Block O Table: Fall Campin’
01. Reports keep coming up of what seem like absurd sack margins. Some people say the right side of the line in particular is really struggling with pass protection. The line in general apparently is. The left side of the line is in chaos, we hear. Boren’s injury opened the door for a walk-on (Andrew Moses) and a never-quite-was (Connor Smith) on first team left guard. Highly-touted Mike Adams began camp in a position where he almost had to implode in order to lose his spot. He’s now rotating on the third team. Are you close to pushing the panic button?
02. Minus Tyler Moeller’s unfortunate incident, what is the biggest story of the linebackers this month? There’s a lot to consider here, such as: how excited are we that Brian Rolle is performing well as our Mike in spite of him being undersized? Who ends up emerging as the guy at the strongside? How cool is it that Storm Klein looks to be the real deal and has certified himself in the 2nd team middle?
03. By time the Buckeyes head up to That State Up North, the Buckeye receiver rotation will look like:
04. What’s the single biggest concern for the Buckeyes in the secondary?
05. How much improvement are you expecting in the passing game and from Terrelle Pryor in particular?
Extra Credit
I genuinely like our pre-Big Ten schedule. Navy, USC and Toledo (in Cleveland) is infinitely more interesting than something else that includes Youngstown State, Akron or hosting the Ohio MAC snacks. Construct your ideal 3-game pre-conference schedule, including who you would go on the road to face and who you would want at home. I imagine USC is as good of an opponent you could ask for in that desired primetime slot. Who else would you want?
1) Do not push the panic button. The defensive line is one of the top-5 in the country, and most of the sacks were touch-sacks…someone grazed Pryor’s jersey for example. Boren is out, but will be back, and the LT spot will dramatically improve in play once the veteran is in there as an anchor at LG.
2) The LB spot is the weakest on the team in terms of experience. But our LB play in 2006 was sick, and they were all brand new. This is a position at Ohio State that is rarely without immense break-out opportunity. It might be an overblown issue. These kids are monsters, but recognizing runs and making plays is something we won’t know until they show it for real.
3) Posey, Sanz, Small – 1st team. It’s unlikely Flash, T-Wash, or Carter steal a starting spot unless they show they’re flat-out better or someone gets hurt or in trouble.
4) The single biggest concern for the Buckeye secondary, in my opinion, is making plays on the USC receivers in zone coverage. We saw what those veterans are capable of in the Rose Bowl, and the Buckeye zone defense has had problems in big games for the past 3 years. They gave up over 400 yards to Texas, and Sanchez efficiently carved us up in the right situations. Defending the TE in the redzone against good teams has also been a problem (LSU and USC both scored TDs on quick up the middle passes to TEs). They will manage fine in Big Ten play as no team brings a passing attack that will challenge them. For the secondary, that game on September 12th is their season in a nutshell. No pressure, guys.
5) Watch for modest improvement from Pryor in the passing game. I think what we should realistically expect is an improvement in getting rid of the football when there’s nothing there. Lost yardage was a chronic problem, and it was most obvious in pretty much every game he took a snap, including the game in January. WHEN HE HAS TIME TO THROW, he has the arm and the talent to find open guys down the field. We can really only hope he finds that stride and rhythm with his receivers, which is something that really only arrives with lots and lots of experience. Troy Smith didn’t find that until the 2nd half of 2005, despite having guys like Ginn and Holmes to throw to. It’s sort of something that will one day click. It is not realistic to expect him to be a drop-back passer.
I do expect him to make USC’s defense look slow in open space.
Extra Credit: Look at who we’re playing in the next 10 years…Oklahoma is a Big XII top-2, Cal is a Pac-10 top-2 (USC being the 1), VaTech is ACC’s top team, Cincinnati is Big East’s top-2/3, Miami is ACC up-and-comer, but boasts Floridian talent, Tennessee = SEC historical power.
Who’s left? is really the question. Ohio State has only played Nebraska twice, and it was in the mid-1950s (both W’s…thanks, Woody!). That’s stunning, and I’d love to see those two traditions go at it. Florida State wouldn’t be a bad option…we’re 0-3 against them. I’d love to see us play Georgia or Alabama….really any SEC team would suffice to me…but I want to play them in late October.
