tbozeglav

Ohio State's Marching band is vastly different than ours. Consider this... Akron's band consists of many, many instruments including horns and woodwinds. OSUs marching band is strictly horns/brass. They are a military-esque band. We aren't. They use the high-step march. We don't. Not that those things make our band bad, but its just our style. Each band has their own style. I have had the opportunity to witness TBDBITL in person, albeit that they were at the browns game against Dallas. Even so... they are a truley amazing band to watch as their precision and marching is damn near flawless. The script Ohio... aside from the fact that it's college's most touted tradition, is amazing to watch from a choreography standpoint because of the exact precision it takes to march perpendicular through the line without people running into each other. They are, in my opinion, a TRUE college MARCHING band.

skip-zip...the reason I mention it being a good defense late in the game is because of the number of DBs. HOWEVER, the reason this hasnt worked for us in the 4th quarter is because we run it the entire game. That means the opposition has 3+ quarters to figure out our defensive scheme, PLUS the defense is already getting tired. If you or anyone else pay attention to some close games on both the collegiate and NFL level, you will notice that if the offense is trying for to bomb it down field to gain a bunch of yards to get a FG or a TD, the defense will run the 3-3-5 because, if i remember correctly, the rules state you must have at least 3 defensive lineman on the line of scrimmage, but provides the defense with as many DBs as possible to knock the ball down or prevent the offense from getting down field. I just don't like it because of those reasons. Yes, our tackling is... how do you put it... less than stellar. However, the defensive scheme and, like you mentioned, losing 7 starters hasn't proven to be very successful. With 4 lineman, you close up the inside running lanes much more effectively, while the 3 LBs provide the medium inside and outside protection along with being able to blitz. I know its a very common defense, but its proven to be effective given the right coaching and the right talent. the 3-3-5.... it just hasnt worked... at all.

I'll be heading up there tonight for the soccer game so I'll snap some pictures for everyone along with leaving my mark on the new stadium. I heard about it via a Special Edition Zipmail email today so I stopped by and there are already quite a few signatures on there. Hopefully we'll load that thing up. On a side note...Has anyone been over to the construction site lately? Over by one of the old brick half-walls that were on the corner by exchange st. there is this mock-up wall sitting there that appears to be the styling of all the bricks used for the new stadium. Happened to see it as a rode by on my bike. I figure that its there to give people who pass by an idea of the architecture of the building, but you never know...

its very possible. A WR pitch or handoff would be destroyed by a snap the QB has to get out of position for. Honestly, most of the time you see snaps going low because of it being a shotgun snap, but i cannot begin to understand how our snapper can be consistently snapping it high...

I don't know if it has been brought up before, but what in the world is with our snapper and his inability to snap the ball to the QBs hands, not over his head? I keep seeing this and wondering if the guy is just kinda launching it back there in hopes that it'd hit its target or if he's just that bad. It just seems like these horrid snaps are throwing off the timing of the offense and in turn is making it harder for us to run both the running game and the passing game. The QB is already in the shotgun formation so he can read the defenses better and have more time to make adjustments, but a bad snap is causing him to lose valuable time to make said reads. Its just killing our offense...

I have and never will like the 3-3-5 defense. All it is good for is late-game drives when you're up and the opponent is trying to bomb it to make a comeback. Outside of that, it's a horrible defense. How do you honestly believe you will stop the run with only 3 linemen and MAYBE 3 more LBs?Think about it... the offense has a total of at least 6 men on the line, most of the time more than that. That means that for every lineman we have on the line, they have 2 guys to cover him. Of course there are at least 2 or 3 LBs that will come in and rush the line, but that really doesn't do a whole lot when one lineman can come off their block to take out the LB. I am a firm believer in the 4-3 defensive scheme. It provides perfect balance of running defense and pass defense. Now, thats assuming that you actually have the players to fulfill those roles, but recruiting some 250 6-4 DTs shouldn't be hard. I am just sick of every saturday watching us get torn apart on the ground, and then getting lit up in the air, when this touted 3-3-5 is suppost to make it harder to pass on us. In any case... i think out defense is too DB-focused and has no size or strength to battle the run. If you can blitz the QB and make him rush, it makes it harder to pass. If you blitz, it forces the offense to run, where if you have a decent defensive scheme, you can fairly easily stop. I know we have the talent to at least win 6 games a year, but this horrid defense needs to go.'nuf said.

give me some ideas on what to do to it and Ill throw something together....

They did this show on the Science Channel called "Weird Connections" and they had some prof from Akron (name escapes me) who is actually able to build a geko-like material that can support something like 150x its weight. And I agree... putting that stuff on our receivers' hands would be a smart idea. We have the technology...

I love Willie. I have had the chance to meet him a few times at soccer games and the viewing parties over OBC. I believe he is a grad student here at UA, but don't quote me on that.I don't mind him that much as far as during the game goes. Yes, cheering on offense seems counterproductive, but why cheer on only your defense? When your offense is in need of inspiration (and an act of God), cheer them on! make sure they know you support them to. The RB, or UA fans in general, don't make the place THAT loud, so its not like the line wouldnt be able to hear the snap count.