I had to wait to watch the game on Saturday because of various personal conflicts.  I have a DVR, so it was no big deal to sit down and watch it later.  I made sure to tell everyone I saw to not tell me the score as the first thing I said to them.  The looks I received were quite comical.

In any event I sat down to watch the game and yada yada yada it was halftime and we were up 7-0.  My point is that the first half of the game was basically more of the same.  No real offensive explosion.  Pryor make a mix of good and bad plays and nothing to write home about, except for the one nice 18 play drive we had which failed with our missed field goal.  The lack of emotion from the offense was apparent and I thought Oh boy here we go again....

The short kickoff got Minnesota off guard and actually provided the spark we needed in the second half to dominate and win.  Both the running game (even with our 3rd and 4th RB's) and Pryor's overall play worked for us (granted we were playing the 9th best defense in the Big 11).  Two things really stood out in the game for me:  Posey has emerged as a big play maker and Martin was bowling people over up the middle).   I was shocked to see that an Ohio State offensive player was in the top 10 for any good category.  Posey finished with 161 yards which would have been more if he hadn't had a sure touchdown catch knocked away from him as he was turning.  Again Minnesota's defense ain't that good, but it was nice to see a RB running up the middle and taking people with him.  My feeling is this type of change of pace is necessary for us since the other 3 RB's we have are much better at moving on the edges.  Hopefully, Martin will continue to produce as we need some running help.  Kudos do go out to the O-line for not being the ole line from the prior two weeks. 

I am still more than a bit concerned about Terrelle Pryor.  Late last week he mentioned that the Purdue loss humbled him and that he was a new man.  What about the PSU loss last year or the USC loss earlier this year?  Why would it take last week's loss to change him?  In addition, after Jordan Hall scored a touchdown, Pryor looked to the sideline and Tressel pointed toward the endzone.  Pryor then sprinted down the field to congratulate Hall (who, by the way, was a highschool teammate of his).  The fact that Tressel had to prompt him to go down field shows you Pryor's attitude, me first.  I really hope that Tress can bring him around to being team first because that is what the team sorely lacks, an offensive leader who can hold players accountable. 

I do think that Pryor will ive up to his potential at OSU, but it may take 2 years to get there.  I don't see him as anything other then a QB and Tressel can be the best thing to happen to his career in the long run.  It's obvious that being a prima dona isn't going to get him where he needs to be at the college level and humility and hard work are the only routes to salvage his career.

Looking forward, things were incrementally better on offense this game and we need to make many more strides forward.  PSU remains the biggest challenge on our schedule.  Playing in Happy Valley will not be good for our offense and we will need some special plays to pull out a victory there.  I actually think Iowa will be a winnable game as they are not explosive on offense.  We have to be careful or yada yada yada the season will be over and we are at the Outback Bowl.

Technorati Tags: Change Of Pace, Dvr, Field Goal, Hadn, Kickoff, Kudos, Lack Of Emotion, New Man, Offensive Explosion, Offensive Player, Ohio State, Personal Conflicts, Posey, Psu, Purdue, Rb, Running Game, Second Half, Terrelle Pryor, Touchdown

PSU was just demolished by USC in the Rose Bowl a few moments ago.   The alleged second best Bowl Game was a joke.   SC showed itself to be the best team in the country.   I don't think anyone out ther could have beat them today.  Shocking that Oregon State was able to pull it off.   In general, the PAC 10 is looking stronger than expected.

Big12 has been struggling so far and it just appears that nobody in the Big12 can play any defense.   With each Big10 team playing tough in the other Bowl games, I still see Ohio State as an excellent matchup with Texas.   I have a feeling that if we can punch them hard with our "D", the game will work itself out for us.   The Defense has been playing well of late.  

Rumor has it that both Boeckman and Pryor will be in the backfield at the same time.  That should be enough to throw any Defense off tilt.  Considering Boeckman plays well with Robo and Hartline and Pryor has eyes for Sanzenbacher, somebody should be open.   A nearly healthy Wells will add to the confusion.

I envision another close low scoring contest here.   I've been watching the Big12 all year and they just don't play defense.

I just don't see Chohklahoma doing well against Florida, meaning we are stuck with that arrogant son of a gun Urban Meyer winning it again.  This will also leave us with the UT/OSU Bowl game as the best one of the season.  Hopefully we break this 2 year drought of not showing up for the bowl game.

Technorati Tags: Backfield, Big12, Boeckman, Bowl Game, Bowl Games, Confusion, Few Moments, Final Game, Hartline, Joke, Matchup With Texas, Ohio State, Oregon State, Pac 10, Psu, Rose Bowl, Son Of A Gun, Tilt, Urban Meyer, Year Drought

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.

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