Quick-hit thoughts after the game
September 12, 2009While We’re Waiting – James Davis Hurt, Akron’s New Stadium, and things that make me sad.
September 13, 2009Denny can be proud if he wants. I’m quite annoyed.
Congratulations coach. Your team just blew a game they absolutely should have won. I give credit to the defense. They did a great job all night. You cannot expect ANY team to hold USC an entire game without a drive for a TD. They held serve as long as could be expected.
Pete Carroll out-coached the vest again. His staff found a way to get the ball into the hands of their best play-maker when it counted most. They got McNight matched up against Homan coming out of the backfield for a huge catch, then did a beautiful job of locking up the defensive end for a cut back run and a big first down. McNight touched the ball 6 times on that final drive.
Those are the kinds of adjustments that Carroll made that Tressel and the Buckeyes did not. Sure, they got the ball to Saine a couple times in the second half. But tell me you weren’t expecting that QB draw at the SC 32 yard line on 3rd down? Everyone at my house was. Knocked us right out of field goal range.
Then you have the fourth down calls. USC converted three of four fourth down and shorts. Tressel is terrified to even try one of those. Could have probably put the game away with one tonight, but chose to punt.
How about the first half? USC was all over the spread option, but the power I formation worked on the only drive we featured it. Of course, at the half USC made adjustments and it wasn’t effective in the second half. Good thing we didn’t ride it while it was working.
How many times are we going to be subjected to multiple delay of game penalties because the play doesn’t come in from the sideline in time to get it off? Isn’t that an OSU trademark now? Isn’t that coaching? Tressel had no idea he even got a delay of game penalty before that last punt. How could you not know what the call was there Jim? You took a minute and a half to decide to punt instead of try the field goal. And how about that incredibly organized two-minute offense? Did you work on that in practice?
Don’t you have to pull Pryor aside and say something like “Terrelle, there are other receivers out there, you don’t have to force the ball to Posey every down.” Good things happened occasionally when he targeted someone else. Like say Sanzenbacher. Dane was wide open in the end zone when Pryor missed him low. And that all out blitz on the last OSU drive. I bet they didn’t leave Posey uncovered to rush Pryor. Pretty sure that’s who he was throwing to though.
It is really too bad. I feel for the players. They played hard enough to win that game. They should have won that game. And us fans as well. I’m tired of getting punched in the groin against top teams.
39 Comments
I couldn’t agree with you more, what is Tressel doing? I hated the play calling, and at times it looked like Pryor was lost out there. The defense played great, the Buckeyes should have won the game.
I don’t disagree with the other points, but, to be fair, the delay of game on the last punt was intentional to give the punter more room. Tressel’s “confusion” was because Carroll decided to decline the penalty…I think we’re talking about the same play.
On first down on the last drive, the corner covering Duron Carter blitzed, leaving Carter wide open. He was the receiver on the right side of the field, which you would think would be right in Pryor’s line of sight. Would have been at least a first down with the clock stopped if Pryor makes the simple read. But no. Pryor gets an intentional grounding penalty (being at the game, it was hard to tell why. Why is Barkley allowed to spike the ball into the ground short of the line of scrimmage just because someone is within 10 yards of it?)
Anyway, it shouldn’t have even come down to that. An unusual lead like 5 points is not a good lead to sit on. 2nd down from the 3 yard line and we can’t get it in. Ever heard of a QB sneak, Tressel? You have a 6’6″, 240 lb QB? Are we trying to get every TD for Boom Herron? Uggggggh.
it doesnt matter how you prepare for a loss…it just hurts every time. it seems like god cares, and then…well, you know how it ends up.
I sat through “the drive” when Denver beat the Browns way back when; I just sat through another friggin drive tonight!
un real
why does Pryor have to lob the ball on every pass? Does he still have the arm strength of Ken Dorsey? Surely he must be stronger than that hack.
i dont if tressel can win “that big game” to get us over the hump anymore. OSU will continue to get bashed by the media until they win one of those big games or another national championship.
