Leaguewide position rankings for the Big Ten
November 26, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg
After studying the All-Big Ten selections for 2008, it’s clear the Big Ten is much stronger at some positions than others. The fact that it was hard to choose a second-team All-Big Ten quarterback tells you something about the league’s troubles under center. On the flip side, there are 10-15 defensive linemen worthy of All-Big Ten status.
With the regular season wrapped up, here’s a closer look at the Big Ten positions, from strongest to weakest.
Defensive line – The depth at both line positions is astounding and will be reflected in the next few NFL drafts. Beginning with end, you have Penn State’s Aaron Maybin, Minnesota’s Willie VanDeSteeg, Michigan’s Brandon Graham, Northwestern’s Corey Wootton and Indiana’s Jammie Kirlew. Guys like Michigan’s Tim Jamison, Illinois’ Derek Walker, Michigan State’s Trevor Anderson, Wisconsin’s Mike Newkirk, Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan and Penn State’s Josh Gaines would be all-conference in most leagues, but not the Big Ten. The tackle spot might be even more stacked. Iowa’s Mitch King leads the way, but he’s joined by teammate Matt Kroul, Penn State’s Jared Odrick, Michigan’s Terrance Taylor, Northwestern’s John Gill and Ohio State’s Nader Abdallah.
Running back – If not for the overwhelming depth on the D-line, this group would be No. 1 on the list. The Big Ten boasts three of the nation’s top seven rushers in Iowa’s Shonn Greene, Michigan State’s Javon Ringer and Ohio State’s Chris “Beanie” Wells. Penn State’s Evan Royster also had a fabulous year. When guys like Purdue’s Kory Sheets, Wisconsin’s P.J. Hill, Michigan’s Brandon Minor and Northwestern’s Tyrell Sutton aren’t even on the radar for all-conference, you’ve got a pretty solid group.
Linebacker – This was another group that caused some tough choices for first-team all-conference. Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis was a shoo-in, but Illinois’ Brit Miller, Penn State’s Navorro Bowman and Michigan State’s Greg Jones are all in the mix for the other two spots. Iowa’s Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds, Ohio State’s Marcus Freeman, Wisconsin’s DeAndre Levy and Indiana’s Matt Mayberry add depth.
Offensive line (interior) – Three centers were listed on the media’s all-conference team, illustrating the depth there. Penn State center A.Q. Shipley earned Offensive Lineman of the Year honors, and Iowa’s Rob Bruggeman and Illinois’ Ryan McDonald also were recognized. The guard spot might be even stronger with Iowa’s Seth Olsen, Penn State’s Rich Ohrnberger and Stefen Wisniewski, Wisconsin’s Kraig Urbik and Andy Kemp and Michigan State’s Roland Martin.
Punter – This was another group that stirred some debate about All-Big Ten selections. Michigan’s Zoltan Mesko was the obvious choice, but Iowa’s Ryan Donahue, Michigan State’s Aaron Bates and Penn State’s Jeremy Boone also were in the mix. Freshmen Brad Nortman (Wisconsin) and Chris Hagerup (Indiana) had terrific seasons, and I was also very impressed with Ohio State’s A.J. Trapasso, Minnesota’s Justin Kucek and Northwestern’s Stefan Demos.
Cornerback – I didn’t fully grasp how strong the league was at cornerback until reviewing the All-Big Ten lists. Everyone knew about Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins and Illinois’ Vontae Davis, but several other players add depth, namely Wisconsin’s Allen Langford, Iowa’s Amari Spievey and Bradley Fletcher, Minnesota’s Traye Simmons, Northwestern’s Sherrick McManis and Michigan State’s Chris L. Rucker.
Offensive tackle — There weren’t any off-the-charts performances here, but it’s a solid group overall. Penn State’s Gerald Cadogan moved past Ohio State’s Alex Boone as the league’s premier tackle. Boone didn’t have the dominant year many expected, but he wasn’t the main problem on Ohio State’s underachieving line. Add in players like Iowa’s Bryan Bulaga, Illinois’ Xavier Fulton and Wisconsin’s Eric Vanden Heuvel, and it’s a decent group.
Safety – Michigan State’s Otis Wiley might be the only surefire NFL draft pick from this crop, but several other players turned in strong performances. Ohio State’s Kurt Coleman should have been second-team All-Big Ten for both the media and coaches, and Northwestern’s Brad Phillips has a major beef for being left off the list. Other standouts include Iowa’s Brent Greenwood, Wisconsin’s Jay Valai and Minnesota tandem Kyle Theret and Tramaine Brock.
