College Football ADD: Week 13

For those who don’t want to read full articles

Attention everyone, I have an important announcement to make. The M*ch*g*n at Ohio State game has been cancelled this year. It seems that M*ch*g*n can’t get around Toledo. (Thank you, Shawn Collier)

I love M*ch*g*n Week.  As far as weeks go, I think it narrowly edges out the week of Christmas, the week of Thanksgiving (every other year for the family vacation) and the first week of the NCAA basketball tourney for my favorite of the year.

This weekend just adds to the lore of making fun of that hated state up north.

- At noon on Saturday it will have been 1,826 days since M*ch*g*n’s last win over Ohio State. Here’s to 365 more!

- This season’s 20.5-point spread in favor of the Buckeyes is the largest in the history of the rivalry. It’s opened at 19; who knows what it’ll be by Saturday.

- Last week established the first time M*ch*g*n lost eight games in a season in their 129-year football history. I’m sure the Buckeyes would gladly enjoy making this the first time they’ve lost nine.

- A win on Saturday gives Ohio State their first-ever five game winning streak over the state up north.

So it’s time to gear up for another Beat M*ch*g*n week, full of jumps in freezing lakes, daily singings of “We Don’t Give a Damn” and hopefully yet another Buckeye victory. Go Bucks!

Thoughts on Last Weekend

- What, you want me to elaborate in some profound way that makes last weekend seem important or entertaining?  Not only were the games bad on paper, but they were bad on the field.

Only three Top 20 teams trailed at half (UC and BYU trailed, USC was tied) and only Georgia, LSU, UNC and Florida State were trailing in the fourth (obviously UGA and LSU won).

Mainly, it was a large dose of yawners; players’ mothers were bored watching; luckily we have this weekend to save us.

- Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, you coach at a smart school, so let me throw a big word for a small article out there for you: comeuppance.

Thanks to Coach Harbaugh’s end-of-game tactics (tactics in this article actually means stupidity), you’ll be able to use that word along with “2009” and “Stanford at USC game” in a sentence next season. Leave no doubt, the Trojans won’t forget how that game ended.

- We all are now aware that Steve Spurrier had never taken a beating like he did in the Swamp on Saturday.  More interesting to me is that Spurrier now has four games in four seasons with the Gamecocks in which his team didn’t score a touchdown. That only happened once while at Florida, a 30-6 loss to Mississippi State in Spurrier’s second season in Gainesville.

- Vanderbilt is bowl eligible, congrats.

- Rutgers is still alive! After drubbing South Florida in Tampa, Rutgers is back to an even record for the first time since being 0-0.  I know I’m grasping at straws here, but the opportunity for a 7-5 Big East team to make a BCS game doesn’t come along every day.

- Speaking of the Big East and BCS, bowl projections right now have either Maryland (7-3) or Miami (7-3) playing Cincinnati(8-2) in the Orange Bowl. I wanted to see UC in a top tier bowl this season, but man, what a terrible top-tier game this would be

And to recap, the Orange bowl has given us Kansas vs. Virginia Tech, Louisville vs. Wake Forest and Penn State vs. 8-4 Florida State. That was after the 55-19 National Championship embarrassment USC put on Oklahoma in 2005.

In other words, I haven’t really enjoyed an Orange Bowl in some time; I’m pretty sure most of the country hasn’t either.

- Seriously ACC, just flip a coin and stop playing the games. Adding to the madness this past weekend, former Coastal Division leader, and assumed front-runner North Carolina lost to Maryland to lose control of first place for the third time this season.

This was the same Maryland team who was shut out by 5-5 Virginia 31-0. Virginia then lost at Wake two weekends ago, but Wake followed that victory with a loss on the road to N.C. State.

However, N.C. State lost to Duke the same weekend Virginia was dumped by Wake, and Duke was just knocked off by Clemson this past weekend.

Clemson, amongst other losses, was beaten by Georgia Tech in their first game without Tommy Bowden back in mid-October, while GT lost to VaTech all the way back in September.

VaTech lost this past Thursday Night to Miami, but Miami had already been beaten by rival Florida State, who just lost to B.C. on Saturday.

And that, my friends, is how you link all 12 ACC teams together in one big circle. It didn’t take nearly as long as you’d think.

- Division III Mount Union finished their regular season last weekend a perfect 10-0 record, the 15th time in 17 seasons they’ve accomplished that feat.  Mount scored 40+ points in all but one game (a 33-3 nailbiter over No. 10 St. John Fisher), and didn’t win by fewer than four TDs all season. They enter the D-III playoffs as the unanimous No. 1 team.

In case you hadn’t heard about D-III Mount Union, that’s just a taste of how good they are, every season.

- I have absolutely no power to decree such a thing, but I’m asking that this happen regardless.  If you are attending a football game (or any sporting event actually) between Team A and Team B, and some d-bag fan shows up wearing clothing supporting Team C, fans of both teams A and B must unite to unmercifully berate and chastise said fan C until he either changes or leaves.

I saw a man wearing an Iowa sweatshirt on the coverage of the Ohio State/Illinois game. I saw a man wearing a Steelers coat on the Monday Night Football game between Cleveland and Buffalo. Through the years I’ve seen various forms of retarded fans doing this when I go to Ohio State games; it must stop now!

- We may witness a second-coming of the depressing grunge rock era if Washington’s football teams don’t turn around. A 3-28 record between Washington, Wazzu and the Seahawks makes me wonder what the Pacific Northwest did exactly to make the football gods mad.

All of that bad, and yet the Wazzu faithful continue to keep alive one of the coolest under-the-radar traditions in all of college football each Saturday morning at ESPN’s Gameday.

Football theme grunge band names for the new era: Hasselbeck in Chains, Tyrone-ic Youth, Stone Temple Dobas, and my favorite, Temple of the Husky.

- And in my weekly watch of the stupidity that is the college football polling landscape, two AP Poll voters now have Florida as their No. 1 team. One Coaches’ Poll voter and one Harris Poll voter has them there as well.

I get it; Florida looks really good right now. They’re playing great. But they have this one little thing called a loss at home to 6-4 Ole Miss. Until ‘Bama or Texas Tech lose, the Gators do not belong at No. 1. That’s final; end of discussion.

So, little happened last weekend except serve as an appetizer for our palate this Saturday. Well…I can deal with that.

Last Week’s Picks

Hits

VaTech(+4.5) over Miami – VT only lost by 2

Northwestern (+3.5) over M*ch*g*n

Oregon (-4) over Arizona

The Over on O/U 79.5 in the Tulsa/Houston game

Florida (-21) over South Carolina

Cincy (-6) over Louisville

Texas (-21) over Kansas

Misses

Florida State(-7) over B.C. – so I made that pick before the five WRs were suspended.

Georgia (-8) over Auburn – that’s two pathetic UGA games in a row. And they’re makin’ me look bad!

