This is by far the best week of the year!   We've been patiently waiting and waiting for what seems like eons for the football season to finally begin.   In our minds are thoughts of winning big games, winning the conference and winning the natty!  We all rationalize that this will be our year and things will be different and better.  I even convinced myself that we would be better this year.

Well, I am starting to already burst my bubble with reality.  I really think we'll be fortunate to win the Big 11 this year and keep that streak alive.   When you start looking at things on paper, it sobers you up real fast.   Sure everyone in the country is talking about Terrelle Pryor and his great potential, but theres the rub, he's an unproven commodity and no one is talking about anyone else on the team.  In a nutshell the whole team is an unproven commodity.  Until we actually see Pryor in the big game, we won't know for sure if he is it.  There are too many holes to fill the void which is left from last year's team.

Last year, it was clear that our greatest weakness' were the Lines.  This year everyone is saying the strength of our team is the defensive line.   Wait a second here, that was the weakness last year?!? Here's the paradox, if our strength this year was last year's great weakness, we could be in lots of trouble! 

Our O-line is supposed to be quicker and leaner with a complete overall from last year's unit.   You take the core of that excellent recruiting class last year and add the Michigan xfer Boren into the mix and we are revamped, but not a unit which has played together a long time.   With all the mixing around this spring and the injuries this camp, you need to be worried about how this gels together.

Granted Beanie Wells was a killer when he was healthy, but that was only 50% of the time, so we already have some experience in having to play without Beanie.   Herron and Saine looked good in the Spring and throw in Freshman Berry and we are alright at RB.   Unfortunately these guys are all the same type of runner, so there isn't going to be a change of pace.

Who will step up at WR is the biggest question on offense.  We have the incredibly skilled, but head case WR in Small.   He makes you say O my gosh what a play in the same breath as what a knucklehead.  Duron Carter has come in as a freshman and appears to be the real deal.   We just have to see how Washington, Thomas, Sanzenbacher and Posey perform.

We supposedly will be able to reload at linebacker, but there are really big shoes to fill and there may still be the same problems for our LBs this year as last year in that the Dline (our strength)  can't stop the run or rush the passer.

Safeties should be strong but you have to worry about the corners.  Chekwa makes me nervous as our top DB.

Navy has all the makings of a trap game.   Their offense is so different then anyone elses, it's the first game of the season and our biggest game of the year is the following weekend.   I expect a close game well into the third quarter with both the offense and defense looking bad until our dpeth just wears out Navy.   This will be a typical Tressel lead first game back with a lot of rust being shaken off.   The only question is whether we can shake it off quick enough.

I honestky think we are in for a rebuilding type year.  USC will most likely give us one of our worse home losses in history.  Both Penn State and Illinois may very will add to our misery forcing us to play in the Capital One Bowl if we are lucky.   As always, I hope I am wrong and will gladly take any abuse for being a doubter.   I am just happy to have football back!   Go Bucks!

Technorati Tags: Big Game, Big Games, Boren, Commodity, Defensive Line, Dose Of Reality, Eons, Football Season, Gels, Great Potential, Greatest Weakness, Herron, Holes, Long Time, Lots Of Trouble, Nutshell, Paradox, Recruiting, Terrelle Pryor, Xfer

This first game had all the makings of a tune up to get ready for the Big Game on Sept 13th.   And overall it was a success, if not for the injury to Beanie Wells.   The Beanie watch is still ongoing, but I think we have a much clearer picture.   Let's recap our 5 keys to a successful National Championship Run and how they panned out in the first game.

Here are my top things to watch (in no particularly order):

1.) Beanie Wells at 100%. After much stalling from Tressel, the word on the grapevine (from Beanie's mom), is that he had turf toe.   At first glance, one would conclude that this would be a season ending injury for Beanie.   But after googling turf toe, I learned that there are 3 degrees of this particular injury.  In the case of a first degree turf toe, X-rays are negative and one needs to immobilize the toe with a boot.  The injury is minor and one can recover from it at their own pace.   This most certainly seems to be what happened to Beanie based upon everything we've been hearing.   In the 2nd and 3rd degree cases, one has partially or fully torn ligaments on the big toe.  They wouldn't be able to walk without crutches and something would show up on X-rays.   Given that Beanie has been reported as walking without his cast as early as today.   I think everything will be OK.

That in mind, it may be a good idea to sit him for this next game.  That was a scary situation for all Buckeye Faithful!   Herron looked good in his backup role and InSaine was still nursing a sore hamstring.   Maurice Wells had some nifty runs mainly as a decoy for Pryor, which I thought went really well.  I expected more of a Pryor/InSaine interaction, but this will do.

2) Don't Bend It Like Boeckman. Early on in the game, I felt Boeckman was checking down and hitting his underneath receivers.  I got the sense that later in the game he started to force the old deep ball down the middle of the field.  While this technique will work most of the time against lesser opponents, if he tries this against USC, he will get burned.  They will have the best D we face all year and have an even better secondary then we do.

