• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Spring Football - 2005 (mega-merge)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Haw, Pittman, Schnittker all looked great.

I was quite dissapointed with the QB play, and I don't know how much weight I can put on the weather. I was there all four quarters wearing a ski jacket, basketball pants on top of track pants, hoodie, etc...and I was still freezing. Smith ran for it at the slightlest inkling of a receiver not being open, he rolled out of the pocket too early, and misfired a couple times. Zwick had his fair share of overthrown balls, although he did scramble a little bit for gains, which I found surprising. Honestly, Boeckman underthrew most of his passes, although his eye for Gonzo was quite keen.

I'm gonna put up the pictures that I took once I get them off my camera.
 
Upvote 0
Spring Game

Positives :

Defensively, Marcus Freeman and Chad Hoobler stood out. Hoobler will be a great football player. Freeman seemed to read much quicker than last year, and looked much better than he did his senior high school year.

Special teams-wise, I like Shaun Lane. He'll be a player on both kicks and returns. After last week and this game, I feel better about the kickers. We should have 3 serviceable place-kickers. Not Nuge, but we shouldn't lose because of them. Kurt Lukens is tackling solidly, and should help.

Offensively, I liked our OL. Solid for both teams. Good pass protection in general, and there were seams to run to for the TBs. Pittman looked solid. Haw looked better in the 2nd half. On an aside, no way Haw is more than 5'11", and likely 5'10".....not that it matters. Pittman and Haw are completely different runners, and I think both will play, perhaps 60/40. I even liked having Schnittker as a power TB....better than he is as a FB. Will M.Wells, we have our pair and spares. While he dropped one and fumbled one, Albert Dukes is open on EVERY route...if only someone could hit him....

Negatives :

Defensively, while Jay Richardson looks stronger, and Vernon Gholston got into the backfield a bit, there was no consistent pressure from the DL. I'm concerned again this year.

Special teams-wise, our punting was woeful, and the long-snappers were repeatedly off-target. I'm really concerned, but hoping the rain, cold, and 15-20 mph wind were major factors.

Offensively, Smith and Zwick both played poorly. Zwick worse than Smith, but let's face it, neither looked ready to take a team to a championship. Boeckman looks like a solid 3rd QB, maybe 2nd, but still needs improvement in medium to long range throws, and is not ready for prime time. The weather didn't help any of them.

Overall, I'm not overly impressed, but weather like this can take over a game where you are passing as much as we did in the first 3 Q's. We would never see a similar game plan in this type of weather in a real game.

Let's hope for summer improvement in the punting game, DL penetration, and QB play. Go Bucks!
 
Upvote 0
I actually thought our d-line did a very good job at getting penetration.....


I thought Smith started to play a bit better in the second half, but he still struggled. I'd like to see how they would've played in front of 50,000+ with 70 degrees weather but the weather was what it was.

I thought our running game was very good, and our oline did a fairly good job in the run game but is alittle behind in the pass protection.

I also liked what I saw out of all our running backs even schnittnicker (or whatever you spell it).

Special teams were poor tho.
 
Upvote 0
The running game suprised me. With a full starting offensive line, I believe we'll be ok and the addition of Maurice Wells can only help.

Anyone saying 'oh smith was clearly better', 'zwick was clearly better', 'boeckman was cleary better; et. al. ad. nauseum really didn't watch this game objectively. Boeckman definitely played solidly. I like this kid. As far as smith/zwick goes, in my unshaded eyes (i really dont bother arguing who is better, nor do I care, as long as they lead us to victory) both had one good quarter and one bad quarter.

Smith obviously made some plays with his legs, it's always an asset to have a player who can make something out of nothing. I wasn't really impressed by his passing today. The interception and stripped ball also took his performance down a few pegs.

Zwick threw some passes early on that his receivers straight dropped. It seemed to me that threw him off until the fourth quarter, when he started to move the ball and direct the offense. I'm not sure if his erratic passes were his fault or the receivers goofing on routes. He definitely blew the pass to Dukes early in the game, down the sideline, when Dukes had the coverage beat.

*Insert obligatory remarks about the weather being crappy here*

I guess I didn't really pay attention to the defense, as I was too busy being disappointed in the offense, but Lane and hoobler really had some good, aggressive plays.
 
Upvote 0
I have a hard time criticizing the QB play and kickers due to the weather. I can't imagine practicing for 2 straight weeks in sunny 70+ degree weather and then trying to play a competitive game in freezing weather with wind and rain - also considering with the team cut in half. So I will give them slack, but Zwick obviously had the worst day of the three. Will it drop him on the depth charts, I doubt it.

I was impressed with Haw, Pittman, Hoobler, Freeman, Richardson. I was also impressed with Dukes' ability to get open - holding onto the ball is another matter...

Rehring had a long day, he got beat pretty bad a couple times.

Hard to analyze the O-line since the defense was limited on what kind of blitzing packages they used. However, they did hold up fairly well on several plays.

I can't say I'm pleased or disappointed with the game, the weather killed the chance to get a fair evaluation of where out team stands.
 
Upvote 0
Doesn't look like it but I see elements of a championship team today.

Defense
Lane or Sirjo could start opposite Youbouty.

Terry and Freeman are great backups to Hawk, Schlegal, and Carpenter.

D-line is solid with J-richardson, Patterson, Pitock, Green, Kudla, and Pittock.

Overall the first team D will be solid.

Offense
QB play wasn't great but Smith should be given the nod at starter to improve. I agree he must settle down and take care of the ball.

Hall/PITTman will be a great one two punch at running back.

Schnittker solidified his job at FB. Dionte Johnson used sparingly if Schnittker is injured.

TE - Frost/Nicol will be good. Smith needs to utilize the TE more.

WR- Gonzo, Holmes, Ginn, ....Lyons and Dukes (needs stickem otherwise good reciever) Smith to Ginn duo will be exciting to watch. Too bad we didn't see it today.
 
Upvote 0
IMO, you can't make any type of judgement about offense or defense based on this game.

There were some great individual performances (Hoobler is going to be a beast and I'm not as worried about Haw as I was in the first half).

To say "our offense looks bad" or "we don't have a qb yet" is a little off the mark.

What you can look at is each individual, and in doing that Troy Smith might be the leader of not only the offense, but the entire team.

I don't know what the final numbers were, but Troy Smith is the quarterback and Todd Boekman might be the back up.
I'm basing this strictly on body language and pocket presence. Justin's body language suggests a player that is unsure of himself. He continues to throw off his back foot and throws balls that are in the air way too long.

Troy on the other hand has a swagger that says "I'm going to beat you one way or the other." He looks confident in the huddle and confident when he throws a pick or a bad ball.

Those of you that know me, know I'm no Troy Smith fan. I was calling for him to be kicked off the team. But he's the quarterback and Justin MIGHT be number three when all is said and done.
 
Upvote 0
Special teams will be all right, impossible to judge based on the spring game. The same things were said about them last year too.

Standouts
Pittman, Hoobler, Lane, Oline

Also liked what I saw from Richardson. Look very much improved I thought.

Haw has great speed and good power as well, loved seeing him run over some people :)

Nader looked a little lost and hesitant, but I have high hopes for him in the future. Did Barrow play? I don't remember seeing him at all.

Dukes is gonna be unstoppable by the end of the year

Vanilla game, i agree. As to be expected. I am actually quite pleased tho at some of the progress being made.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top