Buckeyes make it 5 straight over TTUN
November 23, 2008 by feed
The Seniors have had some ups and downs this season. That said, they are now the first class to play part to beat Michigan 5 consecutive times… a feat heretofore unaccomplished. Further, they left no doubt by turning 4 unanswered touchdowns to blast Michigan en route to the 3rd biggest margin of victory for the Buckeyes in the series’ history. The 35 point difference in the 42-7 victory surpasses the 1934 result for third all-time (behind 38pts in 1935 (38-0) and 36pts in 1968 (50-14)). While Michigan State did us no favor in helping secure the Buckeyes the automatic bid from the Big Ten to the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes may be in a good position for an at-large berth in the BCS.
The game didn’t exactly play out like I had anticipated a Buckeye rout being. Indeed, Ohio State’s offense had been unable to sustain drives in the first half. Beanie kicked off the scoring with a 59 yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter on a 1 play drive. On Ohio State’s next drive, Beanie converted a 3rd and 1 and Jake Ballard caught a ball on 3rd and 4 to give the Buckeyes a new set of downs. After Ballard’s catch, and with the Buckeyes behind down and distance at 2nd and 12, Pryor found Brian Hartline deep for a 53 yard touchdown pass. Two Michigan drives later, Brandon Minor and company had thrashed through our defense on a 14 play 65 yard drive to cut the margin to a single touchdown. That’s how it stood at intermission with Michigan receiving the ball. The Wolverines, 20.5 point dogs entering the game, couldn’t feasibly ask for more going to intermission against a team that outmatched them badly at every position. Even better yet, they would be getting the ball to start the second half.
Fortunately, the second half is where the rout kicked into full gear. Though the Wolverines’ first drive of the second half moved the chains 4 times, the offense stalled and a Zoltan Mesko punt eventually pinned the Buckeyes within their own 10. The Buckeyes wasted no time in getting out of the shadow of their own end zone. A pitch left to Beanie moved the Buckeyes 42 yards to near midfield. The next play, a Boom Herron scamper, principally behind Alex Boone, put the Buckeyes in the end zone. The two big plays were shade of Beanie and Pittman in 2006. A Nathan Williams’ penalty was pivotal on Michigan’s next drive. Though the roughing the kicker penalty extended Michigan’s drive, it appears that Nathan Williams actually succeeded in roughing up the punter. Hell, if you’re going to get the penalty, it’s best to do some damage… in for a penny, in for a pound. After exchanging punts, Michigan’s next drive ended with a low, line drive punt from Mesko that was returned 80 yards by the recently reinstated Ray Small to the Michigan 8 yard line. Terrelle Pryor found Brian Robiskie in the end zone on the first play from scrimmage for a 28-7 lead. After a 4 and out and short punt, Dane Sanzenbacher’s 35 yard catch and Boom Herron’s 19 yard touchdown run eventually pushed the lead to 35-7. Michigan fumbled the kickoff return, allowing The Todd some playing time. The Todd wasted little time, finding Brian Hartline in the end zone, setting up the final margin at 42-7.
The regular season fell short of expectations, but the Buckeyes did finish out strong. The 42-7 demolition of Michigan gives the graduating redshirt seniors like Marcus Freeman and Nader Abdallah 5 gold pants over the Wolvereenies and a share of a Big Ten title, their 4th straight. It also guarantees the Buckeyes their 4th straight 10 win season. Empirically, this senior class will go down as one of the most successful in program history.
Offense
Terrelle Pryor clearly didn’t have his best game, and this was most evident in the first half. Pryor began the game with a nice 3rd down conversion, but threw a very errant pass to Stevie Brown that was almost returned for six. As it was, the Buckeye defense held and KC Lopata missed a field goal. Curiously enough, I think that very same exchange is from the game script last week for the Wolvereenies against Northwestern.
Pryor struggled with making pre-snap reads. On one 3rd down play in particular, Pryor failed to even acknowledge a defender who was lined up on the line of scrimmage pre-snap. As it unfolded, said defender — name escapes me — came from Pryor’s blindside unimpeded and sacked Pryor. 3 of Ohio State’s 8 first half drives ended in Pryor sacks by Brandon Graham, Brandon Harrison and Tim Jamison respectively. The first drive was Pryor’s interception and the last of those 8 drives was a QB sneak to take the Bucks into the intermission. 2 of the remaining drives were touchdown scores. Naturally, the number of sacks Pryor took this game — a staggering total of 8, 3 by Tim Jamison — showed up in Pryor’s rushing total for the game. He finished with -7 rushing yards total for the game.
Elsewhere, Pryor struggled with putting the right amount of air on his passes. With the way that the Buckeyes’ pass protection held up and with how open our receivers were getting against a not-so-good secondary, it was clear that Todd Boeckman would’ve thrived in this year’s Ohio State-Michigan matchup where he struggled so mightily last year. More than a few passes looked like wounded ducks; more than a few where misthrown, costing the Buckeyes a deep gain and probable touchdown. The Buckeyes have the benefit of playing in a January bowl game this year and I’m hopeful that this can get ironed out before then.
