Devine Ozigbo

[headcard]

Our OL has played pretty well since the lineup change. I don't think we gave up a sack against Wisconsin until POB got sacked on the last series. If Decker and Jaimes are in the lineup, we probably roll NIU. This is a huge issue with Cav, identifying and playing the best lineup. We saw the same thing with Sterup his first year.

 

[leodisflowers]

Was a mess IMO. They've played pretty well as of late. They probably had their best game of the year against the toughest front 7 they've faced thus far in Wisconsin. We'll see if they can hold their own against OSU's front 7 because those guys are ridiculous. I do agree though that any of our RBs can get it done. Quite obviously Wilbon is not gonna break as many tackles as the other guys.

They have played a heck of a lot better once Knevel went out and Conrad found the bench. Decker and Jaimes are upgrades. I think Raridon and Wilson are gonna be good along with Farniok, but we need big gains in the weight room. We have some nice pieces, but need to make them men.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

I agree that they probably did not know how bad his knees really are. But let's also not completely white wash the coaches here in an attempt to keep the wolves at bay by over defending them. They knew his knees were, at least, "older than he is" as Riley put it as he was explaining to the media during Fall camp why they were holding Bryant out of practices. They knew his knees could not be overworked. So I stand by my criticism that it is puzzling why they would pound him like that in the early going. Like I said, I was listening to our radio broadcast during the Arkansas State game and even Matt Davison was questioning why they were doing that to a guy they knew had knees that couldn't be overworked.

 

[dinglefritz]

I agree that they probably did not know how bad his knees really are. But let's also not completely white wash the coaches here in an attempt to keep the wolves at bay by over defending them. They knew his knees were, at least, "older than he is" as Riley put it as he was explaining to the media during Fall camp why they were holding Bryant out of practices. They knew his knees could not be overworked. So I stand by my criticism that it is puzzling why they would pound him like that in the early going. Like I said, I was listening to our radio broadcast during the Arkansas State game and even Matt Davison was questioning why they were doing that to a guy they knew had knees that couldn't be overworked.

I question it but i have no idea what his situation was or is. It could have been a misdiagnosis. The most common diagnosis for knee pain in an athlete is patellar tendonitis and I suspect they thought it was something like that. It can be really painful but you can play with it without further damage. I still bet they didn't know the extent of his knee pathology. I still remember what a Dr. friend told me about a kid that hurt his neck in a game. He went in for xrays and the Doc told Osborne that he had a fractured vertebrae. Tom's reply was, "so can he play next week?". True story. Tom cared about his players, but man if he needed you and you could rub some dirt on it and go, he would play you.

 

[barney44]

He's like a Dan Alexander that does not fall down.

I think Alexander was quite a bit faster than Oz is.

 

[barney44]

I question it but i have no idea what his situation was or is. It could have been a misdiagnosis. The most common diagnosis for knee pain in an athlete is patellar tendonitis and I suspect they thought it was something like that. It can be really painful but you can play with it without further damage. I still bet they didn't know the extent of his knee pathology. I still remember what a Dr. friend told me about a kid that hurt his neck in a game. He went in for xrays and the Doc told Osborne that he had a fractured vertebrae. Tom's reply was, "so can he play next week?". True story. Tom cared about his players, but man if he needed you and you could rub some dirt on it and go, he would play you.

I'd have to assume that it's a common theme among coaches. I've seen plenty of coaches playing people that should probably be riding the pine. How much is on the players as well? I don't care how smart they are, they're still stupid kids. I can see a kid downplaying the seriousness of some injury and making it out to be nothing just so he can keep playing,

 

[dinglefritz]

I think Alexander was quite a bit faster than Oz is.

straight ahead freaky fast for a guy his size but tiny feet and man he lacked balance. Didn't he weigh something like 240 and ran a sub 4.5?

