Penn State Preview (Why is this a night game again?)

November 12, 2010 by 8 Comments

The YNBA has been pretty quiet this season and most of the offseason.  I know that the readers of MotSaG are totally curious of the whereabouts of the man that produces such fine literary desserts (Sarcasm level = High).  Well, I wont lie to you.  I have been trying to enjoy this season.  You know…really savor it.  It has been a good season thus far with mostly ups and some obvious downs, but the bottom line is this is the reason we love college football and our bucks.  It brings us joy on Saturday afternoons and can ruin our weekends just as easily.

So, after all of that sappy silliness, let’s talk some football.  Actually, let’s just talk about Penn State, in general.  My dislike of this school is pretty near the likes of UM from the makings of “The Rail”, the Penn State student section “Urine Bombs” from 2005 (TBDBITL will never set foot into Happy Valley again…evah), and finally the accosting of the OSU students posted on Youtube after the 2007 encounter in Happy Valley.  Needless to say, my vitriol becomes more apparent on this weekend of the season.  However, there is more to it than just football and disgraceful student behavior (Hell..I know OSU fans can be complete jackasses…it is on our DNA).

I moved out to Seattle in 2006 after about a fifteen year stint in Columbus (including my time at OSU).  When I moved out here, I obviously wanted to enjoy game days with some fellow buckeyes, so I found the official Game Watch location in downtown Seattle.  This happened to be the Sport Restaurant right below the Space Needle.  I first went down to the Sport Restaurant to watch an OSU late afternoon game.  When I entered the facility for the first time, I noticed there were some other fans in another section of the restaurant.  Yeah, these were Penn State fans (about 30-40 of them in a little section in the restaurant).  It was my first encounter watching an OSU game with Penn State fans in the vicinity.  They were playing Pennsylvania Technical School for Widget Repair and Snipe Tracking or some equivalent.  Penn State , obviously, scored a touchdown upon my arrival and the customary “WE ARE…PENN STATE” screams began.  These are fine until a 30 year old guy in all of Penn State gear decides to stand on top of one of the tables or chairs to lead this cheer.  Now folks, this isnt your typical Rush Creek or BW3 type establishment.  It truly is a nice place, so standing on the tables or other furniture may be frowned upon, but I’m just sayin’.  Anywho, this is every touchdown…every first down, every JoePa ice cream reference.  It’s kind of like listening to “Hail to the Victors” or the “Trojan Fight Song” on repeat for days.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I know that every fanbase has it “special” ones, but Penn State’s are a cut above, if you know what I mean.

Rant fin…

Oh yeah…we were supposed to talk about football.

Well, as much as my naysayer attitude comes out in these types of games.  I just dont see Penn State having the quality across the field to handle OSU for the entire game.

OSU Offense vs PSU Defense

This is a considerable mis-match.  In particular, the secondary of Penn State is susceptible to just about everything (deep , short, mid-range) and the linebacking corps doesnt have the typical Paul Posluszny-like player in the middle or on the outside (When was the last time PSU had that problem?).  While it is understandable for Penn State to have some success up front with Ogbu and Still (PSU always seems to have somebody serviceable up front on the D-Line to cause some havoc.), there is too much youth in the back seven to keep the OSU in-check..  Realistically, the only way I see PSU hanging with this OSU offense is if Tress decides he really really really wants to run the ball and takes the game out of TP’s hands.  PSU’s secondary is just begging for Terrelle to have a big game with his arm, which will probably open up the running game.  Hopefully, the OSU faithful will see about 250 & 100 from TP on Saturday evening, because I just dont see this PSU defense being able to put eight in the box and daring TP to throw it wihtout paying a large price.

PSU Offense vs OSU Defense

Evan Royster is the key to the Penn State offense.  I know that every frickin’ preview I’ve read cannot stop talking about the “Ginger Express,” but if Royster isnt gaining some yards and keeping the OSU defense on its heels the turnovers will start flowing.  With that being said, the OSU defensive backfield is pretty thin right now with a number of injuries, so McGloin will get some yards in this game.  Besides, McGloin has a grudge against TP for costing him scholly, as PSU waited to see if they had a chance at getting him to spend his college years in Happy Valley.  This is one of the most laughable things I have read in years.  Sorry Matt, if you were that good, it wouldnt have mattered.  Blame yourself for waiting to be a Plan B for the Penn State Coaching staff…not TP.

OSU is leading the country in turnover margin, so it will be likely that trend will continue in this game.  Let’s be honest here..it took a combination of one of Penn State’s best performances in Columbus and OSU’s worst to give them a victory that was basically due to a fumble that was going to be a touchdown run in TP’s freshman year.  The cards are stacked against the Nittany Lions…no doubt about it.  For Penn State to win this game, they will need to score at least 24 points.  What does everyone think is the likelihood of that happening on Saturday night?

Obligatory PSU Coaching Category…or just because this picture is never used enough..

Brains…(HT: OurHonorDefend)

Things you need to know about JoePa.

  1. He is still alive.
  2. He just won his 400th game, which means he may have helped invent the sport.
  3. He loves ice cream.
  4. Contrary to popular belief, he is still a good coach and next year’s team will be worlds better..so I think he’ll be around for another year or so.
  5. He was featured in “The Walking Dead” Comic and has a recurring cameo in each episode of the highly popular AMC series.

