Let's get a few things out on the table. Ohio State is the better team. The Buckeyes are more athletic, they have more talent and are 2-to-3 TDs better than Northwestern. That being said, if you simply saw the score you'd say "another blowout against Ohio State". You'd be right. Partially. After outplaying Ohio State in a 7-7 first quarter, the Cats simply could not capitalize and finish on defense on a slew of third and long situations. Busted plays turned into sandlot football and Ohio State's athleticism shined brightly in these moments and Cats fans celebrating what seemed like defensive stops turned into paydirt plays for the Buckeyes.
The fourth straight lopsided loss to Ohio State is like a giant "challenge" flag being thrust at the 50-yard line at Ryan Field. Yes, Northwestern has made its mark as a middle of the pack Big Ten program, but until we can consistently compete in close games with Ohio State we have not reached that elusive next level in our program's history. That, and packing the place with our own fans will be the true testament of legitmacy for Fitz and the Cats. Those of you (and there were many) who coughed up your season ticket seats to Ohio State fans should be much more embarassed than the Cats performance.
The silver lining is Mike Kafka is giving NU fans hope for 2009, which until three weeks ago sent shivers into most of us for fear of the slip-back year. I was surrounded by Buckeye fans in my season seats and the extremely knowledgeable visiting fans were gushing with praise about Kafka, and our spread, in general. We all know moving the ball means little unless you can convert, but I think once Fitz and company take the shackles off of Kafka and let him throw in throwing situations (I think he's looked great throwing the ball) we have ourselves a solid QB for next year. No this 45-10 loss was not in the same league as the previous three blowouts, however, in the end it is still a blowout loss and there are no asterisks. I'm disappointed by the score, but am anxious to see how the Cats respond at the Big House against a Michigan team that stepped-up today and said "we're very much alive". Away we go...
The Great
None. OK, for Northwestern none. Terelle (ed: apologies for the earlier "Tyrelle" spelling as I was wishfully thinking of our long lost RB game, wink KC) Pryor certainly was. He was 9-14 for 197 yds, 3 TDs, O INTs and a few brilliant deep daggers that were perfect in a tough wind. Beanie Wells was a warrior shaking off two INTs to persevere to get his 140 yards and 2 TDs.
The Good.
Kafka's opening drives of both halves. Mike orchestrated two 70+ scoring drives including one of the more impressive drives the Buckeyes have given up all year. Kafka mixed good passing with his signature shifty runs to rack-up 10 points on these two drives. The Buckeyes, of course, adjusted well and held the Cats to goose eggs the rest of the way.
The Stat - 7/9, 19
The Buckeyes were 7 of 9 on 3rd downs of 8+ yards and averaged 19 yards on these plays. Simply put, this was the game. The first half infuriated Cats fans as the Buckeyes repeatedly made big plays on 3rd and 13, 3rd and 16 and even 3rd and 18. Pryor made remarkable passes and it makes you wonder why Pryor didn't get the call to throw more as our secondary was outsized, outmatched and outplayed all day long.
The Disappointing
Defensive Fundamentals
Let's see. Beanie Wells 55-yard TD run was unacceptable in that he was stopped dead for rights i the backfield and somehow we let him escape the grasp. Terrelle Pryor was in the grasp after getting flushed, yet we let him escape and he threw a dart for the "it's over" 31st point. The 3rd and longs had play after play of issues and missed opportunities. Our players were in position to make stops all day and simple things like basic tackling technique and secondary ball recognition were the difference.
Offensive Playcalling
I thought the opening series was brilliant. However, I'm already tired of the ultraconservative wraps we're putting on Kafka. We conceded a series at the end of the first half when we were down 17. Instead of trying to get points with 90-seconds to go, we went into a shell when we could have possibly grabbed major momentum before the half. However, my biggest bone to pick was with the two consecutive conservative run plays when, down only two scores (24-10) and in Buckeye territory with a 2nd and 20 and then 3rd and 17 we went Simmons off-tackle and QB draw. You've got to throw the ball in those situations. Period.
