Five Things: Michigan
Big Play Bonanza
The Buckeyes turned up the heat on a cold day in Columbus racking up six plays of at least 35 yards, including three TD plays of at least 49 yards after registering just one TD of that length through 11 games.
Numerous factors contributed to the big play feast including Michigan’s stank and the play making ability of guys like Beanie but I give some credit to the offensive line. The maligned group didn’t dominate play-by-play as much as the rushing stats indicate (43/232, 5.4 avg) but they clicked on more than a few plays allowing the skill players to get in open space.
Again, consider the competition but Rehring and Cordle both had strong outings pulling and cleaning up defenders triggering long runs for Beanie and Boom and the line as a whole gave Pryor/Boeckman plenty of time to throw deep balls to Robo, Sanzenbacher and Hartline after they finally settled in.
I’m sure many of us still have concerns about what the hogs can do in a bowl game against legit competition but it was nice to see such a barrage of big plays resulting from their work up front.
Silver Bullet Redux
The defense may not have been as stingy as in 2007 (91 total yards) but they were every bit as effective, particularly on third down, in a fairly dominating performance.
After holding Michigan to 3/18 third down conversions last season, the Buckeyes blew up to the tune of 1/17 yesterday. The lone conversion came on a 3rd and 10 pass to Martavious Odoms keeping their one scoring drive alive.
I thought Heacock called a nice game blitzing Sheridan early and often forcing him to make quick decisions. The strategy coaxed Sheridan into an 8/24 passing performance in addition to yielding 3 sacks and 13 TFL’s totaling 44 yards. The D also racked up 9 three-and-outs.
Obviously, credit the players for execution and playing with high intensity. As always, The Game was a hard hitting affair with little boys like McGuffie getting the worst of it.
As usual, the game was bittersweet as we watched class guys like Jenkins, Freeman and Laurinaitis play their final game in the ‘Shoe. Each went out with a bang led by Animal’s 12 stops and vicious hits on Sheridan. I thought Coleman also had a nice day finishing with 10 tackles (1.5 TFL) and the starting front four made noise combining for 19 tackles (5 TFL). And what about Nathan Williams? Dude is an animal. I can’t wait to watch him grow.
Boeckman Stars in Made for TV Movie
The game unfolded perfectly allowing Boeckman to see extended minutes where he could actually sling the pill a little. It was great to see him receive a solid ovation from the crowd and to record a TD pass in his final home game.
To see him greeted by Jenkins, Pryor, Tressel and Laurinaitis, among others, after the TD pass to Hartline was a great moment. He took a lot of (fair) heat this year but handled it with nothing but class.
Who wasn’t so classy about the whole thing was one Bob Griese. What the hell was his problem? He’s probably seen two OSU games all year but has the audacity to challenge Tressel’s handling of the situation? The fact of the matter is that Tress was going to be criticized no matter how he handled the situation but he did absolutely the right thing.
Boeckman lost his job due to poor performance in seven straight games combined with the fact that the constant sieve impersonations by the line made it impossible for Boeckman to be a valid option at the position. Throw in the fact Beanie was hurt and the chance at a national title was gone after game three and the switch to Pryor made perfect sense.
Anyway, hats off to Boeckman for his performance yesterday and for choosing to not be a distraction and putting the team first his entire career.
Boom Shows Flashes
One of the main benefits of Beanie’s season long bout with injuries is the carries afforded Boom Herron. Beanie’s tote count stands at 191 with one game to play compared to 274 last season representing an 83 carry (30%) drop off from 2007.
Not coincidentally, Boom has 84 carries on the year. Of course, that number would be much higher if not for his own injury concerns thanks to a concussion received from a dirty hit at Wisconsin causing him to miss three games.
Boom has made the most of his opportunities putting up 409 yards (4.9 avg) and 5 TD and his 49 yard burst to pay dirt yesterday showcased what he’s capable of. I certainly like the stat line in his inaugural Michigan game: 8 carries for 80 yards and 2 TD. He’s no Beanie, but he’s no slouch and the experience he’s been able to obtain this year will pay dividends in 2009. I, for one, am excited to see what he can do.
Other Stuff
- Props to Ray Small. His 80 yard punt return was a thing of beauty and he did nice job on four other punt returns giving him 110 return yards on 5 punts, good for second most all-purpose yards behind Beanie.
- Following Small’s return to the Michigan 8, I loved Tress immediately dialing up a pass resulting in a Pryor to Robo TD strike. Going for the throat on first down following a turnover should be given but doesn’t always seem to be the case so it was nice to see. For the game, OSU ran on first down 22 times and passed just 4 times. The first down passing stats weren’t pretty as Pryor went 1/4 with a TD and a pick.
