The Swag is Back
A sight for sore toesFor everyone wanting to know how a Pryor/Wells backfield might perform, the Buckeyes’ first series of their 34-21 win over the previously unbeaten Gophers was a good indicator.
After the two helped move the chains once to set up a 1st and 10 at their own 33, Beanie showed no indications of rust or injury as he made a couple of nice cuts to spring a 28 yard run. On the following play, Pryor took a high snap, looked briefly downfield before tucking the ball around the right end for a nifty 33 yard touchdown scamper that once again showcased his ability to look like he’s hardly running while flying by defenders.
The scary thing is that the one-two combo of Pryor and Wells should only get better as the season goes with one learning more and more of the playbook and the other getting back up to speed from turf toe. And while some don’t like what they see with the option, that play is going to be money with more practice and repetitions. How do you stop an offense that can run the I, shotgun/spread and the option?
Wells finished with 108 yards on 14 carries and looked a lot better than I thought he would, while Pryor chipped in with 97 — just barely missing his first 100 yard game — on 8 carries. The two accounted for 203 of the Buckeyes’ 279 rushing yards on the day and if you’re impressed with Beanie’s average of 7.6 per tote, which you should be, Pryor’s 12.1 is almost a full five yards more per attempt.
The defense, lead by Laurinaitis’ 12 and Homan’s 10 tackles turned in a solid effort and all things considered, this was easily the Buckeyes’ best looking outing of this young season.
Offense
I was really hesitant to chalk up anything to do with the beat-down in LA with Beanie’s absence in that game, but after seeing him play today, how can you not? I’m not saying he would have accounted for the full 32-point difference by himself, but perhaps I needed a reminder of just how awesome/valuable to this offense he is. Consider myself reminded.
His vision is uncanny. Boom will be a very good running back at Ohio State, but the way Wells can cut off of what he sees so quickly is what separates him from just about every running back in the country (Moreno appears to have similar tools, but not at Beanie’s size). I’m really, really encouraged by the way he played and the fact that he got through the game without too much pain, or at least from what I could see. He’ll catch some heat in film study for that fumble (and if you’re keeping score at home, that’s his 2nd fumble in a four carry stretch), but it was a good tune-up for the trip to Madison next weekend, where he’ll undoubtedly be needed to do more.
Boom made the most of his chances, finishing with 51 yards on 10 attempts. He almost took two to the house and gets better by the week. If Beanie does go down again, I’ll feel better about it than I did in week one.
After tossing four touchdowns in his debut last week, Pryor really showcased his feet against the Gophers. He had 75 rushing yards in the first half alone and a mixture of option keepers, bootlegs and called quarterback draws served him well on the afternoon. The bootlegs on the goal line are going to be a nightmare for opposing DCs, especially when you consider the inside stuff it will open later on, and the staff is putting in some of the Tebow stuff like a fake first step draw out of the shotgun that leads to a step back and a throw.
Between his ability to pump fake and get receivers open, keep plays alive with his feet in the backfield and deliver nice passes with touch, he’s the best quarterback in the Big Ten right now after just two career starts. LeBron in Cleats, indeed.
Boeckman saw his first action of the day halfway through the 3rd quarter on Ohio State’s 2nd drive of the second half. He threw the ball around a little bit and though he did cause some stress with the throw to Hartline into quadruple-thousand coverage, he’s earned these snaps. Besides, he more than made up for it with that amazing toss to Robo for six.
It was nice to see some of the young receivers getting early snaps. Posey had a magnificent block on Pryor’s first touchdown run and a nice catch a little later in traffic for an 11-yard pickup. Flash actually finished 2nd on the team in receptions with though, though they went for just four yards combined. On one screen in particular, he did a nice job of plucking a Pryor throw off the turf.
More importantly, the play of the freshmen seemed to light a spark under Robiskie. He turned in his best game of the season, finishing with 8 receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns on more than a few tough catches. The first score was a textbook fade and a beautifully thrown ball by Pryor. The second was an even prettier throw — and catch — with Boeckman hitting him on a 31-yard bomb that Robo hauled in from his finger tips. Welcome back, Robo.
