Tressel ripped nationally

[PIP]

From Yahoo..

LOS ANGELES – Here was Jim Tressel, sitting in front of a microphone after his program again melted into a big-game puddle of scarlet and grey. Here was Ohio State’s leader after another national humiliation, 35-3, this time at the hands of Southern California.

Here was the sweater vest, who keeps calling for the same old failed game plan even when he’s far from the comforts of the cornfields of the Midwest. He’s an example of coaching insanity – expecting the same bad plays to produce different results.

Here was Jim Tressel and all he could do was smile and shrug.

“The guys fought hard,” he offered Saturday night. “I don’t know that we did the best we could do, but we fought hard.”

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So apparently that’s it now for Ohio State. They fought hard. Let’s just focus on the moral victory – the lament of every blown-out, schedule-padding cupcake in college football. We were overmatched and outcoached, sure, but we fought hard.

Only this is Ohio State. The Buckeyes keep getting their ass kicked when they dare to venture out of Big Ten/MAC land and Tressel doesn’t look or sound the least bit concerned.

Outrage? Frustration? Embarrassment? How about apologies to the Buckeye fans who no doubt feel plenty of all three? Or maybe one for poor quarterback Todd Boeckman, who thanks to a most uninspired offensive game plan had USC defenders taking turns teeing up to try to rupture his spleen?

“They did everything we saw on film, nothing changed,” said USC linebacker Rey Maualuga, who had five tackles and a pick six.

It isn’t just that Ohio State keeps producing no-show efforts in these supposed referendum games. It’s that the Buckeyes passion postgame is as feeble as it is in the game. If they are just being polite and internalizing, then the Bucks will one day need a lot of therapy.

“Taking a lot of heat from whom?” Tressel retorted when asked about the perception of the program nationally. “I guess I’m only concerned with Ohio State fans.”

If he thinks they are satisfied with this, he must be blinded by his latest contract extension.

This was paint-by-numbers football, the Buckeyes exposed as frauds early in the year this time, not at the end. This year, not even the absurd BCS can save them. Not that they admitted that.

“It’s only September,” Tressel said.

“We kept fighting, I’m happy with the effort,” said linebacker Jim Laurinaitis, perhaps oblivious to the 35 consecutive points USC scored, a number that could’ve been greater had Trojans coach Pete Carroll wanted to run it up.

Getting rolled by a powerhouse Trojan team, at home in a rowdy L.A. Coliseum on a perfect California night is one thing. Taking a whipping and hardly caring is another.

The Buckeyes have gotten fat and happy in the Midwest and it isn’t just a lack of speed or talent that keeps getting them destroyed nationally. It’s a lack of urgency.

“We’ve got Troy next week,” Laurinaitis said. “We just need to work on getting better.”

Troy? Really, Troy?

“What’s important for us is we roll up our sleeves and go back to work,” said Tressel, whose sweater never has sleeves.

Back in the Midwest, Ohio State’s version of football works wonders. It generally has better talent than opponents and consistently grinds out victory after victory.

It’s everywhere else, against everyone else, that Ohio State can hardly run or throw, tackle or scheme. And there is no way it’s changing unless Tressel begins to admit it.

“We’ve had success but you kind of have to measure success with who you play,” admitted wide receiver Brian Hartline, perhaps the only Buckeye with any emotion postgame.

“We do a great job playing against Big Ten teams but a lot of times, you have to get ready for out of conference. Obviously we haven’t done that very well in the near past.”

What’s the difference?

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I really don’t know. I don’t personally see a lot of difference, but there’s got to be something.”

Try everything. This looked like the same shell-shocked program of BCS beatings past. After Florida destroyed them in January 2007, the Bucks showed up again in the title game and promised something different. It was the same, destruction at the hands of LSU.

This year they returned so many starters and so many stars, all of whom promised redemption. USC smacked them around with ease.

Hartline claimed he and his fellow receivers were open, but the offensive line didn’t provide time for quarterbacks Boeckman or Terrelle Pryor to throw. USC had five sacks.

