Karsatos, guest speaker at Thursday?s annual Richland Newhope Employer Recognition Breakfast, is president of his own financial services company and coach of his son Nick?s Little League football team when he isn?t pacing in front of the TV or along the sidelines on Ohio State game days.
Old habits are hard to break. Karsatos spent 15 years as the on-field reporter for WBNS Radio.
His analytical eye still is sharp. Some would even say biting.
?I don?t think we?re No. 3 in the country,? he said about the Buckeyes? stature entering Saturday?s home game with Kent State, ?but we might be by the end of the season. If we can get by Wisconsin and Penn State, I?ll have a little more confidence.?
Karsatos thinks this defense, at least depth-wise, is better than the ?06 version ? ?I tell you what, we reloaded, and we reloaded with some Magnum? ? and he likes that the Buckeyes have gone back to more of a smash-mouth approach on offense, with a fullback paving the way for 230-pound tailback Beanie Wells. But he has some reservations about the execution of the power attack.
?I?m not a fan of zone blocking,? Karsatos said. ?When you?ve got linemen that big and that athletic, you?ve got to drive block. If you drive block and pick up three or four yards each time, you can run three times for a first down. When you zone block, it allows for penetration. You see it every game once or twice. When we play a Wisconsin or an LSU, it?s going to be more than once or twice.
?I know (offense line) coach (Jim) Bollman loves the zone block, and I see the value in how it works, but I don?t know why we can?t do both. You?ve got to be able to drive block. They haven?t hit a sled in years. That thing is rusting in a corner.
?If you listen to (Jim) Lachey (a former All-American lineman and OSU radio analyst), we play a little high. If we played LSU , they have three defensive linemen who can play and they will cause havoc. Same thing we saw from Florida last year.
They had solid players up front and our blocking didn?t work. Every time you looked, there were three Florida players two steps in the backfield as soon as the ball was snapped because our guys stepped back to zone (block).?
Karsatos has a soft spot for 6-5, 235-pound starting quarterback Todd Boeckman and 6-6, 240-pound Rob Schoenhoft since all three were cut from the same biggie-sized mold.
?They remind me a lot of me,? said Karsatos, one of only three OSU quarterbacks (Craig Krenzel and Mike Tomczak are the others) to win two bowl games. ?They sit in the pocket, they throw with someone hanging on their leg, they keep their eyes downfield and they?re both really good athletes who can run if they have to.?
