the USC tailbacks were operating in. Is this just a classic example of an O-line doing it's job or is there something different about the USC attack that gives them space. Sheesh, once you see their quick tailbacks in space, you can see why they are so damn good. Yeah, they have some special backs, but they had room to operate with even before they got to the line. Just wondering if that really all just boils down to o-lines doing their job well, or if there is some design that USC exploits well.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

f. Todd Boeckman. After the Penn State game last year, do you remember that some people were actually touting Todd Boeckman for the Heisman Trophy?

I remember a certain someone saying he might be better than Troy.

 

[OH10]

Great post. I can't say that I disagree with anything said, except I believe the focus has to be on whomever will give this team the best chance to win the Rose Bowl... which has to be the goal right now. I haven't seen enough to convince that it's either Pryor or Boeckman, so play 'em both for now.

But win now. Not next year. Not 2010. Rose Bowl. Now. In the time B.T. (Before Tressel), we would have considered that a successful season.

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

I've already made a few posts about my thoughts, so I thought I'd compile them, categorize them and then come up with a few solutions to these problems.

Offense
Problems on the surface: lack of line play. lack of discipline. lack of big play abilities. prone to turnover.

Problems beneath the surface: game calling that kills momentum when we are moving the ball and breeds panic when we aren't. You can't tell me when you did your best as a coaching staff when you managed to give Beanie four carries against LSU in the 2nd quarter while the game was being decided, when one of the four runs went for 29 yards and prior to that, the dude had 89 yards in one quarter of rushing alone. Likewise, you can't tell me that you did your best as a coaching staff when you repeatedly takes Pryor out of the game when he was having success passing and running, and attempts to artificially insert some sort of unnatural 'balance' when every one on the other team, heck, the whole stadium, knew what was coming. And most especially you can't expect and shouldn't expect much sympathy after doing this for two years in a row (three if you think that Pittman was woefully under-utilized against Florida). And the worst part about it is, this philosophy only excerbate the lack of line play and the lack of big play abilities. Before this problem surfaced at SC, we were moving the ball fine and our linemen weren't getting killed.

Solution to the problems on surface: like I said, by addressing the deeper problem, the lack of line play and the lack of big play abilities aren't even that big of an issue. The lack of discipline with all the flags is a big issue, and so are turnovers, but I think these are localized issues and can be overcome in the course of a ballgame.

Solution to the deeper problem: without any changes in the makeup of the coordinators or changes in the delegation of offensive responsibilities, the only solution here is that we have a flawless passing game or a flawless running game. The absence of one will drown out the effectiveness of the other because of our insistence on establishing a predicatable and balanced attack.

Defense

Problem on the surface: lack of strength and quickness on the DL that allows the opponent freedom of action at the point of attack.

Problem beneath the surface: lack of aggression and tackling instincts, even when the chance to make the tackle is right there. As much as SC dominated the line of scrimage, had we made the tackles against McKnight that we should have made while he was stopped to a complete halt in the backfield, his yardage could have easily been cut in half. I agree with osugrad that this DLine has prevented the defense from being a great one, but it should not prevent them from being a very good one.

Solutions: recruit guys who can burst off the line of scrimage, like Adams or Mobley. Forget about bringing guys who can be versatile against the spread, and instead bring guys who are bigger and love to tackle. We did try to attack the SC QB a lot last night, but couldn't get to him. Gotta blitze more from the edge where it's less likely to get stuffed in the pile.

And I agree that it's time to give the young guys more of a shot. Chekwa stood out IMO. Shurgarts is another guy who can be a great one. Definitely more pt for Pryor.

 

[Sportsbuck28]

My concern about starting and playing Pryor as the first string QB is that he will be forced to play behind our first-string offensive line. And that bunch, ladies and gentlemen, have made it clear that they will put our QB at great risk against any but the weakest defenses.

Having Pryor at QB forces defenses to change their style. For Boeckman, USC could pin their ears back and bring anyone they wanted to because he lacks the escapability, but when Pryor was in the game they were forced to slow down and read and react instead of always attacking.

- We also need to establish a vertical passing game. Those little screens and hitches don't work if USC doesn't respect the vertical passing game and on top of that I don't think we tried a deep ball at all outside of the one to Robo that got called back because of holding.
- And get Dane the ball more. This kid is tough as nails, he took a huge hit from the USC safety and held onto the ball.
- Boeckman made a lot of throws that should've been picked off as well.
- Our LB's definately need to improve in terms of block shedding, because once they got engaged they weren't breaking free.

 

[Buckeneye]

I volunteered to go to work today, because I damn near fell ill from watching last nights game, I wanted some time to think about what happened before I posted on here. Here it goes.

It was so reminiscent of 1/8/07 that its not even funny. We had a great opening, and it wen't downhill at the first sign of trouble.

There are some things I want to say. First, I'll start with the good.