Kicker – A decent group overall, led by Penn State’s Kevin Kelly and Michigan State’s Brett Swenson, both of whom should have been Lou Groza Award semifinalists. Wisconsin’s Philip Welch quietly had a very solid season (17-for-20), and Northwestern’s Amado Villarreal also performed well.
Tight end – Not the best season for tight ends, though it didn’t help that Wisconsin All-American Travis Beckum was hurt for most of the fall. His replacement Garrett Graham had a nice year, as did Iowa’s Brandon Myers, Michigan State’s Charlie Gantt, Minnesota’s Jack Simmons and Illinois’ Michael Hoomanawanui, but it wasn’t a great group overall.
Wide recever – Minnesota’s Eric Decker and Illinois’ Arrelious Benn will be solid NFL players, and Penn State’s Derrick Williams also will get to the next level. But quarterbacks and wide receivers are intertwined, and neither position sizzled this season. Penn State’s three seniors (Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood) performed well, as did Purdue’s Greg Orton and Wisconsin’s David Gilreath. But not much depth here.
Quarterback – This was the worst quarterback crop in recent memory. Penn State’s Daryll Clark was fabulous in his first season as the starter, and both Illinois’ Juice Williams and Minnesota’s Adam Weber showed growth at times. But it was legitimately difficult to choose a second-team all-league quarterback. Several fifth-year seniors struggled this fall, though there’s hope for next year with players like Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor and Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi.
Spencer’s OSU-Michigan report card
November 22, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
OFFENSIVE LINE
When you’ve got three running plays of more than 40 yards, you’re doing something right. Alex Boone and Jim Cordle, in particular, opened some nice holes over the left side. Michigan’s defensive line showed flashes of living up to preseason expectations, but over-pursuit hurt them all year on big plays. For the most part, the Buckeyes did a good job of keeping end Brandom Graham in check. He had two tackles for loss after having entered the game ranked among the national leaders in both departments.
GRADE: B
RUNNING GAME
The one-two punch of Beanie and Boom delivered the knockout punch in the third quarter, with Chris Wells and Dan Herron gaining 49 and 42 yards on back-to-back plays for the touchdown that put OSU in front 21-7. Wells opened the scoring on a 59-yard romp, his third scoring run of more than 50 yards in his three games against Michigan. Good thing Wells was his usual self in this rivalry because Terrelle Pryor labored for much of the game. But, hey, he’s the first freshman quarterback to direct a victory in the history of this series.
GRADE: A minus
PASSING GAME
Maybe his hands were numb from the cold, but it took some time for Terrelle Pryor (5-of-13, 120 yards) to warm to Saturday’s task, especially when throwing the ball. His best pass of the day, a 54-yard touchdown bomb to Brian Hartline, came at the expense of Stevie Brown and atoned for the pick Pryor threw to Brown on the fourth play of the game. It would have been a pick-six if not for Pryor knocking Brown out of bounds at the 13. Michigan ended up missing a field goal. It was nice to see Brian Robiskie catch a touchdown and Todd Boeckman throw one in their final home game.
GRADE: B
DEFENSIVE LINE
The Wolverines had some success attacking the left side of OSU’s front, which is surprising because it was manned for the most part by Thaddeus Gibson and Cameron Heyward, the Buckeyes’ two best linemen. But Michigan couldn’t sustain anything. The OSU defense forced eight three-and-outs. Heyward and Dexter Larimore had sacks and Nader Abdallah, who has been playing the best ball of his career in recent weeks, had two tackles for loss.
GRADE: A
LINEBACKERS
James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman couldn’t have scripted a better final home game for themselves. Laurinaitis again was atop the tackle chart with 12 stops, including a sack. Freeman made seven tackles, two for losses, broke up a pass and recovered a fumble. The Buckeyes spent most of the game in the nickel, meaning Ross Homan spent most of the game on the sidelines. That’s unfortunate because he’s probably no worst than the fourth-best player on defense.
GRADE: A
DEFENSIVE BACKS
For the first time in four years, the Buckeyes won the turnover battle, but that was because of two fumbled kicks by Michigan. The secondary didn’t come close to a pick, but Nick Sheridan’s passes weren’t good enough for even the opposition to snag. Sheridan finished 8-of-24 for 87 yards. Safety Kurt Coleman seconded James Laurinaitis in tackles with 10.
