Around the 'Shoe

Love the collision aspect of football.The speed and the wide open offenses have diluted the purest form of football over the last 3 decades, the blocking and tackling.

Good post. I say give him the rock and watch him roll. Seriously he looks like he wants to knock the sh*t out of someone . Hope they give him a lot of carries

I don't know. If you thinking of these last few years, they've never been able to just run at will over people. Beanie made hay with great talent, often turning bad plays into touchdowns. But I seem to remember OSU having trouble running all over teams like OU, even YSU. Their numbers may have ended up in the impressive column, but I don't think anyone watching those and so many other games came away with "man, we just ran all over them." The Bucks have a great stable of backs, yes, but none of them has proven to be a healthy Beanie yet, so for me, I want to see what looks to be a more West Coast offense, with lots of passes to those great backs. With any luck it could prove to be an interesting and effective offense. It should be fun---and, hopefully, enough.

Agreed here, watching a power football team impose their will and shove the ball down the other team's throat is a joy to watch. (as long as it's my team doing the imposing...) People sometimes forget that the game of football really is won in the trenches; you could have all the talent in the world at the skill positions but if the line isn't doing their job they become nonfunctional. Watching the 2008 NY Giants beat the New England Patriots in the Superbowl was one of the best displays of this I've ever seen. Our depth and talent on the D-Line is good enough to carry us through quite a few games provided the offense isn't completely incompetent.

I would agree with you 1000% that Boren wouldn't see carries if it weren't for one thing-----JT won't be coaching.

Let's not forget that the first 5 games are a defacto audition for Fick to D1 college football to show them all he has what it takes to whip all of them. How's he going to do it? He sure as hell won't be doing Tressel ball all day long that's for sure. He's going to run a few plays to show people the talent that is underused at tOSU. Because of that, I think Boren will see carries......or he'll see some short passes before he does a D9 Bulldozer through everyone in his path.

Boren is a beast but let's not forget how good his hands are! I will be looking for quite a few dump off passes goin his way especially in the first 5 games.

The Giants over the Patriots was a great example of that, but a different Giants team might be an even better example. The 1990 Giants that beat the Bills in Superbowl XXV. They held the ball for over 40 minutes, which kept Jim Kelly and their high scoring no-huddle offense off the field. The Giants won that Superbowl with their backup QB, and a 34 year old tailback. Having guys like Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, and Pepper Johnson helped too.

Very astute analysis... you beat me by just a few minutes! I fully anticipate seeing a ton of power football, with most of the passes being short and hitting the tall TEs and the athletic FB. This will be his time to shine as a blocker and receiver.

That last line makes me laugh. Can you believe we stole these Boren boys from UofM? I hope the coaching staff reads the quotes from Michigan fans and coaches about how the Boren's (directed at Justin) are whiny b*tches. I would remind Zach about that every day as a coach just to piss him off so much he knocks the UofM linebackers heads off when they meet him in the hole.

Thank you Rich Rod for sending the Boren's our way. We really appreciate it!!!!

Thanks for that post, I was thinking similar things while reading the recent posts. Amazing that such a family has turned to the "light" after being on the dark side.

And what a coup for OSU! Even with Hoke back up there, the die has been cast and the Boren's are solid supporters of all things Buckeye.

Indeed, RR was one of the best things OSU has had happen in the past five years!

Good point. Not trying to be a contrarian here, but for the past two seasons, opposing defenses have had to keep one eye on Pryor at all times and that opened up opportunities for our RBs to gain rushing yards. With Pryor out of the mix until October, even Akron and Toledo will be loading the box and daring whoever is at QB to throw. While I agree this stable of RBs is a very exciting one, unless our offensive line and its schemes allow them to block effectively while being outnumbered, I suggest some moderation in our hopes for an explosive running game.

Aiken,
I agree with you about the oline. Every year I get excited about the oline (those scarlet and grey glasses work great in the spring...you know, before any games are played!!!), only to get disappointed by the way the oline plays in the beginning of the year. With that said, those glasses are in full swing again this spring and I see a bunch of road graters kicking some dline/linebackers a$$es this fall.