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- Thread starter LordJeffBuck
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OregonBuckeye
Semper Fi Buckeyes
One more problem I remembered: Angles. This D has never been taught how to properly take angles. A lot of USC's big plays could've been limited just by someone taking a better angle. That was one of the major reasons the '02 D contained Cryami's explosive skill players. The fundamentals are just not there all around and if they're not there now with so many veterans on this team, when can we expect them? Changes are in order and I really hope they're made in time for next season. A lot of talent is on the way to Columbus(Brew Crew, Storm Troopers, etc.) but similar results await if things don't change.
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mercer_buckeye
Hall of Fame
strohs;1260273; said:
Totally agree. Even fucking Kirk "Lost my Manhood for Cash" Herbstreit said it, "The entire offense looks better with TP behind center." It's not just the QB postion.
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First off, awesome post LJB. Very little I disagree with. What I disagree with is that I think most of our seniors still give us the best chance to win (especially Jenkins, Lil Animal, and much of the defense). Not all of them, but most of them. Now I do agree that many of our big '08 guys (Posey, Flash, Pryor, Brew, Shugarts, Adams, Sabino, etc.) need more PT, and meaningful PT at that. We need to get them some big game experience if we intend on making a run next year and so on. I'll address the specifics more in my post game thoughts, position by positon:
QB: Boeckman has had his chance and it's gone. Todd always starts off a game really well and as soon as we hit a little adversity, he just mentally collapses. I thought Todd played very well in the first couple of drives. Up until the Mauluga INT, I thought he was playing well. However, right after that pick, you could get ready for the broken record of last year's final 3 games, especially LSU. I know Todd has the skills but the problem is he doesn't have the mental toughness to be a winner in big games. He has had many chances to prove it (Illinois, Michigan, LSU, USC...) and has fell down every single time. Going into the year, in the back of my head, I wasn't really sure if Boeckman gave us the best shot at winning. I wanted like nothing else for him to succeed because you can tell he wants to help the team, but he just doesn't give us the best chance at winning. In his defense, our WR's don't ever help him out much and I don't think he has many weapons around him, especially with Beanie out. I thought the OL gave him plenty of time in most situations and TB still either throws an INT or gets sacked under pressure. He still never throws the ball away, partially because he has zero mobility to get out of the pocket. As for Pryor...he is our man. The guy is obviously our biggest offensive threat at this point and our offense seems to play so much better with him in. Not only is Terrelle a phenomenal athlete, he also has that bad mofo mentality. He will not accept defeat and makes players around him better. He was nothing but a winner at Jeanette (state champ in basketball and football), and he knows nothing else. While there are still question marks about his passing game, let them be answered in a game. Yes, he is a freshman and will make mistakes, but as many mistakes as Boeckman? I know Todd is a 6th year senior, but I actually think Pryor may actually make fewer mistakes. Maybe don't start Pryor, but at least give him 50% of the snaps next week. Don't pull him out after every play and don't make the playcalling too predicatable when he is in. Give him the option, passing, and draw plays. I think he is at his best when he takes off running on passing plays. Pryor was one of the few positives of last night.
RB: Let's face it...an offense with Boeckman at QB without Beanie is a recipe for disaster. Beanie took a lot of the pressure off of Boeckman to make plays. Beanie was the Heisman front runner (or near it) for a reason...he gave us the chance to beat USC and go to the NC game. Without him, our chances drastically decreased. Beanie would have helped last night...maybe he makes it closer. I thought Boom Herron had some flashes though and the OL made some nice holes for him. He is so reminiscent of Antonio Pittman imo. He is no Chris Wells but who is? Nobody, and that is why we need him so bad. I also thought Saine moved the pile alright, though I think he needs time to rest up because he has obviously lost some speed. I still think MoWells could be effective with Pryor in the pistol formation. He's got the quicks if we get him on the perimeter. Overall, I think we can win the next 2 games without Beanie, so I say get him as healthy as we can for the rest of the season. We need him against Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, and maybe Purdue.
WR: I was worried about WR coming into this game and those worries were affirmed. We have no downfield threat and opossing teams know it. Robiskie and Hartline are good possession receivers, nothing more, nothing less. As someone else said, they are both #2 WR's. Small has looked good and we need to try and go downfield to him more often. Sanzenbacher is good at times, but again, he is a possession type guy. This is another position where I would love to see some freshman PT. Let Posey and Thomas show what they can do. They both legit speed and can be effective. They may or may not do any better than Hartline or Robiskie, but how will we know until we give them a chance. I wouldn't even mind seeing Flash as the RB in the Pistol formation behind Pryor. Also, give Taurian Washington a shot. This is a position I thought we were loaded at going into the year, but I guess everyone is loaded going into the year. No offense to Robiskie, but I see him as a 3rd or 4th round pick at best.
