krambman;628520 wrote:It's hard to grade the team this year. I guess that I'll break it down by unit.
Special Teams: D+
We gave up several special teams TD's this year and had a hard time covering kicks and gave up too many big returns. At the same time we also were near the top in the nation in kick return yards average, and did well in the return game. Perhaps I'm being too harsh.
Defense: A
I wanted to grade this defense a bit lower because they didn't leave as big of an impression in my mind as some past OSU defenses, but I think that has more to do with the fact that there wasn't a superstar like Mike Doss, AJ Hawk, James Laurinaitis, or Malcolm Jenkins. However, we finished the season third in scoring defense and second in total defense in the entire nation, and we were near the top in take aways and turn over margin. They also gave up only nine passing TD's all year. Also, this defense suffered more injuries than any I can remember, which makes what they did even more impressive.
Offense: A-
There were times where I was very frustrated with this offense, but maybe it's just because I love pro-style QB's and I get frustrated with Pryor's unorthodox throwing motion and poor decision making at times. It's hard to argue with the numbers though. This was the highest scoring team under Tressel averaging nearly 40 points per game. We finished 11th in scoring and 20th in total offense.
Overall: A-
The special teams certainly hurt and the overall flat performance at Wisconsin certainly hurts. However, we did finish as Big Ten Champs for the sixth straight season, we dominated Michigan for our seventh straight win in the series, and we won a BCS bowl over an SEC opponent. On top of all that this was statistically the most dominant team (in terms of margin of victory) under Jim Tressel's tenure at OSU. I don't think you can have an A+ season at OSU unless you win a national championship, but this was pretty darn close.
I largely agree with this, but give the offense a B.
Pryor was frustrating and why he did improve, he still has a long way to go in terms of decision making, mechanics, and technique. Also, the line was just awful most of the year. No getting around that.
But, agree on the special teams and the defense. Overall, I'd give the team a B.
A great year, just had 1 awful game and a few frustrating ones to watch. But, 12-1 and not many teams can say that this year and probably a top 5 finish.