Archives for November 2009

Negotiating Penn Hate from MotSaG’s West Bunker

OSU FootballWell…there are 3 games left…

Just three more games of potential offensive play-calling ridicule, certain offensive execution angst, probable instant replay tomfoolery, elation toward a stellar defense, and quite honestly a quick glance at a watch to say “Wha’ Happened?”

I have often referred to a great orator and scholar on the not so recently demised DeathCabforWoody who uttered a quote that can be referenced in almost everything we do in life…

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”

~Michael Tyson esq.

The above said “punch in the face” occurred after turnover number four in the Purdue game. There were questions of a certain quarterback’s intelligence, ability and overall courage. I, myself, questioned some of these character flaws/qualities in the make-up of Terrelle Pryor. There was plenty of vitriol waiting to be spewed all over my pad on that frustrating and crap-tabulous Saturday. I had contemplated posting early that week, but needed to take a step back and let this thing play out a little bit before making a irrational statements fresh off of the Purdue debacle.

Now it is the Thursday after the NM State game and the spotlight is still on the Pryor. He is a little banged up and is facing a stout (fat) Penn State team that has been eating creampuffs all year at an alarming rate.

I wont lie to you guys (and the 2 ladies that read this blog, including mi madre). Penn State week is the equivalent of Hate Week on EDSBS for me. I cant stand UM, but I respect the hell out of them. I absolutely loathe everything about Penn State and it’s fanbase that you possibly could. From the urine bag incidents in 2005 to the beer can throwing mothertrucker in 2007. Every time my beloved school visits that effing hellhole of a university in the middle of a cornfield, something ridiculous is bound to happen. I have no idea what it might be this time, but I am sure it will be disregarded as general tomfoolery by those pesky whippersnapper Penn State fans and alumni (Ya know…they got Joe Paterno over there, so everything that happens out there is ok, because dagummit…JoePa is such a cute and ornery old man…dont look over there at that visiting fan being accosted…look at JoePa…hey have some of this overrated ice cream)

The game itself is pretty simple. Get pressure on Clark and keep the OSU turnover machine (Pryor) from imploding and OSU wins. Easier said than done…but it can be done. OSU’s defense is spectacular this year and pressure mixed with Clark (…amazing that everyone rags on Pryor for his lack of composure with pressure, but the 18th year senior Clark gets a pass) equals a recipe for victory…especially since Devlin isnt there to save them this year (lol…lol…).

OSU has a great defense…Penn State has a good consistent offense with a bunch of new receivers and offensive linemen.

PSU has a good defense…OSU has an x-factor offense that can be explosivo or very Purdue game-ish.

I dont know who is going to win…I hope that TP can shut people up for a week until he is matched up against the real human turnover machine in the Big10…Stanzi.

What I do know is that something will happen before, during or after game to unsuspecting OSU fans through actions of the Penn State faithful (urine, full beer cans, spitting, seesawing, gargoyling..and these are the in-stadium activities). It is like October baseball in New York…you can just feel it in the air. Godspeed to any traveling Buckeye fans.

Btw…In proper football news (that maybe 5% of the reading audience will understand and appreciate), Liverpool has decided that it would no longer like to be competitive with the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal this season. Goodbye Premier League Title (Suck it Barclays)…so long Champions League Knockout Stages…who needs trophies…

YNBA

Daryll Clark Sad Face

clark_sadface

It’s Penn State week! Let’s all point and <Nelson Laugh>HA HA</Nelson Laugh> at Daryll Clark during the waning moments of the Iowa loss.

2009 Blogpoll Ballot, Week #9 (draft)

Rank Team Delta
1 Texas 2
2 Florida
3 Alabama 2
4 Iowa
5 Boise State
6 Oregon 3
7 TCU
8 Cincinnati 2
9 Penn State 1
10 LSU 1
11 Georgia Tech 1
12 Houston 4
13 Southern Cal 5
14 Ohio State 1
15 Pittsburgh 1
16 Miami (Florida) 1
17 Utah 3
18 Notre Dame 3
19 Arizona 3
20 Oklahoma
21 Wisconsin
22 Oklahoma State 9
23 California
24 Brigham Young 1
25 Mississippi 1
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: West Virginia (#18), Virginia Tech (#19), Connecticut (#25).