How this will play out

I would imagine that OSU will start off slow, due to the bye week.  Penn State will probably start with a few nice plays  and a small lead compliments of the “Ginger Wizard”.  OSU will wake up to drill them the rest of the way.

OSU 41 Penn State 17

What say you MotSaG-ers?

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Indiana plays against real defense..loses. Color Buckeye fans, as surprised

October 10, 2010 by 2 Comments

Fantastic Defense and Terrelle Pryor take care of business on Saturday against the Hoosiers.

The Good

  • Terrelle Pryor with his first 300-yard game as a Buckeye (334 yards to be exact).  Not really concerned about him running, as he really didnt need to pull the ball down and gain yardage.  Surely, TP will need to use his legs next week in Madison.
  • On that “TP not running front,” it was nice to see TP stepping up in the pocket to make some nice throws.  He is turning into a quarterback right in front of all of us.  The kid wants to get better…fo realz.
  • Silver bullets containing Matt Chappell to 106 yards passing on 16 completions with two interceptions.  Even the positive plays for Indiana looked like they were under duress.  The buckeye front four was really playing lights out and Nathan Williams is putting together one heck of a season.
  • Saine lining up as a wide receiver.  A welcome change for most buckeye faithful and it paid dividends.  Hopefully, he stays there for the remainder of the season and opens up more carries for Herron and Hall.

The Bad

  • The running game..still not so good..and OSU will definitely need it throughout next weeks game
  • Some moments of past Buckeye teams…delay of game after a timeout…srsly?

The Aftermath

  • South Carolina plays a gem of a game and knocks off Alabama.  You could see this one coming, but I am not sure anyone expected it to be as convincing as it was on Saturday.
  • OSU moves up to #1, but not without some media (ahem…Dodd) stating that is the easy way out for moving OSU up without considering Boise State or Oregon.  I dont believe it really matters, but Oregon has a great offense against teams that dont play defense in its own conference.  Boise State…dont get me started.  They will be lined up against a motivated team this bowl season.  Whether it is in the BCS National Championship or another BCS bowl, they wont be playing against a team that will take them lightly.  They want the spotlight.  They will get it.  Whether or not they can handle it when the spotlight is on them…that is a whole different story altogether.  I dont really see Alabama losing another game until the SEC Championship game.  The rest of this season is going to be a helluva ride.
  • OSU heads over to Madison this Saturday.  More on that later this week.  Unless you live under a rock, you already know this is a huge game.
  • Congrats to Sparty and Coach D.  Nice to see the hype come crumbling down when Shoelaces plays against a team that has anything resembling a pulse for a defense.
Filed Under: College Football, Ohio State Football

Trash-Talking Youtube Videos with Misspellings and Terrible Music Get Their Own Posts this Bowl Season

December 21, 2009 by 11 Comments

OSU FootballSeriously…how could I not let this gem speak for itself.

Terrible Music. I am still in disbelief that anyone from Oregon can have this bad of taste in music even in a trash-talking expose…

Spelling. There is an ‘e’ at the end of Purdue. At least, I am pretty sure that there is one…

Oregon fans…Creativity FAIL….

And I actually like Oregon…jeebus…please tell me this guy is from Eastern Oregon…at least that would make some sense.

Good luck on New Year’s Day!

YNBA

Filed Under: Blogging, College Football Tagged With: ,

MotSaG’s West Coast Bunker: Speed and Swagger…A study in Oregon and OSU Fandom Stupidity

December 10, 2009 by 14 Comments

OSU FootballSo…times are slow…the Champions League has decided it is only for teams that can play defense (FU Liverpool and your inability to NOT give up a goal in the last 8 minutes of play)

This is the time of the year where an incredible void of no football games and the bowl selections have created what most people (including yours truly) cannot stand in the least bit…

“Message Board Heroes”

OSU has them…they talk about the school’s eleventy-billion national championships that happened before they were born or how they were there when “The Horseshoe” was dedicated…or maybe the lore of OSU Heisman Trophies from yesteryear. If someone from another team’s fan base says anything against these irrefutable facts, they “just dont respect OSU’s rich history and tradition as a national college football power.”

Here is a summary of my thoughts on those points in the above paragraph..

“You know what these things will do for the 2009 Edition of your OSU Football squad?” “Absolutely NOTHING!”

Dont you worry Oregon message board guy/gal/beer snob/phish listening pseudo-hippy/etc, I havent forgotten about you. Congratulations! You have won the Pac-1+9 for the first time in ‘like’ forever (or since 2001..shared with USC). That team looked spendid this year. Apparently, Oregon’s offense is putting up points equivalent to the Fielding Yost teams of Michigan back in the day. As a college football fan, I appreciate the fact Oregon has a dynamic offense that seems to be as lethal as there is and has the play-calling craziness that only Les “The Hat” Miles could rival. They were fun to watch this year…for realz. I mean that…srsly. I live out here in Pac-10 Land, which means I hear all about Oregon, U-Dub, and USC. Pac-10 has some entertaining football in general. Lots of offense…a little bit better defense (sans Oregon State and USC) than the WAC or Mountain West…and some of the schools use QB1 to determine play calls in any situation.

