SpringBall Thoughts

Published
by
swjessen
on May 3, 2009
in Announcements
. 0 Comments

Being out of the great state of Ohio, I deem it unnecessary to travel and attend the Spring Game and usually stick to newspaper clippings and reports from buddies who attend it.  This year I noticed my cable company finally picked up the Big Ten network, so I scoured their listings for the Spring Game.  Fortunately, i was able to catch the game (albeit 1 1/2 weeks late).  So without further adieu, let’s discuss my initial reactions.

Everything this year depends upon Terelle Pryor.  We really need to see if he is as good as everyone projected him to be coming out of High School.  In particular everyone worries about his throwing ability and how far it has progressed.  I must say after his first shot put pass early in the game I was really scared.  After that, he seemed to calm down a bit and make some nice throws.  He didn’t make any real running attempts which must be a result of the coaching staff telling him that he had to pass.   He showed some good decision making and some zip on the ball.   I still feel this is a work in progress and we’ll all have to wait until an actual game scenario. 

Filling in all the skilled poisitions on offense remains a big challenge as well.  Granted Beanie Wells was out part of the last few seasons and we have had to rely on the backups to fill the voids, he is still a big void to fill up.  Heron played extremely well and showed some quickness and decision making which make him the hands on favorite for starting tailback.  He was playing on the scarlet team opposing Pryor, so this is good news.  He’ll be even better when he and Pryor are in the backfield together.   Saine showed some excellent speed up the middle and appeared to be the same player we had during his freshman year before his string of injuries.  Thankfully there is no Mo’ Wells to waste space as a backup.  In addition, we have an incoming Freshman from Florida, Berry,  who should push for some playing time.  I think we are oing to be fine at running back.

Our main problem on offense the last few years is speed at the receiver position.   We haven’t had any big play receivers in a while.  While Robiskie and Hartline were great route runners, they never really burned anyone for big plays.  Ray Small is critical to our success on offense this year.  He has the great speed and great ability to make big plays.  He also has demonstrated great ability to not keep his head in the game.  He looked both brilliant and boneheaded during the game.  The starting job is his to lose this year and if he loses it early expect him to be a nonfactor.  Taurian Washington was the recipient of many passes from Pryor.  He appears to be a lock to replace Hartline in the slot position next year.  He ran the slant extremely well and even made Chekwa look like a chump on a downfield play.  Devier Posey and Lamarr Thomas also had decent games, but were also on the scarlet team and didn’t get many opportunities to display their ability.  Thomas appears to be the favorite again on kickoff and punt returns.  In addition, Duron Carter will be making his debut as a buckeye in the fall.  They say he has his father’s (Chris Carter) gifted hands.

The O’line was greatly depleted for the game with many players sidelined due to injuries.   While, this group is young, they are deep and talented.  There were some large holes for the running backs a few times during the game and pass protection seemed OK throughout the game.

Everyone has been saying the strength of the team this year is the defensive line.   They are experienced and deep.  I really didn’t see anything impressive out of these guys, but it was a scrimmage, so we’ll need to wait for the season.  The linebacking core looked pretty good.  Spitler had a great day and was making some monster hits.  We always recruit well at LB and I look for Sabino and newcomer Bell to have a large affect at this position. The secondary really has me worried.  Chekwa is our best DB and he was getting lit up.  Anderson Russell had a few good hits, but no one else really impressed me.  My impressions are this is going to be worrisome throughout the season.  Teams are going to be able to score on us this year as a result. 

Overall, I feel this is a reloading err…. rebuilding year.  The schedule is favorable for us to make a good run until the last quarter of the year.  With any luck we’ll have 1 loss going into the PSU game.  I don’t think we’ll have enough offense to keep up with SC this year again.  That game will come down to how much pressure our D Line will be able to put on the new SC QB.  Offense will be up to the TP show.  Will he be able to carry this team when needed is the million dollar question.

Random Thoughts in the Doldrums of the Offseason

Published
by
swjessen
on March 31, 2009
in Announcements
. 0 Comments

I know it’s been a while and heck I didn’t even blog about the Fiesta Bowl.  But I’m back from my hiatus and ready to think some more Buckeye football!  The Fiesta Bowl was a great game for us.   We were well matched with UT and it all came down to the final play.   Nothing to hang our heads low about here. 

