Ohio State vs. Miami Recap

17 Pass Attempts

4 Completions

35 Yards

1 Interception


Here is a picture of Ginger Von Incompletion awkwardly firing a pass 87 rows into the crowd:

That is what the OSU passing game could muster vs. the Hurricanes. 23 of those yards coming when the score was already 24-6 with 30 seconds left. The passing game for Ohio State was a complete and total disaster on Saturday night.

Sure, the running game was productive in the 1st half with Jordan Hall running for nearly 90 yards before getting dinged up in the 3rd quarter. Carlos Hyde added nearly 50, but the team was let down by the passing game. At some point in the football game the OSU QB’s needed to make a play to win a football game. Right now, OSU is using a two quarterback system and it’s just not producing much of anything.

On one hand you have a raw but talented true freshman quarterback who just isn’t getting enough reps during practice or in games to properly develop. On the other hand you have a short ginger quarterback who is nothing more than a college backup.

Of course this isn’t how the script was supposed to go this year. It was supposed to be Terrelle Pryor fighting for not only a Heisman Trophy, but a National Title as well. Braxton was supposed to sit back and learn and Bauserman was supposed to go in when OSU was up by 40. Bauserman was to then go away forever and Miller was supposed to be the next great OSU QB.

We all know how that went…

Now OSU is stuck with a horse abortion passing attack and a one dimensional offense. This offense is a disaster. OSU managed 200 total yards and most of that came in the 1st half thanks to the running game. And I hear ya…why not continue running the rock? Miami couldn’t stop it. And to a certain extent I totally agree, but at some point you have to be able to throw the football, make tough throws to pick up first downs, convert in the red zone and make some game winning plays along the way.

Even Jacory Harris, who tried his hardest to lose the game yet again threw 2 touchdown passes and converted multiple tough 3rd downs.

Miami was able to run the ball all over OSU’s tired defense with Lamar Miller running for over 180 yards. And they had just enough throwing to outscore OSU 24-6.

Moving forward…

Ohio State needs to bench Joe “The Magic Ginger” Bauserman and play Miller. Miller needs 100% of the practice reps and 100% of the game reps. Bauserman cannot win OSU games…not in the Big Ten. Miller is the future of the Buckeye offense and needs to be developed.

Ohio State needs to feature Jordan Hall in the running game. He is a very good back and needs to be their play maker. Berry needs to take Hyde’s carries. Berry is a game breaker that averaged 8.3 yards per carry last year and needs to be on the field.

And Luke Fickell…

Let’s remember he’s the INTERIM head coach and has never been a head coach at any level before. He wasn’t even the coordinator of the defense. He coached LBers last year. I’ll write it again…

He coached LBers last year…

He may be in over his head.

Meyer…calling Meyer…

Comments

  1. I wanted so much for Fickell to do well and land this job and I don’t want to jump the gun, but last night (and even frequently last week) he clearly had no idea what to do in tough situations. Even a world-class defense can’t bail you out for 60 minutes.

    Jim Bollman needs to be fired right now and I don’t really care who replaces him. And I was even willing to give him the benefit of the doubt going in to the season since we all know that Tressel was making the final decision on play calls. Well, now we know why without question: Jim Bollman is completely incompetent.

    Are we hindered by suspensions in the backfield, the receiving corps, and the offensive line? Yeah, we are, and hopefully when those guys return things get better enough that we can still win a respectable amount of games. But there is no excuse for continuing to play Bauserman whose only saving grace is that he doesn’t turn the ball over because his passes never end up inside the field of play.

  2. sportsMonkey says

    Moist of us have noted the weaknesses in the offensive coaching staff for years now. With a better OC and OL coach, not to mention a better WR coach, OSU would likely have won another title or two this past decade.

    Clearly Tressel’s strengths were able to overcome all the known weaknesses of the OC staff, where Fickell cannot. Case in point: pulling Miller when he fumbled the ball to himself in the 3rd qtr (media is reporting that was Bollman’s call). The Vest would have likely overruled that call. Fickell did not. Of all the idiosyncrasies of Fickell, I never thought Buckeye Nation would be telling him to “man up” and do the dirty part of his job – firing them.

    Hopefully Bollman and the other offensive coaches will be shown the door this week; if not then at least we can take solace in the fact that this is their last season.

