OSU-Northwestern 2004

[AKAKBUCK]

Hopefully a leader emerges soon, but I'm not sure I know who that would be. There aren't a whole lot of seniors on this team, and none of them appear to be vocal leaders. Hopefully somebody will emerge...

Unfortunately if it turns out to be next year.. then its next year.

You'll know a lot about the answers to these questions by about 7pm Saturday.

[FKAGobucks877]

I agree with a lot of this, but not about the some of the play-calling. tOSU still runs the ball between the tackles 95% of the time, regardless of the formation. While the O-line is probably as described, I believe they would be helped by more mis-direction and counters than simply the run between the tackles. And maybe throw in a sweep, or toss-sweep every dozen offensive plays or so? Simply the threat of doing anything but straight up running between the tackles will help the running game.

[AKAKBUCK]

Man I am post whore tonight sorry.. But WTF was that, Zwick rolling left??? Short side of the field... You knew there would be pressure. A right handed QB has to stop and adjust when throwing that way... Ughh is right. What the Funky [censored] was that.....

Tressel di chew Zwick a new one (well- on Tressel level) after that play... some thing wasnd't executed correctly... I think they were supposed to take a shot deep and JZ decided to improvise to get some time.

[exhawg]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

Hawg, I'm anxious to see the defense against a "traditional" offense...this spread garbage is killing the youth.

I think we won't have to worry about over-pursuing like we have against the spread teams, but I am worried that our DL hasn't been able to own the LOS like they did the past couple years. We are really going to miss Tim Anderson and Will Smith this week.
Personally I think JT is going to make use of the defense that he ran at YSU to counter the run. It's called Flex X and this is what I remember it looking like (it's been several years so my memory might be a little foggy). We did run some of this against K-State last year with Carpenter playing the X. The X plays a 3 tech and lines up at the heals of the DL. This allows him to flow over the top and avoid blocks easier than if they were running straight Bear. The Strong safety (hopefully Salley in this case) lines up as a choke on the TE and covers him if he goes out for a pass. The Mike and Will line up deeper than normal so that they can flow side to side easier. I don't know what coverage you would run out of this but I'm guessing it's man. At YSU JT didn't have better athletes than most of the teams that he went up against so he loaded the box and tried to have too many people to block.

[craigblitz]

OMG actual to god football conversation... I agree, I think our Defense will play a lot better this week. The O did more then enough to win. Our D could not stop them on 3rd downs. This to me SCREAMS!!!!!!! that play calling on 3rd down is too predictable. I think schemes need to be looked at hard this week... really hard.

[buckeyefan20]

I posted yesterday on Bucknuts that our offense may be predictable depending on what the score is. When we are ahead, we almost ALWAYS run the ball. When we are behind or the opponent has just tied up the score, we often times pass on first down. A complete analysis of the NW game with the argument that our offense is NOT predictable would also take into the equation that we were behind for the majority of the game. How about looking at the game from these vantage points (although a couple of times in the past couple years we have passed on first down on our first series)?....

Also, I wish that SOMEBODY that has taped the Illinois and Miami games (2002), the NC St. game (2003), and the NW game (2004) would look at just the overtime periods...you will see that run-pass ratio is drastically different from run-pass ratio in regulation...the question is, if Tressel ditches the running game when we are behind and in OT when you have to score points to win, if he counts on the passing game at the most crucial points, then what is holding him back from opening up earlier in the game?

I'm going to copy and paste the post I made on Bucknuts yesterday...it is really long, but I hope that some of you will read it and respond...... thanks

[martinss01]

haolebuck, after your diligence in watching that game in such detail... i felt obligated to read your entire post . i agree with you about the offense. i think it was probably the best offensive showing we have had all year. id still like to see the play calling come from someone other than tressel upstairs in the booth. personally i think this lends to quicker and more accurate adjustments to defensive schemes.

same holds true with snyder. we didn't adapt to anything NW was doing. i know we have a weak secondary. but no matter how weak/young you are at positions you have to adjust and take chances if the opposing team is moving the ball at will. our defensive scheme seemed to be "winning isn't necissary, just don't loose". that puts all the pressure to win the game on the offense. they aren't that good yet. personally i wouldn't have been upset in the least if one of our corners got burned while playing tight man. id accept a loss like that just like i accepted when gamble got burned for a td that lost us the game. he bit on a good fake and got beat. that happens when you play young inexperienced guys and take chances. but to play it safe the entire game and get beat... that i don't like at all. as a coach your job is to put your guys in a position to win and let them make the most of it. i don't think we did that in the least.

i really like zwick as a qb. he reminds me a lot of germaine (i never cared much for hoying). i think he has the tools to be the best qb to come out of OSU in a long time. which to me says alot because i thought pretty highly of germaine.