Turnovers
The three TOs only cost us 10 points and not the game, but we simply don't get takeaways in our losses. We need to make plays and create TOs to have a chance against teams like this. We continue to be careless with the ball which is very un-Fitz like.
Final Thoughts
This was Jim Delany's nightmare of a day. Penn State's national title hopes went up in flames at Iowa which will be interpreted as confirmation of Big Ten's weakness, not parity. Michigan thumped Minnesota taking a leg out from the chair of what was a solid season until November for the Gophers. Ohio State pounced the Cats in a near home game crowd for the Buckeyes illustrating the attendance issues in the Big Ten's backyard. Illinois became the latest MAC casualty in a disturbing trend.
I'm actually able to flush this loss quickly as I had managed expectations entering the game. We've got two winnable games in front of us that would make us ecstatic if we can hold court in games in which we'll be favored. If anyone told you 9-3, 5-3 you'd have bought it in a heartbeat in August. The Michigan game has a whole new flavor after their resurgent smackdown today in Minnesota.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
I wouldn't worry about the Big 10. Certain other conferences make arguments based on emotion rather than logic. They should replace the crystal football with a therapist's chair for the National Championship, it seems to have given the SEC a collective inferiority complex.
thank you so much for your insight. i love lake the posts and read it daily (i'm a buckeye fan, in the interest of full disclosure) and am traveling in japan so this was the first in depth review that i have read on the game.
i empathize with your frustration in the offensive play calling, looking at eleven warriors or MotSaG, you can see most the same thing for our year. i will say that i think that Northwestern has made huge strides this year and your offense is still one of the most dangerous in the big ten in putting up points. i wouldn't worry so much about your qb, because if your defense gets better skill players there is going to be a shift in power in the big ten. the cats fans should have nothing but pride in their team.
o, and the BcS is for the birds (edited for family audiences), i wouldn't worry too much about how the rest of the country views us. in my 15 years of following buckeye football, the 'media' (for lack of a better word) has always hated us.
good luck on your remaining games and do well in your bowl game. go big ten!
The blowout was unacceptable. Since the mid-90’s (when NU reinstituted its football program) we have often been overmatched talent-wise by our opponents, but have found ways to win or stay in the game—except when it comes to Ohio State. Please don’t cite the 2005 game, when we weren’t overmatched, talent-wise, by a mediocre OSU team, and none of their fans, who surrounded me at the game, were surprised by the outcome of that game.
Ohio State owns us, and both our team and fans have bought into this mentality. Why do you see OSU fans and blogs say nice things about us? Because they know they own us. Makes me sick.
NU is fully capable of bouncing back for the remaining games. That is good, but it is not an excuse for being blown out yearly by OSU. Sorry, but I still think this blowout exceeds the loss to Indiana in disappointing results. Indiana was sloppy football, but it wasn’t “I can’t possibly win this game” football.
Anyone who saw this game could easily see that the game was simply not the same blowout in days of yore. Unlike most of the former games when we were getting blown off the line on every play, and when our quarterback was just a tackling dummy, we actually played with them for a majority of the game.
To be clear. NU just broke down on fundamentals (i.e., tackling and coverage) on 15 plays, and Ohio State made them pay (like good teams will). We deserved to lose for two reason: (1) they were simply better; and (2) we played worse on the big plays.
One more thing. Pryor was spectacular. Maybe it's just me, and it looks like he's moving in slow motion, and I honestly think it looks like he throws like a girl. But his throws were spot on. And when he decided to run, the Cats couldn't keep up.
I agree with LTP on this one. Funny, I was more positive after the IU loss and he is more positive after this one. I really thought this one hurt more because of the blowout. As for the big 10 comments, I agree. How about posted about how the SEC is overrated? The SEC has two power teams (Bama, UF). The Big 12 has three (UT, OU, Texas Tech). The Pac 10 has one (USC). The Big Ten has maybe one (PSU). The loss hurts but if people say same old big 10 -- prove it with a post that shows that top to bottom we have parity -- just like the SEC. Iowa beating PSU is just like Ole Miss beating Florida.