So what I have gathered from the small amount of perusing on the Oregon Message Boards and the local media is as follows:

  1. OSU hasnt played against a team as good as Oregon on it’s schedule this year
  2. Speed kills…wait until OSU sees the Oregon offense
  3. OSU doesnt have the offense to keep up in this game
  4. Terrelle Pryor is nowhere near the talent-level of Masoli

I figured that I would address some of these generalized lifted comments from the Oregon Scout Board…

1. OSU hasnt played against a team as good as Oregon on it’s schedule this year

This may be correct. It is probably a fair statement. Sagarin has the SOS for Oregon at #4 and OSU coming in at a cool 59th. I wont even argue that point. Regardless of SOS, OSU brings something to the table that none of the other teams on Oregon’s schedule possess, which will be addressed a little later.

2. Speed kills…wait until OSU sees the Oregon offense

I (along with most of Buckeye Nation) take some offense to this statement. While it is true that speed is the ultimate weapon for a football team, any speed that Oregon has on offense is equally countered on the Ohio State defensive side of the ball. This is where a lot of the confidence in this game is originating within the OSU fandom. This is by far the best defensive line that OSU has possessed since the 2002 National Championship squad. Think about that for a second. Miami was an offensive machine that year..just like Oregon. Oregon may have speed in the backfield with James and Masoli, but if the O-line gets blown up on regularity by the OSU D-Line…Oregon is in trouble. For the record, OSU has plenty of speed on the edges and at LB (Spitler’s participation will be minimal as most of us imagine that the OSU defense will be in the nickel for large chunks of the game).

3. OSU doesnt have the offense to keep up in this game

Sorry, OSU does have the offense to keep themselves in this game. Tressel plays to a gameplan and his game planning has never been to get into a shootout with another team. It is reckless and that isn’t the way that OSU plays football. If he has some trust in Pryor (work-in-progress), he will open up the play book a little. However, Oregon is a turnover machine. With this in mind, I would imagine that the gameplan will look a lot like Oregon State’s, until Oregon stops it. The only difference is that there is a runner taking snaps instead of a pocket passer…whether that is a good thing or not remains to be seen. If Masoli and James continue to put the ball on the ground in the Rose Bowl, OSU will win by about 20. What does that have to do with OSU’s offense? Everything…

4. Terrelle Pryor is nowhere near the talent-level of Masoli

Masoli has been a diamond in the rough this year for the Ducks. He is a fantastic system quarterback that has been a perfect fit for the Oregon offensive scheme. Without him, they lose about 4-5 games this year. Does that mean he is infallible? Absolutely not. Masoli carries the ball around like Tate Forcier, which equates to opportunities for a ball-hawking defense to sample in some tasty “fumbalaya.” With that in mind, it is amazing how a fantastic offensive display can mask the stink of all of the other shortcomings of a team. On the other hand, Pryor has been a work-in-progress this year (to say the least). There have been times where it may have been advisable to bench him for a series or two just for a reality check (See Purdue..ZOMG) and other times where he has played nearly flawless football (ie the last three games of the season). Now for the Oregon fans that read this little ditty have to realize a few things when they go back and watch some OSU highlights of those last three games of the season…

  1. Flawless football for an OSU quarterback is to not turn the ball over, regardless of the other stats.
  2. Most of the OSU fans (while annoyed with this approach) understand that when the OSU quarterback doesnt make mistakes there is a strong likelihood that OSU will win. It might be ugly…but a win is a win. Let me help you…would you take a 1-pt ugly win against Stanford (Jeebus..What happened there?..)? Thought so…

A couple of other notes for the Oregon faithful that dont understand the OSU fans.

  • There are a lot of us. I mean a shit-ton..especially on West Coast. Yeah…we get it…Who wants to live in Ohio? Well, some of us do and some us dont, but it is still home. Come on…we take over a bar every Saturday in Portland (Blitz-Ladd)…
  • One of the things about growing up in Ohio is that most of us have a pretty good understanding of football, because we have grown up with it in our faces every Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the Fall and Winter months. This gives us a lot of perspective for the primary lifeblood sport of the state, and it is competitive in every region of the state. Most of us understand that match-ups and fundamentals mean more than schemes. Sure talent will win over a lot of games in high school, but this isnt high school. Again, this where a lot of the confidence that you dont understand is coming from. I could give a “rats ass” that Oregon’s defense held Oregon State’s Rodgers to like 60 yards of rushing and the offense went run happy against the #1 Rush Defense in the country (at the time). It just doenst matter in this game for a number of reasons like….
    • Rose Bowl isnt at Autzen..sorry Uncle Phil couldnt buy this one…no matter what hideous uniform combination you guys put out there.
    • Oregon State may have a comparable defense, but it doesnt have the depth of Ohio State on the D-line, which was worn out by the middle of the 3rd quarter in the Civil War.
    • Rodgers is one back (a great back nonetheless, but still one back)…Ohio State has two running backs that run hard and are very good and not easy to bring down. I wont go into their stats and whatever. Let’s just put it this way…these guys would be playing at any school in the Pac-10 on a regular basis…even Oregon.
    • Oregon’s O-Line…I believe that Masoli’s Knee Brace weighs more than half of the starters. We’ll see if they can handle the onslaught of pressure coming at them from the Big AND FAST OSU defensive line.
  • Allow me to digress for a moment…Speaking of Ohio High School football (in particular NW Ohio region), I notice that Patrick Henry is still doing it’s thing in the midget division of the state with Coach Bill Inselmann. When is Big Bill going to get off of the gravy train and coach in a real division for another school where making the playoffs isnt a mere formality? I understand the allegiance, but come on….I can remember PH used to be a basketball school, until they found a loophole in the system (ie small school with minimal competition in the area outside of Liberty Center = guaranteed playoff spot every year in region). Maybe you should take a queue from your neighbors down Route 108 and get out of that joke of a conference and go independent or join a tougher conference…maybe play some real schools that are more than 20 miles away from Hamler on a regular basis…I’m just sayin’. Winning the NWOAL is like being the world’s tallest midget.