The Under on O/U 71.5 for Nebraska/K-State – the game hit 84 pts.

Oklahoma State (-17) over Colorado – Ok State won by 16

7-4, same record as last week.

Thoughts on this Weekend’s Events

- So ESPN has the rights to all the BCS games starting in 2011.  You tell me that, but all I hear is the possibility of Dave Pasch and Andre Ware doing a major bowl game and I instinctively move to the fetal position.

- I’m not a huge conspiracy theorist, but this is something I’ll be watching for ESPN over the next few seasons. I don’t know if a college football playoff system will be implemented before 2011, or what sort of financial impact that could have on ESPN’s deal. But if it does affect it, I bet you see less and less coverage and talk about a playoff on the Worldwide Leader.

If that annual “ESPN Playoff” they do every December before the start of the bowls disappears, it would be my first indication.

- If he was standing on the other sideline, what would the records be? That’s the question I’ve decided is the most intriguing for the Ohio State/M*ch*g*n game. If Pryor would have signed with the state to the north, how much impact would there have been?

What would’ve happened in a Boeckman season? Could Pryor have worked the same magic as a freshman for M*ch*g*n as he’s done for OSU? It’s interesting to ponder in my opinion.

- You call it a Holy War huh?  I’m listening…not watching because I have other games, and better games to watch that don’t involve the state of Utah duking it out, but I’ll read about it on Sunday.

- Will the ride continue for the Beavers in Tucson? Arizona and Willie Tuitama put up 45 on Oregon State’s Civil War partner Oregon last weekend…but their defense subsequently allowed 55 points.

- Tennessee is a three-point underdog at Vandy this weekend.

- Ball State had its closest MAC contest of the season last week at Miami (OH), only winning by 15. They’ll be playing top two other MAC teams over the next two weekends in 8-2 Central Michigan and 9-2 Western Michigan. And they’ll continue to drop down the BCS.

- If Crabtree doesn’t score that touchdown against Texas and thus Texas Tech enters this weekend’s game with one loss, what’s their line at Oklahoma?  Right now, the Sooners sit seven-point favorites. I think that line would be near 20 if Tech had lost. And here’s to hoping the Red Raiders keep on proving “them” wrong.

- The Miami Hurricanes spent 107 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP poll from 1999 until the Sept 17, 2006, poll. This week marks the first time they’ve been ranked since, as they come in at No. 23. They still aren’t ranked in the Coaches’ or Harris Polls.

This Week’s Big Ones

The Game

M*ch*g*n at No. 10 Ohio State

My column, my bias. Sorry.

Outside of these two states, this game means as much as the Harvard/Yale game this season. But to me, it’s still that a**-hole Desmond Howard striking a pose, it’s David Boston and Charles Woodson coming to blows, it’s Will Allen making the leaping interception that sent Ohio State to the 2002 National Championship.

It’s cursing the name of Tshimanga Biakabutuka, it’s refusing to wear any clothing that combines yellow and blue, it’s reliving Woody and Bo, it’s forgetting John Cooper and Shawn Springs’ “slip.”

For all who were a part of a college experience that included a major rivalry like this, you all know what this weekend is like in Columbus. At 9-2, we aren’t going to the big dance this year (I know, about half of you just said “thank God”), so this is our BCS Championship Game. F-M*ch*g*n and bring on the 2008 Big Ten Champion Ohio State Buckeyes!

No. 2 Texas Tech at No. 5 Oklahoma

This is “the game” which happens to fall on the same weekend as “The Game”. My apologies to Big XII fans everywhere.

I’m not going to say too much different than what you’ll hear all week from talking-head nation. Oklahoma can’t outshoot the Red Raiders; they have to find a defense somewhere. Tech held Texas to its second-lowest score of the season then turned around to hold Okie State to its lowest.

I want to believe the Red Raiders win this game, but in Norman, under the bright lights for the third time in four weeks…I have to go against Crabtree and Evelyn (Evelyn doesn’t really play for TT). Sooners by 10.

No. 15 Michigan State at No. 8 Penn State

It’s been a long, long time since Penn State lost itself a game at home to Michigan State. So long in fact that the last time it did happen, 1965, JoePa wasn’t presiding over the sidelines at the foot of Mt. Nittany.  Paterno’s first season was 1966.

Ohio State fans, what I’m sayin’ is, don’t hold your breath. I take the Spread HD and their -14.5 line all the way to Pasadena.

Other Conference Games I’m Watching

ACC – Florida State at No. 25 Maryland

How much of a revolving door have the poll rankings from No. 20 to No. 25 been this season? Nine of the 12 ACC teams have been ranked at some point this season, with Miami and Maryland now joining the crowd.

Maryland has beaten four ranked teams this season, which would mean something except only one of those teams is currently ranked.

Seriously, I could go all day with the random oddities about the ACC. There’s millions.

Big XII – Iowa State at Kansas State

This is the only Big 12 game this weekend besides the TT/Oklahoma tilt.

Yeah.

Big East – No. 20 Pittsburgh at No. 18 Cincinnati

It’s the biggest game of the year for both teams. If UC wins, it would all but clinch the Big East title (UC only has one conference game left, vs. Syracuse), while a Pitt win gives them control of their own destiny with two conference games left.

And yet Cincy fans will be torn between going to this night game at Nippert Stadium or driving up I-75 forty-five minutes north to see Cincinnati Elder battle Pickerington Central in the Division I State Semis.

You think I’m joking? UC football isn’t exactly the traditional powerhouse and we all know the Bengals are terrible. High school football is the only hope for a winning team in town.

I’d take Pitt +5 to cover, but not to win.

Big Ten – Illinois at Northwestern

If the Purple Kitties win, they could be playing in a New Year’s Day bowl, and subsequently keep Illinois from playing in a bowl, period.  After the non-ferocious fight they put up against the Buckeyes two weekends ago, and subsequent punting contest vs. M*ch*g*n last weekend, I’m gonna think that probably won’t happen.

Take Illinois -3.

Pac-10 – Washington at Washington State

The Apple Cup has never seen a match-up like this before. Although 1969’s battle of 1-9 teams comes close, this game is just going to be horrendous on the eyes.

SEC – Ole Miss at No. 18 LSU

You want the definition of the Cialis Special again? It’s not getting up for a game after a major letdown from the week before or before a big game the following week. LSU just suffered the biggest Cialis Special of the season, nearly losing to Troy.

Ole Miss has lost their four games by a combined 19 points, and just handled a Sun Belt school the way an SEC school should – by beating them 59-love.

I’m taking Ole Miss and Jevan Snead +4.5 over “Pick-6-R-Us” Jarrett Lee.

