81,112 people poured into a cold and rainy Ohio Stadium Saturday afternoon to watch the Urban Meyer era begin. Scarlet edged out Gray 20-14 lead by Braxton Miller, Ryan Shazier and Michael Thomas.

This was officially the first time Buckeye fans and the rest of the college football world got to see Urban Meyers offense, though it was a shell of it’s actual self. This, like many other spring games before it was essentially a passing scrimmage. There were 36 rushing plays (though many of those were QB runs/sacks) compared to 57 pass attempts.

Both OSU offensive units ran out of the shotgun all day and used a no huddle, fast paced offense. One thing that was missing from the offense was the zone read option, speed option and all the running plays off of those looks. This was primarily because of the shortened game format and the running clock in the 2nd half. It was also because neither QB was “live.” Whenever anyone got within 11 miles of Braxton Miller the play was blown dead. This really limited what both QB’s could do, though their passing numbers didn’t take a hit. Kenny Guiton who is the clear backup for Miller was 17 or 26 for 191 yards with a TD pass and short TD run. Miller was 24-31 for 258 yards. Both QB’s threw INT’s. Guitons INT came in the 4th quarter in the redone after he stared down his WR.

What stood out:

Before the game Meyer surprised everyone by gathering both teams at the 50 yard line. They formed a tight circle and Meyer picked John Simon from Gray and Jack Mewhort to go at one another in an Oklahoma drill. Meyer matched up players from each team over and over again finally ending with Guiton vs. Miller. Guiton got the better of Miller, sending the Gray team into a frenzy. The crowd absolutely LOVED it!

Braxton Miller:

Miller seemed to be far more comfortable throwing the football compared to last year. Frankly, he is light years ahead of where he was last year. Miller was very accurate today, hitting 77% of his passes. He threw a tight spiral, something he struggled with last year and did so with good velocity. Miller wasn’t perfect as he still seems to need to work a bit on his touch. His interception came on a bullet he overthrew intended for Nick Vannett. Other than the INT there were a few forced balls but all in all he looked outstanding.

Ryan Shazier:

Ryan Shazier is a bad, bad man. This sophomore OLBer has All American written all over him. He had several big hits, a sack and a key 4 down stop tackling Brionte Dunn in the backfield. He passes the look test, the play test and the holy **** test. All he does is make plays each and every game and this game was no different.

Michael Thomas:

The surprise of the day came from true freshman Michael Thomas who caught 12 passes for 131 yards. He made a big play in the 2nd half after catching a pass in the flat from Miller on a roll out and his run after the catch set up Scarlet with a 1st and goal. Thomas is definitely one to watch come fall practice.

One thing I was very disappointed in was seeing Braxton Miller play without any of the skill players he will be playing with in the fall. Due to the format of the game the teams were drafted the Thursday before hand and Miller was left without Jake Stoneburner, Philly Brown and Devin Smith. Miller basically had 2nd and 3rd team guys to work with and still performed well. I would have loved to see Miller with more of the 1st unit skill position players.

There is definitely a new sheriff in town and a new feel to how things are done. Dare I say it…there is a swagger about this team. It comes from the top and trickles down. Call it trickle down swagger. Reagan would approve. From the Oklahoma drill to start the game to the fast paced no huddle offense to the constant challenges Meyer puts on his players…this is not your grandpa’s Model T Buckeyes. This is a 21st century, sleek Ferrari that is ready to pull up along side Big Ten competition and blow it’s doors off.

Dear rest of the Big Ten…good luck. This is coming for you:

Special Thanks to Josh Winslow for providing the pictures!

If you like a wide open, fast paced offense this Urban Meyer lead offense is for you.

I got the opportunity to watch an open practice today and what a great experience it was. It was held at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center due to the wonderful central Ohio spring weather. Very intimate setting to watch the practice which was a scrimmage of 1’s vs 1’s and 2’s vs 2’s.

What stood out:

The pace of the offense:

Get ready for a no huddle, blistering attack of every defense OSU plays. They didn’t huddle once and at times looked unstoppable. I’m referring to the 1st unit lead by QB Braxton Miller.