My response is up:
http://www.osusilverbullet.com/4/post/2009/08/block-o-table-fall-campin.html
Vico, when is the last time OSU has had genuine competition along the o-line? Years and years. This is good. We have 3 left tackles slugging it out, heck I can remember years we did not have two left tackles on the team. I f Miller beats out the 2 five star guys…great. H e will have to practice and play hard because he has 2 guys breathing down his neck. This is a good thing and these guys will push each other to perform all season. I’ll bet it’s been 15-20 years since OSU has had a battle like that.
1. CLOSE – like my thumb is on it and ready to mash. The only things keeping me sane about it right now are: the D>O axiom of Fall practice (plus the not-really-real nature of practice/scrimmage sacks); the awesome pass-rush skills of our DEs that are likely to make many, many tackles look bad this year; that basically NOBODY is talking about Browning starting @ T; and, as a sort of making-lemons-from-lemonade thing, LiC’s preternatural escapability. Oh: and the fact that no actual games have been played yet
BUT: If there’s not some undisclosed injury to Adams, then his presence on the THIRD team is horrifying – I really have no idea whether Miller is capable of even being a competent LT, and if he does well, I’ll have to eat these words, but Adams was supposed to be the next (approximation of) Orlando Pace, and if he’s not at least rotating in with the starters after a year under his belt then I think we’re kind of effed.
I mean, I love Jimmy Cordle and everything, but the idea that he’s one of the best TACKLES Ohio State can muster up really ought to chill us to our bones. If we take as a given that recruiting rankings can tell us anything – and it’s pretty well settled, to me at least, that they’re not definitive but are highly predictive – then what we should be looking at right now, taking ranking/ostensibly competent coaching/health into account, is from L to R: Adams, Boren, Cordle/Brewster, Cordle/Brewster, Browning. And that lineup should have been universally considered to be one of the best in the nation.
But unfortunately, Browning appears to be no more better or capable a tackle than on the day he arrived in Columbus. Putting him at G is close to an implicit admission that he’s a bust, even if he turns out to be a competent guard – he was SUPPOSED, after all, to be a bad-ass T. And Adams apparently sucks and doesn’t give a shit about it. Those guys are hard to come by, incidentally; and when they bust it really, really matters.
(side note: I don’t want to hear anything about what someone’s “true position” is, or what they’re better suited to in The League – we recruited Browning and others as TACKLES, and if they weren’t REALLY tackles then we probably missed out on someone who could ACTUALLY play the position well.)
So yeah, I’m a little freaked out. But I guess we’ll see, won’t we? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – ask me again on 9/13. But I am VERY apprehensive.
2. I actually think the “biggest” LB-related story is that there’s no ready-made Little-Animal-type BIG STORY narrative for the Musbergers and Herbstreits of the world to lazily fall back on. I’m not worried, at all, about how this batch will play, Tyler Moeller or no – we all know what the REAL “Linebacker U.” is. We reload @ LB like whoa.
3. I’m w/ Bucksfan on this one – Posey Sanzenbacher Small. This is The Ghost’s money year, and I’m betting (though it’s dicey at best) that he keeps his shit together for the season at least – and all he needs is to get the ball in space every now and again, and along w/ PRs he’ll be good for one 6 a game. I would say Taurian Washington, but I think he’s #4 unless and until Ray effs up – TW is definitely more explosive than Dane, but it seems obvious that Tressel always, ALWAYS wants someone like Dane on the field, and it’s really hard to quibble w/ that.
