My Post Game Thoughts

Smart · 10-30-2011, 09:20 AM

This was my after midnight attempt to calm down following the game. I didn't have internet so I couldn't post it until now:

Losses are always tough, but this was on another level. There are so many places you can look at and say “that cost us the game”, and I’ll probably get to a lot of them. Still, even after all of the catastrophes, we had this game. It was ours and we gave it right back to them, and I’ll doubt I will ever get over that.

I’m sure that a lot of the post game talk is going to be on how Russell blew it again. That is total and absolute bull shit. He played well when he had no receivers open. When he had to step it up, he led his team down the field twice to take the lead. He played another great game. I’m sure after his performance tonight, they’ll give the Heisman to Luck. I saw Lou Holtz say he never had more respect for Andrew Luck than when he rallied his team at the end. Well, Russell did the same thing twice and has better overall statistics. Russell should win the Heisman, but nobody’s going to consider him. That’s truly unfortunate.

The offense’s major problem was a fundamental planning problem. You can’t have 6’8 330 pound lineman covering a 210 pound linebacker. OSU stacked the box with linebackers all game, and our linemen couldn’t tolerate that. It pretty much eliminated the running game, which is a major credit to Ohio State.

That said, the passing game has to be your option when they try to stop the running game. Our receivers were not getting open all night. Yes, they had less time than normal, but you have to get open. Part of this is that lingering Nick Toon injury that no one is talking about. He’s been nowhere near 100% the last games, and it has had a huge impact. Abbredaris is a solid #2, but he has not been able to be a full game #1. That said, he made some great plays to keep us in the game. It’s just too bad nobody else stepped up before that.

The defensive line was god awful today. Seriously, they were getting pushed around all day. The linebackers were everywhere just like every other week. You can look at some missed tackles by them and get a little angry, but if we had 11 players as good as Borland, Taylor, and Claxton, we wouldn’t have a problem. It’s easy to get pissed at the secondary after that last play, but they played well the whole game (especially Aaron Henry). Cromartie getting beat at the end left a sour taste in the mouth, especially because he got beat by a guy named Devin Smith. I’d be fine if we went with Peniel Jean at that #2 spot. All that said, the defense was pretty good for most of the most of the night. They weren’t the biggest problem tonight.

That title goes to Special Teams. Yes, they recovered the fumble. Outside of that, there was nothing to be excited about. We weren’t getting beyond the 20 on kickoffs at all. We had a blocked punt that was in essence recovered for a touchdown. The last play never would have happened if we hadn’t let them return it to the 50. You’d have thought after costing us the win last week, the special teams would want to prove themselves. Instead, they lost the game for us again.

Finally, I can’t talk about the game without talking about the officiating. I hate to be the guy who talks about the refs costing us the game. That said, the refs were incredibly one sided in this game. They missed at least four really obvious holds or blocks in the back. By really obvious, I mean a hold where pulled jersey is clearly visible near the ball, and the blocks in the back where blocks directly in the back right next to the ball. The worst missed hold was on the deep run by Herron at the start of the second. The OSU player held us for at least fifteen yards right next to the ball. There was also a terrible no call on a really obvious OSU interference against Toon that ended a drive. I’ve seen a lot of games where a bad call here or there made a difference. This was one-sided officiating all day, and it was beyond frustrating.

The last question becomes “What Now”? I still think that we are a really good team. I’ll be pretty stunned if we don’t win out. Penn State’s a good team, but I don’t see us losing at Camp Randall. I guess Illinois could be a loss if the conditions were right, but it seems like a long shot. If we beat Purdue and Minnesota as well, we go 6-2 in the conference. We’d thus need OSU to have one loss in their final four (this seems likely), and we’d need Penn State to lose another game (to either OSU or Nebraska). This seems likely as well. Even after these two tough losses, we can still win the Big Ten. Hopefully, we can fix our issues and put ourselves in a position to win the conference.

ForkEmBucky · 10-30-2011, 10:51 AM

I think teams are seeing something on video with our offensive line. They're good enough to dominate, and if they don't our offense will struggle a bit because Toon is playing hurt, and Abby is more of a Wes Welker time of receiver, not always going to be a down field threat. Toon actually has quite a bit of speed when he's healthy. Pederson is average, in my opinion. We really needed Duckworth and Wilis to step up this season, Garner too. They've had their opportunities and didn't do much with them.

