Buckeye Outpost

It really seems like last Fall when expectations were so high for the Buckeyes and everyone was convinced that Terrelle Pryor had progressed over the offseason to become that special player everyone thinks he is.  We thought that Tressel could work his magic like he did with Troy Smith and we'd all be toasting another Natty.  We quickly learned that Pryor had regressed and appeared robotic and clouded with too much thought in both the USC and Purdue games.  The national media all cites the "special" performance Pryor had in the Rose Bowl and how that can only bring him to greener pastures this year.  Unfortunately, it may have all gone to his head (as it did last year).  Read my last posting, if you want my impressions on the Rose Bowl.  It looks like there's too much hype again this year behind Pryor.

That said, this year's team my actually be slightly worse then last year's.  We've lost defensive linemen as well as our safeties.  Our receiving corp is depleted with the surprising losses of Carter and Thomas and our running game has depth, but no special backs.  The strength of the team will remain the defense and all of our hopes on offense lie with Pryor.

The problem and solution is that all of our hopes lie in the mind and ability of Pryor.   I'm guessing that we lose one game this year because of lack of discipline on offense.  He'll have another Purdue game and, since our backs are average, we'll have no one to bail him out on offense.  Therein lies the problem when all of our offense really keys on Pryor.  

There does appear to be some encouraging (or discouraging) news in the announced two deeps for Thursday night's game.  Many freshman are showing up.  This bodes well for our future, but doesn't say much for some of our middle classmen. 

In any event, my gues is we go 11-1 (with a silly loss to someone like Purdue) and are on the outside looking in again on the Natty.  I also think Pryor will have another disappointing season making him one of the biggest busts in OSU history.  Here's hoping I'll be eating some crow in 4 months....

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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.

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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!

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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.

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