TE: Not much to say here. Neither Nicol or Ballard had any catches and I didn't take note of their blocking. I was hoping Ballard would get involved with the passing game some more but maybe if Pryor is in he will.
OL: We had an up and down night here. At times, Boeckman got sacked because he took all day to throw it. The OL looks great when Pryor is in...I think it's a combo of the fact that they know he can break a big play (which can also be applied when Beanie is in), and that Pryor can actually get out of the pocket if the play brakes down. I hate to say it, but Alex Boone looked like a true freshman last night. He made 2 critical offsides penalties and the times Boeckman actually had no time to throw it, it was because Boone was confused on his blocking. He would be doubling a DE while a man comes off the edge untouched. That is unacceptable for a senior that could be a first round pick, and team captain. Ben Person's holding call was somewhat questionable, in the light that the ref's weren't calling jack on USC the first couple drives when they were holding. Overall, I thought the OL did a fairly good job against the best defense in the country.
DE: Overall, I was pretty disappointed with our play here. I was truly concerned with our struggle against OU and it carried over to last night. We were getting no pressure on the QB and Sanchez had all day to throw. On run plays, we were getting pushed wherever USC wanted to push us. Lawrence Wilson had his moments and he got held pretty bad on what would have been a sack on USC's first TD drive. Heyward was nowhere to be seen and the same with Gibson. It seems like Heyward is in a sophmore slump right now. Did Rose even play? I wouldn't mind seeing Wells and Williams some. I know the plan earlier was to play both of them and I wonder what happened to it? Again, they may not do any better, but could they do that much worse if they got some PT (I'm not calling for them to start, just get them some significant PT)? I think our play here has a chance of improving though because I do think the talent is there.
DT: Another broken record. This was the position I was most worried about and for good reason. Our DT's are complete non-factors. Not one single guy at DT ever demands a double team because he is a threat to disrupt plays. As I said earlier in the season, I don't really care if we don't get to the QB, just plug running lanes and let our LB's get to the ball. They haven't done that, they just handfight with the opposing OL, which the opposing OL will accept any day. I see no push in the trenches and this is where we got beat the worst last night, as LJB said. As I will always maintain, if you don't have a good interior DL, forget about having a consistent defense. We have our moments of brilliance from our LB's and DB's, but our DL underperforming won't cut it against the USC's of the world. A good interior DL is how you stop Joe McKnight...he had cutback lanes that I could have ran through. The only reason we could stop Miami's offense in '02 was because our DL was dominant. Here I have to say I have the opposite feeling of DE...I just don't think the talent is there at DT, so I don't plan on seeing much improvement, at least when we face a good OL like Penn State's. Hopefully Goebel, Mobley, and Rowell are going to take us to the next level.
LB: I think the talent is here but the guys in front of them aren't getting the job done. However, there were plays last night where Laurinaitis was getting dominated and completely wiped out of plays. My dad thinks he is totally overrated and I think he is still a good player. However, Mauluga is the better player imo. Freeman was absolutely toasted by USC's fullback...by their fullback. I know Havili is good but I just couldn't believe he got outran by a fullback. Homan, as LJB said, is not the next Hawk. I noticed Homan being submerged in his blocker frequently last night. Again, this might have been the DL's fault. I would like to see Sabino get some significant PT as well, as I think he could be the next great one here. I also think he can help us some, and now. Overall we will be alright but the DL is going to have to step it up.
DB: We have 2 great CB's in Chekwa and Jenkins. I thought both players played a great game last night, with Chekwa really surprising me. Jenkins is the best player on our team, minus Beanie. I fully expect him to go top 10 in the draft but I feel he will be our only top 10 pick. He has that attitude about him that the rest of the D needs to latch on to. Chekwa's INT in the endzone was a phenomenal play. At safety, I think we reach a weak spot in our defense. Russel didn't look very good last night and Coleman/Hines, were nowhere to be seen. Losing Clifford hurts us here imo. I was surprised to see none of DWash or O'Neal, but as far as I'm concerned, Chekwa has the starting spot now. I wouldn't mind seeing O'Neal get a shot at safety though. Overall I thought our DB's played pretty well last night, especially with the lack of pressure being put on Sanchez.
Special Teams: Not good. Trapasso wasn't booming 'em, we missed a big FG that swung a bunch of momentum, and the kick return game is still pathetic. Boom Herron runs straightline and doesn't seem very elusive to me and Saine still looks hurt. I would like to see Small, Posey, and/or Flash back there. Small has got the elusiveness, and Posey and Flash both have legit speed and moves. At least give them a shot. I realize the blocking isn't great on the returns (especially punt returns), but I don't feel either of Herron or Saine can make much happen.
