Springing eternalAs if by divine intervention, my home internet was knocked out shortly after the end of yesterday's stunner in West Lafayette. Comcast was able to restore service in the morning, but at that point, I was a little spent and not really up for recapping something so incredibly frustrating. But, we've recapped every other game, so consider this your tardy, abbreviated and angst-packed recap of the shot to the groin that was Saturday afternoon.
So here's what happened: Purdue, losers of five straight, rode the smart and efficient throwing of Joey Elliott to 26-18 victory over a flat Ohio State team that seemed to regress in several areas. For the first time since the opener, the defense had a bad outing and their refusal to play man coverage worked right into Danny Hope's smart and well executed gameplan. On the other side of the ball, what had been a pretty terrible Boilermaker defense took on the form of a dominant unit by forcing Pryor to beat them with his arm. And we know how that story ends at this point in his career.
There's a lot of anger out there in Buckeyeland. If Tressel's nine year honeymoon with the fans was over after the USC loss earlier this season, the fanbase is now sleeping on the couch. I can't speak for everyone, but to me, this isn't about losing. Okay, losing is never a pleasant experience, especially when it's a 1-5 Purdue. But what this is really about is the sudden realization that the Buckeyes are in a lot of trouble offensively. This was supposed to be the primer year, when a solid finish set things up for huge things next season. Instead, we have a situation where, 16 starts later, the franchise player is stuck at square one.
It wasn't all Pryor's fault, of course. The line might have had its worst outing all season and he faced pressure all afternoon. As mentioned, the defense was off with several missed tackles and I really can't credit enough Hope's gameplan on each side of the ball. But it's football and he's a quarterback. And supposedly one gifted enough to make up for some of the shortcomings of his teammates.
At what point does Tressel have to come to terms with the way the staff has developed Pryor? Of what the offense is trying to do? What do you do now after teams have figured out the simple zone read that you put in place after scrapping the pro style offense you spent all year working? Do you go back to the pro style? Do you have to think about giving the backup a series or two of he comes out against Minnesota like he has the last two weeks?
I also worry about Tressel's love of superstar youngsters that outgrow the program once, oh, every seven years or so. They're brasher, sometimes say things to get themselves in trouble with the press, supremely talented and Tressel loves them. One of the things that arose after Chris Brown's devastating indictment of the offense after the USC game was the fact that Pryor wasn't carrying out bootleg fakes on his handoffs. What other little things aren't happening because of perhaps a longer leash?
Right now, the questions far outweigh the answers and it will be interesting to see what the staff does over the course of the rest of the season and into the offseason. The Gophers come to town this weekend and normally, OSU wins on talent alone. But with Pete Carroll's blueprint on neutralizing Pryor and the Buckeye offense out there and perfected by Purdue (PURDUE!!), all of a sudden you have to wonder a little. New Mexico State will be a much-needed breather, but how does that Penn State-Iowa-Michigan sandwich to end the season sound right now?
Comments
I've heard that a can of Fosters and a bloomin' onion is a good way to ward off a New Years morning hangover while watching the Outback bowl
And as if on cue, Ronald Bellisario takes the mound for the Dodgers...
This season is f**cked. I don't care about the Big Ten title and I don't care about the Dog Sh*t bowl in Hickville, La we will eventually land in. The coaches have to start preparing for next year and hope that the players get their heads straight. I can't believe how much worse this offense looks. Tress, it's been fun but you need to get someone who knows how to run a real, D1-level offense or you need to hit the bricks. I'm convinced that a lot of coaches could do what you do on the field with the talent we have vs the lack thereof in the Big Ten. Your ability to mentor and shape young guys coming through the system is admirable and as a fan I really appreciate it. However, this 3-yards-and-a-punt garbage is going to start costing the program recruits, credibility, money (ticket sales), and most importantly fans. Tresselball isn't cute and it's not clever. Swallow your pride and do the right thing.
If Hazell really is part of the problem here, then nothing short of a new offensive line coach and offensive coordinator is going to make this a consistent, functional unit. I'm convinced of this.
