On a scale of 1 to 10, how concerned are you about R. Smiths fumble? As the leader of his fan club, I am at a 3. Honestly, the game was already out of reach at that point. he was in highhlight mode. I still believe he is a boss and hey maybe he can play slot orH back! J/K.
Now I am worried that he has now missed his window of opportunity and Dunn has a great chance to take the backup role. But Im starting the campaign to forgive R. Smith for the garbage timefumble!
am not real concerned, looked like a helmet was put on the ball and it came loose, but still, rod really needs to do better holding onto the rock.
I'm not concerned about the fumble, I'm concerned how the coaching staff will treat his fumble. I still believe that he could be the next great OSU runningback, but that can't happen if the coaches put him on the bench. Especially the way Bri'onte carried the rock yesterday. I think we might see Smith lining up in the slot some this season, he had a pretty looking 51 yard touchdown catch yesterday.
Little concerned but as stu said, it was a perfect hit by the defender. More concerned with Stoneburners brick hands
I was at the game...right where Rod fumbled actually and it honestly looked like that Illini player hit him right on the ball with his helmet. To me...that deserves a pass considering he's done much better this year at not fumbling as much.
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
It looked like a helmet on the ball, not many people could keep from coughing that up.
Regardless, he's a running back and he's going to fumble some - it happens. Think of it like this - when two moving cars run into each other, sometimes a piece flies off. Not all the time, but sometimes.
You can't always see what causes every fumble. If you look at most of them in slow motion and ask yourself, "Could I have held onto that ball in that situation?", you will likely conclude you would have fumbled it also!
The problem with making a big deal out of it is you get the opposing defense going maniac on the "guy who is known to fumble". Watch how everytime Rod Smith gets the ball, whoever is near him goes out of their way to try and strip the ball! It makes him more likely to fumble!
He's been playing well. I think his body of work in the last few games outweighs the fumble and he keeps getting some major playing time.
I like the way he plays and I've joined the fan club! Go Bucs!
DEB II
I'm for one am concerned about the fumble, because he has a history of fumbling. If he had no history of fumbling then it wouldn't concern me at all. For the life of my I can't figure out why he can't stop fumbling, that shows a complete a lack of focus. You can see the coaches want to get R.Smith involved as much as they can, but they hesitate, because of his ball security issues.
Not worried. During the post game press conference, Coach Meyer said he likes having Hyde and Smith in the backfield and for us to expect more of it....Love it!
The 2012 National Champions.
I am not concerned. That looked like a perfect hit on the ball and he has seemed to be getting better at holding onto the rock.
I'll admit that seeing Miller, Hyde, and Smith gave me goose bumps. I'll bet it gave Bluto Bielema and Brady Choke nightmares. The Buckeye Trifecta.
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
Hell, if he's worried about fumbles we could just split him out wide. He was one of our best receivers yesterday.
Sorry Urban, Woody is still my favorite
Smith saw the hit coming. He shouldn't get a pass for it being a good hit. The hit shouldn't have taken him by surprise, and he should have adjusted to avoid the fumble. Players that go 600-700 carries between fumbles are able to do it because they avoid hits like that. It also looked like he had the ball a little loose from his body instead of high and tight. No way he should get a free pass. He coughed it up, and could have avoided the fumble.
That being said, I'm a huge fan of his and I hope he does better. Didn't Adrian Peterson have fumble issues for a while? I could see him making AD type plays in the future.
May's a clown. He's just getting viewers by his over the top comments.
He shouldnt get a pass for the fumble because he did in fact cough it up regardless of how perfect the hit may have been. Holding the rock high and tight and/or protecting it with two hands should be #1 on Rods priority list at this point. Still happy to see him getting more playing time. But you know it doesnt help him earn any trust from Urb to carry the rock late in tight games...
I am not too concerned about 3-4 on the scale of 10 and if it was his first fumble I wouldn't be concerned at all.
