And something I have been saying all along. Crazy John read this tonight and said that I could have written it. http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20111007/SPORTS/110070307/Tressel-tree-root-current-predicament?odyssey=nav
I remember sitting next to Stu in the Shoe when OSU was settling for FG's against Texas and him commenting that's Tressel ball. In the 2002 championship year, JT's game winning offense was essentially some incredibly great (or some might say lucky) plays at the end of close games. You couldn't say that about his defenses though, they were tough and really what was the foundation of his great record.
:shock: Geezus.... What a total disaster of a season for Buckeye fans. No head coach. No offensive coordinator. No WRs who can get open......and now no quarterback. That Bauserman is a non. Whoever gets the HC job needs to recruit a real QB ASAP. There has been some real damage to this program. Nebraska didn't match up at any position on either side of the ball, but was able to come back when the Buckeye defense finally wore down, because the offense couldn't complete a pass. I hope somebody in Columbus has the Big Broom ready: that's what's required...
Jim, Pretty much my thoughts as well. I do not know how serious Miller's injury to the ankle is, but regardless Bauserman is not the answer. We have two other QBs but Fickell does not seem to give them a chance to play for some reason. With the additional five games suspension for Dievere Posey, we have very young and inexperienced receivers. Vernon Reed was coming on strong but is not lost for the season with an ACL injury. Remainder of the season is going to be difficult to stomach.
Don, Fickle is going to have to bite the bullet with Bauserman. Some guys look great at practice, but they choke up in the game and Bauserman must be one of those. He has a good arm, but tossing the ball ten yards over the heads of the WRs or sailing it over the endzone is not a serious attempt to complete the pass. QBs are like pitchers, it takes courage to stand alone and toss the ball in there where bad things might happen. Most guys can't do it and I think Bauserman is one of them. Compare him with Taylor Martinez, a kid with no talent at all, who has the courage to try on every play. Bauserman was twice the athlete of his counterpart, but he was overmatched between the ears. I think Fickle should try somebody else, even if they're younger, smaller or less talented. You gotta have heart...
Jim I think you are right, and I think he will, if Miller can't go. But certainly that point in that game was not the time to throw one of the other two kids in there. This game was so extremely discouraging that I haven't put a lot of effort into deciding what to make of it. After recovering a bit I think this; I said before the game that I expected the Buckeyes to show gradual improvement as the season goes on...as Fickell and Bollman get a bit more experience and a handle on what this team's personality is...as we get some of our players back...as our kiddie corps gets some experience under their belt. I see nothing in that Nebraska game to change those thoughts, unless Miller's injury keeps him out for an extended period of time. I was very down on the playcalling after the MSU loss...but it seemed like an incredible turnaround for the Nebraska game. I don't know if Bollman had an epiphany on his own, if Fickell sat him down and told him to change is philosophy, or if they both sat down together and figured it out...and I don't care. It was SO much better. I just honestly think that when Miller went down all the steam went out of the kids. You could blame that on Fickell but I think it was moreso because of our youth. What a challenge for Luke to get them fired back up and ready to play next week after that collapse. http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20111010/SPORTS/110100319/Buckeye-Rewind-Buckeyes-will-build-this?odyssey=nav|head
Stu, I agree with much of what you're saying....especially the above. College football is so much a game of emotion. Our kids were playing lights out, the Huskers were on their heels, crowd stunned and ready to pack it in....then bam goes the fumble and quick score and suddenly their is life. Miller goes down and I knew we were in trouble and you could see our kids fade visibly on offense and the defense began to lose discipline, press and get lost in their assignments defending the Husker attack.....youth, inexperience and a dearth of leadership across the board were against us, but I too found many positives. That said, congrats to the Huskers for not folding their tent, hanging around and taking advantage of the opportunities as they presented themselves.....
Earl Bruce's Take; http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20111011/SPORTS/110110324/Former-coach-Earle-Bruce-talks-state-program I agree...this is much more a punishment for the kid than a penalty for OSU...and in my opinion is not justified by what he did. Penalize the university. Pretty much the same thing Jon Spencer said in that previous article I posted.
Stu NCAA did the same thing to the kid from Ok State who's with the Cowboys now, I thought it was way over the line at the time. But things have come out since then that the NCAA may or may not have known but that convinced me that he was a bad actor and got what he deserved.
Well, if they are gonna essentially wipe out the kid's senior season they ought to let us know why if there is something other than what has been published.
Dez Bryant was the kids name, and they wiped out his Sr. season in which he was a pre-season AA, some talk about Heisman candidate, etc. All because he met with Dion Sanders over a weekend at Dion's home and then lied about it to the NCAA. OK lying isn't good, but no allegations of extra benefits, some talk that Sanders was shilling for an agent but that wasn't proved. So they took away his whole Sr. Season. Now at the time I thought that was way over the line. Esp when later coaches like Bruce Pearl lied to the NCAA and only sat out the non-conf schedule, and he was a repeat offender and a coach. Of course last year Bryant was sued by a booster who loaned him money and gave him jewelery when he was a player, over paid him for tickets etc. Bryant was supposed to pay him back once he got his pro contract but didn't. None of this was likely known by the NCAA, so in the end Dez really got what he deserved..just not for the right reason. There must be more to the OSU kids story but not necessarily if they think he's been lying to them. I would imagine that since the whole OSU case isn't closed they aren't going to tell you guys anything they don't have to tell you.