Q&A With BBC Regarding Coach Hazell

Against our better judgement, we spoke with the Red Army communist network, Buckeye Battle Cry and asked a few questions about Coach Hazell and what we can/should expect. Despite the busy schedule they have for their bowl coverage, they were very accomodating. 

Here was their take.


BS: Should we be excited by Hazell? Why or why not?

BBC: Absolutely. A great coach, well respected by those at Ohio State and loved by former players. Even the guys in the media who cover Ohio Sports, in Columbus and at Kent State, say that he's a good coach but an even better person. Purdue is in good hands.

For what it's worth, before leaving for Kent State, he held the title of Assistant Head Coach at OSU, and was believed to be the "heir apparent" once Coach Tressel stepped down. He left for Kent early in the spring; had he waited, it's likely that he would have been leading the team last season rather than Luke Fickell.

It's also worth noting that a number of Ohio State fans would have no problem with him returning to the OSU sidelines later in his career... which, given how spoiled we've been with great coaches, should say something.

BS: What will he bring to the table?

BBC: Other than a legacy of success at multiple levels, I think he's been able to do two significant things. First, he's a good teacher and someone who can bring people to believe in themselves and in each other - look no further than what's happened at Kent this year; after a collapse against Kentucky, the team rallied and really bought into his plan for the rest of the season.

Secondly, he's got a creative offensive mind; I'll talk more about this in a bit.

BS: He seems to be a guy who always looks prepared and confident. Is he?

BBC: From everything I've heard, he is... some of this could be a result of learning under "The Senator," but I believe that his passion for his players and program pushes him to be ready for any contingency.

BS: Purdue fans worry he'll only run the ball but good coaches work to their players' strengths -- agree?

BBC: Interestingly enough, we often referred to him as the "anti-Bollman"; Ohio State's offensive line coach and offensive coordinator who really really liked to run the ball into A gap over and over and over. 

During the 2010 season, though, Coach Hazell was the one who pushed for the offense to start diversifying and embrace the passing game- you might remember that the Rose Bowl win against Oregon opened with a barrage of passing plays; most insiders believe that this was Coach Hazell's influence on the gameplan and a direct response to his work with Ohio State's receiving corps during that season.

[Ed note: take a look at this video following the Toledo game in 2009 as well as Tressel's smirky response.]

 

BS: Does he make Purdue more of a player in the Big Ten in your opinion?
 
BBC: I think he does -- from his ability to get Boiler fans to buy into the program, to his connections as a recruiter in Ohio and Florida, his being on your sidelines is a great thing for Purdue.  Plus, it makes you all that harder to dislike... although, I'm sure we'll find a way.

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Thanks to the BBC for agreeing to answer our questions. Feel free to stop by there for.... well, whatever it is someone would go to an OSU blog for.  

The BS Q&A With the BBC

Teach me how to Brutus!

If you're expecting pipes, roaring fires, ascots and haughty British accents... well, we don't mean that BBC.

We're talking to the Buckeye Battle Cry this week, who asked if we'd be interested in doing a Q&A as we did last year. Twice. (It's okay, we're used to others having a crush on us.)

You can see our answers to their questions over yonder. Much like the 11W boys, they are decent folks. I know, I know. Why are all these OSU sites trying to be our friends? It makes us feel dirty. Then again, sometimes we like to be dirty... ah, where was I?

Oh yes, our questions for the lads at the BBC. Cheerio!

It's A Party In Value Ci-taaay

                                 You can't look away, can you?

The fine gentlemen guys at Buckeye Battle Cry approached us on a streetcorner last week and, after a misunderstanding involving pepper spray, we agreed to an old-fashioned Q&A exchange with tomorrow's Purdue-OSU tilt looming. Note, however, that few questions or answers have to do with tomorrow's game. That's a big whiff on everyone's part. However, the dialogue is still entertaining (to us, anyway) so we shall share it here. Check out The Buckeye Battle Cry for our answers to their questions.

