What's Wrong & How to Fix It (Merged)

[DaddyBigBucks]

Assuming the topic is still "What's wrong & how to fix it"...

The biggest problem is that we have an offensive line that utterly disintegrated when the RT went down with an injury. Whether or not the difference should have been that dramatic is not something I even want to get into. No, I don't think that the '84 offensive line would have been hurt so much by one injury (that team lost two league games and still won the outright B10 title by the way) but these are the cards we're dealt.

"How to fix it" is a different issue.

• What is the extent of Barton's injury? Will he be available against scUM lite?
• If not:
  • On pass plays we need to roll Smith out on Saturday, and every Saturday thereafter until Barton is 100%.
  • On running plays, we need misdirection to get linebackers to take themselves out of the play.

 

[Pheasant]

Understand your point, but disagree. Smith was obviously locking onto one receiver the majority of the time, and it was sickening to me at how he missed WR's that were SO wide open.


......

I should have clarified this, I didn't mean on every pass play he was going through his reads, I'm sure he wasn't. I was so pissed it's hard for me to remember anything besides specific plays. What I meant was that when he does go through his progressions he gives the appearance that he's doing it correctly. It's just something in his body language that tells me he has no intention of throwing the ball to anyone. I can't quite explain it and I could be wrong. It just looks too.....robotic. Here, there, there, safety valve, run. It's almost as if he just can't translate what he learned in practice or film session to the game.

 

[GD6515]

Offense

Whoever is calling the plays needs to realize that Troy Smith is not Vince Young. Vince runs well on plays that are designed runs however Troy runs well on broken pass plays. The reason is because when the field is spread and the LB's are forced into coverage every thing opens up. On the other hand OSU doesn't spread the field on Troy's draw plays. They leave a TE in and a RB. Which leaves 7 or 8 guys in the box. The only way this play can work is if the QB fakes play action to the RB or FB and follows him through the line. Troy only ran for 15 yards on 19 carries. Any time the majority of your carries are by your QB you are in trouble unless he is a superstar.

Antonio Pittman needs to get the ball 25 or more times a game. He can flat out play. Haw, Schnitker or Wells can come in when he needs a break. Haw should be the number 2 back on this team but JT is still trying to prove a point.

"The Spread Offense" that OSU seems to be running now is more like a singleback formation from the shotgun. With the athletes that OSU has at WR it is an injustice for them to not be on the field. Hamby can get his time in short yardage or when the situation calls for a TE but from the shotgun it does not good for a TE to release late.

 

[FritoBandito]

Guess we better send all of our Ohio kids back, and just recruit from Florida. Better tell Chris, Connor and others not to come, either. I'm not sure where you're getting that b/c they're from Ohio their rating is less meaningful.

Don't get so defensive. I didn't mean that their ratings as Elite 11 were not meaningful because they're from Ohio. I'm from Ohio and am quite proud of the fact. My point is that they all naturally went to their big in-state school; they clearly weren't attracted to tOSU because of its great QB tradition. There is no such thing.

OOS receivers will come to tOSU because of what Chris Carter, Joey Galloway, David Boston, Terry Glenn and others have done to enhance the reputation of tOSU as a school that turns out NFL receivers. OOS RBs, LBs, DBs and linemen will all do the same, thanks to Byars, Smith, George, Vrabel, Winfield, Springs, Pace, Bentley and many, many others.

But no top-notch OOS QB is ever going to come to Columbus until we start scoring points and putting QBs in the NFL. You can stick your head in the sand and pretend it isn't so all you want, but it's the simple, perfectly obvious, truth.

 

[jwinslow]

Don't get so defensive. I didn't mean that their ratings as Elite 11 were not meaningful because they're from Ohio. I'm from Ohio and am quite proud of the fact. My point is that they all naturally went to their big in-state school; they clearly weren't attracted to tOSU because of its great QB tradition. There is no such thing.

fair enough. you win this one. I just have heard the other version soooooo many times.

 

[texasfight06]

Jax, I agree with your opinion about that recruiting class, but misery loves company :) Reggie from aTm is having his struggles too. He's doing worse that Smith IMO (SMU and Texas St are guaranteed good games).

Love to see that dig at Reggie. The aggy faithful continue to think he is god.

Anyway, first off, sucked to see the result of the game on Sat. evening, and not for selfish BCS/computer rating BS, just b/c I have enjoyed your guys board/comments, and want to see your senior LBs enjoy a good last season.

Also, I will not pretend to know the ins and outs of your recruiting maneuvers or coaching staff expected tenures.

