Men of the Scarlet and Gray

I’m Your Huckleberry – Ohio State wins, 45-7

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We’re coming to you LIVE from 6,464 feet above sea level with the first game recap of the 2010 season! Ohio State was the tuberculosis to Marshall’s Doc Holliday (see what I did there?) and dominated from the opening kickoff, ultimately prevailing by a final score of 45-7.

Before the game I had predicted a final score somewhere around OSU 27, Marshall 20 because of all the crappy games the Buckeyes had thrown up to begin seasons past. I’m overjoyed to say that I was wrong. Horribly, embarrassingly wrong. There were a few problems, as I will discuss shortly, but overall I don’t see too many things that a Buckeye fan can really get too angry about.

ESPN boxscore

Positives
Total Offense: Ohio State – 529, Marshall 199

Turnovers : Marshall – 3, Ohio State – 0

Brandon Saine looked like a man possessed, kicking ass and taking initials (because he didn’t have time to take names) to the tune of 103 yards rushing on 9 carries in the first half. For someone who had pretty high expectations to start his career at Ohio State followed by a lowering of those expectations based on performance, it’s nice to see him looking like the franchise back many people thought he was capable of being.

TP looked very, very good, especially in the first half of the game. I can only think of one or two throws he made that made me want to throw up – a significant improvement over last year’s season opener. If he can continue to play like this for the rest of the season, I – for one – will be very happy, and I think the rest of you will be too.

Was it just me, or did Brian Rolle look like a mini-sized Usain Bolt on his second quarter TAINT (Touchdown After INT)? Who knew Mighty Mouse was so fast?

Jamaal Berry looked promising on the last drive of the game. It could be that Marshall was just ready to go home, but his play inspired those of us watching the game at 6464 Lounge and Sports Book to say “Holy Crap, that dude is f*&%ing fast!”

Negatives
The special teams looked really, really bad – aside from the fumble force and recovery on the opening kickoff – in the first half. I will contend that Marshall’s one touchdown was pretty lucky. Had the blocked kick gone in ANY direction other than the one it did, we would be talking about the shutout Ohio State pitched tonight. Nevertheless, it was an ugly play that followed a partially blocked extra point, a breakdown in kickoff coverage, and an almost-shanked extra point.

The Buckeyes committed seven penalties – but the standard of fairness obliges me to point out that two of those were false starts by a true freshman during the final drive of the fourth quarter. Still, OSU’s at-least-five-year-long streak of having their starting left tackle commit at least one false start penalty still lives. Dammit.

Thoughts
I have to admit, I was quite the Negative Nancy going into this game. The Buckeyes, for whatever reason, have seemed to come out halfhearted in their opening game the last few years and I expected the 2010 edition to be more of the same. Don’t get me wrong, I still thought they’d win. I just thought it would be closer than most expected.

It may be the excessive amount of Miller Lite Home Draft I imbibed this evening, but I’m feeling decently about the season after tonight’s game. Hopefully the rest of you are too.

Live Chat – Marshall vs. Ohio State

I didn’t have time to get the embedded code for this week’s chat, so you can head over to The Buckeye Battle Cry or use this thread for chatter for the Marshall game.

Let’s Get READY

Congrats to mannycincy, whose preview hype video, “Ohio State Buckeyes 2010 Hype Video,” has taken first in the Men of the Scarlet and Gray Preview Video Throwdown. Embedded below as we wait the final 30+ minutes to kickoff.

LETS GO BUCKS!

Week #1: Marshall University – Preview and Open Thread

And so it begins.

The season is finally upon us and the first game of the year is against the Thundering Herd of Marshall University. First, lets get the funny out of the way. Marshall hired a new coach and I swear to Woody Hayes his name is DOC HOLLIDAY (Insert your favorite Tombstone reference here)

“Why Ike Marshall, whatever do you mean? Maybe poker’s football’s just not your game, Ike Marshall. I know! Let’s have a spelling contest!”

Jim Tressel is very familiar with the Marshall Thundering Herd. As the OSU head coach, he faced (and vanquished) them in the 2004 thriller that needed a monster field from Mike Nugent. Previously, Tressel faced them while the coach at Youngstown State, beating them twice for the Division 1-AA championship. The talent level will be tad higher in this game.

Marshall is returning fourteen starters, seven each on either side of the ball. Last year they finished 7-6 out of Conference USA. Under their first year coach they are going to run a spread type offense (Tyler T at Along the Olentangy has a little more detail about Marshall’s possible offensive schemes) and try as they will I imagine they will struggle like most first year head coaches do.