My Top Ten

1.)    Alabama (11-0)

2.)    Texas Tech (10-0)

3.)    Texas (10-1)

4.)    Florida (9-1)

5.)    Oklahoma (10-1)

6.)    USC (9-1)

7.)    Penn State (10-1)

8.)    Utah (11-0)

9.)    Ohio State (9-2)

10.)   Boise State (10-0)

Quick Picks (HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

Ball State (-7) over CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Washington (-7.5) over WASHINGTON STATE

Air Force (+18.5) over TCU

Boise State (-6) over NEVADA

RUTGERS (-17.5) over Army

Lines I’m Staying Away From

All ACC, Notre Dame or Georgia games.

Tulane (+28.5) at Tulsa– you want a team that just lost by 40 to turn around and win by 4+ TDs?

Stanford (+9) at Cal – Rivalry game theory.

Iowa (-5) at Minnesota – Seems almost too easy to take Iowa with how Minnesota is playing these days…I don’t like that feeling.

Thus concludes my M*ch*g*n Week A.D.D. Happy Mirror Lake jumping and Go Bucks!

As always, please tip your wait staff, they don’t make that much, seriously. I am spent.

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Buckeye Monday: Ohio State-Illinois Review; Preview for the Team Up North

For detailed analysis on this game, please refer to Ohio State game reviews of the Minnesota, Purdue, Michigan State, and Northwestern games in the “Older Posts” section of this blog. No, really…I’m serious. I’m tired of writing the same thing each week. Saturday’s road win against Illinois was almost an exact replica of each of those games.

Each of those teams had a decent quarterback, decent running backs, and above average defenses. End results…we ran the ball at them all day, Pryor made several “safe” throws and made some plays running the ball, and the defense made enough plays to limit scoring by the opposition.

Saturday’s results included Beanie rushing for 140+ yards and a score, and Pryor running for 110+ yards and a score. He also completed 6-10 passes for 50 yards and another score. Please see other game reviews for my feelings on giving him an extremely limited number of throws to make.

The defense seemed unprepared for the “no-huddle” offense and really had no answers for the multiple quarterback looks and balanced play calling thrown at them by the Illini. I can’t wait to see how they react this week to three quarterbacks (Threet, Sheridan, and Feagin) directing the UM offense. Gee, I wonder if we should expect to see some “no-huddle” from UM too.

Anyway, throw all that together with a dash of revenge, and you get a 30-20 Buckeye win. Pretty pedestrian if you ask me.

What worked?

Well…I guess you’d have to say the running game was hitting on all cylinders. 52 attempts for 305+ yards was more than adequate. It was fun watching Pryor running in space and even more amusing watching Beanie run around, through, and over potential tacklers all day. I don’t think there is any doubt that he is among the best two to three backs in the nation at the moment.

At one point during the game, ESPN announcer Andre Ware was asked if having a healthy “Beanie” would have made a difference in the USC game earlier in the year. Ware’s answer (and mine too) was a quick “No.” For some reason the exchange made me laugh.

Boom Herron seems to be fully recovered from his concussion. He’s by far the most capable backup for Beanie.

I guess you could say the defense did a pretty good job of keeping Illinois out of the end zone. Holding that team to 13 points for a vast majority of the game (the last seven came in “garbage time”) was pretty impressive.

What didn’t work?

The defense had no answers for the Illini (between the 20s.) Giving up 455+ yards of total offense is not very good. I hate the fact that teams can run the same plays (Illinois was hugely successful running a “stretch play” to the “short side” of the field all day) against this defense and get great results all game long. I don’t know.

We have a shutdown cornerback in Malcolm Jenkins and pretty instinctive linebackers. There’s still not much else to point to with this unit.

Once again, the passing game was nonexistent. It’s hard to grade this part of the game as “not working” as Pryor completed 60 percent of his passes with one touchdown and no interceptions. It just baffles me why we haven’t shown a more diversified approach to throwing the ball.

I did see a short crossing pattern for the first time in about a month. Poor Sanzenbacher almost got killed for running the route and catching the pass.

We’re still not inclined to throw screen passes or to develop any semblance of a midrange passing game. If you’re going to run the ball 50+ times a game, you’d at least think a few play action passes would be sprinkled into the play calling to keep the defense honest. You’d think so…but you would be wrong.

What’s next?

Well…many Michigan fans are already ceding victory to the Buckeyes on Saturday. Having lived through the Cooper Era, I will never be that presumptuous. UM’s inconsistent play this year has given all Wolverine/Buckeye fans plenty to discuss.

I’ll admit to spending some time contemplating what’s gone wrong in Coach Rod’s first year. Some of the reasons are obvious and thus, well documented. Others are more subtle and not as easy to analyze.

Here’s how I think everything comes together this weekend at the “Shoe.” Actually, this is not that hard to predict. Both teams will start out with great intensity on both sides of the ball (see UM at Penn State early in the game and Ohio State early in the USC game). One team will score early but the other team will respond with a score of their own.

Ohio State will ride Pryor and Beanie and jump out to a 14-17 point lead early in the second half. Michigan will respond with a late score to close the gap. I have it OSU 30, Michigan 17.

GO BUCKS!!!!

Buckeye John

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Buckeyes clear their last pre-Michigan obstacle, 30-20

It took the Buckeyes awhile to finally put the game away, but a 4th quarter touchdown drive to pad the 2nd half lead to 17 was eventually the game sealer in Ohio State’s 30-20 victory today in Champaign.  With it, the Buckeyes exact some much needed revenge on the Zookers for last season’s upset in Columbus and add to the woes this season for the Illini.  The Illini, last year’s Rose Bowl representative from the Big Ten, is now 5-6 and a road loss to Northwestern away from becoming the first Big Ten team to play in the Rose Bowl one year and finish under .500 the next (Michigan 1965).

Turnovers were the story of the day for the Illini.  Juice’s first play from the Illini’s first drive from scrimmage resulted in a fumble and Terrelle Pryor rushing touchdown.  Later, Malcolm Jenkins blocked his second punt of the season, which was good for a safety and 9-7 lead.  The ensuing short kickoff set up the Buckeyes at the Illini’s 3 yard line and the Buckeyes made good for yet another score — this one on the ground by Beanie.  Later, a certain scoring drive for the Illini was ended by a Kurt Coleman interception.  The ensuing Ohio State drive ended with a Dane Sanzenbacher touchdown.  After taking a 23-7 lead (later a 23-13 halftime lead), the Illini were unable to play catchup.

But controlling for those mistakes, our defense was absolutely torched by big plays in this game.  Juice Williams had 193 yards throwing and two TDs (1 INT), though more than one of those TDs and 50 of those yards came on Ohio State’s obligatory garbage time touchdown drive on defense.  The Illini’s production on the ground was even more embarrassing.  The Illini used a balanced rushing attack from Juice and the two tailbacks (Dufrene and Ford) to rack up 214 yards rushing.  In total, the Illini outgained the Buckeyes 455 to 354.  Still, the Buckeyes won were it counted most, I guess.