Back on topic…I really do look forward to a great game with Ducks in January. Hopefully, Oregon fans will realize that the OSU team that shows up in Pasadena will not be the same team that showed up to play USC or Purdue earlier this year…or Florida in 2006, as much as you might want to believe it is. And yes, speed does kill…it kills offenses, as easily as it does defenses.

~YNBA

Filed Under: College Football, Ohio State Football Tagged With: ,

Week #12: Michigan Preview and Open Thread

November 20, 2009 by 7 Comments

OSU FootballPreviewing the OSU Michigan game should be seen as a privilege to the blogging community on both sides of the border. I know that I am normally a sarcastic bastard that seems to revel in the sports misery and unabashed stereotypes for our regional sometimes national foes (jorts, corn dogs, and more jorts), but this week is just a little different.

A couple of things about this week’s game…

It doesn’t matter if UM has not met expectations this season.

It doesn’t matter that OSU has already clinched a share of the Big Ten title.

It doesn’t matter that OSU is already going to the Rose Bowl.

It doesn’t matter that UM is in the crosshairs of the NCAA for potential rule violations

It doesn’t matter OSU has earned another BCS bid, which is scrutinized by other conference’s fans and media

It doesn’t matter that there is speculation over RichRod’s future employment

The above are all talking points for media types.

We are not media types.

We cant be media types, because we care about this game for real reasons. Reasons that are ingrained in us from the day we first experienced this “game” in our youth.

We don’t care how compelling it is to the people watching it across the country. Even those that have strayed from the blogger path and pretend they are media types for posterity, yet hide behind the “blogger” badge when convenient. (Hint: Kittens…and an Otter..Really?)

This week we don’t give a flying f*ck about other bloggers and message board heroes making claims that the Big Ten is not “staying with the times”

I said “We” and I mean it. Michigan and Ohio State fans are not that different from one another. We all have the same problems. We originate from states that have been detrimentally affected by a massive economic downturn. We are in this together. It is the single day of the year (outside of your standard holidays) that we can regress to our youth and just enjoy the day without worrying about the everyday problems that plague us. Just sit there and enjoy a football game.

Yes, we will enjoy this game…it is our rite of passage every November.

It is our game…and it always will be.

Finally…

If you don’t like the game, don’t watch it fricken’ watch it anyways. Btw..A brief message from all Michigan and Ohio State fans to those complaining about the marketability and level of intrigue in tomorrow’s game…

“Suck it”


An Actual Preview of Sorts…

Oh yeah…I almost for got about the actual game tomorrow. Let’s talk O’s and X’s …or something to that effect…this wont be your typical preview. If you are looking for that visit any of the other awesome Buckeye sites like…here, here, and definitely here…and a brief history lesson over the last 8 years..

When Michigan has the ball….

Michigan’s offensive capability in this game will be predicated upon the amount of pressure Tate Forcier can handle. There is no doubt that OSU is going to get pressure on the freshman QB. He is a good player that has begun to turn the corner in his development and handling the rigors of the Big10. If he can continue his success of the last two games, the Wolverine’s chances of success are multiplied exponentially Saturday. The depth within the Michigan running game has been basically depleted with its best running back (Minor) watching tomorrow’s game from the sidelines (most likely…adrenaline can only cure so much Tress), as well as many other smaller injuries that have taken a toll on the backfield players. The offensive line is very sieve-ish this year, which has been somewhat masked by Forcier’s ability to move around the pocket by design and through his ability to successfully run for his life (most of the time). On paper, the OSU D-Line versus the UM O-Line should be the biggest mismatch on the field in the game. OSU’s defensive line has been exceptional this year in all of its games and this game should be no different unless RichRod can come up with a scheme or wrinkle that just reeks of awesome and will keep OSU off-balance. However, with the personnel available on the UM sideline, I am just not seeing a lot of offensive success for the Wolverines tomorrow.

When Ohio State has the ball…

The big question this week. Does Tressel take the governor off of the OSU offense or do we see another display of TP handing off to running backs the entire day like in the second half of the Iowa game?