On offense, the quarterback will be a former Mr. Football in the state of Florida, A.J. Graham. He has a stud wide receiver to throw to in Antavious Wilson who, as a freshman last year, caught 60 passes for 724 yards which earned him freshman All-American honors. They haven’t settled on a starting running back yet but they did run well the last few years so whoever it is will be capable.

On defense, they are led by linebacker Mario Harvey who last year had 117 tackles and 7 sacks. The defense as a whole was solid last year holding opponents to 24 points per game. There best cornerback was recently kicked off the team for his third arrest. That should bode well for the first outing of OSU’s passing attack.

There you have it folks, a little info on the team who proudly chant ” WE ARE …… MARSHALL”.

Having said all that and knowing Ohio State is a far superior team (currently favored by 28.5 points) here are the questions we need to answer in the first game of the year.

1. Who will be our leading rusher in this game Boom, Zoom or Pryor?
2. Will Terrelle Pryor throw for +/- 250 yards?
3. How many turnovers will the defense get?
4. Which defensive player makes the biggest impact on this game?
5. Final Score Prediction?

This week’s Predict the Score contest is sponsored by The City Pool, purveyor of fine, quality Ohio sports-themed T-shirts. They have offered up as a prize one of their excellent Ohio Pride t-shirts, which for my money is one of the better t-shirts out there for the discerning OSU fan. Sublime in its simplicity, I will be picking one up (since MotSaG staff is not eligible to win) and wearing it proudly around town. Since your chances of predicting the final score are slim, I suggest you head over and pick one up as yourself.

el Kaiser says
1. I think Saine is poised for a huge year – Saine
2. under 250 for Pryor (we’ll be well ahead and he’ll be on the bench before he gets to 250)
3. 2 TO’s (2 INTs)
4. Johnny Simon makes his presence known
5. OSU 37 Marhsall 0

Sylvester-Yon Rambo says
1. Boom will lead us this game with 125 yards
2. I say over 250 yards as he will have 2 or 3 long TD throws early
3. 3 TO’s (1 Fumble and 2 INT’s)
4. Jermale Hines has a pick 6
5. OSU 52 Marshall 3

sportsMonkey says
1. Zooooommm Saine
2. Pryor will be pulled way before he reaches 250, unless the Bucks are in trouble (in which case he wouldn’t be reaching 250 anyway)
3. First games tend to be sloppy, I figure at least 2. Hopefully Homan gets his first INT of the year.
4. Homan
5. I know we’re all “rah-rah Pryor” after the Rose Bowl, but let’s not forget his history with spotting opposing teams at least 7pts a game due to INTs or fumbles. Hopefully he won’t have that problem this year, but all I have to go on is history at this point. OSU spots them a score, they earn another score or two on their own: OSU 31-13.

Big Ten Divisions to be released today?

In one of the worst secrets ever kept since the one about el Kaiser likes to wear womens clothes in his “private time” multiple sources are leaking out info on the release of Big Ten Divisions today.

Here they are:

• Losers Division
  • Michigan
  • Nebraska
  • Iowa
  • Michigan State
  • Northwestern
  • Minnesota
• Winners Division
  • Ohio State
  • Penn State
  • Wisconsin
  • Purdue
  • Indiana
  • Illinois

Before everyone gets their panties in a tight wad there are pros and cons to this alignment and at least in private we MOTSAGers have discussed or fought over them since Nebraska announced they are joining the conference.

I know the vast majority of Buckeye fans are going to hate seeing this and expect THE GAME to be move and affected in a negative way. I hope everyone will at least look at the big picture of the good of the conference which I feel is just as important as our own team’s importance. We aren’t the Big 12 or MWC and every decision made is made for the betterment of every member institution and not just the best programs.

I can’t imagine OSU and scUM will be the last game of the year and then a possible rematch in the CCG but no schedule has been released yet so you never know. (Updated, see below)

Look at it this way and you can start to see why they split us this way. The last weekend of the regular season will include these games OSU vs PSU, scUM vs MSU, Indiana vs Purdue, Illinois vs Northwestern, Wisky vs Minnesota, and Iowa vs Nebraska…… That is a tremendous lineup of games that will make the B10 extremely relevant and important on the last week. It also sets up a OSU vs Nebraska or scUM Conference Championship Game every year with PSU getting to go once every 25 years or so.

Bottom line fellow Buckeye fans is when we decided to expand as a conference we all agreed to change. We have no idea if this is good or bad change for at least 4-5 years. I fully expect more changes and more expansion in those 4-5 years.