4. This one is easy: the biggest concern is that Tressel will allow his Senior fetish to lead him to deny Jermale Hines his rightful starting spot in favor of the clearly inferior Anderson Russell. It’s always dicey to reduce a player to one play, but I keep coming back to Russell’s FAIL v. Texas: If his intent was to merely TACKLE Quan Cosby, then he exhibited EXTREMELY poor tackling form on that play. If he was trying to break up the pass, well, then, he had a curious way of doing so in that he dove past Cosby on the other side of Cosby’s body than the ball side, and never went for the ball but instead halfheartedly/incompetently grabbed for Cosby’s shoulder pads (again, poor form). Regardless of all this, he HAD to fucking KNOW that his primary objective was to make absolutely sure that nobody got past him, and that a completion was less than ideal BUT that he should not, not, not allow YACs or anybody to get past him at all hazards, because if HE didn’t make SURE that Cosby was stopped then there was no stopping him – and he “went for the play” anyway. And the bitch of it is that Anderson, at that point, had had THREE EFFING YEARS to have learned that HE IS NOT THAT KIND OF PLAYER – he is an assignment player, a competent player, but emphatically NOT a game-changer. For fuck’s sake, he’s started longer than Coleman and nobody’s ever, ever thought of him as special enough to be a captain, or an All-anything candidate, etc.
By way of comparison, I’m guessing that Hines would have pulled a Zack Dumas on Cosby on that play. I’m pretty positive, at least, that he wouldn’t have made such a pitiful attempt at a tackle and GUARANTEED a Longhorn win.
I am very pessimistic about this, if you couldn’t tell, but I think it’s justified – anybody with a mind to and time on their hands could undoubtedly find numerous examples of Tress prioritizing tenure over ability and energy, and if The Senator has an Achilles’ heel that’s it. I have almost no doubt that Hines will be relegated this year to outshining every other Safety on the team but still languishing as a Star rather than kicking ass as a starter; and our defense will suffer for it.
5. I think the answer to this depends on what qualifies as “improvement in the passing game”. Does it mean more diversification (i.e., tight ends)? A return of “balance”, a la the Troy era, of passing and rushing yardage? Better perceived “rhythm” between LiC and his receivers? A better pocket forf LiC to pass from?
I don’t know – again, I think this is going to have to be proved vs. actual competition. What I do expect is for Pryor to take fewer stupid sacks and to use the middle of the field more, and for me that counts as improvement. Whether it’s enough, well, we’ll have to see.
Extra Credit: I want us to play more Big 12 teams, at least in the current environment. It was very obvious in the Fiesta Bowl that Texas, and in the MNC Game that Oklahoma, had no idea whatsoever how to deal with a “real” defense. I don’t care whether they’re home or away; with a few exceptions Tressel seems to excel @ big-time road matchups. A few regular-season wins vs. the better teams in that league might restore our rep a little.
That said, though, I’m a huge fan of the way we’ve scheduled out-of-conference over the next 10 or so seasons – and, as I’ve said before, I come down (w/ some reservations) in favor of playing a 1-A Ohio team every year, even given the mathematical certainty that we’ll lose one of them eventually. If you thought the TSUN-Appy St./Toledo haterade was bad, wait till you taste the brew we’ll be served when OU or BG pulls off THEIR upset.
1) I’m not ready to push the panic button yet. Heck I gotta believe the OLine is better by losing two fatasses and a drunk off the line (OK one fatass is now a guard.) I’m thinking that Shugarts, Boren, Brewster, Browning and Cordle will suffice and that Conner Smith and Adams will push the outside boys. Adams just needs the lightbulb to go off. If it can finally do that for the swinging gate Tyson Walter, it can for anyone. Also, as el Cabong said, the D is always ahead of the O in camp. Plus LiC will mitigate most of the sacks when the Black jersey is taken off of him.
2) I am waiting with bated breath until Etienne Sabino hits the field. I can’t wait to see him play, and think he will be the eventual ring leader of this incarnation of the class of the real LB U. Sabino and Klien…..just like Gradishar and Middleton, Hawk and Carpenter, or Little Animal and Freeman.
3) Sorry, I fully expect Small to eff up sometime. He always does. I’ve always wanted to see Taurian make some big plays, because do I think he has that capability. Sanz will get dinged up at some point too. SO Washington will get his chance this year.
