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- Thread starter pnuts34
- Start date
Bad - yes.
Fixable? Also yes.
I think there was a LOT of "trying to do too much" going on. Just do your jobs fellas and stay low on your run blocks Gabe Van Sickle....you'll be fine.
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I think there was a lot of "not knowing who to block" going on. That goes down to coaching.
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Ehh...maybe.
You got Van Sickle getting stood up on a zone play....
You have Siervald reaching with his punches and coming out of his stance....
You got guys coming off of established blocks to slide inside to guys already blocked (3 different times).....
You had another example of Fahey dropping far too deep and drifting away from a pocket that was fairly sound instead of stepping up into it too.
I think they were all trying to do too much instead of just doing what's in front of them in a lot of cases. The snap cadence thing didn't help either. All in all it added up to a frustrating night where there were clearly plays to be had but the execution of them absolutely sucked. The coaches own some of that, but as has been said, these aren't high schoolers anymore, they aren't new to football and this isn't the first game of the season. Do your job and Ohio State is fine.
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Onebuckfan
classof76
I agree “look out blocks” way too often. Fahey was fine statistically but it didn’t look like the team was ready to follow his lead. Austin mentioned cadence issue.
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If you had just said Fahey was fine, I would agree unreservedly. But when you say “statistically” you bring in everyone else involved in the passing offense. The drops and the poor protection resulted in the worst pass efficiency against USC by any team that doesn’t have “Fresno” in their name. So yeah, I also agree with “the team was not ready to follow his lead”. Everything before and after “statistically” is fine. That word doesn’t belong
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osuvictory1
Just a schlub from Y-town
Hopefully the team turns it around, but so far a "performance review" seems likely.
Captain Buckeye
Head Coach
Btw this OL more or less won the national championship under Frye in 2024 as sophomores.
Austin, Luke, and Carson were all starters in 2024. There’s no reason this OL should have crapped out like this.
The talent is there and we’ve retained it for 2 straight years.
Next year we may have everyone but Carson back (that should happen) but wouldn’t be shocked if Luke goes pro too.
No reason the play has been so lacking on the field in 2025 and 2026 when they played so well down the stretch in 2024 despite multiple injuries
Austin, Luke, and Carson were all starters in 2024. There’s no reason this OL should have crapped out like this.
The talent is there and we’ve retained it for 2 straight years.
Next year we may have everyone but Carson back (that should happen) but wouldn’t be shocked if Luke goes pro too.
No reason the play has been so lacking on the field in 2025 and 2026 when they played so well down the stretch in 2024 despite multiple injuries
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This OL was a weakness then, it was a weakness last year, and it's obviously a weakness this year. I don't know a gd thing about how the OL operates, so when people smarter than me said last year that they were good I was confused but believed them. When I heard how good they were this year despite all evidence to the contrary, I was confused but believed it. Same parts, same results. Lemme guess.....next year this will be an improved unit and the strength of the team.
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I'm not saying they're world beaters, but we do ask them to block for a disproportionate number of really deep passing sets.
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My theory is football fans fall into the mental trap of thinking a player or group is better than they are just because they know the names. I know I have done it.
Saw the same thing so many times it's scary. Especially from 2007 into 2008.
There was greatest of all time talk pre '08 because well, everyone was back from '07 and they almost (if you squinted real hard) won a NC.
Asking "but they weren't that great and they are all upperclassmen- where is the big leap coming from?" did not meet with much friendliness.
I see the same kind of thing with the OL these past few years, same names over and over so people just start building them up in the echo chamber. They were good for 4 games at the end of the year in 2024 and have been nothing better than underwhelming since. Single biggest weakness by position group on the entire roster.
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OregonBuckeye
Semper Fi Buckeyes
It's a bit different with OL and DL though. Age and experience means a lot more than other positions. That's a big reason for scUM's success (besides the cheating) with their 25-year-old linemen. It should be expected for an experienced OL to continue to get better. It's not like athletes peak at 21 years old
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No but it's also not like a guy who has been mediocre at best for 3-4 years just flips the switch because of that one extra year, either.
Sometimes they do but it isn't as across the board as fans want to think it is.
Most of the time a mediocre 4th year player comes back and is just a more experienced but still mediocre 5th year guy.
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