scotty p i agree with you, pryor threw a ton of rainbow balls. was he taught not to throw a straight hard ball to the receiver or what? Pyror is so figgity in the pocket its unreal, he feels the need to start running all over when some1 is 10 feet away from him while the guy is being blocked. And he made so terrible decisions on the option plays( knowing when to pitch and when to keep it)
IDK maybe jim tressels offense just doesnt fit with Pyror’s style of play. He did it with Troy Smith who is a similar qb, I just dont get why Pyror looks so bad and scared
Amen brother. You took the words right out of my mouth. Also I completely agree with Scotty’s comment about Pryor lofting the ball. Frankly, I don’t feel he had many good throws all night. The first pass of the game to Posey was really just a great catch on a high ball thatas partially thrown behind him. The pass to Saine that was thrown behind him and caused him to fall out of bounds was ugly. He was wide open and while Pryor did a nice job of evading the rush, the pass was garbage. I know he’s young but he drives me crazy right now. I cringe when drops back to pass. I also feel like he puts a lot of blame on his receivers for his own mistakes. Every time the camera panned to him coming off the field for 4th down he was yelling at somebody. I think the kid has never had to handle set backs on an athletic level and along with all hype of his ability, is afraid to ever look sub-par. From a competitive level its great that he wants to shine but sometimes a leader taking some blame can go along way with rallying the troops. I await his maturation with my fingers crossed.
To begin, I thought going in this was going to be worse as far as the margin of defeat. The fact that it was not is a testament to an OSU defense that I have been skeptical of for the past 2 years. Aside from the 3rd and 19 they gave up on the last USC drive, I feel they should be afforded a pass in the criticism department. Any defense that can hold the USC offense to 18 points–regardless of setting or the age of their QB–is more than deserving of a victory. My scorn instead focuses squarely on coaches Jim Bollman and Jim Tressel, and one Terrelle Pryor.
First, the coaches: Jim Bollman is an embarrassment. You have at your disposal one of the elite athletic specimens in all of college football in TP. It is painfully obvious that his greatest asset is not his arm, but his legs. In 2005, Vince Young was a near one-man show, shredding the SC defensive scheme on the strength of his ability to run. Smart coaches play to the strengths of their best players. The offensive scheme for this game was pathetically vanilla and lacked any trace of creativity or guts. The preparation and mechanics of your QB were an embarrassment. Time and again the Buckeyes were given possession in favorable positions by defensive or special teams efforts, and time and again this travesty of an offense failed to even add 3 points to the scoreboard. As the head coach, Tress gets particular scorn for the most cowardly decision I’ve seen this team make in a long time when he chose to settle for a field goal on the 4th and 1 from the 3 yard line early in the game. To the offense, you’re saying “we have no faith in any of you–including our large, mobile QB–to manage one yard of movement”–something USC did, without hesitation, on more than one occasion. To the defense, the message was “we have no faith in your ability, should we not convert, to stop this opponent from going 97 yards in our house” That they gave up a long drive later doesn’t prove that they would have at that time. To the fans, it said “we have no faith in ourselves. Our opponent is superior. Your energy is not enough to help us”. We all know how tense OSU/Cleveland fans get, and how it affects the team, and seeing their coach fail to man up and push the issue early certainly didn’t help to calm any nerves. Well done, senator–quite inspiring.
As for Pryor: I can understand that you run the plays the coaches call for you, and that you don’t design the playbook. But you stated that part of your reason for coming to “The University of Ohio State” was that you want to be a real, NFL-style QB and not some spread offense gimmick guy. Well, here you are now. I know you are young, and that the reality is this was only your 12th start as a college QB. But your throwing mechanics are weak (lob balls all day, throwing off your back foot constantly), your decision-making skills are terrible (why would you even attempt to pitch that ball on first and goal inside the ten as you are falling down), and your game management is laughable at best (try looking at a damn play clock just once–who besides Tim Couch circa 2002 gets rattled by home crowd noise?). If you genuinely care about becoming a pro-style QB, you have a long, long way to go. I hope you weren’t counting on adding a Heisman to your resume, ‘cuz it ain’t happening.
In the end, we are left with another loss in a game that was well within reach. Personally, I am losing the ability to even defend this team with conviction anymore to its many critics I encounter. I can only hope we manage a Big Ten title and a win over the school up north from here on out this season. Anything beyond that will have to wait til next year.
I only saw the first half, but the playcalling to close the half was atrocious. OSU got the ball with 1:49 left, with USC having no timeouts, and USC got the ball back with 0:54 left, owing to the choice to run only one running play and 2 passing plays (both incomplete). You’re not willing to go for it on 4th and 1 from the 3, but you’re willing to try a couple risky pass plays with a minute and a half left in the half and give USC an opportunity? Inexcusable.
(The defense wasn’t very good on that drive either, but I don’t want to rag on a unit that basically allowed 11 points to USC, leaving out that touchdown following the INT return to the two yard line. I can only hope that UA does that well against USC.)