Coaching: One of our lowest points in the Tressel regime was last night. We have been out-prepared by Florida, LSU, and USC in our losses. The playcalling last night was beyond predictable and very reserved. Not only did the player seem to have been playing not to lose, the playcalling seemed the same. The only time our playcalling was inventive we had the most immobile QB on our team running the option. Even if we had a Pearl Harbor scale surprise on their defense, he may have gained 5 yards. It was a surprise because we shouldn't be running Boeckman on an option. The worst to me was when we are first and goal on USC's 5 on the first drive. If you put Pryor in an empty set, you don't call a QB draw. Everyone in the stadium knew what they were running. It looked as if USC had 8 men in the box when the set was empty. Throw a screen, roll him out, run a reverse, or something else. Pryor is great but nobody can fight off an entire defense that knows what is coming. The only part of the coaching I liked was the first drive. We hit them in the mouth and surprised them. Rotating Pryor kept them on their heels but at a certain point, Pryor was the only one doing so and he needed to stay in for an entire drive. I admit to have quit watching the game for awhile when JT put Boeckman in when we got down 28-3...I just knew I was going to blow up. I felt like Cooper was sending in Stanley Jackson as Joe Germaine watched him run in. As for the defense...we never made any effective adjustments. That's about all I have to say about that. Overall, I know the coaching staff is better than this but we need to break through our tendancies and loyalty, to do what is best for the team. I wanted Boeckman to succeed and I feel terrible for the guy, but Pryor is what's best right now. Posey and some other freshman could be what's best, but haven't had the chance. In this regard, I agree that the future is now in terms of giving some younger guys a chance to prove themselves.
QB: Boeckman has had his chance and it's gone. Todd always starts off a game really well and as soon as we hit a little adversity, he just mentally collapses. I thought Todd played very well in the first couple of drives. Up until the Mauluga INT, I thought he was playing well. However, right after that pick, you could get ready for the broken record of last year's final 3 games, especially LSU. I know Todd has the skills but the problem is he doesn't have the mental toughness to be a winner in big games. He has had many chances to prove it (Illinois, Michigan, LSU, USC...) and has fell down every single time. Going into the year, in the back of my head, I wasn't really sure if Boeckman gave us the best shot at winning. I wanted like nothing else for him to succeed because you can tell he wants to help the team, but he just doesn't give us the best chance at winning. In his defense, our WR's don't ever help him out much and I don't think he has many weapons around him, especially with Beanie out. I thought the OL gave him plenty of time in most situations and TB still either throws an INT or gets sacked under pressure. He still never throws the ball away, partially because he has zero mobility to get out of the pocket. As for Pryor...he is our man. The guy is obviously our biggest offensive threat at this point and our offense seems to play so much better with him in. Not only is Terrelle a phenomenal athlete, he also has that bad mofo mentality. He will not accept defeat and makes players around him better. He was nothing but a winner at Jeanette (state champ in basketball and football), and he knows nothing else. While there are still question marks about his passing game, let them be answered in a game. Yes, he is a freshman and will make mistakes, but as many mistakes as Boeckman? I know Todd is a 6th year senior, but I actually think Pryor may actually make fewer mistakes. Maybe don't start Pryor, but at least give him 50% of the snaps next week. Don't pull him out after every play and don't make the playcalling too predicatable when he is in. Give him the option, passing, and draw plays. I think he is at his best when he takes off running on passing plays. Pryor was one of the few positives of last night.
RB: Let's face it...an offense with Boeckman at QB without Beanie is a recipe for disaster. Beanie took a lot of the pressure off of Boeckman to make plays. Beanie was the Heisman front runner (or near it) for a reason...he gave us the chance to beat USC and go to the NC game. Without him, our chances drastically decreased. Beanie would have helped last night...maybe he makes it closer. I thought Boom Herron had some flashes though and the OL made some nice holes for him. He is so reminiscent of Antonio Pittman imo. He is no Chris Wells but who is? Nobody, and that is why we need him so bad. I also thought Saine moved the pile alright, though I think he needs time to rest up because he has obviously lost some speed. I still think MoWells could be effective with Pryor in the pistol formation. He's got the quicks if we get him on the perimeter. Overall, I think we can win the next 2 games without Beanie, so I say get him as healthy as we can for the rest of the season. We need him against Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, and maybe Purdue.
