Another short one, because honestly, this was a mid-season warm-up game. Good on Kent State for gaining some yards and playing hard, but let’s be real. This game was another no-doubter.

Run Defense: 3.5 Sweatervests

A little cause for concern here. Kent State came in with a pretty good running game with a shifty little runny (Garrett Wolfe, anyone) that had some success against the Buckeyes’ D. The plays they ran seemed to be perfectly timed when the D-line was scheming itself out of the play. Adjustments were made in the second half, but it still gave up too many yards. If teams want to run the ball on us, they’ve got some footage to show them how to do it (Wisconsin, Michigan). Still, no touchdowns are no touchdowns.

Pass Defense: 4.5 Sweatervests

Being a run-first, run-often offense, the defensive backfield was never really challenged. In fact, as SMQ pointed out, OSU’s defense out-gained KSU offense through the air: Kent State passed for 62 yards, Donald Washington’s interception return went for 70. I’ll give up 62 yards of passing all season long. That’s almost unfair.

I am also very happy to see Donald Washington’s improvement as the season has gone on. He was a big question in my opinion, a wild card. We knew Jenkins was going to lockdown any he went against, but the other side of the field was going to be an issue. Washington has been a revelation, along with Chekwa. No need for concern yet.

The Young ‘uns: 4 Sweatervests

With the game well in hand by halftime, Tressel was able to play a lot of youngsters. It’s clear that OSU”s second and third best is still better than whatever the MAC can throw at it (whether that means anything is debatable). Brandon Saine was definitely shining the brightest, catching passes out of the backfield and running the ball with some good moves. He stills looks a little tentative to me, not 100% sure of his knee. Regardless, he still has wheels and will be just fine. Schoenhoft is still trying to skip his passes up into his receivers arms, throwing passes 80 miles per hour straight into the turf. He did finish 7 for 9, though. That’s promising. I’m just not sold on him yet. Ten players caught passes and seven players rushed the ball. It might have been garbage time, but it’s better than no time.

The only thing holding the youngsters back was Jon Thoma’s punt. That was ugly. Otherwise, decent performance by the reserves.

Vernon Gholston: Sweatervests Galore

No lie — we lost count how many Sweatervests Vernon earned. The guns got a hold of Kent quarterbacks a couple times and wreaked havoc and destruction. I read somewhere that his mere presence caused Kent State’s water coolers to spring leaks and their trainers’ medical tape was no longer sticky. I’m not sure how that’s related, but I believe it because I saw it on the internet.

Overall Performance: 5 Sweatervests

Baseline: 3 Sweatervests, +1 for stiff defense, +2 for a special teams and a defensive score, -1 for allowing buckets of yards on the ground.

In a year of improbable upsets and amazing finishes, there have ceased to be many “gimme” games. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, this game against Kent State is most certainly one of them. A tasty little morsel before they bulldoze the rest of the Big Ten en route to a date with destiny.

First thing to get out of the way: Kent State’s head coach said that he wouldn’t play his starters the whole game so he could rest them for the rest of their upcoming (an extremely grueling) MAC schedule. What could be the impetus behind this? Is he prematurely conceding defeat? Yeah, probably, but that was conceded when they signed on the dotted line when this game was scheduled. He’s just reaffirming it. Are they challenging for the MAC title? Maybe, but it doesn’t look like it. Why would he do this? Seems like he’s making a big mistake. This may be the only chance some of these guys get to play in the Horsehoe in front of an hundred-thousand fans. It would be disappointing, especially if you’re an Ohio boy, for your coach to limit your time in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Add on top of that the number of improbable upsets where a team had no business winning the game did so. Haven’t Appalachian State, Colorado, Stanford, et al taught us anything? Come on, Coach Martin! Do the right thing.

Second thing to get to: Previews. You want ’em, you love ’em, we link ’em. Buckeye Planet, Eleven Warriors, our own stats on common opponents, and The O-Zone .

This game is on the Big Ten Network. I guess you Time Warner people are still out of luck, right? (Maybe more than you think) I personally have WOW and they just added BTN a couple weeks ago. But no HD BTN! Adding it this late in the season was too little, too late if you ask me.

Finally, the questions. I’m keeping this short and simple.

• Final Score?
• Will Ohio State finally record that elusive shutout? If not, why?
• Will someone buy Anderson Russell some Stick ‘um?

el Kaiser
Final Score: OSU: 38 Kent State: 0
Shutout? Yup. See above.
Russell’s hands: I hope he does something. Maybe Little Animal can loan him his leather magnets from last year.

sportsMonkey
Final Score: OSU: 31 Kent State: 0
Shutout? Yes, the defense will pitch its third shutout of the year.
Russell’s hands: You gotta think statistics alone would require it happening sometime. He can’t drop them all, can he?

Sylvester Yon-Rambo
Final Score: OSU: 45 Kent State: 0
Shutout? The only way we dont get a shutout is that we will give up a kickoff return or punt return for a TD,
Russell’s hands:I think he will get 2 this weekend. They will both be in the first half.

I am leaving tonight heading to State College, PA with some guys from church. I will get to watch the Buckeyes’ game in one of their RVs. Thank goodness for satellites on RVs so I can see a Big Ten Network game. I will also have some major insight into both PSU and Wisconsin and will be the MotSaG man on the inside.

Today we’ll see how the Body Buckeye is doing. All signs point to: Pretty Darn Good.

Anderson Russell’s Hands: 2 Sweatervests

At first glance, it’d be hard to single out Russell’s hands as the sole culprits for the lack of the INT against Purdue (Keith counted six) but this wasn’t the first time Anderson has pulled this stunt. His traitorous hands have been dropping balls all over the place. I don’t how many it’s been so far, but he could have been writing his Thorpe Award acceptance speech if he would just CATCH THE BALL. The only thing saving his hands from receiving the dreaded One Sweatervest is that he can, apparently, use his hands to do other defensive things, like sack the QB. His two sacks were a welcome sight.

Beanie Well’s Ankle: 4 Sweatervests

The coaches want Beanie to be a warrior. A soldier, if you will. They want him to fight through the pain and play like a man. Twisty-bendy ankles ain’t no thang! Luckily, cameras were rolling when his injured ankle was interviewed after the Purdue game, and we have obtained the tape. In a MotSaG exclusive, I present to you: Beanie’s Ankle.

Todd Boeckman’s Arm: 2.5 Sweatervests

Is it an arm? Or a punting leg? A parm? Either way, Todd Boeckman’s arm suddenly became a rocket launcher, throwing passes everywhich way downfield, except into Robo’s hands. As it’s been pointed out in many places, the interceptions didn’t hurt because of the location of said interceptions. “They were just like punts!” they proudly exclaim. Thing is, we have a pretty decent punter. He doesn’t get a lot of chances to actually punt, so it’d be a good thing to keep the interceptions to a minimum and leave the punting up to the punter. Thunder arm must keep things under control. Heck, underthrowing Robiskie was working before, he could always go back to that.

Vernon Gholston’s Biceps: 25″ Sweatervest

You knew it was coming. The guns pipes pythons “Dear Lord! Are those thighs?” that dangle from his dangerous looking delts were in full-effect. He was even lining up inside Robert Rose, which had to strike absolute fear in Purdue’s guards. Certainly they thought they would be spared the wrath of His Bicepness, but they were not so lucky.

Overall Performance: 4.5 Sweatervests

Baseline: 3 Sweatervests, +2 for stifling defense, +1 for jumping all over Purdue early, -1 for SIX dropped passes, -0.5 for giving up the garbage TD.