QB Justin Zwick (B1G Champion, National Champion)

[osugrad21]

After watching the game on my DVR, I seemed to notice that Zwick looks like he's put on a little weight, and not good weight. Anybody else notice this?

Lichter said JZ was one of the hardest workers in the offseason program...I thought it was more muscle mass than bad weight. His arms looked much bigger.

 

[Bucklion]

I'm not nearly as enamored with Zwick's ability as some here, but I have always stuck up for him as a person. He was over-hyped coming in, and there isn't a single player that could have lived up to all of that, regardless of how good they were. Smith had a chance to develop with quite a bit less pressure on him than Zwick, and I will always wonder if that's why Zwick just didn't turn out like many thought he would, and why Smith was able to blossom so well in the end. That's not taking anything away from the work Smith has put in at all, just saying he wasn't expected to play QB, and I think that may have worked to his advantage in some ways in terms of growing pains and early expectations.

In any case, any person booing a 20 year old kid, and especially one like Zwick, who is putting out effort and trying to help the team when he is called upon, as well as when he is not for that matter by not causing trouble, is classless, pointless, gutless, brainless, spineless, dickless, and hopeless.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

I hope Justin gets a LOT more playing time... he looked really rusty yesterday... those short one-hoppers... precision is his gig.. he needs to get that edge back.

NJ my friend, aside from the initial short-hop (which brought out the boo-birds) I thought he looked fine. On his next three passes, Hartline dropped one that was on target and JZ hit Ginn and Hartline in stride for first downs. Then the staff put Schoenhoft in simply to hand to ball off. They should've let Justin stay in and finish the drive...we probably would've scored a TD.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

I'm not nearly as enamored with Zwick's ability as some here, but I have always stuck up for him as a person. He was over-hyped coming in, and there isn't a single player that could have lived up to all of that, regardless of how good they were. Smith had a chance to develop with quite a bit less pressure on him than Zwick, and I will always wonder if that's why Zwick just didn't turn out like many thought he would, and why Smith was able to blossom so well in the end. That's not taking anything away from the work Smith has put in at all, just saying he wasn't expected to play QB, and I think that may have worked to his advantage in some ways in terms of growing pains and early expectations.

In any case, any person booing a 20 year old kid, and especially one like Zwick, who is putting out effort and trying to help the team when he is called upon, as well as when he is not for that matter by not causing trouble, is classless, pointless, gutless, brainless, spineless, dickless, and hopeless.

do you realize troy was seen as the better prospect? how many times has that been said. grades, test scores and the inability to get into georgia tech left him to drop into our lap late in the game.

 

[Bucklion]

do you realize troy was seen as the better prospect? how many times has that been said. grades, test scores and the inability to get into georgia tech left him to drop into our lap late in the game.

Well, people like us realize that, of course, but in terms of the overall expectations and "ratings" among the Buckeye Nation as a whole is what I was talking about, and I can't imagine there would be a dispute that the vast majority of people expected Zwick to be the Golden Boy for his tenure, would there? I'm not taking anything away from Smith at all.

 

[Padraig]

Maybe Troy was the better prospect on a national level (I know I've read things about the Elite 11 that said TS out perfomed JZ and many others at that camp), but everywhere I read (on line and in papers 'locally'...if you can use that term accosiated with tOSU) talked about Justin as 'the second coming', "best QB prospect from Ohio since Art" I believe I read somewhere, and several who were talking like JZ had a very legit shot at starting that season over Krenzel and McMullen. He had some serious hype (at least by the 'recruitnics & fanatics') and was under the OSU microscope frome day one in a way that Troy was definitely not.

 

[Muck]

Muck - new Coach in town, makes all the difference - all his players, they take on his values.

I'll concede that to some extent but entirely. People are responsible for their own actions. Lay the responsibility at the foot of the coach and Clarett comes back and bites you in the ass.

Terrell Owens being a cancer has nothing to do with who his coaches are.

I'll take Tressell over Cooper every day of the week (and twice on Sunday) but much llike the booing of Zwick, Coop gets blamed for far too many things than he deserves.

 

[Zurp]

I thought Zwick played pretty well against Bowling Green. I forget his stats. 5 of 9, or something? That's pretty good, considering he was 2 of 5 in his 2nd-quarter drive. He completed the nice pass to Gonzalez, then there was a pass to Robiskie that either bounced just before it got to the receiver, or it was so low that Robiskie couldn't quite get it. Either way, not the best of throws. Then he threw the next pass to Gonzalez that went way out of bounds. I can't say that that pass was a bad pass, because maybe he was just throwing it away. His fourth pass was a completion to Ginn. Ok - good pass. Then, on fourth down, he passed to Gonzalez, who pretty much just dropped the ball. It should have been a first down, and who knows what Zwick does with the offense from there.

