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OSU-Northwestern 2004

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Slow SU

I hate to say, but our linebackers look slow. That's one of the reasons we're so vulnerable to the misdirections and the screens. Especially the backers may be in the right positions, but when the play changes focus, they aren't getting to the next best place fast enough.

NCSU tried to take advantage of it, but they had poor discipline. NU had better discipline.

I don't understand why we don't have any Cie Grant types out playing WILL? All of our backers are good, but they're big and slow.

Sorry guys, just trying to give a voice.
 
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Brutus2002 & Dihard ,
hahahaaha I am AGREEING with you BUT IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN under Tressels Watch .... YET. Not until Justin Proves he can take the reins and command the whole offense by himself. Coach Tressel is going to continue to try his run game and continue to try to figure out why its not going well. He is also going to let the reins out and then pull way back IF Justing keeps forcing the ball. Thats the reality we have to live with. Pisses me off too but oh well. YES we don't have a runnning game but the fact is Tressel Will do this and there is NOTHING we CAN DO !!! hahaha Thats my point .
NOT WHAT I WANT hahahaha I would LOVE to transplant Justin Zwick back to the Walt harris days and see him light it up. Thats why I made the reference. I Dream of those days !!! WOW Dihard now ya got me thinking. Wouldn't it be something to see Justin under that kind of offensive play calling with Walt Harris ... WOW . Man those days of waching Bobby Hoying passing those spread out passes and passing to the RB's and also the timing routes almost made me well up with joy... well umm we won't talk about that . hahaha
 
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I think what people fail to realize is just how tough it is to win on the road in the Big Ten, let alone an away game at night on National TV. The thing that this program faces week in & week out is that it's opponent probably wants to win the game more than they do. By that, I mean that we have such a big bullseye on our backs that opponents such as NW look at a game with us as a "season maker." To our kids, a game like last nights is looked at as "just another game." Doesn't it make sense that it's easier for NW to get "fired up" to play us than vice-versa? This is not to be looked at as an excuse, because we out-talented them by plenty, BUT, they kicked our ass fair and square.

The telling-tale of this team and its entire staff is how it responds. I think they will respond in a very big way. Let's face it, THIS IS NOT a National Championship caliber team right now. It will be a huge battle to win the conference atr this point but that has to be the focus. I'd rather lose this game than the Wisky, or Purdue, or any other game leading into scUM. One week can make a huge difference. Let's just get back to winning. This can still be a very good season.

STAY POSITIVE GUYS!!!! We owe that to ourselves, but more importantly, we owe it to these kids. Peace.
 
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I would like to think it was us looking past this game, inexperience, ect. but it's not.

Marshall ran the ball on us the same way NW did, NC-State broke some big ones on us and probably would have been able to do more if their QB didn't stink it up allowing us to focus on the run.

Look we are in trouble. 3-3 isn't out of the question unless we pick it up, and I mean right now. We have been very weak against the run all season which I believe has everything to do with our DT's level of play/talent. They are not eating up Linemen to allow our LB's to make plays, and they are not making play, or getting up field on their own. They are getting beat way too often, and finally look confused or void of any discipline on any misdirection, screen or whatever. Wisconsin will run the ball we know that, and I don't think we can out score them. Minnesota's has got to be frustrated knowing they don't get to play us, they would have a huge day if we keep playing like this.

It could be youth, it could be scheme, but it is not getting done, and if it doesn't 3-3 is on the way.
 
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I wish that would happen too. Frustrating :pissed: haha
It will be interesting to see what kind of gameplan OSU has next week and if indeed Coach Tressel does just that. It Would be refreshing but I tend to think only Justin Zwicks proving to Coach Tressel that he's ready will dictate that.
Every single team is stacking the line and cheating towards the run game and thus killing our run game (not that our RB is helping). I for the life of me have not been able to solve why we are not using more high percentage Fast passing plays and/or been more effective the few times I have seen them. Maybe its just that Justin Zwick isn't seeing the whole feild yet or finding the open Wr's (thus bring up my earlier point). Once Justin starts picking apart the DB's and Tressel sees him doing it effectively... LIGHTS OUT (a guy can dream) !!! Yes he did at the end of the game, but only because Coach Tressel had too open it up. When that happens the DB's and LB will not be able to cheat up to stop the run and then the running game will open up also.
As Clarity said earlier in another post. Alot has to do with team maturity (IMO JZ maturity). He also brought up 3rd downs on both side (O and Defense) which was terrible. Who do you think that falls upon on offense??
 
