Buckeye Outpost

Yet again, the Buckeyes are Big Ten champs.  I really didn't think we would pull it off this year, but we managed to do it!  Now we have the bitter sweet task of dealing with Michigan this week.  While we wait all year for this game, we don't want it to be here because it signals the end of the regular season for us.  As always, this game will be tough (regardless of the records) and shouldn't be taking lightly.  In fact, this whole hub bub about the throw back uniforms is too much a distraction for my likes.  This is the Michigan game after all!

A few comments about last week's victory are needed.  Iowa's strength all year has been their Line play, so a close game was completely expected.  Every team rises to play us and, yes the Iowa freshman QB played lights out for most of the game.  In the end, he is a freshman and they paid for it.  I am not sure why so many people are disgruntled about going to the Rose Bowl and winning the Big 10.  Yes Tressel played conservatively and he had some good reasons.  The running game was strong again which is very surprising.  Pryor didn't have to make any big decisions and that is the key point.  Did you really want to see Pryor chucking the ball all over the field against the Iowas defense?  Did you really want to have Pryor run the 2 minute drill at the end of the game (have you forgotten the USC and Purdue debacles at the end of the games or the practice 2 minute drill against Indiana where he threw a pick in the endzone)?  I think Tress knew what he was doing when he opted to go into OT and then opted to kick the field goal.  The game shouldn't have made it to OT and probably wouldn't have if not for the Iowa kick off return and tipped ball which Iowa caught. 

We really need to celebrate what we have which is a winning coach and, yes, we will start winning these big games again.  It really comes down to player execution.  Tress does play the odds and he does win 0.800 of his games.

UM has a lot to prove this weekend and still has the best offense in the league.  If our offense doesn't show up to play then we could be in for a lot of trouble thiw weekend.  We shoudl never sleep on UM.

Go Bucks!

Technorati Tags: Big Games, Buckeyes, Champs, Distraction, Endzone, Execution, Field Goal, Freshman Qb, Hub Bub, Key Point, Michigan Game, Odds, Ot, Purdue, Rose Bowl, Running Game, Some Good Reasons, Throw Back, Uniforms, Usc

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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

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Well, the season is officially over for most Buckeye fans.  We still have the Big11 to play for and it somehow seems hollow.  Most people thought we would reload like USC or Florida does and the way the Defense was playing early on, it appeared to be so.  After last weekends complete and utter collapse, its now a Rebuilding cause for next year.  If Gibson (big if) stays, we'll have 18 returning starters next year and may be back in the hunt.

We'll start with the biggest surprise, the defense didn't come to play.  Hand it to Purdue, they had a quarterback who could throw on the run and they spread the offense out.  Our defense just looke tired and couldn't close on the Purdue play makers.   Make no mistake, every remaining foe will try to do the same thing to us and some might suceed.

The offensive line might have well not even taking the field, they were letting everything get by them.  Our running game never really got off the ground (Purdue was daring us to pass) and Pryor made some bad decisions.  Until Pryor can learn to throw and make good choices, we will face this against every team we play.  Every ome thought we were getting an improved version of Troy Smith and so far all we got is another Steve Bellisari. 

Tressel's refusal to bench Pryor for even a series and unwillingness to say anything negative about Pryor suggests that kid gloves need to be used when addressing him.  He's more a prima dona than a player and that is apparent.  We can't light a fire under him to motivate and have to wait for him to develop.  The biggest question is do we have the patience and the answer is we have to.  Tressel has thrown his lot with this kid and we have to take it for the next 2 years.   He does have the potential to be something special and we have to wait for it.

The offensive line is as much to blame as Pryor is for our 92/119 offensive ranking.  Adams and Shugarts don't appear to have a grasp on the basics of blocking.  I'm tired of ranting about how Bollman needs to go, but whatever he is teaching them isn't working and something has to change.  We are getting 4 star recruits every year on the Oline and have little to show for it. 

Finally, there is no chemistry or emotion on the offense.  I don't see Pryor as a leader (to much into himself) .  Theres no decision to suceed at any cost and we are not imrpoving (regressing actually) on offense,

There's too much to fix in order for us to have an offense which even resembles Northwestern's.

Technorati Tags: Bad Decisions, Bench, Buckeye Fans, Foe, Gibson, Grasp, Kid Gloves, Offensive Line, Ome, Patience, Prima Dona, Purdue, Running Game, Shugarts, Starters, Steve Bellisari, Tressel, Troy Smith, Usc, Utter Collapse

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By far this was the best game the team played all year.   We had rhythm on offense and were dominant on defense.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised by our performance.   This by all appearances was the team we were supposed to have this year.
Pryor and Wells were impressive on offense.   They seemed to be in a better rhythm then when we saw them against Purdue.   The same play which burned us last year against Illinois seems to be our new bread and butter for Pryor/Wells combo.   Pryor has the option to hand the ball off to a cutting Wells or he can fake the opposite direction from Wells.   Pryor can then choose to run it himself or dump it to a short receiver.   It juked the MSU defense for most of the game.  I expect we'll see this against PSU.  Another encouraging sign happened early in the game when Wells reversed field and was running for a first down.   Pryor saw what he was doing and opted to block for him completing knocking the DB he was blocking on his back.   This kind of effort from a quarterback will go a long way with both sides of the ball and shows what type of player Pryor is.   I also have to mention the array of stiff arms that both Pryor and Wells displayed on Saturday.   I still don't think there's a defense that can stop these two (except of course what goes on in Terrelle's head).
The offense line seemed to finally be playing well together.   I had thought that Brewster was out for the game, but saw he had the start at center.   My rule of thumb is that I have to see something occur three times in a row for it to be legitimate, so we still have 2 more games to see if this is a trend or just a fluke.
The defense had another dominating performance.   Lauranitis was everywhere and played like the dominant player we expect him to be.   This was mainly due to the penetration the D line was able to get in the backfield.   Again, the jury is still out on the D line.   One more solid performance and we can say things are finally clicking for this group.   Jenkins and Chekwa had excellent games as well.  I just hope that Chekwa is back for next week's matchup.
PSU's strength is both of their lines and their receiving corp.   They just wear teams down by the second half and dominat in the final 2 quarters.   We always match up well with PSU and this year will be no exception.   I feel that the last 2 years the main difference was quarterback play.   We could always count on Morelli to do something incredibly stupid to help us win the game.   This year we don't have that luxury.   Daryll Clark is a smart QB and rarely makes mistakes.   At the same time, I don't think PSU has seen a strong defense all year, so pressuring Clark is key to victory here.   Their receiving corp is very fast, so we'll have our hands full guarding them.   Again, this game comes down to the trenches.   Whichever team controls the trenches, will win this game. 
I am really hoping that a trend is established in this game on both defense and offense which will propel us for the rest of the year.

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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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