Stay calm and remember it doesnt really matter when THE GAME is or what division we are in. We just have to win every game we play and we will be OSU.

Update:

Just announced on Big Ten Network that tonight at 7 PM Commish Jim Delaney will announce live on the Big Ten Network the conference divisions.

Another Update:

According to ESPN Big Ten Blogger Adam Rittenberg:

Several signs point toward the Ohio State-Michigan game remaining on the final Saturday of the regular season. We’ll know for sure tonight, as athletic directors Gene Smith (Ohio State) and Dave Brandon (Michigan) will appear on the Big Ten Network’s announcement show.

The Dispatch is reporting that 97.1 FM radio station is reporting that THE GAME will remain as the last game of the season

RUMOR ALERT:

I cant confirm with a link but rumors are flying that only Divisional games will count toward going to the CCG.

2010 NCAA Helmet Schedule

Because you need help planning the next 13+ Saturdays in advance, here is your 2010 NCAA Helmet Schedule.

This year it was a little hard to come by a schedule that didn’t have a million embedded links, so big thanks to MGHelmets.com. They actually have an interactive, hyperlinked schedule if that’s your fancy, which you can find here. My schedule linked above has the intralinks removed because I don’t like them.

Maybe you do.

Tom Skladany days left

As we come to the end of our countdown to gameday I would be remiss if I didnt honor what has become tOSU greatest position. Maybe we arent LBu or RBu or QBu but we can now and forever be known as Punter U. Mr. Skladany was one of our greatest ever and really he was a trend setter. He paved the way for some of the greatest punters ever in CFB the likes of Tom Tupa and Andy Groom and A J Trappaso and many others. Thank you Mr. Skladany for all you have done to make Tressel Ball an acceptable form of coaching.

State of the Blog, 2010 version

So I’ve never really done one of these before, but here we are at the beginning of the fifth season that has been chronicled here at Men of the Scarlet and Gray. I figured I would take a second to step back see what’s gone on and what we’ve got on tap going in to this season.

First of all, if you’re new to the site, Welcome! Drop a note in the comments how you found the site and what you think. Whether it was following a link from another site, from a Facebook or Twitter link or Google search, we salute you. You can learn a little more about the site, including our commenting policy (updated!) and our writers (hint: some of the writers need to update their blurbs). If you’ve been around for the last few years we thank you. We have the best readers in world.

As for the next few months, content here will take on a consistent schedule. We won’t be deviating from the format during the season we’ve had in the past. We’ll have game previews and reviews, we’ll have open threads and prognosticating contests and we’ll be reporting and commenting on most comings and goings in Buckeyeland. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing for the actual games each week. Last year we participated in the Live chats that a handful of sites participated in and had quite a good time. For now, we’ll probably continue that trend unless something else presents itself.

We’re also social. We love social networks! They provide so much, especially when you get essentially unfettered, uncensored access to people (athletes) we watch every Saturday. So that’s why I’ve got a Twittering Buckeyes page so you can see what current and former Buckeyes are on Twitter and what interesting or inane things they’re saying. You can catch some of us on Twitter (I’m i_aint_yer_pa, sportsMonkey is monkeyPi and YNBA is teamyzerman). Follow us! We also have a Facebook Page, because it’s 2010 and your dog has a Facebook page. For the love of all that is holy, Like us!

Another thing I wanted to mention was the increase in new OSU blogs that have entered (and promptly left) the Ohio State Blogoshoe in the past few months. I’m sure you’re aware of the new Sports Nation blog, Along the Olentangy (I would have went with “On the banks of the Olentangy” but that would be a rather unwieldy URL). Other new sites that have appeared on the Blogroll recently include Inside The Shoe, The Ohio Sports Journal (which is edited by a good friend of mine) and The Duane Long Report (I know Duane’s been around for a while but I just recently started following his blog). And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our good friends over at uber OSU blog Eleven Warriors just went through a major overhaul of their site.

So where does that leave us? I don’t know if it came through the past year or two, but the monkey and I got pretty burned out blogging about the Buckeyes. As anyone will tell you, it ain’t easy to do this week in week out. We have real jobs (and are doing EVERYTHING we can to keep said jobs). That’s why I brought on three new bloggers in the last year or so. We needed an infusion of new blood and excitement and I think we’ve accomplished that goal. I also think the monkey and I are getting back into the groove. At least we hope we are.

So that’s where we are on College Football Eve’s eve. Is it Thursday yet?

