Five Things: Penn State
Pryor’s 4th quarter fumble doomed the Buckeyes – and my liver. (Photo: Jay LaPrete)
Turnover Margin Once Again Dooms Buckeyes
While it’s not groundbreaking to say teams that lose the turnover battle normally lose the game, it is amazing just how bad Ohio State has been with regard to turnover margin in big games. Pryor’s game changing fourth quarter fumble is just the latest example when you look at the numbers.
Even more painful is the grossly inaccurate perception that Tressel orchestrates an ultra conservative game plan to cut down on such occurrences because the numbers tell a different tale. Not only does the OSU offense turn it over at an alarming rate but the defense, while typically playing solid, struggles to generate turnovers when the lights shine brightest.
In the seven Buckeye losses since 2005, Ohio State has lost the turnover battle by a combined 16-5:
| Game | OSU TO | Opp TO | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘08 Penn State | 2 | 0 | -2 |
| ‘08 USC | 3 | 1 | -2 |
| ‘07 LSU | 3 | 1 | -2 |
| ‘07 Illinois | 3 | 0 | -3 |
| ‘06 Florida | 2 | 0 | -2 |
| ‘05 Penn State | 2 | 0 | -2 |
| ‘05 Texas | 1 | 3 | +2 |
| TOTAL | 16 | 5 | -11 |
Taking it a step further, I looked at Ohio State’s performance in what I consider big games over this same stretch (since ‘05) and the results only get worse. Besides the 7 big game losses outlined above, I looked at wins in 2005 against Michigan and Notre Dame, the 2006 win over Texas and both the ‘06 ad ‘07 wins over Michigan:
| Game | OSU TO | Opp TO | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘05 Michigan | 2 | 0 | -2 |
| ‘05 Notre Dame | 2 | 0 | -2 |
| ‘06 Texas | 0 | 2 | +2 |
| ‘06 Michigan | 3 | 0 | -3 |
| ‘07 Michigan | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| TOTAL | 8 | 2 | -6 |
Factor the TO margin from those five wins in with the seven losses and the results are even more lopsided. Disgusting, really:
| 12 Big Games | OSU TO | Opp TO | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Losses | 16 | 5 | -11 |
| 5 Wins | 8 | 2 | -6 |
| TOTAL | 24 | 7 | -17 |
Basically, OSU has won the turnover battle in exactly two of the last twelve big games, both against Texas, producing a cumulative -17 turnover margin in the process. No wonder the program is viewed so poorly from a national standpoint. You can’t be a legit contender with a 24-7 turnover ratio, yielding a 5-7 record, in the last four years of big games. I mean, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
Offensive Line Woes Back in Full Force
So much for hoping the offensive line was back on track. Sure, Penn State has a hell of a D-Line and frequently stacked the box but to average just 1.97 yards per rush (31 for 61) on a night when OSU actually had some balance (25 pass, 31 rush) is disgraceful.
Early on, the play calling was largely to blame as the Buckeyes focused on trying to get outside the tackles before finally realizing PSU’s incredible speed off the edge combined with the anvils tucked in Browning’s socks rendered that plan of attack hopeless. In fact, the lanes were so sparse Ohio State managed just 16 first half rushing yards with PSU holding Beanie to an astonishing 10 carries for 11 yards.
The second half saw Tressel adjust by looking to rush up the middle and Beanie was slightly more successful (12 for 44) but the big fella never really had a chance to get rolling downhill and finished with 22 carries for 55 yards with a long of 8 yards. That total represents his worst game (throw out 4/17 Kent State game) since a 16 carry, 46 yard stinker against Youngstown State to start the 2007 campaign. During that same span, his longest carry was at least 13 yards (again, save KSU). Cue Martha and the Vandellas…“Nowhere to run to, baby..nowhere to hide.”
You all saw Browning’s masterpiece so I’m not even gonna get started except to say I read one commenter say Browning wasn’t helped by the backs missing chip blocks off the edge but after re-watching the game, I’m not sure that’s a totally fair statement. Browning got his ass beat all night long. Period.
One last thing, it was odd Ben Person didn’t dress even though we hadn’t heard anything about an injury. Just as odd was Shugarts dressed and warming up even though he was reportedly out for the year. Did I miss something?