If, for some reason, Tressel surprises us all by making a game-time decision to start Zwick, instead of Smith, I'll have faith that Zwick can get the job done.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

After watching the game on my DVR, I seemed to notice that Zwick looks like he's put on a little weight, and not good weight. Anybody else notice this?

I noticed that but it looked like good weight to me.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

After watching the game on my DVR, I seemed to notice that Zwick looks like he's put on a little weight, and not good weight. Anybody else notice this?

Lichter said JZ was one of the hardest workers in the offseason program...I thought it was more muscle mass than bad weight. His arms looked much bigger.

I noticed that but it looked like good weight to me.

I thought I saw a belly at first, but then I looked closer and saw that it was clearly what used to be called a 'flak jacket'. The only pads like that I've ever seen actually attached to the bottom of the shoulder pads, effectively extending them down to cover the ribs. I don't know if that's what Justin was wearing; but whatever it was, it was clearly padding, not "padding".

 

[bucknut11]

JZ from the BG game. Definitely wearing a fairly substantial flak jacket

 

[JXC]

yep. his arms looked bigger in a good way, but it belly looked bigger too...thanks for the info as to why.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

OHIO STATE NOTEBOOK
Teammates get a lift from Zwick?s TD run

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Tim May , Ken Gordon and Rob Oller
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH




Justin Zwick?s 1-yard sneak in the fourth quarter yesterday was the last touchdown in a 44-0 Ohio State win over Minnesota, but many of his teammates, including starting quarterback Troy Smith, leaped as joyously as if it were the deciding score.
"It really touched me, because I think that was one of the things he probably needed," Smith said. "Any person, where you?re in a situation where things are not going the way that you want them to go, initially you get a chance to get a breath of fresh air when something happens like that."
Zwick, who wasn?t made available for interviews after the game, five years ago was considered the leader of the highly touted 2002 recruiting class. But Smith, also in that class, beat him out for the starting quarterback job late in the 2004 season and has held the post ? except for a two-game suspension ? since then.
Zwick has made do as the backup. But in the gloaming yesterday, he directed the last scoring drive, a 14-play, 85-yard march powered by freshman running back Chris Wells but capped by Zwick?s sneak, his first TD of the season.
A scary moment

Freshman receiver Ray Small was knocked unconscious briefly by a hard hit from Minnesota cornerback Dominic Jones three plays before halftime. Small had just taken a swing pass from Smith in the left flat when Jones? helmet struck just below his chin in a hit Minnesota coach Glen Mason called "horrific."
"The best thing I saw all day was that kid getting up," said Mason, who watched Small be helped to the OSU sideline. He had suffered a concussion.
OSU receiver Anthony Gonzalez left because of what a team spokesman called a mild concussion in the third quarter.
Defensive tackle and co-captain Quinn Pitcock did not play because of a concussion suffered last week, though no mention was made of his injury or his status all last week.
Backup tailback Maurice Wells left the game because of a shoulder stinger.
Golden Bear dots " i "

Winning the Masters may be more emotional, but Jack Nicklaus still got a lump in his throat while dotting the "i" during the Ohio State marching band?s halftime rendition of Script Ohio.
"I?m always a pretty emotional guy, and to have something like this ... Ohio State has meant so much to my life, and Columbus," said Nicklaus, who left college early to turn professional in 1961. He has since received an honorary degree from OSU.
Nicklaus walked arm-in-arm with the drum major to the designated spot and waved to the crowd.
"I guess it went well," he said. "I got my part right ? A fraternity brother of mine sent me a baton the other day that was probably 40 years old and said, ?I want you to practice with this. I don?t want you to embarrass any of us.? "
Wells back again

For the second time in three weeks, freshman running back Chris Wells lost a fumble. But just like at Michigan State on Oct. 14, Wells was not banished from the game but returned to action.
He lost the handle at the Minnesota 15-yard line in the second quarter. He didn?t appear to get hit by anyone.
He didn?t play again until late in the third quarter, and only after Maurice Wells suffered a stinger.
But from there, Chris Wells got plenty of carries, ending with a career-high 90 yards on 15 attempts and a TD.
Three of OSU?s six lost fumbles this season belong to Chris Wells, but coach Jim Tressel seemed to be in a forgiving mood afterward.
"Chris is going to be one of our running backs and I?m sure he, more than anyone else, wants to make sure that he does what the team needs," Tressel said.

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[ohiostate]

How great to see Justin get a touchdown...hope to see him play on Sundays in the future :)

 

[Best Buckeye]

That was the best drive Zwick has had all year , very sharp.
Good TD for him .