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Will This Year's Team Play Tresselball?

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Good Point

Tresselball (n): Winning a football game because you have Jim Tressel as your head coach, and the other team doesn't.[/quote]

Good Point. That being said. What part of the Tressel scheme do you think they'll struggle with the most? Some people have mentioned TS did fumble a lot. Sometimes he made some bad decisions.

Personally, TS made a lot of great decisions last year and really made so many incredible plays that a few bad ones don't deter my faith in him one bit.

In fact, didn't Smith grade out a winning performance in atleast two games last year? I'll be he gets 4 or more this year. That would probably be close to a record for a JT team.
 
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Oh8ch said:
I really liked Heacock's comments from last week. Said they were watching the players on D to see who could make plays. From that they would figure out what kind of Defensive schemes they were going to put in place this season.
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This is the reason Coach Heacock is one of the best coordinators in the country. Hopefully he sticks around a little longer than our previous two standout DC's.:biggrin:
 
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With the depth we have at TB, the big uglies on the line, and an experienced bunch of playmaking posession receivers, I can't think of a better clock management offense that we've ever had here during Tressel's reign. As far as I'm concerned though, this offense will go only as far as Troy will take them. If he struggles as far as turning the ball over (kinda like what he did last year or worse), we're in trouble. If Troy can play Krenzel-like mistake-free football, we're hoisting the Big Ten championship trophy again... and maybe a more fragile one along with it.

As far as a "dominant defense" goes, I'm anxious to see what shakes out here this spring. Lack of a distinct leader on D concerns me, but I've loved hearing how everyone is fighting so hard for positions. We have an experienced front 4 returning (plus an underrated 2-deep), early spring has shown we're 3 deep at linebacker even BEFORE Johnson/Gibson/Moeller get here (!), and I think the competition in the defensive backfield will bring some interesting results here come fall.

I'm not worried about special teams. Trapasso is solid, Pretorius will turn some heads this year, and Ginn is supposedly a "new and improved" version of himself this year. The fight for the other KR spot(s) should be interesting, though I think Gonzo's a shoe-in for the other PR spot this year.

I think we have the ingredients to play Tresselball, but there's a question mark over the D. We shall see, I guess...
 
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I think at times, possibly early in the season, we could possibly see JT line-up with two tight ends and pound the ball to keep our young defense off the field until they come together. With Pittman and Wells back there it could be an advantage for us to control the ball.
 
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When I think "Tresselball," I think of a kick-ass defense, a kick-ass special teams, and an offense that doesn't many mistakes. If Ginn can hold onto the ball better than he did against Michigan and against Michigan State on kicks, I think the special teams will be "good." Maybe not "kick-ass," (losing Huston will be big, I think) but they'll be at least "good." The defense will be pretty good, if most of the things I read on BP are correct. The new LB's and new DB's may be green-horns, but I think they'll be ok. Again, not "kick-ass," but better than most defenses in the country. Finally, an offense that doesnt make mistakes. This is led by a QB who makes good decisions. We all know that Smith runs when he needs to, scrambles to find the open receiver, and he doesn't throw many interceptions. How many INT's did he have last year? 4? 6? And with Pittman, Wells, Haw, and Wells, they'll have a good compliment to Smith to help control the game clock.

So, long story short: yes, this team will play Tresselball. Mr. Tressel, himself, will see to that.
 
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i think "tresselball" could be gone and if it is not, than it needs to be. there is so much on offense that the bucks can do. it will be hard to stop them this season if tressel opens it wide open and leaves it there.
 
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Buckeyes27 said:
i think "tresselball" could be gone and if it is not, than it needs to be. there is so much on offense that the bucks can do. it will be hard to stop them this season if tressel opens it wide open and leaves it there.
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Thing is this.

Tresselball won in 2002. Won big time. But I think many totally misunderstood what he and it is all about. I think of it as a square. One side is labeled "Make No Mistakes," another is labeled "Play Strong Defense" a third could be labeled "Play to The Opponents Weakness" and the Fourth I think would be labeled "Play to Your Offensive Strengths."

