I am not a hero worshipper of Tressel and I see way too much college football to make my wife happy. I went to Florida. My wife went to Michigan.
The comments above say it all. Ohio State had trouble moving the ball before Pryor took over.
OK, I don't want to turn this into a Pryor/Boeckman debate, because I want to trust our coach to put the player on the field who gives us the best chance to win. He's at practice, I'm not. He breaks down game film, I don't.
But your statement about the Buckeyes having trouble moving the ball before Pryor took over is false. They scored a lot of points against Youngstown, and the whole team struggled against Ohio. They had two solid drives against USC's hallowed defense, and both came with Boeckman at the helm, alternating with Pryor. This seemed to keep USC off balance for a while, but unfortunately penalties did us in.
After that it's pretty much been the Terrell Pryor show. I have no problem with that, except for people here who are calling this a rebuilding/transition year because we have a true freshman at QB. Well, we also have a senior on the bench who has AN ENTIRE YEAR OF PROVING HE CAN MOVE THE BALL behind him, bringing us to the national championship game.
Yet Tressel can't find a way to use both.
And, I would argue Tressel has learned. Next year, he will have an experienced, talented QB. He will not have to be second guessed for playing a senior who couldn't move the team and being left with an inexperienced QB for next year.
See above. He has an experienced, talented QB THIS YEAR who he is choosing not to use. And Boeckman has proven he can move the team.
As for the Chris Leak comparison, there is none. Leak had been a starter since he was a freshman. He had a terrible game at Auburn and some erratic moments, but he was the clear starter. Tebow had a very important change of pace role.
Leak did not have a national championship game on his resume. Boeckman does. You're right, no comparison.
I think its to Tressel's credit that he didn't stick with a senior who was not performing and that he was forward thinking. Don't condemn him based on bad expectations. Who saw Penn State , Alabama and Texas Tech as contenders this year?
Was not performing well? See above.
Forward thinking? Forward thinking is finding a way to use both of your assets. Urban Meyer did it. So have other coaches. Tressel even started doing it. Then he stopped.
There are a lot of schools that would be happy with 10-2, 9-3 or 8-4 in a "bad year." Ohio State lost to USC on the road and Penn State. Two championship contenders.
As I stated, it's not the record. You can argue the lofty win totals are partly a product of what conference they play in, and how great a recruiter Tressel is. But since he already led us to a national championship, I won't go there. If you read my post, you would see I said Tressel is a bad in-game coach.
And, of course, you're ignoring my other points. What of the abysmal red zone offense performance? Ranked 103 out of 109 teams. What about the undisciplined penalties? What about the timeout against Illinois that cost us a chance to win the game? What about finding a way to use both Boeckman and Pryor? What about not running twice between the tackles and then throwing on third and long over and over and over again, when it wasn't working?
What about it?
Don Shula used to say that coaches are measured every week-- by the score and by their record. Tressel's record does not have the be defended.
That's good, since I didn't attack it.
Sandra