• New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.

Observations from the Barcalounger

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Oh8ch

Oh8ch

Cognoscente of Omphaloskepsis
Staff member
Defense – Act I

I learned one thing today. I can live with an ineffective Offense much easier than I can an ineffective Defense. That first half hurt. Minnie’s line was manhandling ours. Maroney was the real deal.

And I just gotta know. According to the stats Minnesota completed passes to 9 different receivers. Did Youboty have coverage responsibility on all of them? Cause #26 was in the picture every time they threw the ball. I am very anxious to hear ‘the rest of the story’ about Ashton today.

Some of that was downright embarrassing. Did we find the OC we want and is he living in Minneapolis?


Defense – Act II

I feel better now. THAT is how you are supposed to handle Maroney. Passing I can live with. We have done that all year. But we have to stop the run. That is who we are.

Still, I am disappointed. I don’t know if it was lack of game prep, not being ready to play, or a brilliant Minnesota game play. You just aren’t supposed to be able to do that to our D. Not 24 points when it counted. Bend but don’t break, remember? Too many snapping noises today.


Ohio Kids in Minnesota

Lots made of that this week. Several Ohio kids – many underclassmen – contributing for the Gophers. Even Maroney wanted to be a Buckeye.

We have the POY from Minnesota and he is playing mop up.

They wanted it bad. Hate to tell you guys, but you got your asses kicked. When it counted, late in the game when it was time for the big kids to step up, you got your asses kicked.

Nuff said.


Play of the Game

First play of the 4th quarter. Third and one for OSU. Gophers know it is a huge play and the OL just pushes them two yards backwards. It was clear at that point that Minnie was finished.


Woddy Bobbles

I bought several of the original Woody Bobbles from Donatos and you don’t even want to know how much I made selling them. So, today we had pizza for lunch and I had them bring one of the new ones along. Anybody else have one yet?

Where did that head come from? Looks as much like Mark Richt as Woody Hayes. I think maybe that neighbor kid from Toy Story I got hold of it.


Turnovers

Plus one! Do you believe it? Zero turnovers on O. No interceptions. No fumbles. No dropped returns (thanks Gonzo). Plus one. Sweet.


Ginn

224 total yards today. To late to revive his Heisman campaign?


Boone

More and more plays are following #75.


Pittman

Sophomore folks. Excellent chance he goes over 1k next week. When is the last time we got this kind of production from a Sophomore? With the bowl game he could have a shot at 1400 yards (especially if he keeps his eye on #75). It may be premature to talk about that total, but only five players have ever gotten 1400 yards in a season for OSU.

Two more years or Pittman. And the worst thing that can happen is Chris Wells takes his job away. What a battle that is shaping up to be.

BTW – anybody want to do an even up trade for Sutton right now?


Boeckman

That ought to give the message boards something to speculate about this week.


Smith

There was a strong argument to make a switch not so long ago. Had we done that we would still be looking for a QB. Troy is looking better every week. He is flawed, but every college QB has flaws. Next year the kid so many of us wanted back on the bench is going to get mention in AA discussions.


Offense?

I am almost convinced something is starting to happen here. Even allowing for the quality of the opponents 121 points in three games is impressive. And two of those were road games. Last year even when we ‘found ourselves’ down the stretch we never hit 40 points. The Minnesota D is weak, but that is the most anybody has hung on them all season.

I have been whining with the loudest of them, but maybe we already have an OC.

Or did we finally just execute?
 
I like how we played against the Minny run game, even though we gave up that one long run. My problem is the fact that we made Cupito look like Peyton Manning, his wide recievers were wide open all day, and Youboty looked horrible.
 
Upvote 0
You guys are making way too much of the defense. That's what dominant RBs do - they get theirs, and open things up for the rest of the offense - even against the best defenses sometimes.

If the Buckeyes had a runningback with that kind of ability (maybe they do now - great game by Pittman!) everybody would be creaming their pants over how our dominant RB would open things up against ANY defense.

Food for thought - Say what you will about yardage and points - that defense played better in the first half today than they did in the first half against Penn State.
 
Upvote 0
Oh8ch said:
Defense – Act I

I learned one thing today. I can live with an ineffective Offense much easier than I can an ineffective Defense. That first half hurt. Minnie’s line was manhandling ours. Maroney was the real deal.

And I just gotta know. According to the stats Minnesota completed passes to 9 different receivers. Did Youboty have coverage responsibility on all of them? Cause #26 was in the picture every time they threw the ball. I am very anxious to hear ‘the rest of the story’ about Ashton today.

Some of that was downright embarrassing. Did we find the OC we want and is he living in Minneapolis?


Defense – Act II

I feel better now. THAT is how you are supposed to handle Maroney. Passing I can live with. We have done that all year. But we have to stop the run. That is who we are.

