Thurston wrote:
I disagree; with all the talk of Riley's "hidden gems" over the years, the backbone of OSU's success in his second stint was quality player development and relying on a mature team of 4th and 5th year players to go against other, more talented programs. This obviously wasn't a Rose Bowl strategy, but it was enough to usually win 7-9 games. They always had a modesty, steady stream of talent to rely on, often defensively, and Riley was a good enough QB guru to find a guy who could fit his system and they'd pull a Biletnikoff winner out of thin air.
You might be right that we're simply disagreeing on semantics, but to your point about not having seasoned guys and having less talent than PSU, that's again on Andersen. My point is that the cupboards were no more bare than during the rest of the Riley era, and that what Riley did a very good job of was going out and plugging the holes his team had in the offseason. Riley left offensive playmakers that are far better than what exist now: Richard Mullaney, Victor Bolden, Xavier Hawkins, Jordan Villamin, and Daytrin Guyton (who just had 160 yds receiving for Bowling Green this weekend), as well as TE Kellen Clute. Andersen couldn't keep Mullaney on the team as he opted to leave for 'Bama, and the rest of the guys were nullified by Andersen's choice to go with a true freshman who couldn't throw the ball. Would that have happened under Riley? I can't say with certainty, but Riley seemed to find a QB every year to fit his pro-style system. Not always great, but almost always better than serviceable. Further, Storm Woods was a returner in Andersen's first year, and had statistically the worst season of his 4 in Corvallis. That's on Andersen. So my point is that the talented players have been wasted and/or left the program, and that the 'cupboards' were no more bare than they were at other Riley years going into the offseason.
It would be interesting to see how many players have left the OSU program since Riley left. From a passive onlooker, it looks like it's been a ton, and that would be why the team isn't full of seasoned 4th/5th year guys.