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

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

OSU notebook: USC, now No.1, impressed Tressel

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 3:03 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



After an impressive 52-7 win at Virginia, Southern California leaped from third to first in the Associated Press media poll this week. That meant the Trojans zoomed over previously No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Ohio State, which each dropped down a peg. While the Bulldogs and Buckeyes beat up on in-state little brothers Georgia Southern and Youngstown State, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said there was no discounting the Trojans' performance against credible foe Virginia.
Cont...

 

[Dryden]

Jay Marriotti said we'll be pummeled. Even though this bullshit is annoying, we could not ask for a better set-up. USC has a bye week so there's no chance they come out flat next week and the hype machine gets dialed down. USC is now the unbeatable opponent. Beating them will look even more impressive than it did before the season started.

Of ESPN's army of 100 hundred beat writers that have gotten more than their 15 minutes thanks to The Sports Reporters, Around the Horn, PTI, etc ..., Jay Mariotti is among the worst of the bunch, just one notch below Mike Lupica and Bob Ryan. I can't stand these guys that have spent their entire careers in 'pro sports' cities wanting to share their thoughts on college football. It usually winds up being painful to listen to.

 

[osucollegebuck]

Agreed, Virginia was picked by the media to finish fifth place (out of 6) in ACC Coastal Division.

With that said they did look very good, well coached, etc. It will be a test for the boys in Scarlet and Grey.

And I would add that 6th team would be Duke LOL Yea I mean Duke.

 

[Dryden]

So what are the biggest non-Beanie, non-Pryor conclusions from the YSU game?

Not emphasized enough by others, but the kicking game was solid.

Pretorious was 4-for-4 on FGs from 28, 31, 26, and 50. His boot from 50 wasn't even in doubt. Regardless, JT sent the backup PK, Pettrey out for the next attempt, and he drilled a 54-yarder that would have been good from 70.

Also, Pettrey had two touchbacks on something like nine kick-offs, and the punter AJ Trapasso had a touchback on the final kick-off following Pettrey's 54 yard FG.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

No, you're thinking of the spread-option formation. What you probably meant to say was the pistil formation - which is basically a flower's reproductive organs. It's actually quite effective with or without Prior at the Helm. Common mistake.

It's the pistol formation, a variation of the shotgun.

 

[BB73]

It's the pistol formation, a variation of the shotgun.

sammyjenkis was making fun of a 'prior' poster calling it the 'piston' formation, but didn't use the sarcasm font to make it obvious. As he himself said, it's a common mistake.

Personally, I see some potential in Isiah Thomas getting the snap, and having Dennis Rodman block for Joe Dumars. Maybe Laimbeer as a hybrid TE.

Shit, I also forgot the sarcasm font.

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Game three: is among college football storylines at SI.com

Ohio State at USC - Top 12 NCAA football storylines for '08 - Photos - SI.com

This epic matchup in Week 3 could go a long way in deciding this season's national champion. The Buckeyes hope star running back Beanie Wells will be able to play in the game following a Week 1 foot injury.

 

[Zem]

That Virginia team had to relace all 3 starters on their DL, 2 in the secondary, their entire interior OL and was breaking in a new QB. USC clearly outclassed them, but I'm not ready to label them as on par with their '03 or '04 teams or even the greatest team ever!!!!!!!!11!!!1!! '05 version. Petey left Sanchez in there late into the game (Can't say I blame him) and we all know he's not unaccustomed to running up the score. I didn't see anything to make me any more worried than before. I still say it's a 50/50 toss up being that it's on the road. Reports around Beanie are promising and I think TP is gonna provide a huge X-factor.

Impressive win for the Trojans, despite UVA's ineptitude. But I'm suspicious that Carrol may have kept his big dogs in the game unusually late for such a blowout. And that the reason for the extraneous drubbing was to gain some psychological advantage over the Buckeyes over the two weeks before the big game. (I didn't see the second half...)

 

[smithlabs]

It has been said that Petey is the anti Tressel. Here is a look at the participation stats to show it.

