Braxton Miller and crew picked up right where they left off this afternoon, grinding and throwing their way to a perfect 10-0 record, beating Illinois soundly and unequivocally, 52-22.

The defense once again came to play, limiting the admittedly anemic Illinois offense to a paltry 170 yards. The Illini couldn’t get anything going on the ground or through the air. Nathan Scheelhaase was pestered all game long by Simon and Williams and the defense stonewalled whatever rushing attack Illinois tried to mount.

The linebacking corps also came to play, with Shazier and Boren keeping Scheelhaasein in front of them and containing Donovonn Young and the Illinois ground game.

Braxton definitely “went back to quarterbacking school” after the Penn State game. His passes looked much crisper and his pass to Rod Smith on his 50 yard wheel route was a thing of beauty. He also is clearly developing a rapport with Nick Vannett. Braxton also pitched in with 73 yards on the ground and a TD run to top of another impressive performance.

For his part, Carlos Hyde put together another strong effort, carrying the ball 18 times for 137 yards and three touchdowns.

At this point, the Ohio State ground game is a known quantity. They’re going to grind out yards on the ground and get them in bunches at times. The passing game is still nascent, but is showing signs of development.

All was not perfect, of course. Special teams coverage left something to be desired and personal fouls kept drives alive longer than they should have. Fumbles can be costly. But we’ll let the coaches worry about that and just enjoy another dominating performance.

Ohio State: 52
Illinois: 22

Save The Turtle!!

Everybody outside of Columbus thinks that they know how this will go down.  However, the Fightin’ Zook’s…errr…Beckman’s will undoubtedly rise to the occasion and play its best game of the season against Ohio State.  This is how it works when Illinois and Ohio State play.  It is like a college football bizarro world.   Like Danny Hope snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and still clapping like a boss.

I think most of us Buckeye fans know how this one is going to turn out.  It will be gut-wrenching.  It will be ugly (It would be uglier if it were in Memorial Stadium), but OSU will find a way to pull this out and maybe get an insurance touchdown mid-way through the fourth quarter.

Anyone that tells you this will be an easy game…they just don’t know B1G football.

Previewin’

I would give all kinds of grief to the Illini fanbase, but they have enough problems.  Its football team is horrible, and they don’t even have a good basketball team to look forward to in the wintertime.  I’d think that there is a contingent of Illini fans that would like get Zook back at this rate, which is basically say that a kick in the balls (Zook) is better than an “honest to goodness” punch in the face (Beckman).

Beckman will get the Illini back on track.  It will take some time.  Illini fans…look at Toledo this year…that will be you in about 2 years.  Godspeed.

When Illinois has the ball

Scheelhaase.  He is the Illinois offense, which isn’t saying much for 2012.  The Illinois offense is terrible this year for whatever reason (UFM says it is the young wide receiver corps, so I’ll believe him.).  It ranks 103^rd in yard passing per game (184.9 y/g) and isn’t much better at running the ball gaining only 132.5 y/g, which is 91^st in the FBS.  Scheelhaase was more productive the last two years and has more interceptions (5) than touchdowns (4).  For as good as Scheelhaase has been the last two years, this has to be a disappointment to Illinois fans.  More of a disappointment than living in Illinois (and don’t tell me you live Chicago…Bloomington-Normal isn’t a freakin’ Chicago suburb).  The running game is non-existent.  I don’t see how Illinois is going to be able to move the ball on the OSU Defense, but this game is for the Illi-Buck so expect the unexpected.  Hankins and Co. on the D-line should have a field day if they decide to try and run, since the there is no way that OSU would play 10-yards off the Illini WRs right?

When OSU has the ball

Illinois is giving up 30 points per game.  In the last five games, the minimum amount of points given up was 31 points to offensively-challenged Wisconsin.  That defense made Michigan and Derpnard look like Oregon.  Lots of Shoelaces spoon-feeding on offense…and a lot of ole’ defense.  The Illinois defense has a couple of decent players that can cause problems like Akeem Spence and rush end Michael Buchanan, but this wont be enough to keep OSU from scoring points.

Prediction
Barring any terrible B1G reffing (I’m looking at you Illinois 2007),  OSU starts slow (AGAIN) and falls behind early giving Illinois that glimmer of hope that will last until the 3^rd quarter.  Miller and Hyde get their rushing yards and the Buckeyes grind out another win.

OSU 37-13

How you feel?

As always, presented without comment.

Stats are grabbed from cfbstats.com.

The B1G Conference is about as up and down as a conference can get. Every team has looked beatable and numbers 2 through 7 in the rankings are just about equal. Ohio State took care of business at Penn State, while a Denard Robinson injury fueled Nebraska over Michigan. Sparty defeated Wisconsin at Camp Randall for their first home loss in 21 games as the two teams continue to be up and down each week.

1. Ohio State (9-0)- The Buckeyes got a huge win at Happy Valley against one of the hottest teams in the B1G. They get rewarded by playing the worst team in the conference at home this weekend.