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A newbie here.... Never posted but have read quite a bit.

I have a question that am hoping somebody can answer...

I know Bollman is the OC but he obviously has zero to do with play calling... Tress calls the plays.. I also see Bollman on the sidelines so who is upstairs communicating with Tress on the field about what plays should be considered?

Somebody has to be up in the box, right? I am assuming that Tress doesn't just pull a play out of the air (or out of somewhere else depending upon your mood after last night)? Who is in the box with the headset?

Sorry if this post belongs elsewhere but thought I could get an answer from one of you folks..

Go Bucks...
 
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OSU Rob said:
...Tressel is 35-8 I believe...his offensive playcalling is hardly innovative (its called a reverse, its called a halfback pass, stick w/ shotgun, quit running Ross for 1 yd. gains....)
Click to expand...

What other coach is 35-8 in four years? Listen, I get pissed at some of the play calls, but he gets results. Speaking of play calls, your list sounds promising, provided we can keep the defense out of our backfield...
 
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I don't put this one on Tressel...I put next week on Tressel. Next week will show how good of a coach Tressel is.

This feels a lot like the Minnesota game in 2000...Minnesota was not a good team at all...they ended up being 6-6 that year. The game was at home...we were 5-0...and we lost by 12. What did we do? We went on to win 3 of the next 4...with the only loss being that Purdue game at Purdue where Brees had to come up with a miracle comeback.

The year before that we were 6-3...and our 3 losses were to 3 great teams. Miami, FL, Wisconsin (who won the big 10) and Penn State (who won 10 games that year). We had also beaten some good teams that year when we beat a ranked UCLA team and a ranked Minnesota team. But then we strugged at Michigan State to go 6-4...and instead of coming back from that loss...we just never got over it. We let a crappy Illinois team come into the shoe and kick the shit out of us...then we went up North and pulled a Cooper. A good season turned into a disaster.

So which is it going to be Bucks?

Are we going to go into the Wisconsin game realizing that this is the most important game this season...and might well not just mean the difference between a win or loss...but several? Or will we stay down because we lost to Northwestern? It's up to Coach Tressel and the players. It's time to step up. Win this and you are rolling into Iowa with confidence before you come back to play PSU and IU...and then may be looking at a 7-1 record going into the final 3 games. Or lose this game, and then lose a chance of picking up any momentum into Iowa...and likely struggle the rest of the year just to make a Bowl game...and i'm serious.

If we lose next week...we likely lose at Iowa too (does anyone disagree). Then we are sitting at 3-3 wondering if we really can beat BOTH PSU and Indiana...and even if we do...we still need a win in our final 3 tough games just to make a Bowl.

This is the turning point in the season. A win here...a win at Iowa...we start rolling with confidence and put ourselves back into the Big 10 race...a loss here and we kiss this season goodbye.

I'm not trying to be negative...i'm really thinking positive in that a win next week will get us right back on track to being a big 10 champion. But I don't think we can start the big 10 season 0-2 and come back from it.

The Wisconsin game was always going to be a big game...but I think it just got a whole lot bigger after the loss. I hope the whole team looks at this game and finds the passion to win. I don't care how they do it...I don't care if it takes 7 overtimes...just WIN THIS GAME!!!! GO BUCKS!!!
 
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I don't put this one on Tressel...I put next week on Tressel. Next week will show how good of a coach Tressel is.
Click to expand...
I agree. It's also going to show how badly the players want to win. They should be pissed and embarassed after the NW game, and a win over Wisconsin (even a solid Tressel-ball win, so don't bitch if that's what we get...) will be huge in regaining momentum.

We've got the talent to do it. The test is whether or not the coaching staff can recognize the adjustments needed, and whether or not the players can step up and play like they're able to.

GO BUCKS!!!
:oh: :io: :osu:
 
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The 35-8 argument is a good one but OSU has that record because of the players they have. Tressel is a great HEAD coach but his play calls suck ass. OSU could have been killing people if the schemes were better, plain and simple.

There is just no excuse to losing to NW. NONE. A team can only get so far on talent before it starts to lose games. Well, I think it's catching up since the player leadership part of the equation is gone in the draft.

I love the guy, don't get me wrong, but this is pathetic.
 
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KillerNut said:
I would like to think it was us looking past this game, inexperience, ect. but it's not.

Marshall ran the ball on us the same way NW did, NC-State broke some big ones on us and probably would have been able to do more if their QB didn't stink it up allowing us to focus on the run.

