Beanie runs away from an MSU defender en route to a career best 221 yards rushing (AP Photo: Kiichiro Sato )
Beanie Wells has taken his share of shots this year regarding his toughness. Either everyone was wrong, or that criticism has made him stronger as evidenced by today's 31 carry, 221 yard, 1 TD performance in a 7 point win against the Spartans. The 9th best rushing effort in OSU history got an early start as Beanie led long scoring drives on Ohio State's first two posessions with runs of 48 and 35 yards leading to a 10-0 cushion with 4 minutes left in the opening quarter. The lead would increase to 17-0 on Beanie's 5 yard TD run on the heels of Doug Worthington's interception giving OSU the ball at the Spartan 29 yard line.
The 17-0 halftime lead appeared to be more than enough to move OSU to 8-0 considering the dominance of the Buckeye defense but there was also the sense that Tressel buttoned up the offense a little early giving MSU an opportunity to hang around. That point not withstanding, the Buckeye offense still had enough to muster a 3 play, 70 yard drive midway through the 3rd quarter giving OSU a 24-0 lead before the offense slipped into the fifth dimension.
QB Todd Boeckman stained what was an otherwise solid performance tossing a 54 yard INT for a TD then promptly fumbled on the ensuing possession giving up another TD trimming the OSU lead to 24-14 with 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. It wasn't all Boeckman's fault as the line failed to pick up blitzes and guard Ben Person racked up 3 false starts in another sporadic performance by the offense but in a season where survival is truly what counts, Beanie took over in the 4th quarter. The man carried the ball on 13 of OSU's final 15 plays (two drives) chewing up 59 yards and 9 of the final 12 minutes to secure the win. It was simply a dominant performance and seems to have gone a little underappreciated, at least in the initial game summaries I've seen.
Not to be outdone, the Silver Bullets again brought the heat holding the supposedly explosive Spartan offense to 3 points on just 185 total yards including only 59 on the ground. The defense was so dominant that MSU ran just 3 plays in OSU territory through the first 3 and a half quarters and only 8 plays for the entire game. That, my friends, is domination. The pundits likely won't see it that way and will again attack the Buckeyes for their schedule but the fact is that this game was another complete mismatch if you subtract two plays from the equation.
OFFENSE:
As usual, the offense got off to another quick start behind Beanie's big runs and Todd Boeckman's early marksmanship but sputtered for most of the 2nd half. Am I being too critical or does it appear this team lacks a killer instinct sometimes triggered by the tendency to become over conservative with the playcalling? After taking the 17-0 lead in the 2nd quarter and before the final two drives where Beanie took over, the Buckeyes either punted or turned the ball over on 5 of 7 possessions and committed numerous unforced penalties. I can only hope this was part of Jedi Tressel's master plan to ensure a focused week of practice before heading to Happy Valley, the site of OSU's last conference loss back in 2005.
Dr. Jekyl drops back
Getting back on the postive tip, Boeckman showed what he's capable of early, connecting on his first 10 passes including a 14 yard TD strike on a nice grab by TE Jake Ballard and later a 50 yard TD pass to Brian Robiskie giving OSU a 24-0 halfway through the 3rd quarter. Boeckman appeared in total control hitting 7 different receivers and tying a school record with 12 straight completions before making two poor decisions in the face of the blitz. The real issue to ponder is whether or not Boeckman can avoid the big turnover in tight spots as the Buckeyes hit the meat of the schedule. On paper, the PSU game is a mismatch but the Bucks have shown they're no stranger to struggling in Beaver Stadium and a couple turnovers could prove fatal to what could be a magical season.
The up and down performance by the offense certainly drew the ire of Kirk Barton as he's been around long enough to realize the Buckeye offense is playing with fire:
"When your foot is on that jugular, you have to kill that fool,'' offensive tackle Kirk Barton said. ''You don't just back off, let him stand up and punch you a couple of times and then knock him back down.''