Still, I am disappointed. I don’t know if it was lack of game prep, not being ready to play, or a brilliant Minnesota game play. You just aren’t supposed to be able to do that to our D. Not 24 points when it counted. Bend but don’t break, remember? Too many snapping noises today.
Click to expand...
First, great post!

I think that we can all agree that this isn't a great Buckeye defense - despite the great efforts against the cupcakes, they have now given up 382 yards to Texas, 456 yards to Michigan State (514 before the 12 sacks), and now 577 yards to Minnesota (about 500 against the first stringers). Way too many yards for a great defense to allow....

Also, this D has caused only eight turnovers in eight games (the fumble recovery against Indiana was created by the special teams). One turnover a game isn't the stuff of greatness.

I think that we are seeing that a relatively weak DL can cause some problems for a defense.

Also, Youboty is not playing well right now - too inconsistent. He seems to be great reacting to plays in front of him, and he is a very sure tackler, but teams are taking him deep right now.

The bottom line on this defense is this - there are three great players (Hawk, Carpenter, and Kudla), and the other eight are average-to-great from week-to-week. When everything clicks, then this defense can be dominant; however, there are too few consistently great players for this defense to be consistently great. Expect some more disappointments in the future.

Now to the O.... Great games for just about everyone, especially Pittman. Smith wasn't perfect (he'll probably never come close to reduplicating his Michigan 2004 performance), but he was good enough, and with the weapons at WR, he won't need to be much better. Just get the ball to Holmes, Ginn, and Gonzo, and let them do the rest. The best thing that I can say about Smith is that he is playing like a QB, not like Matt Leinart or Brady Quinn, mind you, but a legitimate big-time college QB, and not like an out-of-position tailback. Troy is standing in the pocket, he is making reads (and pre-reads), and he is even making some key audibles (the TD to Gonzo) - overall, he is showing unaccustomed poise. If Troy continues to progress at this pace, then this team will be better in 2006, even with the key losses on defense.

Does anyone want to challenge the play calling?

Right now, Ginn seems like he is going to break it every time someone is dumb enough to kick the ball to him. He is so good right now that a great 20-yard punt return is a disappointment.
 
Upvote 0
Don't discount the importance of no turnovers. We come away with a positive turnover performance. So, yeah, execution seems to be a very big part of this.

And I agree, with all due respect to my fellow Brookhaven alumni, guys, Ohio State handed you your hats today. Get over it.
 
Upvote 0
Great game for Huston. I believe none of the kickoffs were even close to being returned.

Ginn is playing great again in the return game, but he could use a few tips from Fred Biletnikoff on route running.

Congrats Troy on finally realizing that #11 can make plays. Great play on the 2nd Holmes td by stopping to throw instead of running.

Is it me or were there AGAIN alot of non holding calls on our defensive players?

Gonzo is Gonzo. He may be bald and pudgy (his words), but he makes plays. Nice to see him reach paydirt today. He's got great hands and is vastly underrated.

Great tackling by Youbody, but horrible coverage, too.

I'm not sure what he ended up with, but Marony was shut down nicely in the 2nd half.

Minnesota is a very good offensive team, especially at home, so, despite the high numbers given up from the defense, it was a very nice road win. This isn't your daddy's Golden Gophers anymore.

Anyone hear the announcers at the end of the game say that we just beat Minnesota for the nth straight time? I know we've all tried to forget it but it was not long ago that they came into the 'Shoe and beat us. I believe it was in 2001.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 0
Brutus1 said:
Is it me or were there AGAIN alot of non holding calls on our defensive players?
Click to expand...

Bingo. I couldnt belive some of them today, I dont think that Minnesota got called for a hold all game, Pitcock was in the backfield alot of the game, but he was being tackled and pulled backwards, after the last couple of weeks, I have lost alot of respect for Big Ten officials, and im not just saying this based on the OSU games. Big Ten officials are consistent only when it comes to being horribly inconsistent.
 
Upvote 0
The playcalling flat out rocked today. Maybe it's true that Tressel calls a better game from the I. We saw variations on the option, and a few other kinks in the playcalling that were very impressive.
 
Upvote 0
Maroney is a beast-I hadn't really seen a lot of him, but he is definitely 1st round material-better speed than I thought. I loved the stretch play Minny ran w/ him-Columbus DeSales lives and dies w/ the same thing.
Youboty did not seem comfortable trying to make a play on the ball-except for the 1st long pass, which was exactly what happened to Gamble in the 03 Wisky game-he was in the vicinity, he just couldn't/wouldn't make a play on the ball.
Bollman must have given the o-line an effective ass chewing at halftime-the failure to get a push on the 4th and 1 was pathetic.
Laurinaitis's GF is very, very cute
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top