2008 Eulogy

[buckeyeabroad]

Well we really stunk it up this year. After 3 less-than warranted years of Big10 bashing, the critics are proven right.

Purdue, NWestern Minny, Indy. Blah, blah, blah. Whatever... Cannon fodder, plain and simple.
Prospects for 2009 revival- Get serious!

Wisky- preseason top 15. Ranked 8-9 four weeks into 2008. Initial demise at TTUN. Completely unraveled after we smoked 'em at home. never knew bands were so critical to success.
Prospect of 2009 revival- scant-to-none. Forthcoming year not to be viewed with rose-or-any-bowl-colored glasses.

Illinoying. Was Rasheed Mendenhall REALLY that important? Is Juice really that impotent? What about those great recruiting classes Zook had 2-4 years ago? Isn't he demonstrating anyone with talent should stay the hell away from Illinois?
Prospect for 2009 revival- grimmer than Wisky.

Mich State. Beneficiary of weakened league. That's the full story. Evidence- performance against the best- PenUS and OSU.
Prospect for 2009 revival- how would you feel about losing Ringer and Hoyer? Still, a look through their roster shows hope. Similar results to 2008.

TTUN. Truth is, if the Big10 sucks, it's not OSU's fault. Critics bash away. At least, Tress and our teams upheld OSU and Big10 tradition. We made it to bowls. We made it to NCG's. We've ecruited well and exploited the Domers' disappearance. So you see how I feel about culprits of Big10 demise. Let's have contribution from our Board Meaties, or other Buckeyes.
Prospect for 2009 revival- Could it get any worse? TTUN makes it back to .500.

PenUS- Good 2008. Not great. Only 1 quality win. Unfortunately at The Shoe (and we did NOT have a good year). Truth is Paterno- as much as I like and respect him- is holding back their program. They need re-invigoration. A coaching big blue pill. It's time to go, Joe.
Prospect for 2009 revival- I see more potential for improvement in our squad. But PenUS may well repeat primarily because the big game is there.

OSU- A disappointing 2008. Normally I'm happy with 1-11, if our 1 is against TTUN, but this was not a normal year. We lost all our big games except Wisky and Sparty. And those really were not that big. We played a candy-assed schedule. We blew the PenUS game (sorry for that line). But we still finished 10-3. So for a poor year, not too shabby.
Prospect for 2009 revival- Challenging nonconf games. PenUS on the road. TTUN on the road. Fair-good chance to repeat as Big10 Champs. We need more consistent coaching, some new talent emerging, and some breaks against injuries.

[buckeyeabroad]

Oh, Iowa.

No comment. Not worth it.

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Jan 6, 2009 9:30:01 GMT -5 @buckeyeabroad said:

Here are my projections for the teams you mentioned. By the way, nice analysis of each season. A BL will be on its way when I'm done.

Wisky- No PJ Hill, no QB, no Jan 1st bowl game. Good news, they won't have to travel all the way down south to play again. Detroit is much closer.

Illinoying- The bright spot they did have (Davis) will be gone. Williams won't be much better next year. Let's be honest, if he hasn't made much improvement as a passer yet, it ain't happening. CBs around the conference are waiting for their chance to pad their INT stats against him. They may beat Mizzou since defense was never really a part of that game and they MU loses their start QB.

Mich State- Dantonio will keep the Spartans on track. Unfortunately there are still 2 bigger trains on that same track. They very likely might drop the TTUN game and should get another beat down by the B10s top teams. In the long run, I think MSU benefits from Hoyer's departure.

TTUN- Yet another loss in their opener. OSU will provide another ugly beatdown. TTUN plays in a bowl game shortly after Christmas. Good news, they'll be back home before the Christmas dinner leftovers are gone or have gone bad. More good news, they'll get to watch some good bowl games on New Years Day.

PenUS- Spread HD loses its reception (or receivers) and goes to spread "used to be." PSU loses 3 games thus paving the way for a familiar scene.

OSU- Growing pains on D will put a lot of pressure on the O. Pryor will find the game more difficult his soph. season as he will have to make passes and not be able to run as much. Posey will become the new go to guy. Boom will help Buckeye fans quickly forget about Beanie.

[victor2111]

Nice write BaB: My predictions of some of the teams you list:

Illinois: They still have Juice...and still have Been. So they have 1 great WR and a solid QB. I think they IMPROVE next year with a solid...yes solid... 8-4 year

MSU: Tell me when they get a QB...and losing Ringer will hurt. So hard to tell about MSU here.

UM: It can't get worse...right?? I say bowling with a 6-6 record!

PSU: Lose their top 3 WR. Have fun replacing them PSU! At least they have Daryl Clark coming back!

OSU: Well...well...well - Their OFF will have talent at every position. I like the new WR and new RB and well there is that Mr Pryor guy at QB. On DEF...we lose a lot...CB will be a BIG ? for OSU. Chekwa didn't have his best game against UT and could be the #1 guy next year with MJ going pro and maybe D-Washington following him. Good news is we bring in 4DB that have a lot of talent. Bad news is well they're very young. : ( Big 10 champs...Big 10 champs...AGAIN!

