Can the D-Line Deliver?

An upright Wilson would help the cause (Davidson)

With a wealth of depth returning on the defensive front, big things are expected from a group comprised of ends Thaddeus Maximus, Cameron Heyward, Lawrence Wilson, Nathan Williams and Rob Rose joined by interior returnees Doug Worthington, Dexter Larimore and Todd Denlinger. Throw …
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Big Ten recruiting winds blow to the south

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

When Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster checked into his hotel Tuesday morning in Shreveport, La., the woman working at the front desk spotted the Golden Gophers logo on his shirt and smiled. 

"The coach from Michigan just left," she told him. 

Both Minneapolis and Ann Arbor, Mich., are located more than 850 miles from Shreveport, making it an odd place for Brewster and one of his Michigan counterparts to cross paths. But these days, Big Ten coaches are just as likely to bump into one another in Shreveport, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale and Houston as they are in Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Detroit.

When Purdue head coach Danny Hope called ESPN.com on Wednesday afternoon, he was navigating a road near Bay City, Fla. An hour earlier, Wisconsin defensive line coach Charlie Partridge phoned in from the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area. 

The Big Ten recruiting range is expanding far beyond the Midwest, and coaches are spending much of their time in the fertile states of the south and southeast.

"There's certainly great, great players in the Midwest, but just in terms of numbers, all you have to do is look at Division I signing day and the number of kids who play Division I out of this region here," said Partridge, who has recruited the Florida area for Wisconsin, Pitt and Iowa State, among others. "You can come down and get 2-3 kids who can have an impact on your program.

"People are recognizing the value of recruiting down here." 

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Dave’s IMO: Sneak Peek at 2009 for Ohio State Football

David Thurman (4:46 pm)

Is it too early begin thinking about the 2009 Buckeye football team, just a week removed from “The Game”? Of course not!

At least if you are an obsessed Ohio State fan like me, and you are probably are if you’re reading this column! So let’s take a look at a projected roster and a way-too-early prediction on next season’s record:

QB: Terrelle Pryor starts and with a month of bowl game practices and a full spring to work on mechanics, he might become a true superstar. Behind him is a talented but unproven commodity in Joe Bauserman.

HB: Dan Herron looks ready to be a big-time player, and with Jaamal Berry and Carlos Hyde on the way, this may be tailback by committee. There’s no Beanie (who will definitely go pro) but this group might cause big problems for defensive coordinators.

FB: Lots of youngsters like Martin, Boren, and Homan will throw their names into the hat, and Brandon Saine may play some at fullback as well, providing a pass threat out of the backfield. Truth is, though, I see a lot of ace formation in 2008.

WR: Brian Hartline (complaining aside) is an excellent big-play receiver who can catch the tough passes, too, and hopefully he will return for his senior year. Dan Sazenbacher is quickly becoming a fan favorite with his hands of glue and his willingness to take the big hit.

Beyond those two, Ray Small might finally shine if he can get his act together off the field, and DeVier Posey got some helpful experience this year and has the tools to be special. Plus, don’t discount Lamaar “Flash” Thomas, Jake Stoneburner, or the four incoming freshmen. Once again, this is a good if not great group.  

TE: I love Jake Ballard, and like most Buckeye fans think he has been underutilized. However, behind him there is no experience and either Nic DiLillo, who redshirted this season, or incoming freshman Reid Fragel, will have to step up quickly, at least to block!

OL: Possibly the biggest question for 2009 is can a line that loses three senior starters get better? I think the answer may be yes.

Obviously, Alex Boone will be missed, though he never maximized his immense talent. I’m not sure that Steve Rehring or Ben Person will be, since they often whiffed on blocks and had trouble remembering the snap count.

Here’s who I am betting on when we open up next year against Navy: J.B. Shugarts (LT); Jim Cordle (LG); Mike Brewster (C); Justin Boren (RG); Bryant Browning (RT). Personally, I would prefer Browning at guard, and if Mike Adams comes on, that might happen.

Beyond those six, only Conner Smith has much experience, and if Marcus Hall commits, he might see some immediate playing time.

In my opinion, the line will be about equal to this year, unless a new coach is hired to teach better fundamentals and put a fire under the big guys.