USC vs UVA
Passing
Sanchez had 35 out of 37 total pass attempts.

OSU vs YSU
Passing
Boechman had 19 out of 31 total pass attempts


So Sanchez and the first team had 35/37 total pass attempts or 95% of the passes. I would estimate that amounts to the first team playing 95% of the offensive plays.

Boekman and the first team had 19/31 passes or 62% of the passes. I would estimate taht amounts to the first team playing 62% of the offensive plays.


I will futher estimate the same percentages were seen on defense as well. So USC played .95*1 + .05 * 2 or their 1.05th team. OSU played their .62*1 + .48 * 2 or their 1.58th team.


The take away is that USC's 1.05 team is better 45 points better than the worst team in the ACC. OSU's 1.58th team is 43 points better than a pretty good 1AA team. I wouldn't be jumping on the USC bandwagon based on last weekend alone, even with my rampant approximations. All that we really learned was that Sneaky Pete is the Anti-Tressel.

 

[methomps]

It has been said that Petey is the anti Tressel. Here is a look at the participation stats to show it.

USC vs UVA
Passing
Sanchez had 35 out of 37 total pass attempts.

OSU vs YSU
Passing
Boechman had 19 out of 31 total pass attempts


So Sanchez and the first team had 35/37 total pass attempts or 95% of the passes. I would estimate that amounts to the first team playing 95% of the offensive plays.

Boekman and the first team had 19/31 passes or 62% of the passes. I would estimate taht amounts to the first team playing 62% of the offensive plays.


I will futher estimate the same percentages were seen on defense as well. So USC played .95*1 + .05 * 2 or their 1.05th team. OSU played their .62*1 + .48 * 2 or their 1.58th team.


The take away is that USC's 1.05 team is better 45 points better than the worst team in the ACC. OSU's 1.58th team is 43 points better than a pretty good 1AA team. I wouldn't be jumping on the USC bandwagon based on last weekend alone, even with my rampant approximations. All that we really learned was that Sneaky Pete is the Anti-Tressel.

You guys are trying to work in a 2-QB system. Wasn't Pryor seeing action in the 1st quarter? USC isn't trying to get Aaron Corp or Mitch Mustain to be anything other than backups to Mark Sanchez.

And I would hold off on saying that Virginia is the worst ACC team.

 

[redbenn]

And I would hold off on saying that Virginia is the worst ACC team.

makes him feel good, though...

 

[MajesticTurkey]

You guys are trying to work in a 2-QB system. Wasn't Pryor seeing action in the 1st quarter? USC isn't trying to get Aaron Corp or Mitch Mustain to be anything other than backups to Mark Sanchez.

And I would hold off on saying that Virginia is the worst ACC team.

I prefer to think of it as building depth at various positions lending more ability to rotate offensive linemen and wide receivers, meaning fresher legs in the second half.

But it's all semantics.

 

[troy#1]

You guys are trying to work in a 2-QB system. Wasn't Pryor seeing action in the 1st quarter? USC isn't trying to get Aaron Corp or Mitch Mustain to be anything other than backups to Mark Sanchez.

And I would hold off on saying that Virginia is the worst ACC team.

And to add to that, if the 2 backups came in and started throwing passes when SC was up by a large margin, that would look like CPC was running up the score, which some posters have already mentioned thinking he did.

 

[lvbuckeye]

USC isn't trying to get Aaron Corp or Mitch Mustain to be anything other than backups to Mark Sanchez.

the backup is only one play away from being the starter. what happens when Sanchez goes down again?

And I would hold off on saying that Virginia is the worst ACC team.

who friggin' cares if they're the "worst" ACC team. the bottom line is that they're a perennial mid-pack/bottom feeder in the worst BCS conference. in other words, they suck.

 

[methomps]

I prefer to think of it as building depth at various positions lending more ability to rotate offensive linemen and wide receivers, meaning fresher legs in the second half.

But it's all semantics.

Well the discussion at hand was all about QBs, and Pryor certainly is not getting 1st quarter snaps for depth purposes. USC got down to its 5th and 6th string RBs.