(Also: Don’t forget to vote for your favorite preview video! The polls close tomorrow!)

Awesome players days left

Question For The Masses

Wow. Three days from this very moment I’ll be on my basement couch, having rocked Hey Buckeyes! on the stereo all day with my Block O flag hanging off the front porch of my house. I don’t know about anyone else, but I plan on tearing through the bulk of a 24-pack of some inexpensive domestic brew and yelling at my projector screen for a good three hours Thursday night.

In short, I’m so excited about the opening of college football season I could crap my pants.

Which leads me – if a bit graphically – to something that occurred to me the other day. My kids got their OSU jerseys for this season via UPS – a white #2 for my daughter and a red #1 for my son*. I have watched College Gameday probably every Saturday since its inception and one thing that always sticks out to me watching games in Columbus vs. other places is the sheer number of people rocking the Buckeyes’ jerseys on game day. And I’m one of the worst, with a personal collection that has included the following:

• #11 (Antoine Winfield)
• #8 (Steve Bellisari – err… Drew Carter)
• #16 (Dr. Krenzel) – although this one wasn’t a Nike jersey and it used to piss me off because the stripes on the sleeves were wrong, so I only had this jersey for about 3 weeks.
• #7 (Teddy Ginn, Joe Germaine, Joey Galloway)
• #10 (St. Troy)
• #28 (Beanie)
• #2 (Cris Carter, Mike Doss, TP)

So I guess I have a bit of a personal stake in thinking the jersey-as-gameday-uniform is one of the unique little twists that OSU has.

* – an aside for those of you without kids: Jerseys are expensive and kids grow too fast for one to last more than two seasons, tops. It freaking sucks. But we do what we must to remain true to tradition.

I haven’t done any in-depth research on this – just in case any member of the A-Team feels obligated to jump into the comments and point this out – but it seems to me that this is the case. I know for a fact that at Air Force games very few fans rock the jersey, which isn’t really saying much. Most Air Force fans are like the good natured little league parents, cheering for any big play, no matter which team had it, bringing jello-molds and Rice Krispie Treats to the games, and hoping to go home knowing that darn it, everyone just had a really good time. I drop more f-bombs between my bed and the alarm in the morning than the entire capacity of Falcon Stadium does during a game against Navy or Army. But I digress…

Can anyone else think of a college football team whose supporters wear their team’s jerseys in similar proportion to ours? Does anyone else go along with my “white jerseys are for girls, scarlet jerseys are for guys” mantra? Am I just partially insane or full-blown bat-s#&@ crazy? And is Marshall as good on offense as they are if you’re playing them in NCAA 11 on All-American or Heisman difficulty?

I leave these questions to you.

Player and depth chart updates

This is some tidbits from the ESPN Big Ten Blog with info on updates about the Buckeyes.

Junior defensive end Nathan Williams, a projected starter, will miss the Marshall game with a knee injury. He should be back shortly thereafter. Solomon Thomas will start in Williams’ spot Thursday night.

Starting cornerback Chimdi Chekwa (hamstring) is questionable for the Marshall game, but corner Devon Torrence (hamstring) should be fine.

Sophomore C.J. Barnett’s strong performance in camp lifted him ahead of Orhian Johnson on the Week 1 depth chart. Johnson missed a chunk of camp with an injury.

Start salivating, Buckeyes fans, because running backs Jordan Hall and Jaamal Berry likely will handle kickoff returns against Marshall.

Hopefully this info will help with any questions about injuries and depth chart. Stil waiting to see who is listed as the no. 2 QB and how much Tyler Moeller will play.

Ohio State lands Florida St. transfer?

According to Taurian Washington his former high school teammate Dionte Allen from Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Marys will become a Buckeye. The cornerback from Florida State was a highly touted recruit and chose FSU over OSU originally but has had a injury riddled past and apparently left the team over playing time this year. He will have one year of eligibility left next year after sitting out this year.

No one from OSU admissions office has confirmed this story as of yet.

Previewing the 2010 Ohio State Buckeyes [Bumped]

With a little more than seven three weeks to go, we are going to do something we haven’t done in a couple years – write season previews. Bringing the majority of the writing will be our newest member, Johnny Utah. For the weeks leading up to the season, we will be looking at the major positions for the 2010 Ohio State football team. This particular post is will serve as a central location for our previews.

Offensive Line
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Quarterbacks

Defensive Line
Linebackers
Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Season Preview

The plan is to have a preview for each position go live every Monday when they’re done. Further blogging will continue as sporadic as usual in full force now that the season is nigh upon us.

