Prefers Columbus to Champaign
#14 Ohio State
2-1, 0-0 Big Ten
RosterSchedule |
September 26, 2009 3:30 PM ET - ABC —— Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH |
Illinois
1-1, 0-0 Big Ten
RosterSchedule |
The Battle for the Illibuck Trophy returns to Columbus this weekend and it certainly has been a battle the last two decades. In the last 18 games of the series, each team has won nine games, and while the Buckeyes have taken 4 of the last 5, Illinois has won 7 of the last 10 games played in Ohio Stadium.
Juice Williams and the rest of the Orange Crush came in to the Horseshoe and shocked the Buckeyes with a 28-21 victory in 2007, at the time bashing any hopes of capturing a second consecutive birth in the National Championship game. Of course teams like West Virginia and Mizzouri didn’t take care of business down the stretch and OSU found itself playing LSU in the MNC, but we all know how that turned out, or if you have selective memory like me you don't remember the end of that season.
Last year the Bucks were able to get a little revenge, taking it to Ron Zook’s team 30-20. OSU did not really have any problems in the game, that included a Beanie Wells hurdle over Illinois safety Donsay Hardeman. This year, there is no Beanie and the Bucks will have to find a way to keep the offense rolling against a 1-1 Illinois team that is fresh off a bye week.
While the last 18 games have been split evenly, OSU holds a 60-30-4 claim on the all-time series lead and if history says anything, the chances are good for the Buckeyes come Saturday. Juice and the rest of the Fighting Illini will be looking to prove something as they begin a tough three game slate against OSU, Penn State, and Michigan State to begin conference play and will certainly try to redeem a poor start to the 2009 season that included a blowout 37-9 loss to Missouri. Ohio State looks to continue to bounce back from their heartbreaking loss to USC two weeks ago as they start Big ten play looking for their fifth straight conference title. This game, usually played at the end of the season, will certainly be an exciting one to open up the Big Ten Season.
Opponent
Ron Zook comes to Columbus in his fifth season with a 1-3 record against the Buckeyes, but his last trip to his home-state’s capital was a successful one. Zook has done a fine job recruiting at Illinois, but it hasn’t always shown on the field, as the Illini have made only one bowl game in his tenure, a 49-17 loss in the 2008 Rose Bowl to USC.
This year, Illinois was thought to be a sleeper team by some to win the Big Ten, and while they still have a chance to get a conference title, their early season loss to Missouri leaves many skeptical of how much this team can accomplish in 2009. Juice Williams leads the offense, and has been banged up early in the season, only registering 179 yards through the air with no touchdowns and an interception. He left the game against Illinois State with an injury, but with a bye week last week, looks to be full healthy as he tries to unseat the Buckeyes in their own house for the second time in three seasons.
You can't cheat this timeEver since Rashard Mendenall left after the 2007 season, the Illinois running back position has not seen one player give a consistent effort week in and week out. Daniel Dufrene was supposed to take over the gig, but ended up sharing carries in 2008 with Jason Ford. Dufrene and Ford will tag-up with Troy Pollard and Buckeye-traitor Justin Green to make up the Illini’s rushing attack that must be effective if Williams plans on being able to get time to throw the ball to a receiving corps that consists of an injured Arrelious Benn, Florida transfer Jared Fayson, and every announcer’s favorite tight end, Michael Hoomanawanui. Benn is arguably the nation’s top receiver when healthy, but the aforementioned injuries have limited him to just one catch for 9 yards this year. If he was able to rest up during the bye week, expect him to be targeted early and often on Saturday.
The injury bug has bitten the defense of Illinois as well. Junior linebacker and defensive leader, Martez Wilson, is out for the year with a herniated disk in his neck. Fellow ‘backer Ian Thomas has stepped up in his absence with 17 tackles and a sack and is one of those players that is always found around the pile. The secondary faced many questions this year with Vontae Davis leaving early for the NFL, but corner back Tavon Wilson has made the most of his opportunity to see the field, notching 13 tackles in his first two games. Hardeman returns at the free safety position, while Garrett Edwards has impressed at free safety with 15 tackles thus far.
