Buckeye Outpost

I honestly thought total annihilation was in store for us last week and was very surprised by how close the game was.  That said, we had ample opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and were unable to capitalize on them!  Originally, I wanted to cite both Pryor and Tressel as the main culprits in this loss, and now believe it was a team loss.

No matter how much you hate Tress' conservative ball control and field position chess match, it's the pill we will have to swallow as long as he is our coach.  We can second guess him all we want, but the bottom line is that the offense didn't execute as he intended.  Ohio State football has been about 3 yards and a cloud of dust for as long as I can remember.  When we failed to even get a 4th and 2 against Navy a few weeks ago that should have been a sign that we have major issues again with the running game.  All the juggling of O'line is an indication that we really don't have strong O'linemen  and we have to make do with what we have.  In all honesty, the O'line (revamped or not) isn't any better than what we've been forced to swallow the last 3 years.  In neither of these games did we create holes for our RB's or move opposing D'lines.  Bollman has to take a lot of the blame for this and really needs to go, but again our players are not executing either.  Something desperately needs to change here or we will never get back to our winning ways.  The only Tressel call I don't get, is why we don't use Pryor on a 4th and short situation, he's 6'6" and weighs 260 lbs, he should be able to get us a short yardage situation easily.

Pryor looked to me like he was thinking way too much.  His hesitation to act really cost us the game.  Last year I was complaining about him looking to run first before checking down and this year it's just the opposite.  If he has improved in the passing game, it hasn't shown because his decision making is horrible at this stage.  This is the second week in a row that Pryor has been outplayed by the opposing teams supposedly inferior QB.  Oh and don't be fooled by UM's Forcier, he didn't play a real defense yet and I expect him to look worse in the near future. I also feel Pryor doesn't forget his mistakes, he dwells on them during the game and it effects the rest of his play.  He is unfortunately a work in progress.

The defense was the biggest surprise of the night.  The line held up for most of the game and really gave it to the vaunted USC O'line.  The corner coverage was outstanding and LB play was decent.  Yet again, though, we found someway to give up 2 big drives at the end of each half.   This is a disturbing trend which has continued in every big game.  In the Tressel ball control system, the defense has to be able to make stops when it counts.  That is critical to the success of the system.  Somehow, the defense can't put an end to the game when we really need to do it.  The defense is as much to blame for the loss as the offense. 

Tressel ain't going anywhere and his system will work against a lot of teams.  He plays not to lose.  He plays the percentages and tries not to take risks.  This only works when the team executes his plays that he calls and minimizes mistakes.  When we play a team like USC with offensive firepower and the "play to win" attitude it will give his system some fits.  Pryor's poor decision making, the lack of any offensive line push and a "let us down" when it counts defense has created this problem for us.  The problem really is that we've been talking about the same issues for the most part the last 5 years and it hasn't changed.

Toledo will give us fits on offense this week, but their defense is horrid.   Now is a good time to change our losing ways.  Pryor gets some exciting plays on offense, the line actually creates a big hole that a mack truck could drive through and the defense makes a stop when it counts against a potent offense.  That would be the makings of the perfect storm for the buckeyes.  Hopefully, we'll see it for a change.

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Tags: Ample Opportunity, Bollman, Bottom Line, Chess, Cloud Of Dust, Culprits, Decision Making, Field Position, Hesitation, Honesty, Jaws, Linemen, Ohio State Football, Passing Game, Rb, Running Game, Total Annihilation, Tressel, Unexpected Occurrences, Winning Ways// Category Announcements // Add Comment »

As a surprise treat last weekend, I took my family to Yogurtville.  You get to fix your own frozen yogurt with toppings all at a set price per ounce.  It was great, my kids had a field day.   After sampling all the flavors of yogurt, I went with my mainstay, vanilla.  I added minimal amounts of toppings, cause I like the vanilla yogurt.  My oldest daughter on the other hand, went the chocolate route and proceeded to put just about every topping possible. 

I like vanilla as my yogurt flavor, not my football teams offensive scheme!  The play calling was so predictable, even the announcers were telling you what OSU was going to do on each play.  This appears to be the sad trend in OSU offense and we really have no one to blame except Tressel.  Oh yeah, we finally threw it to the tight ends (which made me drop my drink since I haven't seen that since Cooper days) and we had an option pitch to the running backs and some run to the first down markers and stop passes, and it was all so predictable.  The O line was supposed to be revamped, but the Navy undersized Dline was pushing them around.  We should have been able to run the ball all day and we looked really bad up the middle.  If this is what we should expect the rest of the year (and based on past experience it is), we won't be in the top 25 by the end of the season.  I hate to say it, but Tressel's downfall may be his uncompromising loyalty to his staff.  Bollman has proven time and time again that he isn't a decent Oline coach or asst coach to boot.  If Tressel keeps this up, he'll be coaching somewhere else next year. We desperately need to add some toppings to this vanilla or they'll be some serious beat downs on us this year.

As alluded to earlier this year (see spring ball posting), our Dbacks couldn't cover anyone.  We are in for a lot of trouble the rest of the year if this is the case.  Again our Dline couldn't move the Navy Oline (with the exception of Gibson who looks like a beast).  The linebackers were average at best in this game as well.   In a nutshell, our defense is in rebuilding mode (not reloading). 

