Granted it was against Northwestern, but they were a top 25 team.  Northwestern tried initially to do the same thing that Penn State did to us which was make Pryor beat you with the pass.   However, this time he delivered some incredible passes showing how much of a dual threat he is.  Could it be that Pryor is just now getting acclamated to the college game or just that Tressel decided that we had nothing to lose and just let it all hang out.   Either way the results were impressive.

The O Line played pretty well, but again there weren't huge holes for Wells to run through.  This week, though, Wells created something out of nothing.  Where was that against Penn State as well?   There were enough incredible plays between Wells and Pryor that I left the game scratching my head.... what could we have been if these two played like this the earlier part of the year?

The Defense had some issues with the mobile QB, but it still was a dominating performance.   

Way too many personal fouls by seniors who should have known better.  I guess they needed to vent their frustration?!?

All in all, we still have a shot at the Big Ten title thanks to Iowa and a shot at a BCS bid.

Technorati Tags: Buckeyes, College Game, Dominating Performance, Dual Threat, Frustration, Heck, Holes, Nice Game, Penn State, Personal Fouls, Qb, Seniors, Something Out Of Nothing, Wow

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.

Technorati Tags: Blow Out, Elite Status, Foot Injury, Fumble, Gameplan, Good Games, Good Year, Great Game, Heck, Last Saturday, Lumps, National Tv, Offensive Line, Penn State, Psu, Saturday Evening, Straight National Championship, Thaddeus Gibson, Trenches, Woes

Pryor is the real deal.   He has so much upside, its scary.   The poise he showed in crunch time showed should send fear to the rest of the Big 10.   He is a freshman after all.   Granted he made some mistakes, but the fact he drove us down the field with the game on the line and won it on the road in Wisconsin  is quite impressive. 

Seeing Beanie run as he did is quite encouraging as well.   One does have to worry about his overall health.  He does seem to get beat up and have to play through a lot of pain.

The offensive line played better than I have seen them play all year.   Still not as dominate as they should be, but better.   That in itself is encouraging and hopefully the trend will continue.

Our main problem is the lack of a D line.   They haven't shown any improvement and seem to be dominated by whomever we are playing.   The line was a sieve through most of the game, allowing Wisconsin to move the ball at will.   We won't stand a chance against a better team (such as Penn State) or any of the top 5 teams in the country.   It appears that Gholstein was much more of an impact then we gave him credit.   Wilson was supposed to be a worthy replacement, but hasn't seem to fill the role yet.

In addition, our receiving corp is average at best without a true burner.   We have our great route runners (Robo and Hartline) and our clutch guy (Hartline), but no speedster to clear the DB's.   In every game, the opposing DB's seem to have no problem staying step for step with our guys.  

I just don't see us being able to keep pace with a top team.   It appears more and more that the media has been correct in their assessment of the Big 10 being down the last few years and that OSU have been the recipients of this down time.   Some people have said this is the best team Tressel has ever had, but it appears more and more that the 2002 team may be his best team.   We just seem to be missing the hunger that that team had back then.

With any luck, Penn State will stay undefeated and we can secure a victory over them.   The national media absolutely loves this team and beating them would definitely restore us to some prominence.   It probably won't be enough for this year, but at least get us going in the rght direction.

Technorati Tags: Clutch, Crunch Time, D Line, Freshman, Hartline, Hasn, Media Darling, National Championship, Offensive Line, Opponent, Penn State, Poise, Pundits, Real Deal, Runners, Sieve, Speedster, Spite, Wit, Worthy Replacement

In the end, making Pryor the starting QB is the correct thing to do.  We needed a spark and a leader and it appears he is providing on both fronts.   There will be some bumps (hopefully minor) along the way, but the dividends will be huge (in possibly 1 year).   Pryor teamed with a healthy Wells will be an unstoppable duo in the backfield.   We should get use to the large yardage on the ground amassed by them.    Just think about it, in their respective recruiting years, both Pryor and Wells were the #1 recruits in the country and McDonald's all Americans.  The main question is whether we will develop a passing game.  Pryor has shown incredible arm strength so far, but needs to use it.   Additionally, we hear players (Wells in particular) ranting and raving about what he brings to the offense.   I don't recall comments like this from players regarding Boeckman.

It's apparent that the National media needs much convincing before they will back the Buckeyes.   This year may very well be lost.   If we can play well and beat Wiisconsin at Camp Randell that will go a long way to helping us.   Of course, with the National media gooing over Penn State, it would be nice to beat then at our place if they remain undefeated.

Technorati Tags: Arm Strength, Backfield, Big Games, Blogs, Buckeyes, Camp Randell, Dividends, Gooing, Lost, Mcdonald, Passing Game, Penn State, Qb