OSU’s third string QB, Antonio Henton, was arrested yesterday on charges of “soliciting.” More details to come.

Link New, updated Link.

UPDATE: Antonio Henton has been suspended from the team indefinitely. His academic status at tOSU is unchanged.

Initial Analysis:
Yes, it’s a bad thing that a crime was committed. But let’s avoid the melodrama that will no doubt seize control of the anti-OSU crowd, shall we? These are kids, making dumb mistakes. They must learn to accept the consequences.

Moreover, it’s not really that bad of a black eye for the university. What more proof do you need of your coaches’ control over the players than the fact that one was caught sneaking to a Kroger parking lot, at 8:30 p.m., to solicit some $20 booty? (Wonder if he was trying to use his Plus card.) Clearly it wasn’t easy for him to get girls. Clearly he was afraid of breaking curfew. Clearly he didn’t have any extra money (or his standards would have been, shall we say, “higher”). Ergo, the athletes are being controlled just fine.

No matter what anyone says, there’s just no way to control everyone’s actions all the time. Kids will do what kids will do… you can do everything in your power to educate them and create an environment free from temptations, but in the end, impulsive things will happen. It’s at that moment that consequences become extremely important.

BTW UM fans and bloggers: Before you start with the “OMG tOSU teh suk” posts and comments, you might want to revisit some relevant history.

Update 2 (el Kaiser): Like SYR mentioned in the comments, it appears that the charges appear to have been dismissed. Not sure about that, but that’s what the Franklin County site lists. We’ll be on top of this as it happens.

Update 3 (el Kaiser): Updated link to citation. Thanks, Jeff.

We’ve decided to do a quick “perfomance evaluation” of the Buckeyes after each game here at MotSaG, but instead of handing out Buckeye Leaves, we’ll be doing it a little differently (like we always do). We’ll be giving out sweater vests. We don’t have any set categories, so these may or may not change from week to week. Let’s get on with it:

Quarterbacks: 4 Sweatervests

If I was grading simply on the first half, they would get five sweatervests. Taken as a whole, though, the backups weren’t able to move the ball as effortlessly as the Boeckman did. If Rob Schoenhoft wants to be the quarterback of the future, he needs to learn to throw the ball at his receivers hands, not three yards in front of their feet. If he can get his throws up, he’s got a great arm, but until then, I’d rather see Henton out there. I’m sure everyone was seeing brief flashes of Troy Smith out there when Henton was running the offense. Silky smooth.

As for Boeckman, it’s hard to complain with 4 touchdowns. I’ll excuse his one interception because he was trying to get his before he had to sit out the second half. Boeckman’s short game was great, throwing bullets everywhere. When he goes deep, I’d like to see him either get the ball out of his hands a little faster or put a little more air under his passes. More than once the receiver had to slow down to wait for the ball. That’s okay when they’ve blown by the coverage, but will come back to haunt him against faster DBs. Still, I think what we’ve seen so far from Boeckman is very promising.

Backs and Receivers – 4 Sweatervests

Again, tough to argue with performances here. Beanie got his hundred on 12 carries. He’s definitely running the way we expected him to. He’s no longer tentative as he approaches the line. He’s running hard and he’s running people over.

Robiskie is the king of efficiency right now. One in four catches is a touchdown and he’s averaging over 20 yards a catch. For the Northwestern game, three catches and three touchdowns was impeccable. Hartline didn’t have a big game, but he came through when he was needed.

The most positive sign from Saturday’s game was the return of Ray “Little Teddie” Small. His speed is obvious and he’s got some moves in his pocket as well. He was involved in all facets of the game and his impact was pronounced.

Defensive Front Seven – 5 Sweatervests

The facts: 0 yards rushing on 33(!) attempts, 120 total yards. Three turnovers. Four sacks (two by Vernon).

The observations: Players flying to the ball, linebackers cleaning everything up, DTs getting penetration. Vernon Gholston.

Defensive Backs – 4 Sweatervests

Not a lot to go on here as Bacher never really had time to throw the ball down field. I have been impressed with the improvement of Donald Washington. I wasn’t worried about his ability to cover receivers, but after the first two games I was worried about his open field tackling. Against YSU and Akron, his tackling was suspect. But starting at Washington and continuing yesterday, Washington’s tackling has improved greatly. The rest of the defensive backfield looked strong against Northwestern, but they never were really tested. They probably won’t be truly tested until Purdue. Still, two interceptions are two interceptions.

Vernon Gholston – 5 Sweatervests to the Sweatervest Power

What more to say? Two sacks, a fumble recovery for a touchdown, intimadating Northwestern’s cheerleaders. The dude was a manimal out there.