I usually only pay attention to NFL combines about as much as I enjoy watching paint dry.  There really isn’t anything to get excited about.   I did notice though that all of these stellar Buckeyes have underachieved.  Wells, Laurantis and Jenkins all seem to be performing below there levels.    This concerns me about their conditioning and drive to be the best they can be.  Throughout this last year we expected much out of a senior laden team and they performed below expectations (not that a 3 loss season is sub par, but we did make it to the Natty the prior 2 years).   I just wonder about their conditioning programs and how this may have affected their ability to excel this year.  I seem to remember Boone saying after the USC debacle that what was all the offseason conditioning about if they couldn’t show up to play. 

Moving forward, we will be having a rebuilding year.   We addressed all of our needs in the recruiting process and will ahve a young talented team.  Prior will be the center of the offense, but we’ll have to wait to see who else if anyone emerges.  The O-line will be solid with great depth from our last two years of recruiting.  The defensive line will now be a strength for us and all indications are we will reload at linebacker.  The secondary will need to establish someone as a shut down corner. 

All in All, this is the time of the year when you just start couting the days till next year.

The Final Game of 2008 Season

Published
by
swjessen
on January 1, 2009
in Announcements
. 1 Comment

PSU was just demolished by USC in the Rose Bowl a few moments ago.   The alleged second best Bowl Game was a joke.   SC showed itself to be the best team in the country.   I don’t think anyone out ther could have beat them today.  Shocking that Oregon State was able to pull it off.   In general, the PAC 10 is looking stronger than expected.

Big12 has been struggling so far and it just appears that nobody in the Big12 can play any defense.   With each Big10 team playing tough in the other Bowl games, I still see Ohio State as an excellent matchup with Texas.   I have a feeling that if we can punch them hard with our “D”, the game will work itself out for us.   The Defense has been playing well of late.  

Rumor has it that both Boeckman and Pryor will be in the backfield at the same time.  That should be enough to throw any Defense off tilt.  Considering Boeckman plays well with Robo and Hartline and Pryor has eyes for Sanzenbacher, somebody should be open.   A nearly healthy Wells will add to the confusion.

I envision another close low scoring contest here.   I’ve been watching the Big12 all year and they just don’t play defense.

I just don’t see Chohklahoma doing well against Florida, meaning we are stuck with that arrogant son of a gun Urban Meyer winning it again.  This will also leave us with the UT/OSU Bowl game as the best one of the season.  Hopefully we break this 2 year drought of not showing up for the bowl game.

Where has this been all Year?

Published
by
swjessen
on November 14, 2008
in Announcements
. 0 Comments

Wow, what a nice game played by the Buckeyes!  All I can think is where the heck has this been all year?  

Granted it was against Northwestern, but they were a top 25 team.  Northwestern tried initially to do the same thing that Penn State did to us which was make Pryor beat you with the pass.   However, this time he delivered some incredible passes showing how much of a dual threat he is.  Could it be that Pryor is just now getting acclamated to the college game or just that Tressel decided that we had nothing to lose and just let it all hang out.   Either way the results were impressive.

The O Line played pretty well, but again there weren’t huge holes for Wells to run through.  This week, though, Wells created something out of nothing.  Where was that against Penn State as well?   There were enough incredible plays between Wells and Pryor that I left the game scratching my head…. what could we have been if these two played like this the earlier part of the year?

The Defense had some issues with the mobile QB, but it still was a dominating performance.   

Way too many personal fouls by seniors who should have known better.  I guess they needed to vent their frustration?!?

All in all, we still have a shot at the Big Ten title thanks to Iowa and a shot at a BCS bid.

Another Good Year in the Books

Published
by
swjessen
on November 1, 2008
in Announcements
. 0 Comments

The Buckeyes bid for a third straight national championship loss were ended last Saturday evening by Penn State.     You just had the feeling after the first half that this game was going to come down to a single play and it surely did.   Unfortunately that play went against the Buckeyes.   It really was a great game and we can be upset, but not that upset.   It wasn’t the blow out we’ve seen on national TV that we’ve repeatedly seen.  