Braxton Miller:

He simply looks like a different player out there. Miller was throwing the ball with authority and accuracy. Tight, accurate spirals that seemed to explode out of his hand. He and Devin Smith connected on a beautiful touchdown off playaction that drew cheers from the crowd. Miller also threw a short TD to a TE (Heuerman?) at the goal line. Both QB’s were wearing the black jerseys and had limited contact, so they were limited to how dangerous they could be with there legs. Miller did have a really nice run off a zone read option. He took it to the right side after the DE crashed on the fake to the TB. The play was blown dead 25 yards down field, but Miller could have scored from 75 yards out.

The Defense:

Both units were impressive. The 2nd team offense was overmatched by the 2nd team defense. They manhandled a depleted 2nd string offensive line. Guiton was sacked many times. And while the 1st team offense did have some success, the 1st team defense held their own. They picked off 2 Braxton Miller passes and 1 was returned for what looked like a 100 yard TD by Orhian Johnson, though he may have stepped out of bounds before hand. Coach Kerry Coombs by be my new favorite coach:

Brionte Dunn:

This kid will absolutely be playing for OSU this year. He was running with the 2’s and had some really nice runs. One that stood out was a run to the right off a zone read. He ran into a WR blocking and reversed field to the left and had nothing but daylight. He made a few nice moves and ended up down inside the 5. It was a remarkable run.

Stoneburner/Boren:

Stoneburner looks SO fast out there in space. He is set to have a big year. FB Zack Boren will also be touching the ball more often. Boren had a few nice runs up the middle and caught a few balls from Miller as well. Boren was on the receiving end of Meyers famous speed option/shovel pass option shown below. This play was a play made famous by Aaron Hernandez and will be a fixture in the OSU offense. Both Stoneburner and Boren will benefit from this play.

Reverses:

They ran at least 2 reverses off the zone read/speed option look and it was absolutely devastating to the defense. Look for this to be in Meyers bag of go to toys. Philly Brown was on the receiving end of these and did well.

All in all it was a great atmosphere at the WHAC. Meyer is looking to make this an annual event which with weather permitting will be held at the Shoe.

From our friends at WOSN:

A lot of great video of the new look offense in action:

The class of 2012 for Ohio State started off with a popcorn fart and ended with a thermal nuclear style bang. Ohio State had a disappointing recruiting class under interim head coach Luke Fickell. The Buckeyes were losing key recruits like Kyle Kalis, Kyle Dodson, Se’von Pittman, Taylor Decker among others that would have been locks to be Buckeyes. They were going elsewhere due to the resignation of Jim Tressel and the uncertainty of the impending NCAA ruling.

Then this happened:

Urban Meyer brought OSU’s recruiting class from being ranked 25th and fast approaching being outside the top 25 to the 3rd best recruiting class in the nation and did so in less than 2 months. Meyer brought in 11 prospects including getting 5 star RB Brionte Dunn to recommit to Ohio State. Without Meyer, Dunn was likely headed to Michigan.

During his introductory press conference Meyer talked about the need to bring in offensive linemen and linebackers. He did just that. He brought OT Kyle Dodson from the clutches of Wisconsin, OG Joey O’Connor and OT Taylor Decker who switched from Notre Dame. He then went out and got LB Camren Williams, LB David Perkins and Jamal Marcus who played defensive end in highschool but may end up playing the MLB position at Ohio State.

Kyle Dodson is a badass

Jamal Marcus is a player that Meyer coveted. Meyer called his highlight reel borderline ridiculous. You be the judge.

Meyer also went out and recruited one of the highest rated groups of defensive lineman to ever come to OSU. He started with Noah Spence, then added Adolphus Washington and then took Se’von Pittman away from Michigan State. Meyer also wrestled Tommy Schutt away from Penn State. Spence, Washington and Schutt are all 5 star blue chip recruits and Pittman is no slouch himself as a 4 star recruit.

Spence is a pure speed rush defensive end that had 3 sacks in the Under Armour All-American game, setting a record.

