Grading the Bucks--Week 11 Purdue

Editor's Note: Sorry for the delay but I'm still recovering from the horror in West Lafayette as it took me this long to find my way out.

Offense: D
Yuck, Yuck, Yuck. Much of the blame falls on the coaching staff and the play calls, but let's not let the players off the hook. On pure talent, the Buckeyes should have won easily against a terrible team in Purdue. Braxton Miller is not a good quarterback...now. He has exceptional running ability but his decision making and passing ability are horrendous (no coaching helps his regression). He holds the ball way too long. The receivers popped open deep downfield on seemingly every play and he Bauserman'd the ball way over their head. The running game was doing nothing. While I know that Purdue had 15 people in the box, it shouldn't have mattered. It's Purdue. The offensive line was not blowing people off the ball like they did against Wisconsin (what?). Shugarts was sorely missed even with the false starts. Only thing saving the offense from an F was the coaches burying them.

Defense: D+
Can anyone make a tackle? The 1st half was just horrendous with players out of position and seemingly confused on every play. The 2nd half wasn't much better, but at least we only game up 3 points. This week's secondary scapegoat is Bradley Roby who was beaten on almost every play of the half. Our secondary is horrendous and has been all year, but the opponent picks on a different weak link every week (Bryant, Howard, etc.). The line did their best, but the ball was out of the QB's hands within about 3 seconds every play--seems like other coaches watch tape and realize that once you get past the front four, it's easy pickins. 3rd and 12 in OT and you give up a wide open pass? I know the QB is running backwards 30 yards, but cover someone. Tackling must improve. I know there must be some talent there, but we didn't see it on Saturday.

Special Teams: D
Even after the worst performance by a Buckeye team, we still had a shot to win...just kick a PAT. Of course, that didn't even work. Punting was tough with the wind and coverage was fine. I don't blame Basil for the missed FG as it was about 50 yards. The PAT is just unacceptable. One great drive to steal a win....and you fail on the kick. I don't know who's fault it was (line, Basil, holder, etc.) and I don't care. It didn't cost us the game as we should have never been in that situation, but it adds to the list of failures.

Coaching: F-----
And we come to the gorilla in the room. All the talk that Fickell deserves another year is officially dead. I have NEVER seen a more poorly coached game in my life. I was in West Lafayette and focused on the sideline. Only one coach...ONE!!...ever got his troops together and coached them up during the game. Mike Vrabel. The others felt it was their duty to stare vacantly at the other units failing on the field without working to fix the problems occurring. They're running hurry up to the outside? Then adjust! Don't keep gettign beat and assume it will change. Underwood (Shugarts replacement) was getting destroyed. On the sideline, he sat alone with no coaches or offensive leaders (if we had them) coaching him up. Just a total failure from top to bottom. Then there's the playcalling. NOTE TO BOLLMAN: THE FOLLOWING PLAYS ARE INDEED LEGAL: SLANT, SWING, SCREEN, QB DRAW, QB SNEAK. Why keep running Dave and bomb when they aren't working (one because of the defense loading up and one because the QB is incompetent). We ran one....one swing to the RB and the OSU fans in the crowd marveled that it worked. Of course it did and it always will with this system because WE NEVER CALL IT. My mother saw a quick slant in the NE/NYJ game on Sunday night and asked why OSU never calls that play (I'm not joking, this actually happened). Perhaps OSU should hire her to be offensive coordinator even though she has no idea what half the positions are. It would be a major step up. Also, the 4th and 1 in OT. Go for it, Luke. This is OSU. We're bigger, nastier, meaner, and stronger. Challenge the line and run a QB sneak with your enormous QB. Don't hand it off, don't kick, don't drop back: smash them in the mouth. Bollman: your QB is the most explosive runner on the team in space, why run the wildcat with Jordan Hall? You can run QB draws and get more yards (see 3rd and a mile twice on the last drive when the play broke down). I could go on forever, but it's abundantly clear that this whole staff will be gone at the first opportunity. Fair or not to Fickell, it is what it is. Bollman may have cost him the job with his incompetence.