There certainly aren't many positives to take away from Saturday night's pasting, but a couple of players did show up and in an effort to curb my anger over the outing, I thought I'd highlight some of what I saw when watching a replay of the game (I know, glutton for punishment).
Chimdi showed upOn the offensive side of the ball, you have to tip your hat to Boom Herron. When he was in and running, he produced. His 51 yards on 11 tough carries come out to 4.6 per pop, which is pretty impressive considering the defense he was going against and the fact that the defense really didn't have to fear much in the way of long balls downfield. He looks like he's solidified his grasp on Beanie's vacated spot and I have no problem with that. For all of Saine's hype, he's just not a between the tackles kind of guy and Boom could really get into a groove in Big Ten play if Beanie is out for an extended period of time.
Pryor was obviously a spark as well (here's a good look at the difference in his output compared to Boeckman's). He may not have the full playbook down yet -- or the coaches don't trust him with the entire package, but as he continues to learn the system, his playing time will increase. We probably won't see the rise to starter right away that we're clamoring for unfortunately, but expect more and more of LiC in weeks to come.
On the edge, despite losing his number and spending considerable time in Tressel's doghouse for showing up late to class, Ray Small has really stepped up this season and his play Saturday night was the highlight of the receiver corps, though he did have one costly drop. The bubble screens to him are a good option and he will take one of those to pay dirt. We've been hard on him for quite some time, but he's clearly outplaying either of the Brians or Dane Sanzenbacher at this point.
The line clearly didn't show up to play -- in fact they haven't shown up to play for two weeks now, but you have to hand it to Bryant Browning. He wasn't dominate and probably won't grade out as winning, but the Trojans didn't exactly exploit his side as much as I thought they would. It's hard to believe that he would out-perform Boone in the biggest game of the year, but he probably did.
Chekwa and Jenkins were clearly the stars on the defensive side of the ball. Jenkins lead the team with 10 tackles, including six solos, which is practically unheard of for a cornerback not named "Winfield", while Chekwa had the nice interception to close out the first half to go along with another broken-up pass.
Sanchez had four touchdown throws on the night and two of them exploited the middle of the Buckeye secondary, most notably Anderson Russell. There was the pick play that went for six against Jenkins, but that's not on him, and the early toss to Havili that had beaten Freeman. The corners did show up, despite what the score reflects and though Jenkins is off to the League next year, it's comforting to know that Chekwa will be back and seasoned, ready to step into Jenkins' role.
Lawrence Wilson, especially early on, got good penetration into the USC backfield, but came away with little to show for his efforts, ending the night with just one solo tackle. Same for Worthington and Rob Rose. Cam Heyward was virtually invisible, not even showing up on the stat sheet and is off to a slow start in 2008.
So, some guys had decent games, but it wasn't enough to overcome the poor showings by the rest of the team and as a result, you get things like 35-3 drubbings in front of a national audience. It will be interesting to see how this team responds when Troy visits this weekend. Will they come out with a vengeance or have they already tucked their tails between their legs and will be going through the motions, knowing they don't have a shot at another national title?
Finally, I've been looking for anything to get my mind off of that outcome and the funnah can be the best medicine at times. This is pure comedy gold:
Comments
What happened to Anderson Russell? I remember thinking he was sweet as a freshman. When he got injured, I thought there was a definite drop-off to Jemario O'Neal. Did something change in Russell when he was injured? Is there still hope that he will turn into a top-flight safety?
I think Russell falls into the same category as every other player on this team, OSU's coaching squashes their talent. Their brand of defense and offense is damn vanilla and boring. The kids have talent, the coaches need to let them loose.
I am sick and tired of watching second tiered programs have a more creative and entertaining brand of football. It is obviously not working, OSU is 3-3 in their last 6 games.
Hire Tenuta and Walt Harris back.
Wasn't Chekwa responsible for one of those blown coverages that resulted in a TD? I didn't get a good view of the play, only throwing my remote control in disgust when it happened, but I remember clearly his #5 jersey being the only one in the vicinity on that particular play.
And on Browning, I don't know what you saw, but they didn't need to double Browning since he was giving the matador look to the only person he was assigned to block. Simply put: he was awful, and it became more pronounced in the second half.
I'll have to take another look at the touchdown down the middle, but I thought it was zone and the safety was supposed to pick the play up.
As for Browning, he didn't exactly shine, but he was the lesser of the turds on the o-line.
I don't recall Chekwa being the result of one of the blown TDs, but to be honest I only saw two of them, cause the second half was too painful to watch. He wasn't the cause of the TDs in the first half. The tight-end LSU-like TDplay was a bad read by Anderson Russell, who fell on his ass once he realized he was burnt. The play where Freeman was outrun was a screw-up by Jenkins, who bit on a slot back coming across the middle and gave up a huge space to the receiver who was faster than Freeman. But maybe Chekwa blew some plays in the second half.