WR: I was worried about WR coming into this game and those worries were affirmed. We have no downfield threat and opossing teams know it. Robiskie and Hartline are good possession receivers, nothing more, nothing less. As someone else said, they are both #2 WR's. Small has looked good and we need to try and go downfield to him more often. Sanzenbacher is good at times, but again, he is a possession type guy. This is another position where I would love to see some freshman PT. Let Posey and Thomas show what they can do. They both legit speed and can be effective. They may or may not do any better than Hartline or Robiskie, but how will we know until we give them a chance. I wouldn't even mind seeing Flash as the RB in the Pistol formation behind Pryor. Also, give Taurian Washington a shot. This is a position I thought we were loaded at going into the year, but I guess everyone is loaded going into the year. No offense to Robiskie, but I see him as a 3rd or 4th round pick at best.
TE: Not much to say here. Neither Nicol or Ballard had any catches and I didn't take note of their blocking. I was hoping Ballard would get involved with the passing game some more but maybe if Pryor is in he will.
OL: We had an up and down night here. At times, Boeckman got sacked because he took all day to throw it. The OL looks great when Pryor is in...I think it's a combo of the fact that they know he can break a big play (which can also be applied when Beanie is in), and that Pryor can actually get out of the pocket if the play brakes down. I hate to say it, but Alex Boone looked like a true freshman last night. He made 2 critical offsides penalties and the times Boeckman actually had no time to throw it, it was because Boone was confused on his blocking. He would be doubling a DE while a man comes off the edge untouched. That is unacceptable for a senior that could be a first round pick, and team captain. Ben Person's holding call was somewhat questionable, in the light that the ref's weren't calling jack on USC the first couple drives when they were holding. Overall, I thought the OL did a fairly good job against the best defense in the country.
DE: Overall, I was pretty disappointed with our play here. I was truly concerned with our struggle against OU and it carried over to last night. We were getting no pressure on the QB and Sanchez had all day to throw. On run plays, we were getting pushed wherever USC wanted to push us. Lawrence Wilson had his moments and he got held pretty bad on what would have been a sack on USC's first TD drive. Heyward was nowhere to be seen and the same with Gibson. It seems like Heyward is in a sophmore slump right now. Did Rose even play? I wouldn't mind seeing Wells and Williams some. I know the plan earlier was to play both of them and I wonder what happened to it? Again, they may not do any better, but could they do that much worse if they got some PT (I'm not calling for them to start, just get them some significant PT)? I think our play here has a chance of improving though because I do think the talent is there.
DT: Another broken record. This was the position I was most worried about and for good reason. Our DT's are complete non-factors. Not one single guy at DT ever demands a double team because he is a threat to disrupt plays. As I said earlier in the season, I don't really care if we don't get to the QB, just plug running lanes and let our LB's get to the ball. They haven't done that, they just handfight with the opposing OL, which the opposing OL will accept any day. I see no push in the trenches and this is where we got beat the worst last night, as LJB said. As I will always maintain, if you don't have a good interior DL, forget about having a consistent defense. We have our moments of brilliance from our LB's and DB's, but our DL underperforming won't cut it against the USC's of the world. A good interior DL is how you stop Joe McKnight...he had cutback lanes that I could have ran through. The only reason we could stop Miami's offense in '02 was because our DL was dominant. Here I have to say I have the opposite feeling of DE...I just don't think the talent is there at DT, so I don't plan on seeing much improvement, at least when we face a good OL like Penn State's. Hopefully Goebel, Mobley, and Rowell are going to take us to the next level.
LB: I think the talent is here but the guys in front of them aren't getting the job done. However, there were plays last night where Laurinaitis was getting dominated and completely wiped out of plays. My dad thinks he is totally overrated and I think he is still a good player. However, Mauluga is the better player imo. Freeman was absolutely toasted by USC's fullback...by their fullback. I know Havili is good but I just couldn't believe he got outran by a fullback. Homan, as LJB said, is not the next Hawk. I noticed Homan being submerged in his blocker frequently last night. Again, this might have been the DL's fault. I would like to see Sabino get some significant PT as well, as I think he could be the next great one here. I also think he can help us some, and now. Overall we will be alright but the DL is going to have to step it up.
DB: We have 2 great CB's in Chekwa and Jenkins. I thought both players played a great game last night, with Chekwa really surprising me. Jenkins is the best player on our team, minus Beanie. I fully expect him to go top 10 in the draft but I feel he will be our only top 10 pick. He has that attitude about him that the rest of the D needs to latch on to. Chekwa's INT in the endzone was a phenomenal play. At safety, I think we reach a weak spot in our defense. Russel didn't look very good last night and Coleman/Hines, were nowhere to be seen. Losing Clifford hurts us here imo. I was surprised to see none of DWash or O'Neal, but as far as I'm concerned, Chekwa has the starting spot now. I wouldn't mind seeing O'Neal get a shot at safety though. Overall I thought our DB's played pretty well last night, especially with the lack of pressure being put on Sanchez.