- Jason touched on it, but how bout the skirmish on the Michigan sideline early in the first quarter? I know our #13 got into it with Tim Spencer back in the day but yesterday’s feud looked like it involved a few different players and even some coaches jawing back and forth. Most notably, to me, was the fact a player seemed to actually swipe at Rodriguez’ arm as he was pushing him back. I don’t want to read much into it but it’s easy to believe some of the rumors about RichRod losing his team. For the sake of the conference, I hope they get their collective sh!t together soon.
- A nugget from the Dispatch: Since the ‘Shoe opened in 1922, a total of 7,527,129 fans have The Game making it the highest-attended series in college football in that span.
You’re right about Tressel calling that pass right after the Small return. It’s almost like you’d expect any other coach to do it, but are pleasantly surprised when you see JT actually go for it.
Regarding Griese: I believe you can learn a lot about people based on the very first things out of their mouth in certain situations. When Pryor completed that 35-yarder to Dane, the first thing he said was: “He threw a duck.”
It wasn’t a pretty ball, but nothing about his evasiveness caught your attention, Bob? He’s been a hater since 1968 and it was only fueled when he son was up in AA.
Anyone want to bet that Boeckman goes higher than Troy Smith in the draft?
Agreed. I think Griese was probably too busy playing grab-ass with Maguire to notice what actually happened on the pass to Dane. I’m convinced Maguire has pics of ABC brass in compromising positions.
Griese is a bit…… over his head shall we say. The man has 3 1/2 hours of air time to occupy and not alot of fresh material in his brain to use. He says some really stupid and irrelevant things when he is doing games. An announcer/play by play guy should ADD to the game, not detract from it. Griese man has become a joke and I hope ABC takes not and gets rid of him and Macguire (fired from NFL coverage and given a token job sitting on camera stands and drinking latte). Dan Fouts kind of had the same issues and he was shown the door……… Nessler , Herbie and Musburger are great….. Stacey Dales??? WTF??? Erin Andrews should be doing these games instead of the consolation games on ESPN……… way hotter, better informed, and nicer hooters!!
Tress needs to look at his gameplan for this Michigan game and install a simillary agressive one vs whoever the hell we play in a bowl game….. go for the throat early, often and repeat!!!!!!!!!
and where are my friends Blue Balls and The Truth today…. alot of smack talking this week and nothing to back it up.——– Typical Miiiiiiiiichigan scum——– you guys can talk just like the pregrame rumble, but who left the field with a smile?????? Who had a long freakin ride back to that garbage dump in Ann Arbor with nothing to talk about but rodent poison to end the pain????? Adios losers, see you next year. Have fun watching us on TV in January…… I also noticed Western Michigan on the schedule with 2 open dates… are you checking to see if Southwest Missouri State and Western Carolina are available for a few easy wins to get to a bowl game…. chicken shits!!!!
http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-09/big-ten/2009-michigan-wolverines-football-schedule.php
It’s an understatement to say that these types of wins over Michigan don’t happen very often. But wow, are those Michigan Wolverines dismal! As much as their suffering usually makes me smile, this is hard even for Buckeye fans to watch. It’s like watching the guy you hate at work go through a divorce. Players on the sideline fighting with coaches, defections, transfers, a coach who leaves people scratching their heads, the only generation of Michigan players that, for the rest of their lives, will have to explain to their kids and grandkids that they were part of the worst collection of Michigan teams in history, and that they never beat Ohio State.
It’s depressing to put one’s self in their shoes.
Good thing I’ve got 5 straight wins over Michigan to make me feel better. HAHA!! GO BUCKEYES! Let’s make it 6 in a row!
There has been much friction between Carr’s players and Rich Rod since he was hired. But seeing it prime-time on the field was not expected.
It stops being a rivalry when only one team continues to win
It never stops being a rivalry. It was still a rivalry when Cooper went 2-10-1.
I’m going to miss those 28 seniors. And likely that Beanie Wells goes too; I’m hearing that Donald Washington will bolt for the NFL early as well. But it’s funny how we mark the time according to the players on the team and their maturation process. I remember where I was when Bobby Carpenter went down at the beginning of the ‘05 Michigan game and this random guy named James Laurinaitis came running onto the field to replace him. No one would have guessed then what he would have become. Same goes for the other big time seniors.
It’s sad to see them go, but the program is ready for a changing of the guard. With Beanie likely gone, this will be Terrelle Pryor’s football team. I think he will be the first sophomore captain in OSU history. I think Tressel set a great precedent by starting Pryor and Brewster this season; the old system of seniors keeping their spots indefinitely is out the window. Every position will be competitive. We’ll see a lot of sophomores and redshirt freshman in key positions in 2009. We’ll give up more big plays, but we’ll also be much more athletic, dynamic, and hungry. The sky’s the limit for the new batch of Buckeyes, and it’s a great time to be a poisonous nut.
