Paging Mr. May, Mr. Mark May
The legend growsAfter 21 months of seeing the Buckeyes come up short in big games and the second guessing that accompanies that, they came through in a classic that was both nerve-wracking and one of those games that was so fun that you tip your hat to it at the end and think to yourself how honored you were to have been a part of it. From your couch.
Saturday night in Madison marked Terrelle Pryor’s first start in a hostile road environment and with one slick 11 yard keeper with just over a minute to go, he crossed some other things off of his list. Pryor got his first comeback victory and the satisfaction of hearing Mark May praise his performance (through gritted teeth no doubt) looped on ESPN throughout the night. He played a part in snapping the Badgers’ 16-game home winning streak, the second-longest in the nation. He handed Bret Bielema his first ever home loss and helped even his own coach’s record against the only conference team that had logged a winning mark against him.
Pryor’s night was far from perfect. He made his share of mistakes and seemed to let a hesitation funk stick with him for the middle quarters. You could also argue that Beanie Wells was just as, if not more important to the team’s effort. But it will be Pryor’s 80-yard victory march and the plays he made on that drive that will be remembered for years to come. He was so clutch, in fact, that we’re considering switching the nicknames up a little and calling LeBron Terrelle in High Tops.
Offense
The two-headed backfield monster of Pryor and Wells got off to a raging start. On the opening series of the game, the two would account for all 71 yards, capped by a 33 yard rushing touchdown from Beanie. His run was a thing of beauty. Brewster got to the 2nd level and delivered a nice block on Casillas, while Browning, Boone and Cordle either sealed off their guys or bothered them long enough for Beanie to break through the eight Wisconsin defenders that were jammed into the box. The last ten yards of the play featured Troy, Ohio native Shane Carter getting clubbed by Beanie’s forearm all of the way in to the endzone. It was 7-0 quick and the Buckeyes looked like they might have easy work ahead of them.
After forcing a punt, the Buckeye offense got the ball back again and moved 24 yards on three plays before a poor decision by Pryor led to an Allen Langford interception inside the Badger five. Pryor actually had plenty of time on the play as Wisconsin chose to only rush four, but he locked in on Saine from the snap and an underthrown bomb gave the ball back to the Badgers. Saine, not being a natural receiver didn’t quite get up high enough to meet the ball, but credit to Langford with the nice snatch as well.
It seemed like it was at that point that Bielema and his staff decided they were going to start a heavy rotation of blitzing to force Pryor to beat them with his arm. For the better part of three quarters, that strategy almost paid off. Starting with that interception and carrying over possessions that included getting the ball at midfield off of a turnover, Pryor appeared to be trying to do too much by himself as he took several costly sacks, including a 20-yarder. He missed wide-open receivers on several instances that led to tackles or sacks for loss including Posey coming across the middle and Boom on the play he was destroyed on (wondering why there isn’t a helmet-to-helmet rule/suspension in the college ranks).
But on the winning drive, Pryor answered the call by going 3 for 4 for 59 yards including a huge 3rd down pickup on the ground and through the air. We’re going to cut him some slack and try not to dwell on the fumble he had on the fourth play of that drive. There’s something about winning that washes some of that stank away.
Beanie was big beyond his early touchdown jaunt. I continue to be mesmerized by something he does each week and what really stood out to me from the Wisconsin game was how he was almost looking for and trying to make his cutback before receiving the handoff. I didn’t think that was possible until I saw him pull it off a handful of times Saturday night. He finished with 168 yards on the ground, one less than he had against the Badgers last season and though he got his points early, his 54-yard burst down the far sideline on the Buckeyes’ first offensive play of the 2nd half seemed to be his way of telling the team to get their heads out of their asses and they promptly began flipping the momentum that they had lost in the 2nd quarter.
That and he brought Pryor out of his funk by questioning his manhood.
Hartline lead the team in receptions with three for 57, with 46 of those coming on the final drive (in which he gave us all a jolly good scare by fumbling the ball — thanks Robo!). Robiskie was largely ineffective, pulling in just 2 catches for 10 yards. Good enough to extend his regular season reception streak to 30 games, but not much more. Sanzenbacher had a couple of nifty catch-and-runs, but his second one ended in disaster when Badger corner Jay Valai, the same guy that knocked Boom out, was the major contributor in a four-man collision that saw the ball come squirting off and Dane being helped off of the field. I’ll save you from going broken record on my thoughts about Sanzenbacher, but he’s on pace to be helped off the field in four games this year. Posey did get into the game on the fourth play (and later caught a pass), so that placates me somewhat.