Boiled Sports:  Be honest...did you guys really expect to be #1 in the nation this year? Losing the best player in the conference and you...improve?

Buckeye Battle Cry: We knew that this team was going to have some great players and was at least going to be able to compete in the Big Ten.  Yes, we lost the national player of the year, but the majority of the starters remained and we were adding another batch of spectacular freshmen.  The biggest question mark was exactly how well those new players were going to gel in the system.  The second biggest was who we were going to get to play point guard, with no experience and nobody with the appropriate ball handling skills.  I won't lie that I had nightmares of Dallas Lauderdale bringing the ball up the court...

Both of those questions were answered in ways I never expected.  I never once believed at any time in the last 8 months that this team would go undefeated to this point. In fact, we posted a podcast in mid-December discussing how we felt this team would do when it first entered the Big Ten season. I believe the consensus was that we would lose at least one game by time we faced Michigan in Crisler arena, if not losing that game itself.

Do I believe this team will go undefeated the rest of the way? No. I believe we'll drop a game somewhere in this murderer's row of a Big Ten schedule. If Purdue doesn't do the job, the game in the Kohl Center just might.

BS: Perhaps this is related, but when Thad goes on recruiting trips, does he bring duffel bags full of cash or does he keep that sort of money in offshore accounts?

BBC: We've done some substantial research on that very topic. While we've never observed extra duffel bags, nor found any direct illicit supply of funds, we have noticed that he likes to give plants as a gift during his in-home visits. We can't be certain, having only seen them from a distance, but we think they look something like this...

BS: Do you guys have concerns about matching up with Purdue's big two, or do you see the Bucks' talent as superior?

BBC: I'm a little worried about how Sullinger will handle both JaJuan Johnson's experience in the paint, as well as how he will handle the double team that Painter will inevitably use to completely eliminate him from the game.  I'm also not certain how exactly we're going to defend E'Twaun Moore in any effective way.  I'm honestly considering supergluing David Lighty to him in a pinch.  Either that or the "B-Dubs solution."

Sullinger has demonstrated a talent for passing out of double teams and finding the unguarded man on the perimeter which should take care of any double teams Purdue tries to employ.  That has turned out to be fatal to a number of teams, particularly considering that Aaron Craft has turned on his shooting ability in the last couple games.  Add him in with Diebler, Lighty and Buford's already proven scoring and OSU is quite the offensive threat.

Defensively, I'm not certain exactly how we're going to work against Purdue's offense.  One strategy would be to recognize that Johnson and Moore will get their points and allow them to do so while eliminating everyone else from the game plan. 

Clearly that didn't work so well for Penn State, though... 

BS: Can the Buckeyes go undefeated? And would you even want them to?

BBC:  Can they?  Absolutely.  I have nothing but respect for the rest of the Big Ten conference and how good the teams are.  I also realize that we haven't yet faced the truly quality opponents in the conference yet (Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan State..).  With those qualifiers, though, I can honestly say that I don't remember a team in 20 years of watching College Basketball that was quite this good in all phases of the game.  When they play their best, they're going to be tough to stop.

Will they?  Not an icicles chance in heck.  Did I mention we haven't yet played Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin or Michigan State?  There's no way we get through all 7 games completely unscathed (OSU plays MSU in Columbus, but misses out on a trip to the Breslin).  Also, you may have noticed that I pointed out "when they play their best" above.  The Bucks have a tendency to not play a consistent 40 minutes of defense in every game.  The Iowa game, despite the sloppy result, was probably the best defensive output I've seen all year. 

Do I want them to?  I'm not sure I do.  Thus far, with the exception of Iowa a couple of days ago, every single Big Ten opponent has given the Buckeyes their absolute best shot.  While I enjoy the great games, I have to admit that the impending cardiac arrest is getting kinda old.  It would be nice to have games where it's clear that the opponent didn't have all of its cards on the table.  If we do continue to go undefeated over the next 12 games, I'm going really have to start abusing Bayer aspirin like it's candy.

