EngineerHorn said:
Piney and martin, thanks for the info about the Bucks next season. That's exactly what I was looking for. I seem to remember something about Troy Smith's eligibility. Is he cleared to play now?
he "might" be cleared to play for the first game of the season but likely will not. he was given a self imposed 2 game suspension. but there has been rumors that geiger might appeal to the ncaa to let him off with a 1 game. now, since that whole deal began it has gone back and forth. my personal opinion is that troy smith won't be cleared to play until game 2. if that is the case i doubt troy will play and you will see zwick. again, that is pure speculation.
A few more questions/observations:
Sorry to bring this up, but I watched y'all's game with Northwestern this year. Zwick looked amazing at times, horrible at others. I guess it just boils down to inconsistency. That's freshmen quarterbacks for you. So this guy really has a shot at being the starting quarterback? I just assumed it was Smith's to lose.
zwick and smith were both sophmores this year but yes. it was both had their first real playing time this year. both (imo) have been very inconsistant. more obvious with zwick than with troy because balls have bounced troy's way. if he had been playing against db's with better hands, troy would have 5 more picks than he does now. but again, thats all in being a young qb.
zwick won out at the begining of last year to the point of smith getting literally no playing time early in teh season. i think he got 2 drives in the first game of the year and that was it until zwick got hurt. smith came in and did just as poorly until ted ginn, gonzo, the o-line, and brandon joe stepped up. hell, ginn and the defense practically won the msu game.
with smith being out for the first game of the year i doubt he will play in the second unless zwick drops the ball. as the starting spot was smiths to loose after zwick got hurt. i think the starting spot is once again zwicks to loose from the alamo bowl forward. though many will disagree, and most have legit arguements.
smith is mobile, though not fast, and throws a prettier ball. the problem is he doesn't (until the scum game) work through his progressions before tucking it and running. furthermore, he throws the ball one way and one way only. the same force he puts behind a bomb is the same he puts behind a quick slant. because of this our guys drop A LOT of passes from smith. zwick is the opposite. i think he should run more than he does and doesn't always put enough force behind passes. while half his passes are ugly as sin, the receivers seem to have no problems catching them. so at this point, hard to say who will be the qb. could be boeckmen honestly.
Spread offense. Pardon my ignorance, but when the hell did this happen? I didn't see any tOSU games between Northwestern and Michigan, so you can imagine my shock to see a mobile quarterback lining up in the gun with 4 receivers. On first down no less. Then I saw a typically stagnant, conservative offense throwing the ball all over the place and lighting up the scoreboard against a defense with 2 first team All Americans and blue chip recruits at every position.
the line and lydell ross were MAJOR dissapointments this year. ted ginn and gonzo stepped up as big play guys about midway through the season. we found we didn't have a tailback who could carry the load nor a offensive line that could make that possible. we reshuffled the offense and out came something that worked. that being what we refer to as the "shot-ginn". with the emergence of major play makers at the wide out position, it made the transition almost common sense.