Big shakeup at the top for me. It appears one of Alabama’s signature wins, Virginia Tech, is looking less and less impressive. Couple that with dominating performances of Texas over a ranked Okie State and Florida over a perennial rival, and we’ve got changes at the top.

When they announced the Iowa/Indiana score while I was at the OSU game, I was surprised how many people cheered for that. Cheering for Michigan to lose to Appalachian State was one thing, but I want an undefeated Iowa team to come to the Horseshoe next week. They keep winning and I think we should keep rewarding them.

I can’t bring myself to rank an undefeated Boise State lower than Oregon, even though this Oregon team is clearly not the one Boise State played at the beginning of the season. Every Big Ten team should be quaking in their cleats with the possibility of facing the Ducks in the Rose Bowl. Sheesh.

Ohio State’s perspective is this: two top ten teams in two weeks. Victories over these two teams will put them in the Rose Bowl (again, SHEESH) and should repair some of the damage and credibility hit we took after Purdue. Plus it will be glorious to see two fan-bases completely meltdown. Can’t wait.

Of course, please tell us what you think. Comments and corrections welcome.

Mission Accomplished?

OSU FootballWhen you schedule a game with an opponent like New Mexico State, especially in the middle of the season, you can really only hope to accomplish a few things. You obviously need to win, convincingly. You have the chance to try out a few new wrinkles in your play calling. You must avoid injury of key players and you have to take the opportunity to get playing time for as many players as you can.

The only real winner of a match-up like this is obviously the athletic department of New Mexico State. They get paid and their football team gets to pay the price. Ohio State gains nothing from thumping them. Perhaps the New Mexico State athletes get a chance to taste of playing in an environment such as the Horseshoe, playing against elite athletes like Thaddeus Gibson and Terrelle Pryor. Ask New Mexico State QB #9 Jeff Fleming how much fun that is.

So we come out of Saturday’s game accomplishing most of the goals this game offered. If Aaron Pettrey had escaped unscathed, we’d say things went according to plan. But the way he’s been kicking the ball, maybe his injury was a blessing in disguise, a chance to work out any kinks he may have let sneak in to his technique.

Everything on defense went just about perfect. Only allowing two first downs was domination. The longest play from scrimmage was a 13 yard scramble by the aforementioned quarterback, Fleming. The defense also took the ball away three times, once in the endzone for a score. Holding a Division 1A school to under 100 yards of offense earns this Buckeye unit that rotated in a lot of reserves a million Buckeye Leaves.

The offense was Favre-like (it looked like they were just having fun). The trick play was fun to watch, I don’t care what those dunderheads on the radio say about it. Why not try something different? We’ve been saying Pryor should be a wide receiver (never meaning it, of course) and he was actually Posey’s first option. We should be happy, right? Of course, Posey looked him off to go deep to Sanzenbacher. Ironic.

Everything wasn’t perfect on offense. It was apparent that the Aggies were determined to stop the run and had moderate success at first. Of course the Buckeye line wore them out and there are just too many athletes to through at them. They were overpowered and overmatched. Seriously, how many backs carried the rock for Ohio State? Six? Eight? That was impressive.

One thing in the passing game I noticed was that the receivers seem to be out of sync at times with Pryor’s passing. It seems like they are used to his balls being under thrown and are have been slowing down on their deep routes. Couple this with Pryor’s passes appearing to be better thrown is causing for lots of missed opportunities. Almost as if a little trust has been lost. Let’s hope they get back on the same page.

All of that leads us to the next three weeks. Murderer’s row, if by murderers you mean a couple of slap fighting pansies and whatever abomination of a team Michigan is going to field on the 21st.