CoachOSU
11-18-2009, 08:14 AM
Coach back again for another breakdown.. will label this game "The Battle with the Buffs" .. not to be confused with "Battling in the Buff" which would make it more female friendly I am afraid (at least for my wife.. she would be a lifelong OSU fan then :cool2:)...
Matchups-
1. OSU's mindset/readiness- Two things concern me about this Thursday night game... 1. Playing a late Saturday night game (a hard hitting one at that) and then playing again Thursday.. not much time to heal injuries, soreness, get mindset on the next opponent. Any quick turn around that is not the normal schedule can be tough for the players AND the coaches... I would hope the group of seniors would help solve the readiness problem... 2. This late in the season you get some mental fatigue... all the weeks of film study, lifting, pounding on each other takes a huge mental toll (not just physical) on the players, on top of that you have everyone saying how bad Colorado is and how good we are.... It can really effect how hard you prepare for a game... Soreness+Short week+Playing a less than average team= Slow and Sluggish game.... It will be interesting to see how motivated we look straight out of the gate...
2. OSU O-Line vs. Colorado D-Line- I think we can take advantage of Colorado's DB's... however I think Colorado does have some dangerous D-Lineman... The best D-Lineman we need to account for is Marquez Herrod, who is ranked 41st in the NCAA in sacks (with 6.5) and 71st in Tackles for Loss with 9... NO one else on the Colorado Defense is even ranked in the top 100 in either of those categories... so needless to say, the focus needs to be on him (he was absolutely dominated the Kansas game.. 3 Tackles for Loss for a loss of 28 yards (3 SACKS), 3 solo tackles.. so he can have monster games).
I also want to see continued improvement on our O-Line... I think we have improved every week except against Texas Tech.. we had some troubles opening holes for our runners the whole first half, but recovered and had a good game the second half... I would love to see a dominate performance this week.
3. OSU LB's vs. Colorado Offensive Line/QB- Our LB's (Lavine, Sexton, Booker) can have a monster game this week... Colorado is only ranked 112th in the NCAA in run offense averaging only 90 yards a game... we are ranked 7th in rushing defense allowing only 89 yards a game... This is key to keep this trend up... we need to force Colorado to try and rely on the running game and shut down the passing game (59th, getting 220 yards per game) which is the only thing Colorado can do to hurt us... make them have to try and gain yards on the ground, if they have to depend on the running game.. then that is Game, Set, Match for them... Passing game is the only thing they can half do productively.
4. OSU Punt Return vs. Colorado Punt Coverage- We haven't made as many plays in the punt return (our best special team area) as I would have liked... and when we do, it seems like we get a penalty... so, I look for a big play out of Parrish this week... Colorado is ranked 61st in the NCAA allowing only 8.64 yards per return (this is better than us AND Texas) so it will be tough.. however we average 12.84 per punt return (good enough for 23rd) ..so we need to win this area of the game.
Players to Watch-
1. Robinson- Of course, all eyes on how he responds to the hard hit, short week, sore shoulder, questions of will he/ won't he play.... I feel like if he plays it needs to be for a short time and only when needed.... I would rather have a healthy QB going to Norman, than a blowout of Colorado... of course if it is a close game..then we need to have our best out there.
2. Toston/Hunter- It would put a smile on any coaches face to have this 1-2 combo in the backfield... I would assume Hunter is close to 100 percent again and Toston is just a beast at getting those extra tough yards... pounding back and speedy back..good stuff.... I would like for them to see most of the action against Colorado.. not letting Robinson get knocked around in the pocket... good running game= less hits on QB
3. Tyler Hansen (CU QB)- He took over in the middle of the season for Hawkins, good QB for his lack of experience... had a solid game against A&M, drove them down for the winning score and completed a beautiful pass for the winning touchdown.... can make mistakes but also can hurt you if you can't pressure him...