4) I’m with el Cabong on the Anderson Russell hatin too. I haven’t forgiven him for the f/u on Crosby. That was such a monumentally poor fundamental play, that he should’ve had his scholarship revoked for impersonating a Div ! (High School) player. But, we’ve got athletes everywhere, and expect a couple of newbies to step up. I am worried about our cover corners. I hope the pass rush helps to protect them.
5) I guess I’m different. I expect enormous improvement from LiC. A full off season. Getting all the reps. No more Brian Hartlines to mess with his confidence. Its his team. He’s a once in a generation type player. To quote Beanie: “This is a man’s game. Step up.”
First, let me say that the schedule two years ago was an anomoly. Remember, someone (I forget who) cancelled on us at the last minute which forced us to find any TomDickHarry to fill the spot leaving a poor OOC schedule. I like the matchups coming, although I could do without the Miami thing. You know they are going to circle that one on their calendar, and I just think we should ‘ve left them with 2002. The mix should be 1 Ohio Mac school, 1 non BCS national school with some cred (Fresno State say), a poor BCS school (like Pitt or Texas A&M) and a premier school. Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Cal, USC, ND would be my choices.
I have said before, we should NEVER play Cinn. Why legitimize their program? I do however, feel confident in saying that I will NOT see tOSU lose to a MAC school in my lifetime.
1. Not even close to panic mode. I’m pretty concerned that Adams hasn’t panned out yet, but I don’t see a problem with having someone like Miller protecting LiC’s backside. I’m cool with some quickness on the left side.
2. I’m with TnB on this one; can’t wait for Sabino to hit the field. I kind of like seeing a smallish, quick hell-raiser at MLB. Shouldn’t be much of a problem going sideline-ti-sideline.
3. Posey, Sansenbacher and Washington. I’d love to include Small, but I can’t shake the feeling that he’s going to stumble this year. I hope I’m wrong. I’d love to put Stoneburner in here, but I’ll go with original list.
4. Safety, safety, safety
5. I expect to see LiC improve his delivery mechanics and his reads. I’d love to see more involvement with tight ends this year, although I won’t get my hopes up to actually expect it to happen.
Extra Credit. I won’t pick specific teams, but I’d like to see us maintain a relationship with MAC, particularly in-state; a Big-12 team and an SEC team.
01. I don’t expect the play of the O-line to be championship caliber, especially early on. I just hope the offense makes adjustments accordingly to compensate for any weaknesses. Adams is big question mark to me. What’s up with that? Our D-line is awesome, so I would expect them to win-out over the O-line. According to the dispatch article a couple days ago, Tressel threw the kitchen sink at the O-line in the scrimmage game. More passing plays than running plays. A good acid test for them.
02. We are linebacker U! I like our speed, depth, and power at that position. We’re a little short in the experience department, but they always manage to step-up. As good as any team could hope for.
03. Posey, Sanzenbacher, Small. Good depth/talent for rotation, slop-time, or in case of injuries and screw-ups.
04. A combination of good play calling and experience will round them out. If the D-Line applies the expected pressure, we can expect lots more interceptions this year. No sissy soft-zone or prevent defense stuff. A bit of an unknown to me.
05. Pryor is already better, just because he’s got a year’s experience at this level. I will be watching his decision making more closely than his mechanics or running. Given good protection, any average quarterback will always make the right decisions. Given some pressure, let’s see how he does.
This year’s out-of-conference games look interesting. Navy was a late addition, it was supposed to be Army, wasn’t it? New Mexico State is a little weird to me, though. It’s hard to predict a team’s caliber several years in advance, though. I would always want an elite program in the mix, and no 1-AA teams. It’s OK to schedule programs that are up and coming. I’d like to see Utah, BYU, Boise State, Southern Florida, etc, sprinkled in. I also consider Indiana an out-of-conference/division MAC-like snack.
01. No panic button here – most of the sacks came when the QB was in a black no-contact jersey – hence, if you lay a paw on the QB, then it’s a sack. I think the numbers have been blown a little out of proportion. With the exception of a reincarnation of Mike Kudla, I don’t see anyone tackling our QBS with one hand… but I do think it’s great experience for our OL to have to protect to that extent. I believe the LT will be sorted out in due time.