One last thought before we move to the defense - Is there any reason Brandon Saine seems to be morphing into a wideout? I know he's got hands and Tressel loves Mo Wells, but Saine loses that double-threat effect on a defense if he's constantly split out or going in motion. It's not like Mo was having a great day with 9 carries for 18 yards.
DEFENSE:
Laurinaitis and Co. held Ringer to 2.7 ypc
We keep saying it, but you know the Buckeye defense is impressive when it's more exciting to watch them on the field instead of the offense. Today's effort continued the season long dominance of the Silver Bullets as they held the Spartans to 3 points on 10 total possessions allowing just 59 rushing yards to the nation's #9 ranked rush offense coming in at 242 ypg. RB Javon Ringer was held to 49 yards on 18 carries after averaging 178 ypg in conference play. The Spartans didn't fair much better through the air as Brian Hoyer was held to 12/24 for 126 yards including a Doug Worthington interception at the MSU 29 setting up Beanie's 5 yard TD to give OSU a 17-0 lead.
For the game, Jim Heacock's group forced 7 punts including five 3-and-outs led by James Laurinaitis' team high 12 tackles. The five 3-and-outs brought the season total to 49 on 103 possessions equating to an amazing 47% rate. The swarming defense stopped MSU on 10 of 13 third downs and allowed just 4 plays of over 10 yards. Yes, you read correctly. Just 4 plays over 10 yards and two of those occurred on the Spartans final drive. That's why it's more fun to watch the defense this season. They keep their intensity for the full 60.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
The special units had an up and down day as Ryan Pretorious nailed a 42 yard FG in a windy Shoe but later had a 37 yarder blocked. The FG unit needs to get it together before next week if Tress is going to play close to the vest in the hostile environment. I'm too lazy to research exactly how many have occurred but blocked or botched FG attempts are getting a little too commonplace for a championship team.
NOTES:
The Buckeyes wore #23 decals on their helmets in honor of Ron Springs who is still in a coma down in Dallas... Hoyer's 2nd completion came in the team's 4th possession...The defense didn't allow a TD for the fifth time this season...Ohio State is now 65-9-1 when ranked No. 1 in the country...The offense has scored on the opening drive in 4 straight games and 6 of 8.
Comments
I think those 2 plays have Tress just as mad as the rest of us.
I think his playcalling got pretty darn conservative in the 2nd half, but it would be tempting not to if you knew you had that defense to run with. The Saine knee on the kickoff return was hilarious.
Jason,
Tressel dosen't have a offensive coordinating clue, that was obvious in the fiasco against Florida last year. Paterno's beat him twice with crappy teams and Wisconsin practically owns Tressel. Todays game reminded me of the Illinois game last year in the 2nd half. This is hardly a #1 team.
man its like the day OSU got ranked #1 the gates of sec-retard-hell opened up and they started coming onto our blogs to talk about their past triumphs.....who knows who the true best team is this year, but i can say one thing: ohio state deserves to be ranked #1. all you can control as a team is whether you win or lose a game, and ohio state has done that, something those precious SEC teams havent been able to manage.......dont even act like you think vandy is good
I wouldn't call the 2005 PSU team that beat OSU a "crappy" team by any stretch.
Beanie isn't getting any love - ESPN's Top 25 Overview claimed "Game Ball Goes To..." Todd Boeckman. Are they serious? Beanie or the Defense - I don't care which one - but not Boeckman.
No doubt. The AP capsule doesn't even mention Beanie's name. WTF? What are these people watching?
I think I may be alone on this, but I think the Offensive Line is the single weakest link on the team. In fact, so much so that I think that will prevent the Bucks from winning another title. They have a penchant for making stupid presnap mistakes and failing to pick up the blitz. MSU has a lot of good defenders, but it should be of paramount importance to block Jonal St Dic EVERY PLAY. Yet I can count 3 separate occasions where the line and backs failed to block him. It's not like you don't know if he's coming or not - he's a down lineman. Just block him.
