BlockONation Analyst
OSU Featured Columnist
The Ohio State Buckeyes were upset by Purdue 26-18 yesterday, and Buckeye fans saw everything they were afraid could happen, come to fruition, all in about three hours.
The offense sputtered, the defense played prevent all day, and even the special teams were terrible.
But an offense that committed four turnovers is inexcusable against a 1-5 team at any time, especially from a supposed running QB in Terrelle Pryor. Most of the time he made bad decisions, but the offensive line did Pryor no favors.
Sound familiar? This is the same thing Buckeye fans have heard about their offense for the last nine seasons; only this time, there is no Beanie Wells to cover their mistakes.
The loss has been a microcosm of nine years of offensive futility and a passive defense.
It's all out in the open, and clearly changes have to be made.
Jim Tressel has been great for the program as a person and a philosophical figure, but as a coach he has become a joke offensively. Regardless of the personnel at any positions, the offense looks the exact same as it did in 2003, 2004, 2007, and so on.
The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting different results. This time, something has to change.
I'm not calling for Tressel's head entirely, but I am saying that there needs to be huge staff shakeups in the off-season if Buckeye fans want to contend with the likes of Florida, Alabama, and Texas.
When the Longhorns struggled in 2007, Mack Brown shook up his staff and brought in new personnel on both sides of the ball. Texas saw dramatic improvement as they went on to finish the year eight seconds away from a National Championship appearance.
If the Buckeyes want to avoid a free-fall and get back to top-tier status, OSU must hire proven offensive assistants and possibly a defensive mind who can turn up the pressure.
With the type of defense Ohio State has almost every season, a barely solid offense would serve the Buckeyes well against anyone they play.
But the offense has quickly become a national punchline. It also has become apparent that Tressel's schemes are outdated and outside of Darrell Hazell, the offensive staff has not been very good whatsoever.
For the sake of Buckeye fans everywhere, it's time to change something.
If Tressel doesn't want to make serious changes after this debacle, a coach such as Cincinnati's Brian Kelly could and should be the next man at the helm in Columbus.
Bauserman under center and Pryor out wide seems like a good idea right now.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog entry. Pretty much a summation of everything I've been saying on message boards and with other Buck fans in person since USC. I'm hoping the good that will come out of this is to make something like what you outlined, happen.
ReplyDeletePeople need to stop overreacting here. First of all, The offense hasn't always been bad in Tressel's time here. 2005-2006 were especially explosive. Second of all, the offense is completely different than it was in 2007, when we ran a 3 step drop pro-style offense with Todd Boeckman. Finally, this is a rebuilding year. All of our key players are sophomores and juniors. We lost 5 games in a rebulding year in 2001, and then won a national championship in 2002. Slow down, don't take one loss too hard. The guys who were supposed to be key seniors this year (Beanie, Robo, & Hartline) are all playing in the NFL right now.
ReplyDeleteCheck out this article to see what I'm talking about. Calm down!
ReplyDeletehttp://lebrownstown.com/?p=8076
Look, Tressel should not be axed but at a minimum has to hand over the offense to someone else. This pee wee play not to lose play calling has got to go. How can you not overreact after watching that debacle of a football game against 1-5 PURDUE. Good grief!!
ReplyDeleteas long as there is no threat from the qb, this, nor any, team can expect a consistant running game. at this stage, osu has zero offensive threat from the qb, and we see the results.
ReplyDeletegreat straight line speed does not create a running threat and horrible mechanics does not create a passing threat.
i'm far from calling the current qb a bust. he just has a long road of developing ahead and buckeye players and fans may have to wait for that to happen.