Buckeye fans are ready to put down their coffee cups!

For the past three years, Ohio State has constantly been in contention for a national title, only to have their butts kicked by the SEC, and lose in the last “16 seconds” to a very talented Texas team. Buckeye fans know all too well the disappointment of a hopeful season. We can still see the straw that broke the camel’s back. We have come to believe, then have our hearts handed to us. For the weaker fan, they go off and complain about how Ohio State can’t keep up with the talent of other conferences. For the stronger fans, we question the X’s and O’s. We don’t see a talent disparity, but a coaching one. We question why we can’t use our offense like that of Florida, Texas, Texas Tech, etc.. When I watch an Ohio State game, I sometimes need a cup of coffee to wake me up. Let’s face it, Ohio State doesn’t have an exciting play book. But, oh how times are a changing!

We now have a 6′6, 240 lb, QB that is the fastest guy on the team. Don’t believe me, check this article out: http://brutusreport.com/Articles/Latest/LatestArticlesDetail/tabid/701/smid/1405/ArticleID/900/Default.aspx

If Ohio State doesn’t use TP’s 4.33 speed to its benefit, it will be hard for me to continue supporting the sweater vest. I know, he is a great guy/recruiter/game manager/book writer. But, if he continues to waste this recruited talent, eventually the players will see that it would be too their benefit to attend a school like Florida, Texas, and that ugly team up north. Simply because their numbers would be better at a school with a spread offense. Now, if your a Kicker/Punter, Ohio State is where it is at. Just like Tressel has stated: “The punt is the most important play in football”. Ohio State fans can only take so much conservative disappointment. We can only stand to drink so much coffee during games. If Tressel doesn’t turn this offense loose, there will be a public outcry like the College FB world has never seen. Right now, the attention is on Jim Bollman. The funny thing is, Bollman isn’t even calling the plays! But, take heart fans, I think we are getting ready to see some exciting football.

After watching many highlights of the scrimmages and spring game, it looks like you are going to see the Boom & Zoom show, highlighted by a running/throwing 240 lb monster. He can also play a little WR, i.e. Texas game last year. Our young offensive line should continue to gel and get better. The WR’s will utilize its speed to spread the defenses out. You will see less defensive blitz’s because their linebackers will be needed to watch Terrelle’s versatility. Boom & Zoom will be able to catch short passes out of the backfield that could turn into big gains. We are going to see more option plays, which can be a headache to stop for defenses. Tressel would be crazy not to use the speed of this team. This is probably the fastest offensive unit he has “EVER” coached. So, get ready buckeye fans, we might be on the verge of seeing more crystal football trophies in the near future. If we don’t,  let the public outcry for Tressel’s vest begin.

The Buckeye Losses Stop Here: Five Things Ohio State Must Do To Beat USC

It was a cool, breezy, November night in Columbus, Ohio. Scarlet clad fans stormed the field after watching the top ranked Buckeyes defeat the second ranked Wolverines.

It was 986 days ago, and it was the last time Ohio State won a “big game.”

It was the last time the Buckeye’s weren’t “outclassed” by equal competition.

It was the last time Jim Tressel was called “The best play-caller in College Football.”

After two National Championship defeats and an embarrassing performance against USC last season, Ohio State’s reputation has taken its lumps. And although the Buckeyes played both Penn State and Texas (top five teams) down to the wire, a loss is a loss, which gains no respect.

The next chance Ohio State gets to repair it’s image is September 12, when the USC Trojans visit Columbus for part two of their non-conference series. And regardless of how much I hate this term (because every game is a must win), this game is as close to a must win for Jim Tressel as he’s going to get.

And it’s not just the Buckeyes reputation that’s at stake; the Big Ten conference is at risk as well. The country has grown weary of watching Penn State, Illinois, and Michigan get blown out of the Rose Bowl. The conferences 1-6 bowl record last year didn’t help the way people view the league.

Not to mention how this game will affect recruiting, momentum, and the perception of the Buckeyes remaining opponents.

The Buckeyes can regain some of the trust from college football fans that they’ve not-so-elegantly lost the last three years with a win against USC.

I’ve put together a list of five things Ohio State must do to beat the Trojans come September 12. Let’s get started!

Protect the Quarterback

The glaring difference against Florida and LSU in the National Championship games and against USC last season was the Buckeyes inability to protect the quarterback.

The offensive line must do a better job at staying in front of whatever defensive lineman they are responsible for:

If that means Bryant Browning (last year’s right tackle and this year’s probable right guard) has to do the tire drill until he passes out to improve his lateral movement and foot speed, so be it.

If someone has to frame Offensive-Line Coach Jim Bollman for insurance fraud (or any crime, for that matter) so he can finally be fired, so be it.