GRADE: A
SPECIAL TEAMS
Back from a two-game suspension, Ray Small’s 80-yard punt return set up the touchdowns that made it 28-7. If it were up to his delusional daddy, Ken Small, he would have had Ray run right through the end zone on that return and into the NFL. In the battle of two of the nation’s best punters, Michigan’s Zoltan Mesko had a decided edge over A.J. Trapasso. The latter launched more wounded ducks Saturday than he had all season. Mesko deserves some sort of purple heart after being called on 12 times.
GRADE: B
COACHING
Jim Tressel holds such mastery over the Wolverines that self-inflicted wounds can’t even hurt him. His failed fourth-and-2 pass play set Michigan’s only scoring drive in motion. If you don’t question the decision to go for it, you at least question why Beanie Wells wasn’t on the field and why Terrelle Pryor threw such a low-percentage deep ball to Brian Robiskie. Other games might have turned on that sequence of events, but after closing within 14-7, the Wolverines woke up and realized Tressel still owns them.
GRADE: A
— Compiled by Jon Spencer
RichRod Regrets OSU Coaches’ Visit
November 22, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The relationships between Michigan and Ohio State extend far beyond the field.
Even though the schools are bitter enemies, many of the opposing players are friends. Some of the coaches have worked together, too.
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said he has known Ohio State’s Jim Tressel for several years. Both represent an apparel company, both go to Big Ten coaches meetings and both are members of the American Football Coaches Association.
Rodriguez regrets one time when he crossed paths with Ohio State’s coaches.
"Some of (Tressel’s) coaches came to visit us a few years back when I was at West Virginia," he said. He joked, "If I knew I was going to be here, that trip wouldn’t have happened."
Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee knows Rodriguez from the days when Gee was the president at WVU.
"Rich Rodriguez is a West Virginia guy. I knew him as a student at West Virginia," Gee said. "He was there under (then WVU coach) Don Nehlen when I was there."
Gee said he struggled when he came to Ohio State the first of his two times as president. He said he didn’t understand the culture of the university, and he certainly didn’t get the severity and scope of the rivalry with Michigan.
"I think that anyone coming from the outside to a place like Michigan or Ohio State needs to get a lesson 101 in terms of its history and tradition," he said. "Certainly I found that as the president of the university in 1990."
He said it was important for those coming in from other places to understand things such as rivalries.
"It’s the responsibility of the institution to get the very best coach. Then it’s the responsibility of the institution and the coach to really understand the nature, the value, the qualities of that particular institution," he said. "I’m certain that that is happening at Michigan. I know it happened here. It’s an ever-learning process. Coach Rodriguez is a great coach. Michigan will be a great football team. Michigan is coming into this rivalry, they believe that they’re going to win this game on Saturday. We need to be prepared, because he’s that kind of a coach."
LOSING THEIR MARBLES: Each of Ohio State’s 28 seniors were given a case before the season which contained 12 marbles. Each Friday, they have handed over a marble to Tressel. The last marble is blue, to signify Michigan.
Tressel’s wife, Ellen, came up with the idea as a way of impressing upon the seniors how quickly their final season passes. Apparently, they’ve gotten the message.
"Every time you give him one it is like, ‘Man, that’s one more gone,"’ DL Nader Abdallah said. "It just keeps reminding you that have you have only got a certain amount of games left and you better make the most of them."
CB Malcolm Jenkins said he had no regrets.
"Now it’s time to turn in the last one," he said. "I will be excited because it’s my last chance to play Michigan. But I am also down because that’s my last marble. I spent my four years here very well. I can’t really take anything back."
P A.J. Trapasso said he had mixed feelings.
"It’s a simple thing in reality, it’s just marbles dropping into a vase," he said. "If you realize that five years ago I had 50 or 60 of those marbles in there and now it’s all the way down to one. It is bittersweet. I almost don’t want to give it up."
Some tried to delay the inevitable.
"It’s tough. I like to wait until the last minute on Friday," FB Brandon Smith said.
He said Tressel doesn’t show any sympathy, either.
"It’s ‘Fork ‘em over.’ It’s so cold and harsh," he said with a laugh.
NO SAINT IN ST. HENRY: According to a column by Tom Archdeacon in the Dayton Daily News, the good people of St. Henry, Ohio, are less than pleased with the way Tressel has handled the quarterback situation – particularly how he has treated native son Todd Boeckman.
The small town that produced Ohio State icons such as Jim Lachey and Bobby Hoying is usually swathed in scarlet and gray. But many people are angry that Tressel put in Terrelle Pryor to replace Boeckman, who led the Buckeyes to an outright Big Ten title and the national championship game a year ago, and has allowed him just a few plays since.
