QB Justin Zwick (B1G Champion, National Champion)

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Smith = Leader, he gets his team pumped up and wanting to win. This team has been evolving and getting better every week since Smith has taken over.

With Zwick, I acutally witnessed the opposite.

 

[FKAGobucks877]

TS has a great arm for distance and speed, but his accuracy is not all that. He started off hot yesterday 7-9 but then went really cold. But thanks to great field position, punt returns, and stellar D it really wasn't noticed that he had an off 3rd quarter (which he did). 4th quarter was JT stall mode so I won't count that against TS.

Dude, no offense, but you either haven't seen Troy throw the ball this year, or you're on crack. Smith has thrown, at worst, the three best balls of this year. His TD against Marshall was the best. And he had several yesterday, such as the one he threw on the run to either Holmes or Ginn which went for about 35 yards...the TD to Gonzo was a great throw. On top of those, he throws the slant and the quick out better than Zwick. Maybe you couldn't tell if you were at the game, but if you watched it on TV, you saw - Smith is very accurate. His accuracy this year is significantly better than Zwick's - on all counts. Short drops, deep drops, quick hits, deep balls, you name it, Smith has been a lot more accurate. Oh, and also, did you catch the fact we outstored scUM something like 27-0 in the second and third quarters you referenced? How exactly is that Smith "going cold"?

As I stated before our o-line played their best game of the season. The reason why TS had so much room to run was because protection held up long enough for the WR to clear the DB and LB's out. Smith made some great runs, but on several of those runs all he had to do was recognize that the run was there then he had 10 yards before. Zwick could have made some (not all, not even close) of the runs that Smith made.

You're right. But as you alluded, Zwick would not have gotten the yards that Smith did. Not even close. The protection and OL play was much better, but instead of using that as an excuse for Zwick's poor play, I say instead that it is Smith that inspires them to play better. Smith is obviously a much better leader, it is apparent in his attitude on and off the field. Listen to him in an interview...

We have seen Smith play for half a season, and we've seen Zwick play for half a season. Smith is obviously the better QB right now. To say otherwise is asinine. The progression and and obvious improvement that Smith has made is blatantly obvious when you watch him play. Compare his first game to the scUM game, and his improvement is unbelievable. Even then, most only questioned his tendency to get "happy feet", and even that one "flaw" has now been eliminated. Excluding designed run plays, Smith threw the ball away when under pressure with nowhere to go, as opposed to taking the loss. But when there was somewhere to go, he got there, and picked up the first down. Stop saying "one game isn't enough to judge". The kid has played for half a season, and he's made obvious improvements each and every game. He is the clear #1 QB going into camp, and barring some massive meltdown, he will be the starter next year.

 

[daddyphatsacs]

I am on the bandwagon of the guy who wins big games. Smith beat Michigan and set an OSU record along the way, enough said.

 

[Buckeye737]

I'm pretty much sold on TS right now, but I'm not expecting him to put in that type of performance every week. I was not all sold by his performance against MSU, PSU, and previous games, but he definitely seemed to "put it all together" against scUM.

Here is the million dollar question as first posed by Oh8ch: Would Zwick accept a role such as McMullen did or will he transfer? I still think McMullen didn't get enough praise for being the team guy that he was. It would probably be even more difficult for Zwick to accept with all the hype that was thrown on him coming out of high school. I can't emphasize how great it would be to have a guy like Zwick waiting on the sideline in case Troy goes down.

 

[Piney]

I don't even want to play the "If Zwick would have started" game. Who cares, Smith did and he played balls to the wall. Zwick, you were my boy. Thinking you were going to take us to the promised land but all you did was slow the evolution of our offense around Troy Smith. Sorry Zwick you had your chance but Smith has won the 2005 job.

 

[MegaWoody]

Haiku for the QB of tOSU

From Cleveland came the
Man of Troy. At first, second.
But now, number one.

 

[AnnArborBuck]

You're right. But as you alluded, Zwick would not have gotten the yards that Smith did. Not even close. The protection and OL play was much better, but instead of using that as an excuse for Zwick's poor play, I say instead that it is Smith that inspires them to play better. Smith is obviously a much better leader, it is apparent in his attitude on and off the field. Listen to him in an interview...

Or the improved line play could be from a new O-line coach (peterson) that has taken over the O-line from Bollman. Or it could be that that light went on for the new freshman lineman. I mean come on, don't you think the freshman lineman might progress throughout the year and actually be better by the end.

Again, Smith had a great game on Saturday, but he has flaws. He missed some open WR and made some bad passes, at least that is what I saw from sitting on the 40 yard line at the game. Is he the starter going into the bowl game, hell yeah. But what if he performs again like he did in any of the previous three games. None of those games really make you go wow.

Lets not forget that Zwick had some decent games too. If Smith goes down I feel allot better with Zwick going in there now that we have some other weapons beside Holmes and now that our line can actually form a pocket. Because if you watch the SCUM game, you realize that most of the runs Smith had did not come from not having a pocket, they came because michigan rushed 3 thus allowing lanes to open up.

