Archives for January 2011

2010-11 Offensive Grades

The Offensive Line:

Three parts Brew Crew, one part Browning and one part crazy Boren brother. This group was a veteran group and the soul of the Buckeye offense. They helped the Ohio State offense to the 14th best rushing output in college football and during the Sugar Bowl didn’t allow a sack against quarterback Terrelle Pryor. All year long the running game was consistent and Pryor was kept clean for the most part. Mike Adams, Mike Brewster and Justin Boren were 1st Team Big Ten offensive lineman. Brewster, Adams and Shugarts will return next year to form another formidable OSU offensive line.

Grade: A rock solid A

Wide Receiver:

Devier Posey:

Posey had another solid year. He was 6th in the Big Ten in receiving yards and  was on the  Big Ten’s honorable mention list for wide receiver. Posey is a big play type ball snagger that from time to time had issues catching easy balls. Something I’m sure he will work to improve his senior season. Posey lead Ohio State in receiving in the Sugar Bowl and hauled in a beautiful 43 yard touchdown from Pryor in the 2nd quarter.

Grade: B-

Dane Sanzenbacher:

Terrelle Pryor’s security blanket. He was named the Buckeyes MVP in 2010 and rightfully so. He was also a 1st team Big Ten receiver. Chances are that on Saturdays if you were watching an OSU game, Sanzenbacher was flying through the air making some kind of ridiculous circus catch, keeping drives alive and making heads up plays. Like the one he made in the Sugar Bowl after Pryor fumbled and 3 razorbacks missed an opportunity to seize momentum. Dane was there to seize it back. We all saw the play and that is just the type of player Dane was. He will go down for many as a Buckeye all time favorite and he will be sorely missed.

Grade: A+

Tight End:

Jake Stoneburner and Reid Fragel made for an outstanding 1-2 punch at tight end. One is known as a pass catching threat and the other is known for being an overpowering run blocker. Stoneburner was 3rd on the team in receiving yards and that was after missing multiple games with an ankle injury. His production out of the tight end position was the best output since 2003 when Ben Hartsock had 33 grabs. Fragel and Stoneburner both and a hand in the Ohio State win vs. SEC foe Arkansas as they combined for 4 catches and 81 yards. While Stoneburner is not a pure tightend and more of a flex end, Fragel is the real deal. He is an outstanding blocking and a surprising weapon on playaction.

Grade: B

Running Backs:

Brandon Saine: was supposed to be THE guy for Ohio State in 2010 and after a monstrous first half vs. Marshall in week one, all indications were that Saine was set for a huge senior year. However after the 1st game Saine just wasn’t right as the lead back and a change was made. Saine took a back seat to Herron and switched to more of a pass catching threat. Saine had 7 total touchdowns and was 4th on the team in receiving. He proved to be a valuable offensive threat out of the backfield and a serviceable runner in the tail end of the year.

Grade: D+ as a running back and a B- as a utility weapon.

Boom Herron:

The man turned into a BEAST when he was made the full time running back and helped the Ohio State offense become one of the most potent offenses in school history. Herron ran for 1155 yards (good for 4th in the Big Ten) and 16 touchdowns (3rd in the Big Ten). Herron was also a 1st Team All Big Ten running back. His games against hated rivals Penn State and Michigan totaled 365 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. Oh, and one more thing… Boom has NEVER lost a fumble in his Buckeye career.

Grade: A

Backup Running Backs:

Jordan Hall, Jamaal Berry, Rod Smith, Carlos Hyde… there just aren’t enough balls to go around. Hall was the primary backup behind Herron/Saine and both Hall and Berry were given the duties of being return men. Hall returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Michigan and Berry averaged over 8 yards a carry (32 attempts). I mentioned Rod Smith because the buzz around bowl practice was that Smith may have had his red shirt pulled because he was THAT good. While Boom sits out his suspension next year I believe Jordan Hall will get the start, but Rod Smith will see a lot of playing time and could be the full time starter next year by seasons end. Just not enough balls to go around.

Grade: B+

Quarterback:

Terrelle Pryor:

In 2010 the Ohio State Offense averaged 38.8 points per game. The offense lead by Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith averaged 34.6. Terrelle Pryor was a different quarterback in 2010. He was a pass-first nightmare to deal with for opposing defensive coordinators that has rewritten the Ohio State quarteback record books. Is he at times overly emotional? Yes. Does he at times act his age? Yes. Do we all at times wish he would shut down his twitter account and stop talking to the media all together? Yes. Do I want anyone else quarterbacking OSU right now? HELL NO.