Offense

Terrelle Pryor had an outstanding game, though most of his production came on the ground.  His 13 carries for 110 yards was good for second best on the team, behind you know who.  Further, like the Northwestern game the week before, his big plays were absolute backbreakers for Illinois’ defense.  His touchdown run came on 3rd and goal at the one.  His 20yd touchdown throw to Dane Sanzenbacher on the Buckeyes’ 4th offensive series came on 3rd and 5.  Lastly, on the Buckeyes’ first series of the second half, Terrelle Pryor gained 18 yards and a first down on 3rd and 13.

Of course, there’s not a lot to read into the Buckeye passing game because the Buckeyes ran 52 times, allowing Pryor only 10 passing plays.  The casual Buckeye fan would see that disparity and assume only the most banal, stubborn playcalling — an observation without a lot of validity.  What made the rushing game work was some creative misdirection and playcalling by the coaching staff.  The second down call near the goal line on the Buckeyes’ first scoring drive was a shotgun QB off-tackle run with Beanie as lead blocker.  The eventual touchdown was a misdirection fake dive to Boom Herron (I believe) that set up Pryor’s bootleg and walk into the end zone.  Further, the QB draws were an uncommon wrinkle in the Buckeyes’ rushing attack and we saw them a lot this game.  The end result: a lot of rushing plays that worked precisely because the Illini hadn’t seen them before.  It doesn’t hurt to have a guy who runs like a gazelle for a tailback and a guy who runs like an armoured personnel carrier for a tailback.

Also helping the Buckeye rushing attack: the offensive line.  The offensive line didn’t dominate this game, but it did much more than it did against Northwestern the week earlier.  Instead of piling up yards in spite of the offensive line, Beanie was the beneficiary of some blocking up front with Alex Boone looking to be most productive member of that unit.  The running lanes were definitely there, but I still saw some things that worried me.  For the first game this season (perhaps with Penn State as an exception), it seems Michael Brewster was pushed around a lot this game by the Illini’s tackles.  Brewster had been a reliable and consistent performer on the line this season after having been thrown into the mix following the USC game.  He is a freshman and I’m sure that it’ll be learning experience in the long run.  But for this game, it seems like players like fellow freshman Corey Liuget got the better of him.  Steve Rehring has also been slow to pull on plays.

Beanie was exceptional this game, though his fumble to end the Buckeyes’ first drive of the game cost Ohio State at least 3 points and came at a time when most of us were sick to our stomach over the performance of the defense.  Earlier that drive, though, his hurdling of Donsay Hardeman was nothing short of divine.  As it was, he played a leading role in adding to Ohio State’s outstanding 305 yards rushing on the game with 24 carries, 143 yards and a touchdown.  Boom Herron, while not quite Beanie, came in when it looked like Beanie may have tweaked his hammie (oh please no).  He doesn’t have that “Jim Brown incarnate” quality to him, but Boom added 29 yards rushing and showed why Ohio State’s rushing attack should be in good hands should Beanie choose to go pro after this season.

Pryor completed 6 of what was only 10 passing attempts on the game, good for 49 yards.  Ergo, there’s not a lot of superlative to hand out to the receivers.  Hartline was the busiest when his end-arounds are also considered.  He did have a drop, though.  Dane Sanzenbacher led all receivers with 2 catches for 22 yards and a touchdown.  20 of those 22 came on the touchdown reception.  He also took more shots this game, and I’m sure he can’t wait until the Michigan game is over in order to use the month-long layoff to unscramble his brains.

Defense

There had to have been over 20 missed tackles by the Buckeyes this game, and a lot of that was responsible for extended Illinois drives and even touchdowns.  It was far and away the most frustrating element to the defensive performance this game because there was still pressure exerted on Juice Williams (or the backup McGee) by the defensive line.  Yet, the defensive line itself appears to be a mixed bag.  I think they did a great job in getting penetration to take away the interior on rushing plays.  Where rushing yards were piled up on the read option  from the snap — and there were lots of them — the responsibility mostly appeared to be missed tackles or over pursuit by the linebackers and defensive backs.  Further, some of the bigger plays by Dufrene, the Illini’s leading rusher on the game, came in the first drive where the Buckeyes looked totally confused (sigh…) by the no-huddle hurry-up stuff by the Illini.  In terms of Xs and Os, the interior of that line did its job in defending the read option and forcing Juice to keep it.  Heyward led all players in that unit with 7 tackles (2 solo).  Nader Abdallah didn’t have a huge game, but I thought he played well (2 asst tackles and a fumble recovery).

That said, pass rushing still leaves a lot to be desired and that’s where I think the defensive line struggled the most this game.  Juice Williams was sacked only twice, with one of those being a split sack by Worthington and Laurinaitis.  In passing situations, the defensive line was unable to get to Juice with a 4 man rush.  Where they were able to get to him or force him out of the pocket, they were unable to tackle him.  I hate to say it, but in these situations, the defensive line looked… yes… slow.

I don’t know what to make of the linebackers’ performance, collectively at least.  Laurinaitis was second on the team with 8 tackles (5 solo, including the shared sack with Worthington).  He also stripped one of the Illini tailbacks (Jason Ford, I think), though that ball was recovered by another Illinois player on their first drive of the second half.  In short, Laurinaitis had yet another of his workman-type effort games.  The guy gets dogged on by other Big Ten fans, and sometimes by our own fanbase for falling short of AJ Hawk-level expectations, but Laurinaitis is always working, always thinking and always doing.  I’m not sure what to make of the performance of Freeman and Homan.  Freeman was third on the team with 8 tackles (4 solo), but it seems that missed tackles haunted him.  I wonder how much he’s really hindered by his bum ankle.  He did force the Juice fumble in the first quarter, though.  Homan (2 tackles, 1 solo) only had his name called once, but it was off a delicious Juice sack for an 8 yard loss.  It wasn’t necessarily Homan’s spectacular play there, but just a great playcall by Heacock.  Heacock sent both Laurinaitis and Homan on a blitz, with only Illinois’ center there to pick his poison.  He went with the award winning linebacker, giving Homan a clear shot on Juice.

