Penn State Aftermath

[DaddyBigBucks]

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

If you've been following the Buckeyes this year I fail to see how you could fail to see that they lack true leadership among the players. Giggle all you want... But to me it is a freakin' Captain Obvious observation.

 

[scooter1369]

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

An all time low for BP. Using Scout as a source to justify a comment.

 

[Best Buckeye]

Next thing you know someone will use ESPN as a source.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

The fact that this season has not panned out in the way that many had hoped, comes down to one essential factor--regression on the offensive line.

They haven't played with any fire all season long. They've had countless holding penalties in crucial instances. And, for the above two reasons, they're the primary culprit in our dismal red zone offense. They don't play with cohesion, and no one has stepped up to be the Pace, Stringer or Lachey type leader. From all reports, they're all great kids and solid students, and that IMO is what's most important. Unfortunately, they also haven't really met the standard of top level OL play at Ohio State.

I don't really comment on nuts and bolts football issues much, so if a mod thinks this crosses a line of acceptable criticism, please delete.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Re: 7) While the offense was anemic last night, the defense wasn't anything special. Yeah, they held the allegedly high-powered Nittany Lion offense to 13 points and 281 total yards (both season lows), but we all watched the game last night, and none of us was impressed with that Penn State team. The defense made no big plays (no turnovers, one sack), did nothing to change the momentum of the game, couldn't hold Penn State to a field goal after the Pryor fumble, and couldn't force the Lions to punt on their final drive. In general, the Buckeyes' defense got "out-hit" by the Lion's offense ... the Penn State offensive line won most of the battles in the trenches, and the Penn State ball carriers were consistently able to fight through tackles for extra yardage. Oh, it wasn't a bad game by the Buckeye defense by any means, but when they were called on to win the game in spite of the Buckeye offense, they just couldn't do it ... and that is what separates a truly great defense (2002) from a merely good defense (2008).

LordJeff Buck,
Very good write up. On point #7 (above), I thought the defense looked much better than you imply. Basically they held Penn State to 6 pioints through 3 quarters (i.e. put the offense in an excellent position to win the game). The offense didn't perform. It is a sorry state when the best "fireworks" of the night came from the band (i.e. halftime show) and not Ohio State's offense.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

An all time low for BP. Using Scout as a source to justify a comment.

Well, how about from JT himself: "One turnover was the ballgame."

 

[Deety]

MaxBuck, this is actually a good exercise for clarifying the bashing criteria, so let's take a little detour and do that.

One of the things we try to tell people is that you can express any opinion here - it's how you do it that becomes an issue.

That list where you pulled out selected quotes... some of those, if thrown out by themselves, emotionally, especially if it were in the midst of a game, would be an issue. That isn't what happened. LJB waited, put them in a larger context, and gave an analysis - albeit a harsh one - rather than looking to insult the players. His harshest comments didn't name names. And because it's LJB, which counts for a lot in my book, we know he'll discuss, clarify, analyze, and rein it in if things go too far. We can discuss the tough stuff here without being mindlessly insulting about it.

For the game itself, I did feel that it was hard fought and the team is finally getting some intensity. If that generalization extended to the O-line, we would probably be in a different situation today. I think the O-line has been another source of pressure for Pryor - and Beanie, for that matter. That isn't good.

 

[Moose]

Our defense played very well, it was one slobberknocker after another. The front D-line made there presence known. Beanie wanted the ball on every down, his heart was in it. I saw Boone down field after his initial block trying to get another block. I could see the O-line trying. We lost to a better team. Props to Penn State. We are maturing more and more. I watched the whole game with this perspective in mind. In my eyes, we gave them everything we could do. It turned on just two plays, and some of our mental errors, (pass interference, and the O-line jumping) The Penn State defensive ends were faster then our tackles. I am proud of our teams effort. We will grow, and learn, and get better. Great job last night!!!

Moose

 

[Buck Kid 66]

How do u ding people. Never done it before but someone ont his thread needs it bad.

 

[Jagdaddy]

Sad though it is, I actually feel somewhat better about the state of the program after this game. I have expressed concerns about the strength and conditioning program based on the perceived lack of explosiveness of the team on both lines and am far less concerned now that, for whatever reason, the DL seems to able to do enough to get the defense generally flowing down hill. It's been nice over the last two weeks to see some OSU-style hitting, rather than clutching and grabbing, from the defense. I now am more inclined to agree with the gurus of the board that such deficiencies as the defense has are more a function of okay, rather than top-notch, DL talent and maybe a lack of mental edge early in the season, rather than strength and conditioning issues.