O H I O is the Buckeye State
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"There is a force that makes us all brothers, no one goes his way alone, all that we send into the life of others comes back into our own." -WWH
I wouldn't be worried if he didn't have a bit of a fumbling problem. Everyone get's those hits, Smith just seems to lose the football too often for my liking. It is something that can be fixed, and with his talent he should be very good, but he needs to work on it.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Im glad to see the bandwagon only hit a slight speedbump! I think Rod should hook up with Tiki Barber in the offseason to learn a few things. I think the next two games will define the rest of Rods career at tOSU. one more when it actually matters and I believe he loses his chance at RB for good. I know he can do it!
When you're a backup, there's no "garbage time."
It's not about forgiveness. It's about whether he does enough on the field to excuse his issues hanging on to the ball. I'd say that's unproven at best.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
Hey even if Rod Smith coughs up 1 fumble per game...if he got 15-20 touches through the air and ground and kickoff I think his production would still make up for the fumble 95% of the time.
Outside of Brax, IMO Smith is the next best homerun threat out of the backfield even if Hall is healthy.
I also believe Urban said something along the lines of Rod Smith plays has hard as anyone on the practice field and on game day, and with that type of effort Meyer said it's 'our jobs as coaches to fix his ball security problems.
The fumble was on a swing pass to him out of the backfield too. Kenny G was the player with the embarassing lax ball security fumble on Saturday.
The coaches will tell Smith next time get your other hand in front of the ball when contact is coming so that the helmet won't get a clear shot at the ball (even though he was holding it "high and tight")
"...they're midgits!"-Coach Kerry Coombs
I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding your comment NJ, but I think you have your plays mixed up. Smith's fumble was when we was making a break and got a helmet in the gut. The fumble on Kenny's play was with Brionte, but I had turned my head for a second and don't know if it was on a pitch or mishandle or what.
With that said, I am a big supporter of Smith, and wish I could say I'm not worried, but I remember a few games ago when Rod started to go ahead of Dunn in the depth chart and Meyer making the comment that he was one fumble away from going back down. I am hoping I'm wrong but I remember after Dunn's TD drive, Meyer grabbing him and seemingly giving him some encourageing words. I guess we'll find out soon enough though.
Not worried about it cause he is holding the ball better 99% of the time. This fumble was all on him, though. If you watch the replay, you can see that as the defender comes at him, he lowers his right shoulder into the defender. Problem is, he's carrying the ball in his right arm, so he basically put the ball on the guys helmet. You always lead with the shoulder that's not carrying the ball.
Not too worried at all, he's been playing well and holding onto the ball
Your title is the story, minus an "s."
Despite all of his upsides, you can't help but associate Rod Smith with fumbles.
And we know how much coaches fear and hate turnovers. And Ohio State's coaches have been struggling to put a stop to Rod Smith's fumbles for almost two whole seasons, now!
When he fumbled on Saturday, I thought, "Put him on defense. Boren-ize Rod Smith."
When we're in Madison and it's late and if the game's tight and/or Ohio State's down...I doubt Meyer will give the ball to Rod Smith.
I was more worried about my beer shortage in my kegmeister, that 1/8 of Yuengling Light is almost empty.
Tomorrow
I'm not concerned about that specific fumble. However, I am concerned about the fact that his fumble per carries ratio is higher than it should be for any RB that sees the field. In his case, despite the fact that he has been impressive this year, I wouldn't let him get significant time in big games. Dunn looks good enough behind Hyde and already has much more sure grip on the ball. And the other RB slot needs to go to a more athletic and shift back. If i'm the coach, he's only getting garbage time minutes.
Not very concerned here. It was a good tackle. Helmet on ball like they are taught. I think it was more the defender doing well than Rod doing bad. Keep feeding him.
I know there's a game saturday, and my ass will be there.
Rod has a fumble every damn game. Whether it was a helmet to the ball this time or not, it's a very troubling pattern, and I don't think it's something that just happens to be bad luck. He is well aware of his problem, and even a bad luck fumble here and there creeps into his head a little more. Until he can make it through a game with out laying on on the ground, I'm very concerned about that guy on the field, especially carrying the ball out of the backfield. I liked him going downfield though.
My concern level : 6
Good hit and a lot of good backs would've coughed it up, but with an alarming history and propensity to fumble adjusts my scale a bit.