Our defense is spotty. Take Taylor and Borland out of the mix and they're just bad. Shelton Johnson is good, but dinged up. Fenelus is good but out on an island.

Lastly. The special teams are terrible. Both of those losses could have been wins despite the battles that the offense and defense occasionally lost, but the special teams...Nortman and that punt unit especially, are game killers. They are youth league bad...

Smart · 10-30-2011, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForkEmBucky

Lastly. The special teams are terrible. Both of those losses could have been wins despite the battles that the offense and defense occasionally lost, but the special teams...Nortman and that punt unit especially, are game killers. They are youth league bad...

That's the thing... special teams are the reason we lost both games. It's not just the punting, but also the kick returns. All of our opponents are getting out to the 25-30 every time. Outside of one nice return, i'm not sure we ever started beyond the 20. I have no idea about the Special Teams structure (who our coordinator is, etc.), but whoever is in charge needs to be reassigned or fired. They've cost us our chance at a perfect season, and then they had a week to fix the prblems and couldn't. That should be a job killer.

BigAppleBadger · 10-30-2011, 12:47 PM

The offensive line this year isn't even close to last year's. They don't get any push against good D-lines. And our defense sucks. Part of that is injuries, but they lose contain on every other play and the tackling has been atrocious.

ForkEmBucky · 10-30-2011, 02:11 PM

I'm actually really disappointed in the special teamers because I thought they might be a strength this year with some of the younger talent in there. But my GOD... If you don't know what to do just block SOMEbody.

The offensive line just looks so weird to me. On one down they'll blow the DLine off the ball, but then they won't finish the block and get to the next level.

On another down they'll look like they're late off the snap, and get stood up. I don't think they're very comfortable right now. They need to be shuffled up. I don't want to see Oglesby on the bench, but they need to get Groy in there. He's got energy, and that may be a difference maker on that line.

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:16 PM

ForkEmBucky · 10-30-2011, 02:23 PM

At least we handled the hasbeens.

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:25 PM

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:25 PM

just wait for the rematch....oh wait wait wait hold on!!!! gimme one second

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:26 PM

there is this one:

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:26 PM

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:27 PM

see, i like this one, because it shows how he ran away from your tacklers....on his way to beating you

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:28 PM

and finally...my personal favorite:

ForkEmBucky · 10-30-2011, 02:34 PM

Notice how you can't find any of your OWN team? I think it's hilarious, and I was thinking it last week and all day yesterday, how you retards think it makes sense to be so proud of another team doing what your team couldn't do.

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForkEmBucky

Notice how you can't find any of your OWN team? I think it's hilarious, and I was thinking it last week and all day yesterday, how you retards think it makes sense to be so proud of another team doing what your team couldn't do.

....thats because i didn't look for any of my team because my intention was not to discuss my team. my intention was to bring up how your team lost in very similar fashion 2 weeks in a row.

ForkEmBucky · 10-30-2011, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chucksker

....thats because i didn't look for any of my team because my intention was not to discuss my team. my intention was to bring up how your team lost in very similar fashion 2 weeks in a row.

Again. You fail to understand how pitiful you look championing other teams success against us, when you got absolutely clown stomped.

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:43 PM

hey remember when we clown stomped the team that beat you guys??? and then when we beat the OTHER team that beat you guys??? i do

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForkEmBucky

Again. You fail to understand how pitiful you look championing other teams success against us, when you got absolutely clown stomped.

and on this "championing other teams" i disagree that i am doing that. i am simply pointing out that we beat both teams that beat you.

