What ever shall I talk about today?

[erynthered]

January 09. 2007 2:22PM

 

 

Gainesville streaker struck after Florida football win

 

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

 

 

 

GAINESVILLE -- A streaker celebrating Florida's win in the college football national championship was critically injured Tuesday when he was hit by a car near the school's campus, police said.

 

Matthew Todd Schlagheck, 23, of Longwood, was brought to Shands Hospital with head injuries after being hit around 1 a.m., police spokesman Sgt. Keith Kameg said.

 

George Michael Harrison, 24, the car's driver, did not seem to be impaired by drugs or alcohol, but blood was drawn and police are awaiting results, Kameg said.

 

"It's sad because things like this are so avoidable," he said.

 

A woman who answered the phone at Harrison's home said he did not want to comment.

[stuckincincy]

January 09. 2007 2:22PM

 

 

"It's sad because things like this are so avoidable," he said.

 

A woman who answered the phone at Harrison's home said he did not want to comment.

 

He should get a press agent...I see bookings.

[dave mcbride]

So Ohio Sate has the best talent in the country because they lost most of their best players last year? That makes less than no sense.

That OSU team is way shorter on talent than it has been in the past and they were compltely overmatched against an opponent that had faaaaaarrrrr more talent on the field. Skip the speculative conjecture on how you think the draft will go next year and just concentrate on what you actually saw on the field last night. The Gator Offensive and Defensive lines completely destroyed OSU's less talented lines on both sides of the ball on every play. That, along with their too deep WR corps, is what decided that game.

Cya

Simon, I've just gotta disagree. I'm certainly not disputing that they were blown out, but if one was to accept your post on its face than one would believe that ohio state was a team with middling talent. if memory serves, they went into the season #1 (or #2, with SC #1 - I can't recall), and stayed there all season while playing some seriously talented competition (i.e., Texas, who will no doubt see many of their players in the pros in the near future). they blew everyone out except illinois and michigan, and had the #1 defense in the country. there will probably be 7 or 8 buckeyes drafted on the first day.

 

the point is, i think it's just wrong to say that florida is more talented - they aren't. what they are, though, is better coached (at least last night). it pains me to say that, because i do think tressel is a good coach. i watched that game just like you, and where you saw soft zones masking a lack of speed, i saw guys constantly running to the wrong spots and being caught out of position -- particularly the linebackers, who put on a bad coverage clinic. i saw blue chip defensive linemen and LBs constantly giving up 4 or 5 yards to a guy who couldn't start at running back for UB (trebow). i saw an abandonment of a running game that was actually working pretty well in the first half, and a pathetically desperate attempt to go for it on fourth down midway through the second quarter. i saw two bad personal fouls -- one by a freaking kicker, no less, who tugged on a facemask as hard as he could -- that immediately set up florida in OSU territory on their first two drives. then, OSU got down and lost their composure, and that was all she wrote.

[Ramius]

If you look at the non conference games it sure seems that the SEC schools don't play the Buffalo, Bowling Green, and Temples of college football.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=262660002

 

Funny you should mention this, because SEC schools are known for having notoriously WEAK OOC games, because they think their conference is so strong.

[BillsCelticsAngelsBama]

I wonder if the Bills will draft some of those Gator D-Linemen ? They looked like a pro team defense.

I actually see the Bills staying with tradition and going with an Ohio St. lineman--- Quinn Pitcock. Last night he looked like an NFL lineman ---> Tim Anderson.

[Simon]

if one was to accept your post on its face than one would believe that ohio state was a team with middling talent. if memory serves, they went into the season #1 (or #2, with SC #1 - I can't recall), and stayed there all season while playing some seriously talented competition (i.e., Texas, who will no doubt see many of their players in the pros in the near future).....there will probably be 7 or 8 buckeyes drafted on the first day.

If you accept my post at face value you would stick with what it said, which is not that OSU had middling talent, but that it had less talent than Florida Sate.

And re: OSU's schedule, that was the easiest schedule they've had or are likely to have in years! Texas? Texas?! Good grief Dave, they went 10-3 playing in the most pathetic major conference in the country! In the Big10, Penn State and Iowa were down and OSU got to skip Wisconsin this year. The only tough game they had season was Michigan and that was at home against Lloyd Carr. OSU' schedule was a cakewalk compared to Florida's.

And again you keep trying to bring draft speculation into the discussion, which has no bearing on what actually happened on the field Monday Night(not to mention I think you're very wrong).

 

i saw two bad personal fouls -- one by a freaking kicker, no less, who tugged on a facemask as hard as he could -- that immediately set up florida in OSU territory on their first two drives.

I did see one bad personal foul, but that one by the kicker was a TD saving tackle and I'd hardly give him hell for that.

 

i saw an abandonment of a running game that was actually working pretty well in the first half,

That's what you saw? Well, I saw OSU getting 3-4 yards a carry and then as opposed to abandoning the run, I saw them run the ball 4 straight times even when they were down by 20 late in the first half. Of course it didn't work because the Florida DLine was kicking the crap out of the overmnatched Buckeye OLine (which incidentally was the first thing Meyer said when asked what the deciding factor in the game was).

