Level of Expectations (Merged)

[jwinslow]

Originally Posted by Cicero

I am not whining about dings. I just think that differing opinions are a good thing on a message board and trying to stifle them through dinging is kind of pathetic. I know it wasn't you that dinged me, but the point is a valid one.

actually you got dinged because you were bashing tressel, saying he had no idea how to recruit, and that he was "stacking skill players" and ignoring lineman, which is a pretty hard conclusion to reach given our non-depth at RB & TE.

[osugrad21]

Originally Posted by Cicero

Tressel needs to get back to real football. Recruit players that will be able to line up and establish the line of scrimmage. We need to get back to smacking teams in the mouth rather than trying to spread them out and run around them. If we want wasted potential we should have just kept Coop around.

I agree with your OL assessment but not in the way you expressed it. Coop left the cupboard bare...that has been established. We have zero depth right now and potential does not cut it in the trenches. I watched Alex Boone miss a block that prevented a nice gain last night...however, I don't question his ability, I question why a road grader like AB is asked to take a lateral zone step instead of burying his facemask in a chest and running the guy into the ground. I want a nasty OL not a passive wall...

The routes were there, the ball was not delivered. Yes, Troy Smith played poorly by not making plays when the opportunity was there, but did he honestly have the time to do anything? Yes and no. I think he was fooled often and I think PSU played a soft zone mostly and slowed down his reads enough to tempt him to run...then they relied on their LBs to make the plays when he took off...which they did.

Is that scheme? Sure, I can see the point some guys are making. However, IMO it comes down to getting it done up front. We got whipped up front all night. If you lose the point of attack, you lose the battle. If you keep losing the battles, you lose the war.

Everyone is screaming about talent, but in all reality, this is D1 football...everyone has talent. We just have the higher rated kids coming in which gives the perception that we are loaded everywhere. Where is Person? Where is Mitchum? Isn't Boone supposed to be starting by now? Rehring's sickness hurts bad.

We can scream all day about the playcalling...but I think that is missing the point. Every play is designed to be successful, but if that play is not executed from the start...things go wrong.

Solution? I'm not sure about the personnel issues, but I do know what is being designed is not being accomplished and that starts up front.

[buckeyeboy]

Originally Posted by jwinslow

There is not a talent problem on the line. there is a coaching/scheme problem.

. When will Tressel realize it, though? That's the question.

[BuckBackHome]

[quote=osugrad21;286891]I question why a road grader like AB is asked to take a lateral zone step instead of burying his facemask in a chest and running the guy into the ground. I want a nasty OL not a passive wall.../QUOTE]

AMEN! I want a line that punches the opponent in the mouth over and over. This zone blocking concept has not been consistently effective the past four plus seasons. It almost seems like it is too complicated of a system for the guys to keep track of and our offensive linemen are very bright guys. Losing Barton last night and the switching of linemen made it even worse. If the guys are having a tough time with assignments with their regular position what can we expect when they are being shuffled around due to an injury? This also is where the depth issue comes into play.

You know, I really miss the days of daring the opponent to stop our running game when they knew it was coming. Let the other B10 teams play the finesse game while we just run the opponents into the ground.

[buckeyebri]

Pittman wasn't having that bad of a game going into the third quarter. It seemed to me that we just gave up on the running game as the game wore on.

[Golferdow01]

Originally Posted by ScarletBlood31

i blame troy smith for this loss.

What???
I think that demands some kind of explanation
He didn't play well but seriously

[BayBuck]

I think the biggest problem in both our losses was our opponents! Much as I hate to give credit to another team, this could still end being a 9-2 season with losses to top-10 teams (both conference champs), as Penn State is clearly the frontrunner and Texas is as good as anyone out there right now. Granted, the offense needs work, but I think we'll face some more Iowa-caliber opponents that Smith & Co will go off on.

Both our losses were very good, very close games, now let's move on and concentrate on what really matters: beating Michigan and breaking their bowl streak!