To make matters worse, the P factor looked great for a freshman debut and I know for sure that there is a large OSU contingency already calling for Boeckman to step down.   I still think mixing Pryor in for few series/game is the best option we have right now.

3. Who'll emerge as the next deep pass threat? Hartline looked even better then last year.   He is definitely our clutch receiver.   Everything sticks to him.   Robo was brilliant down the line as well.  From what Small and Posey showed, I think we have answered our deep ball threat question.   Posey had some nice catches and moves which distinguish him from the other receivers.  He'll be an excellent target for Pryor moving forward.

4. Will the D line step it up? Can't say anything bad about the Defenses performance.   They seemed more focus then last year.   Wilson was a menace coming around from the outside and YSU was stymied all day.   Pretty nice considering we were short on DB's.

5. The P factor. My first impression of Pryor was "Wow he is special".   He audibled out of his first snap and just showed tremendous poise.   If he was nervous or doubting what to do, he never showed it.   He made moving with the ball look effortless and dragged defenders trying to tackle him.   We didn't really get to see him throw the deep ball and he doesn't seem to have much of a touch with the ball.  This may change, but I feel he needs s few more snaps before denoting him to first string.   Bottom line is that he has to be in a few series per game.  We will need both him and Beanie on the field for the SC game.  They will be the best 2 athletes from either team on the field by far.

Technorati Tags: Backup Role, Beanie Mom, Big Game, Big Toe, Crutches, Decoy, First Degree, First Game, First Glance, Grapevine, Herron, Interaction, Maurice Wells, National Championship, Own Pace, Receivers, Scary Situation, Torn Ligaments, Turf Toe, X Rays

After what many will call two disappointing losses in consecutive National Championship games, we are set to begin another season. Fortunately, we loss few people to the NFL draft. I am anxiously waiting to see the team get out and play and even more anxious about the upcoming USC game. Here are my top things to watch (in no particularly order): 1.) Beanie Wells at 100%. Coaches have been saying that at times last year he was playing only at 70% health. I shutter to think what he'll be like running completely healthy. It'll also be great to have InSaine thrown into the mix as a nice change up. Hopefully Mo Wells will stop falling down as soon as someone touches him. 2) Don't Bend It Like Boeckman. It seemed late in the season that Boeckman forced the ball into the middle of the field into double coverage. That burned us quite a bit. I remember hearing him say that it's the receiver's job to come down with the ball in those situations. Not only does that throw another player under the bus, there's no ownership on Boeckman's part. What about checking down to someone else? How does this make Boeckman a leader to follow? I really hope that he's been working on his technique for these situations. From what I hear about the Spring game, he was making the same mistakes... If he hasn't improved, there'll be way too much pressure to throw Joe Bauserman or Terrelle Pryor into the mix. 3. Who'll emerge as the next deep pass threat? I love Robo and Hartline. They are both quality possession receivers. I do seem to remember though that they weren't exactly burning the LSU DB's. We really needed Small to step up last year. Hopefully this year, Small, Sanzenbacher and/or Devier Posey will step up as legit deep ball receivers. This will only make Robo and Hartline so much better. 4. Will the D line step it up? Yes, we had the best defense in the country last year, but the interior of the D Line seemed to not be penetrating and/or forcing turnovers. We have the same group returning this year and hopefully, with experience, we'll have improved play by this bunch. The rest of the defense is scary good (provided the DB's stay out of trouble). I really believe one of the keys to beating the likes of USC this year is to pressure their inexperienced backfield. If we can disrupt the USC backfield enough, that'll keep it out of the hands of their WRs. 5. The P factor. Terrelle Pryor is the 3rd McDonalds All American we've recruited in the last 5 years. The other 2 have helped the team immediately upon joining: Ted Ginn and Beanie Wells. Will Terrelle have immediate success? Or will he follow the path of say Ron Curry at UNC? We had some explosiveness when InSaine joined the team, imagine what havoc Terrelle would wreak in the red zone if he can add immediate help. I just saw posted that the initial assessment on Pryor is that he looks similar to the pre-Heisman Troy Smith, eager to run first. He has however done some unbelievable stuff within practice... we won't know until we see him in one of these earlier games.

Technorati Tags: Backup Role, Big Game, Big Toe, Championship Games, Consecutive National Championship, Crutches, D Line, Decoy, Devier Posey, Double Coverage, First Degree, First Game, First Glance, Game 1, Grapevine, Hasn, Health, Herron, Interaction, Job, Joe Bauserman, Losses, Lsu, Maurice Wells, National Championship, Nfl Draft, Own Pace, Possession, Receivers, Scary Situation, Shutter, Spring Game, Terrelle Pryor, Torn Ligaments, Turf Toe, Usc Game, X Rays