Savante
The Ruler's Back
Game Two: Marshall at Ohio State - PREGAME
Game One Thoughts:
Positive, Positive, Positive. I'd give the game an A-, with what happened. It was a VERY solid game, and just another in the series of strong openers by Ohio State. It seems like we are ALWAYS in midseason form in the first game, although it doesn't always stay that way. Hard to find a lot of negatives in it, but we'll try...
What I Watched:
5. Increased Substitution
There's no way this WASN'T a factor on Saturday. Call me a psychic, but yeah, this was AWESOME. Look at QB -- Zwick got a chance for a breather. We had 3 RB's play. WR, Holmes played most downs, but Hall, Childress and Ginn took the heat off of him. Mangold, Datish and Sims played most of he game at OL, but Schafer and Barton switched, and Downing wasn't in the whole time, either. DL was especially -- Fraser shifted all around the line, playing over both tackles and even DT! We saw David Patterson, Brandon Maupin, Jay Richardson and Joel Penton all get significant time. At LB, Schlegal and Thomas Matthews helped keep the starters fresh. Although EJ Underwood and Dustin Fox played most of the game (if not all) at CB, we saw Youbouty come on strong in relief. Talk about depth! Definitely was a factor, as both the UC offense and defense started to wear down in the third, which benefitted us greatly.
What I Saw - Positive
4. Improved Special Teams Play
I was mainly focusing in on the return team, and I was really pleased. With Holmes back on punts, Cincy really knew that they couldn't afford to let him have the ball in the open field. In fact, more than a few of their kicks went short because it appeared they didn't want to outkick their coverage and let him get a return. That's awesome. It shows that Holmes will, indeed, be a force to be reckoned with back there. In fact, I'd prefer a 30 yard punt and fair catch over a 50-yard one with a 20-yard runback. Keep Holmes safe. As far as kickoff returns, Maurice Hall is certainly the man. Talk about explosive -- he looked fantastic, damn. And Ginn didn't even touch the ball on kickoff returns -- when he does, watch out.
What I Saw - Positive
3. Evolved Passing Attack
I asked for evolved, I got evolved AND improved, at least when Justin Zwick was in. I thought that it'd be a bit too much to ask for it to be improved, but was it ever? All kinds of plays I wanted to see, we ran. We threw over the middle -- and not just to big guys like Roy Hall, to Bam Childress, too. We threw deep, we threw short... we threw to the tight end, we threw to every receiver! Talk about spread. I'm VERY pleased with this. It wasn't perfect, no, and it was a USC performance, but damn, once it got going, the run opened up, and that's what I wanted.
What I Saw - SUPREMELY Positive
2. Improved OL Play
Overall, it was okay. Better, yes, but still not great. I saw some nice things, like Tim Schafer really surprising. I saw some great blocking from Stan White (how 'bout taking out TWO defenders to spring Ross?), and I saw a much improved pass blocking attack. Pass blocking was positive, run blocking still had some issues. There wasn't a play where I could single out that hole was THERE. Ross was running through holes, but they weren't as big as they could be. I expect this to improve as time goes on and chemistry gets better.
What I Saw - A Bit Better
1. Our Defensive Backfield
Two pass plays of 20 yards or more. Two! That's it! We shut a very scary senior quarterback down, some through our pass rush, but mostly through our DBs. The coverage from Fox, Underwood and Youbouty was IMPECCABLE. They were always around the ball, breaking passes up and stopping guys from getting big gains. Very, very, very solid coverage from our guys. Much, much tighter than in most years.
I'd like to see more turnovers and better tackling from Nate Salley (he can hit, but he's not consistent), but overall, I was pleased.
What I Saw - MUCH Improved
Players to Watch:
5. Ted Ginn, Jr.
Ginn played fine. He caught a ball he shouldn't have and tried to make a play that he couldn't, but other than that, there wasn't much he could do. He made a great play on a poorly thrown ball, but the veteran defenders on Cincinnati forced him out. Not much to be ashamed of. Not quite Mo C's debut, but his presence was ALWAYS noticed by UC, which is important. Watch for a big kickoff return against the weak ST of Marshall.