Special Teams: Not good. Trapasso wasn't booming 'em, we missed a big FG that swung a bunch of momentum, and the kick return game is still pathetic. Boom Herron runs straightline and doesn't seem very elusive to me and Saine still looks hurt. I would like to see Small, Posey, and/or Flash back there. Small has got the elusiveness, and Posey and Flash both have legit speed and moves. At least give them a shot. I realize the blocking isn't great on the returns (especially punt returns), but I don't feel either of Herron or Saine can make much happen.
Coaching: One of our lowest points in the Tressel regime was last night. We have been out-prepared by Florida, LSU, and USC in our losses. The playcalling last night was beyond predictable and very reserved. Not only did the player seem to have been playing not to lose, the playcalling seemed the same. The only time our playcalling was inventive we had the most immobile QB on our team running the option. Even if we had a Pearl Harbor scale surprise on their defense, he may have gained 5 yards. It was a surprise because we shouldn't be running Boeckman on an option. The worst to me was when we are first and goal on USC's 5 on the first drive. If you put Pryor in an empty set, you don't call a QB draw. Everyone in the stadium knew what they were running. It looked as if USC had 8 men in the box when the set was empty. Throw a screen, roll him out, run a reverse, or something else. Pryor is great but nobody can fight off an entire defense that knows what is coming. The only part of the coaching I liked was the first drive. We hit them in the mouth and surprised them. Rotating Pryor kept them on their heels but at a certain point, Pryor was the only one doing so and he needed to stay in for an entire drive. I admit to have quit watching the game for awhile when JT put Boeckman in when we got down 28-3...I just knew I was going to blow up. I felt like Cooper was sending in Stanley Jackson as Joe Germaine watched him run in. As for the defense...we never made any effective adjustments. That's about all I have to say about that. Overall, I know the coaching staff is better than this but we need to break through our tendancies and loyalty, to do what is best for the team. I wanted Boeckman to succeed and I feel terrible for the guy, but Pryor is what's best right now. Posey and some other freshman could be what's best, but haven't had the chance. In this regard, I agree that the future is now in terms of giving some younger guys a chance to prove themselves.
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buckeyes_rock
Great day to be a Buckeye
Some comments in bold on your write up RB07OSU (Very good post by the way):
Absolutely...I know JT is loyal to the upperclassmen, but he has to get these younger guys some reps.
TE could be a great safe pass and outlet for Pryor as he grows up in the offense. These guys need to be utilized.
Williams got in the game in the 4th. Didn't do anything I noticed...but got his feet wet.
We need to go recruit a big-ugly or two...I don't see an answer for this problem on the roster.
I thought the CBs were the one bright spot on the defense. Both looked very good. They were the only guys who seemed to play their "A" game.
What's happened to AJ? I feel like he's regressed. His best punt of the night wasn't until the 4th when the game was way over.
Ugly is all I can say to that. It seemed like when we won the 02 NC, that JT and his staff's strong point was their ability to make adjustments and game plan. Now it's anything but a strong point. After UF, I chalked it up to underestimating the opponent and overconfidence by all. After LSU, I decided we just weren't supposed to be in that game. But after this latest disaster, it's time to stop making excuses. Something is wrong with the picture...and hopefully it will really get addressed this time.
Absolutely...I know JT is loyal to the upperclassmen, but he has to get these younger guys some reps.
TE could be a great safe pass and outlet for Pryor as he grows up in the offense. These guys need to be utilized.
Williams got in the game in the 4th. Didn't do anything I noticed...but got his feet wet.
We need to go recruit a big-ugly or two...I don't see an answer for this problem on the roster.
I thought the CBs were the one bright spot on the defense. Both looked very good. They were the only guys who seemed to play their "A" game.
What's happened to AJ? I feel like he's regressed. His best punt of the night wasn't until the 4th when the game was way over.
Ugly is all I can say to that. It seemed like when we won the 02 NC, that JT and his staff's strong point was their ability to make adjustments and game plan. Now it's anything but a strong point. After UF, I chalked it up to underestimating the opponent and overconfidence by all. After LSU, I decided we just weren't supposed to be in that game. But after this latest disaster, it's time to stop making excuses. Something is wrong with the picture...and hopefully it will really get addressed this time.
