Washington at Ohio State

[dawgfan]

Since this game is being shown in the majority of the coutry tomorrow I'm assuming most of you will be watching. Should be an excellent matchup between Reggie Williams and Chris Gamble, arguably the 2 best players at their positions in college football. Should be interesting to see how much Gamble plays offense; Reggie is an extremely physical receiver and a very enthusiastic blocker - I wonder how much gas Gamble will have in the tank to go both ways. Considering he did so against Andre Johnson of Miami in the Fiesta Bowl I'll assume he play both ways against Washington, but you have to wonder how it will affect his play.

Keys to the game:
- How well can the UW offensive line protect Cody Pickett against the Ohio State pass rush? The UW will likely use a lot of quick slants, screens and other 3-step drop pass plays designed to keep Pickett upright - can the OSU corners jam the UW receivers enough to disrupt this plan?

- How effective will the UW rushing attack be? The Huskies were pathetic on the ground last season; while they return virtually all of the O-line and backfield intact, that may not be a good thing. New offensive line coach Dan Cozzetto has a great track record, but will Spring and Fall camps be enough time to get things going on the ground again for the UW? Don't expect a breakthrough against Ohio State, but keep an eye out for RS-Fr RB Shelton Sampson of the UW - if he gets a crease he could be gone. He's got legitimate track speed.

- Can the UW special teams avoid mistakes? The UW will be playing rookies at Punter, Kicker, short-snapper and long-snapper. Expect Ohio State to bring their best rush schemes against the UW special teams - can the punters avoid blocks and shanks? If the game comes down to field goals, will the walk-on kicker Evan Knudson be a clutch kicker?

- How much will Ohio State miss Maurice Clarett? The Buckeyes were much less effective last season when Clarett didn't play; on the other hand, virtually all of the offensive starters return. Craig Krenzel is a gritty QB with good running skills and weapons at WR. Coach Tressell has talked about opening up the passing game this season, though many are skeptical. The Husky run-defense was a strength last season but the depth on the D-line took a big hit when last year's most consistent DT Josh Miller was lost for good with a bad back.

Should be an interesting game...

[dawgfan]

Dola - if Ohio State spends a lot of time double-covering Reggie Williams keep an eye out for the FL Charles Frederick and the TE Joe Toledo. Frederick was nearly as highly regarded a recruit as Williams in '01 (higher regarded in some circles) and has tremendous quickness and change of direction; he's been compared to Peter Warrick in this regard. Frederick is expected to have a breakout season this year given the attention Williams will command. Joe Toledo is a huge target at TE, 6'7"/290lbs and can run - he could provide a tempting target for Pickett in the middle of the field. When the Huskies go to a slot receiver it will likely be a true freshman, probably a rotation of Bobby Whithorne and Sonny Shackleford. I expect the Huskies to run a lot of 2-TE/2 WR sets though, minimizing the exposure of the Fr receivers and the FB.

Another thing to look for - the starting FB for Washington is a former QB - if the Huskies try any trick plays, be on the lookout for a FB throw using Adam Seery.

[DeToxRox]

I think Williams will destroy Gamble.

Gamble is still very raw at DB, and Williams is one of the smartest WR's in the Nation.

I predict a 10 catch, 150 yard, 3 TD day out of him.

[Noop]

Originally posted by DeToxRoxDVHStyle
I think Williams will destroy Gamble.

Gamble is still very raw at DB, and Williams is one of the smartest WR's in the Nation.

I predict a 10 catch, 150 yard, 3 TD day out of him.

Looks like you were wrong

:)

noop

[kingnebwsu]

BUCKS WIN! HUZZAH!

Very impressive victory today by Ohio State!

[scooper]

Ohio St. looked very strong. Quite a way to kick off their defense of their NC.

[dawgfan]

Bleah. Ugly game for the Huskies - shows just how far we are from the nation's elite.

Reviewing my keys:
UW pass protection vs. Buckeye rush
Complete failure by the Huskies here. Even when rushing just the 4 down linemen Ohio State was getting good pressure, and when they blitzed the Huskies were toast. After the first offensive series the coaching staff basically gave up any kind of downfield passing attack in favor of quick hitches and swing passes. Where were the screen plays? This was the key failure for Washington IMO - with no chance at throwing to Reggie or Frederick downfield there was no way the Huskies could score.

UW rushing attack vs. Buckeye D
Complete failure again by the Huskies. The offensive line was simply overmatched. There were a few decent runs by Alexis, but many of them came off draws later in the game after Ohio State had started playing pass only. When the Huskies needed a yard or two for a first down they were shut down completely.

UW special teams
This was one bright spot for the Huskies - despite new starters at placekicker and punter, these areas played reasonably well aside from the blocked FG attempt. Kick coverage was good as well.

Will Ohio State miss Clarett
Not really - while the Buckeye rushing attack wasn't overpowering with the 2 TB's averaging around 3.5 yds per carry, Craig Krenzel did a good job passing and made the Huskies pay with a couple critical TD runs. The Buckeyes have some good WR's, and with their O-line providing great protection Krenzel had plenty of time to find weaknesses in the Husky secondary (namely the safeties).

Bottom line, the Buckeyes controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, especially on defense severely limiting the Huskies' offensive options. Very impressive game for Ohio State, and Washington has a lot of work to do before conference play starts.

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by dawgfan
Bleah. Ugly game for the Huskies - shows just how far we are from the nation's elite.


I wouldn't be so hard on UW just yet. Recall last year WSU came into Ohio State with really, really high expectations. They got totally smoked then went on a tear all year until Guesser got hurt. There was also Texas Tech who got crushed by the Bucks and went on to have a pretty good year.

Don't let everyone's underestimation of the Buckeyes affect the way you perceive UW. They will be top 2 or 3 in the PAC 10. Granted, they aren't in the USC class right now, but they should be right there with Oregon or ASU.

[dawgfan]

I'm still optimistic the Huskies can be a Rose Bowl contender, but the O-line is going to have to improve a great deal for them to get past USC.

From a Washington perspective, the thing is this was the year everyone pointed to 2 years ago as when the talent level should provide a legitimate National Championship contender. Instead, we have a good team, but one that has a lot of work to do to play with the top BCS teams. Husky fans are not used to seeing their O-lines get man-handled like they did against the Buckeyes.