For the bye-weekend, MannyCincy has made another video for our enjoyment, filled with highlights from the Big Ten season.

So that went pretty much according to plan. Kudos to Minnesota for not only getting points on the board, but by doing it in non-flukey fashion in non-garbage playing time. Offense continued to roll and rack up very un-Tressel like numbers, putting 52 points on the board. (and I apparently love using dashes)

Outside of the initial scoring drive, the defense played well again. Seniors Brian Rolle and Cameron Heyward played particularly well. It seemed like Rolle was everywhere, even after leaving the game early with an ankle injury. Heyward was in the backfield almost at will. The secondary looked confused at times, but the front push got pressure. And then we got sacks!! And fumbles. And touchdowns. Scoring on defense, the black truffle of Tresselball.

Offensively, Pryor is looking stronger and hopefully getting closer to 100%. We’ll need his legs (and those 11 yard per carry) for the final three games. It’s really nice to see Boom Herron take the reins on the running game with authority. I was surprised that this was Boom’s first 100 yard game.

Carlos Hyde has evidently supplanted Jaamal Berry as the #4 back. This is both promising and a little troubling to me as I really thought Berry was on the cusp of blowing up. I’m not complaining, as I really like Hyde’s explosiveness and I have really enjoyed watching him run. In the end, I want what’s best for the team but I am still a huge fan of Berry. (Oh, I like them all!)

Kick coverage continues to be a sore spot.

I’m usually not one to complain too loudly about the commentators but Holy Moses on a Crutch, the commentating for this game, on prime time national television was Charles Barkely level TRBL. Why Craig James gets to be involved with college football at all is a travesty by itself, but goodness gracious that was hard to listen to.

So the Buckeyes are back in the Big Ten race, albeit a little handicapped, but with three games to go, things are looking good for the Buckeyes.

How to preview a game where one team is clearly superior in almost all facets of the game? What is there to say that isn’t stating the obvious or working in cliches?

I haven’t seen much of Minnesota this year. Can you blame me? They have been all over the place. They played USC tough one week and lose to Mt. Rushmore Community College the next. Their coach doesn’t even survive the season. Color me bored.

So with such a lackluster opponent for Ohio State, we must look elsewhere for gristle to chew on. What are this week’s storylines?

Terrelle Pryor’s growth. Minnesota will offer little defensive resistance which should allow Terrelle Pryor to have the opportunity to continue to get better. He’s obviously grown comfortable with Dane Sanzenbacher but he hasn’t had a lot of time to utilize Jake Stoneburner. The emergence of Corey Brown has been a pleasant surprise but Posey’s fading into the background has not. The passing game has room to improve. Yes, Pryor has definitely been able to minimize his errors and the Minnesota game should give him a great chance to continue to do so.

The Running Game finds an identity. Against Purdue, the running game racked up over 180 yards, but it was to the tune of 3.8 yards per carry. Yes, you take away the sack yardage and that number improves. Slightly. Ever since the second half of the Wisconsin game, the offensive line has looked more aggressive but it still hasn’t gotten over that hump. Maybe Minnesota gives us them that final push of confidence, which will need going in to the final three games.

It’s clear the Boom Herron has taken control of the starting position and has ran like a man twice his size. Saine has accepted his role and seems to be flourishing in it, working and contributing well in both the passing and running games. Hall and Berry continue to make the most of their carries, but Boom is the clear Number One. He’s even working on his own little mini-version of the Stiff Arm of Justice.

Pressure the QB? It’s getting to be a broken record and maybe not even an important one. Many fans have been harping on the lack of quarterback pressure, especially pressure that results in sacks. Ohio State is ranked 104th nationally in sacks per game with an unhealthy 1.25. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. In those same rankings, Ohio State’s pass defense is ranked 5th in the country. So maybe those sacks aren’t as important?

Either way, we are still waiting for Cameron Heyward to hit the QB Buffet. Nathan Williams has visited it a couple times, but it is All You Can Eat, guys. Dig in!

Getting healthy. Ohio State has its bye week the first weekend in November. With all the injuries the team has suffered, this comes at an opportune time before the guantlet of Penn State (snicker), Iowa and Michigan (snicker). Let’s get everyone healthy, let’s finish the season strong and let’s see how this plays out.

So for the storylines, let’s do a little prognosticating: How many passing yards does Pryor have? How many sacks does the defense get? What is the final score?

I’m saying:
Passing yards: 320
Sacks: 3
Final Score: 52-0, another shutout for the Silver Bullets.

Presented without comment.

