| 03 September 2010
Overall, I cannot recall a game one where I was left with such a big smile on my face. We have been a slow starting team over the years. Don't quote scores to me. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about a team looking sharp and crisp. I am talking about coming off the snap with explosion and purpose. That is what I saw last night. Well, that is what I saw on offense and defense. Special teams is another matter.
What is going on with special teams in the last couple of years? Poor tackling, missed blocks, missed assignments in general. Their only touchdown comes on a blocked field goal. Their biggest play comes on someone leaving their lane on the outside and Aaron Gant missing a tackle. They got their hands on an extra point too. In the past we took it for granted Jim Tressel coached teams would win the special teams segment of the game. Not last year and this year isn't off to a good start. So often big games are won on special teams. A key component in Tresselball is winning the special teams battle. I would not be surprised if practice observers note that coach is spending more time on special teams this week.
This was the most complete game in Terrelle Pryors career. There are three things that stand out. First, I have not seen a game where he was most consistent with his mechanics. Second, I need someone to point out to me a bad decision he made all night. I saw him check down several times for completions. Don't point out his last pass while he was in there. That was one of the smarter decisions of the night. He had nothing. He was throwing it away. Third, 17 yards rushing says he was hanging in there and throwing the ball. Great night. Great start for his Heisman run.
Running backs. It is almost embarrassing what kind of depth we have here. Saine really impressed. He looks a little lighter. He was never an ankle breaking kind of runner but he made a couple of tacklers miss. Speaking of making tacklers miss, Herron was breaking ankles out there. Both showed they can be assets in the passing game. The kid I feel for is Jordan Hall. He looked good but Jamal Berry looked great. He showed great vision. He was explosive. He was getting north-south immediately, and he was finishing his runs with authority. I am very disappointed with what I saw with Hyde. Not in the player but in the fact that he is hurt again. This is getting to be a constant. He might be the best runner of the bunch but I would consider pulling the plug and let this kid get completely healthy. I want to mention fullbacks. Boren will be the best fullback we have seen since Jamar Martin.
Sanzenbacher was the best of the receivers. He was on his game. What I loved was what he showed after the catch. He had a nose for the goal line all night. He was being very aggressive after the catch. Posey is Posey. He is a great player and a great talent. I only hope we have him back one more year. He still has that irritating tendency to drop one catchable ball in every game. It seems it is never more than one but we always seem to see him drop one. Stoneburner is going to be a weapon. Pryor looks for him. I want to see just a couple of plays installed where he gets down the middle of the field and we can see him do some damage after the catch. why would you play Washington over Schwartz. He is faster? I don't know about that. He is more elusive? Maybe, but I am not sure about that either. Schwartz catches the ball. All that other does not matter unless the receiver catches the ball. Philly Brown is a work in progress but you can see he has the tools to be special. He played mostly running back in high school so his hands are a work in progress.
Was it just me or did I see more pulling from our guards, as well as Brewster, in this game? I thought Browning had his best game as a Buckeye. I like where his weight is. He looks big but mobile. I think Boren has an NFL career in front of him but if not he is sure to land in MMA. I think football is just a means to get to beat people up for Boren. Just a big ol' nasty. I saw him several times on top of guys and I am thinking "ground and pound". That is really what he is doing. If nothing else may be pass his attitude on to the next generation of linemen.
Nobody will run on this defense. Watch the game over and again and just watch the line surge. I know this is Marshall but the defensive line just consistently stood them up. I thought Dex Larimore was spectacular tonight. He blew up several plays and was always around the ball. John Simon too. I liked the switch with Simon outside and Hewyward inside. I thought Sol Thomas had a good football game. I saw him active and around the ball all night. The one concern I had was with the pressure. We got good pressure and the quarterbck was getting rid of the ball as quickly as possible but we needed more sacks. We need Williams back. Maybe we need to get Newsome back down to the defensive line to play the role Thad Gibson played or maybe we need to officially take that redshirt off the high energy J.T. Moore. Was it just me or did we actually see the run stuffed more with Hankins and Goebel in there? I loved seeing Big Hank get an assist on his first play as a college player. He stuffed the center, got rid of him and was the first man on the back. Goebel consistently stood up and pushed back his man. If that is all your tackles do you are going to be a very successful team against the run.
I can only think about two linebackers to talk about, Rolle and Homan. All the fuss about Sabino and Sweat leading up to this game. I saw a little of Sweat and I do not remember seeing Sabino at all. I think it crucial to recruit the Star position. We are going to be in 4-2-5 most of the time. Right now, because of this alignment, we have an overabundance of linebackers. Rolle and Homan were solid all night. Against teams like this they are going to be as effective as any linebackers in the conference. Both are too solid in the passing game to be exploited. They are fast and read well so running on them is tough. My only concern is trying to keep everyone happy. We are solid depthwise for a 4-3. In the 4-2-5 we do not have enough reps to go around.
What can you say about the performances of Moeller and Hines? It was like they divided the field in two and told the rest of the secondary to take the night off. That Hines had such a great night but Moeller was even better speaks volumes. Both were around the ball all night and I do not recall either missing a tackle. When your secondary tackles like that you are going to be a solid football team.
I did not like 4 of 12 on third downs. I was surprised to see 7 penalties. I only recall 2 or 3 flags so penalties did not hurt us but this was a game the Buckeyes dominated. We can't have 7 penalties next week.
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