From: ddn@cbnews.cb.att.com (david.d.nason)
Subject: Re: OSU-Wisconsin and such
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 13:37:50 GMT

In article <DOEL.92Oct5155504@bbq.bae.bellcore.com> doel@bae.bellcore.com (Michael Doel) writes:
>In article <1992Oct5.153122.9223@cbnews.cb.att.com> ddn@cbnews.cb.att.com (david.d.nason) writes:
>
>>                                    Ohio State's advantage
>>   in the skill positions was neutralized by injuries.
>
>The affect of this was minimal IMO.  Herbstreit looked a little hobbled,
>but no worse than he was against Syracuse.  Stablein was fine for all but
>about two minutes of the game.  Smith was out, but Harris and By'note
>should have been able to pick up the slack.

I respect your opinion, but let's go through the list of injured people
who were either hampered or didn't play on the offensive side of the ball.
Galloway, Metzger, Smith, Kline, Winrow, Harris, Cothran, Herbstreit,
Stablein.  Now every one of those players either didn't play, played
sparingly, or their injury was severe enough to hold them out of 
practice the first half of this week (and maybe longer).  
Some of them practiced very little in the two weeks prior to the game.
I don't think there's much question Ohio State is a stronger team with
those guys healthy.

Herbstreit didn't get the protection he got at Syracuse (give credit
to the Wisconsin defensive line), and his inability to run was more
of a factor in this game.  Herbstreit deserves a lot of credit for
playing as well as he has with the ankle sprain (he threw some nice
passes Saturday).  But I can't help thinking how much better he'd
be if he could run.  Let's remember those runs against Wisconsin and
Minnesota last year and compare that against what happens now when
he gets some pressure.

>
>>   Ohio State's problem is pretty simple from my perspective ...
>>   they need to get healthy.
>
>Here, I disagree.  I think Ohio State needs to get emotional.  I
>don't want to take anything away from Wisconsin, but we flat out
>stank in that game.  There was zero emotion on either side of the
>ball, the hitting was nowhere near as crisp as it was against
>Syracuse, and both offensive and defensive lines were completely
>dominated.  Is Wisconsin's offensive line that much better than
>Syracuse's?  Is their defensive line?

Perhaps I should have said "Their number one problem, IMO, is they
need to get healthy", because I don't disagree with anything you say.
They had zero emotion, and the radio guys reported the same thing from
observing the bench during the game.  I'd call that the number 2 problem
though, albeit a big problem.

>
>Ohio State has enough talent that it should be able to beat these
>teams, even with a few guys hurt.  The offensive line was rated
>in the top 10 nationally at the beginning of the season.  I didn't
>see that Saturday.

Neither did I, but I'm not sure I've seen it all year either, nor
am I sure I ever believed it in the first place based upon the
performance from last year.

>The running backs are still loaded, even without
>Smith.  The looked pretty mortal against Wisconsin.

Yep, but you need room to run and like you basically pointed
out, Ohio State's offensive line got their butts kicked.
By the way, I think we need to see Eddie George more.

>The receivers
>are the only position where we've really been hurt this
>injuries (with the loss of Galoway).  Herbstreit would be better
>at 100%, but he's still playing better than expected.

See above.

>
>I don't expect the team to be as "up" for every game as they were
>for Syracuse, but we'll lose to just about everyone if we show
>up flat like that anymore.  Somehow, someway, John Cooper needs
>to find a way to motivate this team week in and week out.  Maybe
>some guys on the team need to step forward and kick some butt if
>their teammates aren't playing well.  Herbstreit seems to be able
>to do that with the offense; we just need someone on the defense
>and get these guys to do it more often.
>
>Another thing.  I don't want to hear about Tovar being a Butkus
>candidate anymore until he starts to prove it.  He's been very
>average this season (including the Syracuse game).  I'm not saying
>he's a worthless bum or anything.  I just think he's not playing
>to the level he did in previous years.

If they're not any healthier, and they show up flat - you're right -
they could be in trouble.  The defense needs to step it up.
They've had two pretty good performances this year (Syracuse and
Bowling Green) and two poor ones (Louisville and Wisconsin).

The old adage is "Good defense makes a great team".  Well, we
needed some defense in the second half Saturday to stop those
long time-comsuming drives and we didn't get it (credit Wisconsin).

>
>Having said all this, I hope the home crowd supports the team
>against Illinois this week.  The emotional problems should be
>worked out by Cooper & co. during practice.  The fan's need to
>fuel that emotion with positive support during the game.
>

Agreed.  I'll be there and a Sunday never goes by that I don't
have a hoarse (sp?) voice.

david