As always, stats are grabbed from cfbstats.com.

This Sunday in London, England Troy Smith will get the start for injured QB Alex Smith over lifetime back up David Carr. In what could be described as maybe his last chance to prove he is a NFL QB he is going to be given one more shot. Luckily for him he is going up against a dreadful Denver defense. I for one dont feel like anyone has given Troy his chance to earn a starting job and he has never been able to wow people in practice I suppose to earn his shot. If anyone would be willing it is Mike Singletary who seems to like what Troy has to offer.

Singletary said of Troy “Troy Smith gives us a good opportunity to win this game,” Singletary said. “He has enough of the offense to play.” I for one hope he is right and this isnt a desperate move. Sadly though the 9ers have a bye week next week and they expect Alex Smith back after the Bye. Here is to hoping Troy has a monster game and wins the starting spot. I know I will only be eating fish and chips and Bangers and Mash this weekend to show my support for Troy.

Now all I can hope is Ted Ginn Jr also gets a start and they both can find the magic that made them both Buckeye Legends. Please football Gods allow this to happen Pretty Please.

Pretty good for a project QB.

FB: Pryor Named Davey O’Brien Award Semifinalist

Junior leads the Big Ten with 18 touchdown passes; ranks 11 in NCAA in passer efficiency

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor is one of 16 semifinalists for the 2010 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, which takes into consideration quarterback skills, academics, character, leadership and sportsmanship.

Pryor leads a Buckeye offense that is averaging a Big Ten-best 40.8 points per game and is one of six active FBS quarterbacks with at least 1,000 career rushing yards and 5,000 passing yards. He leads all Big Ten quarterbacks with 18 touchdown passes and ranks 11^th in the nation in passer efficiency with a 162.8 rating. Pryor has completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,775 yards and has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all but one game. He also has rushed for 408 yards and three touchdowns, which include three 100-yard rushing performances.

The Jeannette, Pa., native had his best all-around game against No. 12 Miami (FL) in September when he threw for 233 yards and a score and rushed for a career-high 113 yards and another score in the 36-24 win. In the win over Ohio, Pryor set a school-record with 16 consecutive completions against the Bobcats, the second most in Big Ten history. Pryor would go on to set another school record the very next game against Eastern Michigan by accounting for six touchdowns in a single game: four passing, one rushing and one receiving.

Against Indiana Oct. 9, Pryor threw for a career-high 334 yards and three touchdowns and is coming off a 270-yard, three touchdown passing performance in the win against Purdue in just three quarters of play – a game in which the Buckeyes racked up 415 total yards in the opening half.

Pryor joins three other Big Ten quarterbacks on the list: Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins, Michigan’s Denard Robinson and Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi.

2010 Davey O’Brien Semifinalists

Matt Barkley         SO           USC                         Pac-10

Kirk Cousins          JR            Michigan State      Big Ten

Andy Dalton          SR            TCU                         MWC

Blaine Gabbert     JR            Missouri                 Big 12

Robert Griffin III   SO           Baylor                     Big 12

Landry Jones         SO           Oklahoma              Big 12

Colin Kaepernick SR            Nevada                   WAC

Andrew Luck        JR            Stanford                 Pac-10

Ryan Mallett          JR            Arkansas                SEC

Taylor Martinez    FR            Nebraska               Big 12

Kellen Moore       JR            Boise State            WAC

Cam Newton         JR            Auburn                 SEC

Terrelle Pryor       JR            Ohio State             Big Ten

Denard Robinson SO           Michigan                Big Ten

Ricky Stanzi           SR            Iowa                        Big Ten

Darron Thomas     SO           Oregon                 Pac-10

Men of the Scarlet and Gray Ballot – Week 9

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Auburn Tigers	—
2	Oregon Ducks	—
3	Boise St. Broncos	1
4	TCU Horned Frogs	-1
5	Michigan St. Spartans	1
6	Missouri Tigers	3
7	Utah Utes	4
8	Wisconsin Badgers	2
9	Alabama Crimson Tide	3
10	Ohio St. Buckeyes	3
11	Nebraska Cornhuskers	4
12	Arizona Wildcats	2
13	LSU Tigers	-6
14	Oklahoma Sooners	-9
15	Florida St. Seminoles	3
16	Stanford Cardinal	1
17	South Carolina Gamecocks	5
18	Hawaii Warriors	—
19	Iowa Hawkeyes	-3
20	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-12
21	Nevada Wolf Pack	2
22	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	—
23	Arkansas Razorbacks	—
24	Michigan Wolverines	—
25	Syracuse Orange	—
Dropouts: West Virginia Mountaineers, Kansas St. Wildcats, N.C. State Wolfpack, Rutgers Scarlet Knights

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

I’ve been battling a little upset stomach (which has included violent vomiting) so my mind might not be completely right and things may be out of place. I feel good with 1 – 15, mostly. The last 5 look completely wrong. Syracuse? What is this, 1998? Or Basketball?

