QB Troy Smith - 2006 Heisman Winner - (Baltimore Ravens)

[blufftonbuck]

If I remember correctly Joe Germaine was running quite a ways behind Stan Jackson on the depth chart supposedly due to practice. I am all for play well in practice receive playing time but some guys are just gamers like Joe. I also am in favor of at least giving the offense a change of pace or if nothing else it lets Justin sit back and watch the game for awhile...

[StoRMinBrutus]

I personally wouldn't mind at least seeing what Troy could do for a quarter or even longer if he is productive. I just don't think under Coach Tressels watch that thats going to happen. He has been asked this very same questions and in no uncertain terms stated that he doesn't think that would his course of action.
Its always good to speculate how good the guy on the bench may be if in fact the starting QB is not doing well but nobody here or anywhere can tell me or you that Troy is going to blow the place apart and do any better with this Offensive line and little or no experience. The coaches have seen way more reps than us as fans and know what they are doing. Who knows maybe Troy would surprise us all. In that case I swear to you I'd be just as happy as anyone. He seems like a good kid. The tools are all there, but even though he has not done well so far, they are all there for Justin too.

[WestEnd]

Originally Posted by gobucksBC

Troy Smith's fair chance is called practice.

I'm tired of this whole sentiment. It's been flying around this board for so long that people think it's a legit argument. None of us were in practice either. I feel like unless you actually were in practice yourself and more than that, know what the coaches are thinking, claiming that Smith isn't showing what he needs to show in practice is just as much speculation as assuming troy smith would do better than zwick in a game. Both are just pure speculation. It doesn't matter what Tressel says to the press. It's obvious with his generic answers that are often only remotely related to the question that he is just playing the media for the chumps they are.

The thing is, Troy Smith IS in practice every day, and whether or not he's said it directly, I think that he made it pretty clear that he thinks he's doing the things he needs to be doing and DOES NOT think he's getting a fair chance. I'd agree with him. Tressel should just let zwick sit for one entire game, and let troy play. It can't hurt anything. It's obvious that zwick is a long way from being where everyone would like. Maybe seeing the game from the sideline would help? Getting Troy a game under his belt would only make him that much more experienced in the event that something happens and he is forced into the starting role.

i have actually gotten to the point that i dont care about practice....play both of these kids.....i mean the offense cant get any worse....it cant....

heck....rotate them by play like spurrier....something...anything....

maybe if you rotate them you can get both of them in the game at the same time and cause havoc.....


what really peeved me is that the offense WAS different in the first half saturday and had wisky off balance....the second half was a joke....

[kn1f3party]

The way things are going he will see more snaps. I find it hard to believe Tressel would make the same mistakes other coaches have--see Florida State.

[Sdgobucks]

Regardless of who starts at QB I would like to see us get the run game going. I don't care if we have to put a Tackle in at TE, a Guard in a FB, or Bollman and his "schemes" on the street, we should do everything we can to figure out the running game this year. We don't want to wait until next year when we have something to play for again. It sickens me to watch Wisky and Auburn run the ball, but we cant.

Without a run game niether QB will shine.

[tibor75]

I don't care how bad Smith looks in practice. If he's trying hard and knows the playbook, he needs to play if Zwick sucks. College/NFL is filled with players who rode the bench until they got a chance to play and never looked back - Greise at scUM, Brady at NE, Jeff Blake for the Bengals, etc. etc.

[StoRMinBrutus]

Originally Posted by WestEnd

I'm tired of this whole sentiment.

On the flip side don't you think posters are getting tired of the whole "let Troy play" saga? Its getting old but thats what the forum is for to vent, throw out your thoughts and knowledge of the game and maybe learn from someone else here and there ?? But either way its speculations too.

Originally Posted by WestEnd

None of us were in practice either. I feel like unless you actually were in practice yourself and more than that, know what the coaches are thinking, claiming that Smith isn't showing what he needs to show in practice is just as much speculation as assuming troy smith would do better than zwick in a game. Both are just pure speculation.

Fact is, anyone whoes played the game like some here have in high school, college and even some in the pros, that you show the Coaches what you have in practices. If you don't think or know that then you missed something if you played in high school and/or you just didn't get it at all(no disrespect intended) . I dunno about you, but I'd rather take a Coaches opinion as too who will start when he has around 20 years experience coaching than that of a kid who with out a doubt has great potential but no experience and still thinks he can light up the world without proving it to the coaches somewhere, anywhere. .. hnmmmm maybe that has to be in practice first. At least show to the coaches he has to prove it there. Maybe thats where the argument is when people online state that. Doesn't every kid think he's invinsible and should start?? who knows maybe he should. I am just speculating though.

Originally Posted by WestEnd

The thing is, Troy Smith IS in practice every day, and whether or not he's said it directly, I think that he made it pretty clear that he thinks he's doing the things he needs to be doing and DOES NOT think he's getting a fair chance. I'd agree with him.

Who is the one speculating now ?
Where is the proof of that? I'd love to know and see that? After all this debating about it and how great he is ... where is the proof yet ?? YES for the love of god I'd love it if he showed it and made all the nay sayers out to be wrong but if the coaches don't see it yet. where is it , why isn't he showing it to the coaches?? I'd be the first one too tell you I like this kid too and hope he does do well and succeed but what kid doesn't think he is the best and can take on the world. He has to SHOW IT TO THE COACHES!!. Do you honestly think that Tressel is out to get him or doesn't like him at the expense of winning games ?? No, he is there to win games for OSU or be fired somewhere along the way if he doesn't. His family depends on that and so does he. He'd put him in there if he thought he could win games for OSU, no matter what.