Maybe I should invest in a pair of shock paddles...

BS: Who's winning the Big Ten regular season? The conference tournament?

BBC:  Dammit Jim, I'm a sports writer not an oracle! 

Let's put it this way.  With Penn State playing like they are - almost sending OSU to overtime in Columbus, almost taking out you guys in West Lafayette (nice shot from Johnson, by the way) and taking out Michigan State and Wisconsin in University Park - I have absolutely no idea who is going to clean up and claim all the marbles.

I will say this - the regular season will come down to Ohio State, Purdue or Illinois.  Wisconsin is good as usual, but they don't have the flexibility on offense that the other three provide.  They'll only remain high in the standings due to their prodigious ability to win home games.  Michigan State is showing the weakness of Tom Izzo as a coach this year.  Izzo's tough grind it out style in the paint is great when you have a couple of experienced big men with which to do it.  MSU this year has the players to execute a much more effective perimeter game, but Izzo simply won't allow it.  That will cost him.

As for the tournament, it wouldn't at all surprise me if Penn State got the right matchups and cruised to a victory for the automatic qualifier. Battle and company can play some ball.


BS: Who in the Big Ten is positioned to go furthest in the NCAA tourney? (Your answer can, of course, be OSU.)

BBC: That depends an awful lot on matchups typically. I usually default to the argument of the major traits that all championship basketball teams have possessed: Strong veteran leadership, solid guard play and a great front court player or go-to scorer.  Coupled with the ability to play shutdown defense and coaching experience, I see both of our teams being equally effective.

Ohio State - 4 of 5 traits - Elite 8.  Guard play could hurt the Bucks this year.  While Craft is a great point guard already, the Bucks don't have real depth at the position.  That could be their undoing.  (I'm assuming the Buckeyes demonstrate shutdown defense for 40 minutes consistently by tournament time).

Purdue - 4 of 5 traits - Elite 8.  Purdue has the three biggest traits to get the job done. With Robbie Hummel, they would have had all 5, but I think the Boiler's defense isn't quite to the point of being shutdown without him. 

Our thanks to the folks at The BBC for their participation and sense of humor. Negative points awarded for mentioning a B-Dubs commercial.  

The Buckeye Battle Cry Steps By To Talk To A First Place Team's Fans

We had the opportunity to do an old-fashioned blogger exchange of questions with the Buckeye Battle Cry and, while we don't usually stoop to speak with programs beneath ours in the standings, we made an exception for the fine gentlemen at the BBC.

Okay, okay, that's an exaggeration... they aren't really gentlemen. Hey-yo!

Anyway, below are our questions and their answers. Mosey on over to their page to see our responses to their questions. Thanks to MaliBuckeye for the responses and effort setting things up.

1) The first place Boilermakers are coming to town this weekend. Is all of Columbus a-scared?

It's really hard to tell, with all the pitchforks and torches being lugged around campus after the Wisconsin Debacle (slogan copywrite pending). It could be that Buckeye Nation is preoccupied a bit and hasn't yet learned of their impending doom.

Seriously, Purdue's having a great season, and the alumni will get to see yet another amazing Big T1en clash on Homecoming weekend. 

 

2) Do you think there is any chance at all that the Buckeyes lose this weekend? We're of the opinion that Tressel is the kind of coach who will remind these guys all week that they lost to Purdue last year.

There's a theory that The Senator has an evil counterpart that loves revenge- look at the ways that Ohio State has run the score up on Northwestern after the 2004 upset. So, yup, I think the Buckeyes will be focused.

However, the Boilermakers could be squaring off against a defense full of cadavers if the injury bug continues. It would be unwise, however, to think that the Buckeyes' "Morgue Package" is anywhere near as bad as what they're throwing on the field at Mich1gAAn.  So that's a possibility that Henry could take advantage of, in addition to the fact that Purdue ALWAYS plays Ohio State tough; they're coached up well.
 

