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Navy Game Recap: The Story of Two Halves
David ThurmanSep 5, 2009
Brian Rolle's INT bailed out the Buckeyes // Photo via AP (Terry Gilliam)
Drew Thurman (7:03 pm)
Brian Rolle's interception during Navy's two-point conversion with 2:33 left in the game, allowed Buckeye nation to exhale. Just four minutes earlier in the game fans were feeling comfortable as Pryor convinced Tressel to go for a fourth and two, which would end up failing. Following that Dobbs would show off his magic leading the Midshipmen to two quick scores. In the blink of an eye, the game went from a potential laugher to a potential heart attack. Regardless the Buckeyes survived, and now look ahead to USC this coming Saturday. Before all the Trojan talk takes place over the coming days, let's break down this game.
First Half:
At the end of the first half the Buckeyes were up 20-7, and I was very optimistic about what I saw. It was encouraging to see the Buckeyes come out with such swagger, and see Pryor lead the offense down the field for an opening score. Twice he faced third and long situations, and passed both tests with flying colors, throwing strikes down the field. Then, as I expected, the Navy offense caused early problems for the defense. The staff tried to put eight in the box to shut down the run, but this limited the playing making ability as guys got lost in the shuffle. The defense did make adjustments though, and looked sharp for the remainder of the half. I was especially impressed with the play of Thaddeus Gibson, who caused a game changing fumble in the second quarter.
Brian Rolle's interception during Navy's two-point conversion with 2:33 left in the game, allowed Buckeye nation to exhale. Just four minutes earlier in the game fans were feeling comfortable as Pryor convinced Tressel to go for a fourth and two, which would end up failing. Following that Dobbs would show off his magic leading the Midshipmen to two quick scores. In the blink of an eye, the game went from a potential laugher to a potential heart attack. Regardless the Buckeyes survived, and now look ahead to USC this coming Saturday. Before all the Trojan talk takes place over the coming days, let's break down this game.
First Half:
At the end of the first half the Buckeyes were up 20-7, and I was very optimistic about what I saw. It was encouraging to see the Buckeyes come out with such swagger, and see Pryor lead the offense down the field for an opening score. Twice he faced third and long situations, and passed both tests with flying colors, throwing strikes down the field. Then, as I expected, the Navy offense caused early problems for the defense. The staff tried to put eight in the box to shut down the run, but this limited the playing making ability as guys got lost in the shuffle. The defense did make adjustments though, and looked sharp for the remainder of the half. I was especially impressed with the play of Thaddeus Gibson, who caused a game changing fumble in the second quarter.
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Back to the offense, I was also encouraged by the adjustments the offensive line made as the half progressed. They struggled picking up linebacker blitzes in the early going (lucky for them they have Pryor), but really got into a groove to close the first half. I thought a telling sign of this was how Bauserman was given the time to drive the offense down the field. Don't get me wrong, they did give up a bad sack, but outside of that gave him a ton of time. It's one thing to look sufficient with Pryor, it is another with Bauserman.
So as half time hit and the scoreboard showed 20-7, I felt pretty happy. I felt the lead could have been bigger, but was encouarged by the progression I saw. The play calling had been very solid, and for the first time in awhile was drinking the Tressel Offensive Kool-Aid. I thought we would see some of the youngsters in the second half, and we could sit back and enjoy. Boy, was I wrong...
Second Half:
Navy started the second half terribly, gave the Buckeyes great field position, and life was good. Wrong! The offense came out and stalled themselves with a false start, delay of game, and holding penalty. Thoma had a great punt though, and with an spectacular play by Anderson Russell the Buckeyes had the Midshipmen pinned on their own one yard line. What happened next was a eight minute drive by Navy, that was capped off by 16 yard touchdown pass from Dobbs to Curry.
Once again Heacock chose to blitz in the redzone, like against Texas, and once again Anderson Russell got burned. This particular blitz, like most all day, came from the inside and was not successful. I would really like to see Heacock mix up the blitzing schemes more, and use our speed on the outside. The player besides Russell that looked terrible on this drive was Austin Spitler who looked incredibly slow as Navy's runners easily got around the corner on him. He can't start against USC if we plan on winning!
From here Tressel decided to be Tressel and get conservative for the rest of the game. The creative play calling became runs up the middle and quarterback draws with Pryor. Regardless of how vanilla it was, the Buckeyes did open up a 29-13 lead and should have put the nail in the coffin. Instead, as previously described, Navy stormed back leaving a bad taste in every Buckeye fans mouth. Thanks to Brian Rolle, we live to see another day!
The coaching in the second half was not even close to being on par with that of the first half, especially on the defensive end. Heacock showed once again that he has very little variety and often makes the opposite choice of what seems reasonable. Why with six minutes left we were playing man to man and gearing up for the run, I will never know. Was Navy going to lay down and die? We needed to be in a zone, not allowing Navy to make the big play. I know it's rocket science, but the clock was our friend. I think it is time that Tressel changes his personel, and brings some guys that breath some fresh air into the program. I just don't see the Buckeyes being a national powerhouse with Bollman and Heacock still around!
Drew's Outlook:
Here are some quick hitters on stuff I saw with players...
