SB Nation - Joe Bauserman

If College Football Had a Playoff: #9 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ #8 Ohio State Buckeyes

Jeremy Mauss — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:00:19 -0000

Continue the new break out hit of the season "What if College Football had a Playoff' returns for game two of the playoff. Before we get to game two the winner of game one was an expected blowout by Alabama soundly defeating Troy to move on to host the winner of this game.

Now this matchup features two completely different styles with Georgia Tech who runs a triple option and is taking that game to the 'Shoe in Columbus to face the 'we wanna be spread but really a smash mouth football team' Ohio State.

The Ohio State defense is very good but the question has always been the speed of their defense (or lack of speed). Speed and assignment defense is what Ohio State would need to do to try to stop the Georgia Tech option. Last year LSU shut down the Tech option with their speed and Ohio State is a bit behind in their speed then LSU.

Ohio State really wants to pound the ball has the wild card in Terrelle Pryor who is a so-so passer but if the Buckeyes use roll outs and move the pocket that will help use his abilities rather then to just drop back and throw.

Just because of the contrasting styles this should be a very good game. To give some help to those who are not sure who would win I turned to What if Sports to simulate this game.

What if Sports has Ohio State winning a close game 35-31, but Georgia Tech had a 31-20 lead going into the fourth quarter before allowing the Buckeyes to score 15 points to their zero to loss the game. The decision here is for the fans to vote to see who moves on.

Check back daily at 12 PM eastern time to vote for the next matchup, and voting is only for 24 hours. As they say in Chicago vote early and vote often.

Ohio State Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Joe Bauserman	5	30.0	6	19	31.6	124	24.8	6.5	0	0	9	10	2	1.1	0	-	-
Terrelle Pryor	12	93.0	144	258	55.8	1828	152.3	7.1	16	10	142	707	58.9	5	7	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Joe Bauserman	5	9	10	2	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
K.C. Christian	2	5	14	7	2.8	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bo DeLande	1	3	5	5	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joe Gantz	2	4	6	3	1.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Daniel Herron	9	139	558	62	4	7	8	48	5.3	6	1
Jermil Martin	3	11	84	28	7.6	1	0	0	0	0	0
DeVier Posey	12	2	19	1.6	9.5	0	52	727	60.6	14	7
Terrelle Pryor	12	142	707	58.9	5	7	0	0	0	0	0
Brandon Saine	12	131	694	57.8	5.3	4	15	165	13.8	11	1
Dane Sanzenbacher	11	2	8	.700	4	0	27	506	46	18.7	6
Ray Small	11	4	40	3.6	10	0	15	175	15.9	11.7	0
Lamaar Thomas	9	1	6	.700	6	0	1	10	1.1	10	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Jake Ballard	9	13	126	14	9.7	0
Zach Boren	3	4	23	7.7	5.8	1
Duron Carter	6	13	176	29.3	13.5	1
Daniel Herron	9	8	48	5.3	6	1
DeVier Posey	12	52	727	60.6	14	7
Brandon Saine	12	15	165	13.8	11	1
Dane Sanzenbacher	11	27	506	46	18.7	6
Ray Small	11	15	175	15.9	11.7	0
Jake Stoneburner	2	2	30	15	15	0
Lamaar Thomas	9	1	10	1.1	10	0

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Devin Barclay	4	-	-	-	-	-	4	7	60.0%	12	12	100.0%	24
Aaron Pettrey	9	-	-	-	-	-	13	19	70.0%	28	29	100.0%	67

Georgia Tech Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Josh Nesbitt	13	83.0	73	153	47.7	1689	129.9	11	10	4	259	991	76.2	3.8	18	-	-
Jaybo Shaw	4	-50.0	1	2	50	18	4.5	9	0	1	12	51	12.8	4.3	0	-	-
Tevin Washington	1	100.0	1	1	100	21	21	21	0	0	6	40	40	6.7	0	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Anthony Allen	13	61	597	45.9	9.8	5	5	112	8.6	22.4	1
Lucas Cox	3	9	31	10.3	3.4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Dwyer	13	221	1346	103.5	6.1	14	3	25	1.9	8.3	0
Stephen HIll	8	5	84	10.5	16.8	1	6	137	17.1	22.8	1
Roddy Jones	11	53	345	31.4	6.5	3	0	0	0	0	0
Preston Lyons	11	30	139	12.6	4.6	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Malone	1	1	5	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Josh Nesbitt	13	259	991	76.2	3.8	18	0	0	0	0	0
Embry Peeples	11	28	143	13	5.1	0	8	244	22.2	30.5	1
Jaybo Shaw	4	12	51	12.8	4.3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Quentin Sims	1	2	19	19	9.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Orwin Smith	11	5	26	2.4	5.2	0	2	26	2.4	13	0
Demaryius Thomas	13	1	3	.200	3	0	46	1154	88.8	25.1	8
Tevin Washington	1	6	40	40	6.7	0	0	0	0	0	0
Richard Watson	4	9	37	9.3	4.1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Marcus Wright	11	32	190	17.3	5.9	3	0	0	0	0	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Anthony Allen	13	5	112	8.6	22.4	1
Jonathan Dwyer	13	3	25	1.9	8.3	0
Stephen HIll	8	6	137	17.1	22.8	1
Daniel McKayhan	2	1	18	9	18	0
Tyler Melton	4	5	46	11.5	9.2	0
Embry Peeples	11	8	244	22.2	30.5	1
Orwin Smith	11	2	26	2.4	13	0
Demaryius Thomas	13	46	1154	88.8	25.1	8

