Game Thread tOSU at Illinois, Sat Oct 2, Noon ET, BTN

[Diego-Bucks]

I watched the game in a bar down here in Florida with no sound on, and a crappy image. I had no idea the wind was an issue, but from the thread topics it seems the wind was a dominating factor that limited the pass offense, is this correct?

Also, when you consider that Illinois does have a strong defensive line, I don't think its hard to see why the offense struggled. 2 key turnovers, injured QB in the second-half and bad passing conditions means that this game turned into a Steelers-Ravens style slug-fest. Hard to pull away from any team when they know you have to run the ball to score. Do people think that with the way the game developed that the Buckeyes left points on the board?

I'd say that Pryor was close to connecting with Sanz and Posey on a few passes that didn't happen (Posey dropping the ball... ), but again I wasn't able to watch closely. Other than that, I'm not sure if the Buckeyes could have done MUCH better. Our offense got off-track but it seems to be for some very valid reasons. When this becomes a trend, like last years 4 game streak of ineptitude (offensively), then I will become worried. That being said, this offense is probably going to be record breaking for us.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

An extra couple of series aginst crappy teams are not going to turn Bauserman into a stud. By this point in his career he is what he is-the backup. Due to tOSU's somewhat up and down QB recruiting, the backup QB this year is not a youngster being groomed for the spot-it is Bauserman.
TP is still maturing as a QB-every rep he gets-blowout or not-is still a good thing,IMO. Next year, if TP is back, perhaps Taylor Graham should be groomed as the primary backup-unlike Bauserman(the 2nd time after baseball) and Guiton(who is learning nicely), Graham was not recruited b/c the position needed a warm body for a backup.
Hopefully Pryor's quad is 100%, and he and Posey work on their chemistry this week in practice-they have not been connecting for he last two games.

Never said JB would become a stud, but he needs more playing time period. When Pryor struggled coming off the bench guess what we did - let him play and learn through adversary, can't argue that fact. Our whole team rests on Pryors shoulders right now, so we NEED JB to get better in a real-game situations by playing through bad plays.

Honestly, I want to see Posey get more catches but I don't care if he's the #1 or #3 receiver on our TEAM. Sanzo has done a hell of a job and if he's the go-to, so be it. Eventually teams will begin doubling down on Sanzo, leaving Posey deep for a TD - we saw this same dynamic in both 06 (Ginn and Gonzo) and in 08 (Robo and Hartline).

 

[buckeyes_rock]

Never said JB would become a stud, but he needs more playing time period. When Pryor struggled coming off the bench guess what we did - let him play and learn through adversary, can't argue that fact. Our whole team rests on Pryors shoulders right now, so we NEED JB to get better in a real-game situations by playing through bad plays.

Big difference here is that Pryor was an 18 year old freshman coming off the bench...JB is a grown man who's played professional sports. I'm just saying that I think the potential for Guiton to grow into a solid QB at this point in their careers is obviously greater than JB.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

Big difference here is that Pryor was an 18 year old freshman coming off the bench...JB is a grown man who's played professional sports. I'm just saying that I think the potential for Guiton to grow into a solid QB at this point in their careers is obviously greater than JB.

Sorry but being a pitcher is much different than being a football QB. If anything he got comfortable with throwing a baseball and no one being able to rush his throw. He doesn't throw a baseball with a 300 pound lineman attacking him.

I do agree though that Guiton has more room for growth.

 

[Nicknam4]

Guiton fits our offense better IMHO because he's shown he can run the ball.

 

[cincibuck]

I wouldn't look for Guiton anytime soon -- or a change at running back. If JT has a fault in the personnel department it is his loyalty.

 

[MaxBuck]

If JT has a fault in the personnel department it is his loyalty.

Loyalty has its limits.

 

[lvbuckeye]

- TP is so deceptively fast...watching him glide down the field is like watching Bob Ross paint a happy little tree...

awesome analogy. but it caused me to go watch Bob Ross on Youtube for a while, then try my hand at painting happy trees in GIMP... which cost me a few hours sleep lol.

 

[lvbuckeye]

I agree. I'm not going to critique it play by play. It is what it is.

As far as arguing and win % goes that's kind of a slippery slope. First of all, a top pilot isn't the only person qualified to work on an airplane. Secondly, if a business makes a profit it still reviews it's operations to see how it can make more profit. It doesn't sit back and say we have enough money, send everyone home for the rest of the year.

Yes, Tressel has won a lot with offense generally being the weakest link. That does not mean better offense moves you away from winning. That is just faulty logic. Offensive prowess seems to be equated to flashy, gimmicky and losing if you read a lot of the posts on OSU boards.

I do not subscribe to any of those theories. A more effective offense reduces risk it does not increase it. An effective offense moves you closer to winning not farther from it. I refuse to accept the notion that OSU cannot be as consistently excellent on offense as it is on defense. When you think about it there is really no reason why it can't be, unless of course you use the flawed logic that generally falls into the "Tressel does it on purpose" camp.