"Everybody here’s got a real sour taste in their mouths about this," said Charlie Gels, who runs Gels’ IGA in St. Henry. "Coach Tressel’s notoriety has fallen by the wayside. A lot of people are really down on him for the way he’s handled this. He didn’t put any of blame on the coaching; he made Todd the fall guy."
The tide has obviously turned.
"There was a lot of respect here for Tressel, but now a lot of people here have turned on him," said Matt Stelzer, who runs the sports hangout and pizza place known as Fish-Mo’s. "There a lot of dislike for him. Some just hate him. They feel he threw Todd under the bus. … Tressel could have handled this so much better, and because he didn’t, it just doesn’t set well with people here. Since I’ve been in the bar business, I’ve never seen anything like this. Some people who come in don’t even want to watch the (Buckeyes) games now."
Gels added, "I’ve even got this 75-year-old lady who comes into the store. She says, ‘I just don’t think (Tressel’s) the right man for the job. He’s shown me he’s not quite the guy a lot of people thought he was."’
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Could Boeckman Get A Token Start?
November 20, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
COLUMBUS, Ohio – What’s brewing today with the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes …
BUCKEYES BUZZ: A lot is being made of freshman Terrelle Pryor starting at quarterback against Michigan (12:08 p.m. kickoff Saturday, Ohio Stadium). But what if he doesn’t?
This is the final home game for seniors. One of the most loyal of seniors has been QB Todd Boeckman, who waited patiently for his chance to play and then led the Buckeyes to an outright Big Ten title and the national championship game a year ago. As Pryor began to develop early this season, coach Jim Tressel tossed Boeckman aside and has barely put him in since.
So, what about it, coach: Would you start Boeckman?
“I’m not sure that that’s in the cards here, but I haven’t really talked about that,” he said this week.
Boeckman’s teammates are sure talking about it. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:
LB Marcus Freeman: “Just talking to Todd and seeing him, it’s got to be tough. He’s a competitor. Any true competitor wants to be on that football field. … A lot of times if you see a guy get his spot taken, he’ll be like, ‘I ain’t helpin’ nobody out. It’s about me.’ And Todd isn’t that guy.”
CB Malcolm Jenkins: “It would be nice to see Todd go out on his senior day and get a snap. But that’s not up to us. It would be a nice gesture.”
LB James Laurinaitis: “He has handled the whole situation the whole season with unbelievable class, and I think he’ll handle this week the same way. You don’t expect anything less from him. He’s a guy (who) truly loves this university, loves this team and has tried to take every opportunity to help Terrelle with anything he’s needed.”
TE Rory Nicol: “I do feel for Todd. Todd’s one of my best friends on the team. A year ago he was an All-Big Ten quarterback and he’s struggled and he’s had some adversity. … I think that’s one of the toughest situations you can be put in as a player regardless of your position. He never backed away from it. He never asked that he not be a captain. He gets up and speaks in front of the team every Thursday.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY: P A.J. Trapasso, on whether it’s been hard to watch Michigan go 3-8 this season: “I think any true Buckeye fan would tell you when we’re not playing Michigan, we’re rooting for them. A lot of people will turn their heads about that, but you want it to mean more than just Michigan playing their last game of the season. It makes it that much better of a game when there’s something on the line, when there’s BCS bids, Big Ten titles. That’s what you really want at the end of the season.”
PRO PROSPECTS: Fans tend to forget that those guys playing in Ohio State uniforms are doing it for fun, for scholarships, for the coaches and for the university, but they’re also doing it with hopes of making a career of football.
Two of the dozen or so players who could have gone pro last January but elected to stay at Ohio State say it’s hard to not think about playing in the NFL next season.
“When you sit back and look at the scheme of things, obviously we all look toward the future a little bit. I would be lying to say I never did,” LB Marcus Freeman said. “We always think about what’s going to happen next year. Where am I going to be? Where am I going to go in the draft? … But that’s something you can’t control. All you can control is playing as hard as you can and you let the rest of it play out.”
Fellow LB James Laurinaitis said he’s certain he made the right decision in staying at Ohio State. He could never trade the experiences he’s had, the friends he’s made and relationships he’s cultivated.
He believes he’s worked on some things that will make him a better NFL player.
“My sophomore year maybe there was one game, like, gosh, I just didn’t feel like I played that well. My junior year, if I could watch over the season, maybe there was one game I’m like, I just might skip this one,” he said. “But I think this one, I’m consistent each and every game. And recognition of plays and being more patient and stuff. But ultimately I can’t speak for what they (pro scouts) are going to think.”
