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Luncheon Day Notebook: Tressel Sticking with Tresselball
By Brandon Castel

Watching his defense control the game against No. 3 USC for the better part of 50 minutes Saturday night, Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel reached into his bag of tricks for an offensive play call that would get the Buckeyes into the end zone and put the Trojans away for good.

All he found in that bag, however, was a used gum wrapper, some dirty socks and a half-eaten sandwich – the remnants of a once-great 2006 offense that now seems as ancient as the Roman Empire itself – as the Buckeyes were shut-out in the fourth quarter of an 18-15 loss.

It was the fourth time in Ohio State’s last five games against top-five opponents that Tressel’s offense has failed to put at least 20 points on the scoreboard. While the criticism continues to mount for the ninth-year coach who has not won a bowl game since 2005, On Tuesday, Tressel sounded as dedicated as ever to maintaining the status quo in Columbus.

“I'll always believe that you win tough ball games by making sure that you're the group that makes less mistakes, wins that field position battle, wins the battle in the trenches statistically, and you guys love statistics, that is true,” Tressel said.

“So, no, I philosophically wouldn't go against that.”

This philosophy, endearingly termed "Tresselball," was clicking on all cylinders in 2002 when it brought Ohio State its first National Championship in 34 years. It was also humming along pretty good against USC Saturday, as the Buckeyes easily won the field position battle thanks to strong play from the defense and special teams.

Only this time – like the four times before it – Tresselball wasn’t good enough for a team of equal talent. Despite near-flawless execution in the two areas that make up the foundation of a Tressel-coached team – defense and special teams – the Buckeyes came out on the short end of a national-stage game yet again. One their coach admitted Tuesday was well within reach, had he put his offense in a position to win the game.

“No, it was 18-15, obviously we didn't. That's what you start with,” Tresesl said of his playcalling from Saturday night when asked if the coaching in the game helped put his team in the best postion to succeed..

“I've never left a game saying, 'You know what, I did my part and they didn't.' In fact, I've probably left more games saying, 'Whew, thank goodness they covered me on that one.'”

With a sophomore quarterback and an inexperienced group of playmakers around him, the OSU offense could not come up with enough plays to cover Tressel and his inferior playcalling on this night. After two games, the Buckeyes are ranked 92nd in total offense and 84th in scoring offense this season, numbers that are frighteningly close to Tressel’s nine-year average ranking of 68th in total offense at Ohio State. Remove the 2005 and 2006 seasons, and that average rank drops to 79th in the country. By contrast, OSU's defenses have averaged 19th over that same time-frame and would be 14th not including 2009 thus far.

Despite those numbers, Tressel says he has no plans to make any wholesale changes on offense, now or in the foreseeable future.

“I'm not sure exactly what a wholesale change would entail. I mean, are we going to go to the Navy triple option? Probably not. Don't know anything about it,” Tressel said.

“Will we go conceptually to this or that, we think can add to the (overall gameplan) – if you look at our teams from 2001 on, they haven't been exactly the same because, you know, you don't have the same people.

"But I don't know that we would make a wholesale (changes), you know what, this isn't a good idea, this wouldn't work even if we did execute it, because that's the only reason you do it.”

One wholesale change many Buckeye fans were calling for this week was for Tressel to hand over the playcalling duties to qualified offensive coordinator. This concept is nothing new, in fact it dates as far back as Tressel’s tenure in Columbus, but really started to pick up speed in 2005 when the Buckeyes were shut out in the second half of a 17-10 loss at Penn State.

While not much has changed in four years, don’t expect to see Tressel give up the playcalling anytime soon unless Gene Smith rips it from his cold, dead fingers.

“I've always told you guys ‘Never say never,’ but I've also always told you that I'm probably not going to sit in my office or read the USA Today or watch talk radio and get a headache,” Tressel said.

“So I try to be helpful in every phase, whether it's the punt team or the defense or the offense. I spend more time with the offense.”

That has something to do with the fact Tressel knows very little about defense and generally leaves all decisions up to Defensive Coordinator Jim Heacock and co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell.

“I tell you I have no clue. I have no part,” Tressel said. “And you guys remind me, you know what, defense has been pretty good on this nine-year honeymoon, but I think you've got to try to be a part of things.”

It's an attitude that has many of his fans thinking this team won’t be a part of any big things until Tressel is willing to release his iron-clad grip on Terrelle Pryor and the anemic offense.

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