We do have a trend to report and this should be a message to all teams out there, our defense is back.  Where the heck did Thaddeus Gibson come from?   He was a force in the first half.   The supposedly balanced PSU offense lost the battle of the trenches and their “special” players didn’t do I thing in this game.   Their trio of talented WR were held in check by our secondary.   I’d say the defense we thought we’d have all year is finally here to stay.

Unfortunately for us the offensive line woes continue to keep us from being a national power.   This same group for the most part has not lived up to its elite status.   Face it, we need to get new people in the mix and just move on taking the lumps in the process.

I still feel playing Pryor now will reap its benefits in the long term.   His fumble did cost us the game, but we weren’t really dominant in the trenches anyway on offense.   We have to take the lumps, and wait for him to get better.   Wells looks mediocre sue to his foot injury.   Sure the line wasn’t opening huge holes, but if Wells is the best back in the country, he finds holes from nothing.   PSU had the correct gameplan for us.   Force us to pass the ball and we didn’t respond.   This exploited Pryor as a Freshman and shut down our whole offense.   I am still befuddled by the lack of a true deep threat receiver.   Sanzenbacher and Small did have good games.  Albeit you can see why Small drives the coaching staff crazy, he’s going to get burned sometime with his special team play.

Reality is that we did have a favorable schedule last year and our team overachieved.   We now see that this team wasn’t destined for a national championship, but still has some work to do.   This year was a disappointment and we need to move onward.   A trip to the Rose Bowl may be exactly what this team needs to get us back on track.   Of course, if we end up against USC again, it may be another rough outing.   Not sure if we’ll get Wells back, but if he trully wants the Heisman trophy and wants to improve his draft status (which may be at a low now), he’ll come back.

Buckeyes are Showing Signs of Life

Published
by
swjessen
on October 21, 2008
in Announcements
. 2 Comments

By far this was the best game the team played all year.   We had rhythm on offense and were dominant on defense.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised by our performance.   This by all appearances was the team we were supposed to have this year.
Pryor and Wells were impressive on offense.   They seemed to be in a better rhythm then when we saw them against Purdue.   The same play which burned us last year against Illinois seems to be our new bread and butter for Pryor/Wells combo.   Pryor has the option to hand the ball off to a cutting Wells or he can fake the opposite direction from Wells.   Pryor can then choose to run it himself or dump it to a short receiver.   It juked the MSU defense for most of the game.  I expect we’ll see this against PSU.  Another encouraging sign happened early in the game when Wells reversed field and was running for a first down.   Pryor saw what he was doing and opted to block for him completing knocking the DB he was blocking on his back.   This kind of effort from a quarterback will go a long way with both sides of the ball and shows what type of player Pryor is.   I also have to mention the array of stiff arms that both Pryor and Wells displayed on Saturday.   I still don’t think there’s a defense that can stop these two (except of course what goes on in Terrelle’s head).
The offense line seemed to finally be playing well together.   I had thought that Brewster was out for the game, but saw he had the start at center.   My rule of thumb is that I have to see something occur three times in a row for it to be legitimate, so we still have 2 more games to see if this is a trend or just a fluke.
The defense had another dominating performance.   Lauranitis was everywhere and played like the dominant player we expect him to be.   This was mainly due to the penetration the D line was able to get in the backfield.   Again, the jury is still out on the D line.   One more solid performance and we can say things are finally clicking for this group.   Jenkins and Chekwa had excellent games as well.  I just hope that Chekwa is back for next week’s matchup.
PSU’s strength is both of their lines and their receiving corp.   They just wear teams down by the second half and dominat in the final 2 quarters.   We always match up well with PSU and this year will be no exception.   I feel that the last 2 years the main difference was quarterback play.   We could always count on Morelli to do something incredibly stupid to help us win the game.   This year we don’t have that luxury.   Daryll Clark is a smart QB and rarely makes mistakes.   At the same time, I don’t think PSU has seen a strong defense all year, so pressuring Clark is key to victory here.   Their receiving corp is very fast, so we’ll have our hands full guarding them.   Again, this game comes down to the trenches.   Whichever team controls the trenches, will win this game. 
I am really hoping that a trend is established in this game on both defense and offense which will propel us for the rest of the year.