SMALL TALK: Tressel was asked if WR/KR Ray Small might duck his head out of the coach’s doghouse long enough to see action against the Wolverines. Tressel said only that Small might be available to play.
STAT OF THE DAY: ESPN.com suggests that Ohio State should be rooting for Tennessee to lose to Vanderbilt or Kentucky in its final two games.
Why? Should the Volunteers lose at least one more game, they would join Michigan with eight losses. That would leave Ohio State as the only current Football Bowl Subdivision team to never have lost eight games in a season.
Tressel denies claims of running up score
November 11, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg
Ohio State is used to beating up on Northwestern, but the way the Buckeyes finished off Saturday’s 45-10 win at Ryan Field sparked some debate.
Leading 31-10 early in the fourth quarter, Ohio State faced fourth-and-2 from its own 42-yard line. The Buckeyes ran a fake punt and A.J. Trapasso picked up the first down with a 9-yard gain.
Ohio State led 38-10 when backup running back Dan Herron scored on a 16-yard run with only seven seconds remaining. ESPN2 cameras caught Tressel grimacing after Herron crossed the goal line, but some questioned whether the Ohio State coach was trying to run up the score.
“In terms of the fake punt, anyone who was there, they know that the game was far from over,” Tressel said. “We had a 25 mile-an-hour wind in our face and we weren’t going to punt it very far anyway.
“In terms of scoring on the last play, no one was more disappointed in the stadium than I was when that occurred.”
Tressel hoped the Buckeyes wouldn’t need to run another play, but the 40-second clock would have expired, prompting a delay-of-game penalty. Both teams had their second string players in the game.
“It just so happened that what I thought might be a 3-yard gain ended up in the end zone,” Tressel said.
Tressel relayed that message to Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald when they met at midfield, and Fitzgerald wished him luck for the rest of the year. Fitzgerald didn’t directly address the issue in his post-game news conference, choosing to point out Northwestern’s errors in the loss.
But you can bet Fitzgerald won’t forget what happened. Tressel still shows Ohio State players tape of Northwestern celebrating a 2004 win against the Buckeyes — the Wildcats’ only victory in the series since 1971.
Future Northwestern teams can expect to watch the final few minutes of Saturday’s game before facing Ohio State.
Spencer’s OSU-Northwestern Report Card
November 10, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
JON SPENCER’S OHIO STATE REPORT CARD
OFFENSIVE LINE
Don’t be fooled by the 421 yards of total offense. Ohio State’s attack was all about Beanie Wells and Terrelle Pryor making something out of nothing. Pryor did his best work when flushed from the pocket, and Wells’ 55-yard touchdown run came on tremendous second and third effort after he appeared to be stopped for a loss. The OL is what it is — which isn’t very good. It’s foolish at this point for us to think it would suddenly become a cohesive unit.
GRADE: C minus
RUNNING GAME
Take away his brilliant breakaway and Beanie Wells mustered only 85 yards on 27 carries. Part of that was the line and part of it was Northwestern selling out on the run. “Pass first, run second” is totally against Jim Tressel’s nature, even with 10 defenders in the box, but at least Terrelle Pryor had that mind-set when the pocket broke down. His most effective legwork came when he got out to the edge, kept his eyes downfield and bought time for his receivers to get open for big plays. His 21-yard gain on a third-and-16 broken play enabled him to throw the first of his three TD passes.
GRADE: B
PASSING GAME
It was nice to see that the Brians — Robiskie and Hartline, especially Hartline — are still alive and well. Robiskie, who had the team’s lone TD catch in the previous four games, caught a pair of scoring passes. Hartline had catches of 44 and 46 yards to set up a pair of TDs which almost matched his reception total (three) over the previous three contests. Pryor’s arm strength wasn’t a question despite 25 mph winds, and he showed remarkable poise in stepping out of a sack and firing a 6-yard TD to tight end Rory Nicol. All of the aerial heroics, however, masked poor pass protection.
GRADE: A minus
DEFENSIVE LINE
Across the board, this was easily the front four’s best outing. With a nagging ankle injury limiting Thaddeus Gibson, the team’s best pass rusher, everybody else seemed to step up their game. Tackle Cameron Heyward had a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by sidekick Doug Worthington, setting up OSU’s final TD. True freshman Nathan Williams, an undersized end out of Washington Court House, had back-to-back sacks, and fifth-year senior tackle Nader Abdallah had the best game of his career with eight tackles, two pass breakups and a sack.