A lot of comparisons have been made between Terrelle Pryor and Cam Newton. Both are HUGE quarterbacks and both are AMAZING athletes. Both have commanded successful offenses and both have been in the spotlight for off the field mistakes. Yet, there are differences — a couple come to mind. Cam Newton is leaving Auburn for the paycheck of the NFL, Terrelle Pryor is staying to finish what he started. Cam Newton doesn’t want to talk about the hundreds of thousands of dollars he and his daddy took to play football at Auburn, Terrelle Pryor after being named the MVP of the Sugar Bowl apologized to his coaches, teammates and all Buckeye fans for what he did…and he did so on national television. It was a stand up move and a glimmer of maturity. Still waiting to hear from Cam Newton…could be a long wait.

I’ve often wondered what OSU’s record would be without Pryor at the helm…scary thought.

Grade: A+

Overall:

This offense was fun to watch, no doubt about it. A multifaceted offense that could not be stopped. You want to stop the run, fine — deal with Pryor slicing up the defense throwing to Dane, Posey, Saine or Stoneburner. You want to shut down the pass, fine — deal with Boom Herron and Terrelle Pryor running the ball all over the field.

Play calling did at times get in the way of this juggernaut unleashing the full fury onto college football. Please see the entire second half of the Sugar Bowl. Ugg. Evil Tressel needs to be in full effect EVERY gameday.

Grade: A-

In case you missed it

(“In case you missed it” is our semi-regular posting of Ohio State news and other content that we think you would find interesting (since we did))

– You probably already read this, but we are posting it for posterity’s sake and as a show of our agreement and support for the growing anti-Herbstreit movement: Herbie the Impaler from Ramzy Nasrallah of Bucknuts and Twitter fame.

– Another thing that you already knew but must be linked for completeness sake – Tate Forcier has left Michigan for greener pastures. While his announcement is ripe for mocking, we will observe the proper amount of mourning before making light of the situation. Also: that is one weird family.

– Overworked from pushing away Razorback linemen like they were so many bothersome gnats, Cameron Heyward had to have surgery to repair a hyper-extended elbow. We have the technology…

– There are eight NFL hopefuls in the year’s senior class. I think most of them will be drafted and hope to see Cameron Heyward go in the first round.

– Jamel Turner – The once future Buckeye has had a somewhat tragic trajectory since committing to Ohio State but things are looking up for Turner, including a long shot at returning to Ohio State. Godspeed.

– Finally, this may have little interest to most readers, but those of you (us) that are fellow bloggers or Twitterers that have encountered the occasional dissenting opinion on a blog post or tweet will get a kick out of Jeff Pearlman tracking down a commenter who had some not-so-nice things to say about an article Jeff wrote about Jeff Bagwell.

OSU Men’s Basketball Weekly Wrap-up

We had quite a week for the Ohio State Men’s Basketball team. Two games, a video and a mention in the Wall Street Journal. To the week:

(1) Ohio St 70 v. Iowa 48 – If there ever was proof of the value of home court advantage, it was this week. After Iowa played Ohio State tough on their court they were thoroughly beaten on Ohio State’s.

David Lighty and William Buford led the way with 18 and 15 points respectively. Oh, and freshman Aaron Craft tied a record with seven steals. No big thing.

A couple days later, The Wall Street Journal asked if Ohio State is College Basketball’s Next Power? There’s nothing here you didn’t already know, but what a boon it was to hire Thad Matta in 2004.

And then there was this:

Unfortunately once it has been seen it can never, ever be unseen.

(1) Ohio St 73 v. (22) Illinois 68 – Again, revisiting the home court advantage – Illinois played Ohio State tough all the way through this slug-fest and the home court clearly energized the Illini.

The Buckeyes didn’t play their best game, but it was enough to weather multiple runs that Illinois went on.

And what more can we say about Aaron Craft? This was clearly his week to shine (video above not withstanding). After playing some shut down defense against Iowa, he basically bottled Demetri McCamey up (who only scored 5 points) and hit clutch free-throws while visibly nervous in the final seconds of Saturday’s game. He took on the pressure like a champ.

Up next week, games against Purdue on Tuesday (1/25) and text-book trap game at Northwestern on Saturday (1/29).