3) Did it concern you last year when Terelle Pryor said the Purdue defense showed him things he hadn't seen before? Do you worry about Ryan Kerrigan manhandling him again? Or not so much?

As limited as his mobility has been since Illinois, and as all-world as JJ Watt was made to look by our offensive line, it's definitely not out of the question.

However, I think we've got a couple of things that may help- we have a fullback that loves to hit people, and have involved our TE into the quick passing game, so there may not be time to tee off, as it were.

 

4) Seriously, what's it like to be looking up in the standings at Purdue?

We're just as shocked as you.  I mean, it usually doesn't happen unless the Big T1e1n decides to start the preseason standings in reverse alphabetical order.

Hang on, I need to re-light my torch.

 

5) You're our Big Ten brethren... so tell me, if a big QB with a poor throwing motion accounted for four TDs in one game (as Rob Henry did last weekend) and played in the SEC, wouldn't he be getting Heisman talk? (Note, we're not suggesting Henry should get any such talk... just that his four TD game was barely noticed. Wouldn't be that way if it happened at, say, Florida, right?)

Man, no kidding. The SEC was bad enough before they joined forces with ESECPN. The problem with Henry getting the recognition that he deserves is that there wasn't anyone who had their scholarship revoked in order to get him playing time. I guess that's what it must take...

Although it may not be just an SEC thing- there's a certain undersized QB with a terrible throwing motion who racked up big yardage against underwhelming competition, and he certainly had a ton of Heisman hype.  Perhaps Rob doesn't get the love because he's smart enough to know how to tie his shoes?

 

6) Do you guys (and the fanbase in general) view Purdue as a "should-be-win" or as a dangerous little animal?

It depends on which fanbase you ask. There are those that think we should beat everyone 100-0, unless they are coached by one Mike Ditka.   There are others, though, that are still sweating a three score game with under two minutes to go. John Cooper was hard on a lot of us.

St. Woody of the Sidelines would want us to focus on the game at hand, and Senator Tressel carries on in that tradition.  So, I'm going with "valiant foe that should not be overlooked under any circumstances", especially after last weekend.


Thanks again to the BBC for having a sense of humor and going with our nonsense.

Please Welcome Buckeye Battle Cry to the Microphone

Today we have a little fun exchange for you. Jeff over at Buckeye Battle Cry (BBC) approached us about doing some Q&A between our two sites so our fans can learn a little about their fans and their fans can learn a little about us... like, you know, whether we leave the toilet seat up too much or things like that. Jeff seems like about as die-hard an OSU fan as you might find. Go back and check out his first post and you'll see the kind of fan passion that we can't help but respect here at Boiled Sports.

Anyhow, let's get on with the questions. And be sure to check out BBC later today for our answers to the questions Jeff posed to us.

Boiled Sports: What were tOSU fans expecting from this season when it began and has that expectation changed based on your strong 5-0 start?

Buckeye Battle Cry: There's two different ways to answer that question, and it's based specifically on the phrase "tOSU fans." Anytime you're nationally ranked as high as we have been the past three seasons, you pick up a lot of bandwagon fans. We're happy to have them because there's always room for more members of Buckeye Nation, but these are the fans that don't often understand and appreciate college football as much as the rest of us.

The newcomers to Buckeye Nation expected miserable results this year, and who could blame them? Look at who we lost! Troy Smith, Antonio Pittman, Ted Ginn, Anthont Gonzalez, Roy Hall, and a few more startes from the trenches. All the names that people knew well had left the team for greener pastures....outside of his family, who the hell owned a Brian Hartline jersey anyway? With all that talent gone, predictions of doom and gloom were the order of the day. So this 5-0 start has surprised a lot of them.

The long-term fans and those who love to study college football could have told you that anything LESS than 5-0 would be abject failure. Not only did we have confidence in players who already had extensive game experience (Beanie Wells, Brian Robiskie, Hartline, James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins, etc etc etc), but we knew the 2007 schedule was not much of a challenge early on.