As I have read these posts about coaching, play calling, OCs and the like, I just want you to know that several of our fans have experienced these problems first hand for several years.

Basically, this last Saturday was a great win for the Horns, and I was in disbelief for almost the entire game. We were throwing the ball, we were throwing the ball downfield. It was uncharacteristic, we did well at it, we didn't do it perfectly, but OU wasn't ready for it. Our OC and Mack said for the past week that we would be looser in this game, and we actually looked like a balanced offense.

Our offense has come out this year, and run the ball like crazy b/c we have the line to do it, we have a QB who can run a modern option play, and because we have a conservative coaching staff. We did the same things last year and lost to OU 12-0. This year, we changed things up. We did not fire our OC, as so many people would have liked. Basically, our head coach was overwhelmed and his philosophy has been altered by a very special player, and his attitude has been so infectious to the fans, coaches and players, that it finally changed our offense's approach. From what I read earlier this year on this board, Troy originally had that type of effect on the Buckeyes. And when I watched our game in Columbus, he had that effect when he entered the game, and the players responded. But after that game and a few too many QB keepers, he doesn't seem to have the same control/results from his surrounding players that he had at the end of the season last year. I don't know what you guys chalk that up to necessarily, but it could be simply nobody buys what you're selling if you don't produce results. I don't know if Zwick is the answer either. If the answer to your conservative/ineffective offense is the same as it was for Texas, then its a collective change in approach and confidence. That might be tough to perfect during midseason, but it is something that you guys should work on for the rest of the season and have set by the beginning of next year. The good thing for your team, is that your defense is strong enough so that you can afford to try things and still come out with victories. The bad thing is that I thought that you had this change in approach and confidence in place at the beginning of this season based on tOSU's performance in the Michigan game and the Alamo Bowl.

I am still rooting for you guys, and you guys have the pieces to make this a successful season. Hopefully your offense will be able to work some things out during the your game against an Ole' defense this weekend. And again, I apologize for putting my outsider's two cents in, and I also realize that I don't see all of the angles when it comes to your football team.

At least you had some solace in watching fat boy Rivas screw up two more kicks. :osu4:

 

[ysubuck]

I honestly think that an O line coach that is solely the O line coach is needed. A guy that is going to come in and teach sound technique. If you want to run a zone blocking scheme go out and get Rick Dennison from the Broncos. Mike Solari has done a pretty good job with the Kansas City Chiefs line.

USC doesn't seem to have a problem luring guys from the pro ranks. Go out and get a true O line coach whose sole responsibility is coaching the offensive line.

 

[scooter1369]

D. Overall Philosophy

"Tresselball" I've heard it said many ways.

Superior Special Teams
Tenacious Defense
Mistake free, Opportunistic Offense

Punt, play defense. Punt, play defense. Score when you have field position.

Here is my problem with Tresselball. In order to win games, you must score points. Not just points, but more points than the other team. This is a universal truth. If your defense is great, that makes it much easier to outscore your opponent. This is also a universal truth. But your offensive philosophy should never include a clause that states "if the defense...". Leave them out of this

Think of the our offensive strategy as a corporate mission statement. The mission statement would say something like "To move the ball effeciently, safely, and consistantly. To score on every possession. To be sure that our offense scores more than their offense". Something similar to being proactive and doing something to help yourself. Recognize that in order to succeed, you must produce a quality product. One that someone would want to buy. Football is no different than corporate America in that aspect. You perform well and you are selling your program to recruits, coaches, Poll voters and the media. Everythign that you need to win the ultimate prize, The ADT National Championship Trophy. Perform poorly, and suffer the consequences.

Nowhere in your offensive philosophy (Mission Statement) should it say "Make the defense hold them to less than us". Your mission statement can't be "We'll do a 'so-so job' and hope that our competition sucks worse".

When your defense gives up less than 250 yards of offense and only 10 points, you should win that game. Period. Am I saying that this offense fails everytime they don't score?

Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying. And they should see it that way too. They should see it as putting a poor quality product on display at the big national trade show. They should be angry with themselves whent hey don't score. The defense should be angry they didn't score, and Gawd Dammit Jim Tressel shoould be angry when they don't score.

I saw someone in another post refer to Jim Tressel's "Aw shucks" attitude. "Darn. We didn't score again, Troy." "Golly gee, Bollman. Another three and out."

Where is the fire? Where is the "Get out there, do what we brought you here to do or I'm going to give someone else your job" attitude? This should apply to players and coaches alike. Make someone accountable for the poor quality product on the field.