It's interesting. Prior to USC, I was dead certain that our next coaching search was going to be one of the least exciting of all time, as Tressel would have enough credibility (to the average fan) left in the bank to hand-pick a successor; either Fickell or Hazell, mostly likely. Now I'm thinking we'll be so weary of this style of play that people will prefer an outside hire with at least some history of offensive innovation. The problem: I think OSU has a "type" when it comes to coaches, and your typical offensive genius (Mike Leach, etc.) doesn't quite fit that type. We'll see.
Terrelle Pryor. Wide receiver. I'd love a 6'6 wide receiver with an alleged 4.3 40.
Option 1: We have a prima donna athletic QB who, before going to OSU, was in legal trouble for getting in a fistfight, then starting a fight by THROWING A BASKETBALL AT AN 8 YEAR OLD'S FACE who was heckling. (citation below).
Option 2: Joe Bauserman. Here's an excerpt from an article:
"Joe's an animal, I'm telling you right now," receiver Brian Hartline said. "This guy is a jack of all trades, and he'll beat you at anything. He can play basketball, baseball, ping-pong, pool. … He brings us deer meat."
"I think he led the team in number of deer shot this year," coach Jim Tressel said. "He's got good aim." (citation below 2)
Personally, I choose the guy that will "beat me at anything"
http://www.thepittsburghchanne...
http://www.dispatch.com/live/c...
http://www.awesometime.org/arc...
Beat me at anything has I think fumbled nearly every snap he's taken.
That said, he should have been put in somewhere in the middle of the second or third quarter.
As much as I want Pryor to be the next thing, it really bothers me that he wasn't benched for at least a series that game. No other quarterback under Tressel turns the ball over 4 times in a game and keeps his job.
There is nothing in your first article that states Pryor "threw a ball at an 8-year old's face."
That is the psychological profile of Michael Jordan. Jordan's competitiveness is presently so pissed off at the natural aging process of humans that he can't enjoy being inducted into the Hall of Fame. If Bauserman has 1/10th of that intensity, bring him on as the starting QB!
Nor is there in the second Pryor article.
This is probably the most difficult thing for the OSU coaches to deal with because they know their team is not performing like it should (well the offense at least). There is A LOT of heat on this 5-2 football team and on Tressel specifically. I get the notion that there has been something about Pryor that makes me think he is part of the reason why he isn't where he should be. He has attitude and is not disciplined at all. At this point I would love to jump into Tressel's mind and see what he is thinking.
Is it time I really give up the offense to someone else hired from the outside?
Is my QB "really" not as good as I thought?
Is my style of coaching no longer suited to win games that "should" have been won?
Why did my coaches and I spend so much time in the off-season working on a pro style offense, yet the offense we run now is nearly strictly shot-gun based?
Why is my offensive line struggling to block?
How is my playcalling so predictable?
Is it time I hang up my "micro management" of this football team and give the other coaches a chance to make decisions that I no longer feel good about making?
If Tress does not ask himself some of these questions this week then I don't anticipate there being much change. Honestly, self awareness and truly realizing that your style of football and decision making is no longer good for the program in this 21st century of football should be something a smart guy like Tressel should realize. No, I'm not talking about stepping down as the coach. Hire a freakin offensive genius and give up the play calling. Get an o-line coach that is nasty and coaches YOUR players up with discipline! I know Tress does not have the nasty in him so go get that nasty someone!
"Instead, we have a situation where, 16 starts later, the franchise player is stuck at square one."
That is overly optimistic, as to be at square one would imply that there is a square two, and there isn't for TP in terms of playing QB. He's not a QB, never has been a QB, and never will be a QB. Seems like everyone knows this already except for Tress. Is it because he'd look like an idiot all but declaring this guy the second coming? Or does he really see something that most of us know isn't there and never will be there? There is no shame in admitting you missed the boat on him, lots of people were gaga over TP in high school. But how many times do you keep doing the same thing expecting different results? And what is the exact definition of insanity again?
Pryor is an amazing athlete.
Sometimes great athletes play QB. Sometimes they play it well.
This is not one of those times. Pryor should not start Saturday.
Tressel is cramming a square peg into a round hole.
i hate to be all sam here, but...
"But how many times do you keep doing the same thing expecting different results? And what is the exact definition of insanity again?"
brothers, let us retire this cliche. please please please please. i am begging you.