I don't believe that for one second. What you see from the offense is the best they can do on any given Saturday.

just gonna quote this for posterity.

 

[Taosman]

I agree. I'm not going to critique it play by play. It is what it is.

As far as arguing and win % goes that's kind of a slippery slope. First of all, a top pilot isn't the only person qualified to work on an airplane. Secondly, if a business makes a profit it still reviews it's operations to see how it can make more profit. It doesn't sit back and say we have enough money, send everyone home for the rest of the year.

Yes, Tressel has won a lot with offense generally being the weakest link. That does not mean better offense moves you away from winning. That is just faulty logic. Offensive prowess seems to be equated to flashy, gimmicky and losing if you read a lot of the posts on OSU boards.

I do not subscribe to any of those theories. A more effective offense reduces risk it does not increase it. An effective offense moves you closer to winning not farther from it. I refuse to accept the notion that OSU cannot be as consistently excellent on offense as it is on defense. When you think about it there is really no reason why it can't be, unless of course you use the flawed logic that generally falls into the "Tressel does it on purpose" camp.

I don't believe that for one second. What you see from the offense is the best they can do on any given Saturday.

I mostly agree. But we have to keep in mind Tress's thinking also. Sure he says he wants to win the "surest way". But he is on record as saying he likes to see his team "tested". So we know that's also in his thinking.
He probably saw what we all saw in the second quarter where our defense had them figured out and Illinois was under control. So the "surest way" comes in here. But, he wants to build this team's toughness under fire/stress 'cause he knows that is important for later games. I think he plays within the game when he sees he can to the greater goal.
Winning championships.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I mostly agree. But we have to keep in mind Tress's thinking also. Sure he says he wants to win the "surest way". But he is on record as saying he likes to see his team "tested". So we know that's also in his thinking.
He probably saw what we all saw in the second quarter where our defense had them figured out and Illinois was under control. So the "surest way" comes in here. But, he wants to build this team's toughness under fire/stress 'cause he knows that is important for later games. I think he plays within the game when he sees he can to the greater goal.
Winning championships.

Yeah, well I'll be honest and admit I apparently don't have the prescience that is so common to other posters here. I was actually pretty worried when Illinois drove to the OSU 13 yard line late in the 4th quarter in a 7 point game. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit my dumbass was actually wishing OSU had scored a little more and it wasn't a 1 td game at that point.

It's amazing that so many people knew they wouldn't score all the way back in the 1st half. Guys must make a fortune betting on games with that kind of insight.

Who is going to win tonight on MNF? What will the exact score be, and if you don't mind could you break it down by halfs for me? Thanks.

 

[southcampus]

It amazes me that people are still in panic mode about this game. Elite teams face adversity no matter how elite they are in today's college game. Hell, look at 'Bama last year. They had to block a game winning FG AT HOME, to be a lousy Tennessee team 12-10. I'll gladly take this win, on the road, in terrible wind, with injuries to key players, in a semi-rivalry. Yep. The rest of you can back away from the edge and realize this run for the NCG isn't going to be all roses. There will be bumps and bruises and as far as I'm concerned, we whethered that one and it's done. Lets move on to the Hoosiers and tune up for Madison.

 

[Zander42]

It amazes me that people are still in panic mode about this game. Elite teams face adversity no matter how elite they are in today's college game. Hell, look at 'Bama last year. They had to block a game winning FG AT HOME, to be a lousy Tennessee team 12-10. I'll gladly take this win, on the road, in terrible wind, with injuries to key players, in a semi-rivalry. Yep. The rest of you can back away from the edge and realize this run for the NCG isn't going to be all roses. There will be bumps and bruises and as far as I'm concerned, we whethered that one and it's done. Lets move on to the Hoosiers and tune up for Madison.

Aahh, perspective, it's beautiful thing.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

I didn't pick up that folks are panicking... saw a lot of 'suggestions' and wishing we'd 'use Jim instead of Joe' type posts... but not reading panic

Panic is Texas and USC.. that's panic

Personally what I saw in the game was "so that's why we wanted so-and-so so much" when various Illini defenders we recruited were making excellent plays

Also, I am getting concerned about Pryor's arms... if they get any bigger.. no way will he be able to pass... we'll have to move him to DT next year... those are serious guns.. for ANY position

 

[buckeye78]

I also don't think it's panic time.

For pretty much the whole second half, and especially the last couple of scoring drives, Illinois knew we were running and still couldn't stop it.

It reminded me a lot of the pounding we laid on teams for the last few games of last season.

As long as TP is fine, we'll be fine. It's good for the Oline's confidence when they line it up and are able to run it on 11 in the box

Good teams win when they don't play well.