Defensive Line Did What They Needed to Do
At least I think they did. They definitely aren’t the finest defensive line Tressel’s ever had but they’ve definitely improved since Thaddeus Maximus was inserted into the starting lineup. Gibson absolutely dominated in the first half forcing PSU to basically avoid his side the rest of the game. He finished with 5 tackles, 1 sack and a pass breakup showcasing speed and a motor that’ll allow him to play on Sundays.
Also up front, Cam Heyward (6), Doug Worthington (6) and Nader Abdallah (5) combined or 17 stops giving the defensive line 22 tackles on the night helping hold PSU to 200 yards below their per game average.
They did wear down a little toward the end but I’m encouraged by their production. It was a physical game against a prolific offense and they kept coming. I also don’t think they missed many tackles which I can’t say about their teammates at linebacker and in the secondary.
Obviously, it wasn’t enough, but if those guys play like that the rest of the way, I’ll take it.
Don’t Be Too Hard on Pryor
The freshman mistake of fumbling the game away while trying to do too much is something that will haunt both Pryor and the fans for a few weeks but don’t forget this is what we willingly signed up for after the USC debacle.
I think both Tressel and the fan base decided if it meant losing a game at the hands of Pryor’s inexperience with eyes on the long term direction of the program, then so be it. Well, last night was that reality.
Coupled with the fumble was more growth in the form of career highs in completions, attempts and yards against a top notch defense in the most pressure packed start of his young career. Hell, I’m incredibly excited about what I think was the first ever time he dropped back, saw nothing, scrambled for just a few seconds then smartly tossed the ball out of bounds on 1st down to open OSU’s second possession of the game. A few games ago, he would’ve zig-zagged until the only option was a sack or worse.
He’s still got an issue with knowing when to zip the ball or loft it to a receiver but my observation is he continues to at least make the decision to throw quicker and with more confidence in most cases. The low completion to Robo that was overturned was one example of his being tentative before launching a turd and he under threw a few deeper balls but the promise is there. How ’bout that 3rd and 7 throw to Sanzenbacher that went for 53 yards when OSU was backed up at their 6? Even better was the 10 yard bullet to Robo on 3rd and 9 that helped OSU to a field goal and a 3-3 tie at the break. It’s coming. Know that because if it wasn’t, Tressel wouldn’t let him throw 25 times against such an impressive defense.
A Bunch of Miscellaneous Stuff
I know…catchy title, right? There’s just so many little things that I wanted to bring up since I’m curious as to your thoughts:
- What about the performance by the refs last night? Disclaimer: I don’t think the zebras had anything to do with the outcome – I just think they sucked. Browning got away with at least three holds, the pass to Robo looked like a completion to my truly unbiased eye (yours?) and there were some highly questionable spots. If anything, the spots seemed to favor PSU the most but admittedly that could be my Buckeye glasses getting the best of me which is why I’m curious as to your thoughts. I’m less critical of the PI calls on Washington. He needs to turn and look for the ball to help the ref from throwing a flag when there’s contact, even if it is back and forth contact because the receiver seemingly always gets the benefit of the doubt in those situations.
- I liked the insertion of Pettrey, who went 2/2 hitting from 36 and 41 yards. I said after the Purdue game it was time for a change. Thanks for reading, Tress. Kidding. I know he thinks blogs are the anti-Christ.
- What’s your take on what happened when Clark hit Zug for that 49 yard completion setting Penn State’s first field goal? In zone, it looked like Checkwa handed Zug off to Coleman but he got sucked up watching Williams come across the field.
- Similar to my thoughts on Thaddeus, can someone tell me why it took so long to insert Flash Thomas on kickoff returns? He returned two kicks for 71 yards (34, 37) before PSU got wise and kicked the last one to Mo Wells who promptly chest bumped it for 3 yards before it rolled out of bounds at the 7 yard line on what was really Ohio State’s last true chance to tie the game. Nice work, Mo.
Pryor shorthopped the pass to Robo. I watched a bit of my recording of the game today and I saw frequent holds on both sides, which is odd, because you’d expect the offenses to do more with all the holding. You’re right though: Browning was the worst offender on either team.
