OT -- Tressel 4th down coaching decision

Submitted by qed on

Tressel fails to go for it on 4th down, when OSU is down by 10 with only 6 minutes left.  I am pretty sure that Rich Rod's punting decision last week was not that bad.  OSU's defense has looked horrible today and if Tressel was confident in a 3 and out...why does it really matter if Wisonsin might get a long field goal?  OSU offense also needs a lot more time than our offense to score.  Anyway, I thought the decision was pretty illogical.   But we will see, OSU still has some time.

[ED..  BTW. I am being sarcastic about Tressel being a bad coach.  I don't like his conservative nature, but I also enjoy kicking OSU while they are down.]

[ED 2...I changed the title to make it less provocative to those that think I think Tressel is horrible]

BlockM

October 16th, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^

You're right. The decision to not go for it on 4th and 10 on your own side of the field makes him a horrible coach. If I had a scale with his B10 championships, his MNC appearances and wins, and his overall record on one side, and that call on the other, it would be tipped toward a call that wasn't even bad for sure.

johnvand

October 16th, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^

Yeah it'd be terrible to be on a 6 game rivalry win streak.

Have several Big Ten rings, and a BCS national championship.

WTB 500 points for thread starting during football season.

qed

October 16th, 2010 at 10:02 PM ^

Except that I have been reading the blog longer than your membership start date.  I don't always post, true, but I think having a discussion that makes fun of OSU while there down and questions/asks about the validity of a 4th down call (especially when we jumped on Rich rod for doing it last week) is just as worthy as many of the other 'emotional' posts on here.

bronxblue

October 16th, 2010 at 10:18 PM ^

I'm not going to be the they're/their/there guy, but I don't think this needed to be a separate post.  Who cares what Tressell does?  Is he the coach of UM, ir involved with the team or next week's opponent?  No, then probably not worth it.  If you wanted to write something like this, just put it in one of the late-game threads.

qed

October 16th, 2010 at 10:22 PM ^

I apologize if I wasted your time.  But I did write it as OT and also there were no OSU hate threads for the Wisky loss yet, which I figured this thread could double for.  I agree with you that it is weak but the fact that people were enraged by Rich Rod doing this last week caused me to post this.  I also figured that that it was at least better than some of the other post-game junk I saw on the board...but I digress.

bronxblue

October 16th, 2010 at 10:33 PM ^

I get why you posted it and I agree with the sentiment to an extent, but this is like shouting "OSU sucks" when UM is playing Purdue or something.  OSU is a very good team and Tressel is a very good coach, and taking a shot at him for a questionable call in an unrelated game just seems unnecessary here.  I think the board moderates itself reasonably well, but every time I see a post about how team X is doing, it makes me cringe a bit.  Still, I respect the post's sentiment, but it just feels unnecessary.

bronxblue

October 16th, 2010 at 10:34 PM ^

Yeah, it's hard to point it out otherwise, but I didn't want to be the guy whose typical response is to attack grammar (because I'm certainly guilty of the snafus).

Mitch Cumstein

October 16th, 2010 at 9:55 PM ^

I hate b10 championships, NCs, rosebowl wins, top 5 teams and especially winning the game 5 years in a row.  Good thing.

 

All joking aside, he is ridiculously conservative.  Thats always been the way he coaches.  4th and goal from the 1 inch line he'll kick the FG 99% of the time.

Webber's Pimp

October 16th, 2010 at 9:57 PM ^

I honestly don't know how you can say that. I hate Tressell as much as the next guy but the fact is he's beaten the crap out of us ever since he arrived at OSU. He's an excepional coach. 

mestaba

October 16th, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^

Yeah I really like putting up 500 yds a game and still getting our asses kicked.  We are poorly coached.  Believe what your eyes are telling you!  By the way, Barwis is overrated. 

StraightDave

October 16th, 2010 at 10:22 PM ^

the reality is UM does not have enough talent to compete for a Big Ten championship.  I don't think there are too many players on UM's defesne that would crack the two deep for OSU.

Omally

October 16th, 2010 at 10:06 PM ^

watching osu lose has some how put a smile on my face.  goodbye number one ranking, its funny msu is looking down at the whole big ten.  msu, iowa and purdue, fighting for the rose bowl.  its theirs to lose.  which is probable.

mtxgoblue

October 16th, 2010 at 10:07 PM ^

Yes I thought it was the wrong choice at the time. 6 minutes left and down 2 scores? You haven't been able to stop the run game. Yes if you don't make it they'll get the ball on your side but if you punt it away it's over anyway.

bronxblue

October 16th, 2010 at 10:22 PM ^

Tressel is a very good coach, and his playcalling has always been conservative.  It costs him games like these, but it also nets him 10+ win seasons at an amazing clip.  On the other side of the coin are guys like Miles who go crazy and pull of wins but can also play themselves into huge holes.  You rarely can have it both ways.

JBE

October 16th, 2010 at 10:28 PM ^

I almost wish Tressel was our coach. I could wear sweater vests again. They are so damn comfortable, and keep your nipples from chaffing, and they look cool with ties, seriously, I miss them.

Yooper

October 16th, 2010 at 11:25 PM ^

He is going to start gettig some heat as he underachieves expectations of OSU fans. 10-2 isn't going to cut it. He also made a big mistake by betting so big on Pryor who can't carry a team consistently. He is a conservative play caller because of his QB

Eric

October 16th, 2010 at 11:31 PM ^

I think Jim Tressel is a great coach.  That being said, I don't think they'll ever win another national championship as long as he's calling the plays.  I'll give him credit, his Defense gets after it. However, his offense struggles against decent defenses.

 

I thought kicking the field goal when you're down 21 and on the 4 yard line was a worse call than the punt. What do you gain by getting the 3 points? Instead of being down 3 scores, you're down..well..3 scores.

da shiz

October 16th, 2010 at 11:47 PM ^

Totally unrelatedn to the OP, but two of my Ohio State facebook friends( not actual friends, i can't say no to a friend request) had FIRE TRESSEL posts. They won't realize how good they've got it until it's gone...

ShruteBeetFarms

October 17th, 2010 at 1:25 AM ^

They had some players hurt and were forced to play some young/inexperienced guys. With that said, they gave up a lot of yards that they wouldn't have to do with their EXPERIENCED starters.

So compare that with Michigan's defense (we're playing a lot more inexperienced players). We're 5-2 and have won the games we were supposed to win.

Clarence Beeks

October 17th, 2010 at 9:31 AM ^

I think this is a very good point and one that keeps getting lost in the shuffle of this season.  If you watched the beginning of the OSU-Wisconsin game and saw the starting lineups, both teams were dominated by juniors and seniors on defense, with very few sophomores and no freshmen.  That experience makes a world of difference.  I'm confident that Michigan's defense will be a lot better next year just from the added experience alone.