The secondary certainly got a workout with all the missed tackles.  Kurt Coleman, strong safety, led all defenders with 11 tackles (6 solo) and came up with the fortuitous interception to end what was otherwise a very promising drive for the Illini.  Tyler Moeller certainly caught the eye filling in for the injured Jermale Hines at nickelback.  His 7 tackles (5 solo) were good for 4th best on the day for the defense.  Further, he came on more than a few blitzes, finishing with two TFLs.  Moreover, while Freeman actually jarred the ball loose, Moeller gets the stat for the forced fumble in the first quarter (see above picture).  Elsewhere, Malcolm Jenkins showed that, in spite of just 2 tackles on the day, his 3 pass breakups and blocked punt will underscore why he probably won’t regret coming back for his senior year.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

• I hate Michigan.  I hate Michigan with every aching muscle in this tired body of mine.  That is the real enemy; this is the primary objective.  With Illinois out of the way, I now have 6.5 days left in this all too short week to explore the depths of my soul and fully grasp, as a guy who now owns a blog, the menacing specter that the very existence of this haunting, holistic apparition that we label “Michigan” poses to my very essence… to my very being.
• It’s odd that we haven’t called on Nathan Williams or Thaddeus Gibson much the past two games.  Instead, Abdallah, Heyward and even Worthington have been getting the recognition in that unit.
• For the second straight week, the Pasch-Ware coverage of an Ohio State game has been somewhat frustrating.  Most importantly, I don’t care to watch some low income nobody among the Illini fanbase cooking some kind of “food” contraption while a costly holding penalty gets called on an Ohio State lineman and I don’t get to hear who it was.
• On the topic of Ware, his “Ware It Out” segment on the BCS was also cause for consternation… at least when you consider how he comes off in his comments to be overly critical of Ohio State getting any kind of perceived preferential treatment over Utah or Boise State in at-large selections.  True, it would not be fair for Ohio State to get any kind preferential treatment by virtue of marquee value or travel considerations because that would corroborate my observation that the BCS is a glorified country club.  But in the same breath, while Andre Ware doesn’t want Ohio State getting that preferential treatment, he also wants the Big 12 and the SEC to get 3 teams in each?  He did say that.  There’s two ways to interpret that, and Andre Ware is free to own up to any one of them: A) Andre Ware is against Ohio State getting an at-large bid [fair enough] and is couching this viewpoint in an inconsistent logic or B) Andre Ware is an idiot.
• We’ll all have to watch to see what comes from the Beanie and Abdallah injuries.  We’ll watch with baited breath if Beanie pulled a hammie while I think Abdallah went down with a cramp.  His injury didn’t look too serious.
• The Illini certainly were chippy this game.  More importantly, they still lost.  Suck it, Vontae Davis.
• On Beanie, part of me really wishes he would go pro after this season.  It’s not for fear that his injury problems might hurt us next year and throw off our offense, just that with how fragile the big backs are in the NFL, I’d hate to think him feeling he had to come back would result in another injury that could compromise his draft stock or, worse yet, his career.  If he decides to go pro after this season and secure his money, I don’t think any Buckeye fan would blame him.  I certainly wouldn’t.  Instead, I’d fondly remember one of the best tailbacks of my generation and one of the all-time greats in Ohio State history.
• I’m hoping the Illini were taking notes on how the game ended.  More importantly, an important conference road win doesn’t have to be celebrated with by a flag-planting ceremony at midfield.  Did you see that, Ron Zook?  I’m hoping you did.
• With Penn State winning today against Indiana, the Buckeyes can hope for no greater than a shared conference crown.  Either Penn State or Michigan State will finish the season with only one conference loss.
• Illinois finishes up next week at Evanston… a game that Mike Kafka may not make on account of a concussion suffered against Michigan today.  A loss would make them bowl ineligible.
• More news and notes to be found here.  Such as: Dane Sanzenbacher’s TD catch was the first of the season and only the second of his career.  The first of his career came against Youngstown State last year, his first career game.

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Is The Juice Starting To Sour at Illinois?

It probably will not send shock waves through the college football world, but an interesting moment occurred in Saturday’s Ohio State-Illinois game. Down only 17 points with 11:55 left in the fourth quarter, Eddie McGee was given the reigns of the Illini offense instead of Isiah “Juice” Williams.

To the casual eye it may not seem like that big of a deal, but to those in Champaign, it appears the love is starting to dissipate for the junior quarterback. All fans of college football remember the magical season Juice led the Illini through last season culminating in an upset win over Ohio State in Columbus and a Rose Bowl berth.

While Illinois had lost a few defensive leaders, it was largely thought that the Illini would be in the upper echelon of the Big Ten in 2008. But after a blow out win against Indiana, the once potent offense has sputtered, mainly because of its star junior at quarterback.

Over his last four games consider this stat line: five TD passes and eight interceptions. Suddenly, the big play star now is struggling to make the big plays. While one can not blame Juice for all of the Illinois troubles, it seems that maybe the player fondly known as Juice is staring to spoil in the minds of Illinois coaches and fans.

The stats are not terrible for Juice this season. He has well then surpassed his career highs in passing yards by more than 1,000 yards. But he has crumbled to an extent down the stretch when Illinois needed his abilities the most.

His three interceptions at Wisconsin, two of which were in Badger territory, cost the Illini a win in what should have been a win against a overrated Badger team.

Even worse were Juice’s two interceptions on consecutive possession which helped spur the Western Michigan Broncos onto an upset victory.

Then today, Juice’s erratic play squashed a few drives, and a costly fumble inside the Illinois twenty yard line setup Ohio State’s first score. The quarterback did not see the field most of the fourth quarter, when coach Ron Zook pulled Williams in favor of Eddie McGee. Williams only saw the field again when McGee was injured.

To Juice’s credit he did lead a scoring drive after he came back in, but it came after the game was all but decided. Williams pumped his fist after the score, but many, including this Buckeye fan, wondered where was this play earlier in the game.

ESPN commentator, Andre Ware, made a telling comment late during the analysis of the game. Ware wondered if Juice was still the man under center next weekend.

The Illini need a victory next weekend at Northwestern for Illinois to even be bowl eligible. If they lose, Illinois will become the first team since Michigan in 1965 to go to a Rose Bowl and have a losing season the following year. To think that Williams may not be the best option at quarterback right now is a huge setback for Illinois and Ron Zook.

Ron Zook has defended his team by saying that they were ahead of schedule last season, and that they really won some games that could have just as easily have been a loss.

Whether you disagree with him or not about that statement, one has to realize that this much of a regression is inexcusable. If the Illini are going to finish this 2008 season strong and right the ship for next year, Zook needs No. 7 to play under center like he has shown he has been capable of in the past. Without Juice, Illinois lacks that spark on offense. And with a defense that is struggling, it is more than likely that Illinois will need to outscore the Wildcats next weekend.

Standing at 5-6 with one game to go in the season is where Illinois finds itself. What a difference a year makes. But the Juice may be starting to go sour in Champaign.

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Open Thread: Illinois

The Buckeyes and Illini are set to kickoff at noon (ET, eleven for us CTers) tomorrow under the loving eyes of Andre Ware and Dave Pasch.  The game will also be the first meeting since the Illini came into Columbus last year and knocked off the Buckeyes on Ohio State’s Senior Day.  Now, the Buckeyes hope to give the Zookers their come-uppins in Champaign for Illinois’ senior day.