- We knew that Youngstown State was a cupcake scheduled back when we hired Tressel as a favor to the school we took JT from.
- Akron? Gimme a break.
- We saw Washington as a possible stumbling block, but only because it was our first road game. The Huskies still finished 8th in the PAC-10 last year.
- Northwestern was not a threat....their ratio of winning the Big Ten is about 3:1 against the arrival of Halley's Comet.
- Minnesota is breaking in a new coach, and their defense was suspect heading into the season.

We saw these five opponents and knew that 5-0 was a necessity. For us, the expectations are right where we thought they'd be. If we survive Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday, we're counting our chickens at 8-0 with Kent State and Michigan State visiting the Shoe right afterwards. Then it gets tough. But yours is the only team in our first 8 that we see as a threat, and as you Boiler fans well know....it's with good reason.

BS: We'll just assume it was like Christmas came early when UM lost to App State and then got their doors blown off at home by Oregon, so we'll save that question. Tell us about another team in the Big Ten that OSU fans hate pretty strongly other than Michigan? That is, is there any pent-up, irrational dislike for Boilermakers? Badgers? Gophers?

BBC: First of all, we don't really "hate" Michigan. We just say we do. We totally respect and fear Michigan, as you should in any rivalry. We just pick on each other so mercilessly that it looks like we hate. You need to see how much love there actually is for one another, look at the "Hate Michigan" rally from last year. The band playing was the Dead Schembechlers, and when Bo actually died, the band contemplated cancelling the show. But instead, they placed "God Bless Bo" on the street sign and donated all proceeds of the rally to any charity the Schembechler family named. That comes from respect, admiration, and a love for the rivalry.

Boilermakers, Badgers and Gophers? No way....add Wildcats into that and you have four of the nicest pack of fans you'll ever run into. I've had the good fortune to see road games at all four stadiums of the aforementioned teams, and I have never walked away without feeling TOO welcome. It's not often you get invited to tailgate with oppsing fans, but it happens every time we visit Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota or Northwestern.

Anyway, to answer the question...Penn State fans suck ass. Never before has a pack of fans beat the dead horse of a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten squad like these people. When they entered the league, they believed they would dominate every week, and instead they have seen more below-.500 teams than winners. And yet they strut around like they have multiple national championships. Playing in Happy Valley is the ugliest sight you'll ever encounter...ask the marching band at OSU about the group of fans who poured urine on them. That's just the tip of the iceberg in Paternoville.

But since you said "Big Ten team", that leaves out Notre Dame. Dear God, am I enjoying their season thus far. Karma's doing a number on them, and Karma don't act without being prompted first.

BS: If you had to choose something, what would you say is an OSU weakness this season that could prove to be their undoing against a team like Purdue (or any other team if you really think there's zero chance of losing to Purdue)?

BBC: Two immediate thoughts come to mind. Turnovers and depth in key positions.

We turned the ball over 5 times against Akron and won 20-2. If we do that against a better team, we're in deep trouble. Since then, we've held onto the ball better, but the potential is still there.

Depth is a problem at quarterback. Todd Boeckman is a decent QB, but if he goes down, there's problems. Rob Schoenhoft doesn't have very good accuracy, and Antonio Henton has had more time in handcuffs than on the field. Henton's the future QB, but no experience leaves us precariously thin if Boeckman takes a hard shot. It's a quick recipe for a Purdue win.

Count that same issue at RB. Beanie, Maurice Wells, and Brandon Saine are all capable, but I don't think Mo Wells can carry this team in the run game. Saine is recovering from minor knee surgery and might be back on Saturday....but if he's not, and Beanie goes down....see the above paragraph.

As always, we're deep at LB, and linemen on both sides of the ball. But those QBs and RBs scare me.

Thanks for having me on Boiled Sports. Hope I left the place as clean as I found it!