The Illini defense is not blitz-crazy like Toledo was, but they disguise their schemes well and run a very different look than the majority of teams in the conference. They like to take advantage of their athleticism and speed and when they do rush extra defenders, it is hard to read where they come from. This year they have not been able to utilize those strengths well though, as they rank 119th in the nation in passing defense and 102nd in total defense, depsite ranking 18th in rushing defense. Pryor and the line should be able to take advantage of the holes in Zook's defense after facing non-stopped blitzing last week, but expect the Illini to raise their game to the next level as they take on the Buckeyes.
Looking at the Illinois’ special teams, Matt Eller returns to handle the kicking duties, while Anthony Santella takes care of punting. Eller is 2/3 on the season, with his long coming from 38 yards. Santella has punted seven times this year, for a less than stellar average of 36.9 and a long of 43. Benn will be back returning kicks this week, along with AJ Jenkins and Fayson will handle punts. Both Benn and Fayson are dangerous return men if they can get the ball in space and it will be important for the Buckeyes to control the special teams game as they usually do.
Buckeye Breakdown
After a lackluster performance in the USC game, the Buckeyes rebounded with a much stronger performance against the Rockets. Jim Tressel seemed to hear his critics following the loss two weeks ago and opened things up offensively a bit last week, even continuing to throw the ball around with a four-score lead in the second half.
Terrelle Pryor may have been the greatest benefactor from last week’s game plan, throwing for a career high 262 yards and three touchdowns through the air and adding 110 yards and another score on the ground. Pryor did throw two interceptions, showing that he still has a way to go in terms of his decision making, but his ability to make plays with his feet and his arm in the game against Toledo gave Buckeye fans a glimpse of what they hope to see in the future. Pryor must build upon last week’s performance this week against Illinois and help OSU make a statement in week one of conference play.
Take Notes Boom and Zoom (Dispatch)The running game is another area that needs to build up some steam as the Big Ten season begins. Boom Herron has run hard this year, but results have not shown, as he is only averaging 3.2 yards per carry through three games. Brandon Saine has proven to be an effective sidekick to Herron, averaging 5.3 yards per carry and tallying 72 yards on 6 receptions through the air in three games. Jordan Hall got his first live action last week and it would be a big boost if he can even contribute half of the 44 yards he ran for last week on a weekly basis. The running game has been slow to start in 2009, and with Tressel firmly believing in the importance of controlling the ball, look for the backs to shoulder a little bit more of a load this week.
Coming off a shut out against one of the nation’s most explosive offenses through the first two games, the Buckeye defense looks to be for real. Cameron Heyward and the defensive line have stepped up big time, getting plenty of pressure on the quarterback, enabling Luke Fickell and Jim Heacock to not have to rush extra defenders on a consistent basis. Thaddeus Gibson and Nathan Williams have been playing with their hands off the ground more often then not, giving the defense kind of a 3-4 look that has been effective in disguising linebacker blitzes.
Speaking of the linebackers, Brian Rolle and Ross Homan have continued to produce at a high level, but Austin Spitler has been a little slow to start. Whether his injury is still bothering him or not, Spitler needs to step up his play or Etienne Sabino will continue to see a lot of time on the strong side, much to the approval of fans.
The secondary has been solid and the pressure from the defensive line certainly helps. This may be the week we see how good OSU’s cornerbacks are as they will face a tough test with Benn, Fayson, Jenkins and Jeff Cumberland lining up out-wide for the Illini. Chekwa has proven to be solid thus far, and Amos and Torrence have played their rotating roles solid, but don’t be surprised to see more Torrence as the season progresses. Jermale Hines has cemented himself at the safety position opposite Kurt Coleman, and as someone who used to defend Anderson Russell, I can finally say I wouldn’t mind if he doesn’t see the field for the rest of the season.
Aaron Pettrey was not happy after Tressel did not let him attempt a 53 yarder late in the USC game, but didn’t do much to make a case for himself after missing a “gimme” last week. He did make a 47-yard field goal and continues to show a strong leg. If the ball is on or around the 35 yard line I would not hesitate to put Pettrey out to kick a meaningful field goal and it will be interesting to see how Tressel feels the next time a situation like the one he faced in the USC game comes around. Ben Buchanan didn’t miss a beat last week, stepping in for Jon Thoma ,who had the flu, at punter last week. Buchanan showed he could punt at the collegiate level, but may have to wait a little longer to claim the starting job as Thoma is expected back for Saturday’s game. After Thoma’s solid performance against USC, and seeing Buchanan live last week, I am confident with either player handling the most important play in Jim Tressel’s playbook. Laamar Thomas continued to give a needed boost to the kick return unit, returning his only attempt for 32 yards against the Rockets. If he continues to play the way he has, I expect him to break one for a score at some point this season and could even come this week. Ray Small has struggled to get back into the swing of things returning punts, but the Big Ten’s leading punt returner last year should turn things around as more reps come his way.