TRESSEL= POOR MANS SHOTTENHEIMER= PLAYS NOT TO LOSE
Where is the conviction people? Tp made some mistakes…he’s a true soph. The pitch was horrid..so was the pick. The best play he made was on third and long and instead of tucking he threw it away, learning from the debacle at PSU last year. He’s getting there. Has anyone not noticed.. The last four year takes time to erase. TP is 10x the QB troy was; maybe not mentally, but physically. We WILL have a champ in 2 years. Along with a Heisman. Go TP and go Bucks!
And don”t forget that is Pete”s style. Go for it over and over……reporters call it ballsy if you make it. It’s not B10 football folks. That is not how Tress does things. The field position battle was more than workin up until that last posession.. Where TF was Heacock?
I agree with post #11…when Tressel decided to pass on 3rd and 3 from its own 33 with 0:59 left in the first half, I was completely aghast. You RUN the BALL. You make it, keep driving. You don’t, you leave USC – with its zero timeouts – 0:08 to drive 80 yards after the punt, not 0:48. We were extremely lucky that they only got a field goal. Utterly indefensible.
And just out of curiosity – why on the 1 yard line, with a 6’6′, 235 lb quarterback who is by far your best rusher, do you not call a sneak? On second down from the 2, fine, hand it off. On 3rd down from the 1, why…?
I don’t have a strong opinion about play calls during the rest of the game, but on those two I was yelling at the TV as soon as the plays began. Come on, Tressel, you’re a good coach, but tonight your guys played their hearts out, and you failed them.
After sitting on thoughts for a while I’m very disappointed, yes. I’m frustrated. I hate Tresselball because it’s playing to not lose. But it was working to a T last night. Until they couldn’t stop McKnight.
I mean, almost the entire 3rd quarter was played on USC’s side of the field. Our punter was pinning them inside the 20 masterfully. All these things were going well – but clock mismanagement, lack of confidence in the ability to get 1 yard, and SC’s halftime adjustments came back to kick the Bucks in the ass.
I love Tressel and what he does for the school and program. Get some real coordinators. I know some of us have been saying it for a long time – but it’s time to give up the offense, Jimmy. And it ain’t going to Bollman. The D played well, but got too soft on that last drive. Play the corners tight and keep their receivers at the line like they had been all game. If you get beat deep, oh well – then you still have time on the clock to engineer a drive, rather than get two penalties and look totally lost AT HOME.
I still can’t figure out why Tress burned his two timeouts on those last few plays of USC’s drive. Would have been nice to have those in your back pocket for your last drive.
Terrible coach, three championship games since 2002. yuck.
Rick, I have to painfully agree. What sticks most in my mind (and did at the end of the first half) was Tressel not rolling the clock down and going into the locker room with the lead. I was hoping then that the three points subsequently surrendured would not define the outcome, but the those three points indeed was the differential. What frankly galled me was when Tressel was interviewed by Lisa Salters on the way to the locker room and lamely tried to excuse that serious lapse of judgement as just being aggressive. He’s not consistently inconsistent with his approach.
That said, it’s also now clear to me that Terrell Pryor is not ready (yet) for primetime, his mistakes were both mental and just plain out of control. He’s going to need this year to (hopefully) develop that level of maturity and control to harness his athletic skills. I hate to say it, but Barkley looked more under control that Pryor. Shame that a great and spirited defensive performance went for naught-yes, Tressel has some answering to do.
@17
Tressel had to call the time-outs. If he hadn’t stopped the clock, USC would have let it run down before they scored, and we would have had only a few seconds for a last drive. He had to do it.
That being said, Tressel is regressing as a coach. If it hadn’t been for that bogus interference call against Miami, he wouldn’t have won that national championship. Ever sicne, he’s flamed out in most of his big games. He’s hit his ceiling. We need someone who can “take it to the next level.”
I’m sorry guys, but this one squarely falls on Terrell Pryor. He just is not a good quarterback, and it cost us dearly last night.
Last season as a Freshman, I could understand not being a developed passer and running quite a bit, as well as being young. He made a mistake in the PSU game, for example, and we lost. Tough, but acceptable/understandable.
This year? Man, he does not look like he worked much on his passing at all in the off season, and he makes some real meat-headed decisions, like trying to pitch it into the dirt while getting tackled. I’m really starting to get cheesed with these extremely touted ‘athletic’ quarterbacks in the Michael Vick fashion who ultimately let down when they go to the next level.
Are our receivers that mediocre too, because USC did not even sweat us throwing the ball, even after 2 different passes getting down to the 5. I often counted 9, 9!, guys on the USC defense up in the box, daring them to throw.