Adolphus Washington is a mixture of size and speed and will most likely play opposite Spence on the other side of the line, or he could move inside after he adds size and strength. Washington had 23.5 sacks as a senior.

Tommy Schutt will be licking his chops with Washington and Spence coming aboard. Schutt will play the interior defensive line for the Buckeyes. Schutt had 14 sacks his senior year.

Brionte Dunn is a player that nearly went to that school up north before Urban Meyer became head coach. Meyer fought hard for Dunn to stay a Buckeye and this kid who is a 5 star talent could very well be too good to keep off the field come September. He is already enrolled at OSU.

Here is a list of the full class for 2012:

QB-Cardale Jones-3 Stars
RB-Warren Ball-4 Stars
RB-Brionte Dunn-5 Stars
WR-Mike Thomas-4 Stars
WR-Frank Epitropoulus-3 Stars
WR-Ricquan Southward-3 Stars
TE-Blake Thomas-3 Stars
OT-Taylor Decker-4 Stars
OT-Kyle Dodson-4 Stars
OG-Joey O’Connor-3 Stars
OG-Patrick Elfein-3 Stars
OG-Jacoby Boren-3 Stars
DT-Tommy Schutt-5 Stars
DE-Noah Spence-5 Stars
DE-Adolphus Washinton-5 Stars
DE-Se’von Pittman-4 Stars
LB-Jamal Marcus-3 Stars
LB-Joshua Perry-4 Stars
LB-Camren Williams-4 Stars
LB-David Perkins-4 Stars
LB-Luke Roberts-3 Stars
S-Devan Bogard-4 Stars
S-Tyvis Powell-3 Stars
CB-Armani Reeves-4 Stars
CB-Najee Murray-4 Stars

The one thing missing from this class that Meyer coveted was an offensive play maker with gamebreaking speed. He was gunning for Stefon Diggs but Diggs chose to stay home in Maryland. But fear not Buckeye fans. In 2013, this kid will be coming to fill that void…Meyer will have his OSU version of Percy Harvin:

Jalin Marshall folks….remember that name.

How did the rest of the Big Ten do? Not so great. Outside that school up north (who finished just behind OSU at 4th overall nationally) Big Ten schools really struggled to attract top flight talent in 2012. The Big Ten really needs to step it up if they want to compete with Meyer and the Buckeyes.

School/National Recruiting Ranking:
Ohio State-3rd
Michigan-4th
Michigan State-37th
Iowa-45th
Northwestern-48th
Nebraska-50th
Purdue-51st
Indiana-52nd
Wisconsin-62nd
Minnesota-67th
Illinois-69th

…at the end of the tunnel.

His name is Urban Meyer and he will be responsible for putting to bed on of the darkest periods in OSU football history. The last time Ohio State’s football team lost 7 games the state capitol of Pennsylvania was destroyed in a fire. The Klondike gold rush began, and Grant’s Tomb was officially dedicated. This year was officially BS.

The 2011-2012 season is officially over thank the lord. It was a fitting end to a dismal season. Special team let downs and let downs by key seniors highlighted a sloppily played game by OSU’s offense and special team.

Ohio State’s defense played well limiting the Gators to 263 yards total offense and actually out-gained the Gators. Andre Debose took a kickoff following a Braxton Miller touchdown to Devier Posey 99 yards completely untouched. OSU tacked on a late first half field goal after Miller overthrew a wide open Posey in the end zone. In the 2nd half the Buckeye special teams let down was continued as Florida blocked a punt and ran it back 14 yards for a touchdown.

Posey and Herron had 2 fumbles combined and J.B. Shugarts and at least 2 false start penalties that I know of before I forced myself to zone out and start making fun of Penn State. We also had Jim Bollman going out with a band and running play action on 3rd and longs multiple times. Can ANYONE tell me why ANY offensive coordinator runs play action on 3rd and long? Who on Earth are you trying to fool? End rant.

So yeah…the game was tough to watch…

Moving forward…

Jim Bollman is gone.

Urban Meyer and a great coaching staff are in.

The future looks bright…or certainly brighter than it’s been in the past year.