“The ball couldn’t get in the air,” Hartline said.

Meanwhile, the USC line opened holes for C.J. Gable and Joe McKnight to pad their YouTube highlights.

When Ohio State is getting dominated (again) in the trenches, what exactly does this program stand for anymore?

Don’t ask Tressel. Apparently it’s all about fighting hard. Besides, all things considered, he seemed relatively pleased.

After all, they get Troy next week.

 

[aaronbev79]

I don't get it. People have been ready to declare Tressel the next Woody when he's done nothing more than win a championship with another coaches' players. Don't get me wrong, I've liked Tressel (well I'm slowly starting to hate him), but he is completely incapable of changing his game plan.

 

[cdt]

He owned Lloyd Carr, but he hasn't done much else...

 

[Mac]

Pretty much sums it up...

To many games against Lake Erie College, Akron Institute of Design and Kent State Fashion Design School.

It is easy to win games in a mediocre conference and a weak OOC schedule...I wish all of college football would eliminate the big schools from paying small schools to play them. Play three cupcakes a year is unacceptable from any team and in OSU's case, it is starting to catch up with them.

 

[cavfan past&present]

The scary thing about all of these "big game losses", is that Coach Tressel doesn't seem to learn from the defeats. The same predictable conservative approach,- with the exception of implementing Pryor into the offense. Was that all Tressel was holding back when we played Ohio University? I know that we were without Beanie Wells, an integral part of our offense, but where was the defense? Where was the halftime adjustments? I refuse to believe that the score was an indication of just how much talented USC is compared to us, we were outcoached.

 

[crazedcav333]

This is all I'm going to say because this year I'm gonna try to just use RCF for CAVS posts/columns, but A Smith (I know - who cares what he thinks) went pretty far in making fun of the Buckeyes and especially Alex Boone and his comments, calling them wusses and making fun of these guys in a sarcastic tone.

I wish that columnists could criticize college players more, and it's my believe they should just like the pros in D-1 (I'll be writing about it eventually, just wait), but with how sports society is today - he went way too far.

But that being said - OSU and Tressel, at least JT coaching this group of kids because next season it will be pretty much a new team, is overrated. Without question. We own the big 10, we own Michigan so honestly it's ok - but on a national scale...ouch.

 

[Cratylus]

We own the big 10, we own Michigan so honestly it's ok - but on a national scale...ouch.

Honestly it's OK??? Ohio State is one of the elite programs that consistently has one of the Top 10 recruiting classes nationally each and every year. They are the largest university in the country and they have the largest football budget of any university. That they have performed like dog squeeze in the past three nationally televised games of importance against elite competition is 100% inexcusable. This team should have no excuses for their piss-poor play. I blame the entire coaching staff for failing to put these players in a position to live up to their levels of talent.

If you're simply satisfied with this team beating Michigan and owning the Big Ten then you are settling for mediocrity. And mediocrity is something that should be unacceptable to Buckeye Nation.

 

[KU_216]

I've lost a ton of respect for Tressel over the past few years. When you have one of the top recruiting schools in the nation, you can't blame the losses on talent. Tressel doesn't try anything new, and he doesn't get his players motivated; it's that simple. It's a shame the OSU is now the end of many jokes in regards to college football, but Tressel get's a lot of that blame.

 

[aaronbev79]

Honestly it's OK??? Ohio State is one of the elite programs that consistently has one of the Top 10 recruiting classes nationally each and every year. They are the largest university in the country and they have the largest football budget of any university. That they have performed like dog squeeze in the past three nationally televised games of importance against elite competition is 100% inexcusable. This team should have no excuses for their piss-poor play. I blame the entire coaching staff for failing to put these players in a position to live up to their levels of talent.

If you're simply satisfied with this team beating Michigan and owning the Big Ten then you are settling for mediocrity. And mediocrity is something that should be unacceptable to Buckeye Nation.

Well said. As I've said in another thread -- if we are only concerned with beating teams in our conference (including Michigan) then we might as well be a MAC school. As an OSU graduate -- I find this conclusion utterly unacceptable. Beating conference teams is expected -- this does not count as an accomplishment -- beating conference teams is something you do so you don't get fired.