I agree with #20, TP really played poorly. His mechanics were awful down the stretch, he was panicing. And our offensive line is just terrible in short yardage situations, thats why we didn’t go for it when we were so close to the endzone, we probably wouldnt have made it. It wasn’t a perfectly called game and Tressel deserves some blame, but that conservative style of play calling has won Ohio State a lot of games in the past, and the fact of the matter is USC is a great football team and our defensive gameplan had shut them down for almost all of the game.
The biggest things in my mind that cost OSU the game weren’t coaching decisions – TP’s dumb interception, almost blocking that punt into the endzone, and our offensive line not being able to do anything in short yardage situations. Tressel made some blunders but I don’t think they cost us the game. You can’t forget how good of a team USC is
The problem wasn’t Jim Tressel. The problem was that Terrelle Pryor isn’t ready to be the starting quarterback in D-1 college football yet.
DocZeus, I couldnt have said it any better.
TP is just blank between the ears. Not even smart enough to notice there wasnt a defender within 20 yards of a receiver BEFORE THE SNAP!!
Pryor is absolutely not ready for the big time. seems like every throw he was falling backwards. terrible mechanics and often times worse decision making. Big ups to the defense, they played great all night. except for the seemingly million 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 situations, but that goes on tressel – they didn’t stack the box once. im talking the linebackers weren’t even in the neighborhood. at the line theres 4 osu lineman vs 7 usc players, of course they convert up the gut every time. and the time out usage and stupid penalties at the end – inexcusable.
Personally, I blame Pryor for the loss
had he looked around, and acted like a bloody quarterback then we would have won. Instead, he threw to covered people, and the only reason any were complete was that the WR dove for it
I would could replace Barkley and show his poise behind that dominant O-line of USC’s. They lean forward and gain 3 yards at will. They consistently gave Barkley 5 and 6 seconds to make his reads. That’s TP’s weakness because he doesn’t feel confident that his protection will be there.
It sucks that they let the win slip away, but Tress made some very weak decisions that ultimately had as much to do with the loss as McKnight’s last drive.
Hats off to the 106,033 fans in the ‘Shoe. I’ve been to at least 50 games there, including the last one vs. USC, and never has it been as loud. The energy was amazing and not once did the fans let up. Loss or not it was great to be part of it.
@jack
Terrel Pryor isn’t half the quarterback Troy Smith was. Sorry he’s not, mentally or physically at this point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udne9JTds5A
just a thought, do u guys not remember that it took about 3 and a half years for troy to turn into the qb he did. he didnt even really have a spectacular season til his senior year (he was zwick’s backup his sophomore year if you recall). sure he looked bad yesterday but give him another year and maybe a half and he will be ridiculous. this team has incredible, inexperienced talent, and next year, maybe the year after, we will be the team to beat with terelle pryor at the helm. he’s a sophomore give him a break
…Coulda’, Woulda’, Shoulda’. The story every year for both the Choke-eyes and Browns. End of story.
I finally had the chance to see the game.First let me say it was a good defensive game on both sides of the ball and both offenses were to say the least JV quality.
My analysis begins with everybodies favorite whipping post the vest. Tressel called a good enough offensive game to win had Pryor executed the plan. Pryor obviously has not matured enough to be the focal point of the offense.He played scared most of the night. The other glaring factor on offense was the running backs. First the lack of Saine running the ball and the fact that Herron appeared to be running with his head down and missed some big holes that the O line opened. I support Tress trying to score at the end of the first half TP missed at least 1 wide open receiver on 2nd down then tried to through into double coverage on third. If he would have ran the ball as some of you suggest you then would call him too conservative. I do however feel he should have kikced a field goal in the 4th quarter instead of punting.
Defensively a good game plan until the last drive. I would have liked to see more pressure instead of the soft zone.
The Bucks will run the table and win the big ten. If I were Tress I would retire after this year and let all you idiots remember what it was like when we lost to Michigan every year and never won the big ten.
For those that know football realize this is a sophmore dominated team and next year will be the year to judge this team.
Man there is a ton of criticism. I love the Buckeyes too, but even if Pryor is the reason you think they lost, he’s a 19 or 20 year old college player just starting his second year. He’ll get there..give him more time to hone that talent. This team is pretty young all the way around, so their likely time to challenge for a national title is next season, but with a little luck, this year was a possibility.
Tressel is a good coach who got a little too smart at the end of the 1st half in trying to catch USC sleeping. Didn’t work, but you can’t claim he’s predictable & vanilla, but then be upset when he does something out of character like that & it doesn’t pan out.