Beanie and Boom Herron played a leading role in opening things up for the Buckeyes offense this game. Indeed, with Headcase Pryor on display as opposed to Road Game Warrior Pryor, their performance was necessary. Beanie ran for 134 yards on just 15 carries, having been sidelined early in the second half for an undisclosed injury probably related to being upended on a rushing play in the first half. That said, his 134 yards was good enough to make him just the sixth Buckeye to have back-to-back 1000 yard rushing seasons in the program’s history. Further, it’s his 3rd straight Michigan game where he had a long touchdown scamper, no doubt etching his place in Buckeye lore as one of the all-time great Wolverine killers. Beanie also passed Keith Byars for 4th all-time in Buckeye rushing on the touchdown play in question. Boom may have just announced himself and his intentions to be the next great Buckeye back this game as well, shades of Beanie in 2006. Boom finished the game with two touchdowns and 80 yards on 8 carries. Should Beanie go pro after this season, the Buckeye ground game looks to be just fine. Elsewhere, the rout got so bad that the Buckeyes put in Marcus Williams, a walk-on from Ironton, OH, at the end of the game. He is, by my account, the Buckeyes’ 5th string tailback and proof positive that the Buckeye staff really did their best to empty their bench and spread around some playing time.
Pryor didn’t exactly have the greatest day passing (5/13, 120 yards, 2 TDs 1 INT), but I thought the receiver corp — to a man — played outstanding this game. Jake Ballard’s drop of what should’ve been a touchdown that was, by the grace of God, not ruled an interception is the only chink in what was otherwise a stellar performance all around. Brian Hartline led all performers with 2 catches for 71 yards. Both of his catches were touchdowns. Brian Robiskie got on the scoreboard in 10 minutes into the third quarter, finishing with 2 catches and 54 yards. Dane Sanzenbacher (2/49) had two memorable grabs, his first good for a first down and his second coming on the play that Pryor miraculously kept alive. It eventually resulted in Boom Herron’s second touchdown run. Jake Ballard had one grab, which set up a first down and, two plays later, Hartline was in the end zone. Maurice Wells rounds out the performance of the receivers, catching a screen from The Todd for no gain in garbage time.
I’d be remiss without mentioning the offensive line, but their performance was streaky. Bryant Browning didn’t help things any. Michael Brewster didn’t have a much better game than he had against Illinois. They were facing the strength of Michigan’s defense and were eaten up on some plays. Beanie’s touchdown run came from some good blocking, but even better playcalling to catch Michigan overloading on Alex Boone. Boone, to his credit, was the best player on the line today. Jim Cordle was responsible in large part for Beanie and Boom’s big gains on the Buckeyes’ first drive of the second half. Fortunately, the Buckeyes have a month and a half to smooth out whatever needs fixin’ on their unit. I don’t know who we’ll get in a bowl game (likely candidates include: Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech, Georgia, among others…), but whoever it is will probably eat up our offensive line if they don’t improve over the break.
Defense
There are lots of superlative to spread around for this defense. Minus one drive, and the early stretches of the second half, the Buckeye defense absolutely dominated the Wolverines offense. Granted, the Wolverines offense isn’t very good… at all… but a domination is always nice. Michigan’s first 5 drives were 3 and outs. It didn’t get too much better as Michigan finished an absolutely obscene 1-17… let me repeat that: 1-17 on 3rd down conversions this game. Yes, that’s a 3rd down conversion rate of ~6%. Michigan finished with 198 yards of total offense, though most of it came in the second and third quarters. Michigan had only 28 first quarter yards and 17 fourth quarter yards. That’s domination, holmes. Michigan did thrive in the second and third quarters, largely because of two factors. First, Nick Sheridan, for a stretch, made the Buckeyes pay for selling out on the screen. Sheridan’s pump fakes drew the defense to the screen, opening up the deep option for some big gains. Second, Brandon Minor pounded the Buckeyes for a period, finishing with over 77 yards on 14 carries and Michigan’s lone touchdown. Curiously enough, I don’t remember Minor’s number being called after Michigan’s second drive of the second half. In lieu of the punishing Minor, Rodriguez went with freshman Michael Shaw. I was more than happy he did, but still don’t know why he did. If it was an injury to Minor, I don’t remember seeing it.
Most of my remarks will be glowing accordingly. The defensive line shined today. The trio of Heyward, Abdallah and Worthington rocked Michigan’s offensive line, creating all sorts of havoc for Nick Sheridan. The trio finished with 17 tackles and 4 TFLs. Heyward (6 tackles, 1 solo) tallied the lone sack of the group. Abdallah (5 tackles, 1 solo) had two TFLs on the game. It seems like this group — and Abdallah in particular — have really put it together in recent weeks. The coming out party seems to have been the Purdue game. Granted, this unit did wear out in the final minutes against Penn State, but they seem to be playing at a much better level than they were to begin the season. Abdallah, of course, gets to take 5 gold pants with him as he finishes his Buckeye career. Nathan Williams also almost had a safety in the 4th quarter.