*Our recievers - they finally got separation in man, and found holes in the zone defense; thats fantastic, and we've been waiting to see it. You can tell Small is working hard, he looked solid, Sanzo had some moments, and Robo should have had that TD save the penatly.

* Chimdi - I think he's gonna be a stud next year, I know you saw that pick; it was sexy, great eye on the ball, field and his man. Great pure athlete.

*Boom - fought for some tough yards, I'm proud.

*Pryor - SC paid respect to his mobility, and when they thought he would throw, he made their D pay... I loved seeing that. He made quick decisions and was probably one of our best weapons.


Bad

*Our Dline. Specifically tackles. No inside pressure what-so-ever, making a 4 man front useless most of the time. There were a couple instances where LW broke through, and that was great to see. I love Nader and our DT's, but they can't produce what we truly need - a nasty edge in our front four.

I remember looking over at my brother when I saw Mcknight in, and said "weak side sweep"... whadda know, sweep for 14 yards, their oline knocking us right off the ball.

*Cover 3 - I don't want to see us play it the rest of the year.

*The Oline & Beockman. Not a bash, but Herbie was right, when Beockman was in there, USC knew two important things. 1) TB holds onto the ball far too long 2) they could come after him because he dances or panics. Great guy, but when he's see's both outside linebackers coming on the blitz (pre-snap) does Tressel not have the confidence to let him call audibles?

And whats with the fake hand-offs and rollouts? Todd had several underthrown balls, not to mention the USC defense was coming after him... why continue to do something that doesn't work?

I believe it was 3rd and 1 in the first half and we lined up to run. I remember this team being able to execute, block properly and get enough push to move the chains. I didnt see that from our line last night. We use to be able to say, "were lining up in the I, coming right at you... try and fucking stop us"

The Oline took the first few games last year to mesh, I didn't think we would need a repeat after replacing just one starter.


*Play action* Couldn't do it last night, not quite enough threat in the run, coupled with the fact that again, when Beockman was in... they just sent the heat. - I would love to see some downfield passing here sooner more than later.




- Other thoughts

I want to see the killer instinct back on this team, especially on defense, Heacock did a superb job with our group in 05, and for the most part 06...
(save scUM and UF) I don't think he's our man anymore - sadly to say.

Jenkins, Freeman & Animal, you guys played hard on the 1st til the last snap... god love you for it.

Pryor, a freshman trying to get his team motivated, great seeing that. I can't repeat this more, but he's going to be special (x1000 times over.)

I'd still like to reserve my ticket, room and flight for Pasadena, no shame in it.

USC, you played a helluva game - Petey & staff, kudos too you - I'd say Miami bound if you don't trip your own selves up.


We still have the rest of the season, and the Big10 to win. Unfortunately, our goals were higher this year, and I really wanted our seniors to go out on the highest note possible. However we really need to beat a solid opponent come bowl season, because I can begin to see Buckeye Nation starting to wear down from our (lack of) spot-light preformances.




I'm still Scarlet and Grey, not sure about some though...


:osu:

 

[Gatorubet]

On the game thread I posted a more negative deal. So here I want to offer up this:

In 1983, Florida absolutely mauled the Miami Hurricanes 28-3, and yet they went on to grab their first National Championship with a victory over the #1 ranked Nebraska Corn Huskers in the Orange Bowl. Football happens.

 

[Sportsbuck28]

On the game thread I posted a more negative deal. So here I want to offer up this:

In 1983, Florida absolutely mauled the Miami Hurricanes 28-3, and yet they went on to grab their first National Championship with a victory over the #1 ranked Nebraska Corn Huskers in the Orange Bowl. Football happens.

Yeah, but Miami had Florida SPEEED!

 

[OregonBuckeye]

I've sprinkled my thoughts across different threads but I'll sum them up in this one too. I'll try not to bash anyone.

QB: Pryor is a leader and believes himself. Todd isn't and doesn't. The future needs to start next week if we ever want to get back to the elite.

RB: Boom and Zoom run tough. Zoom's game is power and moving the pile, not speed, oddly enough. That's fine with me. With the state our OL is in, we need all the power backs we can get.

FB: Didn't play much. I don't understand why we don't design passing plays for former TE Smith out of the backfield like USC does with Havili. Our FB's aren't great blockers but at the very least we can get some use out of Smith by forcing DC's to gameplan for his ability to catch the ball.

OL: What happened to Cordle "The Technician"? Only semi-bright spot was Shugarts who is the only OL on the team I've seen play with a mean streak. Time to play Adams, Brewster, and Shugarts more. I thought Browning and Boone were going to be 1st team all Big-10 tackles for us. :(

WR: Seemed to play better but also ran predictable routes. Where are the double moves? Hard to judge WR play though. I'm usually concentrating on the backfield. QB's just didn't get them the ball. I thought we were going to see Posey. What happened?