  3. RedQueenRace says

    I have been wondering since the Toledo game just how bad Guiton can be that he gets absolutely no time given what we are seeing from JB. He’s been here long enough to understand the system and playbook and he has mobility.

    He needs a shot as well. Miller had injury issues in high school and Buckeye fans need to realize he may not make it through the pounding of a B1G season.

  4. @RQR – I’m totally fine with Guiton getting a chance. I’m not even sure I trust the coaches’ assessment of QBs anymore, so it’s not like I can safely assume he’s worse than the other two just because he hasn’t gotten a chance. I get why he wouldn’t have been used last night, but going forward, Bauserman does not need to be included in the offensive gameplan and Bollman shouldn’t be either.

  5. I know it wont be a popular stance I am about to take but the thing OSU is missing the most right now is Terrelle Pryor. For 3 years all I heard was TP was not a good QB. That he was only an athlete. Was TP perfect no but he was pretty dang good and if we are seeing anything now it is that he will be missed more this year than any other suspended player or for that matter coach. In the short term at least. I spent 3 years defending Pryor as a top notch QB and being ridiculed for that stance. Now to those who couldnt believe it or wouldnt all I have to say is I told you so lol.

    Bauserman is playing a Tressel Ball QB game. He wants to do as little as possible without making any mistakes. Hoping to make a big play here and there so we wont notice he is doing his best Craig Krenzel impression. He doesnt suck as bad as we all think he does he just isnt playing to win instead he is playing not to lose.

    The OL is playing WONDERFULLY on both rush and pass offense. None of the issues we have are their fault.

    The RBs are also playing extremely well. Remember Hyde is our 4th string RB and Rod Smith is 5th string. With Herron, Hall, and Berry missing time due to suspensions and injuries. Pretty amazing what they have done to be honest. Hall was pretty awesome last night but we were too far behind to run the ball much.

    The WRs are young and dumb and full of you know what. They arent making plays and they arent being put in good spots to make many plays either with bad QB play.

    The TEs are playing well but I think Stoneburner has been reading too many praises of himself and losing focus. We have 4 other great TEs throw them the ball too.

    Defensively I have no complaints except for Orhian Johnson and Tyler Moeller. Bench them both now and let someone else play. They arent making plays and arent in position to make plays either.

    Basil hopefully has gain some confidence and will become the kind of kicker we need.

    Lastly, This hurts me the most. Ohio State is not the place to learn how to become a Head Coach. Fickell was forced into this change but he accepted the whole kitten cabootle and I cant see him making the right decisions enough. It is early and he has the rest of the year to earn the job but I promise you after this weekend phone calls were started to gauge peoples interest in the job. Fickell looks like a deer in headlights and wont move off the road to avoid getting hit by a mack truck.

    I dont blame Bollman like most fans. He has been here a long time and year in and year out OSU has had a great offense when we had the players to run the offense. Right now we simply dont.

    Enough ranting on my part. I am excited for the Colorado game. It should be a fairly easy win and a chance for OSU to regain some swagger and right the ship before we take on too much water.

  6. I think I just wrote a whole post on that last comment lol

  7. This isn’t pop warner football…

    Not everyone gets a chance to play quarterback…

    That is what practice is for. Miller and Bauserman won out and through 3 games it’s clear Bauserman isn’t the guy and he certainly isn’t the future.

    It’s Miller time.

  8. SYR, I had to take a coffe break to get through your comment/post; lengthy, well written and needed to be said.

    In general, I agree with your commentary, but I see a couple of your points differently. I don’t agree with your assessment of Bauserman. I think he is the anti-Krenzel at running an offense. Krenzel (often enough when needed) found ways to make plays with his arm or feet to win games for us. No way is Bauserman a playmaker. And he is every bit as bad as I thought he’d be; a career backup.

    I disagree with you comment on Bollman; I think he is an absolute horror show as OC/line coach. As a line coach, his player development is abysmal. If you or I had players to run an offense, we’d be coaches. I think you give Bollman too much credit.

  9. sportsMonkey says

    @SYR: Bollman has been a nightmare his entire tenure. He worked for JT because they were buddies but otherwise would struggle to get a job anywhere.

