Troy Recap

I’m just now plugging in from pretty much an entire week of being off the grid. I haven’t seen what the chatter around the Buck-o-sphere is yet, but I imagine there are a few themes developing already. I read YNBA’s bit about a neutered offense, but here are a few more things from the OSU/Troy game:

• First and foremost, let’s all have a moment of silence for Todd Boeckman’s career at Ohio State. The dude never complained and never gave up but just didn’t have the tools. It’s a shame it ends like this, but I certainly hope it has ended. It leads me to my next point.
• Terrell Pryor is the deal. He is not the real deal. He is the deal that others will be compared against to ascertain their realness or lack thereof.

  He looked very good out there on Saturday. There are times when he makes moves that just leave defenders looking foolish. A simple shimmy-shake and he’s past two guys three different times. He is everything he was cracked up to be and I think there are hundreds of fans breathing a sigh of relief that he is worth it.

  

  Finally, all was not perfect. Yes, he threw four TDs but Pryor’s passing game has a lot of work to be done. His passes were floaty and bird-like. Most weren’t crisp and his delivery still makes me nervous. Still, four TDs are four TDs.

  All in all, Buckeye fans have a lot to be excited about. A young QB getting in some great time and really looking comfortable. It’s been said before, I’ll say it again — it’s 2004 all over again. Say hello to the future.

• Pryor looks good and extremely promising, but all is not well with the offense. Bollman and the entire offensive coaching staff needs revamping. Calling it predictable would be insulting to predictable offenses. I know this game was Tressel-ball in a nutshell (field position, special teams, low score) but I’m tired of Tressel-ball. I’m tired of I-formations when everyone in the stadium knows we’re going off-tackle. Mix it up. Pass on first, run bootlegs, ANYTHING. We have the most exciting freshman in the country. Unleash the beast.
• The offensive line. Ugh. It needs major work. It was good seeing freshmen get solid minutes but some of the upperclassmen need to step up the effort. In one play in particular, a simple option play looked promising at the outset until Person got blowed-up and pushed into the backfield, disrupting everything. Plays like this happen too often. The freshmen didn’t play perfectly, either, but hopefully the good will continue to outweigh the bad.
• Daniel “Boom” Herron is a little fireplug. Very fun to watch. He’s no Beanie, but then again, no one else is.
• As the monkey mentioned in the previous post, the defense still looks solid. Coleman and Hines are both looking extremely good. Freeman looked weak, however. Troy has an offense that is going to gain some yards but the defense did a good job keeping them out of the endzone.
• The punting game was about as effective as it gets. This needs to continue for the Buckeyes to have shots against Penn State and Wisconsin.

We’d love to hear some of your thoughts on the Troy game. Sorry for the late posting, but being away from an actual computer has been cathartic.