Finally, Terrelle Pryor didn't impress me as being much better than he was at the end of last year.  He was flat out outplayed by the Navy QB who had less to work with then Pryor did.  The only noticeable improvement was that he looked to pass first then run. 

This upcoming week will define our season and I'mafraid we are up for an historic home loss, the worse in OSU history.  I can just see Pete Carrolls prep for the week, it'll go something like this:

"On offense, we need to double team Gibson.  Uhh.. that should do it."

"On defense, we need to place a middle linebacker as spy on Pryor.  Oh and on third and long we'll need to double team Sanzenbacher."

Folks, it'll be that simple for USC.  You look at every category and they have someone in the top 5 except for QB.  USC doesn't need Barkley to do a thing cause they'll be able to run it down our throat the whole game.   Their whole Oline is back and so is our Dline and we know what happened last year!  To boot, we don't have the same LB's as last year or even a decent DB.  This is going to be ugly.

On offense, this game will define Pryor's entire college career.  The pressure is solely on him to perform for this game as he really is the only guy on the field (maybe Gibson) who can play with these guys.  Based upon past performances, I don't think he'll be able to deliver.  We have an unproven receiving corp (who apparently couldn't get open deep against Navy, cause I don't recall any long passes) and our backs seemed ineffective in running the ball.  This is going to be ugly.

There is still a very tiny part of me that believes Tressel was holding back the true offense and it would be chocolate frozen yogurt with all the fixings just busting with pizazz.  Unfortunately I've been burned on this too many times and know I have to eat the vanilla frozen yogurt and like it...

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This is by far the best week of the year!   We've been patiently waiting and waiting for what seems like eons for the football season to finally begin.   In our minds are thoughts of winning big games, winning the conference and winning the natty!  We all rationalize that this will be our year and things will be different and better.  I even convinced myself that we would be better this year.

Well, I am starting to already burst my bubble with reality.  I really think we'll be fortunate to win the Big 11 this year and keep that streak alive.   When you start looking at things on paper, it sobers you up real fast.   Sure everyone in the country is talking about Terrelle Pryor and his great potential, but theres the rub, he's an unproven commodity and no one is talking about anyone else on the team.  In a nutshell the whole team is an unproven commodity.  Until we actually see Pryor in the big game, we won't know for sure if he is it.  There are too many holes to fill the void which is left from last year's team.

Last year, it was clear that our greatest weakness' were the Lines.  This year everyone is saying the strength of our team is the defensive line.   Wait a second here, that was the weakness last year?!? Here's the paradox, if our strength this year was last year's great weakness, we could be in lots of trouble! 

Our O-line is supposed to be quicker and leaner with a complete overall from last year's unit.   You take the core of that excellent recruiting class last year and add the Michigan xfer Boren into the mix and we are revamped, but not a unit which has played together a long time.   With all the mixing around this spring and the injuries this camp, you need to be worried about how this gels together.

Granted Beanie Wells was a killer when he was healthy, but that was only 50% of the time, so we already have some experience in having to play without Beanie.   Herron and Saine looked good in the Spring and throw in Freshman Berry and we are alright at RB.   Unfortunately these guys are all the same type of runner, so there isn't going to be a change of pace.

Who will step up at WR is the biggest question on offense.  We have the incredibly skilled, but head case WR in Small.   He makes you say O my gosh what a play in the same breath as what a knucklehead.  Duron Carter has come in as a freshman and appears to be the real deal.   We just have to see how Washington, Thomas, Sanzenbacher and Posey perform.

We supposedly will be able to reload at linebacker, but there are really big shoes to fill and there may still be the same problems for our LBs this year as last year in that the Dline (our strength)  can't stop the run or rush the passer.

Safeties should be strong but you have to worry about the corners.  Chekwa makes me nervous as our top DB.

Navy has all the makings of a trap game.   Their offense is so different then anyone elses, it's the first game of the season and our biggest game of the year is the following weekend.   I expect a close game well into the third quarter with both the offense and defense looking bad until our dpeth just wears out Navy.   This will be a typical Tressel lead first game back with a lot of rust being shaken off.   The only question is whether we can shake it off quick enough.

I honestky think we are in for a rebuilding type year.  USC will most likely give us one of our worse home losses in history.  Both Penn State and Illinois may very will add to our misery forcing us to play in the Capital One Bowl if we are lucky.   As always, I hope I am wrong and will gladly take any abuse for being a doubter.   I am just happy to have football back!   Go Bucks!

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Tags: Big Game, Big Games, Boren, Commodity, Defensive Line, Dose Of Reality, Eons, Football Season, Gels, Great Potential, Greatest Weakness, Herron, Holes, Long Time, Lots Of Trouble, Nutshell, Paradox, Recruiting, Terrelle Pryor, Xfer// Category Announcements // Add Comment »

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Tags: Boeckman, Bottom Line, Buckeyes, Cohesion, Concussion, D Line, Double Coverage, Freshmen, Good Games, Holes, Last Game, Mack Truck, Offensive Line, Perfectionist, Purdue, Shugarts, Smirk, Superman, Switches, True Freshman// Category Announcements // Add Comment »