    Good assistants and coordinators are sought after by schools and have career prospects (Dantonio, Walt Harris, even Fickell himself). No school has ever come knocking for Bollman or would even ever consider him for anything other than an assistant position coach.

    And speaking of assistants: let’s not forget that our QB coach was the video room A/V tech before Tressel promoted him a couple yrs ago. (No, I’m not exaggerating.) We shouldn’t be surprised that the QB situation is so dire. I guess that’s another thing Tressel largely handled himself.

  10. @Ken- I should have said Bauserman was ATTEMPTING to do his best Krenzel impersonation. He is failing miserably. But he also isnt getting the WR help Krenzel had. I still think if he calmed down and relaxed he would make better passes. His 2nd checkdown needs to not be the sideline every play as well.

    @Ken and SM- When your offense in a nutshell is called Tressel Ball it doesnt lead to confidence in the OC. I have always wondered what the offense would look like if we played Bollman ball and maybe now we know. I just have never been one to blame coaching for players not making plays. Even when OSU had top 10 offenses people complained about the offense mostly because it was never as good as the defense. Is it even possible to be as good as OSUs defense though? Short of hiring Mike Leach OSU will never be the offensive juggernaut a lot of fans are seeking. But with that kind of offense comes worse defenses traditionally.

    They are never going to fire Asst. coaches mid-season. If Fickell doesnt start calling plays though he is putting his future in other peoples hands and that is just stupid. He has the chance of a lifetime and so far he is blowing it big time. I just dont know if there is anything he can do to turn this around. Which saddens me greatly for not only this years team but Fickell as well.

  11. @SYR – For the most part I agree with you, that generally coaches shouldn’t be held responsible for players failing to execute.

    But in this case, it’s clear-cut: the failures are directly related to coaching and the coaches’ ability to develop and prepare players. There is no reason, for instance, that OSU should be in the quarterback quandary it is now. You expect a drop off from first team to second, but for a player that’s been in the system for 5 years to be completely incompetent speaks directly to either a failure to develop him or a failure to obtain and use the necesssary talent to replace him. In OSU’s case, both failures are present.

    I agree that it’s unreasonable to expect an offensive juggernaut. But we’re not asking for that; we’re asking for mediocre to competent. And that is something that is reasonable, especially for an institution like OSU.

  12. Curiously when OSUs offense was ranked in the top 10 in recent years did you guys give Jim Bollman credit and praise for having such a good offense or did you think it was in spite of him?

    My guess is unlike the QB position which gets all the praise when things go well and all the blame when they dont go well. Jim Bollman prob got no praise when things went well and will get most of the blame when things go badly.

    To be honest I could care less if Bollman is fired. I am one who always gave Tressel credit when things went well and blamed the players when they didnt go well. Asst. coaches are insignificant to me. I dont lose sleep when they come and go. I just want them to recruit well and keep their players happy.

  13. Fickell isn’t ready for this job yet. We need a big time coach in here like an Urban Meyer, Stoops, or John Gruden. I know that they maybe a long shot but someone that brings that kind of experience and respect. The Ohio State job is a huge job and it will take someone with some head coaching background. The Buckyees will be okay. The defence is young and got torched a little early but they settled down and overall played well until that last drive in the 4th. They were a little worn out by that time. Of course it always helps to be able to hold on every running play and not have it called. Go Buckeyes!

  14. @SYR – now that you’ve qualified Bauserman-Krenzel you are right. I know when I’m on the course, I try to emulate Ben Hogan, and it works out about as well for me as it does for Bauserman… The spirits are willing but the bodies are weak.

    Here’s my take on the offense. Fickell needs to shoulder the QB situation, and frankly award starting job to Miller. This 2-QB system isn’t cutting it (thus far) because in my mind the QB’s have two completely different skill sets. JB is able to run one type of offense. BM is better suited to run a different type of offense. However, I don’t think that Bauserman can run a Miller-suited offense, but I believe that Miller can run a Bauserman-suited offense. Let’s try to run one offense pretty well as opposed to two offenses pretty half-assed.

    I have no feel for the personalities nor staff dynamics, but is it possible that Fickell is showing deference to Bollman? And where the heck does Siciliano come into play? If his job is to develop QB’s, god save us.