There hasn’t been a OSU-Michigan game where Tressel hasn’t pulled out something special that has been saved up all year (ie The Effing Wheel Route, Marcel Frost, etc). General feeling for this year’s game is that it wont matter. For all of the criticism that has been thrown towards the OSU offensive line, they have been very productive the last couple of weeks and it also looks like all of the linemen are actually available to play. The UM Defensive line is basically overmatched in this game with the exception of Graham who will most likely get double-teamed the entire game. No doubt Tress and the staff will want the other players on the defense to beat them. With an overload on Graham’s side of the line, the Buckeyes will definitely look to expose the weak side of the line and continue to put the same type of rushing numbers seen against Penn State and Iowa (who have considerably better D-lines)

TP has gotten better each week and seems to play a lot better on the road than he has at home. He tends to keep the game simple and will tuck it away to get yards when they are there. That is all that we can ask from the sophomore. Michigan’s secondary will only get one sentence in this preview, because they are awful.

Intangibles…gotta have them…

We know Tate Forcier went to the New Moon midnight premiere last night. He bought his “Team Jacob” t-shirt. Of course, he was riding solo. Shit son..that is how T-Force ‘Rollz.’ Will this affect Tate’s play? Hard to tell…

Conversely, the Boren brothers have been watching Sniper, Weekend at Bernie’s, and Roadhouse on a continuous loop.

Who would you rather go into battle with on Saturday? Duh…

**Author note..I went to the premiere as well (involuntarily of course)…and feel like less of a man today

The law of averages doesnt really bode well for Ohio State right now, but I just cant bet against Tressel in this game. This game is what defines him as Ohio State’s coach.

There are a lot bad things going on up in Ann Arbor right now from “practice-gate” to eroding family values to just plain terrible football, which a lot of the followers and deep pocket boosters cant be happy with this year.

Predictions…

YNBA

This game could be played in Columbus with the same squads and I just dont care…I would still be nervous about the game. I spent my years at OSU in the 1990s and how many times did an OSU team lose to UM when they weren’t supposed to…F….M…L

However, I dont believe that this team will take UM lightly and TP will have a surprisingly effective day throwing and running the ball against an overmatched UM Defense. If Tate Forcier makes it through this game without getting concussed or damaged, I would actually be very surprised

The Ohio State University 38 – The University of Michigan 13

el Kaiser’s Prediction
I’m calling for shutout #5* (I will, to my grave, count the Penn State game as a defensive shutout)

OSU: 31 UM: 0

Super Fantastic MotSaG Contest Time!!!

The person with the closest prediction of the final score of the Ohio State/Michigan game will win a copy of Rivalries: The History of Michigan vs. Ohio State (link opens iTunes) from the iTunes

Rivalries_Michigan_Ohio_State

Music Store. (Yes, you’ll actually have to

predict a final score, not just ROSES/NO ROSES)

Released in 2004, Rivalries: The History of Michigan vs. Ohio State is a must-view documentary for Ohio State fans. It’s a fairly balanced look at the rivalry through the years. Former players, coaches and journalists all discuss the greatest rivalry in college sports. If you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself to watch it. Over and over again.

Please note: this contest is available only to U.S. residents. It is not necessary, but helpful, if you already have an iTunes account, otherwise you’ll have to make one to redeem your prize.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Negotiating Penn Hate from MotSaG’s West Bunker

November 5, 2009 by 1 Comment

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

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Week #7: Purdue – Preview and Open Thread

October 16, 2009 by 3 Comments

OSU FootballLast week was like an appetizer prior to the main course (PSU, Iowa, UM) of the schedule. Unfortunately with the way Purdue is playing this season, this game will most likely be the “dry side salad,” which you need because of the tailgating food you have been shoveling into your “snackhole” for the previous 6 weeks. You know you need to finish that salad quickly, like OSU needs to finish off Purdue quickly and I need to finish this preview quickly, so you guys dont fall asleep….quickly.

To sum things up…Ohio State is playing the best 1-win team in the country (that is what I have heard recently). If and when OSU beats Purdue, they will be the worst 1-win team in the country, according to everyone afterwards.

So let’s talk about things that matter…expeditiously…

Ohio State on Offense

If I could take a pass on this one right now, I would definitely do so. However, we still have to talk about that abomination that was known as the OSU offense from last week. Yeah, I have heard all of the arguments on getting into a rhythm and stuff for TP, but dammit I just feel like the guy is regressing in “1-step forward 2-steps back” kind of way right now. I am not quarterback coach, but when you throw off-balance (when there is no one around you) or off of your back foot (ditto) the pass will look like a punt. This game against a Purdue defense should be the elixir to solve some of TP’s confidence issues and maybe even a mechanics issue or two. Pryor will need to keep a close eye on the second coming of Wisconsin’s O’Brien Schofield in the form of Purdue freshman Ryan Kerrigan (6’4″ 246). He is the typical undersized defensive end that Purdue possesses who always seem to give the OSU O-line fits.

The running game seems to be in good shape even with the Herron ankle sprain. Saine has been running down hill and is just producing out of the backfield right now. It would be nice to have a little more depth back there with experience, but I dont believe that Purdue poses enough of a challenge up front to make that depth necessary this Saturday.

Bottom Line…OSU’s offense isnt nearly as bad as Purdue’s defense, which is last in the Big 10 in points allowed (30.5/game)

Ohio State on Defense

This is kind of interesting. Purdue has the top-rated passer and the second leading rusher in the conference entering this week of play. Sounds a lot like Wisconsin last week. Boiler Up indeed.