Call it what you want:

The .500 bowl
The Gene Smith is a Retard Bowl
The Mediocrity Bowl
The Please Just End the Season Bowl

The Sponsors call it the TAXSLAYER.com Gator Bowl. I like mine better.

4 Years ago these two teams played a meaningful game, we all know how that one ended. By the way…who coached Florida in that game again? Come January 2nd the Florida Gators and the Ohio State Buckeyes will play a meaningless exhibition game in Florida’s backyard. This is just one of 33 completely meaningless bowl games. There is only one bowl game that matters and even that could be disputed, thanks to the moronic goat rodeo known as the BCS (enter circus music here).

Or…on second thought is the Gator Bowl meaningless for the Buckeyes?

Even though the game itself is meaningless, playing it has given OSU 15 extra practices. Not only does this allow a very young team to gain added experience, it also allows new coach Urban Meyer the ability to see what hand he has been dealt. Meyer will be able to observe players like true freshman Braxton Miller among others and find out their strengths and weaknesses.

But for players like Braxton Miller and his stable of young and inexperienced wide receivers this extra practice time is crucial. Miller with Devin Smith, Evan Spencer and Corey Brown will lead this Buckeye offense into the future and they all need the reps. It was the practice time Terrelle Pryor had prior to the Rose Bowl that turned Pryor into a more consistent passer.

The game itself can also give OSU another much-needed victory vs. another annoying SEC team. The thought of yet another game filled with SEC…SEC…SEC chants is enough to make me want to puke.

Florida will be without Jabba The Weiss who took the head coaching job at Kansas…terms of his contract were leaked and he will get unlimited pork rind burritos, bacon donuts, bacon, steak bacon, bacon with steak on it, chocolate sauce, more bacon, diabetes medication, jelly beans, girl scout cookies, little debbie cakes, and barrels of Cornish game hens with unlimited BBQ sauce.

Though I don’t believe Weiss will be missed. His offense was ranked 71st in the nation and it was loaded with players at the skill position. A couple of those players that Ohio State does need to key on are Florida running backs Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps. Rainey may be the fastest player in college football as he runs a sub 4.3 40 yard dash…that is if it wasn’t for Jeff Demps who reportedly ran a sub 4.2 40 yard dash. The bottom line…they are both REALLY fast and could be game breakers for Florida.

Florida’s QB is John Brantley, a steady as she goes no frills pocket passer that will pick a defense apart if given time. Ohio State has not had great success getting pressure on opposing QB’s and rank 67th in sacks nationally. Offensively and defensively these teams are statistically very similar. Florida can’t quite get to the QB either as they are ranked 73rd, which is good news for Braxton Miller.

Ohio State offensively will continue what they started during the Michigan game. We will see a lot of Braxton Miller lining up in the pistol using a more wide open offense. This will be or should be an improved version of what we saw against the skunk kittens. Michigan’s defense was a top 7 defense in the country and Ohio State put up 34 points and should have been more.

Here is what we can expect:

Also look for a steady dose of Boom Herron was named the team MVP by his peers. Herron will get the bulk of the carries from the tailback spot but make no mistake this is Braxton Millers show, you know it, I know it so you better bet that Florida knows it and will key of the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

My keys to the game:

1. The OSU defense needs to get back to a bend don’t break defense. They have had far too many let downs on defense that lead to big plays in just about every single game. I can’t remember the last time an OSU defense gave up so many big plays game after game after game.

2. The OSU defense MUST get pressure on Brantley…if they do not…it will be a long day for the OSU defense. Denard Robinson looked like Aaron Rogers vs. OSU because they got no pressure on the fleet-footed QB.

3. Key on Demps and Rainey. Both are dangerous in the open field and could break off some BIG gainers that could be back-breaking to OSU’s defense.

4. Let Braxton be Braxton…he had over 300 yards of total offense vs. a good Michigan defense and SHOULD have had more on some over thrown passes.

Prediction:

Ohio State 27
Florida 17

I wonder if Urban Meyer could use such a player…hmmmm…

Nov 30, 2011 – The Big Ten Conference announced on Wednesday that Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller was chosen as the Thompson-Randel El freshman of the year. The true freshman is the inaugural winner of the award, named for Minnesota’s Darrell Thompson and Indiana’s Antwaan Randle El.