Prediction
Illinois has played the Buckeyes tough, especially in Ohio Stadium, but Tressel has done well the last half-decade winning four of the last five games in this rivalry. There are stakes to this game as the conference opener and the Illibuck Trophy are up for grabs, meaning the Buckeyes will be focused for this game, unlike the 2007 game which may have flown under the radar.
Ohio State 31, Illinois 16
Comments
Juice will turn it over twice as we force him into bad decisions. If Tress (or Hazell?) continues the agressive and diverse play-calling, we'll roll once again, this time in a game that isn't a blowout but never really gets scary either.
31-14 Buckeyes
JT Haiku of The Day:
Illibuck Trophy
Lloyd Carr Now Ron Zook
Go Bucks and So Forth
Kind of worried about how we'll play in the rain (if it does come down during the game. Boom and Zoom have proven to be underwhelming in the run game thus far.
Whoa, deep man. I think you just blew my mind, LOL
Two ways to look at it:
On the one hand, ILL's OL is significantly downgraded from 2007. They only ran for like 100 yards against Mizz, and while Mizz has a decent defense, that's a very low number for ILL given 2005 - 2008 trends. Meanwhile, Ohio State's DL is much better compared to '07. The Buckeyes should be able to disrupt the timing of ILL's run game and put a hurtin' on the Juice. The injuries to Juice and Benn mysteriously reappear late in the second quarter.
On the other hand, ILL did rack up 214 yds on the ground last year and 455 total yards with presumably much the same OL (O'Donell and a few others left after 2007). Michigan also gave Ohio State trouble at times running some of the same (or similar) stretch and zone read plays. If ILL gets a little confidence early in the game, they have enough playmakers to be dangerous.
Does anyone else see the irony of eSECpn's headline story being about the defeat of over-hyped Ole Miss when they were pretty much solely responsible for over-hyping them in the first place? Also, eSECpn lost any remaining shed of credibility they may have still had in my mnd with the way they had the SEC logo plastered over everything last night. They're gonna have their collective heads up the SEC's rectum even farther than they already do which I didn't think was possible.
JT, that Haiku is too nice. How about . . .
"Help!" cries Illibuck
"Chief Illiniwek's breath stinks"
"Coach Zook, no means no!"
jfunk: I had to watch the game with volume really low (wife and baby). How many times did the eSECpn announcers reference "SEC defense" during the telecast? Also, I agree, it's very annoying that eSECpn takes every chance to "brand" their SEC product.
Before about 5 years ago, I used to love watching the night time SEC games. I would watch them for the sheer love of the game. Now, I watch fewer SEC games and when I do watch them, it is mainly to root for whatever would be bad for the SEC. Last night, it was an Ole Miss loss.
There's still a relatively low number of t.v. sets in the southeast. In a few years, eSECpn might find out that the $1 billion was a bad investment after they chase away 85 percent of the country.
yeah, whats funny is there rankings...
When you know teams are going to play eachother like
Miami/Va Tech... One of them is going to lose right?
So why don't they man up, and pick the team they think is going to win?
Lets say miami is the 9th ranked team, and Va tech is the 11th and you
put them in those rankings, you know ahead time they play eachother next
week... Just pick one... I think it would be better than saying we don't
know we like them both!
that was a rabbit trail...
anyways SEC overrated once again proven, but hey it's an UPSET or
OLE MISS SUCKED TO BEGIN WITH!
I choose the latter...!
What if cat was spelled D.O.G. wooooooooow.
To be honest, I had it muted as well. The part I did hear that really bugged me is that 5 seconds after calling Ole Miss extremely overrated they start talking about how SC should be a top 15 team.