I thought the offensive line played well again. No, not perfect, but as long as I continue to see improvement on a game-by-game basis, I’m a happy man. Brewster had some great moments, as did Boone and Browning. The Badgers did get across for four sacks, but most, if not all of them were the result of Wisconsin bringing the heat and Pryor maybe not getting rid of the ball when he should have.
Defense
A youth movement is starting to take place on the defensive side of the ball. Homan may have played his best game as a Buckeye, tying his career high with 10 tackles. Ditto for Thaddeus Gibson. He’s spoken of as probably the best cover lineman on the team and his forced fumble against Evridge early in the 2nd quarter was a thing of beauty (pounced on by Homan, of course). Later on, it was Gibson flushing and getting a hand on Evridge forcing the errant throw right into Jenkins’ waiting arms to clinch the win. Sabino also made an appearance at linebacker, when the game was kind of on the line, so that bodes well for his continued ascension.
There were times when the Wisconsin offensive line just dominated the Buckeye defensive front and while that’s frustrating as hell — especially the despar you get when you realize that your boys can’t stop a 3rd and 3, that’s what Wisconsin lines do. They were playing at home and there may be three future NFL draft picks in that group. Heyward got a nice sack and from the interior, which is nice because he got it by overpowering his man. Freeman had the other sack for the Buckeyes, but his was a little less overpowering and more of the accidental variety. Still, we’ll take it.
Jenkins got the big interception to end the game and Chekwa made some plays, but the safeties were eaten up at times, most notably during the 9 minute window of the 2nd quarter when Evridge looked like Dan Marino. Beckum is going to get his on whatever defense he goes up against and he did lead the Badgers with six receptions for 60 yards, but the Buckeyes held him out of the endzone.
It certainly wasn’t lost on me or some of the other participants in the live blog that both Heyward’s sack and Jenkins’ game-ending interception (along with a few other notable defensive plays) occurred while the team was in man coverage. Hopefully that really jumps out on film.
Special Teams
Not much to complain about on the special teams front. Trapasso was once again the star of the unit, punting four times for 195 yards — good enough for an average of 48.8. Impressive. His long was a 67-yard beauty that just barely missed getting downed inside the five.
Pretorius was two for two on a pair of short kicks while the return teams remained consistent by not doing anything spectacular. Rasta Wells had a nice 24-yard kick return off of a nice Sabino block (marking the fourth straight week he’s stood out on that unit).
Some good, some bad on special teams, but this wasn’t going to be a game won on special teams.
Notes
I loved seeing the players dancing it up during "Jump Around"… Tressel chose the ball first and for the third straight time, Pryor led the Buckeyes to a touchdown on their opening possession of the game. He’s now 3 for 3 doing that as a starter… Wisconsin held almost a two to one yard advantage at the half (236 to 122)… The Buckeyes were penalized five times for 30 yards, while the Badgers were whistled just three times for 19 yards (I can only remember one of those being on the Buckeye line, though, so that’s good news)… Why was Travis Beckum jawing at Beanie after he had run out of bounds following planting Allen Langford into the turf?
24 Responses
Excellent assesment, Jason. I almost spilled my drink when Pryor completed that third-down pass early in the game because they actually threw it over the middle. Pryor is only going to get better with more reps and that’s clearly bad news for other teams. He looks like the best athlete on the field — his TD run was a thing of beauty. Overall you could say the defense played fairly well. 17 pts to Wisconsin in Madison is not bad, but overall I don’t think they’re that strong. They seem to give up chunks of yards when the game is on the line. Perhaps it’s that soft zone crap they’re so fond of, but perhaps the personel is simply not what it was cranked up to be. Also: did Hartline end up pushing Beanie out of bounds on his 54 yd run?
Scott - 10/05/08 @ 8:33 am - #
“He was so clutch, in fact, that we’re considering switching the nicknames up a little and calling LeBron Terrelle in High Tops. ”
Classic.
flipbuckeye - 10/05/08 @ 8:35 am - #
I know that everyone out there is sipping on the Pryor cool-aid right, but is Wisconson really that good? It looks like by next week they will be a 500 team and way of the top 25.
