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The Eerie Similarities Of Last Year to This Year.

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You can't spell chump without UM's picture
September 14, 2015 at 1:39pm
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With all the overreacting of the Hawaii game, I thought it'd be nice for me to bring up the situations and the questions from last season that are now an "issue" once again this season.

1. The QB Situation - This isn't me saying who I think should be the starter, it's about the opinions of others. Last season after J,T, Barrett look decent against Navy, then had a dreaded 3 INT performance against V-Tech, many questioned if Barrett was the right choice to play QB, that maybe Meyer rushed a redshirt Freshman into playing (especially seeing as how he didn't play his last 2 years of High School). Well as we all saw as the season progressed, Barrett was the real deal; and as for this year, whether the starter remains to be Jones, or they decide to go with Barrett, I believe that either way, the starter will be just fine, and the right decision will be made.

2. The O-Line - In Week 1 against Navy last season, the O-Line didn't look great; there were multiple instances where they needed a yard and were stuffed. Then the following week against V-Tech, they were unprepared for the defense of V-Tech, and allowed 7 sacks. Needless to say, it was an awful way to start the season for the slobs. But in the following weeks, and against even better defensive units such as Sparty, TTUN, Wisconsin, and Bama, the O-Line played masterfully under the tutelage of Coach Warinner, and were the rock that the team leaned on en route to the National Title.

Fast forward to the present time, and the slobs didn't have their best game against a Hawaii team which pretty much everyone expected them to dominate against. They're not playing nearly as bad as they were a year ago at this time, but it's still a cause for concern. But we must remember that 4 of the 5 starters were starters last season, and the Bucks still have the best in the business as their O-Line coach (granted he has more duties than he did last year, but he is still on the staff nonetheless), I am fully confident that things will be fixed.

3. Play calling - On a 3rd and 1 from inside the Navy 10 yard line, the Bucks lined up in a power-spread set, the slobs were ready to push the Navy defense back, we as fans were ready to see Elliott running downhill with a full head of steam into the end zone... and they run a speed option to the right side that is stuffed for a 4-yard loss, and they settle for a field goal. Tom Harman was heavily criticized for his play calling in the first 2 games last season, what with the lack of touches Elliott had, including a far-less-than-satisfying 8 carries against V-Tech, and the lack of touches towards playmakers such as Dontre Wilson, Jalin Marshall, Curtis Samuel, and others. But by the end of the season, Herman was the best play caller in football, and helped springboard the offense to a level many of us didn't think they would reach.

Does that sound familiar? It does to me, because it's happening again this year. Replacing Herman isn't easy for anyone to do, and Warinner is the poor soul who's in charge of doing just that. I admit, I've questioned a few of his play calls in these first two games, just as I did with Herman last year, but I realize that it's his first year, and it's, again, the first two games. Historically, the Bucks' offense struggles throughout the first 2-4 games of the season, and this year is no exception. It's both a luxury and a burden to have the expectations that we do; a luxury because you have such a great team to cheer for, but a burden because of games like Hawaii, where you win 38-0, and it's considered to be a bad game, especially on a weekend where so many of the other ranked teams had far worse performances.

So ease up on the wild theories, expectations, and blaming Buckeye Nation; and remember that it's only the first 2 games of what is a long season. Things will be fixed, adjusted, and so on to make this team better, and make it the juggernaut that it was at the end of last season.

This is a forum post from a site member. It does not represent the views of Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted.

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