 

[barney44]

straight ahead freaky fast for a guy his size but tiny feet and man he lacked balance. Didn't he weigh something like 240 and ran a sub 4.5?

Yeah he was somewhere in the 240-249 range but don't recall the exact weight and he was definitely top heavy. I don't remember his 40 either but I do remember him burning Colorado's secondary for an 80 yard TD run in the 99 game. I think we had Buckhalter back then as well.

 

[kakdawg]

While Ozigbo has limitations as does any player, from the first game I really believed it was pure incompetence on the part of Riley to bury Ozigbo on the bench until injuries almost forced him to put Ozigbo on the field. And now I see Riley is praising Ozigbo for seizing the opportunity as though he suddenly became a player and I guess theoretically benefitted from the benching. Obviously none of us knows all of the factors that cause a benching, but it seems to me a blind person could see that Ozigbo should have been playing at least part time the entire season, especially given his ability to move the pile when the holes are lacking, as they usually are.

Not using Ozigbo other than as an emergency fill-in may not be a big deal to most of you but I would be interested in your thoughts, especially now that he has had some playing time.

It's simple for me. If DO was sitting because of some issues that the coaches had with him concerning things other than in the field play I can't really criticize them. Sometimes things happen that is fans don't know about. Things that are kept in house for the players in best interest etc.

BUT ... If you tell me that DO was sitting because he was actually a 3rd option based on talent and how he's performed them I'm gonna question the coaches eye for playing the best player. At worst DO want slightly behind Tre Bryant . Arguably he's been as good as Tre has.


One thing to also consider is that the talk of the team rarely practicing full speed with " good vs goods". Those are the time a DO biggest strengths will more than likely show up. His ability to punish and wear down defenses. His strength and ability to move piles. All those things go unnoticed in short"sessions". He's the type of back who looks better in snails 20-25 than he might early if he's used appropriately. Things they may never see in practice your settings where each guy may get a few carries.


All this is jmo of course. But it's obvious that DO is at least good enough to have been our number 2 RB.


Holla

 

[kakdawg]

Didn't we see this already last year?

I also don't understand what went into the decision to bury him especially after Bryant was injured. He may not have homerun speed, but the guy is legit.

We don't have a back with homerun speed. Unless Bradley has it and we haven't seen it yet . I'm SURE he doesn't either.

If you watched Tre this year it's obvious he doesn't have homerun speed either.

Now maybe that's the knee slowing him down. I'm not sure but honestly that's one of the things that I was a bit surprised and disability by in Tre so far was his lack of homerun speed.

As far as I'm concerned that should be a factor either way because none of them have a fifth gear.


Holla

 

[kakdawg]

My guess is that his fumbling issues had something to do with it. The other two backs haven’t fumbled once.

Lies


Holla

 

[kakdawg]

Just need to put two and two together. He was serving some sort of suspension that wasn't made public.

I thought that as well but idk for sure so didn't wanna put that out there.


Holla

 

[TheBeav815]

You certainly notice a difference in the effort after contact with Ozigbo. Wilbon has breakaway speed but sweet Lord our OL can't open lanes for people.

He doesn't have Bryant's vision. God I hope his knees get right because he has an absolute gift in his ability to see the cutbacks. But they're not at all the same guy with respect to running through contact and leg churn.

 

[inWV]

Working Tre that much in the first two games when the coaches knew his knees were iffy was simply a blunder. Keeping Ziggy on the pine, unless it was for an unannounced punishment, was another blunder.

 

[little a]

It's neat that people think it was just a decision to "bury him on the bench". It's almost as if there was something else going on...... hmmmm. Big mystery, guess we will never know.

He didn't have Frost's blessing?

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

He didn't have Frost's blessing?

They were busy with lotion thinking about Scotty poo

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Working Tre that much in the first two games when the coaches knew his knees were iffy was simply a blunder. Keeping Ziggy on the pine, unless it was for an unannounced punishment, was another blunder.

It really is that simple.