Good lord. Thanks for this board being here... Any other boards all you hear is "Tressel should be fired" "Bench TP" "Conservative play calling"... The sky isn't falling!
This is the one thing I'm confused about. Everyone, even many OSU fans, thought OSU was going to get blown out. Yet after a very close game all I hear and read is 'Fire Tressel', "Sit Pryor". I'm not happy with the loss, but I am happy that the team showed definite improvement and I thought others would be able to see the positives and the negatives. Some of the threads I see on other places sound as if this was a loss to a MAC team. I expect dissapointment, but the reactions are confusing. I swear some people will never understand how to see both postives and negatives in games.
I'd never let go of Tressel though. There's about a 25% chance you hire someone as good as him and a 5% chance you find someone better than him. Looking back at Woody's records as a coach, I was surprised at what I saw. Before the 68-75 period he had won 2 titles (or 3 if you count 61) but many of his seasons inbetween had been downright mediocre years and one or two losing ones. He was on the ropes in '67. Point is though, OSU stuck with him and got another NC out of it and the greatest stretch of success in the program's history.
After looking at this history I see no reason to let go of Tressel in search of something that may not even be there. IMO OSU has a coach that is possibly just as good or better than Hayes and if they stick with him they will get just what they are asking for. Doesn't mean Tress doesn't have to adapt and change though. He will just as Woody had to.
If anything this game is a building block. I just feel like Tressel would have come in with a more aggressive game plan if this offense was ready for one. This offense is still young, and has ALOT of improvements to make. But that will come with time, and game by game, they will improve. They were leaps and bounds better than they were to start the season last year. I don't see it being any different this season. Nothing to hang our heads about.
I understand the frustration that some have concerning this loss and perhaps some statements you make. People expect OSU to win titles and at least some big games and they are getting impatient and they have been told to wait and have patience. Problem is that is just what they have to do. Either Tress will win another and Pryor will develop or not. We'll have to see.
IMO Pryor and O are full throttle at the end of the year just as Troy was in '05. I see a 11-2 final with a BCS win and suddenly Tressel is back to being a top 5 coach magically, even though not much will have changed.
Instead of controlling the game on his terms, he withdrew and asked USC to try and fire their last bullet. I think there's a case to be made at this point that a more aggressive approach at times would enable JT to regain more control over the tone & outcome of some games.
