The Front Row

I would like to comment on your well written post - but as you know - we are prohibited from starting any new threads about Toledo.

I don't think the Akron game did this team any favors. They were so bad, that there were no lessons learned. While there were missed assignments and poor reads, there were no consequences for them because Akron was terrible. As a matter of fact, that game may have been negative reinforcement for the team as it may have taught them that some mistakes/techniques have no negative outcome.

Honestly, I think it may be better to look at the Akron game as a live scrimmage and to look at the Toledo game as the first game of the year. That said, here are my observations of the first game of the year (Toledo):

-Hyde was unimpressive. Those that think he was elite, please go back and watch guys that we know were elite (Chris Wells, MoC) and refresh your memory on what elite looks like. There was no doubt about either early in their career. Frankly, I think Rod Smith flashes more and Hyde doesn't break as many tackles as you would think. Additionally, I think he looks a little bit soft (he is not particularly jacked) and as a result he runs like a 200lb back. Rod Smith seems to be a bit small in the upperbody.

-Oline play, it is tough to tell how well they played or didn't. There was not a ton of push, not the kind you would expect from a perennial top 5 team vs. a mid major. There were holes, but I don't think they were play was called. My theory is that the reason Hyde ran up his blockers backsides is because he was running to where the hole was supposed to be and it wasn't there. This theory is further augmented by the fact that he continued to get carries (RBs that go to the wrong place generally lose carries). This implies that the OLine was unable to open holes for the called play and our RBs lacked the vision to find the holes that the defense created in defending the play.

-QB play: Atrocious. Ladies and Gentlemen, Joe Bauserman "is who we thought he is." Enough said. I know it is one game, but sometimes that is enough. He missed receivers, but more importantly he lost his poise under pressure. OSU can handle an inaccurate QB, hell TP started for 3 years, what a team cannot handle is a guy that breaks down under pressure. We aren't talking about it now because he did not throw any picks, but as you rewatch the game watch for backfooted throws, particularly when he perceives (may or may not actually exist) pressure. He has happy feet back there, and that is a bad sign and it is only a matter of time until it turns into INTs, mark my words. It is Miller-Time, and personally, my opinion of Fickell will be shaped based on whether or not he recognizes that going into this week. If he insists on going full Bow-Wow again this week, then I will know that this is about his job and not what is right for this team.

-WR play: We need playmakers. Verlon Reed is going to be a good possession guy and will get open for us, but we need a guy to stretch the field. Devin Smith looks like that guy. He needs to be the Y receiver when Posey comes back.

-Dline Play: OSU has no true pass rushing WDE on the roster. Nate Williams did not play this week, but he has not been a guy that has had a ton of success in getting to the QB. I think the right answer is to look to more of a jumbo set DL with Simon at WDE, Bellamy SSDE, Hank at 3Tech, Goebel at NT. We saw it this week and it looked pretty decent. It ensures that we are not going to get run on, that is for sure. We could even bring Williams in to play Sam particularly against Wisco, which leads to my next point.....

-LB Play: Sweat is amazing at the Will and Sabino is definitely flashing at Mike. He may still need some time and is not always where he should be, but he is a play maker and has the speed to get to where he needs to go. It is time to put Storm Klein on the bench. Sorry, he is stiff and slow. Nice Pick this week, but he didn't have the speed to catch Toledo's RB on the corner and really wasn't even close (with the angle). Klein is unremarkable. Shazier continues to look great everytime he is on the field (ST this week), we need to get 15lbs on that kid quick.

-Secondary: The corners look awesome, safeties.... meh. Barnett was up and down. Moeller hasn't really done much in 2 games, Johnson looks to have improved, but he was probably the weak link last year, so that doesn't say much. We will get a much better idea after this week, when we play a team with alot of talent.

-Not sure what the deal with Berry is. There must be something going on in practice that we are not seeing. Neither RB played so well this week that not going to Berry would make sense. He seems to have good vision with the ball in his hands which is something that the other 2 are seriously lacking. Not calling for him to get more carries, because like I said, there has to be something going on that we are not seeing, but I would just like to know what that something is.

Yeah, if there is a silver lining to the Toledo game it is this. It's a wake up call, learning experience for a very young, but talented team. I'll take that, plus the W.

I believe Duane is giving Hyde a learning curve. Everyone is expecting Hyde to be like Prime MoC/Beanie his first two games. That is very unrealistic. MoC is the only back that I remember coming in their first year and dominating.

Robert smith didn't do it (had some good stats, but would not call him elite his first year)
Eddie George didn't do it
Pitman didn't do it
Beanie didn't do it

Personally, Hyde reminds me of "quiet storm"