There was an injury in that group when tight end Rory Nicol went down with an ankle injury after it was rolled while he was run-blocking. He was seen in a boot and on crutches in the 2nd half, though Tressel did say that the injury did not appear to be a season-ender.
The line may have turned its finest performance of the season after a little bit of Tressel practice love to get them going earlier in the week. The Gophers did produce two sacks, but overall I thought the protection was excellent on the afternoon. The 279 rushing yards speak volumes to how they fared in the other department, though Beanie does have a knack for turning one yard into five (and four into 28). They are clearly benefiting from the halo effect generated by both Pryor and Wells and I’d expect them to continue to look better as the season continues.
Defense
The defense did its part in limiting a high-powered offense to six points really. The Gophers put some on late during garbage time, but Heacock’s crew set the tone from the first series with an afternoon of solid tackling and good penetration. They registered one sack (Freeman), five TFLs a forced fumble that led to a recovery and an interception on the way to harassing Adam Weber into his worst outing this year.
They kept Eric Decker out of the endzone and limited him to half his average production and held Weber 10 points under his completion percentage coming in. Most importantly, they stood strong when needed. After Beanie turned the ball over on the Buckeyes’ second possession, basically gift-wrapping a red-zone series for Minnesota, they forced the field goal.
Despite the overall level of good play out of the defense, I must admit to having a little defensive tackle envy early in the game. Regardless the interior of the Buckeye line helped limit Eskridge to 79 and more importantly, no touchdowns or impact plays.
Homan’s 10 tackles is a career-high for him, but Russell may have been the defensive star on the day. His seven tackles (including a nice five solos) was good for third on the team and he’s in the books with two forced fumbles. (I do have to admit that if the strip he got on the gang tackle had happened against Ohio State, I would have gone bonkers. But Brewster did get a payback on the facemask on Wilson in the 3rd quarter.)
I really thought Thad Gibson made the most of his first start at end. He didn’t record a sack, but did finish with four tackles and seemed to be in Weber’s face quite a bit.
15 of the Gophers points came late, mixed in were a two-point conversion and an onside kick, which I have no problem with. Brewster has to do what’s best for his team and whether that means more snaps for the offense, a more respectable-looking score he can take into his next annual review or whatever, that’s fine. It’s also good practice for those types of plays and when you can get it, you should take it.
Special Teams
Once again the special teams were a mixed-bag. Trapasso absolutely rocked the ball again, averaging 54.5 on his two punts, but Pretorius missed another field goal and the return game was only meh again. I have absolutely no problem with a kicker at this level missing one from the low-to-mid 40s now and then, but every week? It’s frustrating to see a guy rock a 44-yarder home early on only to follow it up my shanking a 43-yarder. Leg strength isn’t something you can easily work on. Accuracy is. Also, is it me or does Saine look for tacklers to cut into on kickoff returns?
Notes
Mo Wells was held out of the game because of a sore back… Georgia fan to go ballistic if ESPN shows the Wells hurdle highlight… The Buckeyes have won their last four conference openers by a combined score of 151-40… Minnesota has only been able to muster a combined 28 points in their last three tilts with the Buckeyes… For the second week in a row, Pryor took the opening drive and put up six — this is good… Pryor’s 97 rushing yards set a Buckeye record for rushing yards in a game out of a true freshman quarterback, topping Schlichter’s 77 set in 1978 against SMU… Boom’s 26-yarder was a career long.