Overall, I think the offense scores more points due to the progression of Pryor, and the fact that the play calling almost has to get more creative without Beanie.

DL: The weakest link in 2008, the line did get better as the year went on, and I look for more improvement in 2009. At end, Gibson is ready to become dominant, and Nathan Williams might be special, too, if he can gain a little bit more strength to go along with his quickness and tenacity.

Lawrence Wilson will probably return, and he is solid, and Solomon Thomas is making strides. The player that really causes me consternation is Rob Rose, who I thought would be a superstar.

He’s not, and probably never will be, but the light may go on for him in his senior season. This could be a really good group.

At tackle, we still need some big, mean run-stoppers but have a good group returning in Cameron Heyward (could 2009 be his year?), Dexter Larimore and Todd Denlinger. I am also excited to see Garrett Goebel get his first snaps next year.

Of course, I am not discounting the possibility of Melvin Fellows or Johnny Simon making a big splash. Regardless, the line will be improved from this year’s version and that is a good thing.

LB: Saying goodbye to James Laurinaitis and buddy Marcus Freeman is tough, because they made a lot of tackles in their career, and provided plenty of highlights. But the cupboard is not bare. Ross Homan was finally healthy in ‘08, played well, and could move to the middle.

Austin Spitler has waited his chance, and is a good run stuffer, but may lack the speed to play every down. Of course some Florida seed is waiting in the wings, in the person of Etienne Sabino and Brian Rolle.

Both are hard hitters, and I project Sabino as a sure starter and future star. Beyond those four, are two guys who can play outside linebacker or nickel back in Tyler Moeller and Jermale Hines.

I love Hines, who is listed as a safety, and was also impressed in Moeller in the last two games of the season. Of course, all of these guys know there will be a fight with potential superstars Dorian Bell and Storm Klein among four incoming linebackers in the class of ‘09.

Plus, don’t forget Andrew Sweat, who was too good to redshirt this season, as the real Linebacker U keeps churning them out! Personally, I think this group will give up a few more big plays than the past couple of years due to inexperience, but may be better in coverage and against the spread, due to increased speed.

I hope Heacock doesn’t put Homan and Spitler on the field together, however, or the speed factor goes out the window. My early prediction is Sabino, Homan, and Moeller in the opener.

DB: There is a lot to like about this group, but the loss of Malcolm Jenkins is a tough pill to swallow. He ranks up there with Shawn Springs and Antwon Winfield in my book, and will be missed.

The starters seems obvious; rapidly improving Chimdi Chekwa and Donald Washington at cornerback, and ready-for-prime-timer Kurt Coleman and Anderson Russell at safety.

Washington worries me a little, since he seemed to digress after his off-the-field problems which sent him to the doghouse, but he has plenty of talent and experience (supposedly he he is contemplating going pro which would be a big mistake).

Losing 2007 recruits Eugene Clifford and James Scott thins the ranks at corner, where healthy Andre Amos would help, but some believe he may leave school.

At nickel, the aforementioned Hines us a hitting machine, and I love his nasty attitude. Further depth will come from Aaron Gant, and there is plenty of room for redshirts like Travis Howard and Orhian Johnson to get into the rotation, but they may be quickly passed by the boatload of talent Tressel has recruited this year.

A guy like C.J. Barnett may see the field immediately due to lack of numbers here. On paper this is the strength of the ‘09 defense if everyone returns, and should make passing a dangerous proposition for the opposition.

So, the defense should be about equal to this year’s squad if some leaders emerge from the senior class to fill the shoes of Jenkins and Laurinaitis.

What about special teams? A Tressel led team never considers this an afterthought, and with departure of Trapasso and Pretorius some might be concerned, but not me.

I think Pettrey is a superior kick to Pretorius right now, and feel confident that either Jon Thoma or Ben Buchanan can be a solid punter. Long-snapper Jake McQuaide did a nice job this year and he has two years of eligibilty left.

As for returns, I think we may have two special players in Ray Small and Lamaar Thomas, and once again, if Small doesn’t get in his own way, he might put some real fear into opposing punters in ‘09.

Well, that’s a look position by position but what about the final record? My way-to-early prediction is 11-1 in the regular season with a loss coming to USC (home) or Penn State (away).

