How will the Bucks beat mich?

[cablebuck]

This is the question I've been asking myself since the end of the Purdue game. The only logical conclusion I can come up with is that OSU will win if they 1. win the turnover battle, 2. keep the score low like 12-10, 3. score on special teams, 4. play better pass defense.

There are a few things I'm really worried about.

1. The defensive play calling. For instance- OSU ties the game vs. Purdue 17-17 with about 4 minutes left. The game is tied and OSU goes into PREVENT defense!!!!!!! The DB's play 15 yards off the ball the entire drive and the result- Orton goes 6-6 for about 80 yards and throws the game winning TD. Why in the name of all things sacred does OSU ALWAYS play that sorry freaking zone defense. Opposing teams chew up huge chunks of yardage and the defense is left with their backs against the wall in the red zone. If they play this defense vs. mich they'll get killed by 30 points. They might want to consider putting TG2 on Edwards to keep him from having a 15 catch-200 yard day.

2. Troy Smith won't throw the ball. His move is to take a drop, look for 1-2 seconds, then tuck it and run. He is afraid of throwing the INT, so he chucks it out of bounds or tries to run. The bad thing is that he's not getting all that much out of the run. And considering he threw 2 INTs vs. Purdue he's gonna be even more reluctant to throw it vs. Mich. How will OSU be able to move the ball? He did make a great throw to Holmes, but opportunities like that one were out there all day.

2. Ginn- he didn't play very well vs. Purdue. Two drops and one resulted in an INT. He lined up in the backfield most of the day vs. Purdue and mostly only ran routes into the flat to get a swing pass- only 1 was thrown to him. He had 7 touches , but he needs more. How do they get him the ball? Everyone will be keying on him and Purdue did a good job of it. Michigan won't punt to him. Purdue was happy with punting it 25 yards straight up in the air, instead of letting him get his hands on it (only 1 return). Purdue knew that even if they gave up field position, OSU wouldn't be able to move it far anyway. Ted Ginn Jr. was the scoring punch OSU needed for 3 games in a row. Now I don't know how OSU will be able to utilize him more. I thought that having him in their as a threat would open things up for the running and passing game, but I was wrong.
He had 2 carries for 47 yards. If he isn't utilized more vs. mich OSU won't have a chance of seeing the end zone.

I am the model of optimism about 99.9 % of the time, but I don't think I ever been more concerned about an OSU-mich game than this one.
I hope the Buckeyes find a way to prove me wrong.

[MaximumSam]

We need a big play on offense, a big play on special teams, and to force a couple turnovers. We also need to slow down Hart and force Henne to pass.

[BuckeyeRob]

In order for the buckeyes to beat <st1:state><st1 ="">Michigan</st1></st1:state> a couple of things have to happen. First, the play makers on the team have to step up and play great. Woody always said that in order to beat that team up north the best players have to have there best game. That means that the seniors have to play like seniors and guys like Hawk and Holmes have to play lights out.<o =""></o>
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Second, <st1:state><st1 ="">Michigan</st1></st1:state> has to do what it has done all season, start slowly. In its last 4 games <st1:state><st1 ="">Michigan</st1></st1:state> has gone in at the half down to its opponent. <st1:state><st1 ="">Michigan</st1></st1:state>’s vaunted defense has been shredded in the last 2 games allowing 7 yards shy of 1,000 yards total offense.<o =""></o><o =""></o>

The offensive play calling is going to have to be wide open. The one thing we didn’t do nearly enough of was throw deep last week. We have to stretch and challenge the <st1:state><st1 ="">lace>Michigan</st1></st1:state> secondary. Pittman has to play big as well.<o =""></o><o =""></o>

The defense has to eliminate the cheap touchdown out of the <st1:state><st1 ="">Michigan</st1></st1:state> attack. <o =""></o><o =""></o>

Finally, the special teams has to come up big. A punt return or kick off return… maybe a blocked punt….