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Scott Blair	11	-	-	-	-	-	14	19	70.0%	43	44	100.0%	85
Chris Tanner	3	-	-	-	-	-	0	1	0	14	14	100.0%	14

via l.yimg.com

Poll

Who wins the matchup?

Georgia Tech

120 votes

Ohio State

62 votes

182 votes | Poll has closed

What to Do With Terrelle the Terrible

Law Buckeye — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:39:15 -0000

For Jim...

Last week I asked what was wrong with Terrelle Pryor. This week I know what is wrong with Terrelle Pryor.

Pryor's dysfunction can be broken into three distinct categories:

Throwing

Can't throw a short spiral to save his life. Result? More incomplete passes out of the backfield than I care to count.
Hooks his arm release like a tournament fisherman trying to jerk a bass out of the water, only in reverse. Result? Pegs the ball at the ground, forcing receivers to dive or "touch their toes" to pick up the ball. Dramatically limits yard pickup after the catch.
Can't lead his receivers on middle routes. Result? Incomplete/broken up passes. Interceptions.
Doesn't adjust his "snap" on his release for the speed and length of the throw. Result? More turf bullets than I care to count.
Stares at his chosen receiver like a teenage boy ogling cleavage. Result? Linebackers have an easy time keying in on and jumping routes.

Decision-Making:

Stands in the pocket for too long checking off multiple receivers. Hesitates to take off on the ground. Result? Gets beat to the sideline by outside linebackers. Routinely tackled close to the line of scrimmage on scrambles.
Throws lazy deep balls (a.k.a. "arm punts" Hat Tip: BSD) into double-coverage. Result? Allows free safeties ample time to close and make a play.

Psychology:

Pounds the turf in frustration after sacks. Hangs his head on the sidelines. Allows the game to get to him. Result? Interferes with the "muscle memory" component of mechanics making it difficult for Pryor to replicate what he did in practice during live play. Makes it difficult to recover from mistakes as a game progresses.

The combination of these raw tendencies and others has seen a signature talent devolve into a scarecrow. Don't delude yourself. Pryor is getting worse every week. The question now is what to do about it.

Let me start by saying what Jim Tressel shouldn't do. He shouldn't bench Pryor.

Don't get me wrong. Pryor should have seen the bench on Saturday against Purdue -- probably after he threw his second interception of the day at the 6:38 minute mark of the Third Quarter. Just as Rich Rodriguez substituted Denard Robinson for Tate Forcier in the fourth quarter against Iowa last week to provide an elusive "spark," a backup's presence can sometimes be a tabula rosa for a struggling offense. At the very least handing Joe Bauserman the reins for a series of two might have disrupted the Boilermaker's defensive flow, resulted in a few completions, and opened up the ground lanes for a greater rushing presence. It also might have given Pryor a chance to exorcise his demons on the sideline.

(As a short aside, Tressel needs to watch Cincinnati's Brian Kelly for cues on how to treat a struggling quarterback when he comes off the field. Pull his face mask to get his attention, tell him what he did wrong, tell him he's not going to do it again, and provide instructions on what to do instead. Make the episode a visible reprimand. Make the player mad at you instead of himself. He'll come out of the gate on the next series like a damn grizzly bear).

Still, although Tressel should have turned to Bauserman in the midst of the meltdown, he should not make him the starter next week against Minnesota. To do so would be to shoot the arthritic remains of the Ohio State offense in the foot. As Ken Gordon of The Columbus Dispatch reminds us, although Pryor is one big fat piece of the pie, he's not the entire problem.

The next biggest concern, as I see it, is the play of the offensive line. [C]learly, the line was a disaster, and there are three sophomores starting -- all big time recruits: Mike Adams, Mike Brewster and J.B. Shugarts.

What does all this say? That the recruits are all busts, all of them? Really? That they aren't getting the proper coaching? That they just had a bad day?

I believe the truth lies somewhere between bad coaching and bad day.

Coaching must be faulted to some extent. The staff had all offseason to determine what system would best suit Pryor's abilities. They came up with a pro style, run-based attack....then scrapped that after three games. All that offseason analysis -- five assistant coaches working at least 40-hour weeks for eight months, that's about 7,000 hours of work, for what?
The line appeared to be rejuvenated a few weeks ago when OSU went to the shotgun, zone-read offense. But when teams started putting serious heat on the past two weeks, they melted like wax figures.

