Too Great Expectations; new TEAM (long)

[SanClementeBuck]

So many Buck fans are stunned, angry, pointing fingers, ready to toss JT and staff, change QBs, RBs, OL, half the D and maybe some of TBDBITL!

I was there when Woody suffered through unexpected, and in some cases, undeserved losses. I was there when Woody wouldn't pass and got beat by passing teams. He had 7-3 seasons and worse. He got creamed in bowl games. He could be stubborn and unreasonable. I don't think Woody ever went 25 and 2 in 27 games. All this when there weren't "ceilings" on scholly players as today; and players didn't leave to the NFL. He usually played predominantly seniors and a sprinkling of juniors, maybe an all-star soph. and a rare freshman. After the '54,'55, Woody went 6-3 in '56. He went 9-1 '57. In '58 he was 6-1-2. In '59 he was 3-5-1 and 8th in B10. Then 7-2 in '60, before going 8-0-1 in ''61. In '62 the record was 6-3. In '63 he was 5-3-1. In '66, two years before his NC team, he was 4-5! Woody had some problems and yet in a few years he had the '68 NC team.

Some Bucks here have to cut some slack, imho.

JT has his system that has worked well for 3 decades. Easy now to criticize when our expectations are thrashed with a couple of losses to teams we have easily handled in the past. (although Wisc.'s program the last few years has been very good competition) What good organizations do at times like this is stay the course, work on basics, come closer together and improve their mistake tendencies.

I'm not buying into blasting JT or the TEAM. Do you believe they plan to play poorly? No way. They are very new as a team and haven't (obviously), jelled. They need work and improvement...and those things will be done. The TEAM will come along and mature. Next year we will be better and the year after, better yet. Our talent will emerge more polished and do well.

Suck it up fans. Join the real world of college football. Support your Ohio State football program. Learn that we're gonna win championships and we're also gonna have lean years. It isn't as easy as you think. In this life it isn't how you fall but how you bounce.

 

[osubartender23]

I think the biggest difference between Woody the early years at OSU and JT the early years at OSU is the fact that JT had amazing success early on. I think due to that success we have unrealistic expectations, but at the same time he proved he can do it once, so those expectations need to be there.

 

[CharlotteBuckeye62]

SanClem, thanks for writing what I have been thinking for the last couple years. If some of our posters think Jim Tressel is conservative they should have seen Woody.
I remember one game played in a fairly heavy rain when Woody punted on most every third down for fear that the punter might drop the snap.
And Woody's passing game consisted (for the most part) of an end going down field six yards, turn around and and get hit with a bullet pass. It didn't take other coaches long to figure out his passing attack.

Don't anyone get me wrong, I loved Woody but there were times back then that it was hard to love his offensive plays.

Woody however, always said "you win with Quality people" and he was right.
Jim Tressel has recruited "quality people" and we will win with them again.

Also SanClem, I have a video tape of the 58 Rose Bowl and (on the same tape) the 1960 NCAA basketball championship game against Cal.
If you would like a gratis copy, please send me a personal message.
I lived in the same dorm unit in Baker Hall with most of the BB team and several of the football team. The tape of that game was special.

The offer of the tape goes to any BP posters also. It might be an education for some of the youngsters to watch a football team run most every play off tackle or guard.

 

[Jaxbuck]

So beating Northwestern is now an unrealistic expectation?

 

[ohiobuck94]

What do you say to a group of young men trying their best to win a ballgame and losing? These players put in hours of their own time to get better. Withe experience they will get better. Right now they are still in the learning mode as a football team. Zwick still needs to feel comfortable at QB. He is tentative and will learn to read defenses with time. The O-line will get stronger and more experienced with time. The Buckeyes still need to mature. The lose of Fox has hurt the secondary. The lack of a great runner has hurt the running game. Time is the best friend of the Buckeyes now. Time to learn and time to mature.

 

[Jaxbuck]

scUM has true freshman at QB and RB who are maturing at a better rate than ours and winning games in the process.

We have a redshirt Soph and a SR who can't do shit.

I'm not buying the give them time excuse. JZ has been in the system for 3 years and has played in 5 games now. He's getting worse not better.