It’s Do or Die Time for the 2008 Buckeyes

Published
by
swjessen
on October 15, 2008
in Announcements
. 0 Comments

Well folks its the halfway mark for this season and so far the Buckeyes haven’t lived up to their potential!   This last game against Purdue just emphasized what we’ve been discussing this whole year.

  1. Offensive Line was offensive.   Granted their were some plays where I saw holes big enough for a Mack truck to drive through (and Pryor optioned not to give Wells the ball), but there were too many missed blocks.   Rehring in particular looked bad.   The line has been shifted around a lot this year due to poor play and the lack of cohesion is evident from these switches.   To make matters worse, super freshmen Shugarts and Brewster are out for the next few games at least (Shugarts for the year probably). 
  2. No spark in the offense.   Neither Pryor or Wells had good games.   We’re basically down to Wells as the only productive back.   Please keep Mo Wells out of any more games.   He is worthless.   Hopefullty Saine (hamstring) and Herron (concussion) are able to come back.   But neither back has wowed me this year.   Pryor is showing that he is a true freshman.   I was hoodwinked into thinking he was Superman, but he is Superman with a conscious.   He’s just thinking too much on the field.  He’s a perfectionist and that has kept him from being anything but perfect.   He just needs to commit and not second guess it.  If he continues to play this way the next few games, we’ll be stuck with Boeckman (and he has no problem chucking the ball into double coverage).  I swear I saw the slightest smirk on Boeckman’s face when they pained to him during Pryor’s troubles against Purdue.   I’m still waiting for the spark from a speedy receiver.  Bottom line is either you have speed or you dont and, folks, we ain’t got it.
  3. Defense finally played like the defense we’ve been expecting all year.   Maybe the light finally turned on for the D Line and we have turned the corner.   If so, then we will have a good couple of games.   Unfortunately, I think it’s not.   We lost Wilson for the season.   With Rose filling in the gap, you can expect that light to dim significantly.  We’ll need the same performances out of the secondary we just saw for the remainder if the year to have any hope of coming out of the next 2 games alive.   We also need to hear more from Lauranitis.  He has to show he is top 5 draft pick in these next few games.

This is the hump.   Our last two ranked opponents are before us and if destiny has us repeating for a third consecutive National Championship loss, then we have to rise against MSU and PSU.   If, somehow, we beat MSU convincingly and beat the media favorite Penn State, then the country will once again be forced to acknowlege us.   It makes no sense that we are consistently top 5 recruiting class year in and year out and not have the ability to simply reload.

A Good Win…. But….

Published
by
swjessen
on October 8, 2008
in Announcements
. 0 Comments

This was a  quality victory over a good Wisconsin opponent and goes some way to regaining some respect nationally.  Most pundits had Wisconsin as being the team to beat in the Big 10.   Of course, Penn State is now the national media darling (more on that later).   In spite of this victory, there still remains a few glaring issues which will keep us from reaching and/or winning the National Championship.

Pryor is the real deal.   He has so much upside, its scary.   The poise he showed in crunch time showed should send fear to the rest of the Big 10.   He is a freshman after all.   Granted he made some mistakes, but the fact he drove us down the field with the game on the line and won it on the road in Wisconsin  is quite impressive. 

Seeing Beanie run as he did is quite encouraging as well.   One does have to worry about his overall health.  He does seem to get beat up and have to play through a lot of pain.

The offensive line played better than I have seen them play all year.   Still not as dominate as they should be, but better.   That in itself is encouraging and hopefully the trend will continue.

Our main problem is the lack of a D line.   They haven’t shown any improvement and seem to be dominated by whomever we are playing.   The line was a sieve through most of the game, allowing Wisconsin to move the ball at will.   We won’t stand a chance against a better team (such as Penn State) or any of the top 5 teams in the country.   It appears that Gholstein was much more of an impact then we gave him credit.   Wilson was supposed to be a worthy replacement, but hasn’t seem to fill the role yet.

In addition, our receiving corp is average at best without a true burner.   We have our great route runners (Robo and Hartline) and our clutch guy (Hartline), but no speedster to clear the DB’s.   In every game, the opposing DB’s seem to have no problem staying step for step with our guys.  

I just don’t see us being able to keep pace with a top team.   It appears more and more that the media has been correct in their assessment of the Big 10 being down the last few years and that OSU have been the recipients of this down time.   Some people have said this is the best team Tressel has ever had, but it appears more and more that the 2002 team may be his best team.   We just seem to be missing the hunger that that team had back then.