The Buckeyes are burdened by a bad line that can't pass protect. It's easy to forget in the midst of bad throws and short scrambles how many times Pryor has to evade one, even two rushers to buy himself the time to look up field.

Imagine what that offense would look like with a young, lead-footed, pocket passer at the helm. Oh yeah, we tried that already. Todd Boeckman, anyone?

For better or worse we're stuck with Pryor. So what should Tressel do?

Consider this:

[T]he only time Pryor has looked comfortable the past two weeks was in running the hurry-up, two-minute drill. OSU scored three times in its past four possessions in the hurry-up.

But can you do that all game? Should the Buckeyes turn into Texas Tech, since that appears to be the only system in which its QB can thrive?

No, we shouldn't turn into Texas Tech exactly, but -- as a local sports radio commentator suggested yesterday -- we should model the offense after another successful program plagued with an elusive quarterback with a bum arm: Texas' 2005 National Championship squad.

To compensate for Vince Young's poor decision-making, and limited football smarts, Mack Brown installed an ultimatum offense so easy anyone could run it. It worked as follows:

Operate out of a five-wide receiver formation.
Have Vince pick one receiver as his lone target in the huddle.
After the snap, have Vince read his primary receiver. If the receiver is open, make the throw. If the receiver isn't open, run.

It's that simple. Pryor should be coached to run like hell the second he smells something fishy. Sure, it might not turn him into a Sunday starting signal caller. But, does anyone really think he's got a chance of quarterbacking at the next level?

Maintain the kid's confidence, and give the offense the best chance of success. It's not the only choice, but it's the smartest one.

Ohio State "Sizzles" in Scarlet/Gray Game in Front of All Time Largest Spring Crowd

Law Buckeye — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:04:23 -0000

Having just returned to the creature comforts of my Victorian Village apartment from the 85 degree hot box on the banks of the Olentangy, I thought I'd give a quick sketch of this afternoon's Scarlet & Gray game; one of six Big Ten spring contests today.

The Best Damn Fans in the Land. An all-time record breaking crowd of 95,722 braved the blue skies, and 85 degree temperatures to pack the hot box Horseshoe to within 10,000 seats of capacity -- toppling Alabama's 2007 mark (92,138).

Pryor the Passer? No kidding. After a 2008 season saved by his gazelle-like glides to the outside, Terrelle showed he's come quite a way in the offseason. Standing firm in the backfield, Pryor routinely relied on his legs to evade pocket collapses, before planting his feet, turning on his hips, and delivering surprisingly sharp spirals to a number of incipient targets, like Taurian Washington (4 catches, 92 yards, 1 TD), who pulled in a 44-yard touchdown completion.

In just two quarters of play Pryor was 13-18 racking up a career high 191 yards in the air for the Gray. Sure, it was against a mixed first and second string defense, but his progress can't be discounted.

Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com

Shake and Bake. This team is athletic and (gasp!) quick. There's a noticible difference in explosiveness, particularly:

Sophomore WR Lamaar Thomas, who handled kick return duties for the Scarlet. Although Thomas bobbled two easy catches early on, his presence on special teams was powerful -- his small figure (5-11, 186) allowed him to knife through coverages in a seemingly invincible canter.
Junior RB Brandon Saine (55 yards, 6 carries). Saine, who enjoyed an outstanding freshman debut -- only to wallow through injuries in 2008, appears to be back on his feet -- taking his first carry from scrimmage 17 yards untouched into the Scarlet secondary.
Senior WR Ray Small (4 catches, 72 yards, 1 TD). After dropping his first attempt -- to the frustration of the crowd -- Small was elusive and decisive on skinny post routes. His best reception, a 43 yard touchdown grab, was fluid and balanced. Small seems to be in much better control of his body than last season.

Still, not everyone showboated. I came away a little disappointed with:

Sophomore WR DeVier Posey (5 catches, 46 yards), who failed to support a struggling scarlet pass game. While he pulled down several short slants from Second String QB Joe Bauserman, he was often outpaced in traffic, losing tight throws off his hands.
Junior Thaddeus Gibson, who led a scarlet defensive line that was ripped open more than once, providing easy daylight for Dan Herron and Brandon Saine. Although, to be fair, Gibson did step up in the third-quarter, assisting in several tackles for losses.

Where Have You Been? Fifth-year senior RB Marcus Williams (94 yards, 6 carries).

Overall, this was a surprisingly encouraging performance for the new Buckeye offense. After watching three different receivers (James Jackson, Ray Small, Taurian Washington) amass over 50 yards, and one more come close (DeVier Posey), I'm cautiously optimistic that this team might have the receiver corps to present a more dynamic attack.

A pass presence would be a Godsend, as the running corps continues to look solid -- although predisposed to the outside lanes.

(More on this when I drop Ohio State's 2009 Spring Preview installment later this week).