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OSU-Northwestern 2004

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I think that we will need to run the ball on Wisconsin to win the game. Running the ball effectively is so much better than passing effectively. Chances are if you can run the ball and the team you are playing against cant, you are going to win 9 times out of 10. Why did we win the NC in 2002? We Ran the ball well and Stopped the run very well. The result was we were undefeated. Passing defense isn't everything, because most of the time the passing game will stop it self (bad throw, a dropped pass, wrong routes, break down in blocking) you just have to stop the big play. Until we get a big punishing running back and an O-line that can open up holes we wont be blowing out anyone, and since our rush defense isn't looking very great I really wouldn't be surprised if we got beat a couple more times.

Saw31 said:
I have thought of this as well. And after putting a little thought (very little) into the scenarios that make this happen, *the one glaring problem I see is we'll have to rely on someone else taking out Minnesota twice if my understanding of the tie breakers is correct. Minnesota has to go to scUM and Wisconsin. I suppose those would be the best chances for us to get a little help. All the other "contenders" have to play us which means we can still have a chance at the Big Ten +1 championship, once again if my understanding of the tie breakers is correct. All big time "ifs" at this point, but certainly not out of the question.

Edit: *I'm assuming that we want to go to the Rose Bowl (which I do). If Minnesota only dropped one game and we shared a title we could also, I suppose, get an at-large to another BCS game.
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You are correct as far as I understand it. Minny needs to lose twice, and of course NW need to lose again but I doubt that will be a problem ... all the others we have to take care of.
 
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This is a game we should have never lost. The only blessings I can find are;
we didn't get upset by an out of conference team where ten entire Big Ten takes a black eye. The other blessing I can find is, the game didin't hurt our recruiting. Early playing time may have crossed the minds of recruits thinking of going to tOSU.
 
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Wow..... I recall you and I disagreeing a lot on Bucknuts Milli, but I did not in a million years think I would see you put a positive spin on this.

I am not going to list the negatives here, we all know them. They have been beat to death, but if you are seeinf the positive here you can look at a 1/4 full cup and say it is almost full.

A well coached, well led team does not need a wake-up call!! Plain and Simple.

This is Northwestern. We still have a shot at the Big Ten crown... yes, but lets be realistic here....

Sorry, but I can not spin on positive thing from this. Maybe I need to drink some more black and tans and enjoy that Hawaian sun a little more....:wink2:
 
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I have a hard time seeing anything positive or "blessing" like coming from a loss. The only thing I can see (or at least hope to see) is Tress doing what he does, and learning from it. This team is very young, Fox was sorely missed. You can't beat a team forever, 24 straight is pretty impressive.

No one likes to lose, they will be fired up this week, hopefully that will be enough.
 
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Blessing may be more long term

I would agree with those who note that a conference loss is rarely a blessing. I too was unexpectedly calm after the game, but then I was calm after the scUM loss last year. Both sort of seemed inevitable as the games unfolded. That was not true of the Wisky loss.
Many have noted that the team seemed to play without either being ready or playing with emotion. I'm not sure that isn't just wishful thinking. There is no excuse not to be ready for the first conference game, even if it is the two-loss Cats. I read a post elsewhere from a fan who sat close behind the OSU bench, and claimed that there was virtually no show of emotion from many the whole game long, that many even looked bored.
If that is true, that is a failure of senior leadership, and even Tress apparently noted in today's radio appearance with Herbie that at least on-field emotion seemed to be a problem. If it is senior leadership, then it is up to the coaches to straighten that out in a hurry.
In any case, if there is a "blessing" involved it may in a small way be in the sense of a wake up call (Marshall should have been one) but more long term, now the monkey is off NWs back and their overwhelming emotion to break the decades long loss string will not be there much in coming years. It also may be off our backs in the sense that the pressure to continue the streak is also removed. If we play NW(?) next year, I would expect motivation to be on our side for a change.
Go Bucks!
 
