Buckeye Outpost

The Buckeyes bid for a third straight national championship loss were ended last Saturday evening by Penn State.     You just had the feeling after the first half that this game was going to come down to a single play and it surely did.   Unfortunately that play went against the Buckeyes.   It really was a great game and we can be upset, but not that upset.   It wasn't the blow out we've seen on national TV that we've repeatedly seen.  

We do have a trend to report and this should be a message to all teams out there, our defense is back.  Where the heck did Thaddeus Gibson come from?   He was a force in the first half.   The supposedly balanced PSU offense lost the battle of the trenches and their "special" players didn't do I thing in this game.   Their trio of talented WR were held in check by our secondary.   I'd say the defense we thought we'd have all year is finally here to stay.

Unfortunately for us the offensive line woes continue to keep us from being a national power.   This same group for the most part has not lived up to its elite status.   Face it, we need to get new people in the mix and just move on taking the lumps in the process.

I still feel playing Pryor now will reap its benefits in the long term.   His fumble did cost us the game, but we weren't really dominant in the trenches anyway on offense.   We have to take the lumps, and wait for him to get better.   Wells looks mediocre sue to his foot injury.   Sure the line wasn't opening huge holes, but if Wells is the best back in the country, he finds holes from nothing.   PSU had the correct gameplan for us.   Force us to pass the ball and we didn't respond.   This exploited Pryor as a Freshman and shut down our whole offense.   I am still befuddled by the lack of a true deep threat receiver.   Sanzenbacher and Small did have good games.  Albeit you can see why Small drives the coaching staff crazy, he's going to get burned sometime with his special team play.

Reality is that we did have a favorable schedule last year and our team overachieved.   We now see that this team wasn't destined for a national championship, but still has some work to do.   This year was a disappointment and we need to move onward.   A trip to the Rose Bowl may be exactly what this team needs to get us back on track.   Of course, if we end up against USC again, it may be another rough outing.   Not sure if we'll get Wells back, but if he trully wants the Heisman trophy and wants to improve his draft status (which may be at a low now), he'll come back.

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Well folks its the halfway mark for this season and so far the Buckeyes haven't lived up to their potential!   This last game against Purdue just emphasized what we've been discussing this whole year.

1. Offensive Line was offensive.   Granted their were some plays where I saw holes big enough for a Mack truck to drive through (and Pryor optioned not to give Wells the ball), but there were too many missed blocks.   Rehring in particular looked bad.   The line has been shifted around a lot this year due to poor play and the lack of cohesion is evident from these switches.   To make matters worse, super freshmen Shugarts and Brewster are out for the next few games at least (Shugarts for the year probably). 
2. No spark in the offense.   Neither Pryor or Wells had good games.   We're basically down to Wells as the only productive back.   Please keep Mo Wells out of any more games.   He is worthless.   Hopefullty Saine (hamstring) and Herron (concussion) are able to come back.   But neither back has wowed me this year.   Pryor is showing that he is a true freshman.   I was hoodwinked into thinking he was Superman, but he is Superman with a conscious.   He's just thinking too much on the field.  He's a perfectionist and that has kept him from being anything but perfect.   He just needs to commit and not second guess it.  If he continues to play this way the next few games, we'll be stuck with Boeckman (and he has no problem chucking the ball into double coverage).  I swear I saw the slightest smirk on Boeckman's face when they pained to him during Pryor's troubles against Purdue.   I'm still waiting for the spark from a speedy receiver.  Bottom line is either you have speed or you dont and, folks, we ain't got it.
3. Defense finally played like the defense we've been expecting all year.   Maybe the light finally turned on for the D Line and we have turned the corner.   If so, then we will have a good couple of games.   Unfortunately, I think it's not.   We lost Wilson for the season.   With Rose filling in the gap, you can expect that light to dim significantly.  We'll need the same performances out of the secondary we just saw for the remainder if the year to have any hope of coming out of the next 2 games alive.   We also need to hear more from Lauranitis.  He has to show he is top 5 draft pick in these next few games.

This is the hump.   Our last two ranked opponents are before us and if destiny has us repeating for a third consecutive National Championship loss, then we have to rise against MSU and PSU.   If, somehow, we beat MSU convincingly and beat the media favorite Penn State, then the country will once again be forced to acknowlege us.   It makes no sense that we are consistently top 5 recruiting class year in and year out and not have the ability to simply reload.

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Technorati Tags: Boeckman, Bottom Line, Buckeyes, Cohesion, Concussion, D Line, Double Coverage, Freshmen, Good Games, Holes, Last Game, Mack Truck, Offensive Line, Perfectionist, Purdue, Shugarts, Smirk, Superman, Switches, True Freshman

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