- I really enjoyed the 1-2 punch of Herron and Saine. Obviously I was upset that the line didn't open bigger holes for these guys, especially later in the game, but both performed well. Saine really was a pleasant surprise, and it was nice to see him run north-south rather than dance. He in fact looked better than Herron, but I chalk that up to him being a bigger body that is able to break more tackles due to the poor blocking.
- I mentioned this already, but Russell and Spitler have to be replaced. I don't want to beat these young men up, but their play spoke volumes on Saturday. I would like to see Hines and Sabino in their places.
- Outside of Washington, the wideouts look sharp (esp. Sanzenbacher). I feel bad for Taurian, but the guy just doesn't have it come fall. I think Carter has his spot come next week. I also loved how much the staff worked the ball to the tight ends and running backs. I have been so sick of seeing a vertical passing game the last few years, and I was impressed with the offense game plan.
- The defensive line is going to be solid as we expected. The defensive ends (Heyward, Gibson, and Williams) just flat make plays. I thought Worthington played really well also, and without being held (never called), could have easily had four or five tackles for loss.
- The offensive line on the other hand needs to really step it up. I fear that this game may have hurt their confidence, which they need next week. I am all for working on weaknesses after a game, but you at least hope for the guys to have a little mojo. Since Navy played a 3-4, the defensive linemen were not the major issue, it was more frustrating to see that they were unable to pick up blitzes from linebackers and defensive backs. They stood like statues and blocked what was in front of them most of the day, but showed little to no awareness of what was going on around them. You better believe USC will mix up blitz packages, and the line will have to be better at reacting.
So as half time hit and the scoreboard showed 20-7, I felt pretty happy. I felt the lead could have been bigger, but was encouarged by the progression I saw. The play calling had been very solid, and for the first time in awhile was drinking the Tressel Offensive Kool-Aid. I thought we would see some of the youngsters in the second half, and we could sit back and enjoy. Boy, was I wrong...
Second Half:
Navy started the second half terribly, gave the Buckeyes great field position, and life was good. Wrong! The offense came out and stalled themselves with a false start, delay of game, and holding penalty. Thoma had a great punt though, and with an spectacular play by Anderson Russell the Buckeyes had the Midshipmen pinned on their own one yard line. What happened next was a eight minute drive by Navy, that was capped off by 16 yard touchdown pass from Dobbs to Curry.
Once again Heacock chose to blitz in the redzone, like against Texas, and once again Anderson Russell got burned. This particular blitz, like most all day, came from the inside and was not successful. I would really like to see Heacock mix up the blitzing schemes more, and use our speed on the outside. The player besides Russell that looked terrible on this drive was Austin Spitler who looked incredibly slow as Navy's runners easily got around the corner on him. He can't start against USC if we plan on winning!
From here Tressel decided to be Tressel and get conservative for the rest of the game. The creative play calling became runs up the middle and quarterback draws with Pryor. Regardless of how vanilla it was, the Buckeyes did open up a 29-13 lead and should have put the nail in the coffin. Instead, as previously described, Navy stormed back leaving a bad taste in every Buckeye fans mouth. Thanks to Brian Rolle, we live to see another day!
The coaching in the second half was not even close to being on par with that of the first half, especially on the defensive end. Heacock showed once again that he has very little variety and often makes the opposite choice of what seems reasonable. Why with six minutes left we were playing man to man and gearing up for the run, I will never know. Was Navy going to lay down and die? We needed to be in a zone, not allowing Navy to make the big play. I know it's rocket science, but the clock was our friend. I think it is time that Tressel changes his personel, and brings some guys that breath some fresh air into the program. I just don't see the Buckeyes being a national powerhouse with Bollman and Heacock still around!
Drew's Outlook:
Here are some quick hitters on stuff I saw with players...
- I really enjoyed the 1-2 punch of Herron and Saine. Obviously I was upset that the line didn't open bigger holes for these guys, especially later in the game, but both performed well. Saine really was a pleasant surprise, and it was nice to see him run north-south rather than dance. He in fact looked better than Herron, but I chalk that up to him being a bigger body that is able to break more tackles due to the poor blocking.
- I mentioned this already, but Russell and Spitler have to be replaced. I don't want to beat these young men up, but their play spoke volumes on Saturday. I would like to see Hines and Sabino in their places.
- Outside of Washington, the wideouts look sharp (esp. Sanzenbacher). I feel bad for Taurian, but the guy just doesn't have it come fall. I think Carter has his spot come next week. I also loved how much the staff worked the ball to the tight ends and running backs. I have been so sick of seeing a vertical passing game the last few years, and I was impressed with the offense game plan.
- The defensive line is going to be solid as we expected. The defensive ends (Heyward, Gibson, and Williams) just flat make plays. I thought Worthington played really well also, and without being held (never called), could have easily had four or five tackles for loss.
- The offensive line on the other hand needs to really step it up. I fear that this game may have hurt their confidence, which they need next week. I am all for working on weaknesses after a game, but you at least hope for the guys to have a little mojo. Since Navy played a 3-4, the defensive linemen were not the major issue, it was more frustrating to see that they were unable to pick up blitzes from linebackers and defensive backs. They stood like statues and blocked what was in front of them most of the day, but showed little to no awareness of what was going on around them. You better believe USC will mix up blitz packages, and the line will have to be better at reacting.
Ant Daps Up Spurs Mid-Game 💀
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