I ran a quality control group for several years. If something faltered in the quality of the product that the company produced, it lay firmly on my shoulders.
"Why are printhead failing, Scott?"
"Why are motherboards catching fire, Scott?"
"Why are our customers getting cut open on the sheet metal, Scott?"

FIX IT

"Why have we only acheived our offensive goal of 200/250 once in five years, Jim?
"Why is Lydell Ross trying to run up the Guard's butt like the monkey in Bruce Almighty, Dick?"
"Why do you not see the open receiver, Troy?"
"Why do AJ and the boys shut down every offense we face, and we are 3-2, Jim?"

FIX IT

edit:
Since someone took a shot at me because he couldn't understand.

DUMP TRESSELBALL
Hold someone accountable.
Get your brother off the staff and appoint someone with credentials that you can call out on the carpet without causing a tense Thanksgiving at the homestead.
Play to our potential, not our opponents.

 

[jwinslow]

One thing I'd like to point out is that the Colts, the pinnacle of offense, are struggling bigtime on offense b/c teams are keying on what they are doing. Surely we can improve our coaching, but defenses can shut down what they see on film. I wonder how different our offense is from last year to prevent easy reads for the D.

 

[bucknut4life]

how can we fix it?? hmm....

open the play book, lets get creative..we're past the point of a NC season, or an undefeated season, so lets try something new..

Change some formations, throw the ball 10-20 yards downfield on first down, run some ginn reverses, maybe even throw in an old fashioned ginn to smith TD pass play LOL..

 

[osugrad21]

When your defense gives up less than 250 yards of offense and only 10 points, you should win that game. Period.

So doesn't PSU deserve to win?

I think you painted a fine allegory Scooter, but I've always hated the comparison between business and football.

Until the executives start squaring off over business decisions, they have nothing in common IMHO

 

[FKAGobucks877]

One thing I'd like to point out is that the Colts, the pinnacle of offense, are struggling bigtime on offense b/c teams are keying on what they are doing. Surely we can improve our coaching, but defenses can shut down what they see on film. I wonder how different our offense is from last year to prevent easy reads for the D.

What offense?

 

[scooter1369]

So doesn't PSU deserve to win?

I think you painted a fine allegory Scooter, but I've always hated the comparison between business and football.

Until the executives start squaring off over business decisions, they have nothing in common IMHO

I see them as very similar from the quality aspect.

A quality product produces interest and sales in the business world. These sales make it possible to create newer, better products that continue to sell or even outsell their predecessors. And then the next generation of products and then the next...

In football, you play well and win games, maybe even some championships. This produces interest in your school and sells your program to recruits, parents, coaches, media...etc. Which makes it possible to produce next year's product that may perform as well or even better than their predecessors. And then the year after that and after that....

I know you threw that out there for argument's sake and to make a point. But College Football is more of a business than some of what corporate America is.

 

[osugrad21]

I know what you are saying, but the physical aspect can't be left out of any football equation IMO. Any player is capable of beating any other player on any play...decisions and coaching can only go so far, but it all really boils down to whether or not you have some hay in the barn.

Plays are designed for success, but it is the athleticism and physical power that makes a play special.

 

[ysubuck]

One thing I'd like to point out is that the Colts, the pinnacle of offense, are struggling bigtime on offense b/c teams are keying on what they are doing. Surely we can improve our coaching, but defenses can shut down what they see on film. I wonder how different our offense is from last year to prevent easy reads for the D.

EXACTLY.

This is a great point.

Any offense, no matter how exotic (remember the Run and Shoot), is going to have weak points that are eventually going to be exploited. It may take a couple of years, but it's going to happen. Urban Meyer's offense at Florida is already under fire because it "doesn't work against SEC athletes." While I think it's a little premature to make that argument, it just goes to show that there is a counter to whatever scheme you come up with. I don't think that Chris Leak is the right QB for that system, and once Meyer gets his type of guys in there he'll be alright, but who knows. It's up to the coaching staff to have the foresight to deal with this when it happens. The Ohio State offense has no identity. They aren't a power run team. They aren't a true spread team. I say, stick with something, get really good at it, then tweak it when you need to. I think they started to do this at the end of last year, and now have gotten away from it again. Next year with Chris Wells they are going to be lining up in the I again and trying to run it down people's throats.

The players don't seem to even know what's happening from one week to the next. Tony Gonzalez said they put in all these wrinkles during the bye week???? I saw nothing that I haven't seen 100 times before. In fact I saw less imagination than I've seen all season.