Final MotSaG Analysis of the RichRod Era

I Smell Bacon

As my wife and I were sitting at Voo Doo BBQ in the Garden District of New Orleans enjoying a couple beers and some bad-ass pulled pork, beef brisket and all the trimmings, we realized that Ohio State fans would be out numbered by at least 4 to 1 and it was probably worse than that.

This was a problem for one reason and one reason alone. The Arkansas Razorback “pig sooie” call they repeated before the game and during the game. It was done in restaurants, bathrooms, ATM machines, Bourbon Street, trollies, inside the stadium, outside the stadium….EVERYWHERE!

Here is a sample:

The above video, coupled with the fact that Arkansas fans were taking so much pride in the SEC’s 9-0 record vs. Ohio State in bowl games had us Buckeye fans craving hog blood. For the most part Ohio State fans were very quiet. It may have been do to being intimidated by larger numbers or the threat of yet another loss to an SEC football team. I think it was more of a quiet confidence. I think most Buckeye fans knew this team was different.

Our hatred of Arkansas and their fans only grew Monday night at Mr. B’s Bistro. As I’m knee deep in a bowl of piping hot gumbo ya-ya our table is passed by countless Arkansas fans. Some had painted faces, others had feather boas and all of them were doing “pig sooie.”

After dinner we headed to Bourbon Street and encountered more of the same. We started asking the hog fans what the meaning of the call was. Here are some of the responses we received:

(imagine these with very thick southern drawls and chewing tobacco leaking from their mouths)

“I don’t know”

“It’s just terdition”

“It’s cawl’n the hawgs….I don’t know”

“F__k Ohio State”

Their explanations of “pig sooie” left us more confused and irritated than before.

Bourbon Street was great for people watching and that was really it. The smell of vomit and urine wafted through the air. I felt like I was back in old Shea Stadium again or at least in El Kaiser’s cubicle. It was awful. We trekked over to Frenchmen Street where the heart of New Orleans music lives. Unreal music and people, we had a great time and the entire area was lacking pig sooie shouting hillbillies. Here is my father-in-law representing The Ohio State….what a trooper I tell ya!

After a cramped taxi ride back to our hotel it was an un-restful night of sleeping at our hotel. Morning was upon us as we shook off the New Orleans flu and went on our grave yard tour. This was a cool tour and gave us a ton of insight into the culture of New Orleans, we had a great tour guide. Below is a picture of a section of the grave yard.

We also met the voodoo priestess of New Orleans and wow. She came out to greet us and babbled on and on for about 15 minutes stringing together the most ridiculous incoherent babble I’ve ever heard since watching a recent Gary Busey interview. I was just happy she didn’t do evil on me.

After a much needed nap, 2 bloody mary’s, more self righteous Arkansas fans and a long walk to the stadium we were at the Super Dome. Game time!

The stadium was PACKED with Arkansas fans. There were only a few pockets of Ohio State fans  and we were drowned out by excited Hog fans. I honestly think they thought this game was a layup for them, simply because they are part of the SEC. Their confidence was unreal.

First half thoughts:

The Ohio State offense employed a no huddle hurry up offense, something they have done here and there with great success in the regular season. The Buckeye offense and Terrelle Pryor were almost unstoppable. There were many times the Razorback defense was out of position, winded and totally confused. Anytime Reid Fragel goes for over 40 on a simple jumper pass you know the defense has real problems. On the other side of the ball Arkansas also was able to move the ball, but thanks to their WR’s dropping balls and great pressure by the OSU front 4 the Hogs could only muster 10 first half points, to OSU’s 28. This one looked like a blowout. Hog nation got real quiet real quick. At the half Pryor had 255 yards total offense and was well on his way to another huge bowl performance.

Second half thoughts:

Yuck.

The safety was literally the worst call I’ve ever seen in a bowl game. I’ve never once seen a play like that called that way EVER. I was waiting for a booth review, sure it would be overturned….but nothing.

The unstoppable no huddle offense that was so successful in the first half was put on the shelf do to terrible field position the rest of the way. To me the most valuable Razorback was their punter as he continued pinning OSU in horrible field position all game long. The OSU offense only managed 3 points and had to rely on it’s defense to hold of the hard charging bacon offense.