Dirty Dawg - 10/05/08 @ 8:50 am - #
i think wisconsin is pretty good, and last night they played probably their most complete and best game of the season. if their QB somehow gets hot and beckum gets open, that facet of their offense is virtually unstoppable by anyone (most by virtue of beckum being an insane football player). their D is solid and tough, with some speedy guys who can hit.
with that said, they aren’t a top 15 team until they figure out pj hill shouldn’t be their featured RB. john clay was dropping 6.9 per carry on us, and if they ever gave him the ball on a consistent basis i think they’d be much better off.
bup bup bup - 10/05/08 @ 9:12 am - #
1. Our receivers were vastly overrated coming into the season. They are GARBAGE. How many dropped passes did Hartline have?! And what planet was Robo on last night? The WR’s job is to get open and catch the ball, our receivers can’t do any of that effectively and consistently from game to game.
2. Our defensive front is the weakest part of our defense. Wisconsin’s QB was cookin steaks back there throughout most of the game; little penetration and pressure.
3. We’re not very efficient when we are in the redzone. We should’ve won the game by at least two TDs. If not for our D (minus defensive front), that actually stepped up in a big game, the Beanie/Pryor combo of Mike Tyson scary, and a few lucky bounces, we would’ve lost the game.
Overall, I was not impressed but extremely relieved and happy that we won. A great gut check and tune up game for sure. Glad we play Penn St. at home this year.
PG - 10/05/08 @ 9:41 am - #
Beanie is a beast I cannot remember a back with so much upper body strength he makes DB’s look like stick figures as he pushes them around…He is slowly gaining ground as my all time favorite Buckeye running back, if I could just get over my man crush on Eddie!
KJB - 10/05/08 @ 10:21 am - #
I watched the game, and couldn’t help but think I was watching a star be born. T.P. is the real deal. He is gonna be good — really good. Before his career is over, he will be named to Heisman lists. Might be one of the country’s best players right now.
A Buckeye offense with Pryor and Beanie in the backfield is approximately 1 lightyear apart from one with Boeckman and Herron instead. This team has the chance to be a contender again this year.
Gatorpilot - 10/05/08 @ 10:48 am - #
Did the OSU Defense blitz at all yesterday? If they did, I don’t remember it. Why does it seem like this D is in a nickel or dime defense the entire game, every game? Why doesn’t our D coordinator have more confidence in our DBs?
On more than a few Wisconsin receptions, Evridge threw the ball between five Buckeye defenders playing zone defense. Can the coaches see this? There have been a lot of couch potatoes like myself that have been saying this for quite some time. Why can’t we be more aggressive on D? I understand our DLs aren’t that good, but GEEZ! It just seems like every single team we play the QB has ALL FRIGGIN DAY IN THE POCKET TO THROW THE BALL! Evridge might as well have eaten his lunch in the pocket while waiting for his receivers to get open, he that much time.
I thought it was funny also, watching the OSU players on the sidelines “jumping around.”
Just two little complaints about Pryor, which I’m sure he’ll rectify eventually:
Throw the ball out of bounds when no receivers are open Terrelle, and quit RUNNING BACKWARDS to avoid pursuing defenders. I realize he may be able to go around some slower linemen, but it’s tough to do that to a linebacker or blitzing DB.
buckeyedude - 10/05/08 @ 11:00 am - #
what’s especially frustrating about the nickel is that we seem to think that we can get all the pressure we need from our d-line, which never happens
bup bup bup - 10/05/08 @ 11:03 am - #
TP is still a freshman, and that’s obvious at times. But that kind of drive, in that kind of environment is something that turns him into a sophomore a few games into the season.
I think it’s hard to dislike a team like Wisconsin, that does things the right way for the most part. I’ll have a lot more respect for them if they can bounce back from the two losses that they have, losing the way they did. That’s confidence shattering right there.
Offense - the last couple of games answer how much Beanie means to this team. Physically and emotionally he’s really the leadership on both ends that they need to finish off a drive like that and get that type of win.
Defense - It is completely lost on me why with 3 possible all-conference corners we don’t play man defense. Everytime we did, something good happened. We’re not coaches, and we recognized that.
wsas - 10/05/08 @ 11:11 am - #
I don’t understand why we decided to go beef against beef with Wisky’s O-line. Abdallah and Denlinger are worthless. Larimore has the tools to be a great tackle, but for some reason he hasn’t put it all together yet. I just don’t understand why decided to move Heyward back outside instead of having him at tackle and Gibson on the edge. It’s common knowledge that Wisky’s O-line has problems with speed coming off the edge. We demonstrated that last year, and Michigan demonstrated that last week against Wisky. It makes no sense why decided to go with our shitty defensive front instead of our athletic one.