Regardless, I think #5 and #2 were the best defensive players of the evening. I didn't really see the penetration of Lawrence Wilson, or any others of the line. It was a glorified slap-fight in the trenches, the OSU d-line has no fire in their bellies.
BOECKMAN SUCKS!!! Not a reactionary statement... He has way more INT than TD in his last half dozen games.... Get Pryor in the game Tress... Fire Heacock and Bollman and lets move on...... Go Bucks!
not take anything away from Herron becuase he ran the ball really hard, but imagine how many yards he would have had, had he made come cuts instead of just barrelling into his own blockers.
Cuts to where? The offensive line didn't create any space whatsoever. The only real option Boom had to get positive yardage was to hit one of our fat-lard ass linemen in the back and basically shove him to the ground, fall on top of him, and roll for a yard or two. I'm all for flashy moves and making people miss, but I really don't think Herron had any help in that regard. I thought it was a major individual achievement for him to pick up 2 or 3 yards on any given rush.
Um, the best place a RB can be 3 yards from the LOS bewteen the tackles is right behind the guard/FB. By the time you are 6 yards out, the odds are good you'll end with some daylight.
We presented far fewer things for their defense to worry about than they did ours. I disagree with many that think beanie would not have a made a difference. Clearly he would have slowed the pass rush considerably, and if the WRs were getting open as Hartline said, may have allowed the passing game and the Statue Formerly Know As Todd Boekman to make some plays. I can think of a couple of runs by Boom that Beanie would have likely taken to the house.
Todd doesn't suck. If he has has time, he can be pretty damn good. but when he doesn't have time...well, you've seen the last 6 games. So while I don't hate Todd, I realize he's not going to be successful if teams bring pressure. So I do think we need to concentrate on getting Pryor up to speed so he's ready for PSU, Wisky, and Illinois. Some downfield passing would be nice to see from him.
"So, Who Looked Good?"
This wins the Most Ridiculous Question of the Day award.
Oh, and I don't see why I shoudln't expect a BCS game to end the season. If Beanie is healthy, I don't think anyone else beats us. Nobody else we play comes close to SC. Hell, we may not even need Beanie to win out.
I saw that video on Thursday for the first time. Pure and raw genius.
As far as the game went. Nobody on that line deserves any (read: ANY) credit. Bollman ought to be forced to bury his head inside his sweaty fat ass for a week for the way the line has played lately.
I'm screaming for the rooftops to get a change of coordinators after this season. No more kool aid and scarlet colored glasses from this guy. It's time to bring our elite talent into the world of elite coaching. We need fiery and fiesty guys leading this team to contrast Tressel's cool and calm demeanor.
Loved the video!
Has our "Golden Era" officially come to an end, or will that happen next Saturday?
Two things will brighten my mood considerably:
1. USC does to every other team on their schedule what they did to the Buckeyes, including an SEC team in Miami.
2. We beat Michigan by 200.
Does it matter if we kill Michigan, Penn State, Wisc? What's that mean we're the best of the second tier teams? Sorry to be so negative fellow Buckeyes I'm still disgruntled...give me a few days.
By the 4th quarter they had moved Browning to Guard and displaced either Rehrig or Person (I didn't catch who was out) and had Shugarts come in at RT.
Ray Small was at least trying.
Winning the Big Ten will mean something becasue the Big Ten is much better this year than the past few. Wisconsin, MSU, & Penn State are playing well. Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, and Purdue can play with anyone in the league. Indiana and Minnesota are 5-0 collectively. Michigan sucks and I'm not just saying that as a Buckeye fan this time. The Buckeyes need to wake up or we're looking at another Alamo Bowl.
Troy beat Alcorn State 65-0 Saturday. TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP!
At least the Steelers muddled through another win over the Clowns. That brightened my weekend, but only a bit.
"Wasn’t Chekwa responsible for one of those blown coverages that resulted in a TD? I didn’t get a good view of the play, only throwing my remote control in disgust when it happened, but I remember clearly his #5 jersey being the only one in the vicinity on that particular play."
Chekwa was supposed to have help from Russell, who - again - underwhelmed me. Coleman is incredibly pedestrian. My kingdom for Doss, Moore or even - gulp! - Gary Berry back there. Awful play from the safeties these past six games.
The depth chart is out, and Boeckman is again the sole starter. I never thought I'd have a chance to feel badly for Pryor, but I do now. I hope the kid works through this and doesn't get discouraged. His time is coming.
I said before the year that they'd be 9-3 or 10-2, and it looks like I guessed high. Who'd have thought?