My biggest point on contention is eSECpn's lack of objectivity after the signing of their deal with the SEC. To me that's like having the guys from the Big 10 network give commentary on the rest of rhe college football world: They can claim objectivity all they want but there's always gonna be some Big 10 bias built into what they say. I refuse to watch eSECpn anymore unless there's a game on can I just can't handle the SEC rimjob they've got going on. And if one of their commentators doesn't ask that Tim "Second Coming of Christ" Tebow be sainted by the end of the year I'll be shocked.
I love it that Craig James during the game was like South Carolina is definitely a top 15 team. I just started laughing, I'm like NC State almost beat them and held them 2 7 points. Then Georgia, who is a terrible team this year, puts up a ton of points on them. South Carolina will lose at least 3 more games.
It just goes to show that just because you beat Florida LAST YEAR, you don't deserve to be a top 10 preseason team.
leave russell out of the nickel, put amos in as the slot corner leave hines at strong to smack the receivers a couple times after the catch so they start hearing hinessteps. just a thought
WAIT WAIT WAIT!
You got it all wrong.
Ole Miss losing just shows you how deep the SEC is from top to bottom. It doesn't mean that Ole Miss is overrated. It is war every week in the SEC. It is a battle, man. Hell, put South Carolina in any other conference and it wins the conference title every year....HANDS DOWN!
Ole Miss is still a top 5 team.
SEC! SEC! SEC!
FTW
I love the statement, the SEC just beats up on eachother every week. My response is what Conference doesn't beat up on eachother? That's why you have Penn State losing to Iowa, USC dropping one to (any crappy Pac10 team that pulls it off each year) and Florida losing to Ole Miss.
my prediction 41-6.
But they have so much ESS-EEE-CEEEE SPEEEEEEEED!
According to "ESPN math" South Carolina is now #2, right behind Notre Dame at #1. Ole Miss falls up to #3.
Lou Holtz just pooed himshelf.
Fido: They only refer to the mythical SEC Defense when it is an out of conference game. When it is in conference, it's all about how deep the conference is and how the teams beat themselves up, etc., as others have noted here. Makes me sick. I could not believe how many times they showed that joint SEC/ESPN logo last night. Apparently they are not even going to bother with the veil of objectivity.
I'm not sure that this game is going to be close. Ben seems to be dinged up, juice has a boo boo on his ankle, top defender out.....
but hey, that's just me being a homer maybe?
It was hard to understand what Jordan Palmer was even saying last night. Didn't anyone ever teach him not to talkw ith his mouth full?
I'm kind of interested to see how Alabama and Arkansas goes. I think Arkansas may be up a few points on them. The game I'm looking forward to most is Va Tech miami though. That game is going to be interesting.
It'll be somewhat close. Toledo's receivers dropped quite a few passes they should've caught that would have given them first downs, Illinois receivers won't do that and they'll put a few points. Also, yeah, we put up 38 against Toledo, but so did Colorado, and Purdue put up 50-something on them. I still don't think our offense is very good, I expect our usual amount of 3 and outs. Terelle will have less tunovers but also less big plays. I think we win 20-10.
I also feel like there was more of an opportunity for Ohio State to score, and as each week goes by there will fewer and fewer miscues. I feel the offense is starting to grow and get better. Ohio State is going to score some points tomorrow.
I'm gaining a lot of confidence in this defense of ours. The cornerbacks are playing exceptionally when the ball is thrown their way. Torrence and Chekwa always seem to get their hands in the right place to break up the completion. And the LB's are freakin' tough! I thought they'd have a host of tackling problems because of how young they are, but talk about a re-load! Each one might be better than JL ever was. How much is their success attributed to the D-line being the best in the country is anyone's guess...but it's a fierce combination and it makes me smile. We haven't seen Silver Bullets since the Hawk, Schlegel, Carpenter days...so it's refreshing to see some flying around the football.
Despite the performance last week, I still think our offense is an enigma, and boasts a lot of growing pains that are still not worked out. At times they looked solid, at others they looked like a high school team. The running game needs a lot of work. It's far more Maurice Wells than Beanie Wells. Pryor's passes aren't quite as accurate as you'd hope going into Big Ten play, and he's still jumping around in the pocket after just 2 seconds. He needs to get better at feeling the pass rush instead of freaking out. Maybe that's from taking on our first-team defensive line in practice, but it looks like he has more time than he thinks.