The game also pits two teams heading in vastly different directions, while still falling short of preseason expectations.  Ohio State, tagged to be a worldbeater preseason, was routed by USC and lost at home to Penn State.  Still, the Buckeyes have performed well throughout the rest of the season and are on the path to earning a share of a 4th consecutive Big Ten title.  Illinois, on the other hand, has had a season that I’m hoping has made Ron Zook begrudge him ever letting a reality TV show — The Journey — be constructed around it.  Their defense was blitzed by Chase Daniel for the second consecutive year, they lost at home to Minnesota, were bombarded by Penn State and beaten by lowly Wisconsin.  To make matters worse, they decided to become the Big Ten’s newest MAC casualty this season by losing to Western Michigan in Detroit the week before.  In short, they’re 5-5 and are finishing their season against a potential conference champion (Ohio State) and a potential January bowl team (Nerdwestern).  They could just as well be spending their holidays at home.  Illinois is certainly missing J Leman.

We all miss him.

For the second straight week, the Buckeye defense will have to deal with a spread-ish offense run by a mobile quarterback.  For those of us who remember Kafka’s Tim Tebow impersonation early into the game last week and the defensive debacle last year against the Illini in Columbus, I’m sure we’ll all be watching with baited breath to see what will transpire when Illinois has the ball.  That said, there is definitely cause for optimism.  After Kafka ran wild on the 4-5 wide shotgun QB draws on the first drive of the game, he was stuffed for practically the rest of the game.  Further, Heacock’s defenses don’t exclusively feature the passive zone coverage that doomed them in important stretches last year.

Perhaps most importantly, though, Illinois’ offense just isn’t what it was last year.  Rashard Mendenhall’s departure for the NFL left a two-man tailback tandem in his wake.  Daniel Dufrene — who had the big gain fumble on Illinois’ first play from scrimmage — and freshman Jason Ford have done an admirable job in lieu of the explosive Mendenhall.  Yet, they just aren’t Rashard Mendenhall and it’s showing both in the stats and in the wins-losses column.  Accordingly, with Mendenhall’s departure mostly uncompensated for at the tailback position, Juice Williams has had an incredible burden in leading the offense.  He, and not Dufrene, is the Illini’s leading rusher this season, though it’s a slim margin (577 yards to 575 yards).  Further, it seems the Illini offense is struggling with the fact that lightning just may not strike twice.  After finally accruing the talent to run the zone-read option plays, Illinois’ offense barnstormed through most foes — including us — last season before being kicked in the jimmy by the Trojans in Pasadena.  But it seems like opposing defenses are catching up to the Illini’s schemes, which, in conjunction with Mendenhall’s absence, has forced Juice Williams into more passing situation.  While he has two games over 400 yards passing, Juice’s TD-INT ratio is not good (20-14).  His performance has also been cause for public criticism from Ron Zook.

Illinois’ defense has also been underwhelming this season and some of the stats that buttress that observation are surprising.  They are 72nd nationally in points per game surrendered (26.2) and they are 75th nationally in defensive passing efficiency.  In the aforementioned MAC Experience last week in Detroit, Western Michigan’s QB was 28/40 for 301 yards and two touchdowns.  What makes these numbers more confusing is that the Illini’s defense is not wanting for talent.  Indeed, it seems like they have a stud at every position.  The weakness might be the defensive line for the Illini, though Zook had the unit tabbed as the defense’s strength preseason.  Yet, the defensive line was their weakness last year (IMO), and it was compensated for by a very active performance from J Leman.  We all miss J Leman.  While he doesn’t have Leman’s it factor, Brit Miller, senior middle linebacker, has more than filled in for Leman’s statistical production last season.  Miller leads the Big Ten in tackles and is 9th nationally in TFLs, but still no one gives a shit because he’s not J Leman.  Martez Wilson hasn’t lived up to the hype this season, but his speed and athleticism are very real.  The Illini also have capable talent in the secondary, with Vontae Davis as the headliner of that unit.  Again, they have, in essence (but perhaps not spirit, because of J Leman), the blueprint for last year’s defense that stifled the Buckeyes’ offense.  And yet: it isn’t working.

As someone who’s new to blogging, I struggle with a format for these type of posts.  This is true especially for this year’s team as our offensive line — the only thing I really watch — has been frustrating.  Furthermore, I hate making predictions since predictions are glorified unscientific guessing.  Still, I’ll take a stab at it with some kind of keys to victory.  I’ll also try to shy away from something that centers around the truism for this year’s team that “as the offensive line goes, so goes the team”.

Ohio State wins if… Nader Abdallah has a repeat performance of his game last week against Northwestern.  Of course, this isn’t limited to just Abdallah, and if Cam Heyward and Doug Worthington want to dominate as well, they are more than welcome to.  But it seems that Abdallah has been the one to catch fire of late this season.  I don’t know if the stats he piled up (8 tackles, 3 solo, 1 TFL and a QB hit) were a function of the opposition or not, but a similar performance would create havoc for Illinois’ fragile offense.  Pressure up the middle is crucial for defending the option.  It would allow Laurinaitis to spy and it would certainly turn Good Juice into Bad Juice.  The latter is what I want to see this game.

Illinois wins if… they get sacks.  I know, I know.  I said I’d try to shy away from saying something about our offensive line.  That said, while Illinois’ defense has been grim at points this season, they are first in the conference and sixth nationally in sacks per game.  As we all know, our offensive line is the clear weakness of our football team and their performance this season hasn’t gotten any better.  Sadly, there’s just no hope that they will be anything other than a liability against Illinois and Michigan, with a faint hope that a month off could do them some good in preparation for a bowl game.  Remember, Ohio State found themselves behind down and distance often against Northwestern last week.  And still, in spite of the 3rd and 10, 11, 14, 15, and 16 holes our offense was in, they inexplicably got out through the grace of Terrelle Pryor.  That is not skill; that is luck.  Remember again: there was nothing good that our offensive line did on Beanie’s 55yd TD run against Northwestern.  That was not skill from the line that created that running lane; that was luck that Beanie wriggled his way out of that.  If Illinois is able to get to Pryor on these certain passing situations, as Northwestern was NOT able to, our offense gets off the field and Illinois is in a better position to win.

This will be the first Illibuck game of the post-J Leman era.  While he will not be on the field playing, his spirit will watch over us all.

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Spencer’s OSU-Northwestern Report Card

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

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Specner’s OSU-Northwestern Report Card

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

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Week #11 Open Thread and Semi-live Game Update

Ohio State: 45 vs. Northwestern: 10

First Quarter
Looks like the offensive line picked up where it left off two weeks ago. But then again, who needs a running game when Pryor is throwing like he is? Six running play and negative yards is not the way we wanted to see this game start, but hopefully the success of the passing game will loosen up the defense.

Ohio State’s Offensive Line: Making bad defenses look good since 2007.

Second Quarter
Beanie Wells has had enough of this crummy run blocking and he will JUST DO IT HIMSELF.

Watch out, Northwestern, you’re about to get MSU’ed.

Andre Ware is the Bill Walton of ESPN College football commentating. “He’s the greatest short yard back in college football.” “He’s got the best hands in the country.” “I could taste colors. I could feel sounds.”