 

i saw blue chip defensive linemen and LBs constantly giving up 4 or 5 yards to a guy who couldn't start at running back for UB (trebow)

Blue chip? <giggle>

Whenever Tebow came on in the shotgun the Buckeye defense sold out to attack the A gaps because they knew what was coming. Yet the superior Gator OLine still blew them off the ball every time. But somehow you still contend OSU had superior talent and the coaches could have done something more to stop it; like putting 13 guys on the field?

 

where you saw soft zones masking a lack of speed, i saw guys constantly running to the wrong spots and being caught out of position -- particularly the linebackers, who put on a bad coverage clinic.

Aside from the fact that Florida's Offensive and Defensive Lines were vastly superior to their Buckeye counterparts, here is where the secondary crux of the issue comes into play imo.

Florida has the best and deepest corps of WR's in the entire country so of course Meyer ran 4 and 5 wide sets all night. This forced OSU into different personell sets, primarily nickels in which they had no choice but to drop their 2 LB's into middle zone coverages to prevent Florida receivers from running free up the seams all night against a ridiculously overmatched OSU secondary. The only other option was to play a dime as your base D and have the Gators run all over their overmatched DLine all night; or keep their LB's up in the short zones and have Florida put on an over-the-top aerial display that likely would have resulted in a 50-60 point night. Tressel and his staff chose (correctly) to protect themselves from big plays by having their LB's give coverage help and try to force Florida into executing mistake free football and having to put together errorless 10play drives to put points on the board. With both their DLine and secondary so overmatched it was the ONLY choice OSU had to try and slow down an offense that they simply couldn't compete with.

I hear a whole lot of people talking about how Tressel got his ass handed to him, yet on this board full of knowledgable posters I have yet to hear one single poster come up with any one single thing he could have done differently when his team was so obviously overmatched on every part of the field. And I really don't expect to because the fact of the matter was there was nothing else he could have done that would have given them any beter of a chance than they had.

That game was all about Florida's superiority in the trenches and at the skill positions and I guarantee you that any film study will confirm it.

Cya

[dave mcbride]

If you accept my post at face value you would stick with what it said, which is not that OSU had middling talent, but that it had less talent than Florida Sate.

And re: OSU's schedule, that was the easiest schedule they've had or are likely to have in years! Texas? Texas?! Good grief Dave, they went 10-3 playing in the most pathetic major conference in the country! In the Big10, Penn State and Iowa were down and OSU got to skip Wisconsin this year. The only tough game they had season was Michigan and that was at home against Lloyd Carr. OSU' schedule was a cakewalk compared to Florida's.

And again you keep trying to bring draft speculation into the discussion, which has no bearing on what actually happened on the field Monday Night(not to mention I think you're very wrong).

I did see one bad personal foul, but that one by the kicker was a TD saving tackle and I'd hardly give him hell for that.

 

That's what you saw? Well, I saw OSU getting 3-4 yards a carry and then as opposed to abandoning the run, I saw them run the ball 4 straight times even when they were down by 20 late in the first half. Of course it didn't work because the Florida DLine was kicking the crap out of the overmnatched Buckeye OLine (which incidentally was the first thing Meyer said when asked what the deciding factor in the game was).

Blue chip? <giggle>

Whenever Tebow came on in the shotgun the Buckeye defense sold out to attack the A gaps because they knew what was coming. Yet the superior Gator OLine still blew them off the ball every time. But somehow you still contend OSU had superior talent and the coaches could have done something more to stop it; like putting 13 guys on the field?

Aside from the fact that Florida's Offensive and Defensive Lines were vastly superior to their Buckeye counterparts, here is where the secondary crux of the issue comes into play imo.

Florida has the best and deepest corps of WR's in the entire country so of course Meyer ran 4 and 5 wide sets all night. This forced OSU into different personell sets, primarily nickels in which they had no choice but to drop their 2 LB's into middle zone coverages to prevent Florida receivers from running free up the seams all night against a ridiculously overmatched OSU secondary. The only other option was to play a dime as your base D and have the Gators run all over their overmatched DLine all night; or keep their LB's up in the short zones and have Florida put on an over-the-top aerial display that likely would have resulted in a 50-60 point night. Tressel and his staff chose (correctly) to protect themselves from big plays by having their LB's give coverage help and try to force Florida into executing mistake free football and having to put together errorless 10play drives to put points on the board. With both their DLine and secondary so overmatched it was the ONLY choice OSU had to try and slow down an offense that they simply couldn't compete with.

I hear a whole lot of people talking about how Tressel got his ass handed to him, yet on this board full of knowledgable posters I have yet to hear one single poster come up with any one single thing he could have done differently when his team was so obviously overmatched on every part of the field. And I really don't expect to because the fact of the matter was there was nothing else he could have done that would have given them any beter of a chance than they had.

That game was all about Florida's superiority in the trenches and at the skill positions and I guarantee you that any film study will confirm it.