The Razorback offense gutted out 14 pts on a touchdown, a two point conversion and two field goals in the second half. And the blocked punt heard around the world set them up for the go ahead score with just over a minute left. Ohio State went to a familiar play call on defense What looks familiar in these two videos:

Arkansas and Ohio State fans went through an emotional minefield during the Sugar Bowl, especially the last minute of the game. I was drained after the punt block and in shock after the INT. All I could think about was the following:

1. The drive home the next day would be MUCH better with the Buckeye win

2. We were DONE hearing that stupid cheer Arkansas did

It was nice to finally get the SEC monkey off OSU’s back. The MVP could have gone to Dane or Cam but OSU doesn’t win that game without Terrelle Pryor. He made huge plays the entire night, with his arm and legs and deserved another BCS bowl MVP trophy.

It was a great ride this year and I can’t wait until it starts all over again.

Final 2010 Blogpoll Ballot

For posterity’s sake:

I hadn’t heard anything from the Blogpoll on High directing us on when this was supposed to be submitted and it’s basically old news at this point, but here you go. This was a collaboration between myself and Sylvester-Yon Rambo. I would say this could be a jumping off point for an early look at how 2011 might shape up but it’s the belief here at MotSaG HQ that 2011 will be the beginning of the end of the dominance of the SEC.

Ejuan Price will be a Buckeye.

The 21st recruit for the 2011 Ohio State football recruiting class is a Linebacker and it probably should not be a surprise since it seems like this class is loaded with linebackers. Woodland Hills High School Ejuan Price chose OSU over Iowa during an In-Home visit from Jim Tressel and Luke Fickell this evening. The 6’0″ 235 lb ILB is an absolute stud and projects really well at the next level. He is good against the run and pass and has the kind of football intellect you look for from a guy who plays ILB. He is the 3rd LB in the class with OSU still waiting to hear from 5 star LB prospects Curtis Grant and Stanford recruit James Vaughters who is wavering on his commitment.

Duron Carter will never be a Buckeye again.

I for one can not wrap my head around this kid at all Duron Carter has all the physical attributes to be a excellent college football player. He apparently just doesn’t have the mental fortitude to learn from mistakes and pass classes.

As was reported today in the Columbus Dispatch: “The former Ohio State receiver will not be returning to OSU, said Darian Dulin, Carter’s coach at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. Carter, the son of former OSU star Cris Carter, played for the Buckeyes as a true freshman in 2009. He was ruled academically ineligible for the Rose Bowl and also was held out of 2010 spring practice.”

“Dulin said the reasons Carter is not returning to OSU “are the same as before,” but he didn’t elaborate. Recently, Carter indicated on his Twitter account that Ohio State was not allowing him to return.”

If the problems are the same as before it sounds like he didn’t meet grades at a community college. Dulin also said this “Dulin said Carter currently is at home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., taking Coffeyville classes online and hoping to earn an associate’s degree. Dulin said he isn’t sure where Carter might go, but Miami is an option.”

It seems his parents are babying him and allowing his poor decisions to continue. Anyone taking classes online from a community college like 1500 miles away from campus is not concerned with doing better but wrather having some hot groupie chick to do the work for you so you can get back to some D1 school to showcase your talents.

Kudos to Ohio State for not allowing this kid to come back no matter who his dad is. We have enough problems to have to deal with a kid who couldn’t help himself.

In Case You Missed It

Been meaning to get to a lot of this but have been busy. Here are some quick hits:

– I’ve been waiting for decent video to show up on YouTube from the Sugar Bowl of the Arkansas offensive lineman’s cheap shot on Cameron Heyward, but thankfully Tyler T. has the lowdown on the Arkansas player: Wade Grayson, a Dirty Razorback. (Hey Buckeye-sphere: Let’s Google Bomb Wade Grayson with Dirty Player). I have some more thoughts on the topic that may come up in another post.

– So I think Herbie is dead to us at MotSaG HQ. His AP ballot being the final nail in the coffin as far as I’m concerned. Do you guys agree?

– I have no real opinions on the guy, but hey Michigan’s got a new Head Coach.

– I know I don’t have to repeat these kind of statistics for you choir members (hint: that makes me the preacher) but Dr. Saturday had some nice things to say about Ohio State and Jim Tressel:

The model of consistency: Ohio State, which finished fifth in both polls, the Buckeyes’ seventh top-10 finish in nine years. Only USC, with seven top-five finishes in a row from 2002-08, can match that over the last decade.

Count your blessings, Buckeye fans.

– Now that the 2010 College Football season is all snugly tucked in to bed, Orson reads it a night-time story. No one does it better.

Year in Review

Mannycincy brings us an excellent year-end highlight video:

Love the music he used for the Sugar Bowl. Sounds like the soundtrack from Inception It’s “Chaos / Email” by John Powell from the Green Zone soundtrack.