O-Zone (Official Thread)

[crazybuckfan40]

I don't think some of the people complaining were around for the Bruce & Cooper eras. Their expectations stem from 2002, and not before. :(

To those fans who are versed in the history of the team even though they only recently (within the last 5 years) became dedicated fans, a national championship seems even rarer. We can hope for, but not always expect, that goal.

Yeah I know, I went threw the horrible and most dissapointing cooper years.

I also dno't understand how w can get mad at Tress for talking up his team. What do you want him to do say we suck. I don't think we lost either of the games b/c we were too over confident.

Some people are trying way to hard to fish for minnos, when all they need to do is just realize we lost two games to two very good teams. Give credit where credit is due. We all like to thing we are superior and we can beat the hell out of everyone we play, but it doesnt always happen like that.

 

[FKAGobucks877]

To those fans who are versed in the history of the team even though they only recently (within the last 5 years) became dedicated fans, a national championship seems even rarer. We can hope for, but not always expect, that goal.

True. But when Tressel says that his squad has a very good chance of playing for the NC this year, Buckeye Nation is bound to get excited...and that is the whole point of this article. Tressel has made some statements that he could have backed up on the field, but it didn't happen. I think the guy is a great coach, but telling us to expect fireworks, and then not delivering them is very, very bad around here. Personally, I think the much larger problem is that most Buckeye fans didn't need Tressel to tell us this offensive would/could be explosive...we can see that for ourselves. So why isn't it?

 

[crazybuckfan40]

that he could have backed up on the field

Well in both of the losses he put his team in a situation to win it, and I don't think that you can give me a rason why he as a coach speciffically lost hit.

 

[FKAGobucks877]

I can give you four reasons. Each one of them consists of HIS offense taking the field, having to move the ball LESS than 35 yards for a TD...and not ONCE did it happen.

We've had this argument before, and I haven't changed my mind. Players will make mistakes, it is bound to happen. The coaches job is to overcome those mistakes. All it takes is scoring on just one of those drives, and the game is won. Score on two of those drives, and the game is out of reach. To me, it makes more sense to WIN it than it does to put your team in a position where, if they do everything perfectly, and nobody makes any mistakes at all, then they should be in a position where they could win the game. How about you just punch it in the f'n endzone when the opportunity to do so slaps you in the face, and take the guarantee instead of the maybe?

 

[jwinslow]

he didn't necessarily lose the texas game. we didn't execute in key situations, FG try, Hamby, other breakdowns. His playcalling could have been better, but it wasn't awful. I think it is a glaring flaw that we didn't score any tds, but I think some of those were a lack of execution against a tough D.

in the penn state game, we threw 1 out of 14 times when in a non-spread formation. We even ran more out of the spread than we passed. Considering how little success we had doing that as the game wore on, that showed a lack of adjustment and a deficiency in coaching.

I think Smith was awful at distributing the ball, and had Barton stayed healthy we probably could have won that game in OT with the same playcalling. But some of the blame has to fall on JT.

I don't blame him in a "way to go and ruin our season JT, you better step it up or you are fired" kind of way, b/c I don't think that's fair when you don't have a second RB, a decent QB, a TE that can catch let alone someone to spell him, etc. I think those are signs that the playcalling needs to improve, and the development of our QBs, RBs, and line is severely lacking, and it's time to get better assistant coaches. If we had a great QB coach, RB coach and an average OL coach, Tresselball would work much better over the last few years. We haven't had a single QB under tressel that was a consistent passer. That's a major problem.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I can give you four reasons. Each one of them consists of HIS offense taking the field, having to move the ball LESS than 35 yards for a TD...and not ONCE did it happen.

We've had this argument before, and I haven't changed my mind. Players will make mistakes, it is bound to happen. The coaches job is to overcome those mistakes. All it takes is scoring on just one of those drives, and the game is won. Score on two of those drives, and the game is out of reach. To me, it makes more sense to WIN it than it does to put your team in a position where, if they do everything perfectly, and nobody makes any mistakes at all, then they should be in a position where they could win the game. How about you just punch it in the f'n endzone when the opportunity to do so slaps you in the face, and take the guarantee instead of the maybe?

I guess we have kind of been beating a dead horse.

But you can't honetly watch the game and say we didnt try to punch it in the endzone. Also we win that game if we stay conservative and don't throw the ball on second down on the drive when Huston missed his fg. If we are 5 yds. closer the fg is good and we win.

I guess damned if you damned if you don't.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Yeah I know, I went threw the horrible and most dissapointing cooper years.

I also dno't understand how w can get mad at Tress for talking up his team. What do you want him to do say we suck. I don't think we lost either of the games b/c we were too over confident.

Some people are trying way to hard to fish for minnos, when all they need to do is just realize we lost two games to two very good teams. Give credit where credit is due. We all like to thing we are superior and we can beat the hell out of everyone we play, but it doesnt always happen like that.

This isn't a case of overreacting to a couple of tough losses. Its 5 years of pent up frustration with an underperforming offense.

Different players, different schemes, plenty of NFL talent...the only consistents are terrible production and the same coaches.

I really wish people would stop trying to paint anyone who criticizes JT as an overzealous fan who just can't deal with a loss. I haven't seen anyone yet call for JT's job, I think we all appreciate all the great things he brings to OSU.

What myself and a lot of others are saying is replace some or all of the offensive coaching staff and if JT can't or won't see the need for this then perhaps there is a bigger problem than we thought at work here.

I for one absolutely refuse to accept that we can't be good at all 3 phases of the game and have a USC, Miami, Nebraska type of mini dynasty here at OSU.

If that's being unrealistic or expecting too much then I am guilty as hell.