Look we are in trouble. 3-3 isn't out of the question unless we pick it up, and I mean right now. We have been very weak against the run all season which I believe has everything to do with our DT's level of play/talent. They are not eating up Linemen to allow our LB's to make plays, and they are not making play, or getting up field on their own. They are getting beat way too often, and finally look confused or void of any discipline on any misdirection, screen or whatever...

It could be youth, it could be scheme, but it is not getting done, and if it doesn't 3-3 is on the way.
Click to expand...
I completely and totally agree with Killer. This all comes down to two things: execution and coaching. One of them needs to improve. You guys can make all the arguments about how the team is young, inexperienced, came out flat, and were looking ahead to Whisky, but the fact remains - we should have KILLED Northwestern. All of those reasons listed simply means we should have only won by 2 TD's instead of 4. There is no excuse to losing to this Northwestern team, they simply aren't that good. The defensive line, as mentioned by Killer, played pathetic. So, like I said, one of two things needs to happen: one, the defensive line needs to improve dramatically. Two, the defensive minds (Snyder) need to make some bloody changes during the game, and/or prepare better. If the front four isn't getting pressure on the QB, then the scheme NEEDS to change. The LBs, safeties, corners, everyone needs to get involved in the blitz packages, and we (gasp) are going to have to trust the CB's to actually defend a WR man-to-man once in a while. As Northwestern showed, a decent QB will pick apart a soft zone if he has the time to throw. As Killer mentioned, our D line is giving the QB plenty of time to throw. As such, if the D line doesn't improve, then the coaches need to implement some changes, post haste.

edit: I'll give you the offensive excuses. We pretty much all agree that Ross isn't the man (which, I might add, Killer stated about 6 weeks ago, and I argued with him - I'm not giving you the Fox argument, though :biggrin: ), the O-line is the same as last year (poor), we have a new QB, etc. But we have the best LBs in the nation, and excellent players in the secondary. Wiser coaching decisions would do a lot to improve the D...
 
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I apologize in advance if everyone has already made these points ad nauseum... I've tried to get through most of the threads... but I didn't want to post here until I'd calmed down a little.

First... On the coaching- and the future. I think its an excellent point about judging motre how we respond next week than worrying about things last week. It is important because... guess what?... we're going to lose some games from time to time... so responding to that is important. What we don't want is to "Cooper it" and lose the bowl game because we're all sad about losing to Michigan... if you get my drift.

Couple impressions I got about the game. (let me preface this by tipping my hat to Northwestern, I don't mean to take anything away from them, the deserved to win)

Some things that stuck out to me-

First- We sleepwalked through the first quarter... period. I don't know if it was because of the late start, or we took them lightly, or Tressel kicked their asses for 2 weeks in practice or a combination of all three...anyway... that's got to stop.

Second- First let me say I don't ahve a problem with 'tresselball' (Sorry 27, don't ding me for sounding gay)-- But to me, while Tressel ball has to do with controlling the clock, palying tought Defense and having sound special teams.... but it has more to do with scoring more points than your opponent by limiting their opportunities to score more points than you.

The problem comes when you end up playing from behind... then 'tresselball' becomes a series of [less] calculated risks... and the problem is NOT that we won't open up the offense... we won't open it up soon enough. To me, what happened in the NW game is exactly what happened in the Michigan game last year. We waited a couple too many series to attack. (ie: open it up)

Our last couple possessions Satuday, we were rolling up and down the field... but essentially only gave us chance to get two scores when we (likely needed) three. Much like the Michigan game when we actually had a chance to tie it in the 3rd quarter, but decided to turn it over to the defense instead of going for it on ther 40(ish) yardline.

In this game- the series before the drive that included the bomb to Roy Hall... the 3rd down play was that stupid little roll out that Zwick where there wasn't a receiver in the entire neghborhood.... then we had time for two more posessions, and started gunning then.... the clock mangagement should have been more aligned with trying to score on all the 4th Quarter posessions... or... wait... maybe openening things up earlier....so you don't get two or three scores down.

The irony is.. that I don't mind losing games like Wisconsin last year, where you go on the road and keep it close and count on your guys to make the big play at the end... sometimes it works out.

What I hate is the NW and Michigan Games where... for once... someone has the Defense's number, but you INSIST on keeping them on the field. The big palys are there... its the inflexibility that pisses me off.



We were very fortunate to even get to overtime.

P.S.- Sorry kid... I love your heart... but Lydell Ross ain't worth a broke dick.
P.P.S.- What the hell is up with the empty backfields over and over... I don't mind it once in a while... but why give them a license to pin their ears back.
 
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