Miller, who took over as the starter four games into the Buckeyes season, finished among the conference’s top ten offensively, with 18 touchdowns altogether. Eleven of those touchdowns came in the passing game, where he threw for 997 yards and only had four interceptions, going 67 of 134. He also led the Buckeyes with seven rushing touchdowns and 695 yards. His last outing of the season, against Michigan, had plenty of season highs – 14-for-25 for 235 yards and two touchdowns.

He received the conference freshman of the week award twice this past season and led a comeback win over the Wisconsin Badgers earlier in the season, where he hit Devin Smith for a 40 yard touchdown in the final seconds. Miller has high expectations heading into next season, as the starting quarterback in Urban Meyer’s offense.

I cannot wait for Miller to run wild in Meyers offense. Dear rest of the Big Ten, enjoy your year off from playing a real Ohio State team.

At Bowling Green Meyer had a guy named Josh Harris. At Utah he had Alex Smith, and at Florida he had Chris Leak and Tim Tebow and at Ohio State he will have Braxton Miller for the next three years.

In 2001 when Meyer became the head coach of Bowling Green he packed up his favorite Trapper-Keeper and hit the road. He went around the country meeting with John L. Smith and Scott Linehan at Louisville, Randy Walker and Kevin Wilson at Northwestern, Bill Snyder at Kansas State, Joe Tiller and Jim Chaney at Purdue, and Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia, all of whom ran some form of the spread offense. He picked their brains and began forming his offense.

He started with Bowling Green and Josh Harris. Not many people remember him, but he was a hell of a QB that got a cup of coffee in the NFL. Harris under Meyer accounted for 39 TD’s in his junior year. He, like most of Urban’s QB’s was a dual threat QB. After the 2002 season, Meyer went onto Utah but Harris had another season left and under offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa. In 2003, running the same offense Meyer installed he accounted for over 4600 yards of total offense and 41 TD’s. Why is that important? Greg Studrawa is going to be the offensive coordinator of the Buckeyes. Harris lead BG to 2 top 25 finishes. Imagine if Harris would have been running the “dave” offense?

So Meyer used Bowling Green to get to a bigger program, this time Utah. And at Utah Meyer had Alex Smith to work with. In 2004 Meyer became very well known in the world of college football and he made the spread option offense famous. Utah went undefeated and beat Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. Smith won the Fiesta Bowl MVP honers and became the #1 overall pick in the NFL the following year. In his senior season, Smith accounted for 42 TD’s and over 3500 yards of offense. I remember watching the Fiesta Bowl that year and falling in love with that offense. The Pitt defense didn’t know what was happening…it was a thing of beauty.

So at this point Meyer can pretty much go where ever he wants (except Ohio State). He flirts with Notre Dame, but ends up taking over a Florida program that was run into the ground by stupid Ron Zook. For those playing at home the “Zooker” was just fired from Illinois. Many thought Meyer’s gimmicky offense would be shut down in the mighty SEC. Urban’s 1st year he brought the Gator’s back to respectability and had a 9-3 record along with a Gator Bowl victory with pocket passer Chris Leak. Things would get interesting in Meyers second year when all world recruit Tim Tebow came on board. Tebow was the prototype for Meyers offense. Big, strong, fast, athletic, etc…

Leak and Tebow teamed up to account for 3800 total yards and 40 total TD’s, Oh yeah…they beat someone for the National Title that year too…though I don’t remember who they played. In Tebow’s first year as a starter, Tebow went full mutant and accounted for 4100 total yards and 55 total TD’s on his way to the Heisman. Yes…55 total TD’s…in the SEC. Folks, that is incredible.

In Tebows junior year he lead the Gators to another National Title and in his senior season only lost one game to the eventual title winners. They went on to win another BCS Bowl game and Tebow went on to be a 1st round pick, who believe it or not is winning football games in the NFL.