GRADE: A
LINEBACKERS
James Laurinaitis put a bow on the defensive effort with his fourth-quarter interception, redeeming himself for the personal foul that contributed to Northwestern’s only touchdown drive. The Buckeyes overcame quarterback’s Mike Kafka’s 126 yards rushing by dropping him for 43 yards in losses. With former Ohio Mr. Football Tyrell Sutton sidelined (ankle), Kafka basically was the Wildcats’ entire running attack. He fell well short of the 217 yards rushing he had last week at Minnesota. Ross Homan and Marcus Freeman made 13 stops between them and accounted for two of OSU’s seven tackles for losses.
GRADE: B plus
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Mike Kafka’s passing numbers were decent (18 of 27, 177 yards), but the secondary did a nice job of keeping everything in front of them. Anderson Russell made nine tackles and recovered a fumble caused by Malcolm Jenkins, setting up a field goal. Kurt Coleman had one of OSU’s two personal fouls on the Wildcats’ only TD drive, but played a solid game overall with seven tackles and a sack.
GRADE: A minus
SPECIAL TEAMS
The only play worth talking about was A.J. Trapasso’s fake punt in the fourth quarter. Flashing his old tailback form from high school, Trapasso made some nifty moves for a 9-yard gain and the first down. Up 31-10 at the time, TV analyst and former Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware questioned the sportsmanship of the call, which led to a touchdown. There’s criticism you don’t hear too often: Jim Tressel being too aggressive with his play-calling. Northwestern’s longest return on eight kickoff returns was 24 yards.
GRADE: B
COACHING
Jim Tressel probably won’t get a Christmas card from Pat Fitzgerald after calling for that fake punt up 31-10 or allowing Todd Boeckman to throw deep up 38-10. The cameras caught Tressel grimacing after Boom Herron scored on a 16-yard run on the game’s final play, but if that’s the way he truly felt he should have taken a knee. In this case, Tressel has nothing to apologize for. An offense that has failed to score a TD in three games this season should take ’em any way they can get ’em.
GRADE: B
— Compiled by Jon Spencer
Specner’s OSU-Northwestern Report Card
November 9, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
JON SPENCER’S OHIO STATE REPORT CARD
OFFENSIVE LINE
Don’t be fooled by the 421 yards of total offense. Ohio State’s attack was all about Beanie Wells and Terrelle Pryor making something out of nothing. Pryor did his best work when flushed from the pocket, and Wells’ 55-yard touchdown run came on tremendous second and third effort after he appeared to be stopped for a loss. The OL is what it is — which isn’t very good. It’s foolish at this point for us to think it would suddenly become a cohesive unit.
GRADE: C minus
RUNNING GAME
Take away his brilliant breakaway and Beanie Wells mustered only 85 yards on 27 carries. Part of that was the line and part of it was Northwestern selling out on the run. “Pass first, run second” is totally against Jim Tressel’s nature, even with 10 defenders in the box, but at least Terrelle Pryor had that mind-set when the pocket broke down. His most effective legwork came when he got out to the edge, kept his eyes downfield and bought time for his receivers to get open for big plays. His 21-yard gain on a third-and-16 broken play enabled him to throw the first of his three TD passes.
GRADE: B
PASSING GAME
It was nice to see that the Brians — Robiskie and Hartline, especially Hartline — are still alive and well. Robiskie, who had the team’s lone TD catch in the previous four games, caught a pair of scoring passes. Hartline had catches of 44 and 46 yards to set up a pair of TDs which almost matched his reception total (three) over the previous three contests. Pryor’s arm strength wasn’t a question despite 25 mph winds, and he showed remarkable poise in stepping out of a sack and firing a 6-yard TD to tight end Rory Nicol. All of the aerial heroics, however, masked poor pass protection.
GRADE: A minus
DEFENSIVE LINE
Across the board, this was easily the front four’s best outing. With a nagging ankle injury limiting Thaddeus Gibson, the team’s best pass rusher, everybody else seemed to step up their game. Tackle Cameron Heyward had a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by sidekick Doug Worthington, setting up OSU’s final TD. True freshman Nathan Williams, an undersized end out of Washington Court House, had back-to-back sacks, and fifth-year senior tackle Nader Abdallah had the best game of his career with eight tackles, two pass breakups and a sack.