Gawd, my stomach hurts.
I find it difficult to tell how bad everyone played when the line play on both sides was so pathetic (coaching). Throw in a lack of discipline (coaching), ridiculous play calling (coaching), poor game plan (coaching), players lacking motivation (coaching), or possibly the best players not being on the field (coaching) you're left with the disaster we all witnessed on Saturday.
I can’t bring myself to blame the kids or a lack of talent for that debacle. If there is a talent discrepancy I know it isn’t of the 32 point variety (think Stanford).
If McNight were a Buckeye he would have gotten shut down and if Ray Small were a Trojan he would have torched the Bucks for 2 TDs.
I agree about Herron, by the way. Saine just doesn't show me much. Stick the two of them in the backfield in a pony, and toss to your heart's delight. Saine can't run between tackles, but Herron is a revelation, and is showing me what he showed in practice. Can't wait to see more of him, especially considering how often Beanie gets dinged.
I almost forgot during my rant...big props to USC for exploiting the coaching match up and the players executing to perfection. They are indeed a great team and I will root for them to run the table.
Saine's speed doesn't amount to a hill of beans if he doesn't stop dancingin the hole ala Lydell Ross.
Travis, I think you're trying to say something, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
Would you guys relax. We will see some more Pryor. Hopefully some more of the young WR's too. The truth is we should run the table if beanie comes back. I'm thinking Rose Bowl. If the coaches don't get their heads out of their asses it will be a long year. By the way I watched the game with Lydell Ross here in tampa. He was pissed. We killed our selves in the first half. I hope the team remember this next year in columbus. I felt like USC tried to run it up in the end of the game and were very cocky just like their coach. I could out coach Jim Tressel and that is the sad truth. Pryor is our best player outside of Beanie and he needs to be on the Field every play. The back to back holding calls killed us and then the bad pass from boeckman drove the nail into the coffen. The only way we can stop an offense like USC is with pressure which for some reason we refuse to bring. The d line is a joke. The d play calling is worse. We need to start Pryor and Bring Bauserman off the bench for a play or two. Like I said all off season and repeatedly last week Mr Boeckman is the weak link and is god awful under pressure. Most of the time he has more time than the avg. qb would need to make a pass but he gets happy feet and moves out of the pocket.
Why do the assistant coaches hate Ohio State?
While I think they are a big part of the problem, it's more a symbolic thing as well. Third time is supposed to be a charm. I don't even think a lot of Buckeyes expected a win, but didn't expect a pile of shit.
The sad thing is that is that I probably had more faith in OSU at half than OSU had in OSU. I was trying to rally my troops, figure 21-3 isn't a horrid margin, but then it turns out the second half was worse. Cool adjustments. Are these coaches even watching the game?
"By the way I watched the game with Lydell Ross here in tampa. He was pissed."
No offense to you at all, Tampa Buckeye, but Lydell Ross? I don't give a flying fig about his opinion. He still couldn't start for this team, although it's obvious he's pissed because he thinks he could start for this team.
Did you ask him why he put his NC ring up for sale on eBay? (Yes, that's a rhetorical question. I don't care how hard up for cash I was--I'd never do that.)
A friend of mine mentioned during the game that he thinks Saine is (or could be) a Reggie Bush type of running back. And in fact, Carroll didn't know exactly how to use Bush immediately because he isn't your prototypical back, but once they figured out how to utilize his talents, well you know... It's sort of like Tressel figuring out how to harness Ginn's talents, it took some time, but he sort of got it figured out. It goes along with everything everyone is saying on here, we're wasting a lot of talent at every position... There's a better way we could be using Saine's talents.
Definitely agree Kurt. He should be lining up at wide out or going out for swing passes from the backfield. How can you not use some one that has his speed and athletic ability. Oh I know, Boeckman doesn't know how to check down quick enough for Saine to get the ball. Put in Pryor! If he can't get it done with his own feet at least he will create a play so some one else can.
Da Bucks will have a hard time winning the big ten, especially if they can't score points in big games. Their secondary is actually quite poor and it's no surprise that they get exploited in key games. I feel bad for these kids because I don't think they're talents are being utilized correctly. Also, they are going to have to start pounding their opponents now in order to get some respect back. No more 24-10 type wins against second-tier opponents. If they do that, and manage to get by Penn St. and Wisconsin, they could slip back into the top 10 and then...
Tress will not "bench" The Todd or any other captain. It's simply not his style. He will go the Senatorial route and simply give TP a greater and greater role to the point where by midseason, The Todd is more of a figure head. He can have his cake and eat it too--make the necessary changes, but while saving face and preserving decorum.
I see this happening for several other positions as well.
Troy Trojans-28
OSU-21