 

[jwinslow]

I know what you mean, but I sure wish USC would play a defense once in a while. The only time that has happened in the last two years, they haven't looked that great VTech, Cal (and I seriously doubt they have a D that rivals many in the big ten in most years).

I think swapping out our offensive staff minus hazell would do wonders for our offense. It was the same guy calling the shots when Clarett was healthy, and we were blowing people out. I realize he's a special back, but the the guys up front resembled more of an OL back then.

 

[JCOSU86]

It was the same guy calling the shots when Clarett was healthy, and we were blowing people out.

I don't recall blowing many opponents out even with Clarett.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I don't recall blowing many opponents out even with Clarett.

In the first half of 2002 we shit hammerd a few teams who couldn't physically hold up to "MoC right and MoC left" about 40 times a game.

Texas Tech, WSU(score wasn't that bad but it was a beating), Kent State, SJSU, off the top of my head.

 

[jwinslow]

I don't recall blowing many opponents out even with Clarett.

most people don't, and that's part of the problem. Notice I said a healthy clarett. We outscored our opponents 266-104 in that span. Cinci did not involve clarett, and I think I remember NW involving a hurt Maurice (isn't that where he threw his temper tantrum cuz they wouldn't put him back in the game?).

<table border="2" bordercolor="#c80000" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="500"> <tbody><tr bgcolor="#ffffff"><td>Day</td> <td>Date</td> <td>Opponent</td> <td>Location</td> <td>TV</td><td width="100">Outcome/Time</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>Sat</td> <td>08/24/2002</td> <td>Texas Tech</td> <td>Columbus, OH</td> <td>ABC</td><td width="100">W, 45-21
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery | Gametracker</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <td>Sat</td> <td>09/07/2002</td> <td>Kent State (1)</td> <td>Columbus, OH</td> <td>ESPN Plus</td><td width="100">W, 51-17
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Gametracker</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>Sat</td> <td>09/14/2002</td> <td>Washington St. (2)</td> <td>Columbus, OH</td> <td>ABC</td><td width="100">W, 25-7
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Gametracker</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <td>Sat</td> <td>09/21/2002</td> <td>Cincinnati</td> <td>Cincinnati, OH</td> <td>ESPN</td><td width="100">W, 23-19
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Gametracker</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>Sat</td> <td>09/28/2002</td> <td>Indiana</td> <td>Columbus, OH</td> <td>ESPN Plus</td><td width="100">W, 45-17
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Gametracker</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <td>Sat</td> <td>10/05/2002</td> <td>Northwestern</td> <td>Evanston, IL</td> <td>ESPN 2</td><td width="100">W, 27-16
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery | Gametracker</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>Sat</td> <td>10/12/2002</td> <td>San Jose St. (3)</td> <td>Columbus, OH</td> <td>ESPN Plus</td><td width="100">W, 50-7
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery | Gametracker</td></tr></tbody> </table>

 

[BuckInKC]

"Pretty basic defense"

What drives me crazy is when Tressel says things like "Well Penn State had a pretty basic defense." How can you say that when the offense was that inept on the field??? If it was so basic, why couldn't the offense adjust to exploit it? Hell, I don't care about an "explosive offense", I just want a "Big Ten Middle-Of-The-Pack" offense at this point...

 

[FKAGobucks877]

he didn't necessarily lose the texas game. we didn't execute in key situations, FG try, Hamby, other breakdowns. His playcalling could have been better, but it wasn't awful. I think it is a glaring flaw that we didn't score any tds, but I think some of those were a lack of execution against a tough D.

He was definitely outcoached the Texas game. Here's what I think some of you are missing: if we consistently run a more efficient and proficient offense, then it would be a lot easier to do it when it is needed to win a game. Yes, there were player breakdowns, but that's my point - you need to keep those in mind and in your gameplan as a coach. This talented offense should be able to get five yards when they absolutely need it. But in the Texas game, even on that second down throw before Houston's miss, they couldn't do the job...because it was foreign to them. And even then, it just seems like Tressel plays his offense with a "don't lose" mentality, as opposed to a "let's kick ass and win" mentality.

I don't blame him in a "way to go and ruin our season JT, you better step it up or you are fired" kind of way, b/c I don't think that's fair when you don't have a second RB, a decent QB, a TE that can catch let alone someone to spell him, etc. I think those are signs that the playcalling needs to improve, and the development of our QBs, RBs, and line is severely lacking, and it's time to get better assistant coaches. If we had a great QB coach, RB coach and an average OL coach, Tresselball would work much better over the last few years. We haven't had a single QB under tressel that was a consistent passer. That's a major problem.

I don't blame him in that way either. I fully agree he needs to hire some coaches who can actually develop players and schemes. But I don't necessarily agree with the parts I bolded...because I honestly don't know. Aside from Hamby developing "the dropsies", how do we know what talent is being wasted, if any? I have no idea how good our second string TB is. Honestly, I should say third string TB, since Troy Smith actually carries the ball more than the RB's. I have no idea how good any of our QB's are. They haven't been on the field enough to tell. They haven't been consistent, I guess, but I don't blame them for that - they haven't had a chance to. And that comes back to coaching.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

What drives me crazy is when Tressel says things like "Well Penn State had a pretty basic defense." How can you say that when the offense was that inept on the field??? If it was so basic, why couldn't the offense adjust to exploit it? Hell, I don't care about an "explosive offense", I just want a "Big Ten Middle-Of-The-Pack" offense at this point...

It is the same things team say after they play us. we knew what they were going to do, but they are just good.

You don't have to be ultra creative to have a good offense or defense like some on here seem to think.

 

[craigblitz]

I don't know how to do it but I want to nominate Jaxbux post at the top of this page as a great post canidate!!!!!!