Game Thread Southern Cal 18, at tOSU 15 (Sept 12th, 8 pm, ESPN)

[USCStephen]

Does Gibson line up against the left tackle or right tackle?
Whats his weight?

 

[Merih]

Sheesh I forgot about Worthington...this D-Line is deep this year.

Williams is more of a weakside defensive end; very quick, very high motor. To get meaningful playing time at Ohio State as a freshman means that you have proven to be something special. 245 sounds about right for him; he's gotten bigger since last year when he looked about 235.

Gibson, if you don't know about him already, is an absolute beast. Prototypical 3-4 OLB, he gets after the QB in a mean way. You won't get more than 3 seconds if he's left 1 v 1 on his side of the field from a passrush standpoint. He manhandled Texas' OT's last year in the Fiesta Bowl.

One kid to lookout for is Keith Wells. I know many have discounted him be he has been getting good reviews from the LEO position.

Bottom line is that the defensive line is stacked. If they can get a good push on the USC O-line (especially in run plays) then it will allow the youth at LB some time to accustomate themselves and play to their potential.

 

[Merih]

Does Gibson line up against the left tackle or right tackle?
Whats his weight?

I think his most recent is 245 lbs. I think if Heyward plays at end, then Heyward goes to the strong side (he is bigger). Then Gibson lines up on the weak side of the formation and uses speed to get around.

Don't be surprised to see Gibson play standing up either, he did that alot against Texas and used his leverage to his advantage getting around their massive tackles.

 

[USCStephen]

I heard the same from Penn State about Maybin. We shut Maybin down with our left tackle. Who is extremely athletic.

 

[jwinslow]

I'm trying to find some clips, but most of the highlights are on offense or of Jenkins, Laurinaitis.

Does Gibson line up against the left tackle or right tackle?

It varies. He smoked McCoy after beating the LT, but some of his biggest hits in the backfield vs UM & PSU were vs the RT.

Gibson is more of a WDE, but they get creative with their fronts. Williams was an undersized end last year, but he lined up inside vs Texas a few times.

Whats his weight?

250ish? I'm not sure if we have an official weight this fall.

Here are a few pics from last week:

And halfway thru this is him in the weightroom this summer:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQgiR8-A1nA"]YouTube - ASAP at Ohio State Football Strength Training[/ame]

 

[Merih]

Lol jwins all you have to do is show him that picture of Gibson tossing that Wisconsin OT like a rag doll...when he was a freshman.

 

[jwinslow]

I heard the same from Penn State about Maybin. We shut Maybin down with our left tackle. Who is extremely athletic.

Heyward and Worthington inside could test your new center. It will also be interesting to see how this year's LBs do. Freeman & Laurinaitis were a lot more experienced and decorated, but neither were the most physical LBs Tressel has had...

Moeller is no longer available, but Rolle can be disruptive. He has been a human missile on special teams the last few years.

 

[Merih]

I never got the hype about Aaron Maybin last year...I was certainly astonished with how high he went in the draft. He has the explosiveness for sure I just don't think he had the muscle to go up against elite OT's. We bottled him pretty good last year except for one instance where we lost track of him and he got a sack. I think Gibson has the thickness through the middle that Maybin didn't, which allows him to use his leverage (he's only 6'3") to his advantage.

 

[jwinslow]

Lol jwins all you have to do is show him that picture of Gibson tossing that Wisconsin OT like a rag doll...when he was a freshman.

Finally found it... 3:13 mark vs RT, wore #37 that year.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4L7Pyp6BAM]YouTube - OSU VS. Wisconsin Football 2007[/ame]

Working on finding the texas clips... since that was a better OL and performance by Gibson/Williams.

 

[USCStephen]

Interesting, Haven't really heard much hype on this guy Gibson. Evidently he is hype worthy

 

[Merih]

Interesting, Haven't really heard much hype on this guy Gibson. Evidently he is hype worthy

If jwinslow can find some of the Texas tape you'll see what we mean. He seemed to get better and better with each and every game. He's probably the elite pass rusher of the Big Ten.

 

[Buck94]

There is a difference between players who lack of starting experience and true freshmen, between expected new starters and backups. Cushing and Maualuga were freshmen (Cushing had actually missed most of the year with an arm injury). All three starters ahead of them were either out or ailing.

Michael Morgan is a redshirt junior (24 game appearances, 1 start, 31 tackles), Chris Gallippo a redshirt sophomore (13 game appearances, 20 tackles), and Malcolm Smith a true junior (26 game appearanes, 24 tackles). They've each had 2-3 years in the program, learning the system and going through college-level strength and conditioning.

Okay, I can see the difference in Cushing's experience and the expected starters for 09, but Rivers (soph), Lua (Junior) and Ashton (Senior) played against Texas and were the three highest totals in tackles at the LB position in that game. Heading into the 05 season, Rivers had 25 tackles, 1 Int.; Lua had 26 tackles, Collin had 47 tackles. This compares favorably to the 09 group.

They had plenty of experience leading up to that game, more in fact than the projected 09 starters, but still struggled to handle Young. There seems to be more seasoned experience at the end of 2005 than heading into 2009 at the LB position for USC. I still don't see how this refutes my point other than the fact that we don't know how effective Pryor will actually be. But to say that the 09 backers will be effective simply because they're faster than 08 just doesn't hold water which was my original contention.

I will concede that they can be more effective simply because they will have a better line in front and secondary behind them which is probably the more relevant point at the end of the day. It's hard to find a weakness on the USC defense, even when you nit pick...

 

[jwinslow]

He was a spot duty guy in 07, and really matued into his role in 08. He improved a lot as the season wore on...

Against Texas, he got a key sack on 4th down in scoring position, pressured McCoy into the pre-halftime INT, picked up some consecutive personal foul penalties for finishing off McCoy as he released it.

Does anyone know where to find the buckeye blitz highlights that they show on ABC 6 after the game? Those have the Nate Williams plays, but I'm not sure if they're online.

 

[Merih]

This was how far he tossed the offensive tackle....

And then this is him sack/fumbling the quarterback right afterwards...this was his breakout game his freshman year, serving notice to us that he was going to do special things before it's all said and done.

 

[jwinslow]

I'd label him as a much improved force. He's not a dominant, top-10 pick yet, but there are whispers that this could be his last year in Columbus (he is a junior).

If jwinslow can find some of the Texas tape you'll see what we mean. He seemed to get better and better with each and every game. He's probably the elite pass rusher of the Big Ten.

Hulu - Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Texas vs. Ohio State)

Full game. I'll try and find a few clips.

1st few drives show more pressure as a unit, not as much from Gibson.

Note: Nathan Williams did not play much in this game... I'll link his key series.