We could easily lose another one, as upsets happen with young teams, but I am optimistic, at least for now, with months to go before I start worrying!

What do you think? Let us know, as we all gaze into the looking glass wearing our Scarlet and Gray-colored glasses!

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Spencer’s OSU-Michigan report card

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

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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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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.

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Loss didn’t keep Pryor down long

What’s brewing today with the Ohio State Buckeyes

Buckeyes buzz

After the 13-6 loss to No. 3 Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 25, Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor took the blame for the offense failing to score a touchdown and for two late turnovers that swung the tide in favor of the Nittany Lions.

“Oh, I think he’s come along well,” coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday. “Whenever you’re in those competitive situations, and you feel as if you could have done better, it’s always very, very difficult. But as soon as you can move to the point of, ‘OK, what do I have to do to be better in the future?’ I think you start feeling a little bit better. So he’s turned his attention to the future.”

Team honors

The Ohio State football coaching staff selected its weekly award winners.

Safety Kurt Coleman (Northmont) as the Buckeyes’ defensive player of the week; wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher picked up the offensive honors; and kicker Aaron Pettrey was selected from special units.

Scout team awards went to QB Joe Bauserman on offense, linebacker Tony Jackson on defense and WR Ricky Crawford on special teams.

The top player among the front seven on defense was lineman Cameron Heyward. Offensive tackle Alex Boone was the best lineman, and Heyward won the Jack Tatum hit of the week.

Tressel-ese

Tressel, on a failed third-and-3 run that resulted in the Buckeyes’ second field goal: “Now the fact that it wasn’t successful, do you second-guess yourself? I’m sure that’s true. But what you study a lot harder is why things were or were not successful. … We certainly would have loved to have seven there. But if we made that first down there, it wouldn’t have guaranteed we would have got seven.”

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Pryor bouncing back after bad game

Should Buckeyes fans’ faith in Pryor be shaken, or will the freshman figure it out before season’s end? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

COLUMBUS (AP) — What’s brewing today with the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes …

BUCKEYES BUZZ: After Saturday night’s 13-6 loss to No. 3 Penn State, Buckeyes QB Terrelle Pryor took the blame for the offense failing to score a touchdown and for two late turnovers that swung the tide in favor of the Nittany Lions.

Coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday that Pryor was recovering after being distraught after the game.

“Oh, I think he’s come along well,” he said. “Whenever you’re in those competitive situations and you feel as if you could have done better, it’s always very, very difficult. But as soon as you can move to the point of, ’OK, what do I have to do to be better in the future?’ I think you start feeling a little bit better. So he’s turned his attention to the future and how he can get much, much better.”

TEAM HONORS: The Ohio State football coaching staff selected its weekly award winners in the wake of the 13-6 loss to Penn State.

S Kurt Coleman was the Buckeyes’ defensive player of the week, WR Dane Sanzenbacher picked up the offensive honors and K Aaron Pettrey was selected from special units.

Scout team awards went to: QB Joe Bauserman on offense, LB Tony Jackson on defense and WR Ricky Crawford on special teams.

The top player among the front seven on defense was DL Cameron Heyward. OT Alex Boone was the best lineman on offense and Heyward won the Jack Tatum hit of the week for his tackle of a running back.

TRESSELESE: Tressel, on a failed third-and-3 run that resulted in the Buckeyes’ second field goal: “Now the fact that it wasn’t successful, do you second-guess yourself? I’m sure that’s true. But what you study a lot harder is why things were or were not successful. As opposed to we called some plays that were not very good plays and they were successful. If you think it was because it was a great play-call, you’re mistaken. You always go back and reanalyze what you do. We certainly would have loved to have seven there. But if we made that first down there, it wouldn’t have guaranteed we would have got seven.”

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Spencer’s OSU-Penn State Report Card

By JON SPENCER

NNCO

OFFENSIVE LINE

As feared, Ohio State got beat up at the point of attack, Messrs. Rehing and Browning, in particular. In their defense — yes, there’s a defense — the Buckeyes “don’t have enough hats to block everybody,” as John Cooper used to say, when opponents like Penn State are stacking the box and daring OSU to throw. The Lions played it perfectly. They weren’t going to let Beanie Wells beat them, and they knew Jim Tressel wouldn’t really let Terrelle Pryor try to beat them with his arm. Plus, they knew Pryor still is learning how to find receivers and read coverages, and that’s why he wasn’t able to capitalize on pretty decent pass protection.