 

[crazedcav333]

Honestly it's OK??? Ohio State is one of the elite programs that consistently has one of the Top 10 recruiting classes nationally each and every year. They are the largest university in the country and they have the largest football budget of any university. That they have performed like dog squeeze in the past three nationally televised games of importance against elite competition is 100% inexcusable. This team should have no excuses for their piss-poor play. I blame the entire coaching staff for failing to put these players in a position to live up to their levels of talent.

If you're simply satisfied with this team beating Michigan and owning the Big Ten then you are settling for mediocrity. And mediocrity is something that should be unacceptable to Buckeye Nation.

The OK part meant I don't think he's completely overrated like a lot of people have been saying.

I may be an OSU fan, but it's still #1 National Championship, #2 everything else, #3 beat Michigan.

Trust me - if you had been here longer, you'd know that. :chuckles:

 

[glockcoma]

if you look at tressel's teams compared to coopers, cooper's teams had more talent. i just think that cooper played in an era where the big 10 had better competition and tressel is playing in an era where the big 10 is down. cooper's teams had more emotion and played with more of a swag then tressel's do as well.

 

[aaronbev79]

if you look at tressel's teams compared to coopers, cooper's teams had more talent. i just think that cooper played in an era where the big 10 had better competition and tressel is playing in an era where the big 10 is down. cooper's teams had more emotion and played with more of a swag then tressel's do as well.

I would have very little to say about Cooper's teams...

 

[The Oi]

I'd still probably rather have Tressel as the Browns coach than Romeo. :chuckles:

 

[cdt]

I'd still probably rather have Tressel as the Browns coach than Romeo. :chuckles:

Neither try anything new

Neither are great motivators

Tressel is still a better coach

He has a better sideline wardrobe

+2 for JT

 

[redscoon]

Pretty much sums it up...

To many games against Lake Erie College, Akron Institute of Design and Kent State Fashion Design School.

It is easy to win games in a mediocre conference and a weak OOC schedule...I wish all of college football would eliminate the big schools from paying small schools to play them. Play three cupcakes a year is unacceptable from any team and in OSU's case, it is starting to catch up with them.

You're off base here. OSU is one of the few schools that doesn't duck big time competition out of conference. Texas, USC, VT, Miami, Tennessee, Oklahoma. All of those schools have been/are on the OOC schedule in the coming years. Besides, you schedule so far in advance that it's hard to tell who will be good by the time the game rolls around anyway. Washington was a great program when they were added to the schedule years back, but they ended up being a mess by the time last season rolled around. Hell, I bet Tennessee is the only SEC school that would agree to come play in Columbus. You think Florida has any desire to leave the state to play an OOC they could possibly lose? LSU? Not happening.

The problem is on the sidelines. Very little progress has been made since 2002. They were fortunate to win a title with a stellar defense, a very vanilla offense, and quite a bit of good fortune. Since then, they keep trying to win with that same recipe and it just doesn't work. The playcalling and blocking schemes on the offensive side of the ball are archaic. They need to move into the 21st century and put all of their weapons to use instead of obsessing about field position and not taking risks. Off tackle runs and safe, short passes aren't going to beat teams of equal talent and athleticism. The rest of the elite schools are trying to mercilessly pummel their opponents and OSU is trying to win games without hurting anyone's feelings. It's a passive, laid back persona that gets painfully exposed when you see the ruthless nature of teams from the SEC and USC. They want to kill you. Tressel wants to win, but still be your friend at the end of the day.

I think Tressel will eventually be pressured into canning Bollman and possibly Heacock too or at the very least demoting them. These guys have been given three chances to prove their worth on a national stage and have failed miserably each time. Put some coordinators around Tressel that are progressive thinkers rather than stubborn guys trying to prove they can still win their way, and OSU will be just fine. They have the talent coming in to compete and beat any team in the country. Now, it's time they get the right coaches in place to maximize what these kids are capable of doing.