Maybe it is the eternal optimist in me, maybe it is just a case of delusional rationalization, or maybe the optimism that I convey at work (screaming about play calls and clock management are not acceptable responses to the numerous people who ask me about the Buckeyes) has tainted my thinking, but I can’t help but take some positive things away from the USC game.
The source of most of my optimism is that the game this past weekend reminded me of the Texas game in 2005.
Inability to score touchdowns in the redzone? check.
Indecisive young quarterback who locks on to receivers and looks uncomfortable in the pocket? check.
Defense that plays borderline fantastic but just can’t get a stop in crunch time? check.
Texas ’05 and USC ’09 were remarkably similar in all of these regards.
You may be asking yourself why I am optimistic about the similarities between two heart-breaking defeats. All you need to do is look at the way 2005 ended (not to mention how 2006 went) to see why there is at least a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
The Buckeyes rolled off seven straight wins to end 2005 following the aforementioned loss at home to Texas in the second game of the season and a road loss at Penn State in the fifth game of the season. The Buckeyes finished the year 10-2 and capped the season off with a dominating victory over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. Remember the warm fuzzy off season feelings that bowl wins gave you?
That 2005 team was led by the defense early in the year which was spearheaded by the best trio of linebackers in the country: Schlegel, Carpenter, and Hawk.
The ’05 defense played great led by the linebackers and kept the Buckeyes in games while the offense struggled to find an identity early in the season behind a young, indecisive, mobile quarterback who locked on to receivers and never looked comfortable in the pocket. Sound familiar?
To highlight just how similar young Troy Smith in ’05 was to Terrelle Pryor so far in ’09, take a look at Pryor’s USC statline compared to Smith’s Penn State statline (Smith split time with Justin Zwick in the Texas game so it is not a good comparison).
Smith: 13/25 139 yards 1 Int and 59 yards rushing on 19 attempts (factoring out yards lost)
Pryor: 11/25 177 yards 1 Int and 54 yards rushing on 10 attempts (factoring out yards lost)
So, pretty similar to start off the year.
Following the early season struggles in ’05, Smith was able to become more comfortable in the pocket and eventually the offense was able to find its groove. With the offense and defense clicking on all cylinders, Smith and the ’05 Buckeyes ended the year with a ton of momentum.
Smith went 19/28 for 342 yards with 2 TDs and no interceptions in the Fiesta Bowl. Quite a turnaround from the beginning of the year. I would go so far as to say that the team that took the field against Notre Dame was Tressel’s best, most well rounded team to date.
Back to ’09, if Pryor can progress anywhere close to the way that Smith did in ’05 the Buckeyes should be in great shape (both in terms of this year and heading into next year).
I expect the ’09 defense to keep us in games led by our dominating D-Line (which was another positive I took from the USC game) while Pryor and the offense work to develop an identity. Luckily for Pryor and the fans, there should be plenty of time to find that identity before the team faces an opponent anywhere close to USC’s level.
The next team that Ohio State will face that is even close to USC (not that close though) is Penn State, which will be Ohio State’s second tough test of the year, just like in ’05.
Unlike in ’05, however, Pryor will have seven more games under center before he has to go on the road to Happy Valley, Smith only had two.
Not only does Pryor and the offense have seven games to develop before they head to Happy Valley, it doesn’t look like there will be many challenges in any of those seven games (Toledo, Illinois, @ Indiana, Wisconsin, @ Purdue, Minnesota, New Mexico St.) which should allow Pryor to develop some much needed confidence, experience, and chemistry with the rest of the offense.
The similarities between the ’05 and ’09 teams are hard to ignore, and given the extra time that OSU will have between USC and Penn State, the ’09 team may even avoid losing a second game.
It all depends on how well Pryor develops, and using ’05 and Smith as the example of how that is done, I am still optimistic about this season.
If this team can find an identity on offense behind Pryor, dominate on defense led by the line, and develop some momentum before a rough stretch of games to end the year (@ Penn State, Iowa, @ Michigan), there is nothing keeping this team from winning out and smashing someone in a bowl game.
That type of momentum would go a long way towards setting up a great season in ’10, just like the momentum from ’05 set up a great year in ’06 (added bonus is that we will be returning a lot more players than the ’06 team did, especially on defense).
But I am getting ahead of myself, speculating about the future is what the off season is for. This year looks like it will be an ’05 type of year, but for that to happen the team must win one game at a time.
BEAT THE ROCKETS!
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