Last 3 games the offense has averaged 87yds rushing, 136 yds passing for a disgusting 223ypg.

And I'll tell you what I say to a bunch of players who are trying hard and losing: Start winning or let's find some players who can. This is big time college football boys, you are getting a free ride for school and all the perks in the world to be here. Your job is to win and there will be no big group hugs full of man love to make you feel better if you lose. In the real world if you suck at your job you catch hell, if you don't improve from there you get fired. Well, we are past the hell catching part...

 

[daddyphatsacs]

So what is your solution Jaxbuck? You talk a strong line but how would you fix it? What kind of formations should we be running, what kind of plays should we be running. What kind of players should we be recruiting? What coaches should be fired?

I love to hear from the armchair quarterbacks.

 

[OilerBuck]

Our team has more talent than anyone we've played so far. When you have more ability and fail to produce, it means that we are lacking in one or more of these three areas:

1.) Preparation
2.) Execution
3.) Heart

With a coaching staff that is supposed to be at the level that ours is given credit for, preparation shouldn't be a problem...it has been. I realize that this team is youg, but their execution and discipline has been worse than anyone could've feared. All these things aside, if we had shown the desire and passion that Northwestern and Wisky did these past two weeks, we could've still won. I question this teams leadership and heart. It reminds me a lot of the teams in the late Cooper years with Rambo, Combs, Bellesari, etc. It just seemed like they were content to be mediocre. At tOSU, we never expect to lose any games in a season. I think that most fans could accept these losses if we saw the team giving all they had...but outside of a few players this year, the passion and pride has diminished. And that really hurts a true fan.

 

[Jaxbuck]

So what is your solution Jaxbuck? You talk a strong line but how would you fix it? What kind of formations should we be running, what kind of plays should we be running. What kind of players should we be recruiting? What coaches should be fired?

I love to hear from the armchair quarterbacks.

I'm not the coaches getting paid millions, its their job to fix it. I buy the right to bitch with every ticket or bit of OSU merchandise I spend money on. That's how it works.

Sorry if my need to criticize the 97th ranked offense in college football so deeply offends you. Hell, your right, losing to fucking Northwestern isn't really that bad.... after all, the boys sure are trying hard...

 

[StoRMinBrutus]

So beating Northwestern is now an unrealistic expectation?

No Jaxbuck,
Beating Northwestern is expected every year, but NW is not as terrible a team as they were even ten years ago. It is expected but losing once every 33 years is not a bad percentage of times for OSU, or any elite team, to lose to any other team don't you think ?? Thats a pretty good win streak against any team. It is unrealistic to think any team, with any coach can be flawless when that same team lost most all of its leaders to the draft and then you have a new QB coming in with little or no experience, and then thinking he is going to set the world on fire, especially when his O-line is also struggling and relatively new as a unit. No excuses there are major improvements that need to be made and alot of coaches who need to do some major soul searching as to how to fix these problems OSU has had these past 4 years on offense.

I am not saying there isn't vast reason to be concerned about our offensive production and that changes do need to be made soon. Its upsetting, frustrating and sometimes downright mindboggling how goofy they play but there are so many holes that need to be filled on this team and so much maturity that needs to happen. Thats something we as fans need to be realistic about.

 

[Jaxbuck]

.

I am not saying there isn't vast reason to be concerned about our offensive production and that changes do need to be made soon. Its upsetting, frustrating and sometimes downright mindboggling how goofy they play but there are so many holes that need to be filled on this team and so much maturity that needs to happen. Thats something we as fans need to be realistic about.

I agree with you to a point but I guess whats killing me is seeing scUM start with younger, less experienced players and have them progress better to this point. I would have bet a nut that Carr could never out do JT...looks like so far this year I was wrong. :(

 