Bobby - 10/05/08 @ 11:31 am - #
Good Points Bobby, I still don’t understand why we put our defensive ends in zone coverage. I hate when we only rush three players.
Corey - 10/05/08 @ 11:33 am - #
Not efficient in the red-zone because the coaching staff is so risk-averison. Sometimes you have to throw the ball over the middle to open the field up a little bit. OSU is so predictable and afraid of turning the ball over that they make themselves easy to defend. They should pound Purdue next week, and hopefully they will put some points on the board and let Terrelle throw it some. If they are to beat Penn State, they will probably have to outscore them, because I doubt if the OSU defense will keep them under 30.
Scott - 10/05/08 @ 11:44 am - #
“But that kind of drive, in that kind of environment is something that turns him into a sophomore a few games into the season.”
Nooo! His eligibility is slipping away!
dean - 10/05/08 @ 11:55 am - #
11th in the Coaches’ Poll.
Bobby - 10/05/08 @ 12:11 pm - #
“I’m a decent football player”
best quote ever!
dean - 10/05/08 @ 12:17 pm - #
Terrelle Pryor = manbeargazelle
poguemahone - 10/05/08 @ 1:16 pm - #
Hey Gatorpilot - yeah TP is getting better, but I think we saw last night that he is still young and this team is at least 1 year, probably 2 (TP’s last) fron really competing at the national level again. The young D will get very little playing time this year with all of the returners, meaning next year is the big learning year for these guys like Sabino for example.
This O will continue to struggle at times, but will always have the potential for the big 75 yard TD with Wells and Pryor
I was happy as hell about last night, but it reaffirmed tome that we are only an OK team right now - but you know what … who cares? it’s still fun and there is not the pressure to lay the wood to people anymore - just win baby
Buckeyeblowoutwin - 10/05/08 @ 1:31 pm - #
Wow Wisconsin manages to stay ranked. #24. As does Auburn. Just wow.
Anyway, glad someone uploaded this video of the Buckeyes joining Wisky fans in the Jump Around tradition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO6aUNpPYco
Man I’m gonna miss Malcolm Jenkins.
flipbuckeye - 10/05/08 @ 2:26 pm - #
Scott: “If they are to beat Penn State, they will probably have to outscore them, because I doubt if the OSU defense will keep them under 30.”
Penn St only put up 20 on Purdue yesterday (2 TDs + 2 FGs).
I don’t know if they played down or if they are going to have
trouble with stronger defenses. Next weekend against the Badgers
should show.
Penn St. does seem to be the team to beat for the B10 title right now, though.
ToledoBen - 10/05/08 @ 2:57 pm - #
That is a good sign - shows that losing a close one at home to the hated OSU doesn’t relegate you to division II status automatically
no, on a serious note, this is probably about right. Being ranked 24 or 25 doesn’t really mean too much anyway. The whole system is really arbitrary, we all know that, but it gets incredibly arbitrary once you are picking between the 30th and 25th best teams, etc - it’s kinda like the last teams in the CCB tourney, if you have to argue whether you should be in or not, you are not really competing for anything anyway.
This Wisconsin team is like most of the others we have been over the last 15 years … at the end of the year I could see anything out of that team, really. They could end up with a record of 8-4 and unranked, or I could see them end up 10-3 ranked somewhere between 9th -13th after winning say the cap one bowl at the end of the year and neither would surprise me
I do think that program has taken a step back after Alvarez left - he could end up being one of those guys that made a program better than it should be and without him, they fall back
Buckeyeblowoutwin - 10/05/08 @ 3:00 pm - #
Oh, also I didn’t get a chance to see the Penn St game (but saw the scores) so I cannot really give my take on only scoring 20 on Purdue.
But, I don’t care if their O struggled, they still have been the best team in the B10 the entire first half of the season.
They are the team to beat and we get them at home - sucks to be them and good to be us. I think it is this simple - Penn St is the best team in the B10, we are second, but we have the advantage of getting them at home and that is why we may end up winning another outright title (and might even share with Penn St at 7-1 or 6-2)
Games that scare me more and more:Penn St, Michigan St., Illinois - all of those teams can beat us.
Buckeyeblowoutwin - 10/05/08 @ 3:05 pm - #
I think I’m more afraid of Illinois than Penn St. now. The home field advantage makes me a tad bit more at ease when we play Penn St.
If our D isn’t ready by the time we play Illinois, Juice is gonna carve us up… AGAIN.
PG - 10/05/08 @ 3:17 pm - #
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