Toledo's receviers dropped the ball because the kid throw it 45 times...
I don't think Juice is going to try in throw it 45 times.
If you throw it 45 times a game, i would think there may be some blown
coverage a few times. They just didn't catch the ball.
More worried about juice's legs, like the navy game...
Our offense is starting to get things going...
Toledo was ranked 111th in passing defense
illinois passing defense is ranked 119...
If it doesn't rain, expect pryor to throw for 300 yards.
As far as a bad investment, I think ESPN underestimates the regional appeal of football. I'll watch marginal Big10 teams because I know people from the different schools, and its a good way to scout out the opposition. I'll watch other conferences when the matchup is good like Tenn. v Florida, or Alabama and Auburn but as for their lesser schools, it just does not matter. Once they start broadcasting Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina I expect people from Minnesota and Wisconsin all the way to Ohio and Pennsylvania to simply turn off their tvs.
Still I think its weird business for them to underestimate the regional appeal because broadcasters generally understand the regional appeal, and tailor their comments to their likely viewers. For example, people from Ole Miss wanted to hear broadcasters say they are the number 4 ranked team early and often, while people from Ann Arbor and Madison could care less.
I mean, the only reason I watched last night's game was because dinner was not ready, and there was nothing else on. Right way I could tell that game was crap, and that both teams stunk. It was bad enough to have to watch the marginal play, but to hear the commentators talk about how both teams were about to spontaneously combust was too much. Yeah, I'm from Columbus, not Columbia. Good luck selling the SEC in the Midwest.
ESPN is trying to ram the SEC down your throat. They'll do it until you have an epiphany and agree with them on how awesome the esssss eeeeee seeeee is
I think Tressel might have got the message after the USC loss . Look for the Bucks to open it up . 45-14..........don't wake me up.
re Beanie's fumble woes...
Adrian Wilson has watched The Program too many times
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Bucksfan, I agree withmost of your statement other than ALL 3 are better than JL, I mean Spitler sat behind JL for 4 years and is only getting his shot as a reward for patience. But now we are seeing why he sat behind JL and it probably won't be long before he starts losing PT to Sabino and Klein.
Pryor obviously is having HUUGE probs makng the read under pressure, some of the quackers he threw up vs. Toledo are proof of that. That was TOLEDO for pete's sake! What happens vs. a PSU rush? I tell you what, the playbook gets about 2/3rds smaller, and all of us are bitching again about conservation. Am I defending JT? Probably so, to his credit, TP has a long way to go.
Did you happen to catch at the end of the game when Jesse Palmer said, "South Carolina was one play away from beating Georgia and now the win against the No. 4 team in the country. How good is this South Carolina team?"
Seriously? Did he just watch the same game the rest of us did? They suck. That's your answer Palmer. They're clearly horrible with a mostly inept offense and flashes of good things on defense.
I don't know how Fowler even stands sharing the both with those two blowhards.
Here's a new name for Palmer: Jesse C. Palmer. Say it a few times, you'll get it.
The only thing that worries me is ILLinois having 2 weeks to prepare. I guarantee they keep it close until the second half. Buckeye defense makes adjustments and forces the Juiceman into a couple picks.
24-13 Buckeyes Pryor 240 passing, 90 rushing 2 tds
GQ magazine "DISSES" OSU, calling it the 19th most "douchiest" college in the country, and calls Woody the 16th worst tyrant coach in college sports.
http://www.daytondailynews.com...
How Metrosexual of them!
i saw that a couple weeks ago. gq is the bible of douchiness, how do they label other's as "douchey"?
I was thinking the EXACT same thing....
File it unde takes one to know one and mail to last week. I think they did a big story on pete up at USC, or was it esquire. Part of the time to save my ass before the sanctions come out story that sent his offensive and defensive coordinators to UW.
how did woody rank so low? that's bs
nevermind, he was 10th, not 16th. still a bit lower than i would have expected, but i guess there's a lot of high school coaches on there
Think about it from this perspective. Would people in the Southeast tune into ESPN at all if their teams weren't on all the time? I mean say it was the Pac10 or Big 10 that ESPN chose to broadcast. Where you and I may watch the game last night for whatever reason, I don't think the Southeast would even turn on the TV if it wasn't one of their teams. So, our favorite Gator fan with the T-Bone tatoo and friends just like him, love to see South Carolina each week and they totally buy into Craig James telling you Carolina has a fast SEC defense and they are a top 15 team because they are SEC. I don't think too many buckeye fans would believe that Minnesota is, just because the announcer says so.
any links to watch the game? Stuck in NC with VT/Miami which should be a good game but...
