Better Than 2006?

[cincibuck]

Originally Posted by Carmen Ohio

On defense, the loss of Anderson Russell was huge in the end as it made us depend on Jamario O'Neal in coverage situations against teams (Michigan and Florida) good enough to expose him..

Not much to argue about here. BUT IMO The 06 team only allowed one team, Florida, to drive on them. Michigan got back in the game on turn over/short field situations and prevent defense. Texas was the only team other than the Gators to have the speed to force the Bucks into zone.

Larry Grant and Marcus Freeman have joined Laurinaitis as bonified stars.

And Spitler would start anywhere else. Penn State = Linebacker U my ass.

I'll go as far as to say that as a unit, I like this defensive line better..

I kept noting during the Purdue game that this line really clears holes for Freeman and Lauranitus to blow up running plays. What is missing is Pitcock simply overwhelming an offensive tackle and blowing up ANY kind of play.

The bottom line is I've satisfied myself that no team I've seen this year including LSU, Florida, Oregon, California and USC could hang 41 points on this defense. .

I don't know about this year's LSU or Florida teams scoring 41 on this D, but Cal is scary fast and has a QB with enough arm and experience to put the ball on them and any team that hangs 30 points on Michigan in the first half is going to put points on the board against OSU. But when you say 41, well that's hell of a lot of points. I mean how often did the 06 Buckeyes score 41? You score 41 points on teams that don't have the talent to match yours, or teams with talent but not enough experience, or when you get a lot of breaks against a team with comparable talent and experience. Does anyone seriously believe 06 Michigan, a very talented offense, puts 39 points on the board without three turnovers and use of the prevent defense?

You may ask how in the world are we better this year on offense? .

You bet your ass 'cause we're not... not anywhere near last year offensively.

I sat next to BB73 at the Purdue game and he kept pointing out how often Purdue put one-on-one coverage on Robiskie. It turned out to be almost every play and he could not get separation on any long route. Had this been Troy and Ginn, or perhaps Boeckman and Ginn, the game would have been a forty point blow out by half time.

In fact, it made me reassess the NC game. With Teddy out, Florida no longer needed to use a corner and a safety to keep Teddy from going wild. It will be a long time before we see that kind of speed at WR again.

Brian Robiskie is a better receiver than Ted Ginn... period. Ginn was faster... period. I predict by the time we play Wisconsin Ray Small will give us about 90% of what we lost from Ginn. Likewise I think Brian Hartline has nearly filled Gonzales' role... I like the Robiskie, Small, Hartline connection just as much and feel the entire wide receiver group will be better than last year's... as will the running backs.

I think we all like every Buckeye except MoC, but this is just too big a stretch. The Buckeye's lost a ton of speed at the position and there's just no replacement for speed. I repeat my observation on Robiskie at the Purdue game, they kept him covered with one man. If that had been Ginn... game, point, match.

Chris Wells' ankle problem may be a blessing in disguise.

If Sain were available, but he's not and I don't think Mo Wells can carry the load by himself. We're in big trouble here. Makes me appreciate what Mike Hart brings to the table.

I make all these predictions about this year's offense overtaking last year's by the time we play Wisconsin because this unit has yet to be hit in the mouth.

Well, yeah, but short of hanging a bunch on Northwestern and enough to win against Washington, they haven't shown much. Give the 06 offense this year's schedule and ask yourself where they'd be.

Either way we're going to see a healthy dose of Brandon Saine... .

Clearly you did not watch the Purdue game. Brandon is hurt. I mean seriously hurt. He isn't sure of that knee. He was a mere shadow of the person who played against Northwestern.

The biggest part of the question mark is Todd Boeckman.

I disagree. Todd is not Troy, but he handles the job very well. He stands in the pocket and takes hits and bounces right back. He has the arm for long routes and those long across the field throws that make you nervous. He's good at clock management and he's a load to bring down.

I like this team. I love this defense. I see no reason why the Buckeyes can't win the Big 10 championship. With a healthy Beanie Wells the offense is, at worst, on a par with any other team in the conference. The defense is the class of the conference. If the breaks even out and if Sain and Wells can get healthy they can run the table.

[Carmen Ohio]

Originally Posted by cincibuck

If Sain were available, but he's not and I don't think Mo Wells can carry the load by himself. We're in big trouble here. Makes me appreciate what Mike Hart brings to the table.

Clearly you did not watch the Purdue game. Brandon is hurt. I mean seriously hurt. He isn't sure of that knee. He was a mere shadow of the person who played against Northwestern.

If the breaks even out and if Sain and Wells can get healthy they can run the table.

You obviously have the right to your opinion but at least get your facts straight. Brandon's injury was not that serious... he played in the game that I've watched 5 times now. Jim Tressel has said he'll play even more in the Kent State game. I've followed Brandon since his days at Piqua... he spells his name with an "e". It's Saine.

[martinss01]

Originally Posted by Carmen Ohio

Coach Tressel has already said the best people available will play and even took Boom Herron on the Minnesota trip - maybe even Purdue. With Beanie's ankle problems I predict that in that sometime in the heat of battle in our last 5 games we're going to unleash Herron.