As for NU -- release the hounds against UM by letting Kafka pass!!
I will note one positive out of this weekend -- one more win for NU, and we're basically guaranteed an escape from the Motor City Bowl.
Illinois' loss against Western Michigan, combined with what most of us would say is a highly likely loss against Ohio State next week means that their best possible record (if they beat NU) is 6-6.
Wisconsin meanwhile has 2 games left (Minnesota and Cal-Poly) -- if they lose one, their best possible record is 6-6.
Minnesota could lose 2 more games (Wisconsin and Iowa) and end 7-5.
Big Ten Rules state that no winning team (7-5 or better) can be skipped for a 6-6 team. Thus, as long as the 7th place team in the Big Ten (Wisconsin or Illinois) is at best 6-6, NU cannot, by rule, be skipped over by the Insight Bowl or any other other higher bowl for that team. So the 6-6 team would be relegated to the Motor City Bowl.
The Nightmare scenario? Wisconsin wins out, Illinois loses out, and 8-4 Northwestern gets passed over for 7-5 Wisconsin and 7-5 Minnesota, with us going to Detroit.
Again, though, that's pretty unlikely....at least, I hope not.
(If NU wins its final two games, it CANNOT end up in Detroit....so GO CATS!)
Okay, with a good night's sleep, here's my perspective on Tressel and sportsmanship, or lack thereof:
- Fake punt: this was legitimate. Plenty of time left in the game, stiff wind, they were only up 21, and we've quickly put up points before. Not too mad about this...but...
- Deep bomb immediately following the fake punt: ridiculous. You have a 21 point lead, you're in our territory, you need to run down the clock/protect the ball...and you're bombing away. Our D needs to step up and break that play up or force a turnover, but based on the situation in the game, Tressel should have been pounding it up the gut. If they scored on that drive doing that, no big deal, but to throw deep -- slightly bad sportsmanship....but not as bad as...
- Final TD with 7 seconds left: Look, I've heard all the arguments, or read them on the Rivals board. Yes, NU's defense needs to stop them. Yes, those were OSU 2nd and 3rd stringers who deserve a shot to play. Yes they called a running play up the middle.
The bigger point, though, is that A KNEE ENDED THE GAME. OSU was already up 28 points. It's backups had gotten some playing time (driving the ball from midfield down to near the 10) and done the job they were called upon to do which was to get the game to a point to run out the clock. NU had no chance to comeback (28 points in less than 20 seconds? Has never happened).
So why even call a (non-kneel down) play?
I'm sorry, Jim, that was bush league (or SEC) football. NU should have stopped it, but no play needed to be run at all. And don't tell me they did it for style points, either. Do you think any journalist or watcher would have said "It was a close 28 point win for OSU" and then changed their perspective to "35 point blowout" because of that score? No way.
2011 cannot come soon enough. Fitz is bringing in talent, and now is fired up with anger at OSU (all the news stories hinted VERY obviously that he thought it was bush-league). The next game is circled on our calendar -- I hope its at the Horseshoe, so our players can run up the score and stomp on the O at midfield, just to disrespect those losers. Hell, if I'm at that game and NU wins, I'll storm OSU'S field and tear down their goalpost myself....
There is a time and a place for run-heavy conservative play calling: It's when you're trying to hold on to a lead.
When you are down against Ohio State, it does you no good.
Kafka is brilliant, he's no Pryor but he is a damn good QB who can run AND throw.
TRUST HIM!
Put some faith in him and let him throw! when we mixed it up we had the Buckeyes on their heels but every time we tightened our play-calling belt they knew exactly what to do.
You cannot just run the same old plays every down and expect to fool a defense like OSU, and you can't expect to convert a 3rd and long with a draw play!
