2010 tOSU Special Teams Discussion

[Buckskin86]

Weak areas remain for special teams
Friday, September 3, 2010
By Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

For Ohio State, which spent a lot of time working on special-teams play after a lackluster performance at times in the Rose Bowl, the first quarter of last night's season-opening win over Marshall could best be described as the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good: The jarring hit that Dorian Bell and Dominic Clarke put on Marshall returner Andre Booker on the opening kickoff. The ball popped loose, Nate Oliver recovered at the Thundering Herd 22-yard line, and four plays later, the Buckeyes were up 7-0 on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Terrelle Pryor to DeVier Posey.

The bad: After the Buckeyes took a 14-0 lead, Booker took the ensuing kickoff back 63 yards before Clarke caught him at the OSU 29. However, the OSU defense forced a 41-yard field-goal try by Tyler Warner.

The ugly: Minutes later, an Ohio State drive stalled at the Marshall 36, and freshman Drew Basil lined up for a 53-yard field-goal try. The low kick was blocked by Johnny Jones rushing up the middle, and Ahmed Shakoor grabbed the ball and raced untouched to the end zone. That cut the OSU lead to 14-7 at 2:21 of the first quarter.

The gaffes weighed on coach Jim Tressel's mind, especially with the University of Miami visiting Sept.11.

On the blocked field goal, Jones worked through a gap, and the kick might have been a little low, "but we just flat-out didn't protect," Tressel said. "So that better get fixed in one week."

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...k-areas-remain-for-special-teams.html?sid=101

 

[BuckBackHome]

Who is the Special Teams Coach?

 

[korchiki]

Who is the Special Teams Coach?

JT I believe

 

[Mac]

Very different from other OSU special teams (even the young ones), I fully expect to never see that kind of display from special teams again especially this year. Barclay looked comfortable, and the opening kickoff was great. Just need to fix some things.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

JT I believe

fire him!

 

[gracelhink]

Notebook: Weak areas remain for special teams | BuckeyeXtra

On the blocked field goal, Jones worked through a gap, and the kick might have been a little low, "but we just flat-out didn't protect," Tressel said. "So that better get fixed in one week."

Two observations: On the opening kickoff, the strip of the returner was a real momentum builder, but the hero of that situation was #20 Nate Oliver who dove between 3 Marshall players to secure the loose ball. He just seemed to want it more!
On the blocked field goal, the kick block came right over the snapper.

http://www.bigtennetwork.com/generic/sports/video Check out at about 1:15.

McQuaid was shown on the sidelines by BTN broadcast at the shoe, kinda thought they were IDing him as the "culprit, weak link" for the penetration.
Maybe I am off base on this but, I thought there was a rule/penalty in NCAA that punt and FG rushers were forbidden from hitting the snapper?

 

[BB73]

Two observations: On the opening kickoff, the strip of the returner was a real momentum builder, but the hero of that situation was #20 Nate Oliver who dove between 3 Marshall players to secure the loose ball. He just seemed to want it more!
On the blocked field goal, the kick block came right over the snapper.

Big Ten Highlghts, Big Ten Interviews, Big Ten Features, Big Ten Video - Big Ten Network Check out at about 1:15.

McQuaid was shown on the sidelines by BTN broadcast at the shoe, kinda thought they were IDing him as the "culprit, weak link" for the penetration.
Maybe I am off base on this but, I thought there was a rule/penalty in NCAA that punt and FG rushers were forbidden from hitting the snapper?

The long snapper on a punt/kick can't be hit until 1 second after the snap - it was called on tOSU in The Game in '06.

I thought about the rule when I saw the replay on the blocked FG, it looked close.

 

[billmac91]

The long snapper on a punt/kick can't be hit until 1 second after the snap - it was called on tOSU in The Game in '06.

I thought about the rule when I saw the replay on the blocked FG, it looked close.

I thought you could attack a gap though? I thought the rule was jumping or attacking the center of the snapper. In the Michigan game, I thought the penalty was for charging the center. But I thought you could penetrate the gap.

For a punt/kick defense, if you were allowed to knock the center over by charging him, you could have a "follower" once the snapper is bowled over to attempt to block the kick. But I think snappers are still responsible for the snap and then gap penetration....I could be way off base though.

 

[BB73]

I thought you could attack a gap though? I thought the rule was jumping or attacking the center of the snapper. In the Michigan game, I thought the penalty was for charging the center. But I thought you could penetrate the gap.

For a punt/kick defense, if you were allowed to knock the center over by charging him, you could have a "follower" once the snapper is bowled over to attempt to block the kick. But I think snappers are still responsible for the snap and then gap penetration....I could be way off base though.

As I understand it, a guy can try to shoot the gap, but if he hits the snapper in the first second it's a penalty. Unless he bounces off the guy next to the center and then hits the center still within the 1 second period - that's not a penalty since the initial contact was legal.

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

I believe that was Spitler, if my memory serves me right.

 

[gracelhink]

As I understand it, a guy can try to shoot the gap, but if he hits the snapper in the first second it's a penalty. Unless he bounces off the guy next to the center and then hits the center still within the 1 second period - that's not a penalty since the initial contact was legal.

In the video, it looks as if the rush hits the snapper clearly before the old one one thousand.
He also may have touched, but does not "bounce off" Boren.

 

[BuckBackHome]

fire him!

I see no other choice.

 

[Buckskin86]

OSU NOTES: Special teams not so special for OSU
Published: Sunday, September 12, 2010
By JOHN KAMPF
Journal Register News Service

COLUMBUS ? There wasn?t much special about the Ohio State special teams again on Saturday.

It?s becoming an all-too-common theme in Columbus.

After being ravaged by Oregon in the Rose Bowl on special teams, the Buckeyes gave up a blocked field goal for a touchdown last week against Marshall. Then on Saturday, Miami returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in Ohio Stadium.

The Buckeyes have given up four touchdowns this year. Three have been via special teams.

When told it was the first time in OSU history a team returned a punt and a kick for scores in the same game, OSU coach Jim Tressel creased his lips and said sarcastically, ?I?ll put that in my memoirs. I?m glad you brought it up.?

The Hurricanes returned four kicks for 125 yards (31 yard average) and a touchdown and returned one punt for 79 yards and a score.

?What do want me to do? They ran them,? Tressel said. ?Am I concerned? Of Course. Can you win typically if that happens? No. But the good news is our guys didn?t fold and they know we?ve got to get better at that.?

Senior Chimdi Chekwa, who intercepted two passes Saturday, promised better next week against visiting Ohio.

?Next week and the week after,? he said, ?expect a better performance from the special teams.?

http://morningjournal.com/articles/2010/09/12/sports/doc4c8c5bf242b64059243669.txt

 

[WyoBuckeye]

Until recently, great play on special teams was a hallmark of Ohio State football under Jim Tressel. Why is the team struggling all of sudden? Besides the players, what has changed since the days of dominant Ohio State special teams? I really don't think it's the players themselves. We have horses out there to be sure. Miami is a very fast team, so you can chalk some of it up to that. But some of those running lanes on kicks were humongous last night. You just knew it was going to be a TD both times it happened.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Special teams have cost Ohio State 27 points this season - blocked field goal, kick return, punt return for TD's, and 2 missed field goals. That would be a lot for an entire season.

By contrast, in 2002, in 14 games, special teams cost the Buckeyes only 10 points - 1 missed XP, 3 missed FG.