Here, I don’t want this ball. You take it.

tp_purdue

I’m not really sure what I can say to make sense of that absolute implosion of a performance by the Ohio State offense. It just doesn’t make sense to me that we can score on a drive of four plays, where Brandon Saine runs and catches and goes wild and we never go back to it.

It is a breakdown of epic proportions. There is plenty of blame to go around on this one. The majority of that blame will be placed on Terrelle Pryor’s shoulders but he’s not alone. The offensive line played like they were over matched by an undersized Purdue defensive line.

The coaches deserve their fair share of the blame because they clearly did not prepare the team for the Boilermakers.

The refs are not blameless, but here again the coaches need to be aware that they need to pressure the officials when the occasion calls for it. If the correct call on the forced fumble is made, the tone and momentum of the game completely changes. Who knows what happens after that.

And I am in NO WAY blaming Doug Worthington for this loss, but that face mask was just painful. It was a shame the game ended that way. Other Buckeyes were in position to stop that play well short of a first down and we get the ball back with a minute plus. But who knows what happens. We should never have been in a position like that.

A complete institutional breakdown. How a team with as much talent as the Buckeyes have is in a situation like this is simply mind boggling.

I don’t know what else to add. Congrats to Purdue for game planning and playing out of their minds.

The Buckeyes (and their fans) have a lot of soul-searching to do this week.

Comments

  1. Jon Gruden as Ohio State coach – Do you agree with me it’s time for Jim Tressel to go and for Jon Gruden to take over. Jim has a special player in Terrelle Pryor who is getting worse not better. It’s Jon Gruden time! Let’s make it happen!

  2. el Kaiser,

    I don’t even know where to begin. Yes, I will lay this one at Pryor’s feet. Two interceptions are pretty bad, but two fumbles are inexcusable. His “ball protection” abilities are pathetic. Let’s add five sacks as well. Evidently if you are an “athletic” QB, you don’t need escapability. Up to this point, I was in the camp of “well, TP is an athlete trying to play QB, a la Troy Smith, let’s be patient.” I’ve been wrong; TP is no more a D-1 QB than you nor I.

    I’m concerned about the Tressel approach to football; I’ve had enough of this “and so forth” bullshit. What we are seeing is the ‘Cooperization’ of the OSU program; a head coach that can recruit with anyone, but seemingly can’t in-game coach with anyone.

    I truly feel sorry for the defensive team of OSU. They are a talented bunch of young men who play with heart game in and game out. They deserve much more than this.

    I followed the game via internet (ESPN gamecast), so I missed the nuances of actually watching the game. I guess two questions that I have are: when the easrly running game with Saine seemed to be working well, why did we abandon it? and on defense, did we blitz at all?

    I’m looking at 1-2 more regular season losses. I’d be hard pressed to put this offense on the field against a good high school team right now.

  3. Dear Terrelle Pryor,

    I want to thank you for choosing to attend The Ohio State Community College. It is such a relief to know that you are not fumbling and throwing interceptions for my Wolverines. The only thing worse than your decision making on game days was your choice to play in a prehistoric Jim Tressel offense over Rich Rods spread offense which fits your physical talents to a tee.

    Sincerly,

    Grateful Wolverine Fans

  4. I feel bad for offensive players that come to Ohio State as the coaching on that side of the ball leaves them in a poor position to move on to the next level.

  5. JD
    Hilarious and so true, this is some sorted tail of how a big time college coach made a deal with the devil and is now paying the price. Letting a prima donna high school holdout recruit dictate the direction of your program shows how out of control his program became after those humiliating nationally televised defeats. Now he’s made a mockery of his legacy.

  6. @Jimmy J

    You’re an idiot. Just because a coach lands a top high school recruit does that mean he made a deal with the devil and sold his soul to let a prima donna dictate his program. Do you remember Maurice Clarrett? The guy was 10 times the prima donna Pryor was, and OSU won a national championship with him, and then kicked him off the team when things went sour. You’re making crap up and talking out of your ass (with the made up crap).

  7. Pryor said after the game that he thought aOSU would walk over Purdue…and I don’t think he’s the only Buckeye who thought that way. You overlook anybody, you can lose any week.

    This one had nothing to do with the refs. Purdue wanted it more and looked like the tougher, better team.

  8. …uh, at least it wasn’t unranked UofM?

  9. @Jimmy J,

    Very good point…Can’t let any kid think he’s bigger than the program.

    @RogersWorthe

    Are you advocating using up talented misfits until they get in trouble? Yeah, that’s a nice way to run a program and develop young men. To this day Clarrett is a black eye on the Buckeye program….not something to replicate.

  10. Congratulations Buckeye fans. You now have Anthony Morelli for a quarterback. The difference? Terelle can run. As a Penn State fan, I feel your pain. A mega-talent quarter back out of PA, who becomes average at best in D-1 football. I did not agree with benching Boeckman in favor of Pryor. As a freshman with Pryor’s ability, you get him in the game. Option plays,quarteback draws,sweeps, and some “safe” passing plays. Then, he starts as a sophomore. Not that Boeckman was great, but he was the better passer. Of course, my brother-in-law called me stupid. I made this evaluation when Pryor was a freshman. I don’t like the two QB system. However, I feel it would have worked during Terelle’s freshman year, with Boeckman being the starter. I’m sure some of you will also call me stupid.