- as far as the refs are concerned, it is AMAZING that PSU was not called for one single penalty. The second call on Washington was legit, the first was garbage. His head was turned and the contact was incidental.
- Agree with the comment on Pryor that “this is what we asked for.” We chose to move on this year. All the people that are furious about “Boeckman this and Bollman that” are going to be a lot happier next year. Honestly, how frustrating would it have been to lose to PSU last night with Boeckman in the game the whole time or even 85% of the time?
- One spot that was truly questionable was the one that made it 3rd and 1 and we all know what happened next. Thats life though.
- The gameplan was not conservative last night. I saw we threw on like 60% of first downs or something.
GO BLUE ;-)
We should be glad the refs weren’t triggerhappy with the flags. From what I saw, there were way more potential penalties on us than them. Holding all over the place. The bounced Robo catch looked like the right call.
Good point about Pryor. We called for this change. He ultimately lost the game for us but Boeckman would’ve been way worse. Would he have hit some of those receivers Pryor missed? No, he would’ve been sacked.
Off topic, but the regular commenters might remember that I live here in downtown DC, I fly a bright-scarlet Buckeye flag over my front door, and when we last lost to USC, an anonymous SEC fan left a hand-written note in my mailbox, lambasting the Buckeyes for their loss.
Well, sure as clockwork, I received another handwritten note this morning in the mailbox: “At least this time it wasn’t a completely humiliating loss; of course, PSU is a member of the Little League.” The note was stapled to a newspaper clipping that detailed the Lion’s victory over the Buckeyes last night.
I’m weighing my options, but I think I need to buy a Big 10 flag now and fly that right alongside the Buckeye flag. So long as the SEC fan remains anonymous, I can’t do much else.
Precisely 1800 days since Michigan last beat Ohio State in football. Go Buckeyes.
It’s not so much that the refs sucked in the calls against Ohio State. It’s that this is the 2nd time in a year time that a team comes to Columbus and doesn’t get a penalty called on them at all, or until late in the game. How can Illinois and Penn State not have committed any penalties on the road?! That can’t be right.
No one’s down on Pryor, and Buckeye nation doesn’t blame him for the loss, and they don’t really even chalk it up to inexperience…that defender had his hand in the right spot at the right time and poked it out. What sucked was the ineptness of the running game. Beanie makes it all possible, and if he has a bad game, the team doesn’t fare well. And everyone realizes that it’s the o-line’s fault. They did a good job in pass protection this time, but horrible in making running lanes. I’d love to see a game where they’re able to do both at the same time.
Basically, we need Tressel to bring in TRUELY NATIONAL A-LIST TALENT AT THE OFFENSIVE LINE. We need to steal guys like Orlando Pace out of states that make athletes like that.
Agree with you 100% about the turnovers, glad you took the time to illustrate those stats. It is nauseating that they are that bad in big games with ball security and forcing turnovers. It’s becoming obvious numerically that Tressel’s talent is not big-game. They’re big NAME talent, highly prized at times, but there’s something wrong with their instincts.
Whenever you queue Martha and the Vandellas I think MC Wren appears.
Got referred here by a friend, my comment on the team is our head coach is not a great one. I guess arguements can be made, but to me he hired Heacock and Bollamn and calls the plays. Penn State played with class as we did, but they do not have our talent. Yes our O-line sucks but some of that is our play calling, its not hard to call defense against our offense, seriously i am tired of Tressel getting a free pass his play calling sucks and our assistants suck and it is a fact that we are the reason the B10 gets no respect. I love OSU but the problem starts at the top, anybody who has watched us the last three years knows our play callin is horrible and that is on Tressel. On Beanie how could you run they had there entire defense within 10-12 yards from the LOS. I like the article about the turnovers in big games and that is my point it starts with coaching, also everybody talks about Bollman being OC: people Tressel calls the plays!!! I hope we win out but what iam really hoping is Tressel starts getting some heat tired of old school football with new school talent seriously if you are a great throwing QB why would you want Daniels or Tressel helping you develop because there track record sucks in that regards. GO BUCK
Tressel doesn’t actually call the plays, Bollman sends down two or three play calls and Tressel chooses which one he thinks will be the best. I for one am not that upset after the loss even though I drove 11 hours up and 11 hours back to watch them lose. The defense is finally playing like they should have been since 2006 when these boys got exposed by scUM and UF. I think I remember a blog on here a few weeks back when Pryor took over that asked if we could be patient when Pryor’s growing pains showed. I like what I see, I wish he would take off a little more instead of try to prove he can pass, but after the way the defense is playing I’m confident that the Bucks can hang with say USC in the Rose Bowl or UGA in the Cap. One Bowl….
