'Bama: The Brigher Side

by emccomb1 on Sep 15, 2011 9:41 AM EDT

The defense allowed ‘Bama to run at the same clip as last year (5.3 ypc both years), we gave up more points than last year (but Saban didn’t call off the dogs quite as much this year), and we ran the ball worse than last year (4.1 ypc compared to 3.7 ypc). But, our young QB actually led the team much better when comparing the two games. With Bolden under center and less of a running game than last year:

1. Plays per drive went up from 6.89 to 8.33;

2. Ints dropped from 2/29 to 1/29, 7% of throws to 3.5% of throws;

3. Points per drive increased from .33pts/drive to 1.83pts/drive;

4. The team had 2 six play drives under way (one at the 50 and the other at the ‘Bama 41) when turnovers occurred – Szczerba fumble and Bolden int. The team was moving the ball; and

5. Bolden was not sacked.

Now the paper argument had we kept Bolden in. PSU had 11 drives total and Bolden was averaging 1.83 points per drive on his 6 drives; had he played the whole game one could argue that PSU would have scored 20.13 points. Of course, had Bolden’s presence lead to longer drives, PSU likely would have had less drives. But even at 9-10 drives PSU could have scored between 16.47 and 18.30 points. Does it win the game? Probably not, but it makes it a lot closer. Additionally, leaving Bolden in would arguably help the team stay on the same page, versus the awfully planned rotation of QBs that was used. The points per drive could have increased with a single presence at QB.

Note: Again the WRs failed to help their QB....weren't they supposed to be THE strength of this offense? Remand Devon Smith to punts, kickoffs, and plays out of the backfield. He should not play WR.

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More bright side

The game would have been competitive if:

1) Devon Smith made the catch in stride and scored on the first play of the game.
2) Stankiewitch wasn’t called for holding on the Redd screen pass play (I re-ran the play several times and didn’t see it. Maybe somebody will ask Matt about it). That would have given us a 1st and 10 in Alabama territory and we would have held the momentum. Instead, we had 3rd and a mile from our own 31.
3) The ref provided a better spot on the Alabama fake punt.
4) We had gotten a finger on their first touchdown pass. We were so close.
5) Andrew Szczerba and Devon Smith didn’t fumble. Both fumbles resulted from a lack of concentration and seemed to demoralize our defense. Both fumbles killed drives in Alabama territory. Alabama moved easily for 50 yards in 10 plays and 65 yards in 5 plays, respectively, to score touchdowns after the turnovers.
6) We hadn’t switched quarterbacks.
7) Alabama hadn’t played such a perfect game.

As Joe will probably say, we are close to being a really good team. LET’S GO!

by uforabin on Sep 15, 2011 11:15 AM EDT reply actions

Excellent!

I am with you on all of these. It really was a pretty good game except for missed opportunities/bad luck in a couple key situations.

I know…I know, coulda woulda shoulda, but it really is not like there was no chance to make things happen. I think as these next 6 games go things will get ironed out and November will be a great time to be a PSU fan (not that there’s a bad time, but you get my point).

I’m sorry, but blanket statements are proven false 99% of the time, and if you make a blanket statement about college football, there’s a good chance that one exception will be Joe Paterno. - AdamShell @ BSD

Also; Always carry a bottle opener and the beer will provide itself.

by bconway6 on Sep 15, 2011 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree

It’s important to note that these are not excuses for WHY we lost, but rather reasons for why we should retain some optimism after the loss. If a few of those things had gone differently, it would have been a much closer game. I don’t think we’d have won, but we wouldn’t have had as much of a postgame meltdown.

We would likely have lost even if we had received a break or two, but it wouldn’d have looked as bad, and we’d have more confidence in the team going forward. We lost….but a few inches on a few plays and some discretional referee calls made the loss a landslide, not our team’s complete ineptitude.

"We gon' get down. We gon' do the do. I'm going to hit these mother****ers" - Dock Ellis, May 1, 1974.

by OctaShields on Sep 15, 2011 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions

I stated a couple of days ago that....

Joe always says that 5 or 6 plays during a game will contribute greatly as to the outcome of that game in particular….I am not looking for excuses either, I included the using of the timesout in the 1st 5 minutes, the bad spots, the dropped balls (damn! they have to be caught) and the absolutely poor preparation and play calling accounted for at least a dozen particular plays in the first quarter! For that reason alone it did not bode well for the Lions. Hope we come out strong and not flat against Temple or it could be a long afternoon.

"The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God." The Government is like the Mob, you can check out, but never leave.

by DerryPharmer on Sep 15, 2011 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions

While all true

How many passes of McBolden’s were almost picked off?

Follow @speedomike

by speedomike on Sep 15, 2011 8:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Before the season started...

I posted something to the effect of… “I’d rather PSU be a 9-3 team every year, have high academic standards, and have a clean program, than the alternative.” That statement got rec’d big time. But, as soon as we took a loss…
The team will be fine and still have honor at the end of the season. Those of us who are alums can remain proud of our degrees and not deal with what even the best students/alumni at O$U deal with now. He/she may have been a Rhodes Scholar and each of their conversations go like: “So… where did you go to school?” “Ohio State”. “Ooooooo, too bad about that scandal, huh.”

I just don't want to die without a few scars. ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 6

by LB31Monster on Sep 15, 2011 4:43 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs

so true, my neighbors are embarrassed. I don't even pick on them or bring it up, though they were never OSU fans that were over the top.

In fact, most of the OSU fans that actually went to school there have been level headed. The folks at work that moved from the Columbus area for work back in the mid 90’s and never went to school there have always been in your face fans, the ones that went to school, not at all.

this new thing happening even after all the crap with tatgate just shows what a lack of control and monitoring was going on. Come on, if you deal drugs and your neighbor gets busted, do you keep doing it? These people felt more entitled than drug dealers, but then they were following the lead of their QB so the fact no one EVER sat him down and said, hey, this looks bad, is a total reflection on the institutional control that existed at OSU. very sad, actually

My grammer skills need improved.

by BMAN13 on Sep 15, 2011 6:16 PM EDT up reply actions