Cya

 

good response. i guess where we'll have to disagree about the level of talent, and about whether the number of projected nfl players means anything (i think it does, but that's probably because i far prefer the nfl to college ball). btw, re the interior d-line, don't pitcock and the bronco nagurski (and galston for that matter) qualify as blue chip? my impression is that they have played well and are highly regarded.

 

i must admit, btw, that part of what's driving me on this is the constant harping about the greatness of the SEC and their superior talent. that's been a meme for years, and i don't think it stands up to scrutiny.

 

one other thing - before that four run series, they had only run it on one other series, and they scored a TD pretty easily. three of the previous four series were pass-dominated, and they failed quickly.

[Simon]

re the interior d-line, don't pitcock and the bronco nagurski (and galston for that matter) qualify as blue chip? my impression is that they have played well and are highly regarded.

The only guy in the OSU front 7 who has shown me anything is Laurinitis. The rest of them just look like warm bodies to me.

This is going to bug the bejeesus out of you, but even as a lifelong Big10 fan I think the SEC is and has been the premier conference in teh country for several years now.

[dave mcbride]

This is going to bug the bejeesus out of you, but even as a lifelong Big10 fan I think the SEC is and has been the premier conference in teh country for several years now.

Nah, I don't care enough about college ball, and the team I ostensibly root for, UCLA, really does nothing for me. I have a brother in Columbus, though, and he and his kids are pretty hardcore. He's having a hard time with this one.

[Simon]

I have a brother in Columbus, though, and he and his kids are pretty hardcore. He's having a hard time with this one.

 

When you think they've healed enough feel free to send him this link of teh Buckeye Band at halftime. I already zapped my best friend with it.

 

Dot that I

[bills_fan]

I'd agree with you if I thought there was anything Tressel could have done about it. With that ridiculously deep WR corps all Meyer had to do was go 4wide all night to clear out OSU underneath and eat them up in the short zones. The Buckeyes had no answer simply because there wasn't one. Their best DB this year was a walk-on and they couldn't match up with that group of talented receivers in a 100 years. If they had tried to go man or even just run manunder/zoneover Florida would have put on an aerial display that might have ended up in a 60 point night. On the other side of the ball I thought th reason it looked like Florida was in teh OSU huddle was because teh Gators were winning virtually every single individual battle on a consistent basis. At teh time I was wishing OSU would show some commitment to a rungame, but in hindsight I really don't think it would have helped much at all.

 

Props to Meyer for a great gameplan and his players for executing so well, but until somebody can show me a way that Tressel or any other coach on the planet could have done anything about it, I'm inclined to leave the onus on the talent differential where I think it belongs.

Cya

 

Nice analysis. There are two things they could have done to give themselves a better chance...

 

Offensivly, as you said, commit early and often to the run game (think Buff @ Indy). Run 2 TE sets if you have to, but commit to it. That keeps the ball out of UF's hands longer and will eventually slow and wear down UF's DL. It also sets up the play action which could have been effective. Finally, a few screens to slow down the pass rush of UF would have worked on 2nd and 3rd downs.

 

Defensively, as you said OSU is fugged. No argument there. But, they could have mixed it up a bit more. They chose a slow death, using the LBs in coverage. A man under/ deep zone over, with the LBs on an all out blitz (think Jerry Gray style) would have accomplished one of two things....OSU gets slaughtered quickly OR Leak gets rattled by the pressure, makes a few dumb reads, leading to a pick or two (due to man by the CBs), maybe a fumble and OSU's offense is back in business pounding away. I saw very little blitzing. Probably, a little bit of both would have happened, when they mixed it up.

 

I think it would have kept the game from getting out of hand as quickly as it did, however.

[Simon]

commit early and often to the run game (think Buff @ Indy). Run 2 TE sets if you have to, but commit to it. That keeps the ball out of UF's hands longer and will eventually slow and wear down UF's DL.

Early in the game that's exactly what I was thinking when it became obvious that OSU couldn't match up with these guys. Take the air out of the ball, shorten the game and see if you can't hang around long enough to beat them with your special teams. But in hindsight I think they were so overmatched that they would only have been delaying the inevitable by about 10 minutes and things would have turned out the same way in the long run.

 

They chose a slow death, using the LBs in coverage. A man under/ deep zone over, with the LBs on an all out blitz

We must be of a similar mind because again that was what I was thinking briefly during the game. Once it became clear how crisply Florida could execute its offensive gameplan, it was probably a foregone conclusion that using the traditional "make them put together long drives" strategy wasn't going to hold up for long. At that point you sort of figure, hey we're out of options might as well take the leash off the defense and see if we can't force some mistakes. But again even if they had rattled the veteran Leak once (highly unlikely) they eventually would have paid the piper in a big way with those safeties and nickle trying to cover that WR corps while the Florida OLine was dominating in front of a sharp experienced QB.

 

Tressel and his staff might have held off the inevitable for another quarter by taking a different tack, but they also might only have just put themselves out of business even sooner. Either way, it seemed like the end result was going to be the same.

It's a shame too because I thought that was going to be a really good game.