2. Nebraska (6-2)- A hard fought victory against Michigan propelled the ‘Huskers up to number two in the power rankings. Nebraska travels to East Lansing this week in what should be another tough game.

3. Northwestern (7-2)- Kain Colter tallied 4 touchdowns against Iowa as the Wildcats now have the second best winning percentage in the conference.

4. Michigan (5-3)- The Wolverines showed that they have no real back up plan for when Denard Robinson goes down. They hope to bounce back against Minnesota this week.

5. Michigan State (5-4)- The Spartans defense held Montee Ball in check (22 carries/ 46 yards,) and scored an upset at Camp Randall. The road does not get any easier for Sparty as they welcome Nebraska into town this weekend.

6. Penn State (5-3)- The Nittany Lions fell apart after half time against the Buckeyes and now get to bounce back against a reeling Purdue team.

7. Wisconsin (6-3)- Not sure what to think of this Wisconsin team. One week they are a mess, another week they look unstoppable. The Badgers get a bye week after Michigan State snapped their 21 game home winning streak.

8. Indiana (3-5)- In the battle of the B1G basement, the Hoosiers proved that they are much better than Illinois this year. They play Iowa this week and hope to win another conference game.

9. Iowa (4-4)- Iowa fell to Northwestern as they continue their up and down season.

10. Minnesota (5-3)- It looked like the Gophers took advantage of Purdue’s Buckeye hangover by hanging 44 points on the Boiler Makers. They’ll be keeping an eye on Denard Robinson’s injury this week.

11. Purdue (3-5)- Purdue seems to play down (Minnesota) and up (Notre Dame, Ohio State) to their competition. We will see if that trend continues this week against Penn State.

12. Illinois (2-6)- The Illini let up 30+ points once again and they hope to keep the Buckeyes under 60 this week.

Sorry I missed last week with this post and sadly we are on Week 10 which means the season is over for some of our recruits and others will be playing in their respective states playoffs. Once the season ends I will try to put together a comprehensive look at each recruits stats for the year.

Jalin Marshall– His team Middletown Middies defeated Cincinnati Princeton 41-14. Jalin rushed 12 times for 168 yards and a 3 TDs and went 3 of 7 for 91 yards and 2 TDs.
Eli Woodard– His team Eastern enjoyed a 55-38 win over Winslow Township. Eli and his team clinched a playoff spot with the victory.
Cam Burrows– His team Trotwood-Madison beat Vandalia Butler 27-3. Cam had 2 tackles.
Joey Bosa– His team St. Thomas Aquinas beat Plantation 24-20.
Marcus Baugh– His team John W North beat Poly 38-0. Marcus had 2 TDs.
Evan Lisle– His team Centerville enjoyed a 41-6 win over Springfield. As an O-lineman he helped his team gain 323 yards on the ground.
Ezekiel Elliott– His team John Burroughs HS enjoyed a forfeit over Confluence.
Billy Price– His team Austintown Fitch enjoyed a 49-7 win over Cardinal Mooney. Billy had 6 tackles and 2 sacks.
Jayme Thompson– His team Toledo Central Catholic suffered a 49-0 loss to Toledo Whitmer. Jayme had 3 tackles.
J T Barrett- His team Rider lost 21-10 to Guyer. Unfortunately JT is out for the season with a knee injury.
Michael Hill– His team Pendleton beat Landrum 38-21. His season is over due to a hand injury.
Taivon Jacobs– His team Suitland enjoyed a 29-12 win over Bowie. Taivon had an INT and a TD reception.
Darron Lee– His team New Albany enjoyed a 38-14 victory over Mt. Vernon. Darron helped his team gain 422 yards of offense.
Tracy Sprinkle– His team Elyria suffered a 31-21 loss to Mayfield. Tracy had 19 tackles and 5 TFL and 1 sack and 3 QB hurries.
Tim Gardner– His team Lawrence Central enjoyed a 21-14 win over Warren Central. Tim helped his team make the Sectional Championships.
Johnny Townsend– His team Boone enjoyed a 28-12 win over East River. No punting stats could be found.
Tyquan Lewis– His team Tarboro HS enjoyed a 34-0 win over Beddingfield. Tyquan had 3 sacks.

This class is loaded and we all know it. The stats don’t lie that’s for sure. Tracy Sprinkle continues to prove the recruiting experts wrong by putting up monster numbers. Ezekiel Elliott and Jalin Marshall are the kind of playmakers OSU needs for Urbans offense. The question will continue to be asked until signing day who else will join this already impressive class and how many more guys can they take. Also look for 2014 class to start taking shape soon.

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Miss me? I missed you. We only have so many more times to do this this year, only so many more times to memorialize this strange season in so many picture frames, as it were. It’s hard to believe it’s already week nine, heading toward the double digits.

SPEAKING OF WEEK TEN: The kick-off time for the Illinois game has been set for 3:30 on the ESPN.