How good is beanie + wells light + saine + herron

last i checked coach tressel wanted to play herron earlier in the season and was promptly overruled by coach tressel. herron is going to be redshirted, they won't play him unless there are injury problems.

Originally Posted by Bestbuck36

Two things regarding these comparisons:
1. Why does everyone keep saying Hartline is better than Gonzalez when comparing 2006 vs. 2007? How quickly we forget I guess. Iowa ring any bells? Every year against Michigan ring any bells?

hartline reminds me a whole lot of gonzo only more physical. his route running probably isn't to gonzo's level just yet. but he seems to flow to the right spot as the qb buys time just like gonzo did and he is much better in the open field. hartline is bigger, stronger, and seems to be just as fast football speed wise. not that it really belongs in the wr debate, but he is a much better return man as well. though i do conceed there is plenty of room for debate.

Robiskie is better than he was last year but Ginn, Gonzalez and Robiskie are by far the better group. No way to cover em all. This season when teams start to double Robo we're going to see the difference.

i don't think so. ginn nor gonzo were able to catch the jump ball nor did either of them really attack the football. gonzo was good at pulling down high balls. but i never saw either dive for a reception ala glenn. i wouldn't say the brian twins are at glenns level. but they are ahead of ginn and gonzo in that aspect. small is not as fast as ginn. but when he caught that pass against purdon't for the td... did anyone get a flashback of another #4 against a team from texas? when i look at this group where they really impress me over last year is they are bigger, stronger, more physical, and seem to want it a lot more. if ts was our qb this year i think your opinion of this years wr's would be different. don't write them off due to a lack of oportunity.

2. The offense this season is hanging with last seasons to this point due specifically to the continuing progression of the Offensive Line. There were times last year when the line didnt actually shine. The same could be said for the beginning of this season. Lately though the line is giving Boeckman worlds of time and the holes are there every play waiting for the RB's to hit them.

i would say it has more to do with the defense honestly. people have pointed to the average points being similar. well, id say a lot of that is because this team is averaging 50% 3 and outs on d. that adds up to not only a lot more opportunities, but also a lot more short field opportunities as well.

Its fair to compare the teams because both were undefeated after 6 games, but if we show up in Glendale last seasons team could go down as one of our best ever. Does this team strike everyone as that calibur?

this years team strikes me as being a polar opposite to last year. last year we had a juggernaut offense and an average at best d. this year is the exact opposite. for this years team to reach "best ever" status, it really rests on boeckman's shoulders. he will really have to play above himself to push this offense into any "best ever" categories. but then, i don't think thats necissary for us to win a nc so... *shrug*

Originally Posted by cincibuck

I repeat my observation on Robiskie at the Purdue game, they kept him covered with one man. If that had been Ginn... game, point, match.

i think our impressions of the situaiton differ slightly. if the qb had been ts it would have been game set match. while noone on the team has ginn type speed and that certainly affects a d. hartline and robo consistently had 1 to 2 steps on their defenders. the jump balls were lost not because of great coverage but because of underthrown balls. sounds like tressel told boeckman to throw them that way. but if boeckman leads them those are 3 tds. and if robo starts putting up 2 or 3 long pass td's per game he's gonna start pulling double coverage by anyone that doesn't have a true lock down corner. just like ginn did.

only difference i see between ginn and robo is that ginn could flat out outrun a top cb. robo has yet to prove he has that ability.

[cincibuck]

Originally Posted by Carmen Ohio

You obviously have the right to your opinion but at least get your facts straight. Brandon's injury was not that serious... he played in the game that I've watched 5 times now. Jim Tressel has said he'll play even more in the Kent State game. I've followed Brandon since his days at Piqua... he spells his name with an "e". It's Saine.

I guess we'll agree to disagree on what we saw. I was at both games and watched both from the DVR several times. I sure hope you're right. But IMO Saine was no where near ready for prime time on October 6.

[Carmen Ohio]

Originally Posted by martinss01

last i checked coach tressel wanted to play herron earlier in the season and was promptly overruled by coach tressel. herron is going to be redshirted, they won't play him unless there are injury problems.

Coach Tressel has since taken the stance that we need the best players available. He's not burning Herron's redshirt in garbage time, but he made it clear that if we need him in a tough game, he'll play him. This is obviously, as I pointed out in my post, predicated by the injury situation and what we need to win the game. These are quotes from Dick Tressel in "The Ozone" just before the Minnesota game.

[Carmen Ohio]

Originally Posted by cincibuck

I guess we'll agree to disagree on what we saw. I was at both games and watched both from the DVR several times. I sure hope you're right. But IMO Saine was no where near ready for prime time on October 6.

"The Ozone" has quotes from Tressel on Saine's condition.

[lvbuckeye]

if Robo doesn't draw double coverage, then why were there two defenders on him on both interceptions? it may not be "true" double coverage, but the free safety was rolling Robo's way in zone.