Boone just encapsulated the entire lack of any senior leadership on this offense.

Half-time

Third Quarter
These referees need to keep their flags in their pockets.

Terrelle Pryor is having his way with Northwestern’s defense. Breaking tackles, converting on third-and-long, throwing with accuracy on the run. This is the consistency we’ve been waiting and hoping for, with running and throwing the ball with positive, actual results.

Fourth Quarter
Even though some of Terrelle’s throws today have still been floaty, a lot of his passes (like his latest to Robiskie) have looked a lot tighter and accurate. The maturation of TP continues and it’s quite enjoyable to watch.

Was Tressel mad after that last score by Herron? Replay signs point to “YES”.

Someone needs to remind Andre Ware that he and his Houston Cougar teammates beat SMU 95-21 in 1989.

Illinois 17 vs. W. Michigan 23
Seriously, Illinois? This is TRBL.

Iowa 24 vs. Penn State 23
I hate to admit it, but I called Iowa for the upset three weeks ago. Ask monkey if you doubt me.

It happens a lot, but I still hate being right all the time. Thanks a lot, Penn State. Go Michigan State! Beat the pants off the Paterno Poopers!

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Buckeyes pound on some nerds, win 45-10

The Buckeyes put enough of a second-half beatdown of the Wildcats that would have Coach Harris pleased.  Unlike his Adams College Atoms, we did not have our asses whipped by a bunch of goddamn nerds.

That’s not to say that the 45-10 victory over Northwestern today was a cakewalk.  Far from it.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say that winning this game by such a comfortable margin was probably reducible to luck.  The Buckeyes found themselves behind down and distance often in this game.  1st and 10 became 2nd and 9 and eventually 3rd and 14-16.  Yet, the Buckeyes made good on 8 of 13 third down conversions in these incredible holes to put themselves in a position to win.  The Buckeyes struggled with Kafka’s running early into the game and the offensive line was lucky enough that Northwestern’s defensive line got more tired than they did.  The Beanie 55yd touchdown was, as Gabby indicated, the sexiest you will ever see awful offensive line play look.  The Buckeyes kept digging their own graves on offense, but somehow leaped out of them.  How this happened over and over again for the Buckeyes is probably best chalked up to luck, with some moderate doses of tactical brilliance.

The first drive of the game was a microcosm for some of the problems I’d see the rest of the game.  The Buckeyes didn’t pass on first down until 6 minutes left in the second quarter.  They didn’t start doing it in earnest until late in the second half.  But on that first drive, the predictable playcalling for Beanie created 3rd and 8 initially, where Pryor hooked up with Robiskie for a first down.  After moving the sticks, the Buckeyes found themselves at 3rd and 16 after two rushing plays, after which Hartline inexplicably popped open for a 44yd gain to the Northwestern 9.  The Buckeyes eventually took a 7-0 lead.

However, Northwestern took the ball right down the field for a touchdown of their own as a response.   It was during this drive that Northwestern’s offense looked like the Tim Tebow-led Gators from last year.  Yet, after some consternation of some poor tackling, lack of discipline (4 penalties) and the inability to contain Kafka that eventually resulted in knotting up the score at 7, things largely settled down.  Both sides exchanged punts afterwards, giving the Buckeyes the ball at their own 28 yard line.  The same execution issues haunted the Buckeyes again, but they came through on a 3rd and 10 with a 22yd pass to Rory Nicol.  After a Cordle false start, the Buckeyes went off left tackle again with Beanie.  It was looking to be a busted play again, but Beanie eluded a few tackles and was in the clear for his highlight 55yd TD run.  The only thing any offensive lineman did on that play was Alex Boone, who gave Beanie a little push right as he was breaking free.

Eric Peterman fumbled on the second play on Northwestern’s ensuing drive, setting up a Buckeye field goal to take a 17-7 lead.  Still, it looked like Beanie’s touchdown run had awoken the offense.  After Northwestern’s next drive ended in a punt, the Buckeyes began their next series at their own 10 yard line.  It was here that the playcalling was mixed up a bit for our amusement.  Terrelle Pryor threw deep for Robiskie on first down, to no avail.  After a 2 yard rush by Beanie, Terrelle Pryor hooked up with Dane Sanzenbacher on 3rd and 8 for 14 yards and a first down as Pryor kept the play alive.  After another incomplete first down pass and a 3 yard loss by Beanie, Terrelle Pryor scrambled 15 yards for a first down on 3rd and 13.  On the next two carries, Beanie gained 8 yards to set up a 3rd and a short 2 at midfield.  Alex Boone, however, wanted to show a Northwestern defender how manly he is, was flagged for unneccessary (and unbelievably idiotic) roughness to push the Buckeyes back to 3rd and 16.  Terrelle Pryor bailed out Boone by rushing for 21 yards and a first down.  The rest was academic.  Boom Herron took the next two carries for 18 yards.  Pryor capped off the play with a touchdown strike to Robiskie and take a 24-7 lead into intermission.

In the interest of brevity, I’ll move on to superlatives without going over much of the second half.  Suffice to say, things got a lot worse for Northwestern after the second half resumed.  The Buckeyes added 3 touchdowns while Northwestern could only take the second half kickoff for a field goal.  The Buckeyes won big, even experimenting with home run balls up 3 touchdowns in what I hope was a means to impress the Orange Bowl Committee members on hand to watch the Buckeyes play.

Offense

Terrelle Pryor looked fantastic this game.  His 9/14 197 yards and 3 TD performance isn’t a career best.  It’s not more yards than he had against Penn State and it’s not more touchdowns than he had against Troy.  However, the quality of his play was much better than any of those two games.  Andre Ware and Dave Pasch kept remarking during the game that this appeared to have been the game where Terrelle Pryor announced himself to the college football landscape.  It would be nice if it was, but I’ll shy away from that proclamation for now.  As it was, Terrelle Pryor improved on several facets of his game.

In previous games, Terrelle Pryor was a run first quarterback.  He became a one-read quarterback and eventually started going through progressions as a QB.  In this game, though, we saw even more field vision for Pryor.  Of course, Pryor had made it priority one to try to make a play with his arm and not rely on his feet.  It wouldn’t be fair to peg him as a run-first quarterback as such.  However, the difference we saw in this game looked to be one of scanning downfield while escaping pressure, rather than just staring downfield and hoping that someone would come into view.  No play better characterizes this than the Nicol touchdown in the final seconds of the third quarter.  Elsewhere, Pryor also made better, quicker decisions on when to run and when to keep looking downfield.  He also discovered how to throw the ball away as well, granted it came when he was 20 yards in the backfield with Corey Wootton right in his grill.  He can still work on his touch, but he is just a true freshman and this was the best possible response he could have to the Penn State game two weeks before.