It was a damn good game that ended with the wrong team winning. The way they played, we’ll see a lot more OSU victories the rest of the way, so root for FL, Texas & USC to lose a game & hope the Buckeyes can win out!
Remember folks it took Troy Smith 2-3 years to become an elite QB. Pryor has only played 1 year. Every game will have some questionable play calling, but who’s to say had we called a different game, we’d definitely would have won? If we opened it up more, we could have made more mistakes, and not even been in the game. The bottom line was that it was a good hard fought game, and as unfortunate as it is, USC mustered together a game winning drive.
Pryor should be in the spread option at all times, unless on the goal line.
Saine is his Percy Harvin, and should be used all over the field. With his speed, this would create problems for USC. It they concentrate on Pyror, Saine might be able to turn the corner. Troy Smith had a stronger and more accurate arm than Pryor, who is primarliy a runner. This was a game that should have been won by OSU.
[…] only didn’t get thrashed, they gave USC all they could handle and then some, and if not for a few questionable coaching moves and back-breaking plays, probably win the game. I’m man enough to admit that I expected a […]
I put the delay of games, the missed reads, etc. all on Terelle Pryor. Jim Tressel did not lose this game for Ohio State. Pryor did. It is a bit excessive to pin all of this on a 19 year-old kid, but given the way that game unfolded, I can think of 3-4 college QBs off the top of my head right now that would’ve been able to lead OSU to victory given Tressel’s “archaic” playcalling.
I have my issues with Tressel but he and that coaching staff coached more than well enough to win that game Saturday night. The players are the ones on the field and they have to execute. Most of them did, Pryor did not.
Tressel’s game plan is not conducive to Pryor’s strengths. It is very vanilla and conservative best used for a team with superior talent than the opposition. Tressel plays not to lose when he realizes he is up against a good team intent on stopping the run. If he had a better game plan, Pryor would not look so bad. He was continually put in positions to throw down the field on 3rd and longs. What about 1st and 2nd down setups to get you in manageable 3rd down situations? What about a draw, a screen, a misdirection, a lateral pass to a WR in the flat? Pryor is not a drop back passer, and Tressel has no creativity. Tressel and his power I will never work in today’s game unless he recruits the best offensive lineman and running backs in the country. That has not happened, and may not ever happen. It’s the coach. Tressel is built for the 80s and 90s, but not the 21st century. Tressel is a good man, and is good for OSU but it is time for him to become AD and get a younger, more progressive head coach in position. You see this happening all over the country where some head coaches stay in the game too long thus setting back the programs they were so instrumental in building. It’s a pride thing that is getting the best of Tressel right now. He won’t relinquish play calling as long as he is around and that is not a good thing as the Urban Meyers, Les Miles, and Pete Carrolls of the world run roughshod over him with more confidence and better talent.
The Navy game indicated that OS probably prepared for USC rather than Navy.
Therefore, OS looks to be weak this year (the season will reveal whether I am correct). Or perhaps USC is weak, but the SJS game indicated that USC IS
probably strong against average opposition. Thus, OS looks to have played a very good game; they had USC almost beat. So USC luckily survived a very good upset attempt. The game could be positive for OS because it indicated that OS can play well against difficult opponents. If they can look at the game in a positive light, the game could be a springboard to future success.
It’s all about confidence. Tressel seems to have little in big games. When it is 4th and 1, and you have a large QB–most people are confident that they can gain that 1 yard and then some with a QB sneak. Tressel, looking back to last year vs. Penn State when Pryor fumbled the ball, lacks the confidence in his players thus playing not to lose instead of playing to win. When I knew OSU was going to lose was when it was 15 to 10 and OSU had the ball on USCs 36 yard line, 4th and 11. Tressel took a delay of game to move the ball back to possibly place a punt inside the 20. At which point it appears that USC is going to decline and then the camera goes to the punter and he is waving the kicker to come back in and try a field goal to put OSU up 18 to 10….but instead OSU punts it…USC’s next drive wins the game. Classic Tressel coaching…
It used to be enough to have a winning season and beat Michigan…Now it has become an expectation to have a winning season and since Michigan is battling back from a 3-9 season,that too should be a lock. But for a team with such potential the final expectation should be at least 1 win in a bowl game and/or a win against a top 10 team. Unfortunately Tressel doesn’t have what it takes to complete the latter. USC, Texas, Penn State, USC, LSU, Illinois, Florida….All big games within past 4 years that OSU has not been able to win with Tressel.