Score Prediction-
OSU- 34
Colorado- 13
I see us running the ball a lot, controlling the clock, defense having a solid game... Colorado maybe getting a cheap touchdown late in the game.... I see Cox picking off another pass... couple of sacks out of our D-Line.. and maybe even 100 yard game for Toston or Hunter
Matchups-
1. OSU's mindset/readiness- Two things concern me about this Thursday night game... 1. Playing a late Saturday night game (a hard hitting one at that) and then playing again Thursday.. not much time to heal injuries, soreness, get mindset on the next opponent. Any quick turn around that is not the normal schedule can be tough for the players AND the coaches... I would hope the group of seniors would help solve the readiness problem... 2. This late in the season you get some mental fatigue... all the weeks of film study, lifting, pounding on each other takes a huge mental toll (not just physical) on the players, on top of that you have everyone saying how bad Colorado is and how good we are.... It can really effect how hard you prepare for a game... Soreness+Short week+Playing a less than average team= Slow and Sluggish game.... It will be interesting to see how motivated we look straight out of the gate...
2. OSU O-Line vs. Colorado D-Line- I think we can take advantage of Colorado's DB's... however I think Colorado does have some dangerous D-Lineman... The best D-Lineman we need to account for is Marquez Herrod, who is ranked 41st in the NCAA in sacks (with 6.5) and 71st in Tackles for Loss with 9... NO one else on the Colorado Defense is even ranked in the top 100 in either of those categories... so needless to say, the focus needs to be on him (he was absolutely dominated the Kansas game.. 3 Tackles for Loss for a loss of 28 yards (3 SACKS), 3 solo tackles.. so he can have monster games).
I also want to see continued improvement on our O-Line... I think we have improved every week except against Texas Tech.. we had some troubles opening holes for our runners the whole first half, but recovered and had a good game the second half... I would love to see a dominate performance this week.
3. OSU LB's vs. Colorado Offensive Line/QB- Our LB's (Lavine, Sexton, Booker) can have a monster game this week... Colorado is only ranked 112th in the NCAA in run offense averaging only 90 yards a game... we are ranked 7th in rushing defense allowing only 89 yards a game... This is key to keep this trend up... we need to force Colorado to try and rely on the running game and shut down the passing game (59th, getting 220 yards per game) which is the only thing Colorado can do to hurt us... make them have to try and gain yards on the ground, if they have to depend on the running game.. then that is Game, Set, Match for them... Passing game is the only thing they can half do productively.
4. OSU Punt Return vs. Colorado Punt Coverage- We haven't made as many plays in the punt return (our best special team area) as I would have liked... and when we do, it seems like we get a penalty... so, I look for a big play out of Parrish this week... Colorado is ranked 61st in the NCAA allowing only 8.64 yards per return (this is better than us AND Texas) so it will be tough.. however we average 12.84 per punt return (good enough for 23rd) ..so we need to win this area of the game.
Players to Watch-
1. Robinson- Of course, all eyes on how he responds to the hard hit, short week, sore shoulder, questions of will he/ won't he play.... I feel like if he plays it needs to be for a short time and only when needed.... I would rather have a healthy QB going to Norman, than a blowout of Colorado... of course if it is a close game..then we need to have our best out there.
2. Toston/Hunter- It would put a smile on any coaches face to have this 1-2 combo in the backfield... I would assume Hunter is close to 100 percent again and Toston is just a beast at getting those extra tough yards... pounding back and speedy back..good stuff.... I would like for them to see most of the action against Colorado.. not letting Robinson get knocked around in the pocket... good running game= less hits on QB
3. Tyler Hansen (CU QB)- He took over in the middle of the season for Hawkins, good QB for his lack of experience... had a solid game against A&M, drove them down for the winning score and completed a beautiful pass for the winning touchdown.... can make mistakes but also can hurt you if you can't pressure him...
Score Prediction-
OSU- 34
Colorado- 13
I see us running the ball a lot, controlling the clock, defense having a solid game... Colorado maybe getting a cheap touchdown late in the game.... I see Cox picking off another pass... couple of sacks out of our D-Line.. and maybe even 100 yard game for Toston or Hunter