GO BUCKEYES!

[buckeyeabroad]

Jan 7, 2009 14:14:57 GMT -5 victor2111 said:

Chekwa didn't have his best game against UT...

They threw at his ass all night. He had 11 solo tackles. And I did not see him miss too many (any??) open field. The education of Chimdi Chekwa...

I think he held up pretty well. Rough night? Sure. But damn, I mean he and Washington were riding a helicopter over a fireworks show!

[victor2111]

Jan 8, 2009 13:58:15 GMT -5 @buckeyeabroad said:

Jan 7, 2009 14:14:57 GMT -5 victor2111 said:

Chekwa didn't have his best game against UT...

They threw at his ass all night. He had 11 solo tackles. And I did not see him miss too many (any??) open field. The education of Chimdi Chekwa...

I think he held up pretty well. Rough night? Sure. But damn, I mean he and Washington were riding a helicopter over a fireworks show!

I like CHekwa but you usually don't want your CB to have 11 solo tackles...Those tackles are only good if they are at the LOS. Usually when a CB has a lot of tackle it means = he is letting the WR get open and making catches.

UT was smart. They didn't attack Jenkins and attacked the other DB and Chekwa got thrown at a lot in the game.

[buckeyeabroad]

Jan 8, 2009 14:02:01 GMT -5 victor2111 said:

Jan 8, 2009 13:58:15 GMT -5 @buckeyeabroad said:

They threw at his ass all night. He had 11 solo tackles. And I did not see him miss too many (any??) open field. The education of Chimdi Chekwa...

I think he held up pretty well. Rough night? Sure. But damn, I mean he and Washington were riding a helicopter over a fireworks show!

I like CHekwa but you usually don't want your CB to have 11 solo tackles...Those tackles are only good if they are at the LOS. Usually when a CB has a lot of tackle it means = he is letting the WR get open and making catches.

UT was smart. They didn't attack Jenkins and attacked the other DB and Chekwa got thrown at a lot in the game.

Completely agree. 11 solo tackles by a CB is not preferred. But Chekwa was in pretty tight coverage on most of his man-2-mans. He made the tackles in his zone.

McCoy threw successfully into tight coverage all season. CC was just another victim. CC could of had more break ups but he did what he had to do- not miss the tackles.

Today a buddy of mine from Texas- former college player whose 3 sons played college too. Two of them played HS FB against Graham Harrell- told me what most amazed him and his sons watching OSU was how few open field tackles we missed. They thought we were the best coached D they'd seen in 2 years of watching CFB. Interesting unbiased impression. btw they are Baylor fans and rooted for us. If they got that impression, our leading tackler- CC- must have contributed.

I still think Coleman is our beast in next year's D backfield but CC will do great.

Do you really think Washington is gone? That would suck.

[victor2111]

Jan 8, 2009 14:51:24 GMT -5 @buckeyeabroad said:

Jan 8, 2009 14:02:01 GMT -5 victor2111 said:

I like CHekwa but you usually don't want your CB to have 11 solo tackles...Those tackles are only good if they are at the LOS. Usually when a CB has a lot of tackle it means = he is letting the WR get open and making catches.

UT was smart. They didn't attack Jenkins and attacked the other DB and Chekwa got thrown at a lot in the game.

Completely agree. 11 solo tackles by a CB is not preferred. But Chekwa was in pretty tight coverage on most of his man-2-mans. He made the tackles in his zone.

McCoy threw successfully into tight coverage all season. CC was just another victim. CC could of had more break ups but he did what he had to do- not miss the tackles.

Today a buddy of mine from Texas- former college player whose 3 sons played college too. Two of them played HS FB against Graham Harrell- told me what most amazed him and his sons watching OSU was how few open field tackles we missed. They thought we were the best coached D they'd seen in 2 years of watching CFB. Interesting unbiased impression. btw they are Baylor fans and rooted for us. If they got that impression, our leading tackler- CC- must have contributed.

I still think Coleman is our beast in next year's D backfield but CC will do great.

Do you really think Washington is gone? That would suck.

I think D-Washington could go..there has been talks for a long time that he might make the jump so we will see.

I love Kurt Coleman game and think working with Doss this off-season was very helpful for him.

[buckeyeabroad]

Washington was a real gamer in the Fiesta. It was the first time I really noticed him. Fighting cramps all night, refusing to stay out. My bad for not watching more before now. Hope he comes back...

[victor2111]

Jan 8, 2009 16:41:13 GMT -5 @buckeyeabroad said:

Washington was a real gamer in the Fiesta. It was the first time I really noticed him. Fighting cramps all night, refusing to stay out. My bad for not watching more before now. Hope he comes back...

He is good/solid CB. The only reason he is thinking going about pro is because of the trouble he has got in is why most people think. I think he'll be back and him/Chekwa will be a good 1-2 CB. Nothing close to MJ but they will be solid.

[silverbullet97]

One thing to keep in mind next year is the new starters on the offensive line. They will most certainly could not be any worse than this years and by most accounts should be better. A better offensive line will help Pryor more than anything else. We aint playin Ohio State football until our O-Line is kicking tail.