I'm not sure if this guy posts over here but it sounds like he spent a lot of time putting this together and I think it's worth sharing.
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haolebuck
All-American
Posts: 855
(10/5/04 1:16:29 am)
Reply
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after further review <HR SIZE=1>to prove what an incredibly obsessive compulsive fan I am. I watched the game again (I had tivo'd it) It was painfull to watch at first but, I got over it. I wanted to watch it to try to objectively break down the offense and see what is really going on here.
I watched every offensive play in the game. I would first pause it when the teams came up to the line to identify the formation of the offense and the d. then watch the play at live speed once, rewind and then watch it in slow motion...sometimes frame by frame. I payed a lot of attention to the offensive line and to zwick and his delivery. I really studied each lineman and how they interacted as a unit. I studied zwick and how he read the d at the line of scrimmage did he audible, his drops/footwork, throwing motion etc.
the only thing I couldn't do is see the wr's routes downfield but thats allright b/c I was really most interested in zwick, the oline and the strategy/play calling.(Hey I told you it was an obsessive compulsive pursuit)
conclusions;
1. this offense is not overly simplistic or vanilla. we do not need to "open up the playbook" this rallying cry is ridiculous. we threw the ball six less times than nw did. and if zwick had not run the ball TWELVE times(all scrambles 0 qb draws) we would've had more pass attempts than nw. we probably threw on first down more often than we ran it. my #1 point in this argument is that the o is not too predictable or any of the things you guys have been calling it...unless you want to do the run and shoot. we did have backs out in pass patterns all the time, we did throw screens we did try to hit the t.e we did throw deep, short, intermediate, we spread it around...I can't harp on this point enough. the offensive scheme is aggressive.
2. the oline is ok. simms is a great pass blocker but only average run blocker. datish is our best run blocker but he needs help pass blocking. mangold is great but he's a little small and is susceptible to bigger dt's bull rushing him(hawthorne is going to be a nuisance this week, no way around it.)kne is pretty solid in all areas-but spectacular in none. schaeffer is a very good pass blocker but our worst run blocker. downing is big and quick but he needs a lot of work...looked lost a lot. barton is in the same mold as schaeffer.
we have problems running the ball because one of these guys constantly misses his block. It's not like its one particular guy messing up all the time they all make mistakes and it kills the ground game. I can't tell you how many times we were one block away from busting big runs. and its not like our olineman are totally wiffing, but four guys make good blocks and one guy is just getting a 1/2 way decent block and it blows up the whole play. when these guys get on the same page there will be holes. the pass blocking is pretty good as is.
2. the rb's are all average. pittman would be my choice to get the most carries because he runs aggresively and hits the hole quickly. lydell waits too long in the backfield for something big to open up. joe is nice between the tackles but he's not a 20 carry/game guy. pittman and ross are about the same, pittman is just running with more confidence.
The days of the iso are dead. we run latterally now with lots of pulling gaurds/zone blocking(like iowa, the back gets the ball and its up to him to find the hole) and we need a great back to read the blocks and hit the holes.
bottom line to the running game is that the o line is ok and improving and the backs are ok but neither is spectacular and when one is on the other invariably screws up.
3. zwick. his drops are a little slow. his footwork in general is a little bad. and he loves to put his foot in the bucket. but I like him a lot.
I was a smith fan all spring summer and still think he's a fine qb. tress doesn't want the qb controversy (remember hoying/powers? jackson/germaine? two qb's is not the answer) so he's picked his guy and he's not turning back.
zwick showed a lot of character leading the team back into the game in the fourth quarter. he throws a pretty nice ball bu he makes all the mistakes a young qb makes...i.e locks on wr's, gets happy feet, forces some throws. this is what young qb's do! he will be a great qb by his sr year. remember how much you hated bobby hoying in 94 and how much you loved him in 95? same thing here. given time to mature zwick will be a very good qb. maybe the best
osu has ever had.
I like this team but we can't ask too much too soon. give these kids some time to mature without crippling their confidence and they'll be great in 05-06.
If anyone has read this entire post I congratulate you on your dilligence! and of course...GO BUCKS!!
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