If Jim Tressel makes all the offensive lineman eat the nails of an alligator and wash it down with a gallon of dragon tears (or whatever Justin Boren does that makes him so angry all the time) to teach them how to play with an attitude, so be it.

Ohio State must do whatever it takes to keep Terrelle Pryor on his feet. I’m tired of seeing Ohio State’s quarterback looking like he wrestled a bear (and losing) after all their big games.

Protecting the quarterback is imperative. If the Buckeyes can do it, it will allow Pryor to get through his reads and move the offense down the field. If the Buckeyes can’t do it, it could be another long night for Ohio State.

Open up the Playbook and Execute

The look on Jim Tressel’s face in this picture embodies all of the frustration stewing in the hearts of Buckeye fans. You can almost hear the coach’s thoughts:

“Should I put five wide receivers in and let Terrelle Pryor take over the game with his natural ability to run the spread? Or should I send a couple tight ends and a fullback in to run the off-tackle play for Beanie that we just ran nine times in a row?”

A moment’s pause follows as he weighs his options…

“We should just go with the off-tackle play again. I mean, Beanie hasn’t hurt himself in a good three days, and I know that he’s gonna break a big one soon. I just know it.”

All kidding aside, Jim Tressel kept the offensive game-plan simple last year. He created a playbook that would maximize the unique talents that Beanie had and limit any potential mistakes from a freshman quarterback. If I were in his shoes, I would have done the same thing.

Of course, after last year’s OSU-USC game, there were Trojan defenders who said they knew exactly what Ohio State was going to do on offense and that nothing surprised them. I would have an issue with that if it mattered.

You can’t tell me that teams didn’t know what Ohio State was going to do in 2002 when they won the National Championship.

Execution is just as important as, or even more important than, a variety in play-calling.

The Buckeyes will have to mix it up against USC this year. Pete Carroll will be replacing nine starters on his defense. With this being the second week of the season, it would be the perfect time to hit them with some trick plays and a diverse, hurry-up offense. But the priority here is execution. Ohio State must execute whichever offense they choose to run when the Trojans come to town.

Create Pressure up Front

If you look at the defense for the National Championship Buckeyes in 2002, you’ll notice that they consistently created pressure on the opposing teams quarterback.

As previously mentioned, creating that pressure upfront disrupts everything an offense is trying to accomplish. And since that championship team seven years ago, the Buckeyes have been unable to create such havoc (with a slight exception given to the 2003 team).

It seemed as though the blitz packages, the nasty attitude, and the attacking defenses left when Mark Dantonio did in 2003. Jim Heacock took over as the Defensive Coordinator (in ‘05) and implemented his I-don’t-care-if we’re-getting-picked-apart-we’re-still-sticking-with-this-zone…defense.

But half way through the 2008 season, something clicked. Whether it was Nader Abdallah’s out-of-nowhere realization that he was a man child, Thad Gibson’s opportunity to play after Wilson’s leg injury, or Heacock’s sudden willingness to blitz more often, the Buckeyes started creating that pressure.

Ohio State must continue to get after the quarterback. Buckeye fans are holding their breath, crossing their fingers, and sacrificing small animals (chill out PETA, that was a joke) in hopes that Jim Heacock doesn’t give up on that attacking mentality they displayed late last year.

Whether it’s Aaron Corp or Matt Barkley behind center, this will be the first big game either quarterback will have played in. Pressuring him would be a very good thing for the Buckeyes.

Get Mad

A recent article pointed out the difference between Marcus Freeman’s reaction to the Texas loss in the Fiesta Bowl to Terrelle Pryor’s reaction.

Freeman’s reaction was one of…relief. As if he was relieved that his team wasn’t blown out of the water by a good opponent. He was happy with the effort, and came away with the moral victory speech that losing teams often defer to.

Terrelle Pryor was upset. He was already looking ahead to the 2009 football season, saying the Buckeyes were going to put more points on the board. He told the media that there were some “teams we owe some stuff to.” He was angry.

The Buckeyes need to take a nasty attitude into this football game.

They need to be-someone just spit in my mother’s face and I’m mad-angry.

They need to be-Samuel L. Jackson, yelling his lines unnecessarily in every one of his movies-angry.

They need to be-Britney Spears strangling a paparazzi photographer with her man thighs-angry.

The key to playing with an attitude is to keep that anger in check. Tim Tebow plays with an attitude, but he controls it and redirects it toward the field and toward his opponents.

If the Buckeyes want to stop being the end of bad “big-game” jokes, they must get nasty. This is THE Ohio State University, and NO ONE comes into our house and pushes us around!

Wear Red and Be Very, Very, Very Loud

This last one is for the fans.