I know we’re all a little frustrated, but hey… Ted Ginn Jr had himself a game (7 catches, 175 yards). I doubt there’s much interest in the weekly NFL Watch, but I thought I’d bring it up.
I had my sights set on the Rose Bowl, since I think I would be able to go to the game (I’ll be out there on vacay anyways). As it is, a Florida bowl game should do just fine. I want to take care of this SEC thing ASAP.
I’m pretty dense. It just dawned on me that the reason Rasta got the start was because it was homecoming. I apologize Mr. Wells.
Are you kidding me? Turnovers were not the reason we lost the game. We had 2 turnovers and the second one was on a last minute desperation drive. It never should have been that close at the time Pryor fumbled the ball. The play calling was terrible. Tressel and his staff called the game entirely too conservatively on the offensive side of the ball. I realize that Beanie is the best back in the naion but so did PSU. We should have run more play action on 1st down or at least got Pryor on the edge running the ball. I felt bad for Pryor. Tressel played it so conservatively that we ended up having no room for error at the end. TOSU had better talent on the field last night but it was not properly utilized. It is obvious that we need to bring in a offensive coordinator with some imagination, but Tressel’s pride will never allow for that. Tressel is wasting some of the best talent in the nation.
Okay. Gahannabuck, I give. You’re right. Pryor’s fumble had nothing to do with Ohio State losing. I agree with you that play calling was not pretty but to say turnovers had nothing to do with the outcome yesterday? I can’t understand how anyone could type that. Seriously.
Man, I’m reading the Penn State blogs—-are we that annoying when we win a big game? Where’s the grace? Where’s the whole, “act like you’ve been there before?” Either it’s been a long time since PSU has had something to gloat over, or that attitude is just endemic to the winner. If that’s the case, I’m going to check myself next time we pull out a big win. Pride doth go before the fall.
Chris. Obviously Pryor’s fumble was a major factor in the outcome of the game, but what I was trying to say was that it never should have come down to that. Up until that point we had not turned the ball over at all and the 4th qtr was over half way over. The last turnover was on a one a minute drive with no timeouts. Obviously you have to take some chances with the ball at that point. It is my opinion that the conservative offesive play calling left us with no margin for error.
I hear you, Gahannabuck. The play calling was questionable at times but as I noted, at least there was a little big more balance between pass/run. It’s probably unreasonable to think Tressel would throw any more than he did on 1st down, even with PSU stacking the box. Even with questionable playcalling, nothing, to me, trumps Pryor’s mistake. If he gets a first down there, OSU more than likely wins. Instead, he fumbles and they lose.
It’s all opinion. I respect yours, I’m just not sure I think playcalling was the main culprit. PSU’s defense impressed me. I feel like Tressel tried running outside in the first half but it kept getting shut down due to Browning’s antics. In order, I’d probably blame the fumble, PSU defense, our o-line then playcalling. That said, I’d welcome a new OC with open arms. The Bollman/Tressel combo just ain’t getting it done. To your point, the current play calling has produced 3 games with 0 TD this season. Unbelievable.
Matt, to answer your question…Yes, many Buckeye fans are rather annoying and obnoxious after small wins, big wins, and even losses. Quotes such as “I don’t mind losing to a better team, but PSU wasn’t that team”, “PSU hasn’t played anyone this year, they are no good” (would that mean that OSU is noone), “it should not have been that close at the time of the fumble” and “Penn State does not have our talent” are just examples of how poorly OSU fans take a loss. Guys, PSU was the better team last night, except it, move on, and get ready for that team up north! Football is a game of taking advantage of opportunities and Penn State did that last night. OSU did not. Game over.