OSU frosh phenom Brandon Saine had surgery on his knee Friday morning and is out indefinitely.

Dane Sanzenbacher is also out, at least for the NW game, for an unspecified injury. Ray Small will fill the slot.

Obviously, it’s terrible news, but at least it’s happening early enough in the season to assume (hope?) OSU will get these guys back by the end of the year.

Links:
Knee Surgery Sidelines Piqua Native
Sanzenbacher Won’t Play Against NW

Welcome to the Open Thread of week 3, with your Buckeyes going up against the Huskies.

Previews? Yeah we got previews galore. We’ve got a preview from the UW point of view. Buckeye Banter has a solid piece of work, looking at this week’s matchup. Sean looks at Five Things the Buckeyes Need To Do To Beat the Washington Huskies. Eleven Warriors and Buckeye Planet, our go-to guys, on top of things as usual.

Here are some things I’ve been thinking about:

• Coaches — I have nothing against Willingham, but Tressel shouldn’t have any problem out-coaching Ty if that’s what it comes down to. Tressel should have the boys ready to go.
• QBs — I know Locker has been getting press for his good play, but I think we’ll see an improved and patient Boeckman. I think the play calling will be tailored to the situation — his first away game. It will be a hostile environment and I don’t think Todd will have many chances to error. Add to that the fact the Washington’s defensive weakness is their secondary and I think Boeckman will play well on Saturday.
• Ray Small — I don’t think his return can be discounted. His presence on the field will spread things out, force Washington to commit someone to him, allowing our playbook to open. I still don’t think we’ll get too fancy, but I do look for us to spread things out more than we already have.
• I’m not worried about our defense. We’re bigger and faster than anything Washington has seen thus far. Looking at the two games each team has played, I don’t think there’s much that can be gleaned from past performance. Ohio State handled its business with two lesser opponents, as did Washington. Don’t read too much into their victory (“upset”) over Boise State. A Pac-10 team should always handle a WAC team. Boise State is not the BCS buster team we saw last year. This game is the first true “test” for both teams.

So I’m more than cautiously optimistic. I think we’ll be in control for most of the game. It won’t be a squeaker, but I think we win 24-13.

What say you?

sportsMonkey: Tresselball is back… we have to keep remembering that when we make our score predictions. Thanks to last year’s wide-open offense, it’s hard for my fingers to type anything but “Thirty-something to…”. I’m going much lower than Kaiser… OSU’s offense struggles again, but their D will dominate the game. The Bucks manage to hold off a late rally to win 16-10.

Sylvester Yon-Rambo: I am just excited to actually be able to see a game this year. Stupid Big Ten Network. I agree Tressel ball is back but if the Offensive line doesnt start blowing up perople it is going to be a long hard season.

This is not going to be an easy game for sure. Washington is a decent team with home field advantage and a hunger to get some recognition. The only way we can win here is to open the field up and move the ball on the ground. Rumor has it Ray Small is finally back on the field after getting MURDERED last season. I really want to see Hartline get in the endzone again. We need a defensive TD or speacial teams TD. We cant afford to have any Turnovers PERIOD.

I predict this to be a close game but we will never trail in the game. My final score is 412 to 2.

Here’s the Friday Open Thread for Week 2 of the Buckeye’s 2007 season.

As always, we link the previews for your reading pleasure. No need for us to duplicate what’s already out there. On the blogging front, the guys at Eleven Warriors have their preview up. Buckeye Planet’s in-depth preview is ready for consumption. Don’t those guys get tired of doing those? Tony Gerdman’s preview over at the O-Zone is enlightening. ESPN’s game preview should be a little more subjective and it has pretty bar charts. If there was such a thing.

Not a lot more to say here. With this week’s game is once again being confined to the Big Ten Network, how do you plan on watching the game if you’re BTN-less? What aspects of Saturday’s game are you’re looking forward to? What’s your final score prediction? Anything else that crosses your mind, let us know!

Personally, I want to see a huge improvement in the running game. I won’t be surprised to see 250+ yards total on the ground tomorrow. Beanie & Co. will have something to prove. As for the final score, I say:
OSU – 45
Akron – 0

sportsMonkey: theMonkey’s quite happy today (as are many other Dish Network subscribers) at being able to see the game tomorrow. **Does Carvey’s church lady superior dance** (H/T: SaS)

Rain and storms are forecast for the Columbus area tomorrow… so I think the weather might impact the game a bit. It’ll be interesting to see how the new turf handles the rain. I’m going lower than Kaiser, with OSU winning 31-0.