TE: Where the hell were they? When USC was blitzing us to death a TE would've been a perfect outlet. Have them run a delayed curl route or something. Ridiculous that we don't use them ever.

DL: I thought the ends would get more pressure than they did. Another position I'd like to see the frosh more involved. If Keith Wells and Nate Williams are the second coming of Will Smith and Darrion Scott, get them some pt already! Slide Heyward and maybe Rose down to DT.

LB: JL played better than last week. Freeman got burnt for a TD by a FB and he's supposed to be our most athletic LB. I expected more of an impact from Homan too. Back-ups like Rolle and 'Bino should see more time.

DB: Jenkins and Hines are our only solid tacklers in space. Jenkins made some great plays on McKnight. Chekwa displayed flashes but is still a work in progress. Russell has regressed. He is being toyed with in pass coverage and is only making tackles at the end of 20 yard runs. He's playing like a poor man's Zbikowski. :dead: Coleman's toeing the line of becoming the next Bam Childress. Makes plays throughout the offseason, then nothing during the season. At least he's starting, something Bam didn't do.

ST: Zero improvement from last year. Unbelievable.

Coaching: Forget the X's & O's for a sec. Why is this team mentally soft? This isn't a team dominated by frosh and soph's. This is a team with 40+ seniors. I believe this is the root of our problems. Our teams are getting scared by the big dogs and it is frightening. This team needs some new blood. Also, something has to change with the offensive playcalling. I don't know who calls the plays or if it's split between Bollman or Tress but whatever they're doing isn't working. Whether that means one or the other taking over playcalling full time or Bollman being let go, it needs to happen.

Time to light a fire under not only this team's ass but the program's. Our program will decline if we don't just like scUM's did under Carr.

 

[stowfan]

Due to JT's player loyalty, I don't see any major changes because of this game. The Buckeyes may go 9-4, but it will be with JT's men who stayed for their senior year. Jt would love to have them all end up high draft picks, and they can't do it sitting on the bench.

Terrell and the youngsters will play and if TP's passing improves, watch out next year. I'm just hoping the next time the chips are down, JT says Todd I'm sorry but Terrell has to play the second half. My question after the game was; were the USC recruits that much better than ours or did SC's coaches do a better job of developing them? :osu:

 

[brutus2002]

Actually Jenkins helped with the wrong receiver on that play. Freeman on Havili is a mismatch...thats why USC calls that play at least once a game. Jenkins should have helped Freeman over the top...if he would have thats an Int instead of a TD reception.

We can win the B10, our BCS bowl, and beat Michigan...not a bad season whatsoever. Michigan got beat by 18 by a horrible ND team. I really don't feel that bad...we could be Michigan.

The defense gave up 28 points. IMO thats not that bad. USC at home...almost unbeatable. I remember a few years wen they beat Arkansas alot worse than they beat us then ARK went on to play for the SEC championship IIRC. If the offense would have scored more they might have only hung 21 on us.

Honestly, My heart told me we could win but my head said 38-21. If we would have had Beanie it would have been a better game.

I hope this is when this team circles the wagons. This is when they need to wake up. The only team in the B10 that can go toe to toe with us is PSU. I know they have played cupcakes but they have looked dominant.

Tommorow in the heart of SEC country (Alabama) I will be wearing my OSU gear. It is time to move on.

 

[westbrock]

Nicely stated LJB. I especially agree with "The Future is Now" portion. I think we have seen the limits of potential for some of the offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and Boeckman. They don't seem capable of taking us where we ultimately want to be. TP and Block O are not ready to take us there yet, but I do think it is time to begin the process to see if they can.

Rather than get pissed off at the experienced players and insult them on this board, keep in mind their dedication to the team and sacrifices they have made. I admit I don't do this while watching the games, but I am certain that the defensive line, offensive line and Boeckman are suffering from last night more than anyone on this site.

 

[sparcboxbuck]

- And get Dane the ball more. This kid is tough as nails, he took a huge hit from the USC safety and held onto the ball.

... and let's start doing it in a way that he doesn't have to take the huge hit where ALL look at someone sitting next to us and say, "Wow, he caught that? You remember the hit that Minny laid on Small? Man, that hit that Dane just took reminds me of Small getting his bell rung."

 

[buckeyemania11]

I remember a certain someone saying he might be better than Troy.

and Mel Kiper called him "the next Tom Brady"



I think Mel loses some (if he ever had any) credibility for that one

 

[daveeb]

f. Todd Boeckman. After the Penn State game last year, do you remember that some people were actually touting Todd Boeckman for the Heisman Trophy?

[sarcasm]Guys, we can blame Michigan for this. Desmond Howard was the man who started this. Desmond Howard caused us to lose to Illinois, LSU, and USC. Desmond Howard is as accountable for our lack of success as Ty Willingham is for the lack of success at Notre Dame. By that, I mean, he is very very VERY accountable.[/sarcasm]