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11-06-2005, 01:50 PM
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Observations from C Deck
ATMOSPHERE
Watching football on tv has become a remarkable experience. All the replays and camera angles. Announcers to tell you what is happening, who is hurt, all sorts of inside scoop. There is no better way to watch a football game than on tv. But for as long as I can get tickets I will never stay home from the Shoe. Whether we are playing Michigan or lowly Illinois, for a few hours on Saturday afternoon it is the center of the football universe. A world all its own. Drape everything in scarlet. Strike up the band. When I can no longer make it to my seat just scatter my ashes from C deck and I will be home. ILLINI FIELD ENTRY When Illinois started onto the field the first thing I saw was the top of a few helmets. For a split second it looked like we were playing the Browns. For just that moment I was confident we would cover the spread. OFFENSE PART I Help me find a word here. Disappointing falls short. Embarrassing and exasperating don’t get it. Disturbing, distressful, unsettling…. What one word would YOU use to describe our Offense in the first period plus? Don’t try to put lipstick on this pig. We were horrid. This was a mid-major caliber team. Push them off the line and run the ball. Sit in the pocket till you find an open receiver or two and pass the ball downfied. Three possessions – three points. With average field position of your own 43 yard line. Our best offensive weapon during that stretch was Illinois’ fear of punting to Ginn (little did they know their best offensive weapon was punting TO Ginn). Smith and Tressel spoke after the game about Illinois running some unusual coverage and OSU trying to signal changes in routes at the line – maybe being too cute for their own good. That this made it hard for Smith to find a receiver. Say what? This is Illi-friggin-nois. Decide what you are going to do and go do it. OFFENSE PART II I liked that Tailback they put in for Wells in the second quarter. That kid has a future. Why he sat most of the first is one of those unsolved mysteries. Very disappointed he did not go over both 100 and 1000 today. Should have happened against this team. And if the 2nd quarter was better the 3rd was grand. That was how we should have started this game. No need to wear them down. Come out fired up and put it to them. TROY SMITH Barring injury this is our QB for the next 16 games. He still makes us grimace. He may always make us grimace. He will never be the best we have seen at reading defenses. He still tends to lock on to his first receiver, often gives up on the pass too quickly, rarely sells a play fake, and can make passes that make you ask how he ever got the job. But at times he is brilliant. And he is not halfway through his career as a starter. There is a huge distinction between the QB who can’t do it and the QB who doesn’t do it. Smith CAN do it (the bomb to Ginn, albeit short by a tad, is a pass not every QB can throw). If he ever starts doing it consistently he will be the best QB of his type ever to play at the Ohio State University. That ‘type’ is not the Craig Krenzel, Rex Kern, or Art Schlichter type. He doesn’t have their understanding of the game and their ability to find and exploit the weaknesses of a Defense. But none of them had his raw athletic ability to CREATE weakness in a Defense. Troy has the potential to be very special before he is through. All that said, he needs to quit hanging with Jamar Butler. In football a behind the back pass is a BAD thing. GONZO If there is a better 3rd receiver in CFB I want to see him play. ROY HALL Thought he might have left the program till I heard his name called as the intended receiver on a pass to the end zone late in the name. From the results I suspect he learned that he was the intended receiver on that pass about the same time I did. HUSTON He needs to work on those long field goals. Every one was either a yard or two short or just wide. Oops. Never mind. Those were kick offs. For the record in the past two games he has kicked off 16 times without a return. It is 19 straight kick offs since an OSU opponent started their drive beyond their own 20. NACHOS Very disappointing. There were a few full sized chips on the top, but beneath that it was all bits and pieces from the bottom of the bag. Do you know how much it screws up the chip to hot pepper ratio when you are using fragments? And with the little pieces you are always getting cheese on your fingers, which gets on your binoculars and from there your eyes, and the next thing you know people are looking at you like you are some kind of slog. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fat guy and I will eat anything if you cover it with cheese (even Sushi). But at those prices I want consistent quality. A J HAWK Time to start savoring every play. Only three games left in his career and you will not see another like him for some time. WHITNER About as many hard hits from one player as I have seen this year this year. (Heavy sigh.) He is ready for The League. KUDLA This could be a classic case of ‘what might have been’. Seeing him healthy and the speed he can bring to the DL - what a shame he has had so many health issues. How wonderful he has overcome them. PITCOCK AND GREEN The primary role of the DL is to occupy blockers. When your two Defensive Tackles net 9 tackles between them you know your D has had a dominant game. BANDS I like it when the visiting team sends their band. Otherwise we might forget how good TBDBITL really is. We were clearly outnumbered, but not out classed. HOUDINI AWARD Can’t recall the last time I saw a QB slip out of so many tackles. The Illinois OL tried to help us break the sack record we set against Iowa, but Brasic was having none of it. That said, he may still be in the whirlpool. Heroic effort. TWO POINT CONVERSION Had I been watching on tv I am sure my reaction would have been different, but the truth is I was rooting for Mitchell to make it. I was even glad the refs missed the block in the back. I have never seen a two point return in person before and you have to admit it was a very exciting play to watch. Shut outs are grand, but it was only two points. Besides, it helped convince Zook he was back in the game enough to fake a punt on the next series. CHEERLEADERS So I am on my way out of the stadium and I notice that the guy next to me is being tapped on the shoulder. I turn to see the most beautiful cheerleader I have ever laid eyes on. And, well, I knew this would never happen to me……          
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11-06-2005, 01:54 PM
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Was wondering when you'd post this. Nice work, as always.
