Talked to a Purdue Player
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:07 pm
I never have any info whatsoever, but I did talk to a Purdue player today. He is a family friend, but I usually never talk to him about football. One thing I noticed is that high level college football players always, and I mean always get asked about what they think of this program and that program and players and plays and so on. So I usually never ask.
Anyway, he knows I'm a big buckeye fan and texted me this morning. I got up the gumption to ask if I could call him about the game and get an outside perception of the Bucks. Anyway here it goes:
1. He said OSU was really, really fast on defense. I asked to compare this to PSU and he said our secondary was "lights out" compared to theirs.
2. He mentioned Thad Gibson by name and said he is "full throttle" every play.
3. The thing I found most surprising is that the one player (and I think most of you may be shocked) that the coaches mentioned a lot to prepare for on defense - Jermale Hines. The coaches mentioned Hines a ton throughout the week and mentioned that he flies around the field and plays with "Heat". He said he scared them most due to the scheme they run.
4. Said Beanie wasn't Beanie and they knew it when they brought in Wells early for a whole series.
5. Coaches talked a lot all week about the "soft belly" of the OSU D. Said they wanted to attack in chunks. Said it didn't happen due to different stunts and blitzes they hadn't seen. This kept them guessing and created confusion.
6. Coaches approached offense early in the third quarter and said "We need to score - we can win this, they have locked it up" (referring to offensive play calling).
7. I asked him about the DL ( I think you can tell this is an offensive player). He mentioned Cam Heyward by name and again Gibson. He was really impressed with Gibson.
Anyway that is all I got. He didn't give a prediction on a PSU/OSU game. Did say that OSU was in the redzone a ton and thought at one point it would be a blowout.
Anyway, he knows I'm a big buckeye fan and texted me this morning. I got up the gumption to ask if I could call him about the game and get an outside perception of the Bucks. Anyway here it goes:
1. He said OSU was really, really fast on defense. I asked to compare this to PSU and he said our secondary was "lights out" compared to theirs.
2. He mentioned Thad Gibson by name and said he is "full throttle" every play.
3. The thing I found most surprising is that the one player (and I think most of you may be shocked) that the coaches mentioned a lot to prepare for on defense - Jermale Hines. The coaches mentioned Hines a ton throughout the week and mentioned that he flies around the field and plays with "Heat". He said he scared them most due to the scheme they run.
4. Said Beanie wasn't Beanie and they knew it when they brought in Wells early for a whole series.
5. Coaches talked a lot all week about the "soft belly" of the OSU D. Said they wanted to attack in chunks. Said it didn't happen due to different stunts and blitzes they hadn't seen. This kept them guessing and created confusion.
6. Coaches approached offense early in the third quarter and said "We need to score - we can win this, they have locked it up" (referring to offensive play calling).
7. I asked him about the DL ( I think you can tell this is an offensive player). He mentioned Cam Heyward by name and again Gibson. He was really impressed with Gibson.
Anyway that is all I got. He didn't give a prediction on a PSU/OSU game. Did say that OSU was in the redzone a ton and thought at one point it would be a blowout.