If you are in possession of a ticket that gives you admittance to this game, you must do two things:

One, you must wear red. The three gentlemen in the middle of this picture are breaking my first rule. This makes me so mad; I could kick a puppy (again PETA… a joke).

There is nothing cooler than seeing the bleachers in Ohio Stadium glowing a florescent red under the lights. If you’re a buckeye fan and didn’t get goose bumps from the birds-eye-view of the Shoe when Ohio State played Penn State this past year, you need to check your pulse.

I’ve sent Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith 318 letters demanding that any Ohio State fan who tries to attend a game wearing anything “not red”, they will be required to wear a scarlet poncho and a matching sombrero. So if you don’t want to look ridiculous for the game…wear red, it’s intimidating and looks cool as heck.

Two, you must be very, very, very loud. “The Shoe” is arguably the loudest stadium in the country, and that is disorienting for the opponent. You already know that Aaron Corp or Matt Barkley will be making their first meaningful start. Your one goal in this game is to make whoever ends up being the starting quarterback to soil themselves.

Scream when they have the ball. Scream when they are in the huddle. Scream when they’re trying to call an audible. Scream during the timeouts. And when your voice is shot, just clap. Give everything you can. Practice screaming with your friends two weeks before September 12 so you will be better at it.

If you have tickets to this game, do not sit on your hands in a white “away” jersey. Wear red and SCREAM!

Terrelle Pryor sits down with Kirk Herbstreit

Terrelle talks about the Penn State game fumble and what he’s learned. He says if he could do it again, he’d do the QB sneak for the first down.

Pryor talks about QB’s in the mix for heisman this year and how he considers himself an option.

He also talks about how this years team is working hard trying to come together and hitting the weightroom. Terrelle personally has been working on his passing game.

Reading plays and making decisions quicker is important to Terrelle and he knows he needs to improve in this area.

He also talks about the lack of respect for Ohio State but understands that it has to be earned as well.

Pryor: Hard on himself, but woe to outside critics

After the spring game Saturday, quarterback Terrelle Pryor once again bristled when talking about those who have criticized him as a less-than-stellar passer. (And you know who you are!) This is a continuation of a trait Pryor has displayed since…
Continue reading at Blogging the Buckeyes

Does Pryor make the line look better? and other Spring Game tidbits

The Ohio State offensive line has gotten mixed reviews for its Spring game performance. While it paved the way for even walk-on Marcus Williams to bust a big run, the units combined gave up 10 (!) sacks in the game, four allowed by the Gray team and six allowed by the Scarlet. Terrelle Pryor was sacked three times, but only once after the non-contact jersey was taken off. Leadfoots Joe Bauserman and Justin Siems got rocked seven times.

So does Pryor make the line look better? The spring game…
Continue reading at We Will Always Have Tempe

Ohio State spring game recap

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg
It's rare when the crowd in the stands eclipses the action on the field, but when 95,722 people show up to watch a souped-up scrimmage somewhere outside SEC territory, I'd say it's a pretty big deal. Ohio State set a record for spring game attendance Saturday, as gorgeous weather and the chance to watch Terrelle Pryor practice "live"…
Continue reading at ESPN.com – Big Ten – Blog

High Hopes

The fans came out in force on a beautiful spring Saturday and they weren’t disappointed.

Hoping to see signs of improvement in phenom Terrelle Pryor’s passing game, the sophomore-to-be delighted the crowd with two long touchdown strikes in the span of a half minute on the way to 191 first half …
Continue reading at Eleven Warriors

Spring in the Shoe

A sun drenched Ohio State Horseshoe took on a record crowd of 95,722 fans to show-off the Ohio State Buckeyes to the nation. The score might have reflected an unbalanced contest in the Gray’s favor, but I don’t think that bothered any of the fans there. Dawning the shorts, tank-tops and sandals (Tressel even chose clothes for the weather putting on the Hawaiian Ohio State shirt) you came with sun tanning lotion and a curiosity that you didn’t have the past three seasons. It is not a scary feeling, but a charged feeling of nervous energy walking into a party and saying, “I wonder who we are now?”

The entire country is asking the same question. After watching two national championship trips end in disappointments and watching last year’s Buckeyes loose to 3 different national championship contenders (USC, Penn State, and Texas) the view beyond Ohio is not suppose to a favorable one, but if anyone part of that view watched ESPNS’s top plays on Saturday they saw the pretty 44 yard rainbow pass thrown from Terrelle Pryor to an open Lamar Thomas in the corner of the end zone maybe they will become as curious as the rest of us. Below are some other observations and highlights that showed up like blooms in spring.