Anyone out there believe that we are still in the hunt for a national title this year? With USC, UF and Wisky going down this weekend, that basically eliminates them from conversation if we win out this season. We would have a stronger argument against all three of these teams because it would mean we would defeat Penn St. who beat OSU, who obviously beat USC. Voters could look at this and see that we didn’t have Beanie Wells that night and wonder if it would’ve been different if he was there. Also the rest of the top 10 are only Big 12 teams and SEC teams. Odds are that no one in the SEC is going to go undefeated so lets just give them one team in the Nat’l Champ. If Oklahoma loses their traditional game that they shouldn’t lose and then repeats by winning the Big 12 championship, we would still have a stronger argument than them for the title game. (in case that loss is to Texas or another high ranked Big 12 team) It might sound like alot but in this day of college football and with so many teams from only 2 conferences stacked in the top ten, as long as we take care of ourselves, we could have the strongest argument of any one loss team.
Crazy and awesome week of college football! Could we end up in Top 7-10?
We’re going to make a move, that’s for sure. Regarding getting back into the MNC game, I’d still have a hard time imagining anyone would put us ahead of USC if we both have one defeat at the end of the season.
oh come on! you can’t count that first fumble against beanie, he never even took the ball!
Sure I can. I said it was somewhat understandable at the time, but in the OSU running backs room at the WHAC, it says:
“Gentlemen, it is better to have died a young boy than to fumble this football.”
Would you rather play Alabama or Georgia? God, right now I’d have to say Georgia. 31-0 AT HALF?
I’ll take a BCS bowl. I expect USC will probably drop another game to say…Arizona State or something silly like that.
Watching ‘Bama annilating Georgia is, indeed, wonderful to watch.
That Georgia/Bama score is shocking to say the least.
I must only say that the problem with our ability to run the I, Option, and Spread comes with the idea that our line is good enough to allow our skill players the time they need.
You know that saying, “there’s many a slip ‘twixt a cup and a lip”? Fellas, we’re still at the store deciding which flavor of tea to buy and put in that cup, assuming we make it home without getting in a wreck and then avoid burning ourselves while we’re boiling the water – If you’ll forgive the metaphor.
If there’s anything we should have learned so far this year it’s that it’s kinda crazy – for ANYBODY – to start wondering what happens “if we run the table”.
Still: I watched pretty much all of the Wisconsin-Michigan game, and the Badgers were not at all impressive; I feel better about next week than I did before. I don’t know how much difference a healthy Travis Beckum makes with that Evridge kid at QB. We ought to be able to stack the box against them on defense, and if their defense can be gashed by Steven Threet and that patchwork O-line DickRod’s rolling with, then Bielema’s probably scared shitless of what LiC and Beanie can do to them.
That’s next week, though. This week was a very, very good one for the Buckeyes – Beanie looked better than I think any of us had a right to expect, and Minny is no slouch. Brewster deserves credit for a vastly improved team; I’ll wager that the Gophers end up in the top half of the B11.
You’re so right “EL CABALLO DE SANGRE”! I say it every day: “there’s many a slip, ‘twixt a cup and a lip.’” On the way to work, to the grocery store, etc. LOL.
It definitely is premature to be pencilling Ohio State in to the MNC. Let’s just focus on getting better, winning the Big Ten, and letting the chips fall where they may.
Unbelievable week: USC loses, Alabama crushes Georgia, Misheegoon, in a complete turnaround in the 2nd half, defeats Wisconsin.
i think minnesota is still pretty bad, adam weber has gotten much better now that he has people who actually belong in D-I to throw to, but the rest of the team is mostly a mess. as good as we looked yesterday, i won’t really be happy unless we go into wisconsin and beat them in madison (which has been really, really, really hard for us to do)
i do agree that wisconsin isn’t nearly as good as they were supposed to be though. they SHOULD have won against michigan (i think the loss is on bielema and his coaches more than anything else), but even though their defense is semi-tough, PJ hill isn’t the same back he used to be and everidge isn’t going to win any games by himself
With a 32-point loss on the ledger, hell no we don’t have a shot at the national title. The title game participants are decided by the pollsters, and they will put anyone they can in over the Buckeyes. And I can’t say that I totally blame them, the way we’ve crapped the bed against elite competition.