It should be on ESPN...I am in VA, the ABC/ ESPN schedule is opposite of each other... http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/...
He aint lyin........
sweet, thanks
I agree TP has some distance yet to go, but he does have plenty of time to grow. It's over a month before he's going to see any real serious pass rush. Last week he had his momments, I think he'll take a big step forward tomorrow. All it takes is one game for a guy with this kind of talent and skills. I'd say a lot of his problems are in his head. He has the skills, and he is trying to play the perfect game. Sometimes you just need to not think. Each week he will improve but if he has a really good game tomorrow, I think it will catapult his game to a new level.
You know, I was watching the game last night and thinking, "Which college football coaches are the biggest douches. Steve Spurrier inspired this thought. Then I got to thinking about all the stuff between Meyer and Kiffen and said there's a couple of more douches. So I decided to compile my own personal list of douchebag coaches and let me know what you think.
10) Spurrier, I would rate him higher but his team is irrelevant now.
9) Pete Carrol, I know he cheats and all, but there are bigger douches
8) Charlie Weiss, How can you never win anything and be so smug?
7) Les Miles, they guy just annoys me, but I do like that he turned down TTUN
6) Bobby Petrino, This guy is about as bad as Nick Saban. Only out for Bobby
5) Lane Kiffen, He has made Al Davis look like less of a douche for firing him.
4) Dick Rod, Screw over you old team, cry to the media, That's a D Nozzle.
3) Nick Saban, No personality whatsoever, screws over programs all the time. Major D-bag
2) Urban Meyer, Need to score up 60 points w/one minute left, Urban is your man.
1) Bobby Bowden, His teams have had the highest payroll in sports, has been a D-bag for 30 years, he has paved the way for the other 9 D-bag coaches.
I keep calling him Jordan for some reason. Oh well, they're all tools.
I got your joke btw
ESPN Top 10 Rankings:
1a.Tim Tebow
1b. Notre Dame
2. South Carolina
3. Ole Miss
4. Alabam
5. LSU
6. Georgia
7. Pete Carroll
8. scUM
9. Virginia Tech
10. Miami
119. Ohio State
Looks like Im going to the game by myself tomorrow. Wondered if anyone on here was tailgating, thought I might grab a twelver and join you. If so, let me know where you'll be and I might drop in to hang out for a few.
Yes, the south is provincial. Also, I think people in the midwest know football pretty well, and can watch a game muted if the announcers stink, and not miss anything. In particular in NE Ohio and Eastern PA are very smart about football. By way of example when Spurrier took the top job with the Redskins he was able to tell the fans all kinds of crap about how he was going to change things up in a way that never would have flown in Cleveland or Pittsburgh. I know for a fact there are poeple in the south the "get" football, but the way those announcers were going on and on last night, you would never know it. If this is the new look espon, I don't need to see it.
What part of NC?
Bias or no, at least the Big Ten Network can say its about Big Ten tradition and college athletics. ESPN and SEC is all about the CASH!
LMAO 119 is being quite generous
I heard we were demoted to D3
My alma mater will fight the Sweater McVests hard and will be more aggressive than the conservative and very polite Senator but will fall...literally. Juicy will try and run a lot and slip..a lot. Zooker's vocal chords, which currently look like raw hamburger on a good day, will finally rupture and will be left on the sidelines. Since I will be attending the game, I will pick up his chords and give them (and his future coaching career at Illinois) a quiet burial.
OSU Cornholers-35
Fighting Zookers-21
Ill 'toast' to that!
But dont give yourself so much credit my friend...there is no way you score 21 on this Defense. B. Rolle aka "The Coked-up Hedgehog" aka "Black Chris Spielman" is going to be everywhere, all day, all long. Good luck......you'll need it.
j-vegas
What year did Eddie George fumble at the goal line twice against the Illini? I think they took one back for a TD.