Meyers Florida spread option under Meyer at full boar:

Now, OSU’s last two outstanding QB’s (Troy Smith and Terrelle Pryor) were certainly productive, but didn’t quite live up to Meyer’s QB’s on any level unless you count John Brantley who sucks. In Pryor’s best season he accounted for 32 TD’s and Smith’s best season he accounted for 31 (which he won the Heisman). Both outstanding production, but when you compare that to what Harris, Smith, Leak/Tebow and Tebow accumulated it’s not even close. At Pryor’s very best running the OSU Model T he was still 23 TD’s short of Tebow at his best running the Urban Meyer Ferrari.

Enter Braxton Miller

With all due respect to Tim Tebow, who I believe is one of the best if not the best college football player to ever play the game, I don’t believe Urban Meyer has ever had a QB like Braxton Miller before. I’m certainly not saying he is better than Alex Smith or Tim Tebow, but he brings something a little different to the table.

Miller’s ability to make people miss is better than all of Meyers QB’s in the past and could open up the spread option that much more. Miller is the whole package, he has a strong arm (sometimes too strong…DOH!), is very fast, has amazing lateral movement and is a gamer. Miller ran either a QB draw, speed option or was running for his life while dropping back to pass for the Buckeyes. In Meyers offense, the running game will be catered to his skills and we have all seen what he can do in the open field. And once the spread option is working (and it won’t take long) the passing game will be fully unlocked. Miller is a special player who deserves to be running an offense that will maximize his talents.

Buckeye fans, get ready. This offense is about to become the compete opposite of what this guy has run:

For those wondering, the confused look on Bollmans face is after he watched game film of Urban Meyers offense. Direct quote from Bollman after watching:

“What der hell was dat….dat looked like sumfin from outerspace.”

This year marks the first ever Big Ten Championship game thanks to the addition of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. One of the reasons I absolutely love the idea of a playoff in college football is because I believe it would make the regular season that much more entertaining and add drama to an already action packed fall. The addition of a championship game in the Big Ten does the same thing. Right now there are 6 teams in contention for the B10 title game.

First let’s take some time to briefly list the pretenders:

Indiana
Purdue
Iowa
Minnesota
Northwestern
Illinois

Iowa may still be a contender, but have a tough road to hoe and we will learn a lot about them this Saturday vs. Michigan. The rest of them are just not going to contend…but could play the role of spoiler…but probably not.

A 3 team race has taken shape in the Legends division with Michigan, Nebraska and Michigan State all tied at 3-1 in conference play. This has been a very evenly matched division with the three top teams trading blows. November will decide it.

Michigan is left with Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio State. The first two games are on the road and they finish at home with two tough contests. Does anyone really know how good Michigan is? They have played 1 ranked opponent in Michigan State and were beaten up pretty much all day. Their defense is much improved and but their offense has come down to Earth from last years startling production. Denard Robinson has started to split snaps at QB with Devin Gardner. Robinson continues to struggle throwing the ball, while continuing to light in up with his legs. The question is; will he survive the rest of the reason:

Nebraska controls their own destiny. They have already played and beaten Michigan State and they have a road game at Michigan. If they win out, they will represent the Legends division in the championship game. This is another team I’m just not that sure of. They beat up on Michigan State and beat Ohio State (thanks ginger) but them lost badly to Wisconsin. Their offense is your standard college option offense. Their QB is very similar to Denard Robinson. Taylor Martinez lights it up on the ground, but becomes a turnover machine when he throws it. The finish with Northwestern, Penn State, Michigan and Iowa….certainly a difficult task.

Michigan State in my mind isn’t as good as their record indicates. They squeaked by Ohio State in Columbus and did so when OSU wasn’t quite jelled on offense yet. They also lost badly to Notre Dame and Nebraska. They did beat up on Michigan and have the tie breaker there. The may end up winning the division simply because they have a fairly easy remaining schedule. Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana and Northwestern…not exactly murderers row.

Should be fun to see these three teams duke it out, but I see Michigan State running the table and taking the division…simply because of their lollipop end of season schedule.