It will be interesting to see if Purdue can handle the defensive pressure that will be served up by OSU’s best D-Line since 2002. It is scary how much pressure they can get with four linemen and even sometimes with three. Look for a lot of quick passes from Purdue to counter-act the pressure and a lot of mis-direction from the ground game. Remains to be seen if Purdue can execute, because Toledo tried to do the same thing with minimal success.

Reasons to worry about life and why college sports have such a drastic effect on it.

If the OSU defense decides that OSU’s offense should win this game. Worry..immensely…

If Purdue is able to “dink and dunk” it’s way down the field, this could cause some problems for the OSU defense, but expect them to tighten up when the goal line comes into play for the defense.

Again, worry if the offensive line struggles. The OSU offense will need to give it’s defense some rest on the sidelines. The amount of “Three-and-Outs” against Wisconsin was re-donk-u-lous.

Reasons to pump your fist like an extra in a Skid Row video

If TP can complete his first couple of passes, the floodgates should open. Hopefully, the Vest will let him actually run and get himself into the game, instead of trying to be the Matt Hasselbeck of the Big10.

If there no semblance of a running game for Purdue, Joey Elliott = DEAD…and there will be much rejoicing.

Some intangibles: Weather looks to be chilly, probably a little damp after the expected morning rain .. Vegas has the line at 14 points. Sounds about right…even for a home-dog when they are giving those kinds of points on a weekly basis.

Prediction time:
Pryor: Does he throw for 200 yards?
Defense: Over/Under on Sacks at 4?
Purdue Offensive Turnovers: Over/Under for 3?
Boiler Up Cheer w/Stupid Horn: Over/Under of 25?

YNBA’s predictions
Pryor: Absolutely throws for 200…maybe 250. The guy has something to prove. Homer call of the week.
Defense: I am going with the Over. Just feels right and that OSU D-Line is top notch this year.
Purdue Offensive Turnovers: Under. Probably a pick and a fumble.
Boiler Up Cheer w/Stupid Horn: UNDER…and God help us all, if the over is hit.
OSU: 34 Purdue: 14

Am I full of crap? Give us some opinions. These blog comments arent going to write themselves!

el Kaiser’s predictions
Pryor: For my (and the rest of Buckeye Nation’s) sanity, Pryor lights up the “decent-ish” Purdue secondary to the tune of 280.
Defense: Is that over/under for Nathan Williams by himself? Either way, I’m taking Over with 5 sacks.
Purdue: As previously shown in table form, Purdue is vunerbale to the turnover, but I’m saying under with 2.
Horn: I’ve heard comments that many Buckeyes at practice wanted to choke the guy blasting the horn this week at practice. I say under because after the first blast some redshirt freshman chokes the operator.
Final Score: OSU 38 Purdue 16

Filed Under: College Football, Ohio State Football Tagged With: , , ,

MotSaG’s West Coast Bunker Commentary – UM Owns Big10 Countdown Clock Started by Cowherd

October 1, 2009 by 5 Comments

OSU FootballI say hit the snooze bar for about two years…

I am not sure how many people within the Buckeye Nation can actually stomach a full Colin Cowherd radio program, but he let out a few ratings-grabber craptastic statements this morning about the state of UM Football program’s competitiveness next year and going forward…

A couple of semi-accurate paraphrased quotes…

“Rodriguez is a great offensive coach, and all he needs is another good recruiting year to get a defense which can stand up to Ohio State.”

“Rich Rodriguez will be Tressel’s Worst Nightmare.”

Now all of us know better than to believe these shenanigans (at least in the short term). However, it does raise an interesting point once UM starts getting some recruiting gems to come in and play under DickRod’s system.

How will OSU respond? Eventually, UM will get better. I am not convinced it will be this year or next, but 2011 seems to be a decent target for a decent defense and a more dynamic offense with proper personnel.

As a Buckeye fan, I would welcome this improvement in the UM squad. Not for the typical reasons you would normally hear suggested (ie. If UM is good, the conference is better..BULLSHIT…if OSU could beat Michigan by Eleventy-Billion every year, I might pee my pants with joy annually in late November). The main reason is that the more diversity in the conference (offensively), the better for OSU. Let’s face it. OSU has never been known for it’s offensive prowess in the past. Sure, they have had some impressive offensive years in the past with the likes of Joe Germaine and Bobby Hoying running the show in the mid-90’s, but this isnt the cornerstone of Ohio State’s team approach. Yes, they want to score points, but the defense has been the OSU “bread-and-butter” since like forever…and now we can throw the ‘punt’ in there as well.

With that in mind…here is some time machine action for OSU against the UM offense…

You can see the progression that OSU is going to be able to take with the UM offense over the next couple of years.

2008

Last year, Tressel basically faced a scout team down in Columbus when UM came calling. While UM was able to have minimal success, it was the equivalent of OSU scout team players trying to play in Navy’s offense. It just doesnt work and the results were obvious last year for UM.