4. Quinn Pitcock
Great game from Quinn -- he was always around the ball and made a ton of great stops. Performed solid as expected. Against the Marshall D, I expect a sack or two and a few stops in the backfield from this young man.
3. Roy Hall
I wasn't too impressed with this guy. A few times, I noticed him blow a block downfield, which is something he should NEVER do. EVER. He's a big boy with a lot of speed, and I'd like to see him block better. In addition, a few times I saw him cut corners on his routes, failing to beat his man. In fact, one of his incomplete passes was a result of him circling a corner instead of making a nice cut and maybe gaining an inch of a step. He needs to learn that good routes MAKE wide receivers. He should be fine, just needs more discipline.
It appears in a two receiver set we're much stronger in there with Holmes and Childress, and if we need a big possession receiver, John Hollins. Still, I'll give Roy some time, as he's young and very talented. I hope to see an improved game from him this week.
2. Mike Kudla & Jay Richardson
Impressed (by far) more with Richardson. Kudla looks VERY solid and the type of guy you want on your team.. unless you have a guy like Richardson. Talk about a monster. The first drive, he almost had a sack, and was in on two tackles, and he sat much too much. The problem with this year's DL is who to sit, and who to play? David Patterson deserves a chance to start, but so do Marcus Green and Quinn Pitcock. It's hard to sit Kudla or Simon Fraser to let Richardson play. What about Joel Penton, Vernon Gholston and Brandon Maupin? And we're getting Todd Denlinger, Ryan Williams and maybe Doug Worthington? Sigh. What a great problem to have.
1. Lydell Ross
This is what I wanted, baby. Although 68 of Lydell's 140 yards came on one play, overall he looked solid and even awesome at times. He's going to have a fine senior season if he can hit the holes just a split second quicker, and with Tony Pittman nipping at his heels.. let's just say I expect the best. Good for Lydell.. keep up the good work, man.
Progress on battles to watch:
5. Tyler Everett vs. Donte Whitner, Strong Safety
Color me wrong. I had Everett pegged to be a lame duck starter, and Whitner the impressive one, but damn, any time Tyler was in there, he provided good pass defense and very good run defense. Whitner was fine covering the run, but he looked shaky vs. the pass, biting on a double move and giving up one of the 20 yard gains. He still was solid overall, but his coverage looked a bit more like former OSU safeties that were primarily run stoppers than I had hoped. I saw a little bit of Doss in the way he played, though, which is a great thing.. I'd just like to see him perform better vs. the pass, definitely.
Advantage: Everett
4. Tony Pittman vs. Erik Haw, Freshman Running Back
Personally, I still like Haw better. He's bigger, faster, and supposedly has a better knack for getting yards. But Pittman impressed me, and he impressed everyone in the stadium. He looks like a big time back, and has the burst and speed we've been missing since number 13 left. Great day for Pittman. I think we'll see Haw counter that with one of his own tomorrow.
Advantage: Pittman
3. EJ Underwood vs. Chris Gamble, Dustin Fox's Sidekick
I love Chris Gamble. Great 2002, one of my top 5 favorite Buckeyes ever.. but he's not EJ Underwood. Not even close. Gamble's shown a great ability to lock down an opponents number one receiver.. some of the time. Underwood, so far, has been tighter in coverage and much more technically proficient. He doesn't bite on double moves or pump fakes. Guys caught passes on him, but they either played it perfectly, or the pass was perfect.. he never got burned. In addition, EJ . Early, Cincinnati tried to pick on him instead of Fox and it didn't work, shutting their passing game down almost completely.