GRADE: A
LINEBACKERS
James Laurinaitis put a bow on the defensive effort with his fourth-quarter interception, redeeming himself for the personal foul that contributed to Northwestern’s only touchdown drive. The Buckeyes overcame quarterback’s Mike Kafka’s 126 yards rushing by dropping him for 43 yards in losses. With former Ohio Mr. Football Tyrell Sutton sidelined (ankle), Kafka basically was the Wildcats’ entire running attack. He fell well short of the 217 yards rushing he had last week at Minnesota. Ross Homan and Marcus Freeman made 13 stops between them and accounted for two of OSU’s seven tackles for losses.
GRADE: B plus
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Mike Kafka’s passing numbers were decent (18 of 27, 177 yards), but the secondary did a nice job of keeping everything in front of them. Anderson Russell made nine tackles and recovered a fumble caused by Malcolm Jenkins, setting up a field goal. Kurt Coleman had one of OSU’s two personal fouls on the Wildcats’ only TD drive, but played a solid game overall with seven tackles and a sack.
GRADE: A minus
SPECIAL TEAMS
The only play worth talking about was A.J. Trapasso’s fake punt in the fourth quarter. Flashing his old tailback form from high school, Trapasso made some nifty moves for a 9-yard gain and the first down. Up 31-10 at the time, TV analyst and former Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware questioned the sportsmanship of the call, which led to a touchdown. There’s criticism you don’t hear too often: Jim Tressel being too aggressive with his play-calling. Northwestern’s longest return on eight kickoff returns was 24 yards.
GRADE: B
COACHING
Jim Tressel probably won’t get a Christmas card from Pat Fitzgerald after calling for that fake punt up 31-10 or allowing Todd Boeckman to throw deep up 38-10. The cameras caught Tressel grimacing after Boom Herron scored on a 16-yard run on the game’s final play, but if that’s the way he truly felt he should have taken a knee. In this case, Tressel has nothing to apologize for. An offense that has failed to score a TD in three games this season should take ’em any way they can get ’em.
GRADE: B
— Compiled by Jon Spencer
Ohio State Finally Shows Aggressiveness on Offense
In a 4th and 2 position, Ohio State runs a fake punt with Senior punter A.J. Trapasso which he converts on a 7 yard play. When’s the last time we saw something like this from Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes, especially when we’re already up 38-10 in a game? What a great way for a senior to go out in style.
Then later in the game, Todd Boeckman comes in and instead of running time off the clock like the Buckeyes would typically do, he airs it out twice with his second pass being a deep ball. It’s gotta be tough for Boeckman to sit out but even he has to realize its the right decision. For Boeckman to just hand the ball off would be really lame give him a chance to do something big.
Then the final sign of assertiveness (which based on Tressel’s reaction, he didn’t expect to happen) was a 16 yard run by Daniel “Boom” Herron for a TD with :07 seconds left to bring the score to 45-10. Herron is going to be our main guy so I’m glad to see him in there getting playing time and getting in for a score.
Now touching on the ESPN commentary, it sucked. I know we aren’t in the top 10 so we don’t have the top sportscasters covering out game, but Andre Ware was just awful! Not only did he make lots of mistakes throughout the game but he hated on the fact that Ohio State stepped out of their conservative play calling by mentioning over and over how he didn’t agree with it. Well Andre Ware doesn’t need to speak, because our aggression gave us a chance to not only gain confidence going into a big game against Illinios, but it also got the players fired up which we really needed after the drama with Ray Small and his dad.
I say keep it up Buckeyes, and Tressel, I for one loved your assertiveness, it was great to see us get a win and it was great to see Terrelle Pryor throwing the ball. Can you say future Heisman Trophy winner? Go Bucks!!!
Spencer: Not even LeBron could help this bunch
October 27, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
The face of the 2008 Buckeyes plopped into a chair, looking mentally exhausted and — this is scary — physically spent. He was at a loss for answers after Ohio State was held without an offensive touchdown for the second time in three weeks and third time this season.
“I just punt,” A.J. Trapasso said.
He does it quite well, actually, and way, way, too often.
Knowing Jim Tressel’s track record when it comes to working with explosives, we must have been kidding ourselves, breathlessly anticipating a new era of spread offense when freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor took over the controls six weeks ago. The closest they’ve come to replicating Joe Tiller’s once-vaunted “basketball on grass” attack was having LeBron James on their sidelines for moral support during Saturday night’s 13-6 loss to Penn State.