2009

This year Tate Forcier comes in and the UM offense is a little better. He isnt Pat White, but he is an obvious upgrade over Sheridan and whatever athletic training staff member was his back-up last year. This year, OSU and it’s defensive coaching staff will have another shot at RR’s offense with marginally better offensive personnel (still not convinced Forcier makes it to November, but that is another story for another day) and an added bonus of playing in the Big House. See folks…baby steps for the OSU defensive coaches.

By the time 2010 rolls around, one of two things will have happened…

1. RRod has been fired…doubtful at this point.

2. UM will have a nice amount of experienced offensive players to bring to Columbus in November 2010

If you guys can read the ‘tea leaves,’ this bodes well for OSU on two fronts.

If Tressel can iteratively adapt the defense to handle this style of offense with the opponent having appropriate and good personnel, UM will not dominate the conference, but it will win it’s fair share of games and the rivalry will become competitive. I dont really give a flip about the competitive part (as in UM winning games ever), but by default competition breeds improvement and OSU will have to adjust it’s approach to the UM style of offense when the personnel gets better. What UM brought to the table last year (2008) was not competition, it was a sacrificial lamb on it’s way to the slaughter.

Also, this type of offense is really the only type of offense, besides the old “Tiller’d Purdue Basketball-on-Grass” offenses, that has given OSU any problems when equal talent is matched up across the ball. Seeing this type of offense within the conference on a yearly-basis will only help OSU in the OOC portion of it’s schedule and in bowl season. You dont think the SEC has gotten better defensively with Florida changing it’s offensive scheme after Meyer arrived? Crazy talk. They have definitely gotten better defending this type of offense when they see it out of conference. The difference is that the Citadel, Furman, and The College of Charleston dont have the athletes to scare anyone (btw…I have no idea if these schools run this type of offense, but I just love referring to The Citadel and the SEC teams scheduling them whenever I can).

So the bottom line for OSU fans, enjoy the next couple of years (unless a miracle of epic proportions occurs and UM wins one of the next two OSU-Michigan games) and see how the OSU defensive brain-trust goes about handling RRod’s ever-improving toy offense. UM improving is a good thing for OSU…not the conference. We are not SEC fans and I wont claim UM’s 1997 National Championship anytime soon.

~YNBA~

Filed Under: College Football, Ohio State Football

Stray Bullets from MotSaG’s West Coast Bunker

September 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment

OSU FootballThe week of impending doom has passed us by and clubbed us like a baby seal. A tough loss to USC and an apparently media-unfriendly and unimpressive win against Toledo (Man..How bad is Colorado…really?) equates to a steady drop in the polls. Illinois is just around the corner to start conference play. Which Juice Williams will we see? 2007 Juice or Juice from any other year?

Dont you just love College Football?

Locked…Loaded….Here we go!

  • Orson Swindle decided to visit the grand metropolis of C-Bus to take in the USC game..and writes an elegant and true-to-life piece on sites, scenes, and peeps for a typical game day in Columbus. It is a great post and I encourage everyone to read it at least 3 times. See…we arent dicks to everyone…just most people that happen to wear Maize and Blue.
  • Penn State has basically played Temple three times. They are undefeated…and that means they are the class of the Big Ten…or Philadelphia, which also gets you a #4 ranking in the polls.
  • I have this disturbing but entertaining vision of when UM fans think of Tate Forcier. It involves various parts of the oldie but goodie from SNL. I believe that Mark May falls into this category as well.
  • I believe that fans and defensive players from State College, Iowa City, and Columbus have an entirely different view of Tate Forcier. In Iowa City (10/10), they’ll see a QB dinged up from the hands of a MAC team. For Penn State (10/24), they wont see him thanks to the Hawkeyes. For Ohio State (11/21), he’ll most likely be a worn-down freshman QB. Dont get me wrong Michigan fans, he will be a fine quarterback, but will probably have to take the Colt McCoy route to get there. He needs Barwis to get together some of those involuntarily voluntary weight room sessions, during the offseason.
  • I dont know if the Toledo D-Line was completely worn out by the time that Jordan Hall was getting carries, but between him and Boom Herron it looks like Hall has a bit more “shake and bake” out there. On the other hand, Herron is starting to scare me. He looks like he is starting to run the ball more and more like the Junior/Senior Editions of one Lydell Ross (If this is true, God help us all…).
  • In the “getting the last word in” category, the human quote machine that is Lane Kiffin left us with this beauty after Urban Meyer floated some ideas out there that the Swine Flu had some effects on the Florida performance against Tennessee last Saturday. Kiffin’s response when asked about the flu bug hitting in Knoxville…“I don’t know. I guess we’ll wait and after we’re not excited about a performance, we’ll tell you everybody was sick.” I love this guy…I really do. He is like that crazy uncle that you only see at family reunions (because a majority of your family is afraid of him..remember…he’s KA-RAZY) that wants to find stuff in the garage to blow up or set on fire.
  • Media types would like you to know that Oklahoma gets a pass because Stoops is awesome-tastical-tabulous or some other reason, but doesnt understand why OSU gets the ‘donkey punch’ every time it comes short on a national stage.
  • This site would like you to know that it is really ok to like OSU and it’s football team. Srsly…for realz.
  • This site would also like to remind you that the U-Dub upset over USC was called here the week of the OSU-USC game. I’m just sayin’
  • In the on-going link-gate saga, we asked if Brian had apologized for his totally…completely…accidental “HTML-ified” link to the Jeff at the BBC on a hackjob article that he wrote (not on his blog, which is where it should have been posted in the first place) for TSN condemning OSU fan behavior in regards to dude that almost took away Tyler Moeller’s life let alone a college football season. Here is his apology.. “Jeff got his apology from the editor who made the error of leaving out the link to Our Honor Defend, and if he’s not satisfied with that that is his problem.” My response is here. Here is the deal folks. In the blogoshpere, we have to police ourselves to keep it somewhat on the respectable side. Otherwise, that Buzz Bussinger guy is vindicated for all of his efforts to smear blog writers. I appreciate that Brian feels he did nothing wrong (which says a lot about Brian). However, to hide behind an apparent editor’s mistake for HTML linking just doesnt fly, but hey…everything is all lolcats…and dont forget about kittens…and other witty totally cool stuff.