What year did Bellisari get picked up for drinking before the Illini game? We had a punt blocked in the first quarter and never had a chance -
Would like to see a running back go over 100. Not TP.
Spurrier's son used his cell phone (to check his voicemail!) while using my friend's practice round tickets at Augusta -- so they took the life-long tickets away, permanently. +1 douchiness
i'll actually get to watch the game this week (if my feed doesn't crap out on me constantly like it did for navy)
illi always plays OSU hard but for some reason i just see this defense forcing juice into some really bad decisions. the biggest danger we have here is overpursuit i think, letting them turn 3 yard gains into 50 yard gains.
also if their secondary really sucks that badly, i think sanzo and posey should both have good days. there is no reason whatsoever not to test them deep. (of course i still hold out hope for some kind of triple option)
honestly i'm way more excited about watching out defense play right now than watching our offense play. we have a d-line now. WE HAVE A D-LINE NOW!!! aaaaaaaaaa
In honor of Alex Boone I am getting birthday drunk. This is the only day of the year that I will punish my liver enough to near the status of Sir Potential-Killer.
just found this on the o-zone forums, i likes it:
"I was eating meatballs last night when I remembered that I had put a warm beer in the freezer to cool it off real fast. By the time I got to it the beer was frozen solid. Just then, it occurred to me how we can overcome our short yardage problems.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has adopted a rule providing that if a player is positioned at least 7 yards behind the neutral zone to receive a snap, opponents are not to deliberately contact the snapper until one second after the snap. If you recall, we were flagged for violating this rule against Michigan in '06 (hitting a defenseless player). So here's what you do. Line Pryor up in the shotgun, 7 yards deep. Have Brewster roll the snap back only a yard or so, and then stay perfectly still. Meatball John Simon will be at H Back and at the time of the snap he will have been in motion approaching the center. He picks up the ball and barrels full steam at the stationary 0 technique lined up over Brewster. The Fridge used to always score at the goalline. Meatball will no doubt have similar success, especially when the nose guard is just standing there because Brewster is frozen with his head between his legs. It's called Frozen Brew and Meatball.
I'm Jon Stoudt by God."
quit drinking zook kool aid
i take it that's some kind of cheap burbon
Given the Zooker's penchant for flashing gang signs and crashing frat parties, I'm inclined to think he's all Natty Light, all the time
Anybody catch the scrolling info on ESPN during the Mizzou/Nevada game about the Bucks?
"Lost 3 of last 4 at home"
The hate continues with that damn network.
Um. That's just a fact. They also mention that Pryor leads the Big Ten in total offense and that the series is in the Buckeyes' favor by more than like 30 games
you're probably right, i can pretty easily imagine the zooker shotgunning a beer, screaming "WOOOOOOOOOO," crushing the can on his forehead, and then getting shushed by his wife for making a scene during church
we're actually 2-2 in our last four at home
Lost in '07, '01 and '99. Won in '05, and didn't play 'em in '03.
Oh, 2-2 in our last four games, yeah. I think ESPN was referring to the Illinois series.
oh okay, i didn't see the scroll. it's kind of crazy the success illi has against us recently, especially since they've mostly been terrible until like three years ago, and even after that they haven't been that good
Those Kurt Kittner teams were annoyingly good too. Beat us in the 'Shoe - convincingly - twice in his career.
Oh, and a funny little thing about Illinois winning 7 of the last 10 in the 'Shoe: only two of the Buckeye teams they bested finished the season with more than 8 wins, the '07 squad and the '94 one. So it's not like it's some sort of curse; more that they catch us at just the right time in Columbus more often than not.
well, in the last 15 years, illinois has had 4 winning seasons. how in the hell they've managed to have any kind of overall success (especially 7 of the last 10) in the Shoe is beyond me, although i don't know how far back you have to reach for those 10 games.
really, all that matters is the ron zook and Jim Tressel era, and in that time Tress is 4-2 against them, with one of those losses coming in his first season as head coach.
Where is Jamal Berry? Red shirted?
one day a year? happens about 52 times a year for me
I agree with your remarks on the D. The O will struggle and be a work in progress all year. I just want to see progress as we near the end of the year. But, when TP is a senior this could be a MNC type team.