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Onebuckfan
classof76
When JT was hired ..he was given 3 goals BEAT scUM first win the Big 10 and go to the Rose Bowl. he put in an offense and defense that could beat Loyd Carr's team, win the big 10 by handling the ofenses and defenses of PSU,UW, etc. He was too successful!The 2002 was a pleasant surprise caused by a lot of things working out right..Holy Buckeye, win in OT over Illinois and then the magical NC game.In 2005 it was boring just to beat UM and go to a bowl. The NC became the only thing to satisfy fans players and coaches...we came up short the last two years ..our recruiting has improved..its now time for the coaches to develop the offenses and defenses needed to win the NC.
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BayBuck
Buckeyes are best
LordJeffBuck;1260186; said:
Lots of good stuff in this post, but this part I disagree with strongly. This season is far from over, and if the team buys into this kind of thinking it can surely get a hell of a lot worse. Sure, my hopes for this season were probably higher than ever before in my life, and I fully expected a win over USC and a threepeat NC appearance, so of course this weekend was extremely disappointing, but winning the Big Ten, beating Michigan, racking up another 10 wins -- these are all still things to look forward to and be excited about. 1968 to 2002 was a long enough "drought" that I'm not one to sniff at conference championships and top-5 finishes. That said, I agree those things are more likely to happen with a youth movement led by Pryor and the Brew Crew.
As for public perception? Fuck ESPN. :)
:osu:
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buckeyes_rock;1260942; said:
I agree with all of that. Thanks for the heads up on Williams, I didn't see him in there. As far as DT...hate to say it yet again, but when we only took Larimore in '06 and nobody in '07(unless you count Heyward, who now plays DE), I was really, really worried. I vocalized it and hardly anybody else seemed concerned. We screwed the pooch on DT recruiting and now we are paying for it. I agree, only recruiting will help us. The only solutions I see on the roster is Garret Goebel (who needs a year to develop as a redshirt first) and Mobley, who is injured. I also think Rowell can be a good one, so hopefully he gets it together academically. Also, I think Simon is going to be good but I just wonder how big he can get? We definetly need to land Corey Adams and push hard for William Campbell. In another words, yes, there is no solution on the roster this year. As for coaching...you said it all. Now I do think we probably shouldn't have even been in the NC game last year, so I believe that gave us unrealistic expectations for this season. It also made us believe we had more than we really do. I think we are really good, but just not great. I believe we are in the 10-15 range nationally with a chance at a BCS bowl bid. Whether we pan out to that or not, I don't know.
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I think that sweep USC ran averaged 15 yards a time. How in the world could we not adjust to defend it better?
It amazed me that when USC would blitz they would be at the quarterback instantly, but when we blitzed we couldn't even get close enough to talk to their QB. What is the difference here?
I really thought, offensively and to some extent defensively, we gave up after the pick-6. Until that play it looked like were a couple penalties/a couple breaks away from keeping it a really good ballgame. But when Todd threw that pass, it just took all the air out of our sails, especially the offense. I was hoping they would call the game at halftime so it couldn't get any worse.
I disagree with LJB that most of those sacks were Boeckman holding onto the ball too long, some were to be sure, but he was pressured on every play, and on the fumble he was hit almost instantly from his blind side. Our tackles were bad, really bad, even Boone.
I'm tired of playing our biggest game of the season without our best offensive player. Just once can't we keep Ginn or Beanie and see if they make a difference? Cause I truly believe that Beanie gave us two things we were severely lacking that game- a sure 2 yard gain on 3rd and 2, and the threat that on any play he could stiff arm two people and be off to the races. Even on Boom's big 8-10 yard runs, you just knew that he wasn't going to break a tackle to take it the distance. With Beanie, that is ALWAYS a legitimate threat. Here again I disagree with LJB, I truly think Beanie would have made a difference in converting some of those 3rd downs in the first half and sustaining drives to get us into the end zone, and I don't think if it was even 21-10 at half that we give up like we clearly did.
Kudos to the defense for continuing to play hard in the second half. They gave up 4 tds, which is bad, although I'm still AMAZED that they didn't call that pick on the TD throw to Damien WIlliams when 2 refs were standing right there. But they could have given up and let it get even worse, and for that little bit of effort I am grateful.
One last thing, and I really don't want this to come off as whiney but it will- you could tell it was a home game, and while I don't think it would have made a difference in the game, you never know how one or two momentum changes can affect the game. The aforementioned no-call on the hold on Wilson during their first TD drive on 2nd and 4 that would have made it 2nd and 14 rather than 3rd and 4 was a big one in my book, especially considering they did call the hold on Person which I thought was even less clear cut. The no call on the pick on RoJo that made it 28-3 (not that it would have mattered but still, the rules don't go out the window when one team gets a lead). I wish for big-time games like that they would bring in a ref crew from a neutral conference.