BLAME YOU, BLAME ME, BLAME EVERYONE!: There’s not a whole lot more to be said about Saturday’s dismantling of the Penn State bandwagon that YNBA hasn’t already said, but I do want to point out just a couple things. These have probably already been said elsewhere, but bear with me. First off, as YNBA adroitly pointed out, those poor beleaguered Penn State fans have been beating to death that straw-man ref they built. It must feel so good. The cognitive dissonance is palpable. But those guys are actually sane compared to what I read over at BWI (Blue White Illustrated) after the game Saturday night. I’m choosing not to link them because I don’t want to subject you to that nonsense, but feel free to wade into their bizarro world if you want to. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Speaking of complaining about the refs, we all know that the biggest complaint came on the holding call against Penn State’s punt return team. As we often have to do with defending the pass interference call against Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, we must go, as they say, to the scoreboard: SCOREBOARD (via 7-11W).

Let me just set the scene. Bryce Haynes had previously been one of the first Buckeyes down on punt coverage, making a nice tackle the punt before. Penn State’s punt return team is instructed that someone (let’s call him Brad Bars) will be playing the part of Gandalf to Haynes’ Balrog. “You shall not pass” indeed. SCOREBOARD

(Full disclosure: I was a long snapper in high school. I had this, and all manner of other offenses, occur to me on the regular).

And we won’t even get into the Chaos theory that Penn State has to claim in order for that holding call to affect the game. As sportsMonkey pointed out to me this morning during our daily IMs: “so that play in the 2nd quarter… somehow made the OSU defense sack McGloin in the 3rd, then caused him to throw a pick six, then caused Miller to throw an INT, then caused PSU to kick a FG…”

And so on.

THE BEST DEAN SHAZIER IN THE LAND: I told SYR on Friday after Ryan Shazier tweeted:

https://twitter.com/ryanshazier10/status/261838212270526464

that I no longer worried about the Buckeyes in this game. Shazier had his coming out party last year against Penn State and was primed for another breakout performance. His third quarter (and really, the whole game’s) performance bore that out. And his effort has been recognized by the B1G, being named Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Much deserved and a great tribute to his friend.

I’LL JUST SLIDE:

“Oh my God, Carlos [Hyde] was like, ‘You all right?’ so I need to practice that,” Miller said.

Yeah, Braxton’s going to have to practice avoiding those hits.

RUN, FAT BOY: Maybe it’s just me, but Jake Stoneburner runs like Tim Tebow.

MISC: No surprise here, Ohio State has cemented itself as the MOST POWERFUL TEAM IN THE BIG TEN. After the Michigan loss, I am obliged to link this. Metric Football: the Liter Bowl.

Braxton Miller seemed to finally get that zone read thingy right…and there was much rejoicing.

It was your typical OSU game this season.  Offense starts out slow and you consider throwing yourself into traffic, but just like clockwork Braxton Miller comes to life and puts the offense into a gear that most Buckeye fans still havent been able to completely comprehend.

There were a few things atypical about the game.  The OSU defense looks like it has turned the corner and has started to tackle much better, and is also getting regular pressure on quarterback.  Yays!

Btw…Who would ever think that a school of Penn State’s size couldnt produce a semi-competent kicker from the student population?  They need to take the UM approach and find the most unathletic person at the school to be the kicker…it lowers expectations, but hey, “brunettes” and probably donuts…lots and lots of donuts.

As much as I think it will still be unlikely, 12-0 looks like a real possibility now.

Positives:

• Zone Read Decisions for Braxton #allgame
• D-Line put pressure on McGloin all game
• Boren could have been an All-American LB if he played there all of his years at OSU.  Guy is amazing and he is starting to pick up pass coverage now, as well.
• Nice game by Bennett and Hankins shutting down the middle
• Limited amount of missed tackles in the secondary
• Braxton going Nebraska-mode on Penn State Defense
• Shazier sack and pick six in the same series.
• Carlos Hyde is a stud.  Feels like we are watching the second-coming of Raymont Harris. #ultraback
• Defense did not give a touchdown until 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

Negatives:

• Passing game is turribull.  Not Michigan passing game turribull, but pretty bad.
• Found out who will be the most held d-line player after John Simon graduates…Noah Spence.
• John Simon is hurt?  Sure seemed like he was hobbling a little bit.  Illinois and a bye week would seem to be the best tonic for that ailment.
• “Out and Up” – We know that a couple of the players in the secondary will be playing on Sundays, but it would be nice if they didn’t fall for the double-move EVERY TIME.
• Last touchdown for Penn State everyone knew what was coming including Shazier and he still left the TE open.  *Sigh* Assignment football…Well, at least the defense will have more to work on this week.

Turning Point of the Game:

• Some people will say that it was the questionable holding call on the punt late in the 1st half, but Griffin’s pass break-up on the fake punt was immense.  Gave the Buckeyes their best starting field position of the game.  Huge momentum swing.

One More Thing:

The only reason that Penn State lost?  WELL, THE REFS OF COURSE!!!

http://menofthescarletandgray.com/2012/10/27/10498/