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11-06-2005, 01:59 PM
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Yes, I enjoy the weekly observations. Good work! But, the sack record was in the MSU game.
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11-06-2005, 02:00 PM
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11-06-2005, 02:01 PM
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11-06-2005, 02:04 PM
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Good post.
Sigh, I should stay here for grad school just to get tickets. Nothing better than the atmosphere inside of the stadium. It's twice as fun when it is 60-70 degrees in November and you're smacking the [censored] out of Illinois or Michigan. Dare I ask how much one needs to donate for a crack at season tickets? Brasic is a slippery [censored], and always keeps his eyes upfield. He did a real good job of running after being flushed. He wasn't great on the option, and our DBs deserve credit for staying with the receivers on broken plays. They learned well from Stanton, and hopefully will continue that against Basanez. Illinois has a big freaking band. I wonder if they used some of the allotment that usually goes to visiting fans, because it seemed that there weren't many Illini fans in the house. Smith and Holmes are probably two of the most fun guys to watch in a long time. On the field, the sidelines, pregame, during Carmen Ohio, whenever. And they have some style, too. Vernon Gholston looks like Deebo. Check out the O-Zone pic from warmups. I hope Hall's 2006 will be more like the OSU David Boston than the roid rage Boston that Roy is emulating right now. Pittman and White are starting to cut into Roy's time by motioning out of the backfield a lot.
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11-06-2005, 02:06 PM
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You forgot to mention how beautiful the day was. The sun was setting over the southwest corner of the stadium and at that time I really wished I brought my camera. Mild November evenings in The Shoe can't be beat. Especially 3:30 games in November, when the first half is played in "day" and the second half at "night."
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11-06-2005, 02:56 PM
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Nice post, as always, Oh8ch.
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Running the option as the base offense is different that what Troy Smith is doing now, but Corny can't be considered a traditional 'pro-style' QB. I'd call him tOSU's best-ever QB that used his "raw athletic abililty to CREATE weakness in a Defense", to use your words. And I'm pretty sure I'll still make that statement after next year. I'm not knocking Troy. I just don't want to see an all-time great QB for the Buckeyes get left out of a conversation that he belongs in.
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11-06-2005, 04:03 PM
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Great post, Oh8ch!
Not much to say about the Bucks that the stats don't say already: Offense - 40 points, 526 total yards (204 rushing, 324 passing); Defense - 0 points, 160 total yards; 5 TFL's; 5 sacks. The main concerns were a slow start on offense (okay, really, would you have been "up" for Illinois?), and, once again, a negative number in the turnover margin (the Bucks are now tied for 96th in Division I-A); the special teams were a mixture of excellent (8 touchbacks, Ginn's 65-yard KO return) and shaky (muffed punt; bad snap on the XP which allowed Illinois to avoid the shut out). The last two games should be very interesting.... A couple of things about Illinois.... They are bad, really bad. Probably the worst Big Ten team in recent memory - I honestly don't know how they managed two wins this season. And, it looked like they were playing hard, at least until some time in the fourth quarter, so it really is a talent issue with them. Zook thinks that he's a couple of years away ... better make that a couple of decades. Zook had a top-20 recruiting class going this summer, and then the season started. It will be a miracle if Zook can "close" this class, and he'll have a tough time just keeping some of his current blue chip verbals like QB Isiah Williams and WR Chris James. Nice to see Sirod Williams from Garfield Heights starting as a true freshman and playing well; he had five tackles and really laid the wood to a couple of Ohio State ball carriers. He was a talented prospect, but at 6' 0", 226 lbs, he just didn't fit the Buckeyes' size profile for a defensive end. Last edited by LordJeffBuck; 11-06-2005 at 05:23 PM.
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11-06-2005, 05:02 PM
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I don't think Illinois football year will effect the kind of kid that wants to go there. The kid who wants to play, maybe even start as a true freshman. Zook will do OK.
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11-06-2005, 05:24 PM
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I continue to disagree with everyone on the subject of Gonzalez. He is not a great third receiver. He is a great starter stuck in the 3 spot behind two other great players. Gonzo will open eyes next year as a starter if Holmes takes his show on the paying tour.
I Tivo'd the game while and just watched it. I can see why Hawk was losing his temper. Zook's boys better be careful. They took a lot of cheap shots at AJ's legs. Can't understand why it was never called. Some were blatant and more than two seconds after the play ended.
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11-06-2005, 07:52 PM
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11-06-2005, 08:26 PM
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11-06-2005, 08:42 PM
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An over used term is "special". But , it fits with Hawk. It fits with Holmes. These guys are"special"!
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11-06-2005, 08:47 PM
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Oh8ch - Great post as always. There is only one question to the following:
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