This never stops being a Rivalry… 2-10-1…. ouch. Michigan is now 3-8 in the last 11 years…. ouch. We are just about even. Michigan said that Michigan State was its chief rival during the cooper years because we stunk up the field so bad…. who is our Chief rival now?? Penn State?? Illinois???
Bite me wolvereeeeeeeenis…. you suck and you have to deal with losing 9 games in a season and losing to TOLEDO .. that makes 2 Ohio teams in one year.
I love the infighting and defections…. doesn’t exactly tell you that there is a loving family up there does it?? That has to affect recruiting and motivation on the field. Why would an elitie recruit want to play for a team with those kind of problems and lack of heart?? Gotta think that Pryor going to OSU really screwed up Dick Rod’s plans for the season …. and that is worth a million bucks!! F U DickRod and FU Ann Arbor…. enjoy your self pity and infighting until next year!!
I think what ticks me off the most is the lack of accuracy as far as the tv station is concerned, I meen these people make a ton of money to do exactly what they are doing and the mistakes just kill me. I meen did anyone else notice that they left out Les Horvath on the Heisman list, or when they showed M-Jenkins and said it was TP, not to mention the number of times they called the wrong name on a play,,,,,,the lack of details DRIVE ME INSANE
That whole broadcast team is going to be dismantled after this year I bet. I have noticed multiple times that there is friction between McGuire and Griese but yesterday seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back…pretty evident when pretty much every news outlet and blog you see blasts them…
That hit on McGuffie was brutal! Bet he was dying to get back to Texas after that one.
Bob Griese is such an idiot … the oldest line in football is if you have two QBs you don’t have one. how would TP have reacted to splitting time with TB? having TB come in when he was ineffective? answer: we don’t know AND NEITHER DOES BOB GRIESE. Tress knows because he knows the players involved. some guys get benched and they get better. some can split time at QB, others can’t. how about we trust Tress on this one – especially since he lost only one game with TP as a starter and won his 4th Big Ten title? on top of all of that you add Todd’s poor play, our revolving door line, Todd’s lack of mobility, etc.
Tress did the right thing. Griese should be assigned to cover poke or tiddly winks or bowling or something other sport no one watches so he can’t ruin it for the fans!
I was a little disappointed that with all the “experience” in the booth, neither Griese nor MacGuire knew why players were rewarded with gold pants.
I see that young woman, “The Truth” on other websites, and she is just as dumb and uninformed there as she is here. I work with a Michigan fan and the dude was talking trash all day on friday, if you can believe it! They have some of the strangest, most psychotic fans in the country, and cannot even see when they have the worst team in 128 years! If OSU was as bad(thank God we’re not!) as Michigan this year, I would NOT be talking trash. I’d just keep my mouth shut. But that is what makes UM fans so “special.” I think most of them rode the buses to school with tinted windows. ;)
As far as Bob Griese goes: I met the man personally back in 1978 in Virginia Beach while I was a youngster on vacation, and he seemed like a very nice, humble man. Although I disagree with him, I think he was just defending Todd Boeckman, who handled his benching with class. I know Keith Jackson hated Ohio State and Woody Hayes, and I hope that the years in the booth with him didn’t make Griese a Buckeye hater. I don’t think so. So what if he questioned Tressel’s decision. Don’t take it personally Buckeye fans.
MacGuire is from Youngstown, Ohio, and is a Buckeye fan, FYI Buckeyes.
I absolutely loved that Boeckman was able to go out and do his thing, the softie in me grinned from ear to ear when he scored. But what’s going to bother me is that people are going to see that he came in for a short amount of time and threw a couple sharp passes without blinking, and now they’re gonna talk like, “oh, he should’ve been in there from the beginning, never should’ve been benched, blah blah blah”. Please. Boeckman would’ve been taking more sacks than Pryor and tossing up INTs every game thanks to our line.
And Bob Griese is an idiot. Boeckman didn’t lead our team to the NC last year. It was combination of Beanie, a cupcake schedule, and every team ahead of us in the last few weeks getting upset.
Griese needs to mind his business…. he stopped being relevant in what………….. 1975????????????
Thanks Palm Beach Buckeye for your comments about Stacy Dales and Erin Andrews. I’m glad this country has come so far as to continue to judge women by their appearance and chest size. Give me a break.
What makes me mad about the whole Bob Griese thing: Mr. Saturday was so upset about Spielman’s comments about Michigan, but Griese called The Game even when his son was on the field. Does anyone seriously think he doesn’t hate Ohio State?