It amazed me that when USC would blitz they would be at the quarterback instantly, but when we blitzed we couldn't even get close enough to talk to their QB. What is the difference here?
I really thought, offensively and to some extent defensively, we gave up after the pick-6. Until that play it looked like were a couple penalties/a couple breaks away from keeping it a really good ballgame. But when Todd threw that pass, it just took all the air out of our sails, especially the offense. I was hoping they would call the game at halftime so it couldn't get any worse.
I disagree with LJB that most of those sacks were Boeckman holding onto the ball too long, some were to be sure, but he was pressured on every play, and on the fumble he was hit almost instantly from his blind side. Our tackles were bad, really bad, even Boone.
I'm tired of playing our biggest game of the season without our best offensive player. Just once can't we keep Ginn or Beanie and see if they make a difference? Cause I truly believe that Beanie gave us two things we were severely lacking that game- a sure 2 yard gain on 3rd and 2, and the threat that on any play he could stiff arm two people and be off to the races. Even on Boom's big 8-10 yard runs, you just knew that he wasn't going to break a tackle to take it the distance. With Beanie, that is ALWAYS a legitimate threat. Here again I disagree with LJB, I truly think Beanie would have made a difference in converting some of those 3rd downs in the first half and sustaining drives to get us into the end zone, and I don't think if it was even 21-10 at half that we give up like we clearly did.
Kudos to the defense for continuing to play hard in the second half. They gave up 4 tds, which is bad, although I'm still AMAZED that they didn't call that pick on the TD throw to Damien WIlliams when 2 refs were standing right there. But they could have given up and let it get even worse, and for that little bit of effort I am grateful.
One last thing, and I really don't want this to come off as whiney but it will- you could tell it was a home game, and while I don't think it would have made a difference in the game, you never know how one or two momentum changes can affect the game. The aforementioned no-call on the hold on Wilson during their first TD drive on 2nd and 4 that would have made it 2nd and 14 rather than 3rd and 4 was a big one in my book, especially considering they did call the hold on Person which I thought was even less clear cut. The no call on the pick on RoJo that made it 28-3 (not that it would have mattered but still, the rules don't go out the window when one team gets a lead). I wish for big-time games like that they would bring in a ref crew from a neutral conference.
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BengalsAndBucks;1260997; said:
I know of twice that it was the perfect call against the defense's call...the whole D-line slanted strong (probably) and the backside (which ended up as playside) backer was coming hard. The sweep came weak and we effectively outleveraged our own defense.
That is a case of one team breaking tendencies and one following them to a tee.
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FKAGobucks877
The Most Power-Drunk
I'll do my best to keep this on the side of "critical", as opposed to "bashing", but here goes...
I agree with a lot of what has been posted on this thread.
Damn, I miss Dantonio.
I don't understand why more people here don't put more responsibility for this on the coaches. If you look at this Buckeye team, you're looking at a minimum of...what, 5 early round players? Boone, Beanie, JL, Freeman, Jenkins at minimum? I must admit, I am past blindly following JT and believing that "Tressel knows best". I love that coach, but damn....he only win in a non-scUM big game came in triple-overtime on a lucky (but correct) flag. I know that's the pessimistic viewpoint, but objectively speaking, I am not comfortable with the coaching over the last couple of years. I'm solely talking gameday coaching and game preparation. There are no longer any adjustments made during the game. Remember 2002? Those were the days...
I would venture to bet that on roughly 50% of tOSU's offensive plays, every player on the field knew what play was coming. IMO, USC is the best team we've played in recent memory, and that makes me question even more the decisions and coaching moves made in the LSU and Florida games. JT is one hell of a recruiter, and does a phenomenal job with these kids, but I really can't help but question his conservative approach to these big games. When our opponents have a good, fast defense, you have to stretch them and use the whole field, you simply can't succeed in conservative runs and play-calling. Likewise, our O line has had serious talent for about as long as I can remember....and they've also been our biggest weakness for the same timespan. At some point, reality has to set in, and you have to realize it isn't the players that are failing...it has to be the scheme, or the coaching, or both, or all three...but I can't blame just the O linemen for a problem that we've had for years.
I agree with LJB that our season is over....at least insofar as from a national perspective. I believe that unless something radical happens, tOSU will lose to PSU and Wisconsin, and struggle in several other games. I believe the talent is present to win all of the remaining games, however, and would love to see that happen...but I'd love even more to see our talented young players on the field and gaining valuable gametime experience....but I do not believe that JT will take any playing time whatsoever away from the upperclassmen...which is also somehow disappointing to me.
