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The Sporting News B10 Preview...

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Taosman: Who cut your meds off? Have you made a single coherent post on this site yet? Last year's team had lost 14 players to the pros and (IIRC) 17 seniors overall who either started or had significant PT. They had way more questions than this year's team. In case you've been in your crack-induced stupor since the bowl game, we have 18 starters back this year...the only "questions" are who will start at QB (both Smith and Zwick showed great improvement at the end of last season), RB, DE, and CB. Both the OL and DL were solid at the end of the year. We have the best overall WR corps in the conference. We have the best LB corps in the entire country. We have a true lock-down corner on one side, and two proven safeties. The three-loss skid may have been the best thing to happen to the team...the team that trounced Michigan and Oklahoma State was light years of what it was in mid-season.

Put the pipe down, just for a day.
 
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I agree with most of you that it's overboard, and more importantly, inaccurate, to suggest that Smith is a quitter. His greatest asset may be that he's got the attitude of a fighter. The kid's a swashbuckler, and I don't see him quitting when the going gets tough.

jwinslow said:
...and complaining that you want to get in there and get a chance to compete...
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Here's where I'll disagree with the other side of the debate. Smith did not merely complain that he wanted a chance to get in there and compete. He publicly slandered his coaches. That's serious and unacceptable. I'm not saying it should forever hang over his head. But if it's going to be brought up, it shouldn't be sympathized with like that, in my opinion.


Bashing...In order to receive this warning, [your comments] had to have gone above and beyond constructive criticism...
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To me, that may not be a realistic criterion for a sports board. It's not really constructive criticism, for example, to say that Zwick sucked last year - and I'm not trying to call anyone out, this is just the way that people tend to talk about sports.
 
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zwick

I totally understand what you mean about constructive criticism. Smith did complain but he immediately apologized afterwards. It was wrong but not a big deal. Tressel didnt give him any chance in the beginning. I went to the N.C. State game and Zwick was awful, he had bad decision making, he couldnt scramble, or throw (Look at his stats)....Yet, tressel kept Zwick in. Honestly, Zwick getting hurt in the Iowa game saved Tressel some pride. It gave him an excuse to play Smith without admitting that he made a mistake playing zwick so much. Most people forget that the only reason Smith played was due to injury. If it weren't for that, Smith would be playing some backup "slash" role or transferring right now.
 
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Here are the two things I see:
- Smith went off a little to the media, and was out of line. Any player should keep their mouth shut about not starting. I'd be curious as to whether it was dragged out of him at all, but clearly he was peeved.
- Zwick did not get it done. They were losing games in horrendous fashion. Perhaps most pocket QBs would struggle with a porous OL and no running game. Regardless, it seemed obvious that Smith should at least have been tried for a drive or two during those struggles.

Either way, I think Smith backed up his opinion. I'm not talking about IU, PSU who Skeete probably could have beaten at QB. But his steady improvement, positive & contagious attitude, and breakout performance in The Game prove he deserved at least a rep or two earlier on.
 
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