Mr. Clutch;1044747; said:
Right, I understand what you're saying. But why should the Buckeyes try something that they haven't tried yet this season? I understand that Boecks has been struggling, but I believe Tressel will give Beanie the bulkload of work, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Beanie with 40 carries on the game. I also don't expect to see Boeckman pass that much because of his recent lackluster play. I just don't understand why you'd want to throw a QB with EXTREMELY LIMITED game-time experience out on the field in the National Championship because it is more unlikely that a young QB like that will fold under pressure than do extreme good.
I am not saying that they should or will play Henton in the NC game, it should be more like a backup plan. I agree that playing him would be risky. But if Tressel only takes the gameplan that he is going to run Beanie 40 times and not pass that much, that is also risky (especially in this day and age of football) and that may play into LSU's strength (Dorsey and Company) a little too much without the threat of stretching the field.
With Boeckman, we get that vertical stretch but defenses have figured out how to stop our long ball by dropping their safeties deep. We also can't count on the fact that Boeckman will have the time to get off deep passes nor can we count on the fact that his film study will correct something that he has been struggling with since the Akron game, floating his deep ball. Several of his early touchdowns would have been picks against better, more athletic defenders (like Illinois) and he had many more potential pics dropped by opponents (like Washington). I don't think Tressel is entirely comfortable with our INTs more than doubling last season's regular season number.
Last year, we planned on featuring Ginn like we plan on featuring Beanie this year and when we lost Ginn, we paid dearly for it. Had we had another week to prepare for Florida, knowing we were going to be without Ginn, we would have probably run right up the gut of Florida or used our TEs more (like what Miami did against us with Kellen Winslow, Jr. when we shut down Miami's deep ball and running game) rather than us playing into Florida's strength (fast DEs). Tressel is just being a boy scout right now so that if, God forbid, we were to lose either Beanie or Boeckman, he has the contingency plans in place.
With Henton, you get less of the vertical stretch but more of the horizontal one, so that you can keep the ball in play longer (like Troy Smith does for the Ravens now). This might help us be able to unlock some of our many underutilized (and, for the most of the season, unneeded) weapons (Ray Small, Brandon Saine, etc.) when we are playing for all the marbles. Illinois tonight (against USC) showed a predictability that Ohio State can ill afford, only mixing it up too little, too late and then fumbling away their chances. They probably should have taken more of a risk and played McGee sooner. For whatever reason, sometimes some QBs play better and some fold in certain situations. And look at all the risks Michigan took against Florida; not all of them paid off but their aggressive mentality on both sides of the ball is what won them the game.
If the Boeckman that played against Penn State shows up, then by all means don't change anything. But, especially after last year, we must expect the unexpected, adapt and overcome. No excuses. 2008 is our year. I can't wait for this game. Go Bucks!!!
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