Quarterbacking [2010 Season Preview]

As Terrelle Pryor drops back to pass he locks onto Devier Posey, Posey is open as he makes his break. Pryor pats the ball 4 times and throws a wobbly pass to a now covered Mr. Posey. The pass is easily broken up and could have been picked.

As Buckeye fans, we’ve all witnessed this before.

Terrible mechanics, bad decision making, locking onto receivers, patting the ball, running toward the sideline instead of straight up the field and saying the most random and ridiculous things during post game interviews…no offense to Michael Vick.

Those are just some of the negatives that have come with Terrelle Pryor being the Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback the past two seasons.

With all that said and with all that is…or was wrong with Pryor, he led the Buckeyes to 2 BCS bowl games, 2 Big Ten Titles, 2 wins over Michigan, 1 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and 1 Rose Bowl MVP. He did all of that because whenever he steps onto the field he is the best athlete on it.

Now…just imagine if he learns how to throw the ball on a more consistent basis? If the Rose Bowl was any indication, he is moving in the right direction. That’s not to say he is Dan Marino with Vince Young’s legs…that would be gross.

Pryor has improved every facet of his game and that is a bad thing for the rest of the Big Ten. Based on what I’ve watched from the Oregon beat down until now, Pryor will be a much better and more complete quarterback.

With all of Pryor’s physical gifts, this transformation didn’t start with his athletic ability. It started between his ears. He was dedicated himself to becoming a better leader. Just ask Tyler Moeller.

"Terrelle is a great player," Moeller said, responding to a question about Pryor’s claim that he’ll return to Ohio State as a senior in 2011. "It’s a huge difference from when he first got here to now, his maturity and how he became a leader.

"I think when he first got here, I don’t think too many people liked him, really. He was kind of a punk. But now I have the utmost respect for him. He’s a great player and a great leader and I’d follow him into battle any day."

“I’d follow him into battle any day.”

Because of Pryor’s growth this year, Jim Tressel will trust him far more with the offense. Leading up to the Rose Bowl, Pryor had an outstanding couple weeks of practice and showed Tressel that Pryor could be trusted with a more diversified offense. We all saw what #2 did against the best team in the Pac 10 and by all accounts he is even better now.

Trust is a big thing with Jim Tressel when it comes to his quarterbacks. Troy Smith wasn’t always a Heisman front runner. As a sophomore Smith split time at the QB position and was held back by Jim Tressel until the trust was there. Smith struggled until the Michigan game where he lit it up. He was then suspended for the bowl game for being an idiot but that season and Pryor’s sophomore season did have parallels.

Both played very average most of the time with flashes of brilliance. But after good practices, both were given a change to show what they could do and both delivered.

Smith went on to have an outstanding junior season, catapulting him into a Heisman his senior year. Pryor is not the natural passer Smith was, but he is a far better athlete. I do look for Pryor to have a big junior year on a team loaded at just about every position.

Look for Ohio State to throw the ball much more this year. Quicker decision making and the ability to read defenses will open up other facets of the Ohio State passing game. Jake Stoneburner and Brandon Saine should benefit from this more wide open offense. Devier Posey should be the #1 target again with Dane Sanzenbacher being Mr. Dependable.

This could be the year the Pryor cuffs finally do come off for good. In my mind, Pryor should throw for between 180-220 yards every game and run for another 50-120 yards a game. What Pryor does best is run the ball and that part of his game shouldn’t be taken away.

He is the key to Ohio States success this year and it is his time to silence his never ending sea of doubters and haters.

The Backups:

Joe Bauserman

Vs.

Kenny Guiton

It’s Bauserman vs. Guiton. I’ll make this short and sweet. Joe Bauserman cannot be trusted. He is a ginger and therefore evil to his core. Kenny Guiton has been impressive this offseason and could take away the backup job. But in Tressels world, it’s all about trust, and The Magic Ginger has been around a long time. One of these two may have to squeak out a win at some point this year as Terrelle Pryor has a bad knee and is a physical runner. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that because the Buckeyes are thin at the backup QB position.

But enough about the backups, we all know the season will come down to Terrelle Pryor. Like it or not, he will be given most of the credit and most of the blame for the success of the Buckeyes. Pryor is 6’6 240lbs, the best athlete on the field, has a cannon for an arm and by all accounts has finally learned how to play the position of quarterback. He is a defensive coordinators worst nightmare and will wreak havoc on every team he faces this fall.

Brandon “BAM” Childress days left