With any luck, Penn State will stay undefeated and we can secure a victory over them.   The national media absolutely loves this team and beating them would definitely restore us to some prominence.   It probably won’t be enough for this year, but at least get us going in the rght direction.

Will this be enough?

Published
by
swjessen
on October 1, 2008
in Announcements
. 0 Comments

After much thought (and the last few blogs), I remain convinced that the problems with the Buckeyes mainly stem from their O and D lines.   Over the last few years, this has seem to be the issue on all of the big games.   That said, Tressel has opted to rotate underclassmen into the O-line and has been experimenting (in part due to inuries, in part due to poor play).   It’s hard to say right now whether we will reap the benefits of these changes this year.  

In the end, making Pryor the starting QB is the correct thing to do.  We needed a spark and a leader and it appears he is providing on both fronts.   There will be some bumps (hopefully minor) along the way, but the dividends will be huge (in possibly 1 year).   Pryor teamed with a healthy Wells will be an unstoppable duo in the backfield.   We should get use to the large yardage on the ground amassed by them.    Just think about it, in their respective recruiting years, both Pryor and Wells were the #1 recruits in the country and McDonald’s all Americans.  The main question is whether we will develop a passing game.  Pryor has shown incredible arm strength so far, but needs to use it.   Additionally, we hear players (Wells in particular) ranting and raving about what he brings to the offense.   I don’t recall comments like this from players regarding Boeckman.

It’s apparent that the National media needs much convincing before they will back the Buckeyes.   This year may very well be lost.   If we can play well and beat Wiisconsin at Camp Randell that will go a long way to helping us.   Of course, with the National media gooing over Penn State, it would be nice to beat then at our place if they remain undefeated.

Times are Changing

Published
by
swjessen
on September 19, 2008
in Announcements
. 0 Comments

I’ve been reluctant to blog anything after last week’s abysmal performance.   Many questions have now been answered for us concerning this years team.   This game was like the other 2 National Championship losses.   We don’t have our explosive player, we make stupid mistakes, both our Lines don’t show up to play and our QB performs poorly.

Beanie Wells was all we had going for us coming into this game.   While I believe he wouldn’t have made a difference, just his presence would have helped to keep them honest on the defensive side.  The whole soap opera before the game really helped to pin USC’s ears back and drill us.

While it appeared that at least the officials were making bad calls equally between the 2 teams, out penalties always appeared at critical times.   Just scoring an initial TD would have lifted the team.

Face it our lines on both sides of the ball have let us down the last 3 years.   We’ve looked slow and overpowered in each of these 3 games.   I strongly think we need to make some changes in the line.  

Boeckman looked out of place the entire game.   He is definitely a pocket passer and looked awkward and confused when moving out of the pocket.   Sure he made some bad decisions, but it wasn’t like he had anytime to throw.   Pryor was the better option here because of his elusiveness.   I am amazed at how poised he looks in the pocket and he literally glides when he runs the ball. 

The coaching let us down once again.   I remember when we first got Tressel, i was so relieved to see half time adjustments on both sides of the ball.  This is something Cooper couldn’t do to save his life.  Now it just seems that Tressel is duped by these other coaches and refuses to change his game plan.   This also goes for Heacock on the Defensive side.   The Oline play disturbs me so much that we really need to make a change on the top.

 

Now we face a national bias against both the Buckeyes and the Big Ten.   Nearly everyone outside of Big 10 country doesn’t even think we belong in a BCS game.   This, of course, is ludicrous.  However, this might as well have been 2 losses for us.   We face an upward battle.

How do we get back into the good graces of the National media?   We have to change something up and be a power house on offense.   We have to be making sick plays which get shown on sports center every week.   We can do this by inserting Pryor, getting Beanie back and shaking up the starters at other positions.   If Pryor looks as good as advertised, there isn’t a Defense in the country which could stop a Wells/Pryor backfield.  

I think Tressel has lost this team and needs to re-establish their respect.   Without some swagger, we’ll continue to lose the big game.   There is so much talent on this team, we ave to find a way to get back into it.   It’s still September, so an awful lot can happen.  

 

GO Bucks!