As to the trash talking Penn State bloggers, I can’t speak for all of them, but I know that many are simply tired of hearing the trash talk and venom that many Buckeye fans spout off.
I will say the elevenwarrior staff do a good job of keeping the trash talk to a minimum on this site and I applaud them for it.
Thanks for throwing me a bone on the turnover charts, Steve. It was hard to try and put out a legit “Five Things” after the loss. Crazy how bad that margin is…crazy.
I keep seeing everyone mention bad play calling. What about bad execution? The coach looks like a genious if the players actually execute.
There is so much more that goes into a play than most think. Alot of people think a play is run as shown on X-Box. The reciever does not always have a set route. He looks at the linebacker(usually the Mike) or the safety than adjusts his route. The QB looks at the linebacker(Mike) and the safety as well. If they both see and read the same thing, great. If they do not, crap happens. It loked as though TP and his receivers were seeing different things at different times.
It takes a long time to understand the entire play book. Until the QB and the recievers are on the exact same page (Krenzel & Jenkins prime example), the play calling needs to be conservative.
Remember, the play calling is based on the players ability to execute.
I am hoping some other guys on here that played football can back me up.
I agree, Robb. I played football through the large-school Ohio level (and have an OCC touchdown to prove it!) but nothing beyond that (I’m about Dane’s size — but with a beer gut now).
I also think the line hindered a lot of playcalling this year and have tried to point that out.
Still, can you explain why we didn’t see the pistol once?
I just hope “The Fumble” doesn’t have any long lasting effects on Pryor. I thought during the game that he was getting better about pulling the trigger (it was still slow, but better) and as mentioned by Chris already, his scramble and throw away early in the game was one of the smarter plays he’s made all year. He needs to build on the positives of the game and quickly forget about the negatives.
The more and more I see the kid, the more and more he impresses me – even with the loss. The way the kid took ownership of the loss shows a lot of class for such a young kid….
Even with rumors about some players humping Boeckman over Pryor, I think the majority of the team really love Pryor and they’ll pick him up. I give him credit for taking ownership, but as Corey, Jason and I were discussing earlier, we didn’t love him sitting on the bench with his head down for so long afterward. I hear you J.B., I hope the fumble doesn’t have any lingering negative effects, too. The way he’s handled things thus far, I feel good about how he’ll respond.
I also don’t think playcalling was the culprit. Perhaps in the beginning, but that was more about feeling the Lions out, seeing how their defense would respond, and whether their defensive line was as good as advertised. It’s easy to get tunnel vision on the late game I-formation runs, but I believe we just failed to execute on offense in the later portions of the game. Pryor was throwing off his back foot, the offensive line wasn’t getting any push, etc. I really believe this will be a learning experience, and in the coming seasons, when ABC does national Buckeye telecasts, they’ll splice images of Pryor’s fumble into their little fluff videos over and over and over again, pinpointing that point in time as the moment when Pryor turned a corner.
Troy Smith throws 43 yard strike to…Flacco?!?!?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8eIBhOQykg
Chris- 11W is unquesitonably the best buckeye website there is. You guys are always on top of the most current buckeye issues. I respect your opinion about turnovers. I just disagree that the fumble should be should looked at as the reason for the loss. I just don’t think Tress put his young QB in the position to succeed. I agree that Browning was awful and may have handicapped the play calling.
GB – Thanks for the props. We try our best to put out a decent product but know that we aren’t always right and also that everyone has a different opinion on things. What’s great is all the readers/commenters add just as much to the site as we do and we appreciate those that take the time to share their thoughts on what we all love – Buckeye sports.
Now that I’ve fully digested the loss – how bad does it suck that we now have a bye week to ‘look forward’ to?!
Jason: How many times have we had success with something, only to have it vanish? The dual QB up tempo play that we saw early against USC – Led to 3 points…. Never saw it again (Not that we should go back to that NOW, but during THAT game I don’t understand why we never went back to that). The speed option that won the game against Wisconson… Haven’t seen it since. The famous Pistol… lost in the play book.