[gost8]

to all fair weather fans

I am so sick of hearing these Sunday quarterbacks whine about not going undefeated every year. Let's face it, your knowledge of football in general is how to complain if we don't win every game. You are the same people who cryed about not blowing teams like Northwestern out the year we won the National Championship. IF YOU CAN'T STAY ON BOARD THROUGH THE TOUGH TIMES, THEN PLEASE JUST GET OFF THE BOAT. The rest of us don't want to hear it. No one said beating Northwestern was unreasonable, it just didn't happen. Get over it and STOP WHINING. You offer nothing constructive. Jim Tressell is a GREAT coach. I'd love to see one of you play or coach if front of 105,000 people you know are going to call for your head if you don't play flawlessly every game for your entire career. Do I think there are some areas that the Bucks could improve? Definately. Do I also think that EVERYTHING is being done to try to improve in those areas. Most definately. Don't you think that if Troy Smith was a better QB than Justin Zwick or if Eric Haw was a better RB than Lydel Ross that the coaches would have them in there? Come on. It made me sick to see all the fairweather fans leave the stadium yesterday with 5 to 10 minutes left on the clock. Did you have to hurry home to be the first to bitch about the teams performance? Sickening. The players see you give up on them and they give up on themselves. SO I BLAME YOU FOR THE LOSSES !!! Hows that?

 

[Jaxbuck]

I am so sick of hearing these Sunday quarterbacks whine about not going undefeated every year. Let's face it, your knowledge of football in general is how to complain if we don't win every game. You are the same people who cryed about not blowing teams like Northwestern out the year we won the National Championship. IF YOU CAN'T STAY ON BOARD THROUGH THE TOUGH TIMES, THEN PLEASE JUST GET OFF THE BOAT. The rest of us don't want to hear it. No one said beating Northwestern was unreasonable, it just didn't happen. Get over it and STOP WHINING. You offer nothing constructive. Jim Tressell is a GREAT coach. I'd love to see one of you play or coach if front of 105,000 people you know are going to call for your head if you don't play flawlessly every game for your entire career. Do I think there are some areas that the Bucks could improve? Definately. Do I also think that EVERYTHING is being done to try to improve in those areas. Most definately. Don't you think that if Troy Smith was a better QB than Justin Zwick or if Eric Haw was a better RB than Lydel Ross that the coaches would have them in there? Come on. It made me sick to see all the fairweather fans leave the stadium yesterday with 5 to 10 minutes left on the clock. Did you have to hurry home to be the first to bitch about the teams performance? Sickening. The players see you give up on them and they give up on themselves. SO I BLAME YOU FOR THE LOSSES !!! Hows that?

Typical "if you complain your not a real fan" bullshit. Also threw in a "if you aren't a coach you can't criticize". Thats two amazingly lame logical arguments in one post, not bad for your first time out.

No one realistically expects them to be undefeated every year, but being among the bottom 25 teams in offense for the second year running is getting pretty fucking old. It also doesn't take much of a genius to see this could get much worse than 1 or 2 losses if they don't fix things asap. This of course gets us back to the fact that the O has been brutally innept for more than just 2004 so the hope for a quick turnaround is slim indeed.

 

[StoRMinBrutus]

Jaxbuck,
You have every right to be frustrated with the lack of good production with OSU's offense. I am just as frustrated as you are, heck everyone is. The Coaches definitely have to do something to change this lack of production they have had for more than just this year but its not due to lack of preparation. Its lack of maturity and execution. I hate to say this but M#chigan has a more solid O-line than OSU does at this point and thats a BIG, HUGE difference for a new QB.
I can't defend Bollmans coaching anymore based on the O-lines sad performances these past 4 years but thats no reason to throw the Team under the bus just because we are not undefeated or have one bad year. Thats the line we shouldn't cross.

 

[daddyphatsacs]

Jax,

So your solution is coming onto the board and whining like a little bitch? You are crying more than Dick Vermeil. If you cannot offer any insight how to fix it, or what we should do, just shut the hell up. Why don't you go and hang out over at Bucknuts if you want to bitch and moan and cry doomsday.

I'm not the coaches getting paid millions, its their job to fix it. I buy the right to bitch with every ticket or bit of OSU merchandise I spend money on. That's how it works.

Guess what Jaxbuck, the great thing about this world is that you can stop buying merchandise and attending games if you don't like what is going on. Your logic is so idiotic I don't even know what to say. You are basically stating that you have no idea of how to fix things or what we should do to improve, but due to the fact that you buy a ticket to the game or some clothing your opinion should matter. Keep crying.