Edit: Had to fix that ugly post. JC<o =""></o>

[kippy1040]

The game plan has to be perfect and execution is going to have to 100% error free. This kid Henne has a gun of an arm and with Braylon Edwards
coming back into the "shoe" for his final appearance, well you just know
he has something to prove. I think we can contain thier running game but since our secondary is so banged up with injuries, its gonna be tought to come up with a victory. The season all comes down to this one last game.
It would be just great and fitting if we could ruin thier chance for an outright bid for another BIG10 title. Lets give them alittle taste of what they did to us back in the 90's.

[BuckeyeRob]

Originally Posted by cablebuck

1. The defensive play calling. For instance- OSU ties the game vs. Purdue 17-17 with about 4 minutes left. The game is tied and OSU goes into PREVENT defense!!!!!!! The DB's play 15 yards off the ball the entire drive and the result- Orton goes 6-6 for about 80 yards and throws the game winning TD. Why in the name of all things sacred does OSU ALWAYS play that sorry freaking zone defense. Opposing teams chew up huge chunks of yardage and the defense is left with their backs against the wall in the red zone. If they play this defense vs. mich they'll get killed by 30 points. They might want to consider putting TG2 on Edwards to keep him from having a 15 catch-200 yard day.

If EJ Underwood executes his assignment, Orton gets clobbered. Instead for reasons unknown, EJ never even bothered fulfilling his job assignment. Orton hits a wide open TE for a touchdown. EJ pastes him there who knows, maybe you get a turn over.... but the point is you dont give up the 6.

[osugrad21]

Rob what in the world is up with your posts today?

Anybody else having problems with them?

Scrambled to hell for me

Edit: Much better

[MililaniBuckeye]

I don't know why you got dinged so much on this post...I don't find it whiney or over-negative, but rather brings out some points I actually was going to:

Point 1: You are absolutely correct. Once we started jamming the receivers at the line in the second half, we totally shut them down. The once we back off the line like we did in the first half, they magically dink and dunk the ball down the field for the winning TD. You can;t get any more illustrative then that.

Point 2: Partially right. Although he has improved in waiting to find the open receiver, I'll agree he still gets happy feet a little early sometimes. However, you can't fault him for chucking the ball out of bounds when needed, ala Krenzel. And keep in mind both INTs resulted from deflections off our receivers' hands. You can't blame him for that. I think the staff is limiting him from throwing down field often. He did throw a few long balls off target and also failed to see Ginn on the fly against a LB, but by and large did OK.

Point 3: Everyone has a bad game. Everyone was focused on him, and he's a true freshman finally playing full-time. I think the staff failed to use his talents correctly at Purdue. Putting him back 3-4 yards behind the LOS and catching passes that are essentially long laterals gives the defnse too much time to react while Ginn is standing still waiting for the ball. Get the ball to him while he's in full stride on a route out past, not behind, the LOS. As for teams now punting away from him, there's not much you can do about that except for take advantage of the improved field position given to you.

Originally Posted by BuckeyeRob

If EJ Underwood executes his assignment, Orton gets clobbered. Instead for reasons unknown, EJ never even bothered fulfilling his job assignment. Orton hits a wide open TE for a touchdown. EJ pastes him there who knows, maybe you get a turn over.... but the point is you dont give up the 6.

Not to mention his dropping the sure TD interception in the first half...that ended up being a 14-point swing. If he makes that INT and scores, we have Purdue on the canvas. Underwood made three major [censored]-ups which cost us TDs that day.

[bukIpower]

first off theres no way in hell that we'll see Ginn on defense???? he'd get his ass kicked against Braylon at this point. 2nd off we have to remember Ginn is a freshman we just can't give him the ball and say make a mircale happen. Although sometimes he does we just can't count on him 100% of the time. What we need to do when they key on Ginn is go to holmes like we did once or twice in the Purdue game. Make them cover both sides of the field..... I'm very optimistic about this game, and I'm positive they'll be fired up for it.


