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Game Thread Ohio State 3, Southern Cal 35 (Sept. 13)

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USC Classes?

Does anyone know when USC starts class this fall? I know that tOSU is on the quarters schedule, so won't start until well after this game. I love that because the Bucks can focus on football without the distraction of silly academia.
 
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troy#1 said:
Again, I think a little to much is being made of the o-line. Those 3 o-linemen we lost missed some games last year, and I believe all but 1 of the new guys had multiple starts, at different positions. If the coaching staff can get the positions set early, I dont think it will be as big a deal as people think. At TE right now I think McCoy is slated as a starter, but Ellison had a good spring, and I look for the freshman Ayles to get some pt also. The kid is the real deal. At wr they can only get better with a full season under their belts, but we will see. Everything still points to sanchez IMO. His mobility will help the o-line alittle bit until they gell better.
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Hmm.......I have never run across a college football player that benefited from less experience. In fact, I have never run across an offensive line......or team that has benefited from a lack of experience. You say how good a guy looks in practice, or how strong he got in the offseason........but until he actually gets on the field and plays in a big game situation, you never know how he is going to react. Plus, you forget to mention that they have hardly worked together as a unit. Nowhere is it more important than the offensive line. It takes a while to build that cohesion.
 
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SCLendak;1223715; said:
Kinda of tough to get playing time when there is a man named Fred Davis in front of you on the depth chart. USC uses the tight end as a receiver frequently (unlike Ohio State), McCoy will be a frequent target. And he will be good. Doesn't have Davis' speed, but has all his other tools.
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I'm sure they will all be good and no one is going to get a lot of PT with FD in front of them. Point was simply, once again, to illustrate just how severe the inexperience is. No one is as good as a Frosh as they are as a SR. When you lose big time upperclassmen and replace them with brand new players there is a drop off no matter how talented the replacement is.

I know these guys are all going to be very good but honestly, if we switched places and you guys were coming into the Shoe with your whole damn team back from last year and we had your issues with youth and inexperience, I'd be concerned.
 
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Jaxbuck;1224417; said:
I'm sure they will all be good and no one is going to get a lot of PT with FD in front of them. Point was simply, once again, to illustrate just how severe the inexperience is. No one is as good as a Frosh as they are as a SR. When you lose big time upperclassmen and replace them with brand new players there is a drop off no matter how talented the replacement is.

I know these guys are all going to be very good but honestly, if we switched places and you guys were coming into the Shoe with your whole damn team back from last year and we had your issues with youth and inexperience, I'd be concerned.
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Eh, I don't necessarily agree. That may be the case most of the time, but players can have breakout years their first year. I mean, Kris O'Dowd exploded onto the scene as a freshman at a very difficult position.
 
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methomps;1224479; said:
Eh, I don't necessarily agree. That may be the case most of the time, but players can have breakout years their first year. I mean, Kris O'Dowd exploded onto the scene as a freshman at a very difficult position.
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sure but we know its the exception, not the rule. Now add to that the more times you are turning over players the more opportunities you have for the rule to happen instead of the exception.

Its not like I think the USC kids will be pulling a twit olympics out there or anything but in general terms its better to have experience than lack it, especially along the OL and QB.
 
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methomps;1224479; said:
Eh, I don't necessarily agree. That may be the case most of the time, but players can have breakout years their first year. I mean, Kris O'Dowd exploded onto the scene as a freshman at a very difficult position.
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This is true. What are the odds of it happening to 3 guys? Not to mention that this will be Sept, not Nov. or January.
 
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BuckeyeGanoosh;1224834; said:
Funny thing about the way this series landed is that we will have the same conversation next year.
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Yep but even next year we will not be facing a USC team that returns en mass. They will have significant defensive back 7 turn over.

Thats the only reason I keep bringing up the number of players they are replacing. Personnel turnover is a normal part of CFB, the big boys replace one stud with another. I think its going to be a pronounced issue in this, 2008, game becuase of the unique mix of A) its the OL and QB and B) the opponent is returning literally everyone from a very good team.