3 teams realistically have a shot at the championship game in the Leaders division. Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Penn State is 5-0 in conference play and certainly control their own destiny. However, they are undefeated against Indian, Iowa, Purdue, Northwester and Illinois. They have barely beaten all of those teams. Their defense is outstanding as they have the best scoring defense in the Big Ten. They run the ball well with Silas Redd, but that’s about it. They run a two QB system, but Matt McGloin gets most of the reps. He is not a very good QB…Rob Bolden is worse. They finish with Nebraska at home and have Ohio State and Wisconsin on the road. Good luck with that. They have a bye week this week, so we will see just how good they are vs. Nebraska on November 12th. I just don’t think they are that good.

What on Earth happened to Wisconsin? Oh, that’s right…this happened:

Wisconsin is 2-2 in conference play and will finish with Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois and Penn State. They need to win out and Penn State to lose twice and Ohio State to lose one more time. They do have a very good offense, but their defense is suspect. I look for them to win out.

Ohio State has come on like gang busters of late. After two gut-wrenching losses to Michigan State and Nebraska, Ohio State is 2-2 in conference play after a thrilling homecoming victory vs. Wisconsin last Saturday night. Ohio State finishes out with Indiana, Purdue, Penn State and Michigan. I see wins vs. Indiana and Purdue and then something happens…Devier Posey comes back. When Mike Adams and Boom Herron came back from suspension this team completely transformed…I think Posey has a similar impact on the passing game. By them, Miller will have two more games under his belt and be ready for the stretch run. This has been missing from the OSU offense:

I see Ohio State winning out and Penn State losing twice. I just don’t think Penn State is all that good this year. Sure, Joe Paterno has done an amazing job coaching this year as always:

Sorry, but I don’t believe he coaches a thing…and I’m tired of him getting credit for wins. I’m tired of him getting credit for breaking records. He is the exact same thing as the Queen of England. They are both a thousand years old, they both wear the same brand of diapers and they are meaningless figureheads. From time to time they say funny things and make appearances here and there, but at the end of the day, they aren’t important. If anyone thinks Paterno is coaching Penn State they are crazy. He sits in a box in the stadium without a headset and watches the game while his assistants do the heavy lifting. End rant.

Even if Wisconsin wins all their remaining games, OSU has the tie breaker with them head to head. Plus I think Wisky losses to Penn State via a last second hail mary…again. It’s going to be an exciting 4 weeks of football to determine who goes to the first even Big Ten Championship game.

Buckle up.

Three yards and a cloud of BOOM!

The Ohio State Buckeyes hunkered down and punched the Illinois defense in the face. Illinois took 51 shots to the face, gut and kidneys to a tune of 211 yards. Coming into the game Illinois had the 9th ranked rush defense in the country. It was a battle of wills and the Buckeyes won it. Herron had 114 yards rushing and a touchdown. Hall backed up Herron and added 56 of his own.

The backbreaking score came from Jake Stoneburner on a strike thrown by Braxton Miller. Miller only threw the ball 4 times, completing only one pass, but it was a big one. On 3rd and 5 Miller used playaction and hit Stoneburner in the middle of the end zone for a 17 yard touchdown.

The Ohio State defense, like the running game also came to play. Coming into the game Illinois used a balanced attack and scored an average of 34 points per game. After watching the OSU defense implode last week vs. Nebraska it was great to see them play a complete game against a potent offense. John Simon and Jonathon Hankins DOMINATED all day long and combined for 17 tackles, 6 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.

Ohio State held Illinois to under 300 yards of total offense. Coming into the game Illinois was averaging well over 400 yards per game. Illinois all world wide receiver was held scoreless and only muster 80 yards on 8 catches. Jenkins was also responsible for a drive stalling fumble. That fumble set up the Miller touchdown pass. Scheelhaase lead Illinois with 49 yards rushing, the rest of the ball carriers for Illinois were each held under 35 yards rushing.

Bradley Roby and Travis Howard had picks and Roby’s theft help set up Boom’s first touchdown this year. This was a much needed win vs. a rival on the road against a pretty good football team in Illinois. This should give Ohio State a much needed emotional boost going into their bye week in preparation for a primetime home game vs. hated Wisconsin.