Comments on: Why did OSU lose?

By: buckeyedude

buckeyedude — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 17:35:58 +0000

The only reason the O-line did a “decent” job of pass protecting is because we have a kid that can scramble.

If Boeckman was in there instead, the O-line would have been bad on run and pass protection. And the score would have been much worse. Bollman needs to go at the end of the season. Period.

I think Ray Small is so overrated. I hope from this point forward that Thomas is returning all kickoffs.

Good game for Dane Sanzenbacher, who has become Terrell’s go-to guy. Expect to see more of this the rest of this year and next.

By: sportsMonkey

sportsMonkey — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:28:22 +0000

kaiser – yeah, it was odd that the OL did a decent job of pass protecting, but on running plays, about four white jerseys would be in the backfield before the handoff occurred.

I think the returns were a wash. Small and Mo Wells’ mistakes were offset by a couple of impressive returns from Lamar Thomas. Still, give PSU a 30-yard drive, that’s all it took.

And as good as the defense played, we could also be a bit critical of them. Four possible interceptions slipped through the fingers of defensive backs, any one of which would totally have ended the game.

But hindsight is 20-20… the only consistent failure from start-to-finish was in game plan and scheme. Coaching again. The Vest used to be known as the coach who would never lose the big one; now he’s the coach who always loses the big one. His talent is better now, and his competition worse. The only difference is in his assistant coaching staff. Time for them to go.

By: el Kaiser

el Kaiser — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:22:56 +0000

Good points, monkey. The lack of pistol formation was troubling. I will have to disagree about no play-action passes. The majority of the time we passed on first down were out of play action.

We screwed ourselves on field position a couple times. Small fielding a punt inside his own ten and Wells having a kick-off bounce of his chest were two huge no-nos.

I thought the OL did a good job pass protecting. Yes, Browning got beat around the corner a couple times but for the most part Terrelle had time.

By: sportsMonkey

sportsMonkey — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:59:23 +0000

Good point from ABC CFB analyst: When you take the ball after the coin toss, you’re telling your offense that you trust them. But to then keep your best player on the sideline (starting Maurice Wells instead of Chris Wells), you are then saying that you don’t believe you can win w/o trick plays. Mixed message to the offense.

It’s the same as saying, “I trust you, but I’m not putting the best player on the team behind you guys, because I think a misdirection play is more likely to succeed. In other words, I can’t depend on you to do what you’re supposed to do.”

Yeah, hindsight is 20-20, but no question that it contributed to the tone and OL effort for the rest of the game.