I think their youth along the OL is going to prevent them from exploiting our biggest weakness, our interior DL (until proven otherwise). On the other side I think their new DL-men are going to be at a disadvantage with our power running game.

45 year old starting QB vs kid making his 3-4th start is also something I'll take 10 times out of 10.

When its all said and done they are playing at home at night and are extremely talented but I think we are just as good athletically but more experienced. Texas at OSU in 2005 is the game from recent past that keeps coming to mind for me. Our inexperience(in a roundabout way) cost us that game.
 
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Jaxbuck;1224894; said:
Yep but even next year we will not be facing a USC team that returns en mass. They will have significant defensive back 7 turn over.

Thats the only reason I keep bringing up the number of players they are replacing. Personnel turnover is a normal part of CFB, the big boys replace one stud with another. I think its going to be a pronounced issue in this, 2008, game becuase of the unique mix of A) its the OL and QB and B) the opponent is returning literally everyone from a very good team.

I think their youth along the OL is going to prevent them from exploiting our biggest weakness, our interior DL (until proven otherwise). On the other side I think their new DL-men are going to be at a disadvantage with our power running game.

45 year old starting QB vs kid making his 3-4th start is also something I'll take 10 times out of 10.

When its all said and done they are playing at home at night and are extremely talented but I think we are just as good athletically but more experienced. Texas at OSU in 2005 is the game from recent past that keeps coming to mind for me. Our inexperience(in a roundabout way) cost us that game.
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You're right on the money, and it seems we do have a game that resembles Texas 05 with in my mind a couple key differences. Texas had Vince Young. I'm sure the USC fans here will understand last minute losses against him. Additionally, we had Antonio Pittman as our main guy to tote the ball around. Now while I loved Antonio Pittman, and he was a good player, he is not nearly as dominating a runner as Beanie. Trade the clutch play of Vince with the clutch play of Beanie, and the game looks very similar.

I like how you pointed out that their largest area of inexperience rests on the offensive line. Also, Daddyphat mentioned how an O-line needs time to jell, and that is no joke. USC has some great talent, but I don't expect them to be perfect by any means in the first part of the season.

Speaking on making mistakes, tOSU has led the nation in opposing team penalty yards for the past 3 years. In the wrong way. Teams playing tOSU have given away the least amount of penalty yards then against any other team. I am not counting on USC making goofs, but thats a fishy statistic.
 
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BuckeyeGanoosh;1224971; said:
You're right on the money, and it seems we do have a game that resembles Texas 05 with in my mind a couple key differences. Texas had Vince Young. I'm sure the USC fans here will understand last minute losses against him. Additionally, we had Antonio Pittman as our main guy to tote the ball around. Now while I loved Antonio Pittman, and he was a good player, he is not nearly as dominating a runner as Beanie. Trade the clutch play of Vince with the clutch play of Beanie, and the game looks very similar.

I like how you pointed out that their largest area of inexperience rests on the offensive line. Also, Daddyphat mentioned how an O-line needs time to jell, and that is no joke. USC has some great talent, but I don't expect them to be perfect by any means in the first part of the season.

Speaking on making mistakes, tOSU has led the nation in opposing team penalty yards for the past 3 years. In the wrong way. Teams playing tOSU have given away the least amount of penalty yards then against any other team. I am not counting on USC making goofs, but thats a fishy statistic.
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Good points. To expand further, Pittman was a soph, and Texas 05 was only his 2nd career start. He improved dramatically throughout the season, and into the next year. Texas 05 had a very good defense, and yards were hard to come by for everyone. Still, we were a couple of bad breaks from a win. Beanie is a junior with 13 starts under his belt. Comparing soph seasons, Beanie was better from the get-go, and by the end, he was better than Pitt as a junior (and the majority of RBs in the country).

And yeah, the penalty disparity is obvious. The telling part is that no matter how many penalties an opponent averages in their other games, they'll only get called for 2-3 versus us. Our propensity for false starts doesn't help, but I'll be damned if the refs didn't see Gholston getting held on every play last season and decide to keep the flag in their pockets.
 
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