Beanie was a monster this game in spite of his offensive line.  He struggled early  into the game as his offensive line was giving him no help, but he made a great individual effort.  Indeed, with the score knotted at 7-7 early into the second quarter, it seems his individual effort to turn a certain 4-5 yard loss into a 55 yard touchdown run was just the play to wake up the Buckeyes.  And let’s be frank too: that was ALL Beanie on that play.  Beanie ended up finishing with two touchdowns and 140 yards on 28 carries, good enough for a clip of 5 yards per carry.  Boom Herron and Terrelle Pryor both registered 6 carries, chipping in 38 yards and 33 yards respectively.  Herron also got the garbage time touchdown, the first such last second touchdown in a Buckeye rout since Brandon Saine’s run against Washington last year.

The offensive line deserves special attention here because, as I’ve mentioned earlier, Terrelle Pryor and Beanie succeeded in spite of the best efforts of their offensive line.  Now, they weren’t all-game awful as they were against USC, Purdue or Penn State, but it seems like they were the benefactors of the fact that Northwestern’s defensive line tired before they did.  Most of this was evident in run blocking, with pass protection not much of a problem for the Buckeyes.  Further, it seems to be the usual suspects.  Alex Boone’s unneccessary roughness penalty was not only unbelievably stupid, but it’s in the same spirit as his penalties against USC.  That is, it’s his ’senior leadership’ hurting the team, which, in this game, was atoned for by freshman abilities.  The irony wasn’t lost on me.  Further, Browning was a bit of a liability this game and Rehring didn’t create much room on the ground either.  I may have been more drawn to the Wootton-Browning matchup and thus didn’t get a good look at him, but I didn’t see much transgressions from Michael Brewster.  He certainly didn’t turn a 3rd and a short two at midfield to a 3rd and 16 with a dumb penalty.  Buckeye fans should still be weary of the direction of our offensive line, since we can’t feasibly expect to out-stamina Michigan at the end of November.

If the receivers were still upset behind closed doors about the direction of the passing game, they would really have nothing to complain about in this game.  Further, it’s not clear that Ray Small’s absence changed much in terms of personnel.  The veteran wide receivers got most of the touches from Pryor and, for the first time, it looked like Robiskie became Pryor’s favorite target in lieu of Sanzenbacher.  Robiskie’s 3 catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns stood out among the receivers, though Brian Hartline’s performance looks a bit better on paper (2 catches, 90 yards).  Other players got some love too.  Dane Sanzenbacher — whose lone fan among Buckeye bloggers is writing this post — had only one catch, but it was good for 14 yards and an important 3rd down conversion on an eventual touchdown drive.  Rory Nicol (2 catches, 28 yards and 1 TD) and Brandon Smith (1 catch, 7 yards) also got some action as well.  I’m not sure if they’ve been upset about the passing game as well, but having Pryor in the game is the only way the fullback and tight end see the ball.  Curiously enough, I don’t remember seeing DeVier Posey or Lamaar Thomas at any point in this game.

Defense

I’ll go ahead and say it: our defensive line looked outstanding this game.  The real eyecatcher among the unit was Nader Abdallah, who may have had the best game of his career.  The Beast from the Middle East had eight tackles (3 solo, 5 assisted), good for third on the team.  He also split a TFL, broke up two passes and registered a QB hit.  Abdallah’s dominance in the interior took away any chance of Stephon Simmons (14 carries, 39 yards) being a factor for Northwestern’s offense.  So, while Kafka got most of the carries (29 carries, 83 yards), he did so because he had to.  Elsewhere, Nathan Williams — true freshman — had back to back sacks early in the fourth quarter.  In fact, he was the one responsible for taking the Wildcats from the Buckeyes’ 12 yard line to the 39 yard line.  He’s also responsible for denying Kafka from finishing with 100 yards rushing on the game.  He eventually finished with 7 tackles (3 solo, 4 assisted), 2.5 TFLs good for a loss of 28 yards.  Cameron Heyward (3 tackles, 1 solo) forced a fumble on an 8 yard TFL that was recovered by Doug Worthington (4 tackles, 1 solo).  Dexter Larimore was active, but only had an assisted tackle. for his efforts.  I don’t know how much of this is an indication that our defensive line is finally ready to be a force or how much of it is reducible to Northwestern’s offensive line being not that good.  But with that said, I’ll take this performance and enjoy it.

I don’t know why, but it seemed like our linebackers were slow today.  James Laurinaitis was his usual active self this game, leading all Buckeyes with 11 tackles.  Yet, only two of those were solo, but still indicative of Laurinaitis being active and around the ball.  He even had an interception late in the second half as the game was already decided.  Still, it seemed that when Kafka was able to elude the defensive line, or when he found a receiver open in the middle, our linebackers were not up to the task.  Ross Homan’s 8 tackle (2 solo) and Marcus Freeman’s 5 tackle (2 solo) performance don’t appear to be real good proxies for that, though.  Both also had a TFL.  I guess I would need to rewatch the game to make sense of what I thought I saw.

Similarly, it seems like the performance of the secondary was a mixed bag.  Kurt Coleman had 7 tackles (5 solo) and Anderson Russell was second on the team with 9 tackles (5 solo).  Anderson Russell even had the presence of mind to get in bounds to recover the Peterman fumble in the second quarter.  Still, both had costly penalties leveled against them.  Jenkins and Hines may have been the best performers on the defense.  Hines had 5 solo tackles (6 total) while Jenkins forced the Peterman fumble, eventually finishing with 7 tackles (3 solo).  Still, if the treatment of the secondary seems all too brief, it’s just that the defensive line — especially Abdallah — was the biggest story on the defense today.

Miscellany

• Jim Tressel put on his Barry Switzer hat at some point after the 3rd quarter intermission.  I’m sure there’ll be questions about that too, such as A) why go for a fake punt while up 3 touchdowns? B) Why keep throwing 40-50 yards into the end zone while up 3 touchdowns late in the 4th quarter?
• Jim Tressel’s grimace at Boom Herron’s last second touchdown seems odd.  The only reason I can think he did that was to try to allay Pat Fitzgerald from powerbombing him after the final gun.  After all, why was Jim Tressel upset that he scored that touchdown when he called the damn play? I’m sure he could’ve told them to kneel if he wanted.  That is, unless Jim Tressel just sent out his second team offense on to the field with no directions.
• Lamaar Thomas didn’t seem too particularly fast returning kicks, but I like the attention he shows to making sure he has a firm grip on the football.  For freshmen kick returners, that’s a problem.
• We really should throw more on first downs earlier into the game since it’s just too obvious for everyone involved what the playcall would be otherwise.  This would be fine if we could block, but we can’t.  Alabama can get away with predictable playcalling by virtue of their offensive line.  We can’t.
• The Orange Bowl as a destination for the Buckeyes? Wouldn’t we get some crappy ACC Champion then? Coooooool.

Go to Source

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!!!