First Quarter

Beanie rumbles for 28 after his first carry went no where and then Pryor turned on the jets for the touchdown. That was exactly how we needed to start this game.

OSU: 7
Minn: 0

That was a nice strip by the Minnesota Dlinemen. It was also nice to see the D hold strong and only allow 3 points
touchdown. That was exactly how we needed to start this game.

OSU: 7
Minn: 3

Second Quarter

This Pryor kid is going to be pretty good, I think. If he can keep up that almost 20 yd/carry average, he’ll do just fine.

This settling for field goals again will not do.

OSU: 13
Minn: 3

Hurdling defenders is the new black. Nice touch pass from Terrel to Robiskie. It appears Evil Robo is taking the day off.

OSU: 20
Minn: 3

Half-time

A few thoughts: Beanie doesn’t look 100%, but this just further proved an 85% Beanie is pretty much better than anyone else out there. Although that hurdle there in the second quarter throws my initial appraisal in doubt.

I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but I can’t gush enough about how Terrel Pryor is becoming THE MAN.

The line is still shaky but is getting the job done most of the time.

Third Quarter

Virtual MotSaG Standing Ovation© for Todd Boeckman.

OSU: 34
Minn: 6

Final

Good on Minnesota for not quitting after beeing down big. They put a couple nice drives together against an OSU defense that was still playing some of its starters. And double good on Boeckman for that nice TD pass, but that catch by Robiskie was a thing of beauty.

Now it’s time to spend the rest of the day watching the rest of the nation play.

As the season turns. As I type this, I’m watching USC lose to lowly Oregon State, and things are no longer making sense to me. I don’t think OSU (the other one. No, the other one) is going to pull off the upset, but who knows at this point. (Update: Okay, they did it. And I knew it all along) Either way, this isn’t going to look good for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State is at a crossroads as Big Ten play starts. Minnesota is a great team to open against. The Buckeyes need a slump-buster, something to get them out of their current funk. I think Pryor and Beanie in the backfield can do that. I think shaking up offensive and defensive lines can do it. If Terrell Pryor is the leader going forward, he needs a good Minnesota game to get things before the real adversity comes next week in Madison. So a lot rides on a game that OSU is heavily favored in.

So what are we looking at this Saturday. Does Minnesota have a chance? Most signs point to know. Ohio State stacks up rather favorably against our Gopher brethren. The three headed monster of Beanie, Pryor and Herron will probably be too much for Minny’s defense to handle.

Right now, OSU is an 18 point fave. What’s your prediction? I’m gonna wrap this up now, because the college football world is currently being upended. Give us your final scores and other thoughts in the comments.

I’m going to be frank. If you booed Todd Boeckman last Saturday after his underthrown pass, you are not a good person. Plain and simple.

I had written a really long post why you are a bad person, but it just wasn’t coming out right. Suffice it to say, he didn’t deserve it. No one in his position, having done what he did, deserved that.

I’m just now plugging in from pretty much an entire week of being off the grid. I haven’t seen what the chatter around the Buck-o-sphere is yet, but I imagine there are a few themes developing already. I read YNBA’s bit about a neutered offense, but here are a few more things from the OSU/Troy game:

• First and foremost, let’s all have a moment of silence for Todd Boeckman’s career at Ohio State. The dude never complained and never gave up but just didn’t have the tools. It’s a shame it ends like this, but I certainly hope it has ended. It leads me to my next point.
• Terrell Pryor is the deal. He is not the real deal. He is the deal that others will be compared against to ascertain their realness or lack thereof.

  He looked very good out there on Saturday. There are times when he makes moves that just leave defenders looking foolish. A simple shimmy-shake and he’s past two guys three different times. He is everything he was cracked up to be and I think there are hundreds of fans breathing a sigh of relief that he is worth it.

  

  Finally, all was not perfect. Yes, he threw four TDs but Pryor’s passing game has a lot of work to be done. His passes were floaty and bird-like. Most weren’t crisp and his delivery still makes me nervous. Still, four TDs are four TDs.

  All in all, Buckeye fans have a lot to be excited about. A young QB getting in some great time and really looking comfortable. It’s been said before, I’ll say it again — it’s 2004 all over again. Say hello to the future.

• Pryor looks good and extremely promising, but all is not well with the offense. Bollman and the entire offensive coaching staff needs revamping. Calling it predictable would be insulting to predictable offenses. I know this game was Tressel-ball in a nutshell (field position, special teams, low score) but I’m tired of Tressel-ball. I’m tired of I-formations when everyone in the stadium knows we’re going off-tackle. Mix it up. Pass on first, run bootlegs, ANYTHING. We have the most exciting freshman in the country. Unleash the beast.
• The offensive line. Ugh. It needs major work. It was good seeing freshmen get solid minutes but some of the upperclassmen need to step up the effort. In one play in particular, a simple option play looked promising at the outset until Person got blowed-up and pushed into the backfield, disrupting everything. Plays like this happen too often. The freshmen didn’t play perfectly, either, but hopefully the good will continue to outweigh the bad.
• Daniel “Boom” Herron is a little fireplug. Very fun to watch. He’s no Beanie, but then again, no one else is.
• As the monkey mentioned in the previous post, the defense still looks solid. Coleman and Hines are both looking extremely good. Freeman looked weak, however. Troy has an offense that is going to gain some yards but the defense did a good job keeping them out of the endzone.
• The punting game was about as effective as it gets. This needs to continue for the Buckeyes to have shots against Penn State and Wisconsin.

We’d love to hear some of your thoughts on the Troy game. Sorry for the late posting, but being away from an actual computer has been cathartic.

No time for posts, just Open Threads. Blogging should resume its regularly scheduled programming (ha!) soon.

Will the Buckeyes win?

What else is there to say?

The gameplan was wrong. The players didn’t execute. The coaches made every single mistake possible, from non-innovative and non-aggressive playcalling to the the benching of Beanie. (Why, at least he might be healthy for Troy next week – let’s keep our priorities straight.) OSU has 20 returning starters, but you’d never know by watching this loss.

Yes, it’s just a game; and it’s not about winning and losing. But for the university to be humiliated again and again and again on the national stage can’t continue to happen. Ohio State – with the best football tradition of any school, cannot afford to keep being a pathetic punchline to the rest of college football.

What do you think happened to every single high school football player tonight? Think they’re considering OSU now?

Time to make some radical changes. I suggest you start with the assistant coaches. Clean out the old, unimaginative coaches (starting with the underachieving Jim Bollman), and give some new ones a shot. Give them a season or two, and if OSU continues to embarrass and disgust fans and recruits, then it might be time to find someone else to wear the sweatervest.

OK – so we have to find a silver lining – could you imagine a better trial-by-fire for a freshman Terrell Pryor than this one? And he played admirably, to boot (though he did miss a sure TD in the late 3rd quarter with a wide-open Hartline down the field).

Oh, well. Now we start rooting for a Big 10 championship.