Originally Posted by WestEnd

Tressel should just let zwick sit for one entire game, and let troy play. It can't hurt anything. It's obvious that zwick is a long way from being where everyone would like. Maybe seeing the game from the sideline would help? Getting Troy a game under his belt would only make him that much more experienced in the event that something happens and he is forced into the starting role.

Maybe your right... Who knows, maybe Troy Smith will do great. It would be fun to see if he could actually pull it off with little or no gametime experience and to see him succeed and be the next Vick. I want OSU to win most of all too. Both QB's have the tools. Heck the whole teams has off the charts talent. There are both sides to this reasoning ... both sides have valid points but what it comes down too is who can execute and mature better and no matter what I'd bet a billion dollars that either way its going to take awhile before OSU is at full speed. The only thing that matters is that Coach Tressel has seen something so far in Justin and not enough in Troy yet wether that be on the field in a game or in practice. OSU will come back and win alot of games ... I am not speculating on that !! Mark it down and come back !! haha

[JXC]

I'm more worried about the O-line and RB play than the QB play.

[StoRMinBrutus]

Originally Posted by tibor75

I don't care how bad Smith looks in practice. If he's trying hard and knows the playbook, he needs to play if Zwick sucks. College/NFL is filled with players who rode the bench until they got a chance to play and never looked back - Greise at scUM, Brady at NE, Jeff Blake for the Bengals, etc. etc.

hahaha maybe thats why your not a coach Tibor !!!!
I am not disagreeing with anybody that Troy maybe shouldn't get a chance but we are not the coaches. The burning questions is if Justin is that bad in the games then why not give Troy a shot? He is not showing it to the coaches YET!! Scream all you want but he has to show it to the coaches and he has not done that YET !! I can only speculate based on what Coach Tressel has stated but consistency and no errors are the things he looks for always. Troy (speculation again) throws while running alot. Maybe he is throwing inaccurate balls. Maybe he is running for 5 yeards, when if he just scrambled a little longer he would of seen the open Wr's downfield for 15 yards. I dunno. Bottom line is Troy Smith has to prove it on the only playing field he is allows and thats the practice field and he's not getting it done YET!!! Hopefully that will change.

JonathanXC,
Even though I got caught in this vortex of what QB should start , I hear ya brotha Buckeye. I think whole heartedly that no matter what QB is in there the success of the Offense has to start at the Offensive line
(MililaniBuckeye convinced me of that awhile ago). When they fall into place and sustain blocks better as a unit. WOW will we see a whole different offense as a whole no matter what QB is in there.

[111Buck111]

Give the Kid a shot...Zwick has been scrambling lately anyway and I think Smith can maybe give the Luckeyes a spark...

[Oh8ch]

I'll take my whacks.

The first issue is how the decision about who plays gets made. I am not trying to be as simplistic as "it is JTs call so we should all shut up". But why aren't we shouting for Boeckman? How about moving Ginn over and let him toss a few? My point is that we are all shouting for Smith because we think we have some concept of the relative merit of these two without coaching a single practice. We have seen him throw the ball in the Spring game, and he didn't fall flat on his face so he must be as good as Zwick. He didn't have remotely the experience in HS, but he was an Elite 11, right? And we have all heard that players in practice say he throws a pretty good ball.

At best I would concede he might be comparable to Zwick in practice. OK, one might argue - then why not give him a shot?

That leads to the second issue. This is about a process. A process of building a new quarterback.

When I was in the service we had a new guy transfer in and join our Softball team. Said he had a cup of coffee with the Pirates farm system so we were all excited. First game he fouls out to the third baseman - four times.

Timing he says. Just need to get my timing down.

Next game - five home runs down the left field line.

This is a painful process, but it is an ongoing process. I trust the guy with all the experience and the million dollar a year contract to have some idea how the process is going. Maybe in three or four weeks Zwick will quit popping up to the third baseman.

But that's not what we want. We want to interrupt this process and start it all over with a new QB because - well, because we just think Smith should get a fair shot. No, not really a fair shot - he gets that. He said so himself before the season started. We want him to get our definition of a fair shot.

And what is the problem we are trying to solve? Our offense is horrid. Well I am here to tell you that you can't hang that on Zwick. Our offense has performed in the lower half of the Big Ten since JT has been here. That includes the time that Craig Zrenzel was playing - a QB many voted as one of the greatest in OSU history. Whatever is broke about our O is not going to be fixed by swapping out an inexperienced QB for an even more inexperienced one.

I hate this particular debate not because there aren't some good arguments from both sides, but because it is spilling over to the fans in the stands who are making their opinions known with their ignorant boos. That isn't productive and it wont change a thing.

oh8ch...the only reason i would now like to see more of a two quarterback system this year is because this season (by buckeye standards) is over....

the oline cant protect....that would benefit smith...and if smith played....the opposing defense would at least have to gameplan for him...

one could also argue that a single quarterback stuck in this offense for six more games could do more harm than good...

[ohiobuck94]

This is the straight skinny: Tressel is preparing this team for next year. This year is a year to gain experience. We better get used to it.

[osugrad21]

Originally Posted by ohiobuck94

This is the straight skinny: Tressel is preparing this team for next year. This year is a year to gain experience. We better get used to it.

We can digest the games, spin em however we want, talk strategy, philosophy, and coaching....but you may have nailed this SOB right on the noggin