Tough times at Penn State

[Jaxbuck]

To add to Mili's statement, regarding Wisky '03 they had so many guys injured for that game it was a complete mismatch on paper and since when is any NU team in history not a complete 'dog to OSU? They came into that game with statistically the worst defense in the country iirc.


I hope to God you are right and we just go into HV and shit hammer PSU but I'd be willing to bet a testicle it won't be anything near that. I'm thinking Wisky/PU/Ill '02....just survive and come out with the W.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Uh, yeah, we did totally overmatch them on paper...we had 13 seniors and 3 juniors that got drafted into the NFL. The weather conditions just stregnthen the argument that games are played on the field.

Go ahead and keep thinking PSU has no chance, at their place, at night...I'm just glad our staff and team won't have that mindset.

Mili, come on, you know better than that. Make no mistake, my confidence in OSU over PSU plays no role in how OSU will prepare.

I already admitted games aren't played on paper. The 03 Wisky team that ended OSU's streak wasn't pure shit is all I'm saying. Their D line was pretty damn good as I recall, and their O wasn't necessarily filled with playmakers, but was solid.

Jaxbuck - I don't recall any major injuries except Davis, and they had pleanty of talent at RB, as per usual.

I also didn't say NU wasn't the dog, I said that OSU's squad, at that point in the season didn't overmatch hardly anyone. Zwick was playing poorly, Ginn was essentially not in the O... Hell, Santonio was our only playmaker at the time... I maintain, it was not a "mismatch" on paper, or on the field, when we played NU last season. Should it have been? Of course. Was it? No. By the END of the season, OSU could be said to have outmatched NU, but not in October.

 

[Bucklion]

(This is not directed at bkb, just in general):

Penn State held Iowa to 6 points last year. Considering what we gave up, I wouldn't take their defense lightly, especially down there.

And yes, their offense will still be terrible, but I'm not ready to annoint ours the next coming of the Colts until I see it on the field. It will be a close, tough. grinding ballgame, as it almost always is down there.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

I should mention, my comments about "on paper" are pretty appropriate at this point in the season, since that's all we have to go on. Maybe my view changes after we get to see a few games.

BL - I tend to agree with you about their D. But, one asks, since PSU's O was so poor, how many risks did teams take against PSU's D? Few, is my guess. If all PSU faced was Iso left, Iso right Iso left punt, I'd imagine their D stats are somewhat inflated. Just a theory I heard once about them, and not one that I buy wholesale, but which I do think has some teeth.

 

[lvbuckeye]

i'll buy that, BKB... all one has to do is look at Tressel's playcalling against the Nits last season, and your theory has validity... that might have been the most vanilla offensive game plan of the Tressel era... how many passes did Troy throw? six? eight? whatever it was, it sure wasn't many... if the other team can't get out of it's own way on O, but their D has some fangs, it certainly doesn't make much sense to take unnecessary risks... you'd be playing into their hand...

 

[Jaxbuck]

BKB- Wisky was also without Erasmus James for that game and no one had heard of Hawthorne yet so that was percieved to be a huge loss at that time. IAlso I don't remember the names but a LB and DB were out as well.

They essentially used their backup QB and 3rd string TB and Chris Gambles worst day as a Buckeye to do us in.

Enough on that subject.

I do however, agree with your theory on PSU's defense the more I think of it. Very out of the box and very insightful imo. That game will still be a living bitch, shouldn't be, doesn't have to be, but will be.

 

[CleveBucks]

i'll buy that, BKB... all one has to do is look at Tressel's playcalling against the Nits last season, and your theory has validity... that might have been the most vanilla offensive game plan of the Tressel era... how many passes did Troy throw? six? eight? whatever it was, it sure wasn't many... if the other team can't get out of it's own way on O, but their D has some fangs, it certainly doesn't make much sense to take unnecessary risks... you'd be playing into their hand...

PSU fans like to mention that they held OSU to one offensive TD last year. Well anybody that watched the game knew it was over about 3 minutes into it.

Ohio State was up 14-0 less than 4 minutes into the game, while running one offensive series (a 3-and-out). Yep, OSU was leading 14-0 with a whopping total of 5 yards of offense. Everyone knew that PSU was not going to score 14 points with that joke of an offense. As long as OSU didn't beat themselves, they had the game in the bag before they got a first down. Thus, Smith threw 8 passes all day.