I have a dream.
And that dream is someday we will see as the dust clears some guy named Kenny Guiton who resembles Troy Smith and....
Darrell Hazell.
Remember how Troy Smith was a nobody coming in?
Its the only way its gonna happen if Tressy is at the helm.
(Wakes up and realizes OSU really did lose to a 1-5 team.)
What if, after the end of this year Pryor says I have had enough of this. then transfers.
I hate to be all sam here too, but...
"square peg/round hole" is one of the most tired cliches in all of sport. And I actually agree with it, if we're talking about Pryor being - ahem - ill-suited for a "pro-style" system.
Unfortunately for him, it's not possible to transfer away from his own shortcomings as a QB
We pulled a USC plain and simple. You turn it over 5 times your not going to win too many games. Your best player turns it over 4 times. The coaches make no adjustments till late in the game.
Every team has played Ohio State the same way all year. They keep the LB's in tight to the line on passing downs leaving the middle of the field completely wide open. Its simple to beat you get your tight end vertical down the middle of the field. What happened to the wheel route with saine? I would call that play atleast 5 times a game. We show no imagination on offense what so ever.
This reminds me of 2004 with a young troy smith. You have to remember that the play calling wasn't that great with smith he just made plays with his legs and arm.
This is a good thing in my opinion if TP learns from this. I'd gladly drop a game this year if we can get TP through the growing pains and run the table next year. The whole offense will be back but they need to get it rolling and open up the playbook. 8 in the box throw deep everytime. Work the middle. Thats it that simple.
yeah but he isn't a throwing quarterback. Tressel will keep using him as one. If he wants any kind of shot to go in the NFL it maybe his best option.
I love it when a QB, any QB throws to the middle of the field cuz it seems like such a dangerous area to throw to, yet a QB who does has the balls to put it where it needs to be.
he won't transfer solely due to the fact that he has a giant buckeye tattoo on his forearm. he is probably kicking himself over that and unless he gets it removed by a lazer i foresee him plagueing us for the 2.5 years
I for one am not at all prepared to close the book on Pryor yet, let alone make such absurd-after-a-season-and-a-half pronouncements as, "he isn't a throwing quarterback", or "(h)e's not a QB...and never will be", or that he's a "prima donna". I mean, for one thing, how do you know? I'll return to this in a moment, but there really is no way for us to KNOW that Terrelle's ability or attitude is really the problem here. For another thing, our memories can get awful short sometimes - Troy didn't really start to get deadly until about midway through his Junior year, not to mention that he was working with a far superior QB coach and O-line (another thing I'll return to in a moment), and his main selling point in '04 was that he was Not Zwick. Plus, lest we forget, he had some "character" issues of his own.
Now: I know that I've been saying for a few weeks that we might need to get ready for a Good Juice/Bad Juice problem the next couple seasons, and that I was getting tired of the "just a Sophomore" reasoning, but I never said that I was SURE that was the case, and there are more than a few reasons why I might have been wrong. To wit:
On "attitude": TP is clearly angry and unhappy right now - this is beyond dispute. However, I think we need to leave open the POSSIBILITY that it's not so much that he's a "prima donna", but that he is frustrated that Tressel & Co. keep doing the things and calling the plays that they are just so bound and determined to do and call because they're convinced they should be able to do them no matter what, rather than trying something different when it becomes apparent that the things you WANT to do aren't happening. I mean, I don't hear anyone complaining about Brewster's attitude, but he's been at least as angrily demonstrative on the field a few times as TP's ever been. Again, I don't KNOW that this is right, but it's at least POSSIBLE - as in, you can chalk it up to bad throws/bad routes/opponent scheme if you want, but, regardless, how many short sideline route plays have to fail before Tress (or Hazell, if you like - there's plenty of blame to go around here, I think - though the buck always has to stop at the top) stops calling them? Do we have NO bubble screens, etc. in the playbook? Which brings me to...
