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Pros and Cons of Tressel-Ball

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SC"U"Mbuster

SC"U"Mbuster

Junior
Pros:

- We play to the level of our competition, which is great when we're playing good teams. We're always in the game, regardless of who we're playing. We can hang with any elite team in the country.
- Sound defense, outstanding special teams and field position is a great strategy for winning games.
- Trying not to make mistakes and capitalize on the other team's mistakes frequently results in wins.

Cons:

- We play to the level of our competition, which is terrible when we're playing bad teams. We let inferior teams hang around and hope for an upset when we should be putting them away. Any of the doormats in the country can hang with us.
- Not believing your offense can win games when the other 2 units are struggling, is a limiting belief that is frequently exploited by other teams.
- Playing "not to lose" football is a disaster when your team is trailing or losing the turnover battle, and eventually costs you games.

Thoughts?
 
Nice thoughts but one note this is not 100% Tressel ball!! Tressel ball includes a running game and it is based on a good defense, great special teams, and an offense that does not make mistakes and has the ability to control the clock with a sound running game.

This game a lot of blame needs to go to one of the staples of Tressel ball -- our defense.
 
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The problem w/ "Tresselball" as everyone is calling it, is that it only works when the D and the special teams are firing on all cylinders-AND the O doesn't make mistakes. Last night that didn't happen-we all saw the D, Nuge missed a (for him) easily makeable FG,etc. Also, Zwick threw the pick, had a fumble, and in general made himself a negative factor in the game for the 1st 3 quarters.
 
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Agree, Tresseball relies on

1) Superior ground game to eat clock and rest the defense. Score on the short field and no TO's.

2) Dominant defense that guarantees you 17-21 points will be enough to win and keeps teams pinned deep to set up the offense on a short field.

3) Lights out special teams. Swing the field position with punter and coverage teams, almost guaranteed scores on the short field with Nuge.

Now what have we seen this year

1) Better passing team than running team(to be kind) that is TO prone.

2) Defense that has problems vs the run and tackling.

3) Coverage teams have allowed a couple of long returns already but the rest is in place. Turano is not a difference maker at Punter.

2/3 of the Tresselball formula are not present in the 2004 Buckeyes. Like someone said in another thread, its gut check time in Columbus. The talent is there, the testicular fortitude and committment to winning are in serious doubt.
 
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GoBux20 said:
the problem is we are getting beat in the trenches on both sides of the ball. I have been real disappointed wih the play of the D line. I expected some struggles with the o-line.
Click to expand...
That is the most unexpected thing... you watch any other college game, and you see linemen blowing the other side off the ball... seems as if our lines are reacting to the other team, instead of trying to blow the guy ahead of them back 5 yards. We have some good talent on the o-line, but it seems that regardless of that fact every team's d-line lives in our backfield.

There is definately something not right with the line, and I just hope that it is not a coaching issue, else all the hopes I have that the freshman, and the incoming recruiting class will be able to step it up will go down the drain.

I just want to see us blowing the d-line back 3-5 yards on the off tackle... is that too much to ask for?
 
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When you play close to the vest every team thinks they have a shot at you ... and the little teams make it their "Super Bowl". This means you cant have a "down" week or you will get beat. In 2002 we could drop points on little teams, but since then we haven't been able to. Hmm what was different..... :(
 
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Tibbs: "You can't play TresselBall when you have one of the worst running attacks in OSU history. It would be like running the run and shoot with Steve Bellisari."

And BINGO was his name O. This is the most astute post I've read all day. Did we sleepwalk against NU? Yes. Did we deserve to lose? Yes. But, I've seen us sleepwalk through many NU games in the past and it still didn't matter. You know why? Because there was always a threat at RB that would run off big chunks of yards, take time off the clock, put us in 2nd and short, 3rd and short, run for a big gain and maybe a TD every so often, and wear down the other team.

Look at how TressellBall worked when we had a star back in '02. You cannot play this system without a star at that position and hope to go undefeated. I've said it for months.
 
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How are we defining Tresselball? There is nothing inherent in JTs philosophy of playing opportunistic, mistake free offense which says you play to the level of your competition.

Woody Hayes played it close to the vest and he blew people off the line and moved the ball. He destroyed weak teams and was rarely upset. (He also played in an era when Backes and Philmore would have gotten scholarships 93 and 94 and spent fours years on the taxi squad.)

I don't want to sound like I am dissing JT - I don't think there is any call for that. He is a great recruiter, great organizer, etc., etc. His philosophy is sound and wins a lot of game. But his management of the Offense - and it is clearly HIS offense - has been questioned by many from his first season. Blaming personnel doesn't wash. Can anyone name a single Offensive starter under JTs tenure who was not drafted into the NFL?

We put great teams on the field and win games. An upset loss at NU doesn't change that. But since JT has been here - with the exception of 2002 - we have had an average offense at best. (In 2001 and 2002 we were in the bottom half of the Big Ten in 3rd down conversions. Last season we were last in the Big Ten at 33%. We entered the NU game at 25% - ranked 112th in the country.)

If your wife is a great lay but a lousy cook, you can still love her - but you are going to talk to her about the crust on the gravy and the lumps in the coffee.

By all accounts our HC is the defacto OC and QB coach for a very ineffective Offense. JT is great lay, but his Offense is crusty.
 
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Pros and Cons of Tressel Ball

In our current system, more so than most other college programs, a stud RB is a must if Coach Tressel's gameday strategy is going to consistently work. The good news about that is we are 1 or 2 good RB recruits (Wells and Ringer perhaps?) away from that happening. The downside is that we're overly dependent on 1 offensive position, and in years where there's a lack of depth or talent at RB, we're going to lose some games we shouldn't lose.

The biggest problem we must overcome is the offensive play calling. The vast majority of D-1 schools do not have a stud O-line and game-breaking RB, but the good offensive systems always find ways to gain chunks of yardage and points one way or the other. They do it by keeping opposing defenses off balance with unpredictable play calling and creating mismatches. Having superior offensive personnel is a bonus, but very few schools have that luxury. We have the offensive talent to put up big points on the board, but we need an OC who's willing to scheme an aggressive offensive gameplan that isn't simply trying not to lose the game.

Bottom line: our stellar Defense is going to have some off nights, but those are the nights when the Offense should be able to step up and bail them out. The Defense has bailed out the Offense the vast majority of times the last few years, but we can't expect them to hold opponents under 21 pts/250 yds week in and week out. Even other strong defensive schools like Oklahoma have realized that and adapted their offenses.
 
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An effective running game would definitely make Tresselball more effective. That is amazing to think about considering Tresselball has won 28 out of the last 31 games with a poor running game in at least half of those games. When the running game comes back - WATCH OUT!!! There are some disadvantages like the first poster mentioned, but just watch how the Fun N' Gun teams like Florida lose to a couple teams they shouldn't on a yearly basis. Tresselball avoids those mishaps more often.
 
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Tressel-ball

Tressel ball is "managing" a win as opposed to trying to annihilate an opponent. At its best it's ball control offense and dominating defense. At its worst its to conservative and rarely can rally from a significant deficit late in a game.
 
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