Game Two: #1 Ohio State 24, #2 Texas 7 (9/9/06)

[xrayrandy]

Wow. Why didn't he start last year?

A tie goes to the preseason all-american senior.

[buckeyeboy]

There's no room elsewhere on the line for someone who is equally as good as a preseason All-American? Only in Texas.

[High Lonesome]

Originally Posted by buckeyeboy

There's no room elsewhere on the line for someone who is equally as good as a preseason All-American? Only in Texas.

He is a converted TE much like Eric Winston for miami, between the fact that he has never played in the interior and he was still learning LT they though better just to leave him as the backup. That is not to say that he didn't get large amounts of PT even in crunch time, because he did.

[buckeyeboy]

I figured he must have seen a significant amount of playing time last year. Just poking a little fun at the optimism, that's all.

[xrayrandy]

It is not optimism. Blalock was and is better than either of them, so as the #3 OT Hills had to be a backup. Texas doesn't switch guys between tackle and guard.

[High Lonesome]

Originally Posted by xrayrandy

It is not optimism. Blalock was and is better than either of them, so as the #3 OT Hills had to be a backup. Texas doesn't switch guys between tackle and guard.

really? didn't blalock play guard before being moved to tackle?

[xrayrandy]

No, Blalock never actually played guard at Texas, although people frequently call it his natural position. I have read scouting reports that say that while he has the body type of a guard his footwork is good enough to play tackle at the next level.

[buckeyeboy]

Originally Posted by xrayrandy

It is not optimism. Blalock was and is better than either of them, so as the #3 OT Hills had to be a backup. Texas doesn't switch guys between tackle and guard.

When I said you were being optimistic, I meant in regard to claiming that Hills may be an upgrade over the All-American he's replacing. You don't think that's optimistic? I'd imagine you'd say that I was being optimistic if I claimed that Freeman could be an upgrade over Hawk, who he's replacing.

[xrayrandy]

The difference is that Freeman didn't look better than Hawk in game situations, and Freeman wasn't substituted for Hawk when the game was on the line.

[jwinslow]

Originally Posted by xrayrandy

The difference is that Freeman didn't look better than Hawk in game situations, and Freeman wasn't substituted for Hawk when the game was on the line.

b/c his medical redshirt prevented it. He WAS going to be put in the LB lineup when the game was on the line, despite the tremendous ability of our trio last year. I'm not going to argue that Freeman will be as good of a replacement as Hill. But you have to know how homeristic it looks to say that you are going to have an upgrade over an all-american. I don't think people would be calling you out as much had you said there would be little to no dropoff.

[xrayrandy]

An all-American who just did 17 reps at 225 at pro day. Believe me, in this case an upgrade is not only possible but likely. The depth, however, will be significantely off.

[MililaniBuckeye]

Originally Posted by xrayrandy

An all-American who just did 17 reps at 225 at pro day. Believe me, in this case an upgrade is not only possible but likely. The depth, however, will be significantely off.

Bench reps do not equate to blocking ability.

If Hill was put in at crucial portions of the game, it would stand to reason that he would've started over Blalock regardless of the AA status of Blalock.

[xrayrandy]

If Hill was put in at crucial portions of the game, it would stand to reason that he would've started over Blalock regardless of the AA status of Blalock.

I don't find that reasonable at all given that Blalock is a better tackle than either of them.

As for bench rep, his lack of strength does affect his run blocking, and is the biggest knock against him going into the draft.

[High Lonesome]

Originally Posted by MililaniBuckeye

Bench reps do not equate to blocking ability.

If Hill was put in at crucial portions of the game, it would stand to reason that he would've started over Blalock regardless of the AA status of Blalock.

he was put in over scott, not blalock....and while it would make since that if hills was better he would have started there really is more to the story.

Scott was a starter from the time that he stepped on campus as a freshman....Mack was not going to let him not start his senior year, he was a returning all american and mack is loyal to a fualt sometimes.... Hills was great for us last year and has the ability to be even better than scott was, he has yet to do it but there are more than a few texas insiders saying that Hills will be a great one.....i guess that the bottom line is that no matter how you want to phrase it, horn fans are not worried about any aspect of our offensive line next year other than maybe depth.

[EngineerHorn]