“Even with rumors about some players humping Boeckman over Pryor, I think the majority of the team really love Pryor and they’ll pick him up.” I agree Chris, the comments made by Jenkins after the game are what I would expect from the Seniors and the others on the team.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/college/s_595312.html
also…
Not to get off topic, but is Ginn a lock for Buckeye NFLer of the week?
Chris…great write up. The TO margin is freaking crazy! I never knew we were or are that bad in big games.
Is it just me or did anyone else want to drive to the shoe and shove your foot up Musberger’s ass? I swear I can’t stand him!
J.B. – Too often. I think they go into games wanting to diversify, but when things stiffen, they go back to the gravy.
Yo, what needs to happen is for the program to be explicit about creating a culture of offensive football. We clearly have a culture of great defense.
Let’s make it a goal to be among the Top 25 offenses in 2009 and a Top 10 offense by 2010.
First off, I love 11warriors. I am just a fan of Buckeye anything, and this is the best website for true Buckeyes fans, bar none. And I regularly visit 5 to six different websits to discuss Buckeye football, not all of them exclusively “Buckeye” websites(i.e. sportingnews.com)
Of all the sites I’ve been to, I haven’t seen ANY Buckeye fan make comments like that leveled by linebackeru, such as ““I don’t mind losing to a better team, but PSU wasn’t that team”, ” it should not have been that close at the time of the fumble” and “Penn State does not have our talent” etc. Penn State is a darn good team, and I acknowledged it before the game, during and after. I hope they whoop some ass in whatever bowl they go to. I think we Big Ten(11) fans need to start supporting each other as the SEC fans do so much.
I don’t know how 11W keeps out the riff-raff(such as the fans that exclaim, “my team rulz, your team sux, because I said so), but I see one sneaks in every now and again. Still, I love this website.
I hope TP quits hanging his head and puts this behind him. It’s all a part of growing, as a person/player. One cannot continually excel all of the time. He’ll learn more from this than if we had won the game.
And next year, he’ll have a whole new supporting cast of lineman to block for him, which means they’ll only get better.
Now let’s win out, and spank the Crapperines by 40 points!
Steve at 4:39: I don’t know if anyone’s responded to you because I don’t have the time to read the whole thread, but are you retarded?
JB Shugarts, Michael Brewster, and Mike Adams were the top offensive linemen in their respective states, the first two hailing from the most talent-laden states in the country. TALENT is not an issue. The issue is whatever the hell sort of conditioning these kids have to go through that makes them fat and slow. They certainly don’t start out that way. Let’s hope we change conditioning strategies so those guys go out as first rounders rather than undrafted.
poguemahone at 12:53,
I might be retarded, but I’m not clueless when it comes to Ohio State. Shugarts and Adams haven’t really played yet. The fact that Brewster is starting as a freshman, though, should clue you in to how far behind the situation is at O-line for the Bucks. O-line is usually the deepest position on any team, with coaches bringing in 4 or 5 new ones each year. Freshmen RARELY, and I mean REALLY RARELY start.
The returning O-line was supposed to be dominant, and it turns out they’re mostly busts. Rhering, Boone, these guys are clowns that make too many errors given their level of experience. Maybe you’re right, maybe it’s the way they’re coached. All I know is that it’s not like it was in the Cooper years, and the guys on our line now don’t hold a candle to the guys on the 2002 squad. So, you do the math.
Just wanted to point out to one of the commenters that we did try the option from the Wisky game at least once that I can remember… and we got tackled for a loss.
Any chance the turnover margin is in direct correlation with our non-attacking style of defense?
I think you hit the nail on the head, TLB.