Just a couple of things: Boeckman would have had a Great outing instead of an average one had Robiskie not botched another one. By the way he also, twice missed or refused to downfield block. Is he a just that good at catch or does he really not know assignment football on a downfield run? LiC will get Heisman votes if we run the table the rest of the season. No MNC with the loss to USC. That unfortunately put the nail in it! I cannot wait for PSU, I am hoping that we are working on a stopper every practice for the spread option that has killed us for the past few years.
In reference to Boeckman I also forgot the 2, yes I said 2, penalties that Cordle and Boone gave him… Was Boone aware of his terrible draft stock and that is why he came back? Ricordoti and Torg have a segement called “the airing of greivances” from Seinfeld that they let callers have 20 seconds to rant. This past week a guy said the only way Boone could get a block was if someone was trying to get into his minifridge for the beer and vodka!!! Hilarious…
i would have liked to see tressel call up the read option using every possible combination with that series after boeckman did his thing. great time to practice what i believe will be his bread and butter once beanie is in the league – unfortunately nothing!
i realize we were mixing it up w/ subs, but the offense just looked lost in the fourth, and at this point in the season that’s a problem.
overall, a good game & great to beanie rumbling down the field.
It’s very encouraging to see the boys playing with much more intensity. They just need to keep improving, stay healthy, and this could be a very exciting final stretch to the season.
LiC is a freak. Jason, great point regarding the limitless possiblities of this offense regarding formations (style of play). I thought the same thing. I really didn’t realize his passing ability was this advanced. I read an article in the Dispatch about his fans in Jeannette something to the effect that people sorta make assumptions regarding his skill set which is inaccurate. The dude can DO IT ALL! Obviously, they are crazy homers, like us, but this is just the beginning. I’m impressed that his “bad” plays aren’t turnovers or huge losses killing drives. The future is so bright it’s blinding me.
Next week is gonna be a real test. Don’t let yesterday’s game with UM fool ya. Go Bucks!
I don’t see why there’s everyone keeps ragging on Robo, I thought he had a couple of sick catches against both Troy and Minny. I’m most impressed with his ability to catch questionably thrown balls and get a foot down in the end zone, when it counts. If we had to depend solely on on Hartline and Small to catch passes we’d be hurting right now
Jason…
I too feel that we shouldn’t be talking about another MNC trip at this point, but as far as USC is concerned. Yes, we lost to them so they should be ahead of us NOW, but SC doesn’t play anyone else the rest of the year.
With us having Penn State, Wisky and Zook’s Illini team that could get back in the top 25 when we play them, we a chance to redeem ourselves and jump ahead of SC based on strength of schedule.
also…
I said this during the last polls you put out, but ‘Bama deserves to be a top 5 team!They will win the SEC and will play for it all!
Two things. The defensive ends have yet to put pressure on anyone. I cannot think of nearly asingle play that they have beat there man when it counted. Second, The play calling is better but for god’s sake….how about pass across the middle. Our pass offense is archaic. Without the athletic ability of Pryor..we would probably lose 5 games this season. Tressel really needs to hire someone who can understand basic offensive strategy. Yes, I know we won…but with the talent we have we should be doing much better.
Agree with Jason on the pass offense. If Tressel were an offensive coordinator he’d be out of work. The thing I liked so much about Pryor, besides him nailing the linebacker, was his ability to convert on 3rd downs. It means a lot to be able to sustain drives. It gives you a much better chance of scoring, and it keeps the defense off the field. Pryor is impressive. Having a player like that will instill a confidence in the rest of the team. They’ll start to believe that this guy can do anything and it will energize the team. Look at the way they are all on their feet watching the game when he’s in.
You guys just about covered it all here, my only add-on would be this: on many a 3rd down, why the hell is JT throwing WR Screen passes that start behind the line of scrimmage!? That is not going to get it done against the better B11 teams. Hell, it didn’t even work against Minny really. I’d like to see a bit more play action on 3rd and short-mid.