This was the game to take the gloves off and come out swinging. We did it in the 1st quarter, but lordy did the coaches abandon it.
Lesson from Iowa: we down by multiple scores in the end 2nd quarter, score quick before the half. It puts faith in the players and gives hope to the fans.
It sucks that we can't follow our own motto, "Trust Yourself". How can we do that when we don't put the ball and the games in the hands of our leaders on the field. It seems like they let Kafka throw for a bit,and he'll throw an int. or an incomplete pass - and they won't let him pass anymore. That's gonna happen, shit Farve has like a million interceptions - but he's still a great QB. Our play calling has been extremely conservative, and our players will never be able to "Trust Themselves" if the coaches can't even trust them.
And on another note, I am pissed off at Tressel like the next guy, but he's the only BIG 10 coach so far that goes for the kill. I was watching games yesterday with my friend and he made the point that other football coaches go for the kill in games. They throw deep balls, and don't look back - cuz it's football. The Big 10 has always been about defensive strategies - but if you look at other programs, defense is part of it, but not all of it.
I was talking crap about Texas Tech last week, but after watching them against Oklahoma State - they're offense is AMAZING, and I don't think any team in the Big 10 is a juggernaut like other schools out there.(Texas, Texas Tech, Alabama, Florida, LSU, USC, ANY OTHER TEAM!)
All this being said, I'm ready to flush this and go to the Big House!
So this doesn't sound like sour grapes, let me say this: clearly OSU was the better team, and would have thumped us regardless.
That said, OSU remains one of the dirtiest, most classless teams in College Football. I was at the game and haven't looked at the stats yet, but I recall something in the order of 5-7 (?) OSU personal fouls; shoving and in-your-face jammering after every play; and of course the Tressel playcalling at the end.
This is a team that doesn't need intimidation, or dirty play to compete. They are a very very good football team.
But to play the way they did, and to run the plays they did with such a big lead (thanks Chaddog for the summary) is just purely classless (and reminds me of the Nebraska flea flicker in the Alamo bowl when they were already up big).
My disdain for OSU deepened yesterday; here's to seeing half their team jailed by the start of the 2009 season.
I want CJ out there against Michigan.
Of course, if possible, I'd like to see them both out there at the same time. On the surface, it would seem like changing the formation at this point in the season would be a huge challenge. But I'm not sure it would be. A 2 QB formation doesn't effect the WRs too much, but it could certainly put some additional stress on the line.
The biggest challenge would probably be changing the play calling signals.
Next Saturday will be my first road game. I'm looking forward to it.
El Supakat is right on with the "trust yourself" mantra. Of course, we rarely passed deep with Bacher in there either. It still applies. No matter who is playing, throw deep to keep the safeties honest -- it will open up the running and short passes. I am not sure if it's McCall or Fitz, but they need to figure it out, become aggressive. Also, we need to use the no huddle/hurry up offense a lot more. We seem to be a rhythm team and this keeps the defense off balance -- or at least makes it harder to change personnel.
Go Cats! 9 and 3... 9 and 3.... someplace warm....
My dad and I braved the pro-Buckeye crowd at Ryan nee Dyche. Although we sat on the NU side immediately to the right of the student section, Buckeyes fans surrounded us. Their fans were almost as classless as Tressel pretending to be aghast at their last-second TD. Sure, Jim, you were really broken up about it when you could have called for a kneel down.
Dad was scared stiff every time Kafka threw the ball. He doesn't have good command and telegraphs his passes. Bacher has better velocity and a cleaner delivery. Dad said, "Well, Kafka was pretty good for a underclassman. He can work on his throwing in the offseason." I reminded him that Kafka will be a senior next year. Dad had a look on his face that said it all: Doesn't NU have a QB coach?
thanks all for the passionate and thorough comments. I'm confident we're going to take care of business on Saturday. I'm going to bookmark these comments and revisit in 2011 the next time we play Ohio State. They are the last bastion of the respectability hurdle for our program. I'm quite sick of it...
Post a Comment