I feel a little guilty about calling out the line, particularly when they are capable of great play (as evinced by Beanie's runs in the first quarter) and getting downfield to put a hat on somebody, but this inconsistency is really becoming an issue. The two turnovers are, in my mind, at least partially the fault of poor line play. Yes, Boeckman should have just taken a sack on each of those plays, but having 3 or 4 men go unblocked is inexcusable.
Well said, Beardguy.
Hopefully they won't cost us a game, but that unit is by far the biggest weakness on the team.
Mo Wells can't help this team as a tailback. Why don't we put him in the slot or in Ted Ginn's slot position and give him quick passes,tosses or end arounds. He fails to run effectively between the tackles. I root for him but my patience is diminishing. If Beanie goes down we are in trouble.
I think I might agree about the line...I think. They are definitely lacking in the consistency but I don't think they were the issue this week. I did notice that we are not effective running the ball to the left side...take that how you want. Tressel needs to quit being nice to former assistants/friends or quit scheduling them. He takes his foot off the gas way too early. I also think that the only player on that team that truely feeds off Tressel is Boeckman and when JT stops going for the kill - so does Boeckman. All that being said the longer I get away from that game the less mad/scared I am. Those were two crazy plays - plays that don't happen very often - we had them both in a span of 53 seconds and still won. Boeckman will learn from that. The defense has also learned something...they are pissed. They keep outright killing people and the offense/special teams is making them look bad. Sadly for the rest of our opponents they are probably screwed because this defense may play the rest of the season with an even bigger chip on their shoulder. I don't think they will allow us to lose - no matter what the offense does. Chris is so right about Saine - what the F are we doing with this phenom? I know JT - RastaWells has been there when we needed him, but he is a distant 3rd in terms of talent and running ability - why does he continue to play? Saine is whole lot easier to cover by using a DB and when you split him out wide, that's exactly what you get. If you send him on a route from the fullback position - he gets covered by a linebacker - we know how that ends...I hope JT has a master plan that we are all to stupid to understand because we are currently wasting this kid.
Let's hope the line bounces back in a big way after that 3rd quarter performance. It left a sour taste in Barton's mouth. He's the senior, so you know he's getting on those guys. ESPECIALLY Ben "McFalseStart" Person.
[...] Bea-nie!! Bea-nie!! Bum ankle or not, Beanie Wells is a mother. The press reports may have minimized his impact in the victory over Michigan State, but whenever the team needed a play, Wells came to the rescue. [...]
Charlie Weis...
Tubby had another cocky comment I see...
"So let me just say people better enjoy it now, have their fun now."
Dear Charles,
I like the optimism you land based manatee but you have lost your overweight mind. I've watched your team (more times than I like to admit) and you are not on the cusp of anything remotely respectable. Current players are leaving and verbal commitments are probably talking to other coaches as you read this letter. I suggest you spend more time learning the college game and less time stuffing your pie hole. And by the way you fucking baluga, "pie hole" is just a saying so put the pie back down and concentrate on what I'm telling you.
Rule #1, college players graduate - That means you have to play younger players so that when the seniors leave, your new players have some experience.
Rule #2, college players are in college - That means they don't have the time or maturity to learn some rediculously complex offensive system designed to fool pro defenses in the few hours you have them.
Rule #3, wearing your pants higher up doesn't hide the fact that you are a lard ass - That means you need to start eating less, plain and simple. If you are still hungry - try some humble pie you pompous, 1 and 9, pigment deficient Fat Albert.
And Chuck, your right, I am "enjoying it now".
Sincerely,
HAL3
Weis == chutzpah to the Nth degree
Hometown press is eating him up right now.
"Tressel needs to quit being nice to former assistants/friends or quit scheduling them."
This is a great point. As time goes by more and more of his former coaches will emerge which is great, but taking it easy on them is not going to help them or their players. I am all for good sportsmanship, but that is for late in the 4th quarter up by 20 or more.