About the Defense we just don't need to slow hart down we need to SHUT HIM DOWN. If we're going to take either passing or running away do it completly and not give them anything on either ground or air. Most likely it'll have to be through the air is where they'll go in this game. Also the defensive line is the key in this game. If they get blown off the ball we lose, and well if they don't I think we have a great shot.I hope Fox plays because he's very important. Salley should be full go this week as well so its not look'n as bad as last week as far as the secondary goes.

Don't feel nervous about this one its in the Shoe, and even if we do lose its not like we havent lost this year before. Althought a Michigan loss would make this season a complete failure.

[cablebuck]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeRob

If EJ Underwood executes his assignment, Orton gets clobbered. Instead for reasons unknown, EJ never even bothered fulfilling his job assignment. Orton hits a wide open TE for a touchdown. EJ pastes him there who knows, maybe you get a turn over.... but the point is you dont give up the 6.

E.J. screwed up a couple of times on Saturday. BUT....... Purdue should've never made it that far down the field. Giving them easy dink and dunk passes all the way down to the 10 or 15 is inexcusable!

[bukIpower]

Ej started off so well, and after a few big plays he hasn't been able to put it behind him. Remember first thing you need to have is a short memory. He'll learn that with time I hope?

[GoofyBuckeye]

how will OSU beat UM?



very carefully

[JCOSU86]

Score more points?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by bukIpower

Ej started off so well, and after a few big plays he hasn't been able to put it behind him. Remember first thing you need to have is a short memory. He'll learn that with time I hope?

Time is running out on EJ, hips be damned. Hopefully he has a big senior year. Someone needs to step up opposite Youboty.

We will need a touchdown on special teams or defense to win this week, IMO.

[sandgk]

The normal pre-requisites for The Game -- Play Inspired Buckeye Football.

On D-
Give us back a healthy Dustin Fox, Give us back a healthy Nate Salley and that'll shore up the secondary.
Play the Run-D as well as we did against Purdue (or better). LB Corp needs a big game -- those guys are solid.
Snyder -- let slip the dogs of war man -- do in both halfs in The Game to sCUM what we did to Purdue for the bulk of the Second Half. Be daring, blitz the QB, blitzz to stop the run. Give sCUM no time to find Edwards or lanes through which Hart et al can run.
Fraser & Kudla need huge (season best) games out of these guys.

On O --
Troy -- When you are in the red zone and the play isn't there don't give it up by trying too hard to find the play. Zero Turnovers in the RZ. TDs or FGs the only acceptable outome. Do your reads - if Ginn i doubled, someone else is free.
Ted -- Work on your receiving technique and remember you are a truly gifted athlete -- fastest man on the field at all times.
Mo Hall -- Make us proud of a back with the nickname Mo once again. Its your last game at The Shoe. I suspect JT will give you reps beyond the return game. You've got a reason to want to do well, go do it.
Holmes -- loved the circus catch against Purdue -- give us a couple more vs sCUM!
Pittman -- your chance to show there is more than one super-Freshman on this team.
Nuuge -- I want you to have only 10 points or fewer left to make to beat the scoring record. (Figure with luck you can still do it in the Bowl Game tOSU makes). Here is the trick though -- I only want to see 9 points in FG from you, all the rest from PAT's in The Game.

Special Teams -- Be Special. Great field position and at least one scoring return would help the cause. Punting, Turano's not the big boomer ala Tupa -- O can give him a chance by limiting punting. Actually I'd be happy if our punting was less than one time per half.

Crowd -- I don't want any silence any time sCUM has the ball. If sCUM does not have 5 false start penalties by the end of the game we are going to re-allocate your tickets using lottery system specifically designed to eliminate game-day hand-sitters.

[BuckeyeNation27]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

Rob what in the world is up with your posts today?

Anybody else having problems with them?

Scrambled to hell for me

Edit: Much better

ah quit your whinin