New Wrinkle Veracity and Probability
As we near Monday night, the speculation is building
regarding what Coach Tressel may have in store for
the LSU Tigers. Gadget plays, personnel switch-ups
and tactical shifts are all possibilities. This
speculation is a natural phenomenon mostly because
we've had six weeks of idle time. Our minds wonder,
various news nuggets drift to the surface and the
process begins. It's sexy and fun so I decided to
delve into two of the more popular new wrinkle
discussions.
I focus on only two because they are both grounded in some basis of fact and/or reality We can hypothesize all day long who will have a 'coming out party' but that's more guesswork not to mention, it's really not a 'wrinkle' either. For those who crave that science, however, take a look at this BuckeyePlanet thread. For all others, the two possible new wrinkles:
Whatever the case is on Monday night, we all hope and expect success. Just because I think playing Henton would be a mistake doesn't mean I hope he fails just so I'm right. Or maybe Gibson won't play at all because the staff has another ace up their sleeve. One thing you can count on is LSU will have something prepared for us. Whether it's going for it 4th down a half dozen times or faking a punt or FG (or both), we have to be ready. By the way, on the latter part, LSU did just spend a whole practice focusing completely on special teams.
I focus on only two because they are both grounded in some basis of fact and/or reality We can hypothesize all day long who will have a 'coming out party' but that's more guesswork not to mention, it's really not a 'wrinkle' either. For those who crave that science, however, take a look at this BuckeyePlanet thread. For all others, the two possible new wrinkles:
- Consistent Dose of Gibson. DE
Robert Rose suffered a shoulder injury in the
second half of the year. It stunted his improvement
and limited his play. He had surgery after the Michigan
game and will not play against LSU. This is
a considerable loss that's getting very little
play in media. Consider we already lost our
starting defensive end - Lawrence Wilson - the
beginning of the season, so the scratch of Rose
is significant in terms of depth and rotation.
It leaves Ohio State with two legitimate
defensive ends who have seen worthy time in
Cameron Heyward and Vern Gholson. Beyond them,
we have players like Alex Barrow and, well,
nobody.
Enter Thaddeus Gibson.
Gibson, when he's not walking out of practice, can be a terrifying force on the opposing offense. He plays in the old school mold of Na'il Diggs in that he has a linebacker's body but excels at rushing the quarterback from a standup position on the edge. We saw how effective he can be against Wisconsin and I see no better fit Monday night in an effort to minimize the loss of Rose. The use of Gibson is less a new wrinkle more than the a re-establishment of an effective defensive tactic and I think it's highly probable Gibson plays considerably.
- Henton is Second String!
Presumably the implication here is that Henton's promotion is a
signal he'll get snaps versus the Tigers. I
mean, what better way to trip up the Tigers than
to throw the Troy Smith clone into the game to
run some spread, chew up large chunks of yardage
and cause mayhem in Les Miles' mind? Won't
happen.
I suppose I can see JT using Henton as a decoy or maybe for a few quarterback sweeps but it stops there. Anything more than that - where he's actually throwing passes and stuff - would be Hindenburg-esque. Unmitigated disaster. Henton hasn't seen anything other than a practice field since September. His last snap was against Northwestern and to insert him into the game would throw caution to wind. Probability and sanity have to win out here, right?
Whatever the case is on Monday night, we all hope and expect success. Just because I think playing Henton would be a mistake doesn't mean I hope he fails just so I'm right. Or maybe Gibson won't play at all because the staff has another ace up their sleeve. One thing you can count on is LSU will have something prepared for us. Whether it's going for it 4th down a half dozen times or faking a punt or FG (or both), we have to be ready. By the way, on the latter part, LSU did just spend a whole practice focusing completely on special teams.