He did make some completely stupid comments, including the Gold Pants thing. I’m sure he knows what those mean, he was just trying to be funny and obviously wasn’t. And ok, he wanted to call out Tress for benching Boeckman, but after his whole speach and a commercial break, he came back and repeated the whole thing. Uh thanks Griese, we got it the first time. Idiot.
Sorry but there’s a reason why Erin Andrews gets more face time on TV than any other sideline reporter, and it isn’t because of her love for sports or insightful analysis. I don’t even think she’s that hot but… just sayin’.
Griese, his son, Ann Arbor, hell the entire mitten shaped state of Miiiiiichigan can fuck off. Enjoy the 5th straight beatdown jerkoffs…..I hear if you turn on your car and dont open the garage door, roll the windows down….its over quick and a whole lot less painful than Saturday was. LOL
In-house fighting was my favorite part of the game I think…other than Pryor’s superhuman ability to dodge the rush. He had some nerves in the first half, but this game was HUGE from an alumni and rivalry history standpoint. Hats off to the seniors man, I must’ve said about 50 times sat. after JL or M-Jenkins made a play “Maaaaan, I’m gonna missssss him!” LOL
Corey- dude I handed out all those stickers you gave me to the alumni association up here in NY so lots of cars toting 11W on the bumper. Also wrote the website on all the name tags/sign in sheet for email contact so expect some foot traffic buddy.
To my Friend Blue Balls….
I hope to see you later, tho I am sure I that your too busy keeping track of how players decommitted again this weekend. Sad affairs when a once proud and “dominant” scUM squad had more punches thrown than third down conversions….you keep watching in the shadows….sometime in 2014 you may be relevant again…..maybe
Ahh….I’m so looking forward to next year too when Tressel takes the team up to Ann Arbor.
He has a good shot at getting OSU’s 8th win this decade, which is something that has never been done before by either team in Big Ten Conference play. Previous bests were by Woody in the 60s with 7 wins and Moeller/Carr in the 90s with 7 wins.
Maybe Erin Andrews only gets on TV because of her appearance, I don’t know as I’m not the one who hired her (and neither are any of you). But if so, does that means its ok to say she’s the better sideline reporter because of her hooters? Come on. That’s just disgusting. I’m so sick of the idea that women can’t know anything about sports and that’s just another example of it.
I prefer to see Ms. Andrews over the rest, but could really care less, as sideline reporters, male or female, are virutally useless. How Tony Siragusa keeps a job is beyond me…..
I agree ski. I yell at my TV every week that the halftime ‘interviews’ with the coaches as they run off the field are the most retarded and least insightful 30 seconds of my day.
Reporter: Your team seems to be having problems. What’s wrong?
Coach: We just have to go in, make some adjustments and execute better.
Reporter: Thanks Coach, good luck in the 2nd half…
What the hell do they bring to the table? I’m sorry buckeyegirl, but the only thing they bring to the table is their looks. It’s not their fault, its just the job. **Don’t hate them cause there beautiful!!** :o)
*they’re
before I get out of hound with my grammer
Put all the TV guys/gals out to pasture. Give me Keels, in sync with the game, over those gas bags.
I totally agree about the announcers carrying on about Boeckman being wronged. WTF??? I mean Ohio U made him look like a dog. I like Boeckman but losing to USC guarrenteed there was no way Ohio State was going back to the BCS championship and so far as I’m concerned from that day on the future needed to be the concern of Tressel. I would much rather have Pryor taking lumps this year, than next year. I can’t wait for the Bowl game. A totally healthy Beanie and Pryor after almost 2 months of polish is going to be really Nice.
Also, I thought the D played with a mean streak this weekend. If they can keep that intensity for the bowl game, they really have a shot an knocking off an Alabama or Georgia if they don’t make the BCS. I really like the prospects for the future of this team.
Ok…maybe part of their job description is looking pretty, but let’s just leave their hooters out of it and I’ll be happy. Ok? :)
Let’s stop ripping on the sideline reporters and make fun of Michigan so the world can be right again.
Erin Andrews keeps the sweater-puppets covered up ’til Basketball season anyways so let this debate die
“Maybe Erin Andrews only gets on TV because of her appearance, I don’t know as I’m not the one who hired her (and neither are any of you). But if so, does that means its ok to say she’s the better sideline reporter because of her hooters? Come on. That’s just disgusting. I’m so sick of the idea that women can’t know anything about sports and that’s just another example of it.”
You do realize this is the most masculine sport in the world right? Hey, I agree I’m all for a girl that knows her stuff about sports, and some good looks don’t hurt either….
Beanie looked over on 1st team All Big Ten. Oil Animal is Def PoY!
$@&#% iPhone. That’s Lil Animal.