James Laurinaitis had your usual ho-hum 10+ tackle day, finishing with 12 tackles (4 solo). It was just another day at the office for the former Butkus and Nagurski Award winner. He also had one sack on the day, good for a 4 yard loss. Marcus Freeman joined Laurinaitis in the party, contributing 7 assisted tackles. Further, he also registered 2.5 TFLs and had a fumble recovery on the Odoms special teams boner in the first quarter. Both Laurinaitis and Freeman were everywhere today. With only so much tackles to go around, Ross Homan was the odd man out. He only had 2 tackles on the day.
The secondary is crucial to stopping a spread offense team. Often times, they find themselves isolated, in space, and being responsible for a play from the offense going for no gain, or for 40 yards. They were up to the task today, though. Kurt Coleman led all players in the secondary (and was 2nd on the team for the day) with 10 tackles (5 solo). 1.5 of those were TFLs good for a loss of -7 yards. Malcolm Jenkins contributed 5 tackles (1 solo). His one pass break-up, pictured to the right, was a necessary one. It came on a 3rd and 7 on the Wolverines’ 2nd drive of the 3rd quarter. Jenkins was actually beat on this play (zone coverage that Mathews outran) and had to make up ground to prevent what would’ve been a big gain, a certain first down and probable touchdown. A lot of the tackles were taken up by the front 7, but a few other notables got in on the action. With Jermale Hines sidelined this game, Tyler Moeller saw plenty of action at the “star” position, viz, nickelback. He had 3 assisted tackles, with one of those being a TFL. Donald Washington and Anderson Russell both had 3 tackles. Shaun Lane had two tackles and forced a fumble on special teams. Chimdi Chekwa had 2 solo tackles. Again, kudos all around.
Miscellany
- The Buckeyes win 5 straight in this series for the first time ever. The longest consecutive win streak for either side is Michigan’s 9 consecutive victories (1901-09). I think we can pull that off.
- I’m not a fan at all of either team, anywhere, allowing its players to go to midfield and jaw and shove the opposing team. As Gabby noted, it wasn’t that ridiculous this game, but it did get a little bit nasty in Louisville. These things are tinderboxes, so why risk getting a player suspended?
- On a similar note, the chippiness this game was something I haven’t seen since 1997. Laurinaitis got into it with Michigan’s center in the second half. Malcolm Jenkins threw down a guy on Michigan’s first drive. Again: this was really, really tense.
- The margin of victory for Ohio State was third best in series’ history. There was a point in the game when The Todd was in there where I thought we could set the record.
- The pushing and shoving by one of those Michigan players (Charles Stewart) and the coaching staff was an absolutely strange sight to see. Just surreal, I don’t recall ever seeing that before.
- The attendance was 4th largest in Ohio Stadium history.
- This senior class has won 43 games and lost only 7. The 43 victories is tied for most over a 4 year stretch. A victory in the Bowl Game would make them, empirically, the best senior class in program history.
- The tone for this game was set in a place where I wouldn’t have thought to predict it: special teams. Every hit on special teams for Michigan’s hapless return team seemed to be bone-jarring. Further, Nathan Williams’ roughing the punter penalty seemed to do damage to Michigan’s best offensive player. It may have been responsible for the usually outstanding Mesko’s low, line-drive punt to Ray Small, which set up the 80 yard return.
- Bucknuts has pictures… lotsandlotsa pictures. A lot of them are from the Senior Day festivities and are worth looking at.
- William Gholston, cousin of Vernon Gholston, was apparently in attendance. I’m still trying to gather information about what other recruits were in attendance.
- It’s fun to pick on Michigan now, but I still think Rodriguez will get Michigan back to some kind of national prominence. I’ve been saying that all along, though I definitely won’t go so far as to EEEEEE BARWIS and predict offenses consecutive national championships and offenses that score 50pts a game. That said, this game showed to me how really behind the curve Michigan is. They’re further behind the curve than I could’ve imagined. They’ll get better next year — they almost have to by default — but there’s still a long way to go. As we saw today, getting the right quarterback for Michigan, and one that they’re expecting to get, is necessary. But it’s going to be hard. Michigan fans are expecting that Michigan’s lore will get them a better recruit at the position, that is: a Pat White without the noodle arm. Yet, a Pat White w/o the noodle arm might be hard to get as he might be wanting a more conventional offense so he can end up in the NFL… and might end up going to a place like Ohio State and becoming the first freshman quarterback to beat Michigan in the program’s history. I’m sure when Rodriguez finally gets that quarterback, he’ll work wonders with him. That said, it’s going to be a hard get for Michigan on the recruiting trail.
- JB Shugarts saw the field at right tackle. Andrew Sweat also saw some action at linebacker.
- The nature of the blowout allowed the seniors to go out on top with token gestures. Laurinaitis led the team in tackles, Boone was the best lineman on the day, Todd got a touchdown pass, and Robiskie had a touchdown grab. The only thing missing in terms of the symbolic-ness was a Maurice Wells touchdown.
- Yes, this is a rebuilding year for Michigan, but at least this game went a long way in telling those 1991 and 1993 games to suck it. Welcome to the 1990s, Michigan.
Fun w/ Pictures: How Firm Thy Friendship…
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