Penn State Aftermath

[redstatebuckeye]

I have maintained in my conversations regarding this season that OSU is suffering from three primaries issues (these issues were all on display last night):

1. The junior and senior class lived through the Florida and LSU games and the non-stop media beat down (e.g., too slow, not very good, etc.). I think that they have not been able to mentally overcome the continuous negativity. I am not sure what the coaches can do if a player has given in to the negativity.

2. The game planning. We have played far too much "bend but don't break" defense, but it appears we are getting out of that. On offense, I agree that the play calling has been very conservative, but I am not sure what else we can do. I appears to me that most of Pryors throws are late and give the DB time to get in position to make a play. I also hope that Tress will open up the playbook now that the Big 10 championship is probably gone.

3. OL Talent. The talent on the OL is perhaps the biggest problem with our offense. I also think the lack of talent shows a bit of arrogance -- we can recruit only 1 or 2 OL a year and succeed because we are such great coaches. It appears to me that the coaches only "trust" about 6 or 7 OL (and Adams and Shugarts may not return until the bowl game or next year). At this point I think we only have 3 or 4 OL. You can't beat the top end teams like that. The good news is that we recruited 3 OL last year and are bringing 3-4 OL (plus Boren) this year. They need to bring in 3-5 every year.

 

[MolGenBuckeye]

2) Terrelle Pryor is a true freshman, and we certainly expect him to make freshman mistakes. But his fumble on the aforementioned quarterback sneak was not a freshman mistake ... it was a stupid play. Pryor has played enough football to know that his job is to take the snap, follow his center, fall forward, gain eighteen inches, and go back to the huddle to call the next play. You can't become a hero on a quarterback sneak, Terrelle ... but you certainly can become a goat.

There have to be 18 inches available, even on a QB sneak. Yes, the fumble was obviously a mistake, but I'm not sure he would have had the first down without bouncing outside.

3) Before the year started, I thought that Pryor would win a game all by himself, and he did that at Wisconsin. And now he has the distinction of losing a game all by himself.

I could not disagree more. While the fumble was a game turning play, to say he lost the game by himself is way over the top.

4) The fumble was definitely Terrelle Pryor's "Joe Pisarcik Moment", but he did have a chance to redeem himself at the end of the game. ... Pryor rolled out to the right, set himself, somehow found Brian Hartline engulfed in a sea of white jerseys, and with plenty of time to throw launched a bomb into triple coverage that was promptly picked off.

My guess is that he didn't see the help underneath. The receiver had beaten the double coverage to the outside. A perfect pass might have even been complete, but it would have had to be pinpoint to the back corner of the endzone. I agree that the ball shouldn't have been thrown, but I believe he'll learn from it.

9) I don't care what anyone says, games like last night's hurt worse than the blow-out losses. Yeah, we can try to rationalize those games away with a bunch of "what ifs", but in reality we know that our team got beat from start to finish by the likes of Florida, LSU, and USC. Last night, however, we really should have won the game, and but for perhaps the single most ill-advised, momentum-killing play in the history of Buckeye football, we probably would have won the game. And that just plain sucks....

I'd rather see a hard fought loss, even if we could have won it. And I've seen way more ill-advised and momentum killing plays in the history of Buckeye football. :)

12) This is Ohio State. There are no moral victories, no good losses, no learning experiences. The Buckeyes are supposed to win 80-90% of their games, and last night's contest was one that should have gone in the "win" column. No excuses.

Agreed. That said, we have to accept that every once in a while, we'll have a 2 loss season with both losses to top 10 teams. Better this than '98.

13) After the USC game, I said that the Buckeyes' season was officially "over", and that Tressel should start Terrelle Pryor for the remainder of the year so that he could gain valuable experience for the 2009 season. It worked. Now I'm saying that the Big Ten season is officially "over", and that Tressel should open up the offensive play book so that Pryor can gain valuable experience for the 2009 season. Please listen....

I agree on the playbook. But the season's not over. :scum4:

 

[daveeb]

I could scarcely disagree more. Especially with the quotes I included above. And I think you violated the "no bashing" rule way too many times to be ignored. Shameful post IMO.

Sounded more like constructive criticism to me. Very much within the rules. And, it's rather agreeable too.

 

[Sportsbuck28]

Pryor completed a couple of passes to Ray Small to move the ball into Penn State territory, and then he tried to play the hero once again. After a fierce pass rush from Aaron Maybin (more on that later), Pryor rolled out to the right, set himself, somehow found Brian Hartline engulfed in a sea of white jerseys, and with plenty of time to throw launched a bomb into triple coverage that was promptly picked off. On that play, the four Penn State pass rushers were all caught inside, three pass defenders were following Hartline to the endzone, and the short zone on that side of the field had been vacated. Pryor was already near the right sideline, so all he had to do was take off running, gain ten or fifteen yards for the first down, go out of bounds to stop the clock, and then run the next play. But instead, Terrelle thought with his ego and not with his reason, and he went for the highlight reel play instead of the sure thing. Now of course, we can write that off as a "freshman mistake", but we also have to wonder if Pryor is one of those players who will always try to win the game all by himself ... and if that is the case, does he have the talent to do so? If the answer to the latter question is "yes", then we may have the next Vince Young in Columbus ... but if the answer is "no", then we might just have a problem on our hands....

