(2004) Game Eight: Penn State - 10/30/04 (W, 5-3/2-3)

[StoRMinBrutus]

Brutus2002,
Whats your address again? I forgot to send you that prescription for that sedative this week before the game. Sorry Buddy .
I agree with ya buddy in that Penn State is a very good defense but this is the big times and OSU has to find a way to make things happen on offense against anybody, anywhere, anytime wether it's Wisconsin or Penn State. YES they still can be accorded time to grow as a new unit this year and I totally agree with you in that this is a tough defense and the most important things is OSU WON!!! These are only areas of concern for me that I stated earlier. Not like OSU is doomed forever though. Some things to build on.
#1 OSU has got to find ways to get the offense on the field more and get some long sustaining drives this year. They only had 1. You gotta agree with that don't ya ?? YES I know about the punt return and the defensive TD.
#2 The defense has to do alot better on 3rd down conversions. That also contributed towards the offense not being out there as much.
I do agree that they had some things to build on though. Not trying to argue with you .. hehe I AM STILL HAPPY WE WON !!!

[Savante]

I don't know for sure that TG runs for 30 yards, but Gonzalez held AFTER Ginn had already passed him, from what I've seen.

Besides, my whole point is that you have to take these statistics with a grain of salt. Looking at them, yes, it looks like we had a slightly anemic offense, but my main point is, look at some of the plays that spoiled them. We ran out the clock, probably 6 or 7 plays right there. Smith downed the ball. Smith lost big yardage on the fumble due to his backpedaling, something he shouldn't have done. We also scored twice without needing our offense, eliminating two drives early that gives the O a chance to get in a rhythm. The first drive stalled because Ginn dropped a pass, then we didn't get the ball back until what, the second quarter? When we did, we moved down the field and got a TD, and then we started to play it safe. Up 14, we can afford to run the ball when they can't stop us. And they didn't. Circumstances dictated that we only had a few times to move the ball. You can say "well, yes, that TD drive came off of a short field", but that's football. I honestly think that some fans would rather have a 98 yard drive that we don't score than a 2 yard drive that we do score. Statistics are the last thing on a coach's mind. I guarantee Tressel isn't kept up all night thinking "okay, I have to get Tony 100 yards, Troy 200 passing, Holmes 100 receiving, Ginn 50, Hall 50, and get two kicks for Nuge". Our defense and ST put us in a position to win today. What we do need to work on is the offense not putting us in a position to lose. The offensive problems were the turnovers. We moved the ball alright (and even opened up the playbook) for a lot of the game. A lot of the pass plays are things we don't do normally.. over the middle, passes to backs.. I love it. To many people, opening up the playbook is throwing deep, to me, it's adding in things we don't do. And I liked that. We're clearly saving something for the stretch run, I'm ok with that.

Realistically, we weren't great, but we moved the ball against a tough, tough D. We also won the game smoothly. I don't think Tress feels a need to open up the offense when we've got them on the ropes. If you want us to run up the score, you're rooting for the wrong coach.

It's not like OSU didn't move the ball. It's just bad circumstances -- they'd move the ball and then boom, fumble. They get pinned in their own one and do all that they can to just not get safetied. It's not that I'm just saying "well, ignore what really happened", but in fact, I'm saying, "take into account what really happened". It's not a big deal that our O didn't explode.

[Jaxbuck]

I agree with 9/10ths of what you are saying and yes you can take some stats from a small sample size like 1 game with a grain of salt. In fact with football its a must.

Where we differ is the point that this one game performance isn't a big deviation from the norm that has arisen from a large sample(the season) therefore I look at it a bit more pessimistically than you do. Its like one of your kids doing the same thing over and over but always having a differnt excuse but never taking responsibility. Thats why I jump on it when people say "if not for this we would have..." type stuff. They actually have a point in the short term but in the macro view all that stuff does equal out.

Bottom line is I am happy with any W, our O still has a lot of work to do to even be decent but for the first time all year I have seen small glimmers and flashes of things that give me hope. I enjoy any debate thats civil and even halfway thought out. It would be boring if we all agreed on everything.

[StoRMinBrutus]

Good points Savante. If OSU had not made those critical errors then they may very well of had some very good drives.