    Feeling your pain temporarily,
    Mr Green-Penn State fan

  11. Tough loss guys. I sympathize with your frustrations with Pryor, we’ve had our share of quarterbacks that simply could not make good in game decisions. Fortunately for us, Morelli only had 2 years to do his damage. It really doesn’t matter that TP has a cannon for an arm if he has cannonball for a brain.

  12. @ rogersworthe

    Lets see who the “idiot” is. There were promises made in the recruitment of this insecure and indecisive but lauded high school QB that involved helping him fulfill his dream of following in the footsteps of his childhood hero Troy Smith. Any idiot knows there’s much more to being a big time college QB than being a unique physical specimen, it’s a cerebral position, making the right decisions whether it’s reading blitz-packages or the timing in delivering throws are what can make you a great one. When it clearly isn’t working and it’s obvious it never will it becomes a deal made with the devil, a nightmare that’s unfair to the other recruits. Say what you will about Maurice Clarrett but the guy delivered and almost single handedly turned the national title game around in one unforgettable play however his recruitment, his RB position hardly has a comparison in the degree to which it affects the entire program. If you think this is talking out my ass then you indeed must be a freshman who doesn’t realize how difficult it is to become a pro QB. What’s wrong with a college career in a program that plays to your innate natural abilities that becomes a rewarding life experience instead of some unrealistic deal made by a desperate humiliated coach who’s time has come and gone.

  13. @jimmy J

    What proof do you have of this “deal” you speak of?

  14. JD – assuming you didn’t know this (since you obviously don’t watch CFB), but OSU and UM both run nearly identical spread offenses. So if Tressel’s is prehistoric, then so is RR’s.

    Pryor’s failure to develop is a coaching failure. Nobody should ever expect greatness, but competence is not hard to achieve with any player of reasonable talent (see Boeckman). Any time a player goes backwards, and injuries are tot a factor, represents a failure of the coaches.

    IMO, the only way to force a change in offensive approach is for OSU to lose another few games this year. Maybe then the administration will finally get some leverage over Tressel to force a refresh in offensive coaching. Seems odd to root for another couple of losses, but it just might prevent a half dozen or more in upcoming years.

  15. laughing @osu says

    THE most over-rated program in the last 5-7 years with out question! What aperfect fit too,over-rated program with the most over-rated,over hyped player in the last 20 years! Dont feel sad buckeye fans,everyone kills people,everyone steals, hell I cant even finish it,it’s so damn funny!

  16. There is no way OSU is the most over-rated program of the last 5-7 years. You can’t be over-rated if you’re supposed to be good every year and finish in the top 10ish almost every year in that time. For the record, that means there are over 90 teams worse than you. I concede, we are a disappointment this year and have been every recent year. But to state that is the same as being the most over-rated program in the NCAAs is contestable.

  17. Sorry I didn’t reply to any of these earlier, I didn’t much feel like it. Now I’m in a better place.

    @ken – Search me for why we didn’t go back to Saine. That will be one of the many unsolved mysteries of this game.

    @jimmy j – Did you mean “sordid tale”? Because “sorted tail” sounds like a linked-list sorting algorithm or something.

    @boilerdowd – I know you’re coming at it from the Purdue point of view, but the refs botched that fumble call. It could have changed the complexion of the game.

    @mr. green – Not every sure-fire, top recruit works out. We are certainly seeing the beginnings of that. It’s a shame.

    @laughing – 7 years ago we were National Champs. Remind me again how that fits the “overrated” bill? Does not compute.

  18. eK, it could have changed the complexion…but so could a number have things. No aOSU players or coaches are making excuses. Tressel referenced the horrible no-fumble call, but wisely backed off of it quickly.

    Coulda, shoulda, woulda, didn’t…Purdue controlled the line of scrimmage (uncharacteristically, mind you) & the receivers were able to play physical…and the Buckeyes went away from the run- there’s your game.

  19. I’ve seen a ton of Pryor hating…

    …and he deserves what he gets.

    …but…

    …did his offensive line help him…

    …or hurt him?

  20. As for the “overrated” talk…

    Please see Notre Dame…year in and year out.

  21. @kade – the line was absolutely no help. That did not prevent him from protecting the ball or throwing wounded ducks in the air.

    But yes, he certainly could have used a little more protection.

  22. Worthington’s dumb facemask penalty did hurt, but not nearly as much as watching the same old, tired-out, predictable, pathetic play-calling by the vest, not to mention having to painfully watch TP not have a clue of how to read a defense, dance around with his happy and unset feet, then only after he’s in the grasp, try to run, or chuck up a hail-mary prayer…

    Paging Joe Bauserman….and an offensive coordinator who actually knows how to run a modern offense…

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