02. I read from another poster an excellent description of Rolle – that he plays downhill all the time – major motor. I think size at the Mike is overrated – if you can get past the OL or get by them, that’s all that matters – you’re not there to take on the OL all the time… i think with his speed and intensity, he’ll be fine. SAM will be Spitler / Sabino depending on the situation – Sabino has the speed, Spit has the strength – so against traditional spread offenses, I’d go with Sabino and against traditional power offenses, go Spit. Against a hybrid of the two, I’d leave that up to the coaches.
I love how all our freshman LBs are looking with the reports on Klein and on Bell.
03. Posey, Sanz, TWash… I think they’ll hold onto their spots, but I think that we’ll get a heavy dosage of Flash, Small, & DC.
04. Concerned about our CBs – Chekwa has been taken advantage of in the past and if he’s our #1 CB, that’s where my concern is. I think our Safeties will be fine with AR & Coleman. Granted, AR’s missed tackle last year against Texas was bad, but I think he’ll make up for that this year.
05. I think there will be improvement with more confidence and quicker reads, but I’m not expecting the world. I know that there’s going to be the occasional “quack quack” thrown; but overall, I think and hope there will be quite a bit more improvement. Last year: 100/165 for 1311 yards passing, 12 TDs, 4 INTs. This year: 2200 yards passing, 22 TDs, 7 INTs.
Extra Credit
Home & Away: Miami, FL (will come true in 2010)
Home & Away: Georgia – much respect to Richt’s program
Home: Florida in Late November
1.) Not pushing the panic button just yet. I think Andrew Miller might surprise us-this is Ohio State and we aren’t just going to send anybody out there to protect Pryor’s blindside. A lot of good tackles are converted tight ends. (See Jason Peters of the Philly Eagles). Give the kid a shot-kickoff is still a week off.
2.) With Spitler being named a captain, I’m starting to think he will start over Sabino, but being 2 deep at linebacker isn’t a problem as far as I’m concerned. There is nothing wrong with Spitler/Sabino-Rolle/Klein-Homan (did we all really forget how much of a beast Homan is?) In 06 we reloaded after sending 3 to the NFL, shouldn’t be a problem for the real linebacker U
3.) With a little luck we’re looking at Posey-Carter-Sanz in the slot and Ray Ray.
4.) The biggest concern in the secondary for me is whether or not Chekwa can become a shut down corner. I feel like he got picked on against Texas.
5.) I expect Pryor to be leaps and bounds better. Tress always talks about how TP wants to get better and works at it. I expect bigger things from him and his gun this season.
Extra Credit
1. TCU-play a top non-BCS conference team to open up the season. Not an elite team, but leave no doubt that we should be in a BCS bowl before teams like them (I’m looking at you Utah and Boise St.). Heck throw BYU in if TCU has a prior engagement.
2. A BCS school should be our second game and it should be against a traditional powerhouse. Granted we are set to play against these teams for the next 10 seasons-I would not mind seeing Oregon, Georgia, Nebraska, or even Notre Dame (I know I’m going to take flack for this)
3. We need to play an Ohio team-as much as I think it sets us up for a failure, we need to play UC more regularly. Although UC doesn’t deserve to have their program legitimized, I remember in the 90′s when Randy Ayers wouldn’t take on Boob Hoggins and his thugs and it made us look bad-like we were dodging them. I don’t see how ducking UC makes us look any better-especially if they are on the up and up-beating UC is a strong win.
4. since the schedule gets extended, we get an extra game-throw in a MAC school. Let em rotate.
Werd.
http://feartheelf.blogspot.com/2009/08/elf-returns-with-new-block-o-roundtable.html
Oh, I remind myself as I’m typing up a 1981 Liberty Bowl post: We’re playing Navy because, as Ron said, it was supposed to be Army but Army opted out. The Buckeyes tried to get TCU into that slot, but ultimately settled for Navy with a home-and-home signed for this year (2009) and 2014.