Advantage: Underwood
2. Mike D'Andrea vs. Anthony Schlegel, Middle Linebacker
I'd take D'Andrea slightly, but I have to admit I can only go on stats. I didn't get a good glimpse of either men or any of the linebackers.
Advantage: Incomplete
1. Justin Zwick vs. Troy Smith, Quarterback
I came in with doubts, I leave with none. Justin Zwick is our QB. He threw better than Smith did, by far, and overall, he looked more poised and in control. Troy Smith will be a good QB.. but he won't be Zwick. Zwick this week will keep it under control, play an even better game and keep shutting up the naysayers.
Advantage: Zwick
Prediction: I think we'll run all over Marshall. I'm sorry, they've shown they aren't prepared and don't have the talent we do. Their OL is their team weakness, our DL a strength, and we'll be in the backfield all day. I don't think the game will get too out of hand due to the assault on Redgie Arden, but I expect to see a physical, tough game with a few shots to Stan Hill that he'd prefer he doesn't take.
Ohio State 41, Marshall 21, with many of their points coming late.
Key Players:
Justin Zwick - 19 of 26 for 250 yards with 3 TDs, 1 INT
Troy Smith - 8 of 15 for 90 yards with 1 INT
Lydell Ross - 18 carries for 130 yards with 1 TD
Tony Pittman & Erik Haw Combined - 11 carries for 62 yards with 1 TD
Santonio Holmes - 6 catches for 112 yards, 1 TD
Bam Childress - 7 catches for 140 yards, 2 TDs
Ryan Hamby - 6 catches for 80 yards
Quinn Pitcock - 10 tackles, 2 sacks
Simon Fraser - 8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss (1 sack)
AJ Hawk - 11 tackles, 1 INT
Bobby Carpenter - 6 tackles, 2 sacks
EJ Underwood - 5 tackles, 1 INT
Dustin Fox - 7 tackles
Next Week: I'll begin to change some of the players I'm watching, some of the battles I'm paying attention to and shift to focus to things I've missed. One game is not really enough for me to know exactly what new I'm going to be watching for.
Thanks for reading.
Game One Thoughts:
Positive, Positive, Positive. I'd give the game an A-, with what happened. It was a VERY solid game, and just another in the series of strong openers by Ohio State. It seems like we are ALWAYS in midseason form in the first game, although it doesn't always stay that way. Hard to find a lot of negatives in it, but we'll try...
What I Watched:
5. Increased Substitution
There's no way this WASN'T a factor on Saturday. Call me a psychic, but yeah, this was AWESOME. Look at QB -- Zwick got a chance for a breather. We had 3 RB's play. WR, Holmes played most downs, but Hall, Childress and Ginn took the heat off of him. Mangold, Datish and Sims played most of he game at OL, but Schafer and Barton switched, and Downing wasn't in the whole time, either. DL was especially -- Fraser shifted all around the line, playing over both tackles and even DT! We saw David Patterson, Brandon Maupin, Jay Richardson and Joel Penton all get significant time. At LB, Schlegal and Thomas Matthews helped keep the starters fresh. Although EJ Underwood and Dustin Fox played most of the game (if not all) at CB, we saw Youbouty come on strong in relief. Talk about depth! Definitely was a factor, as both the UC offense and defense started to wear down in the third, which benefitted us greatly.
What I Saw - Positive
4. Improved Special Teams Play
I was mainly focusing in on the return team, and I was really pleased. With Holmes back on punts, Cincy really knew that they couldn't afford to let him have the ball in the open field. In fact, more than a few of their kicks went short because it appeared they didn't want to outkick their coverage and let him get a return. That's awesome. It shows that Holmes will, indeed, be a force to be reckoned with back there. In fact, I'd prefer a 30 yard punt and fair catch over a 50-yard one with a 20-yard runback. Keep Holmes safe. As far as kickoff returns, Maurice Hall is certainly the man. Talk about explosive -- he looked fantastic, damn. And Ginn didn't even touch the ball on kickoff returns -- when he does, watch out.