So much for the Buckeyes riding a wave of Scarlet Fever to an eighth straight home win over the Lions and controlling their own destiny in the Big Ten race. LeBron’s gray beanie and gray scarf — didn’t he get the memo? — better matched the mood in the stands and the skies over Tressel’s head as he plotted his next move.
Unfortunately, the record Ohio Stadium crowd of 105,711 didn’t have the option like TV viewers of switching channels to watch a more scintillating World Series rain delay.
There are mitigating circumstances to consider, of course. Penn State hadn’t risen to No. 3 in the nation strictly as an offensive juggernaut. But, even after giving Joe Paterno’s defense props, this question bears asking: How can a Tressel attack that features the nation’s No. 1 tailback, the nation’s No. 1 high school recruit and two receivers who combined for 107 catches and 17 touchdowns last season be this bad?
Simple. It’s almost always this bad. Don’t look now, but not only have the Buckeyes fallen out of the BCS title race and out of first place in the Big Ten for the first time since their last loss to Penn State on Oct. 8, 2005, but they’ve sunk to 95th and 107th in NCAA total offense and passing offense, respectively.
So what else is new?
In Tressel’s seven previous seasons, Ohio State only twice has ranked higher than 62nd (out of 119 teams) in total offense. The 2003 and ’04 teams were 93rd and 98th, respectively. Four of his teams have ranked 87th, 92nd, 97th and, last year, 86th, in passing offense.
Tressel, who lives for field position tussles, sprinted down the sidelines Saturday to embrace Trapasso after a 52-yard punt. Another time, he was waiting to bump fists with Trapasso after he boomed a 59-yarder. Hey, Jim, how about saving the celebrations for something that really matters. You know, touchdowns?
There’s no more deceiving number than Pryor’s career-high 226 passing yards against the Lions. It was Tresselball at its best (and by that I mean worst) during a 13-play drive that consumed nearly half of the third quarter. The Buckeyes ended up with a go-ahead field goal, but three points there was more of a victory for Penn State.
Even though Pryor completed all four of his passes on the drive, Tressel put on the brakes after a 17-yard catch by Brian Robiskie gave OSU a first down at the Penn State 26. Three straight Beanie Wells runs up the middle followed, no matter that Penn State crowded the box and forced Wells to slam his head against a wall all night.
Wells’ frustration mounted when asked afterwards if OSU needs to get defenses to fear the pass, thus opening up more running lanes.
“You can kind of answer that question (yourself),” he said. “That’s football. You can’t just … I don’t know.”
His coach obviously doesn’t. After the Lions missed a potential game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter, Ohio State had a chance to go in for the kill, hit ‘em while they’re down. Instead Tressel runs the ball on all five plays before the botched quarterback sneak at midfield that basically gift-wrapped victory for JoePa.
A glassy-eyed Pryor, dealing with his first loss as a starting quarterback in 22 games, dating back to a one-point loss in the 2006 Pennsylvania state finals, was beating himself up afterwards.
“I thought I was scoring a touchdown,” Pryor said about bouncing the play outside before the ball dribbled loose. “I was looking at the end zone. I was going to beat No. 9 (defensive back Mark Rubin). I had the edge. I guess he just punched it out. It was the worst feeling of my life. They were pinching in, and I figured I’d take a chance. I’ll probably get in trouble in the film room for it, but I just wanted to make a play.”
Tressel likely will paralyze the kid with more talk about no turnovers, no turnovers, no turnovers. Is it any wonder that Pryor, like predecessor Todd Boeckman, waits too long to pull the trigger in the pocket? Instead of being encouraged to win games, they’re told not to lose them.
Two weeks off to stew over his other turnover, a game-sealing interception born out of panic, won’t help Pryor. At least it gives Tressel plenty of time to think about this irony: Other than taking a knee, there’s not a safer play than a quarterback sneak. If you can lose a game on that, you can lose it on anything. So you might as well play to win.
He’s got an exciting quarterback and this can still be an exciting season. The Big Ten runner-up will secure one of the 10 coveted BCS bowl slots, so Ohio State at 10-2, maybe even 9-3, would get in. Especially because the Buckeyes always bring a big following.
They actually stand a much better chance paired with a Big East or ACC champ in a BCS game than they do in the New Year’s Day Florida bowls (Outback, Capital One) against an SEC outfit or in the Alamo Bowl against a Big 12 opponent.
If Penn State plays for a national championship, we might even be looking at a rematch of USC-OSU in the Rose Bowl. Yikes. Then again, Pryor in Pasadena could have the makings for a Hollywood ending.
As long as the script’s not a dud.