Coaching: I think we may all have SEVERELY underestimated how important Joe Daniels was to the fortunes of the QB position. Everybody chalks up Troy's incredible journey - from afterthought "Athlete" to "Heisman-winning QB And Destroyer of Wolverines" - to Tressel, but I'm not sure that Daniels wasn't the real hero there. And, while there is plenty of noise right now about YSU Grad Assistant/Video Coordinator/Nepotism Hire Siciliano, I remember that noise being very muted when his promotion was announced this past offseason - most commentators that expressed skepticism quickly hedged on it w/ some kind of "In Tressel We Trust" reasoning. There is NO good reason AT ALL to assume that Pryor is being coached/taught competently - least of all because Tressel says so.
Ability: the reason it's absurd to reduce this situation to "Pryor's not a throwing QB", let alone "not a QB" at all, is that anyone with eyes to see and a brain to think knows that this kid is absolutely able to make amazing throws of all kinds - dare I say, the kind of throws that ONLY a superior athlete AND QB could make. Check out again, if you doubt this, the TDs to Small in the Spring Game and the Posey TD vs. Indiana, just to name two examples. You can attribute these successes, among others, to the adage of even a blind pig finding an acorn now and then, but it's just as likely that they are examples of untapped potential - and it doesn't really matter, for the purposes of this particular question, whether the reason that that potential is unrealized at this point is coaching or coachability. The only thing that matters is that it's there, and that's reason for hope. After all, this was never supposed to be "the" year anyway, right?
Let's also remember that Terrelle is being graded on an especially steep curve here - the CFB universe is waiting for him to be the next VY, and we Buckeyes are comparing him to Troy. That's a tall order for anybody. Not to mention that we have no rushing attack that any opponent is required to respect, and subpar, to put it mildly, pass protection from our O-line.
What happens if TP walks away from football after the bowl game and guess what joins Thad Matta? Maybe he will do a reality check and find out basketball is where is abilities will take him.
Did anyone see the int he threw but had Dane going underneath wide open or he could of run?
This is what I was hoping for driving home Saturday afternoon. Maybe all the dejected hype, and a benching from Tress and he would switch to Basketball. Alas that is a dream that will never come.
I honestly feel like I'm living the death throes of Bellisari/Cooper all over again. We will sit for the next two years in suspense every play of every offensive drive wondering who will show up. Will it be the Pryor who can throw a laser strike to Posey, or the one scrambling all over the backfield, backpeddling 20 yards only to either be sacked, fumble the ball, or called for grounding when he tries to throw it away?
I'm not going to call for anyone's head, because frankly I don't care. Tressell isn't going anywhere for the time being, so it's pointless to speculate as to who might come and who might go in the off season.
I do think instead of "The Senator" can we change it to "The Dictator"?
I think Pryor was able to mask his suckiness last year because of Beanie Wells. When teams needed to focus on stopping Beanie up the middle TP had free reign to scramble all he he wanted. Now we don't even attempt to have any kind of between the tackles running game, so teams can blitz Pryor, contain him from the outside, etc.
On a related note, any one know when Boom is expected to play again? I know he hasn't been putting up great numbers at all, but at least we could pretend that were lining up to run with him once and a while and take a little pressure off Pryor.
Pryor's propensity to throw high does not mix well with throwing OTM.
Looking at Pryor's number in Jeannette, why wouldn't Tressel and many other head coaches believe they had the "next coming" in their sights? That doesn't explain or excuse his failure to live up to the hype at this point but I don't think anyone can fault Tressel for believing this kid is/was the real deal. That said, if Pryor has a problem with the play calling and his temper is really a demonstration of his anger and frustration in his inability to execute the play, then there is a deeper problem and until that is addressed properly, he will remain unteachable because he will always resort to a "temper tantrum" or a demonstrative display of his annoyance when he fails, without regard to decorum or how it may affect his team's confidence in his leadership abilities. IMO.
Many have asked why he isn't getting coached up on the sidelines after each offensive series and I don't know if he is or not (but the television shots of a singularly brooding Terrelle are legion); shouldn't we be asking why he isn't seeking help immediately at those opportune times from the coaches? Why are they letting him resign himself to a distant spot on the bench. That is the perfect time to address the problems he's having. He obviously hasn't mastered Problem Solving 101 just like most 19 yr olds. Where is the QB coach then if it is true as some have suggested that he isn't getting a coach's attention? Just an observation and a few questions.