First off, I thought it was a hell of a game. Secondly, IF our o-line played half as well as our d-line played I think we could have pulled out that win. Oh and ironhead junior sure put down a hammer on royster. That was a hell of a hit. I am disappointed that we lost but not mad. I have nothing against Penn state. hell if there is one other team in the big ten i root for it is penn state. i really respect Paterno and everything he has been able to accomplish. I was just really hoping for 31 years without a win in columbus. I am very please with holding a team that averages 45-50 points a game to just 13 that is really impressive. I am not impressed with the 3 games and no offensive touchdowns. Thats a shame. Someone made a comment about it not being the play calling but, the lack of execution. I couldnt agree more. The play calling is the same in every game. The difference is beanie didnt break a 50 yard touchdon on the iso that only got 1 yard saturday. Come on guys, I wouldnt mind a new offensive and d coordinator but the players have to perform and our o line didnt show up. There is one thing i see every weekend on saturdays and it is with every player that has possession of the ball. There is no ball security any more in college football. TP i believe made the right decision in busting it outside. The line made absolutely no surge and he couldnt have gotten it up the middle. But, when he ran outside you could planely see the ball was off his side by at least 6 inches. Thats why it got poked free. If he would have tucked that ball there would have been no fumble and most likely a first down. Also, I dont mind the first call made by JT. The screen to Rasta. AT LEAST HE DIDNT CALL A RUN PLAY UP THE MIDDLE. He called something that Rasta runs much better but with Penn State defense being as fast as they are it got sniffed out. But, I do not agree with TP’s fumble being the momentum changer. I give that to Rasta’s chest bump of the football out of bounds. That put TP at what the 5 yard line or so and you cant expect a freshman qb to lead his team 95 yards. That was the momentum changer in my eyes. As I see it if our d continues to play like they have the last 2 weeks then i dont see why we dont win out go to a bowl game and even win that. BUT, our o line has to come to play. If not then, well there is always next year. BUT, like the rest of you I am not ready to think that far ahead. Lets go Bucks finish this year strong and on a positive.
Did any one bring up the fact that we can’t catch a punt or a kickoff without dropping it???
I felt like the one time we did get deep into their end we call a f’n option play that got stuffed on second down bringing up 3 and long. I don’t mind a run on first but if they have 8 or 9 in the box someone is going to be one on one outside. Play action worked when we used it.
As a Penn State fan, I was happy to see Boeckman wasn’t in there. You guys are right, Pryor will someday be great, but for this year he’s not your best QB. It reminds me of Dan Marino’s freshman year at Pitt. They had some senior, who’s name I forget, who was effective against us, but they felt compelled to stick Marino in there at every opportunity. You knew Marino would be a great QB someday, but I remember at the time being relieved every time he went in. Turns out we kicked his head in when he was a senior too, but that’s another story. On the interference thing, I admit the one was bogus. The Robiskie play looked honestly like it could have gone either way. The holding thing, though, as some of you guys even admit, was ridiculous. I saw PSU linemen getting grabbed blatantly all night long. Something to think about – maybe that’s one reason OSU has had trouble in big non-conference games, without the Big Ten refs letting it go. One final thing – sorry about any jackasses on our end that are getting carried away, that game could have easily gone the other way and there’s no way PSU fans should act like that.
Buckeyedude, we all know that every fanbase has it’s share of homers and jerks, and often they are the loudest voices, and appear to represent the fans of their team. It wouldn’t surprise me that some fans posted what linebackerU quoted. One of them is in this thread: “Penn State does not have our talent” . Conversely, I’m not surprised that there are unfounded comments made about OSU. However, to stereotype all fans as being whiners, or homers is just plain wrong.
Good luck for the remaining season.
not that you want me on this board, so I won’t stay long. As a PSU fan, I felt the officiating was not good either, at least as far as the o-lines were concerned. It was as if the refs got together before the game and said, “Okay, tonight, no holding calls!” Like the writer of this post said, I too might be looking with PSU glasses on, but it seemed like our D-line was getting tackled constantly.
Also, I know you don’t want to hear this (at least some of you), but I think Tressel did a brilliant job coaching. The D shut down PSU. I thought before the game, if we stop the Buckeye rush, we have this, because no one is going to keep the Lions from scoring. Man was I wrong. great scheme.
Also, Tressel’s offensive game plan did everything needed (considering everyone in America who cares knew that this was not going to be the year when Pryor would win with his arm) to give the offense control of the game. In the 4th quarter, with a three point lead, the game was mostly in hand. As Joepa said, the fumble was the game.
anyway, I’ve been too complimentary. this sport won’t be any fun if we’re too nice to each other. So, I want to add that if we played the Buckeyes five more times this year, you’d lose all five.
there. take that.