Regarding other issues:

1. TP's a kid, who largely played well IMO, and his blunders were inevitable. I would remind others of Eddie George's fiasco vs. Illinois and Troy Smith's game losing pick vs. PSU in 2005. I give Terrelle decent odds of earning similar hardware down the road, although our offensive coaching staff is certainly a limiting factor.

2. If OSU intends to win another national championship under Coach Tressel, he must show Jim Bollman the door. The man coaches the OL, a perennial weak link of the program, and is ultimately responsible for the side of the ball that, year in and year out, underachieves. Even in the "high-powered" days of Troy Smith, the offense was not elite by national standards, especially in a Big Ten that had a lot of poor defenses. OSU perenially recruits top 10-15 talent, at worst, yet the offense has NEVER averaged 35 points per game for a season under Jim Bollman, despite Coach Tressel's avowed goal of 40 PPG, has typically struggled to break the top half (certainly the top 1/3) of NCAA total offense statistics, and the better, but still not elite, scoring statistics tend to be aided by perennial top-10 defenses. The program is elite in every other way and could truly have an era of glory with not even elite, but merely above average, OL and general offensive coaching. I hate seeing the program's potential being squandered as the clock ticks on the Tressel era (not saying that he's going anywhere, or should be, be simply that his repalcement might be another Bruce or Cooper so hay should be made while the sun is, except for the offensive coaching, shining).

 

[scarletngray]

I agree with the "turnover cost us the game" statement. If we make the first down we win the game. Even then, we still had a chance to win the game with 1 minute left.

However, I must admit when I read the original post I thought I was on BN for a moment. Count me in the camp that thinks some of the criticisms
made were a bit harsh.

I think it was a battle of two great Defenses. PSU's Offense is anything but inept. Our D made it inept.

Penalties ( PI penalties) and fumbles (Pryor's and M. Wells on the kickoff which put us in bad field position) were the difference in the game.

Our guys played hard and fought hard. We just had a couple of bad breaks. This year we've lost to the #1 ranked team and a #3 ranked team. Disappointing to be sure. But nothing to be ashamed of.

GO BUCKS!!

:osu:

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

And through it all, as disappointing as last night's game was, at least we aren't Michigan. :p

 

[RB07OSU]

I pretty much agree with all of this, other than the team being flat and the defense not playing well. I thought Worthington, Gibson, and Heyward all had great games up front. I though Homan and Lil Animal had good games. I especially thought that the DB's, minus Coleman's blown coverage, played an excellent game. That pass interference call on Washington was BS...the ball was uncatchable and he hardly even touched him. Now this loss does hurt a ton, more than any I can remember in awhile (maybe Texas?). I have to agree that Terrelle's fumble definetly lost us the game. What also lost us the game is the fact that he made no big plays. When we needed big plays from him on his feet or in the passing attack, he didn't produce. This comes back to my defense of our defense...we held them to 10 points, the offense needs to score. The only real fault with the defense is that the bend-and-don't-break mentality left the offense with horrible field position. I think what hurts most about this is how excited the players, coaches, and all of us fans were about this game. It's not easy to swallow this loss and as LJB said, our season is pretty much over in terms of goals. Right now it is about pride and getting some other guys valuable game experience. There is no chance of winning the Big 10 and of course, no national championship hopes. Maybe the Rose Bowl is still possible if Penn State goes to the National Championship (which is the only good thing that could possibly come of this imo).

I hope this team doesn't throw the towl in though...my senior season in HS, my team was 2-8 and we lost a lot of heartbraking close ones. I was a senior captain though, and there was no way I would accept anything less than 100% from myself every game. I did this for myself, but mostly for all the young guys that we set an example for. Even though we kept losing, I knew that I couldn't possibly have given anything else and beyond that, I love football and respect the game, so I would play for the love of the game. I have never regretted my senior season because of this, even though we were 2-8. These seniors need to respond to this tough challenge and set an example for the young guys. This season is far from what they hoped for but as hard as it is, they need to finish out the season to the best of their abilities and be good leaders.

 

[Mike80]

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....

You should have heard me during the game. Running the same 4 plays (at least that is what it seemed to me) with the same patterns by the WRs isn't going to confuse anyone.

If TP is the guy, let him run the entire playbook.

 

[buckeyemania11]

You should have heard me during the game. Running the same 4 plays (at least that is what it seemed to me) with the same patterns by the WRs isn't going to confuse anyone.

If TP is the guy, let him run the entire playbook.

the play calling was beyond predictable

Penn State looked like they knew exactly which play Ohio State was going to run most of the time