In proper football, the Barclay’s English Premier world has started to normalize after (omfg) Tottenham was at the top of the table for way too long. Three of big four (Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool) are sitting in the top 3 spots after this weekend’s action with Arsenal resting in 6th place. I know that none of you care, but I am telling you anyways…so suck it.

Hopefully we are reconvening next week after a big OSU victory next week over Illinois.

~YNBA~

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Thursdays from MotSaG’s West Coast Bunker…

September 10, 2009 by 9 Comments

OSU FootballThe week of impending doom is upon us. The Boys from Troy will invade the Horseshoe this weekend. From what we at MotSaG can tell, this looks to be an epic beatdown just waiting to happen. I mean really it is the perfect storm for a team to come into Columbus and win with a freshman quarterback in front of 105,000 crazed and mildly intoxicated OSU fans.

It just makes sense…right?

So let’s just recap some of this week’s happenings with the USC game looming and some other interesting tidbits that have occurred over the last 7 or so days…

  • USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley already talking to OSU fans telling them to “Bring it on…” Trust me Matt. They wont be cheering for you…they’ll be cheering the Song Girls….and OSU.
  • In an “Allow me to retort moment,” Terrelle Pryor says it has already been “broughten” (via Twitter) with a simple yet effective “It’s on…”
  • Terrelle Pryor saluting PETA in his own particular idiom (or Vick eyeblack stickers) and then (in a moment of sheer awesomeness displayed by the OSU SID for allowing this to happen) TP spoke about his reasoning for the eyeblack stickers. Penn State fans immediately pile-on and say that this is why he isnt enrolled at State College (ya know…because he speaks like a 19 year old kid)…or they could go the rational route and say that he didnt want to attend their fine institution in the middle of a corn field…or play quarterback in college and become a running back.
  • Media states obvious…USC has an unbelievable backfield with a few viable options that consist of Chuck Norris, Bill Brasky (and his 253 illegitimate children, which he carries in his left sock…with heavy tape…of course), and a living and independently mobile piece of Tim Tebow’s leg hair.
  • Calling it now…Regardless of the result for USC in C-Bus, USC is going down in Seattle the following week. Bad week for USC to play Washington, who always plays USC tough in Husky Stadium.
  • In other news, Michigan beat a MAC team and its return to glory is in full swing
  • In other other news, Notre Dame beat Nevada and its fans are already making bowl arrangements to Pasadena
  • While it was a little while back, our fair and balanced (in a Fox News kinda way) compadre Brian over at MGoBlog (and no I am not linking and giving that site any traffic from this post, as childish as that sounds) decided to take a swipe at the ‘civility’ of OSU fans and the responsibility of OSU blogs and other outlets to condone ill feelings towards a Gray Decker and his “Fists of Fury” escapade on Tyler Moeller’s face. Ironically, this post on The Sporting Blog drew the ire of our buddy Jeff at the BBC who had some sensitive content incorrectly attributed, “HTML-mistakenly tagged” as originating from his site. Jeff…Did you ever get your apology from Brian? While most of us appreciate Brian’s writing ability, eloquent wit, and occaisional LOLCATZ! humor; character and maturity has never been a strong point for him (Kittenz after Appy State?…and more recently “The Rosenberg Involuntarily Voluntary Practice Jihad”).
  • Well at least UM fans in SE Michigan that didnt go to UM (roughly 95% from a survey I made up for this bullet) are past crayons…skipped LOGO…and moved onto MS-Paint. Some solid work over there boys. Can you guys put together a purple unicorn for me? Maybe one with confetti for flames coming out if its nostrils?
  • A side note…this time of year makes people care about baseball even less….unless you are a Yankee or Red Sox fan because ESPN LOOOOVES you, but God hates you, so it is a wash…
  • In Proper Football (Soccer) news, the US Men’s National Team won its World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago in the last week. They are at the top of the CONCACAF group and are pretty much a shoe-in for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Premier League picks back up this weekend. I am flying into C-Bus and will be at Tommy Keegan’s Saturday morning taking in Liverpool-Burnley and Tottenham-Manchester United. Stop by and say “Hello Govna” before the long day of waiting for the big game at 8PM.

~YNBA~

Filed Under: Blogging, College Football, Miscellany, Ohio State Football Tagged With:
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