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RB Lydell Ross (official thread)

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No more Ross! Please!

I can't stand another mediocre running game. Even though Pittman didn't get many yards last game, it was clearly obvious that he has game breaking ability. Ross has proven time and time again that he cannot break a tackle, and he cannot improvise when the hole is not there. It's also obvious that the O-Line is not the best we've ever had, so I conclude that Lydell Ross is probably the worst possible running back to have in this situation. Will we continue to beat our heads against the wall? What's your take on the running game?
 
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geez.
 
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toddmgrimm: "I can't stand another mediocre running game."

Well, get ready for one. The Badgers have a great D-Line who not only are all studs, but also get real motivated to play and own the Buckeyes. Usually, if we have a good enough running attack, we can run the ball 30 to 40 times and wear down the opponents' D-Line. We can't do that here.

I anticipate Tress will go empty a lot in this game. Its a formation he uses quite a bit against Wisconsin.
 
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Where are all the "Ross" Threads?

Ok, fellow buckeye planetoids...

Where are all the threads bashing Ross? Not any today because the other RBs didn't do any better, huh? It leads me to think the problem lies elsewhere.
 
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I think it seems pretty clear that there is no one part of our offense that is without fault. Holmes is a gamebreaker, but has a real problem holding onto the ball. Bam can be fantastic in terms of the moves he can make in the open field, but doesn't have the best hands. Hall is sporadic, seeming like a Cris Carteresque clutch receiver at some times, and stone cold others. Ginn is a fantastic talent, but not yet competant (let alone polished) on his routes. Ross has had his injury problems, and has a poor ability to break tackles at best. Joe has had injury problems, and is a more natural fullback designed to pound up the middle -- right into a suspect (at best) offensive line. Pittman shows flashes and a nice burst, but is a true freshman and his size brings a question about long term durability behind the aforementioned OL given the pounding a Big Ten season brings. Hall is a non-factor at TB. Zwick seems to regress in some areas as much as he progresses in others. Dropping any first time starter into an offense is tough, we compound that with some questionable playcalling, sporadic (at best) protection, and some periodic confusion with the receivers. Ryan Hamby isn't the blocker Ben Hartsock was, but he's more of a natural receiver. Unfortunately, contrary to what I would consider conventional wisdom, Zwick isn't checking down to look for what should be a reliable safety outlet. Is it because he doesn't have time? Is it because he's overwhelmed at the position? Is it because the coaches are still working on the absolute basics? Who knows. Stan White and Brandon Schnittker are serviceable but not impressive FBs, Schnittker has had injury problems, White Jr. may just be slightly undersized and inexperienced. Zwick has been banged up, and as he gets more so, his mechanics go out the window. Our offensive line is getting owned regularly. I bought into the smaller more mobile concept at first, but now I'd give a toe for that recruit from Nebraska who tops out over 400 pounds -- what's his name? Big strong angry men are what we're missing. Give me LeCharles Bentley, and I'll show you at least a few plays a game where the QB doesn't end up on his ass. Our playcalling sometimes defies logic. I don't know better than the coaches, but I know we've called passes out of shotgun now for 3rd and 1 (or less) two weeks in a row now, and failed to convert both of them. Given our running woes and lack of push on the OL, I was confused to see Ross run out of shotgun at least once in this game. All year (save this game), we've seen misdirection screens where the receiver has two blockers forming a lead bubble. They've hit the oncoming defenders perfectly against us almost every single time, breaking the play open for a pretty good gain. When we run screens (and allow that I have yet to re-watch any game from this season with a level of second-pass scrutiny that would allow me to offer specifics), we seem to do so with one or no free blockers. On a 3rd down passing play, we should regularly be trying to connect with a receiver at or beyond the 1st down marker. We routinely throw shallow and try to break for more YAC, this hasn't worked much.

I'm just puking this all out off the top of my head, there may be more merit to some parts, less to others, perhaps even none at all to some -- but the point is that ANYONE who is pointing to a single coach, single player, single position, or single positional group of players as the root cause of all our problems is missing the forest for the trees (IMO). All phases of our offense are suffering critical failure, at least at times.

Doesn't mean we should fire Bollman, draw and quarter Zwick, or put Ross out to pasture. Just means we need to hope that every struggle and mistake now is down payment towards a brighter future.

Contrary to what some (not so much folks around here) believe, we're not going to wake up a bottom feeder in the conference. Every single Big Ten game will be a real contest this year, including those against Purdue and Michigan, we won't blow anyone out, and no one is going to blow us out (Orton or no). Our style of play dictates we'll win more of those than we lose, we are at least built to, with what would probably be the best overall special teams unit in the country, if we still had either Groom or Sander. The more I think about the punting game, the more I believe that we owe Groom *and* Sander far more than we previously thought. Which is something, because we already appreciated them immensely.

I no longer put any time or thought into what our record is going to be at the end of the season. We play Iowa next week, and we could lose that one as well. You can always lose. I think we win that game, but I'm embracing the simple fact that it's another game I get to take in. The season will be over before we know it, so I don't understand comments like "might as well just look forward to basketball now." You find out more about the heart of your team and your fans after a loss than you do after a win. So that must be 1.5x as true after consecutive losses. If you can't enjoy the result of the game (as we couldn't today), then enjoy the sport, and enjoy watching the Buckeyes win or lose. In the end, they are our team, and our support is more valuable to them now (whether or not they'd appreciate or acknowledge that) than it was after an undefeated season when it was so easy to give. Doesn't mean we don't talk about the negatives, lol, obviously I'm more than happy to. Just means (and this goes out to no one in particular, I think I'm just rambling to get this crap off my mind) we try and draw a line between the agony we feel during and after a defeat, and how we discuss the problems that led to it.

Toss all that out the window though. Given our position in the conference at present, our personnel, and the overall situation, there's only one single answer to our problems on the offensive end of the game. It's in my signature, and someone needs to get word to Jim. If I had a couple extra bucks, I'd send him a new bracelet. "What would Yertle do?"
 
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Good post Clarity. We did not run enough yesterday to rate anyone back. I thought Pitman looked elusive and explosive. If you want to talk about size and durability of a freshman running back, ask Michigan. He seems to be doing just fine. Ross did better today, but I think he finally realizes his days are numbered. Give the ball to Pitman more but stop running typical and predictable running plays. Please don't abandon the run so fast next week. Oh by the way, Wisconsin has a really good front four. It is amazing what your defense can do if the front four gets pressure. I miss our D-line from years past.

Go Bucks
 
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Wake me when we get an offense. Attention, flamers, get ready: I no longer have any confidence in Zwick. From what I've seen so far out of him, very little of it is good. He has happy feet. He has shown absolutely no accuracy whatsoever, in throwing at least 4 interceptions and missing countless wide open receivers. He takes foolish sacks. He has shown no sign whatsoever (to me, at least) of being "smarter" than TS. I'm not saying Smith is better, but what exactly has Zwick done to impress anyone? Yeah, he's a first year starter (so was CK in 02), and I know we don't have a running attack (do any of JT's teams? Excepting the MoC year, of course), but I just don't see a whole lot of potential there with Zwick. Accuracy would make be feel better, and so would good decision-making, but I've seen neither. Oh, and on subject, we just don't have a running game, regardless of who is at TB.
 
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I hate to say it, but it's not looking great for those of us who voted 'yea.'


According to NCAA stats ( http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/Internet/ranking_summary/2004000000518.HTML ), he's averaging 68.6 yards per game... that works out to 754.6 or 823.2 yards for the season, depending on whether you include the bowl game or not.

Let's all hope the running game picks up over the 2nd half of the year... and not just for our v$
 
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