Anyway, help up sick brother out and help this look right.



Not only was Ohio State bitter about last weeks defeat at the hands of the Badgers, they were obviously still mildly upset with the Boilermakers over last years embarrassing loss in West Lafayette.

Ohio State opened up a 42 point half time lead on Purdue and put it into shutdown mode from there and shutout the Boilermakers 49-0.

Lead in the first half by Boom Herron and Terrelle Pryor Ohio State’s offense collected 415 yards of total offense and 23 first downs in the first two frames.

Positives:

• Boom Herron ran angry and is settling nicely into the starting tailback spot for OSU
• Defensive shutout, first one of the season. A great way to comeback after a disappointing performance by the defense vs. Wisconsin.
• Terrelle Pryor’s ho-hum 270 yards passing and 3 td’s….in the first half. He will end up breaking every passing record at Ohio State.
• No major injuries. Looked like everyone that mattered stayed healthy.
• No special teams letdown. Kickoff coverage was fairly good.
• The return of Brandon Saine! He ran very well today.
• Offensive line dominated on a consistent basis.

Negatives:

• Michigan State won.
• Still a lack of a pass rush. Does this DL miss Thaddeus Gibson that much?

Not too much to complain about today. Time to have another good week of practice and put together a dominating road performance next week in Minnesota, head into the bye week and bring on Penn State, Iowa and Michigan for the home stretch.

Gotta love Big Ten football!

This thread is for you. The Purdue Live Chat will be located here as well. I’ll be watching the game on tape delay (Pumpkin Festival) but I’ll be joining the Live Chat once I catch up.

Hit the jump for the Live Chat

[Read more…]

As Purdue players walk by and pet the brown, pulsating and warm to the touch mole of Drew Brees they realize that not even the California shaped blob that gloms onto the badly balding quarterbacks head can give them enough luck to beat the Buckeyes this week.

Oh by the way Drew, here is a bit of advice for you good sir:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em-NI-b6tIE&feature=related

Ohio State has been busy this week picking themselves off the canvas after getting beaten up in Madison, Wisconsin last week. The injury riddled defense got a reality check last week as did the rest of the team.

Last year against this very same Purdue team, the Buckeyes let their guard down and let one get away from them. After having their tail between their legs the Buckeyes ran the table winning the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl. How will the Buckeyes answer the bell this time? Purdue is Ohio State’s first test.

Terrelle Pryor will have to regroup as he is what makes the Buckeye offense tick. He struggled with his accuracy and will look to rectify that come Saturday. But the Wisconsin defense will be a blueprint on how to stop Terrelle Pryor. For the life of me I can’t fathom why more teams haven’t played OSU like this more. For some reason most of the teams that have lined up to play defense vs. OSU have sold out to take away the run, time and time again. It lead to Pryor being a 10 QB in the nation statistically. Wisconsin took that away, but in the process OSU and Boom were able to run the ball with some consistent success from the tailback position. Something Ohio State has struggled with this year.

Look for Purdue to mimic what the Badgers did last week and take away Pryor’s passing game by dropping 7 and rushing 4. OSU will counter with Boom and Pryor getting more carries along with Dane making catches while getting thoroughly concussed in the process. Last week was a step back for the Buckeye passing game. No completions to any tightends or a 3^rd WR.

Purdue is hurting a bit themselves with their starting QB, RB and #1 WR all out for the year. They have been relying on freshman Robert Henry who has transformed Purdue’s pass happy spread attack to more of a read option zone look to take advantage of his athletic ability. Last week Henry was the Big Ten freshman of the week with his 4 TD’s vs. Minnesota.

This is an odd game to call simply because no one knows how OSU will react to the loss last week. This game was supposed to be a “revenge” game for last year, but now Purdue is just another road block to a Big Ten Championship. Since 2002 Ohio State is 4-2 with an average score of 16 to 13. For some reason the outmanned Purdue squad has played the far better Buckeyes pretty close. It’s at home, OSU is pissed, Purdue is outmanned and injured, OSU wins this one but its closer than it should be.

Predict the score of the mole:

Total Moles rushing/passing/receiving for Pryor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc5G04nJecI

Mole.