ForkEmBucky · 10-30-2011, 02:46 PM

We've already discussed all that. LOL @ the transitive theory.

chucksker · 10-30-2011, 02:56 PM

i never said to use the transitive theory. and i also never said we would beat you in any rematch. i have simply stated that we beat the teams that beat you. i haven't said that makes us better than you, i haven't said that we have improved more than your team, i haven't said anything along any of those lines. i have plain and simply laughed at your misfortunes

10-30-2011, 02:11 PM	#5
ForkEmBucky King Nothing Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 21,309 Rep Power: 133160	I'm actually really disappointed in the special teamers because I thought they might be a strength this year with some of the younger talent in there. But my GOD... If you don't know what to do just block SOMEbody. The offensive line just looks so weird to me. On one down they'll blow the DLine off the ball, but then they won't finish the block and get to the next level. On another down they'll look like they're late off the snap, and get stood up. I don't think they're very comfortable right now. They need to be shuffled up. I don't want to see Oglesby on the bench, but they need to get Groy in there. He's got energy, and that may be a difference maker on that line. __________________ Born on third, thinks he got a triple.

10-30-2011, 02:16 PM	#6
chucksker Chuck Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tejas Posts: 11,454 Rep Power: 13298	__________________ "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

10-30-2011, 02:23 PM	#7
ForkEmBucky King Nothing Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 21,309 Rep Power: 133160	At least we handled the hasbeens. __________________ Born on third, thinks he got a triple.

10-30-2011, 02:25 PM	#8
chucksker Chuck Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tejas Posts: 11,454 Rep Power: 13298	__________________ "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

10-30-2011, 02:25 PM	#9
chucksker Chuck Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tejas Posts: 11,454 Rep Power: 13298	just wait for the rematch....oh wait wait wait hold on!!!! gimme one second __________________ "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

10-30-2011, 09:20 AM	#1
Smart UW-Madison, Class of 2012 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 2,410 Rep Power: 15959	My Post Game Thoughts This was my after midnight attempt to calm down following the game. I didn't have internet so I couldn't post it until now: Losses are always tough, but this was on another level. There are so many places you can look at and say “that cost us the game”, and I’ll probably get to a lot of them. Still, even after all of the catastrophes, we had this game. It was ours and we gave it right back to them, and I’ll doubt I will ever get over that. I’m sure that a lot of the post game talk is going to be on how Russell blew it again. That is total and absolute bull shit. He played well when he had no receivers open. When he had to step it up, he led his team down the field twice to take the lead. He played another great game. I’m sure after his performance tonight, they’ll give the Heisman to Luck. I saw Lou Holtz say he never had more respect for Andrew Luck than when he rallied his team at the end. Well, Russell did the same thing twice and has better overall statistics. Russell should win the Heisman, but nobody’s going to consider him. That’s truly unfortunate. The offense’s major problem was a fundamental planning problem. You can’t have 6’8 330 pound lineman covering a 210 pound linebacker. OSU stacked the box with linebackers all game, and our linemen couldn’t tolerate that. It pretty much eliminated the running game, which is a major credit to Ohio State. That said, the passing game has to be your option when they try to stop the running game. Our receivers were not getting open all night. Yes, they had less time than normal, but you have to get open. Part of this is that lingering Nick Toon injury that no one is talking about. He’s been nowhere near 100% the last games, and it has had a huge impact. Abbredaris is a solid #2, but he has not been able to be a full game #1. That said, he made some great plays to keep us in the game. It’s just too bad nobody else stepped up before that. The defensive line was god awful today. Seriously, they were getting pushed around all day. The linebackers were everywhere just like every other week. You can look at some missed tackles by them and get a little angry, but if we had 11 players as good as Borland, Taylor, and Claxton, we wouldn’t have a problem. It’s easy to get pissed at the secondary after that last play, but they played well the whole game (especially Aaron Henry). Cromartie getting beat at the end left a sour taste in the mouth, especially because he got beat by a guy named Devin Smith. I’d be fine if we went with Peniel Jean at that #2 spot. All that said, the defense was pretty good for most of the most of the night. They weren’t the biggest problem tonight. That title goes to Special Teams. Yes, they recovered the fumble. Outside of that, there was nothing to be excited about. We weren’t getting beyond the 20 on kickoffs at all. We had a blocked punt that was in essence recovered for a touchdown. The last play never would have happened if we hadn’t let them return it to the 50. You’d have thought after costing us the win last week, the special teams would want to prove themselves. Instead, they lost the game for us again. Finally, I can’t talk about the game without talking about the officiating. I hate to be the guy who talks about the refs costing us the game. That said, the refs were incredibly one sided in this game. They missed at least four really obvious holds or blocks in the back. By really obvious, I mean a hold where pulled jersey is clearly visible near the ball, and the blocks in the back where blocks directly in the back right next to the ball. The worst missed hold was on the deep run by Herron at the start of the second. The OSU player held us for at least fifteen yards right next to the ball. There was also a terrible no call on a really obvious OSU interference against Toon that ended a drive. I’ve seen a lot of games where a bad call here or there made a difference. This was one-sided officiating all day, and it was beyond frustrating. The last question becomes “What Now”? I still think that we are a really good team. I’ll be pretty stunned if we don’t win out. Penn State’s a good team, but I don’t see us losing at Camp Randall. I guess Illinois could be a loss if the conditions were right, but it seems like a long shot. If we beat Purdue and Minnesota as well, we go 6-2 in the conference. We’d thus need OSU to have one loss in their final four (this seems likely), and we’d need Penn State to lose another game (to either OSU or Nebraska). This seems likely as well. Even after these two tough losses, we can still win the Big Ten. Hopefully, we can fix our issues and put ourselves in a position to win the conference.