What I Saw - Positive
3. Evolved Passing Attack
I asked for evolved, I got evolved AND improved, at least when Justin Zwick was in. I thought that it'd be a bit too much to ask for it to be improved, but was it ever? All kinds of plays I wanted to see, we ran. We threw over the middle -- and not just to big guys like Roy Hall, to Bam Childress, too. We threw deep, we threw short... we threw to the tight end, we threw to every receiver! Talk about spread. I'm VERY pleased with this. It wasn't perfect, no, and it was a USC performance, but damn, once it got going, the run opened up, and that's what I wanted.
What I Saw - SUPREMELY Positive
2. Improved OL Play
Overall, it was okay. Better, yes, but still not great. I saw some nice things, like Tim Schafer really surprising. I saw some great blocking from Stan White (how 'bout taking out TWO defenders to spring Ross?), and I saw a much improved pass blocking attack. Pass blocking was positive, run blocking still had some issues. There wasn't a play where I could single out that hole was THERE. Ross was running through holes, but they weren't as big as they could be. I expect this to improve as time goes on and chemistry gets better.
What I Saw - A Bit Better
1. Our Defensive Backfield
Two pass plays of 20 yards or more. Two! That's it! We shut a very scary senior quarterback down, some through our pass rush, but mostly through our DBs. The coverage from Fox, Underwood and Youbouty was IMPECCABLE. They were always around the ball, breaking passes up and stopping guys from getting big gains. Very, very, very solid coverage from our guys. Much, much tighter than in most years.
I'd like to see more turnovers and better tackling from Nate Salley (he can hit, but he's not consistent), but overall, I was pleased.
What I Saw - MUCH Improved
Players to Watch:
5. Ted Ginn, Jr.
Ginn played fine. He caught a ball he shouldn't have and tried to make a play that he couldn't, but other than that, there wasn't much he could do. He made a great play on a poorly thrown ball, but the veteran defenders on Cincinnati forced him out. Not much to be ashamed of. Not quite Mo C's debut, but his presence was ALWAYS noticed by UC, which is important. Watch for a big kickoff return against the weak ST of Marshall.
4. Quinn Pitcock
Great game from Quinn -- he was always around the ball and made a ton of great stops. Performed solid as expected. Against the Marshall D, I expect a sack or two and a few stops in the backfield from this young man.
3. Roy Hall
I wasn't too impressed with this guy. A few times, I noticed him blow a block downfield, which is something he should NEVER do. EVER. He's a big boy with a lot of speed, and I'd like to see him block better. In addition, a few times I saw him cut corners on his routes, failing to beat his man. In fact, one of his incomplete passes was a result of him circling a corner instead of making a nice cut and maybe gaining an inch of a step. He needs to learn that good routes MAKE wide receivers. He should be fine, just needs more discipline.
It appears in a two receiver set we're much stronger in there with Holmes and Childress, and if we need a big possession receiver, John Hollins. Still, I'll give Roy some time, as he's young and very talented. I hope to see an improved game from him this week.
2. Mike Kudla & Jay Richardson
Impressed (by far) more with Richardson. Kudla looks VERY solid and the type of guy you want on your team.. unless you have a guy like Richardson. Talk about a monster. The first drive, he almost had a sack, and was in on two tackles, and he sat much too much. The problem with this year's DL is who to sit, and who to play? David Patterson deserves a chance to start, but so do Marcus Green and Quinn Pitcock. It's hard to sit Kudla or Simon Fraser to let Richardson play. What about Joel Penton, Vernon Gholston and Brandon Maupin? And we're getting Todd Denlinger, Ryan Williams and maybe Doug Worthington? Sigh. What a great problem to have.
1. Lydell Ross
This is what I wanted, baby. Although 68 of Lydell's 140 yards came on one play, overall he looked solid and even awesome at times. He's going to have a fine senior season if he can hit the holes just a split second quicker, and with Tony Pittman nipping at his heels.. let's just say I expect the best. Good for Lydell.. keep up the good work, man.