 

[FKAGobucks877]

Lets not forget that Zwick had some decent games too. If Smith goes down I feel allot better with Zwick going in there now that we have some other weapons beside Holmes and now that our line can actually form a pocket. Because if you watch the SCUM game, you realize that most of the runs Smith had did not come from not having a pocket, they came because michigan rushed 3 thus allowing lanes to open up.

I don't buy it. scUm employs a 3-4 D, and while a couple of times they did only rush 3, the 4 LB were still playing tight to the LOS. And usually, at least one of the LB's rushed the passer as well. As I said before, there are two huge differences that I see between Zwick and Smith. One of them is leadership. For whatever reason, the players respond to Smith in ways they do not respond to Zwick. The other is improvement. Smith has shown improvement in every facet of his game. Zwick has done the opposite. Even in the previous games which Smith started, he showed improvement from game to game. He turns the ball over less, and is MORE ACCURATE with his passes. He makes better reads, and is quicker and better at checking down from his primary receiver, which is refreshing from the Zwick days of locking onto Holmes from start to finish. Maybe Zwick will turn into a heisman QB, but he has not shown any evidence of that so far.

 

[funman]

So long as there is no RB to provide offensive balance and the QB must be the primary runner, Smith is the only QB that can win for OSU. In 2005 3/4 of the QBs will be drop back passers. If Smith wins the job, the offense will have to change when a back-up is needed. OSU has a critical need for RBs so that the offense can be consistent, regardless of who the QB happens to be.

 

[chris120870]

I honestly believe that the only other reason you may see Zwick again barring injury to Troy (possible) or a complete 180 degree turn in his play (doubtful), is that there are some mighty big supporters of the athletic dept. that want to see the golden boy in there. I also think that is why Tressel was slow in giving Smith his shot. All we heard all spring was how close the QB race was and lets face it, Troy should have been in there much earlier. In Zwick's defense, he really didn't have Ginn as a weapon when he was in there. That is Troy's go to guy now.

 

[osugrad21]

I honestly believe that the only other reason you may see Zwick again barring injury to Troy (possible) or a complete 180 degree turn in his play (doubtful), is that there are some mighty big supporters of the athletic dept. that want to see the golden boy in there.

Don't take this too personally because you are not the first to make this assertion, but that claim makes my skin crawl every time I see it. "Golden Boy" is such a derogatory slam on various levels of interpretation when used in that context...

Troy Smith won the QB battle with game performance. Zwick might be a Heisman Candidate practice player, but Smith has earned the spot with performance and leadership. Nothing more, nothing less IMHO.

 

[Ratboy18]

Zwick didn't have the crazy TGII formation, either.


He (JZ) can't really go to another D-1A school because he would be transferring just to get 1 season -- doesn't make much sense. I suppose he could try to get some medical consideration for this season, but tOSU would probably have to cooperate.

Why can't there be a 2-headed approach (or 3 for the people that are in Boeckman's corner) for the Non-conference portion of the schedule. Even for the early part of the conference...

As PSU and Tenn have shown this year, even 2 good QBs might not be enough.

JZ might go work with a QB guru to work out some of his mechanical kinks, then we are looking at a different situation. He isn't really THAT slow, is he?

 

[cincibuck]

"He reminds me of a more athletic, stronger armed, and more accurate Krenzel."

So what exactly does that leave to compare him to CK?<!-- / message -->

How about Cornie Green for those of us old enough to remember when Ohio State had a quarterback who could run, scramble and pass?

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

So long as there is no RB to provide offensive balance and the QB must be the primary runner, Smith is the only QB that can win for OSU. In 2005 3/4 of the QBs will be drop back passers. If Smith wins the job, the offense will have to change when a back-up is needed. OSU has a critical need for RBs so that the offense can be consistent, regardless of who the QB happens to be.

The offense will not have to change much if Troy were to get hurt. Smith is becoming more of a passer, and he has been getting better at staying in the pocket longer before taking off, along with his passes being more accurate. A little more work and he'll be a genuine pocket passer with the ability to bust loose when needed, and that's about as dangerous a quarterback can be.

 

[kippy1040]

Yeah and the more he reviews films compared to the bad decisions he made in the past will be a key for him. He will be dangerous as "Mili" expressed. And all this will become more meaningfull in the future with the "Evolution" of Ohio State football as coach put it so neatly at the end of the game with Jakc Arut. I sure hope Justin can hang in there and not ''transfer" as this thread started out with "Zwick to Transfer". I also think that Ohio State is developing a situation that no matter who is the starter at QB, we have a damn good one waiting in the wings in case the NO. 1 goes down, the NO.2 can step in without losing a step. Then we can even have fun and mix up the names alittle Justin Smith or Troy Zwick. Who cares.