cincibuck
You kids stay off my lawn!
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.Carmen Ohio;952760; said: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..
And Spitler would start anywhere else. Penn State = Linebacker U my ass.Larry Grant and Marcus Freeman have joined Laurinaitis as bonified stars.
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.I'll go as far as to say that as a unit, I like this defensive line better..
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 bet your ass 'cause we're not... not anywhere near last year offensively.You may ask how in the world are we better this year on offense? .
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.
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.Chris Wells' ankle problem may be a blessing in disguise.
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.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.
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.Either way we're going to see a healthy dose of Brandon Saine... .
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.The biggest part of the question mark is Todd Boeckman.
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.
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