Overall, the defensive line was our biggest weakness on D, which has been hashed enough in this thread. Offensively, however, I believe it comes down to two things - penalties and coaching. And the former is typically greatly affected by the latter. I won't get into my thoughts on Boeckman, for fear of crossing the line, but suffice to say I agree that his tendency to completely fall apart in high-pressure situations is becoming obvious. That guy is one hell of a QB when he has some time, but he has a lot of Ken Dorsey in him, as well - hit him in the mouth a couple of times, and panic mode sets in. I think that's something that can be fixed, though, with more experience, so we'll see how he reacts going forward (since I also believe he will be the starter for the rest of the year).
I apologize if this came across as bashing, because I don't want it to be...I also want to see JT remain as tOSU's head football coach for a long, long time. But I sincerely wish he would either open the vest a little, or perhaps delegate the play-calling to someone else. I've probably at least earned the ire of JT's supporters, which I guess is unavoidable, but let me be clear that I am not calling for his head...I just have accumulated some serious doubts as to his ability to succeed in big game preparation and execution.
I agree with a lot of what has been posted on this thread.
Damn, I miss Dantonio.
I don't understand why more people here don't put more responsibility for this on the coaches. If you look at this Buckeye team, you're looking at a minimum of...what, 5 early round players? Boone, Beanie, JL, Freeman, Jenkins at minimum? I must admit, I am past blindly following JT and believing that "Tressel knows best". I love that coach, but damn....he only win in a non-scUM big game came in triple-overtime on a lucky (but correct) flag. I know that's the pessimistic viewpoint, but objectively speaking, I am not comfortable with the coaching over the last couple of years. I'm solely talking gameday coaching and game preparation. There are no longer any adjustments made during the game. Remember 2002? Those were the days...
I would venture to bet that on roughly 50% of tOSU's offensive plays, every player on the field knew what play was coming. IMO, USC is the best team we've played in recent memory, and that makes me question even more the decisions and coaching moves made in the LSU and Florida games. JT is one hell of a recruiter, and does a phenomenal job with these kids, but I really can't help but question his conservative approach to these big games. When our opponents have a good, fast defense, you have to stretch them and use the whole field, you simply can't succeed in conservative runs and play-calling. Likewise, our O line has had serious talent for about as long as I can remember....and they've also been our biggest weakness for the same timespan. At some point, reality has to set in, and you have to realize it isn't the players that are failing...it has to be the scheme, or the coaching, or both, or all three...but I can't blame just the O linemen for a problem that we've had for years.
I agree with LJB that our season is over....at least insofar as from a national perspective. I believe that unless something radical happens, tOSU will lose to PSU and Wisconsin, and struggle in several other games. I believe the talent is present to win all of the remaining games, however, and would love to see that happen...but I'd love even more to see our talented young players on the field and gaining valuable gametime experience....but I do not believe that JT will take any playing time whatsoever away from the upperclassmen...which is also somehow disappointing to me.
Overall, the defensive line was our biggest weakness on D, which has been hashed enough in this thread. Offensively, however, I believe it comes down to two things - penalties and coaching. And the former is typically greatly affected by the latter. I won't get into my thoughts on Boeckman, for fear of crossing the line, but suffice to say I agree that his tendency to completely fall apart in high-pressure situations is becoming obvious. That guy is one hell of a QB when he has some time, but he has a lot of Ken Dorsey in him, as well - hit him in the mouth a couple of times, and panic mode sets in. I think that's something that can be fixed, though, with more experience, so we'll see how he reacts going forward (since I also believe he will be the starter for the rest of the year).
I apologize if this came across as bashing, because I don't want it to be...I also want to see JT remain as tOSU's head football coach for a long, long time. But I sincerely wish he would either open the vest a little, or perhaps delegate the play-calling to someone else. I've probably at least earned the ire of JT's supporters, which I guess is unavoidable, but let me be clear that I am not calling for his head...I just have accumulated some serious doubts as to his ability to succeed in big game preparation and execution.
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FKAGobucks877;1261087; said:
I agree with a lot of this. I think the biggest problem with Tressel is that he doesn't seem to know what to make of a game where the defense and special teams aren't winning it for him. Even with a good performance, USC is good enough to get 17-24 points against any defense...did it look like we had a gameplan offensively to get 24-28 points? I didn't see it. I saw the same gameplan I've seen over and over again, with a few individual wrinkles in the playcalling here and there, but the bottom line is that it works against the Big Ten, but seemingly not against other big-time teams.
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Bucklion;1261118; said:
Not sure how anyone could see enough of a gameplan for solid analysis considering the way the front was mahandled from the 2nd drive on...once we were down 14-3, I thought he still had a solid plan working. Then when the wheels fell off, USC had their ears pinned back and were coming after everything.
Plans change...that is football.
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