    Regarding Fickell, I’d love to see him succeed, not only for the team, the University but for himself as well. In a lot of ways I feel sorry for Fickell since he was handed this shitstorm of a situation with Tressel being excused and untold suspensions. I think that would be a difficult challenge for an experienced HC to deal with.

    Keep up the discussion SYR, this is good stuff.

  15. I dunno about Siciliano but he has been at OSU since 2005 and in that time we have had a Heisman winning QB, Todd Boeckman was an ALL-Big Ten first team QB, and TP turned into a pretty decent QB from just a running QB. Now I have no idea if he had anything to do with any of them having success or not but then again I doubt we really have any idea how much the asst. coaches do and how much of it was JT or just having great players.

    OSU can win with so-so QB play as long as others make up for that so-so play. What has happend the last 2 weeks is no one has stepped up to make up for it.

  16. RedQueenRace says

    WRT Bollman I am mostly in SYR’s camp. For one thing, I think the line gets criticized unfairly too often.

    My understanding is the players like and respect Bollman. There are a number of factors that can contribute to the line looking bad other than coaching. Scheme is one. We throw downfield a lot and do not utilize the extended handoff nearly to the extent that many do. Downfield throws take time and put more pressure on the line to sustain their blocks. I’m tired of watching us throw 15-20+ yard downfield sideline routes on 3rd and 6.

    By not utilizing more short, quick throws that hit playmakers on the move it also fuels the erroneous perception that we are slow.

    Another factor is the running backs. Hyde and Smith were running up the backs of their blockers, particularly against Toledo, when there looked to be holes they could cut through. It was as if they were determined to go through the hole that was designed to be opened rather than what actually developed. Hyde was much better in the Miami game in this respect and Jordan Hall did an awesome job. He also gets to the hole much faster than Hyde or Smith, lessening the chance of it being closed off before he is through.

    My biggest gripe with Bollman is the “small numbers, versatile linemen” philosophy that leaves us with little depth and a lot of shuffling when one or two starters are lost for whatever reason. In recent past seasons I have noted that early in the year the line struggles while people are moving around (think back when Cordle was moving all over the place). Once the line was established and got reps as a unit it was usually rolling by the end of the year.

  17. Guys if you dont all stop mostly agreeing with me my ego is going to explode and then El Kaiser will be forced to knock me down a notch or 100 again 🙂

  18. I have lifted my self-imposed media black out and have finally come to my own site to see what was written.

    I have to say I mostly agree with most people here. I think the offense shoulder 90% of the blame for this loss, which means the offensive players AND coaches. And the person most responsible for the offense (besides the HC) is the offensive coordinator.

    Yes, he’s had a couple good years but those are vastly outnumbered by the number of seasons we’ve had to suffer through vanilla offenses with some of the most dynamic players (Beanie, Pryor to name a couple). So I think I’m on team Blame Bollman.

    I was really impressed with the way the defense played, but our LB play has to improve as well. All three LBs were in on plays and made tackles, but they still missed tackles, overran plays and took bad pursuit angles. Their play needs to improve because our defensive line is doing their job clogging up the holes. They need to do a better job of filling them.

    All in all, that was pretty sad display of a football team. On National TV (sort of), during prime time. This game will have repercussions for the foreseeable future on recruiting.

  19. If Bollman is to blame for the offense the last 10 years or so why is called Tressel Ball and Not Bollman Ball?

    It is fine to me if people want to blame Bollman. You guys are just really blaming Tressel and Fickell who have kept him around for so long. Maybe it was just a shrewd move to have a lacky to take the heat for them when things didnt go well.

  20. RedQueenRace says

    “All in all, that was pretty sad display of a football team. On National TV (sort of), during prime time. This game will have repercussions for the foreseeable future on recruiting.”

    If we see more of the same, yes. But all is not lost based on one game. What the coaches do moving forward will affect perceptions more than this one game alone. For example, sticking with JB would not send a good message to talented QBs that hope for early PT.

    There is plenty of time to change perceptions. How we end is far more important than how we start.

  21. @RQR – I totally agree, if we go on and win the next 9 games (especially a marque win against Wisky or Nebraska) and then have a good showing in a bowl game, then yes, perceptions will change. But that’s a big IF.

    And don’t think recruiters and the ESPN will not, ad naseum, bring up the Miami game. This one will sting for a while.

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