Buckeye Blogger Network“You are never as bad as you look, but you are never as good as you look either. The truth is you are somewhere in the middle.”
It is an old sports adage that has elevated the feelings of a downtrodden team or brought the lofty dreams of a fan base crashing back to reality.
I opened last weekend’s piece saying it would be easy to ignore how bad the Buckeyes looked in South Beach, and it would be easy to dismiss how good the team looked against Colorado.
Reality and perception might be far apart as to how good Ohio State was against Colorado, but the 180 degrees this team turned in a week was an impressive feat.
Sure, Colorado look bewildered the first quarter and half of football. When you play that bad on special teams, it is pretty easy for the opponent to seize momentum and never look back.
As Ohio State rolls towards a showdown with Sparty in the ‘Shoe, it is time to address some of the more pressing questions from Buckeye nation after a solid win.
What should people think of Braxton Miller’s performance against Colorado?
This is one of the more difficult questions that were asked after the game last weekend. The numbers were solid. The freshman sensation had 83 yards rushing and threw for two scores. The touchdowns were some of the few highlights the passing game produced. Miller was 5-13 for just 83 yards passing. In his defense, however, he was victim of a few dropped passes.
On the surface it is clear there are still some issues in the passing game, but at the end of the day the numbers were tolerable, especially when there were no turnovers by Miller. Even Terrelle Pryor threw an interception is his first start at quarterback. Read More
Weekly update from Coach Fickell’s press conference as well as notes from around the world of college football.
B1G Game, Big Ammo
Buckeye 411
Just the three years Coach Dantonio was here with him, probably the one guy that I stay most in contact with since he’s been gone. Just probably because we’re more similar people in general, family oriented guys, a lot of those kind of things. That’s very important for him, how you handle these situations, what’s really important, don’t forget about those kinds of things. We have a good relationship. If there’s one person I’ve talked to as much as anybody, it would be him.
I’ve said before, if I was playing my brother, I’d want to beat him as bad as I want to beat anybody. I don’t think that changes or factors into it.
Again, huge thanks to Bob Bell of the Ralphie Report for being our guest this week- he’s really popular! If you haven’t already, check out his thoughts in this week’s tBBC Radio Hour as well as Eric’s visit to the Ralphie Report podcast.
What are the initial impressions of Jon Embree so far? How big was the win over in state rival Colorado State for him?
Vision for the future
Ultimately, the Buffs have had a chance to win the two games they lost, especially California who beat the Buffs 52-7 last season. So that is an improvement. I think offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has done a solid job calling plays in his first stint at running an offense. The thing we at the Ralphie Report are judging this year on is game over game improvement which we have seen. Some of the things that are still frustrating fans after three games are the mental mistakes and penalties. Colorado continues to be one of the highest penalized teams in the nation, something that carried over from the Dan Hawkins era apparently.
The Buffs are lacking in depth and overall talent which is something Embree will have to improve over time. If Embree can get that talent, I think this coaching staff has the ability to be a good one.
As for getting his first win, It is certainly better than losing to Colorado State and going into the game 0-3 with absolutely no momentum. The good news for Buff fans is the team progressed from the game against Hawaii to the game against California. We saw some flashes of brilliance but still plenty to improve. And while many are still uneasy about this team after the Colorado State game, getting a win was still a positive step forward.
While the Colorado passing game is extremely dangerous, the running game seems to be nearly non-existent, despite having a Senior at running back. Is this a cause for concern, or do you expect the running game will play second fiddle to the passing game during Jon Embree’s tenure? How much do you think getting David Bakhtiari back will change that philosophy?
I was lucky (or unlucky…However you want to look at it) to be able to attend the game this past Saturday. “Shots” has mostly been a basketball feature, but figured since I was in attendance, why not…
Good view, terrible game
The Radio Hour continues it’s preseason look at the 2011 Ohio State Buckeyes! Eric, Jim and Joe discuss what we’ve been seeing from the Buckeyes in practice so far, most particularly the players who are getting the most time at the “starting spots”. They also discuss the wildly popular topic of longsnappers, particularly former podcast guest Jake McQuaid – now a member of the St. Louis Rams – and, of course, the heir to the OSU throne Bryce Haynes.
The trio also takes a moment to ponder a new aspect to the ludicrous nature of ESPN’s reporting, and how it effects Luke Fickell.
Get pumped, because the season is getting closer!
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It is said that a football team takes on the personality of its head coach.
The end of an era.
With that in mind, it is easy to see the similarities between Coach Tressel and his Ohio State squads over the past decade.
The Buckeyes went about their business with a quiet calm that almost overshadowed the intense drive that is required to achieve a 106-22 record over ten seasons (that’s right, I’m not deducting the vacated wins, what are you going to do about it?).
This understated style was so well known that it inspired the coining of a term which defined the coach and his teams: Tresselball.
With a focus on suffocating defense, superior special teams, field position, and a conservative style of offense that avoided mistakes, Tresselball was extremely effective, but also incredibly frustrating at times.
Coach Tressel’s time on the sidelines is over, but that doesn’t mean we have witnessed the end of Tresselball in Columbus.
In a perfect world, Coach Fickell will take up Tressel’s torch by building on his proven and successful coaching philosophies.
At the same time, by infusing his characteristic aggressiveness into the offense, Fickell can minimize some of the most frustrating aspects of the old system.
Tresselball may not be dead, but it certainly won’t be the same in the hands of a new personality.