Most grasped the crux of the make no mistakes philosophy. Some, I think and hope grasped the other side of the square - the obvious bit about playing Strong Defense. Playing to the Opponents Weakness was I think for some who derided "Tresselball" difficult to fathom in 2002 and 2003, impossible to see in 2004 after all the stars needed replaced in our Buckeye Heaven. What I think was almost impossible for his critics to see was the Fourth side, "Play to Your Offensive Strengths." Part of that was personnel on the various squads. That issue is no longer a problem. But in truth in the NC season he was really playing to those Offensive Strengths - steady leadership under Center, a studly running game and - if the TD didn't come, almost a guarantee of points from the drive off the foot of the kicker.

Last year, as Troy Smith came much more into his own I think you saw the added firepower he wanted to get out of his offensive squad.

If you think I'm just smoking something in writing all this, just consider that it really reflects his own stated goals for a balanced, productive and, relatively high scoring offense. And on the other side of the ball Defense with a stifling grip to stop the opponents game.

So yeah, I hope we do play Tresselball, the way the Head Coach of the Buckeyes has it written up on his own web-site. And, I hope the offense exceeds his goals each game, rather than falling short on occasion.
 
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Buckeyes27 said:
i think "tresselball" could be gone and if it is not, than it needs to be. there is so much on offense that the bucks can do. it will be hard to stop them this season if tressel opens it wide open and leaves it there.
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Tresselball is playing smart. In the past our D was lights out and our O was suspect (02 w/ hurt clarett, 03, early 04, early 05), so he rode the D. Tressel has proven he can open it up in bowl games as well as times where his D is letting him down (Minny).

many of the tresselball haters got done watching the Iowa game and rejoiced that Tressel finally got it. The iowa playcalling was fairly conservative, just executed quite well.

Tressel does enough to win, and also avoids losing games. He also understands the limitations of his team, and doesn't view his offense "as one of the best around if this, this and this happens" like many of us can do at times during the offseason.

I think he understands the personnel very well, and utilizes their strengths without exposing their weaknesses.

03 - Our RBs were not effective, but I do not think Krenzel would have done that well under a pass-happy offense either.
04 - Playcalling was not the main problem early in the year. Instead, it was the lack of blocking with meager skill position play.
05 - Once Smith got it together, similar playcalling started lighting up the scoreboard.
 
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sandgk, i agree with you. but i dont like the part when tOSU is up by 20 or more points and he shuts down the offense and makes the defense run the rest of the game. it seems like tressel is afaid of running up the score some times. i dont really like running up the score (unless it is on scUM) but there are times it needs to happen in my mind.

i love to see the bucks open the offense up the entire game and score lots of points.

i just dont want to see the offense shut down and sit on a lead. then when the defense gets tired and worn out the other teams starts to make a charge.
 
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No one loves a good old fashion ass whoppin more than I do.. I'm talking 84 - 0 kind of stuff.... But, I'll take a 12 - 0 record with a 1 point win over every team over 1 ass beating.

I don't get excited about flashy offense. I get excited about wins and shut down D, and Tress has shown he knows what it takes to get those. I don't care if OSU never has another blow out, so long as they keep on winning.

Offense puts butts in seats, Defense wins Championships.. it's cliche because it's true.
 
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Buckeyes27 said:
sandgk, i agree with you. but i dont like the part when tOSU is up by 20 or more points and he shuts down the offense and makes the defense run the rest of the game. it seems like tressel is afaid of running up the score some times. i dont really like running up the score (unless it is on scUM) but there are times it needs to happen in my mind.

i love to see the bucks open the offense up the entire game and score lots of points.

i just dont want to see the offense shut down and sit on a lead. then when the defense gets tired and worn out the other teams starts to make a charge.
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If you get a chance to watch the Marshall-East Carolina bowl game from a few years ago, when Leftwich was still there, take a look at that game. East Carolina was up 38-8 at the half. They didn't sit on their lead, threw two pick-6's in the third quarter, and lost the game. A classic example of why it's smart to run clock when you've got a good sized lead.
 
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BB73 said:
If you get a chance to watch the Marshall-East Carolina bowl game from a few years ago, when Leftwich was still there, take a look at that game. East Carolina was up 38-8 at the half. They didn't sit on their lead, threw two pick-6's in the third quarter, and lost the game. A classic example of why it's smart to run clock when you've got a good sized lead.
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The person who comes to my mind is Steve Spurrier. Does anyone actually like that guy? I'm not saying that Tressel should go out of his way to make other teams and other fans like him, but he shouldn't be doing anything intentional (like run up the score) to piss other people off.
 
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