If Pryor puts that pass 5 yards deeper than Hartline has a TD...

 

[Sportsbuck28]

And on another note a big play as well... Robo's drop on a jump ball... if he high points it he has a catch and a huge first down but instead he tried to cradle it with his body and it got knocked out.

 

[MaxBuck]

Sounded more like constructive criticism to me. Very much within the rules. And, it's rather agreeable too.

1) ... it was offensive ineptitude at the highest level.

2) Terrelle Pryor ... fumble on the aforementioned quarterback sneak was ... a stupid play.

3) Pryor ... has the distinction of losing a game all by himself.

6) And another thing about the offensive line ... have the Buckeyes had a truly athletic offensive lineman since Orlando Pace?

7) While the offense was anemic last night, the defense wasn't anything special.

9) I don't care what anyone says, games like last night's hurt worse than the blow-out losses...

10) Was it just me, or did the whole team seem flat for most of the game?

11) I am convinced that several players on this team "mailed in" the season from day one...

12) ... last night's contest was one that should have gone in the "win" column. No excuses.

13) ...the Big Ten season is officially "over"

Please cite to me which of the above could be construed as remotely "constructive."

I have no problem with disappointment; hell, I'm quite disappointed myself. But I've been around enough D1 athletes to know that "mailing in" very rarely happens, and even more rarely on Tressel teams. What seems to the outsider as lack of passion is more commonly a lack of self-confidence, or confusion as to what is required of the athlete in a given situation. It's hard to appear "passionate" when you are unclear about your assignment, or whether you're fully capable of carrying it out.

How is it "constructive" to claim that Terrelle Pryor lost this game by himself? That is just plain a stupid comment, and I don't apologize for saying so.

I have a lot of respect for LJB and his posts are typically insightful and knowledgable; I've learned a lot from what he's written. That doesn't affect how strongly I feel he made a huge mistake with this one.

 

[buckeyebri]

There have to be 18 inches available, even on a QB sneak. Yes, the fumble was obviously a mistake, but I'm not sure he would have had the first down without bouncing outside.

If you read TP's quotes in the Ozone article, he talks about seeing the endzone on this play and having only one guy to beat....he just mishandled the ball....

I like how TP stood upand took the hit for the game in the media...I also like how Jenkins stood up and backed him saying it was a team game and TP doesn't win and lose games by himself....

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

I suspect Beanie's foot will not be well this week... after he spent all night last night and no doubt all day today.. kicking the asses of his O-linemen...

 

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

There were like 4 PSU guys standing 5 yards away from him on that last INT, the throw away was the best option. However, it doesn't help when there were no receivers running drag routes 10-20 yards down the middle of the field, instead they were all in the endzone. Pryor's fumble was his mistake, but I REFUSE to put blame on him for the loss of this game. This game was lost by the pitiful offensive coaches (offensive line and play calling) that resulted in 6 points, no touchdowns for the third game, and 9 total points in our two biggest games this year.

 

[buckeyemania11]

Bryant Browning........ I wont say anything to avoid being banned for bashing

 

[osugrad21]

Please cite to me which of the above could be construed as remotely "constructive.".

Harsh criticism for sure but you are reaching with the bashing accusations.

Disagree also with your explanation of lack of passion and I've been around enough athletes also to know that there will be some years where a lack of true leadership amongst the players leads to a poor chemistry which leads to lackluster play.

...but we've already had that discussion.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

But I've been around enough D1 athletes to know that "mailing in" very rarely happens, and even more rarely on Tressel teams.

Yet is has happened this year....

How is it "constructive" to claim that Terrelle Pryor lost this game by himself? That is just plain a stupid comment, and I don't apologize for saying so.

Fumble Proved to Be the Difference. Seems like Scout agrees with me....

I have a lot of respect for LJB and his posts are typically insightful and knowledgable; I've learned a lot from what he's written. That doesn't affect how strongly I feel he made a huge mistake with this one.

Thanks, I guess....

 

[MaxBuck]

..lack of true leadership amongst the players ...

With Malcolm Jenkins on this team I fail to see how this one passes the giggle test.

 

[osugrad21]

With Malcolm Jenkins on this team I fail to see how this one passes the giggle test.

Really? Hmmm. Not sure how to explain it to you then. Malcolm Jenkins has played well lately no doubt. However, not every great player makes a great leader.

Giggle away.

 

[buckeyemania11]

I wonder if they will ever give up on Ray Small when it comes to punt returns (he is NOT Ted Ginn and never will be)

Lamaar Thomas has looked solid returning kickoffs, why not give him a shot returning punts as well?