10-30-2011, 10:51 AM	#2
ForkEmBucky King Nothing Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 21,309 Rep Power: 133160	I think teams are seeing something on video with our offensive line. They're good enough to dominate, and if they don't our offense will struggle a bit because Toon is playing hurt, and Abby is more of a Wes Welker time of receiver, not always going to be a down field threat. Toon actually has quite a bit of speed when he's healthy. Pederson is average, in my opinion. We really needed Duckworth and Wilis to step up this season, Garner too. They've had their opportunities and didn't do much with them. Our defense is spotty. Take Taylor and Borland out of the mix and they're just bad. Shelton Johnson is good, but dinged up. Fenelus is good but out on an island. Lastly. The special teams are terrible. Both of those losses could have been wins despite the battles that the offense and defense occasionally lost, but the special teams...Nortman and that punt unit especially, are game killers. They are youth league bad... __________________ Born on third, thinks he got a triple. Last edited by ForkEmBucky; 10-30-2011 at 10:53 AM.

10-30-2011, 12:47 PM	#4
BigAppleBadger On Wisconsin Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Manhattan Posts: 653 Rep Power: 650	The offensive line this year isn't even close to last year's. They don't get any push against good D-lines. And our defense sucks. Part of that is injuries, but they lose contain on every other play and the tackling has been atrocious.

10-30-2011, 02:26 PM	#10
chucksker Chuck Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tejas Posts: 11,454 Rep Power: 13298	there is this one: __________________ "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

10-30-2011, 02:27 PM	#12
chucksker Chuck Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tejas Posts: 11,454 Rep Power: 13298	see, i like this one, because it shows how he ran away from your tacklers....on his way to beating you __________________ "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

10-30-2011, 02:28 PM	#13
chucksker Chuck Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tejas Posts: 11,454 Rep Power: 13298	and finally...my personal favorite: __________________ "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

10-30-2011, 02:34 PM	#14
ForkEmBucky King Nothing Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 21,309 Rep Power: 133160	Notice how you can't find any of your OWN team? I think it's hilarious, and I was thinking it last week and all day yesterday, how you retards think it makes sense to be so proud of another team doing what your team couldn't do. __________________ Born on third, thinks he got a triple.

10-30-2011, 02:43 PM	#17
chucksker Chuck Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tejas Posts: 11,454 Rep Power: 13298	hey remember when we clown stomped the team that beat you guys??? and then when we beat the OTHER team that beat you guys??? i do __________________ "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

10-30-2011, 02:46 PM	#19
ForkEmBucky King Nothing Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 21,309 Rep Power: 133160	We've already discussed all that. LOL @ the transitive theory. __________________ Born on third, thinks he got a triple.

10-30-2011, 02:56 PM	#20
chucksker Chuck Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tejas Posts: 11,454 Rep Power: 13298	i never said to use the transitive theory. and i also never said we would beat you in any rematch. i have simply stated that we beat the teams that beat you. i haven't said that makes us better than you, i haven't said that we have improved more than your team, i haven't said anything along any of those lines. i have plain and simply laughed at your misfortunes __________________ "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"