Progress on battles to watch:
5. Tyler Everett vs. Donte Whitner, Strong Safety
Color me wrong. I had Everett pegged to be a lame duck starter, and Whitner the impressive one, but damn, any time Tyler was in there, he provided good pass defense and very good run defense. Whitner was fine covering the run, but he looked shaky vs. the pass, biting on a double move and giving up one of the 20 yard gains. He still was solid overall, but his coverage looked a bit more like former OSU safeties that were primarily run stoppers than I had hoped. I saw a little bit of Doss in the way he played, though, which is a great thing.. I'd just like to see him perform better vs. the pass, definitely.
Advantage: Everett
4. Tony Pittman vs. Erik Haw, Freshman Running Back
Personally, I still like Haw better. He's bigger, faster, and supposedly has a better knack for getting yards. But Pittman impressed me, and he impressed everyone in the stadium. He looks like a big time back, and has the burst and speed we've been missing since number 13 left. Great day for Pittman. I think we'll see Haw counter that with one of his own tomorrow.
Advantage: Pittman
3. EJ Underwood vs. Chris Gamble, Dustin Fox's Sidekick
I love Chris Gamble. Great 2002, one of my top 5 favorite Buckeyes ever.. but he's not EJ Underwood. Not even close. Gamble's shown a great ability to lock down an opponents number one receiver.. some of the time. Underwood, so far, has been tighter in coverage and much more technically proficient. He doesn't bite on double moves or pump fakes. Guys caught passes on him, but they either played it perfectly, or the pass was perfect.. he never got burned. In addition, EJ . Early, Cincinnati tried to pick on him instead of Fox and it didn't work, shutting their passing game down almost completely.
Advantage: Underwood
2. Mike D'Andrea vs. Anthony Schlegel, Middle Linebacker
I'd take D'Andrea slightly, but I have to admit I can only go on stats. I didn't get a good glimpse of either men or any of the linebackers.
Advantage: Incomplete
1. Justin Zwick vs. Troy Smith, Quarterback
I came in with doubts, I leave with none. Justin Zwick is our QB. He threw better than Smith did, by far, and overall, he looked more poised and in control. Troy Smith will be a good QB.. but he won't be Zwick. Zwick this week will keep it under control, play an even better game and keep shutting up the naysayers.
Advantage: Zwick
Prediction: I think we'll run all over Marshall. I'm sorry, they've shown they aren't prepared and don't have the talent we do. Their OL is their team weakness, our DL a strength, and we'll be in the backfield all day. I don't think the game will get too out of hand due to the assault on Redgie Arden, but I expect to see a physical, tough game with a few shots to Stan Hill that he'd prefer he doesn't take.
Ohio State 41, Marshall 21, with many of their points coming late.
Key Players:
Justin Zwick - 19 of 26 for 250 yards with 3 TDs, 1 INT
Troy Smith - 8 of 15 for 90 yards with 1 INT
Lydell Ross - 18 carries for 130 yards with 1 TD
Tony Pittman & Erik Haw Combined - 11 carries for 62 yards with 1 TD
Santonio Holmes - 6 catches for 112 yards, 1 TD
Bam Childress - 7 catches for 140 yards, 2 TDs
Ryan Hamby - 6 catches for 80 yards
Quinn Pitcock - 10 tackles, 2 sacks
Simon Fraser - 8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss (1 sack)
AJ Hawk - 11 tackles, 1 INT
Bobby Carpenter - 6 tackles, 2 sacks
EJ Underwood - 5 tackles, 1 INT
Dustin Fox - 7 tackles
Next Week: I'll begin to change some of the players I'm watching, some of the battles I'm paying attention to and shift to focus to things I've missed. One game is not really enough for me to know exactly what new I'm going to be watching for.
Thanks for reading.