GRADE: D plus

RUNNING GAME

What running game? Beanie Wells’ longest run was 8 yards. He wasn’t on the field for the first offensive snap (for reasons never explained in the post-game) and things went downhill from there after he averaged over 160 yards rushing in his previous six games against ranked opponents. Jim Tressel counts more on Terrelle Pryor’s feet than arm to keep defenses honest, but he wasn’t much help, netting only 6 yards rushing despite getting sacked only one time. Pryor tried to hit a home run on a quarterback sneak — what a story that would have been — and it ended up costing OSU dearly.

GRADE: F

PASSING GAME

Terrelle Pryor threw for a career-high 226 yards, but seven of his 25 passes, including a game-sealing interception, came in the last six minutes with the Buckeyes in desperation mode. And it wasn’t so much how many passes as when OSU threw the ball. Three straight runs after getting a first down at the PSU 26? Field goal. Six straight runs on the next series, trying to protect a 6-3 lead. Disaster. Fumble. Ballgame. Dane Sanzenbacher had a career day (6 catches, 82 yards), but this offense isn’t going to start clicking again until it gets Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline back into the flow.

GRADE: C minus

DEFENSIVE LINE

End Thaddeus Gibson, who had OSU’s only sack and numerous hurries, deserved better for his effort, and tackle Cameron Heyward had a career-high six tackles against one of the better offensive lines in the nation. But the Buckeyes’ shortcomings up front were exposed once again at the absolute worst time. Behind in the fourth quarter, OSU let the Lions hold the ball for eight plays and run 3:24 off the clock behind backup quarterback Pat Devlin. Evan Royster had gains of 10 and 9 yards over right end, and a facemask penalty hurt, too. Penn State kicked a field goal, leaving the Buckeyes with only 1:07 and no timeouts to try and send the game to overtime.

GRADE: B

LINEBACKERS

James Laurinaitis had 12 tackles to pass Mike Doss for 10th on OSU’s all-time list with 335. But, again, where were the stops when Penn State was allowed to essentially run out the clock in the fourth quarter? Penn State had no turnovers and didn’t put the ball on the ground once. Not once?

GRADE: B plus

DEFENSIVE BACKS

One of the two pass interference flags on Donald Washington aided Penn State’s only touchdown drive, which was only 38 yards to begin with. Otherwise, outstanding. The Buckeyes shut down the receiving corps of Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood, holding them to six catches for 28 yards. That’s right, 28 yards. But the way OSU was moving the ball, the Buckeyes needed an interception to ignite things, and they didn’t get it despite already having two more takeaways than they had all last season. Safeties Anderson Russell and Kurt Coleman had nine and seven tackles, respectively. The Lions wanted no part of cornerback Malcolm Jenkins.

GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS

Derrick Williams was nothing special, which means OSU was special in this phase of the game. Williams had taken back two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns this season, but Saturday he had a total of 30 yards on three returns. Lamaar Thomas returned the opening kickoff 34 yards (actually, 36, because he was 2 yards deep in the end zone) and also had a 37-yarder. If only he had fielded the kick after Penn State took the lead for good. It bounced off Maurice Wells’ chest and out of bounds at the 7, one of three times the Buckeyes started drives inside the 10. Thanks, Mo. Aaron Pettrey nailed both of his field goal attempts (41, 36 yards) and appears to have taken those duties back completely from Ryan Pretorius.

GRADE: A minus

COACHING

Jim Tressel always says he doesn’t have anything to do with the defense, so kudos to those staff members for a job well done. It’s hard to complain when one of the nation’s best attacks has been held to 281 yards and a short-field touchdown. Taking away nothing from Penn State’s defense, the OSU offense is a wreck. The Buckeyes have gone six quarters without an offensive touchdown and, at 107th nationally in passing, are basically sharing the basement in that category with the three service academies. Want offense? Pick a team, any team. Florida and Texas Tech each scored 63 points Saturday. Missouri and Oklahoma each put up 58 and Georgia 52. You think they mess around with field goals?

GRADE: C minus

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