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FKAGobucks877, I agree with you in that Ross is not getting it done. I think he's a great kid but has alot of "challenges" as a powerbacker. He rarely breaks any tackles. No the opposing defense are not stacking with 9 guys. I am sorry if you thought I said that but they are coming on a regular basis with 7. That is something definitely that our offense needs to adjust too.
My main point all along here was that Coach Tressel is not going to make drastic changes in his schemes, and that Justin Zwick has to make the opposing teams respect his passing game more(which is coming soon) and not have these DB's and LB's cheating up and being in the right place at the right time because they have been cheating. When the Db's lay back and the linebackers lay back, in my opinion only, will the run game be better or at least help it ... well that and when we get a better running game and runningback. Also my point other point has been that its alot of maturity or lack there of.
I also agree that we need to make better adjustments on offense to break these defenses and not being so predictable at times but alot of that has to do with the confidence Coach Tressel has in changing things up with JZ too.
 
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craigblitz said:
Wow..... I recall you and I disagreeing a lot on Bucknuts Milli, but I did not in a million years think I would see you put a positive spin on this...A well coached, well led team does not need a wake-up call!! Plain and Simple...This is Northwestern...Sorry, but I can not spin on positive thing from this...
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Well, whether or not many on this board want to accept this as fact, but we're still talking about college kids that are 18-21 years old. And AKAKBUCK brought up a good point about our juniors having experienced only two losses in their career up until Saturday, two BCS bowl wins, plus a national title. When you're 30-2 in your career going into a venue where your school hasn't lost since 1958, it's easy (although not acceptable) to lose focus and motivation. If anything, the staff needs to get their collective asses kicked for not chimp-slapping the team during warmups when they saw them goofing around and not being serious. When this team is focused, it's very formidable. The staff is responsible for team focus.
 
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After the NC St game (a game we won) I did a post about our first and 10 perforamnce. It was pathetic. Overwhelmingly running plays and an average of less than one yard per play. But we won.

Was it any different two weeks later? We had 34 snaps from center on first and ten. Here are the plays:

Zwick sacked -5
Ross 0
Inc
Pass to Holmes +5
Inc
Pass to Hall +4
Ross +3
Inc
Pittman +4
Pittman +5
Pittman +4
Inc
Zwick sack -3 and fumble
Ross +6
Inc
Ross +7
Joe +1
Ross +2
Inc
Zwick +8
Zwick +11
Pittman +5
Inc
Pittman +3
Pittman -3
Zwick +18
Pass to Holmes +11
Inc
Pass to Holmes +21 TD
Inc
Pittman +3

Overall we had 110 yards on 31 plays for an average of 3.5 YPP.

We had 13 rushes by the tailback for 40 yards and 3.1 YPC.
We had 13 passes for 41 yards and 3.4 YPP.**
It is tough to sort out the Zwick carries because it can be judgement whether they were designed or not, but they sum up to 5 carries for 29 yards - 5.8 YPC (including a fumble).

So, we had balance, we had production (relatively speaking) - and we had a loss.

What does it all mean? Talk amongst yourselves.

** 32 of those yards came on the late TD drive. On the 9 first down passes prior to that we averaged one yard per pass.
 
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Great Quotes. Is It a Wake-Up Call?

"When you beat a team so long sometimes you just expect to win. I think we came out tonight just expecting to win," said outside linebacker Bobby Carpenter.

"It's kind of a hard thing to accept. We lost to a team that we didn't think we could lose to," added left tackle Rob Sims.

"Pretty much what happened was we didn't deserve to win. They wanted it, they deserved to win."

"They came ready to play and I guess we overlooked them," added freshman running back Antonio Pittman.

Great quotes on the O-Zone. I had a couple of michigan fans ask me today if I thought this game would be a wake-up call for the Bucks. I hope it is and it looks like it has already set in with a couple of players.
 
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I had a couple of michigan fans ask me today if I thought this game would be a wake-up call for the Bucks. I hope it is and it looks like it has already set in with a couple of players.
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Let's hope so. Not being ready and "up" and looking past a team is unacceptable and some of the blame has to fall to the coaching staff also.
 
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BuckinMichigan said:
I had a couple of michigan fans ask me today if I thought this game would be a wake-up call for the Bucks. I hope it is and it looks like it has already set in with a couple of players.
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Hate to say this...but I agree. I was thinking the same thing today while the South Carolina fans gave me hell all day....:roll2:
 
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