Quarterbacks. We might have not gotten to see Pryor for as long as promised, but we saw what we wanted to see, an athlete that has improved from just being a running quarterback to a complete player. Terrelle Pryor showed a live-arm with better accuracy, that when given time he will hit seams and plays that will make highlight reels. His instincts might always slow down his release, but he showed more confidence in looking over a defense and letting it fly. Joe Bauserman was 10-21 and showed confidence throwing into several tight windows. Jason Siems finished 2-5 for 21 yards and had good poise for being the third string quarterback. Terrelle Pryor has made it hard to recruit some of the top Quarterbacks in the nation that want more playing time, but Pryor’s size and strength should protect him. When you are as big as some linebackers playing quarterback you are hard to bring down.

Running Backs. Brandon Saine is back looking faster and more determined displaying a majority after a season troubled by a hamstring injury that should make him a threat to defenses in the Big Ten. His 6’1” frame and 217 pounds should be more rugged this year. When we first met Saine we were introduced to a versatile back with a lot speed. This year I am hoping to see a complete versatile back that can be a threat to burst through the middle or catch the 5-yard dump off and turn it into 10 or more. Boom Herron was steady playing for the scarlet team that looked like it had the better O-line for the run. Both of these backs together in the backfield will create a diverse offense. The depth at running back for Ohio State is always deep. History draws running backs to the Buckeyes. I saw 5 backs play in the game the biggest highlight coming from Marcus Williams for the Gray who finished the game with 98 yards on only 7 carries the most which came on his first that was a burst out of the backfield. Probably the best run-blocking of the game was given to Williams on that play when he slid out from behind the line and into one of those holes that he dreams of in his sleep.

Wide Receivers. They are who we thought they are!! Too put a spin on the too-famous a quote from Dennis Green. We thought they were talented and they proved that they are and they should continue to prove it in the fall. Devier Posey enters his sophomore season as a 6’3” 205 pound imposing giant that should make corners start to shake when they see him line up across from them. The most impressive thing about him is his hands. He just snags the ball out of the air whenever he wants with perfect form (I think everyone wanted to see Pryor and him on the same team, we will have to wait). Lamar Thomas might have given a fist-pump when he got put on the same team as Terrelle, but he also knew he have to show up and he did, getting behind the defense to catch the opening TD of the game. I was worried about Ray Small and so was someone else, because after dropping a pass and looking a little shook up the Gray team ran an onside-kick play and recovered the ball. This let him have one more shot (some people just need a second chance) and he took advantage of it. Catching an underthrown ball from Pryor he showed who he was with an ankle-breaking fake and an appearance in the endzone at enof the first-half.

Defense. The Ohio State moniker might be a little concerned that Terrelle Pryor put up 191 passing yards, but then again he is on our team. The Ohio State University is Linebacker-U (I am not sure what the course numbers are though). The lineage is lengthy and drooled over by the NFL if you are patient you will be rewarded. Tyler Moeller should be rewarded for not just tackling Pryor on his first jaunt out over the line-of-scrimmage, but also for chasing down the longest run of the game from behind. The defensive backfield looked shaky, but in the spring Wide Receivers have the advantage early so I wouldn’t be concerned right now. The Gray did get an opportunistic interception late. Turnovers are often a specialty of the Buckeyes defense and the depth at linebacker should create lots of blitzing opportunities.

Offensive Line. This might have been the biggest surprise in the entire game. I saw plenty of penetration by the defensive line like a lot of fans did, but there was a certain physicality out there by individuals that was not there last year. The leader has got to be Justin Boren the Michigan defect that will be interesting to watch when it is time to play Michigan and the crafty Rodriguez. He is like having an NFL veteran on the college level. He is exactly what Ohio State needed on the O-line this year a leader that has it out for that team up north should provide our line with nasty instincts it needs to compete this fall.

All in all it was a beautiful spring day for the Buckeye fans that could enjoy working on their tan while watching their beloved Buckeyes. The highlights should be good memories to keep all of us happy for the next couple of months before July (that is about the time I get really antsy for football). I’ll continue to give some highlights in these dry months ahead, trying to keep my excitement in check for the upcoming season. Though if you feel like I do right now you can say it with me…”Bring on the Trojans!!”

F U, Alabama!

Right: Quarterback Terrelle Pryor looks downfield in the 2009 Spring Game. (AP Photo)
On a bright, sunny day with a game time temperature of about 80 degrees, 95,721 of my closest, Buckeye-loving friends joined me at Ohio Stadium, breaking in the national spring game attendance record in the process as the Gray team defeated the Scarlet [...]
Continue reading at The Best Damn Blog in the Land! BuckeyeBanter.com

95K Fans Show Up For OSU Spring Game

The fans saw some stars arise for the first time while other players showed a newly polished game, namely QB Terrelle Pryor.
Continue reading at College Sports for NBC4i.com

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