Collecting Wins, in Whatever Form They Come
Making up for lost timeWhen you go 3/11 on third downs, are held to 187 yards of total offense and lose the time of possession battle nearly two to one and you still beat a 5-0 Wisconsin by 18, you kind of just have to shake your head, graciously accept the win and start working on what ails the offense.
Well, technically, you might want to take a minute and admire the stellar performance out of a Buckeye defense that is looking like the best unit to fly around the Horseshoe in a long, long time.
While Terrelle Pryor was upsetting stomachs across Ohio, the defense, led by the play of Kurt Coleman, dominated the Badger offense. The Big Ten’s leading rusher, big John Clay? Held to 59 yards on 20 carries (under three per carry) with a long of just eight yards. Scott Tolzien, the league leader in passing efficiency? Well, he did put it up 45 times, but he only connected for two touchdowns. And both of them went to Buckeyes. The first, an 89 yard pick-six by Coleman in the first quarter slammed shut a promising Wisconsin drive that had reached the Buckeye 31. Coleman’s quote on his sideline moves is worth passing along:
“I was tip-toeing down the line there for a second; I thought for sure I’d step out of bounds. Had to put on my dancing shoes.”
Coleman is developing this Polamalu-esque ability to become the type of ballhawk and playmaker that can take over games from the safety position. His return was the 5th-longest in school history and came at a crucial time in a scoreless game when it appeared as if Clay was settling down a little and the Buckeye defense might have been a bit winded from the offense generating some quick three-and-outs to start the game. In a larger sense, Coleman’s story might remind us to have some patience with some of the pups. After all, his sophomore season is probably best remembered for all of the interceptions he dropped. Now, he appears to be sweating Stickum.
Jermale Hines was the beneficiary of the other Tolzien interception return and like Coleman’s, his couldn’t have come at a better time. With the Buckeyes nursing a four point lead, the Badgers came out and picked up a first down on their opening drive of the second half. Two plays later, Tolzien faced some pressure in the pocket and threw a ball that was tipped into the air by Hines before he then pulled it down and took it 32 yards for the score. Special recognition goes to Homan who blasted the Badger quarterback so hard on the return that he drew a penalty on it. Some dudes just love to hit.
A big reason for both of the picks is the pressure the Buckeyes were able to establish from the opening snap. Having neutralized Clay, they were able to force advantageous down and distance situations and bring the rush. The Wisconsin offensive line that color guy Matt Millen had such a big crush on at the beginning of the game had only surrendered two sacks on the season, but they gave up six to the Buckeyes. Contributions came from everywhere. Homan had 15 tackles including two TFLs and two sacks. Coleman had 14 tackles, same with Hines. Rolle had 11. Experimenting with a new nickel package that featured Gibson and Williams at ends, both delivered with sacks. As did Heyward and Wilson. Denlinger plugged the middle admirably, filling in for Larimore.
When the Badgers did manage to orchestrate drives, they often came away with nothing to show for them. They put together 14 and 15 play drives that each came up empty, milking valuable time off the game clock on each one. Wisconsin was an impressive 20/20 in the red zone coming in, but were twice stopped inside the 20 by the OSU defense.
The Badgers had some early successes running end arounds, but the Buckeyes adjusted to that, too, at halftime. The only thing you could really ding the defense for would maybe be the fake field goal Wisconsin turned into an early touchdown, but even then, it took a block in the back and a helluva play by the holder. Just a beautiful defensive effort, really.
The play of the offense is another story. Pryor was about as bad as he’s been in his time at Ohio State. Granted, it was the first real defense he’s faced in a month, but I count myself among those that thought we were seeing signs of growth this season and now, I’m not so sure. From the game’s opening play, a pass that landed at Dane’s feet, it was a unit that was painful to watch.
Pryor started 1/7 with an interception inside his own 20. That was part of an opening five series that also featured four three-and-outs. Passes were high, low and just off. Finally, after Wisconsin had taken a 10-7 lead with 1:53 remaining in the first half, Pryor improvised on a first down and picked up 27 yards on a scamper. After picking up six more on a second down run, he hit Ballard on a sideline pass that was definitely a trap, but wasn’t reviewed by the Badgers (credit the Buckeye offense for snapping the ball so quickly on the next play). Pryor then hit Posey on a 22 yard gain across the middle to move the ball to Wisconsin’s 27. After an illegal shift penalty and two incomplete attempts to Duron Carter, the Buckeyes faced a third down and 15. Pryor dropped back, locked in on his primary like he’d done for much of the game, and fired the ball to Posey streaking down the right sideline. Twisting in the air, Posey opened his other shoulder to the ball and came down with it in the endzone. After a review upheld the call on the field, the Buckeyes were back in front 14-10. The offense had moved 88 yards on 7 plays in 1:12. Impressive to say the least and vital for seizing momentum back, but that was about it in terms of production for the afternoon.
UmmmmmSaine effectively got the start by getting the first handoff of the game and at times he played well, including a nifty 31 yard run at the start of the fourth quarter, but he ended the afternoon with just 55 yards on 14 carries. Boom, trying to get back into the action after sitting out last week, was hurt on OSU’s disastrous fourth drive of the game. He didn’t return and finished with just two attempts for eight yards.
But back to Pryor, which is all anyone will want to talk about after this game. For the first time in his Buckeye career he was booed by the home crowd. This came right about the time when, right after throwing the pick to give the Badgers the ball in scoring position, he followed it up with what should have been another pick after he threw into coverage on his very next attempt of the game. His first four passing plays of the day were two at the feet of receivers, a sack and a completion to Small that was short of the sticks. Further, outside of the 27 yarder, he didn’t look all that elusive running the ball. Throw in the weird grounding call he had late in the game, which was a weak throw over his shoulder while going down for a sack and it’s all pretty puzzling. When you crush Toledo, Illinois and Indiana the people are fine for a bit, but when he has afternoons like the one he did Saturday, you have to start wondering about how well the people around him are actually developing him.
That’s about all I can stomach to say about the offense at this point in time. I’m sure it will all be dissected this week. I guess one positive is that the Buckeyes were oh-so-close to breaking their false start streak until Mike Adams came through in the fourth quarter. There’s hope yet in that area.
Special teams play was generally solid. Small got his first kick return opportunity of the season and took it to the house for 96. He looked pretty fast on that runback and it’s plays like that the remind you of why he might have a long leash sometimes. The fake field goal Wisconsin scored on is slightly troubling, especially when you hear Bielema say that they had seen something on film and worked on that in practice leading up to the game. As was the short kick at the end of the first half. Thoma had a decent afternoon, though he didn’t put any of his punts inside the 20 for once. And Pettrey didn’t miss a chip shot, so that’s a win.
Like I said in the intro, it’s a head-scratcher, but a win we’ll take. And when Matt Millen compares the play of your defense to that of Jack Nicklaus, that’s a good thing. I think.
This is all verrrrry familiar.
When the offense can’t do the job, the defense steps up and takes over the game.
I’ve seen this 14 times before.
The team that did it 14 times had an intelligent kid from Michigan at the helm. He wasn’t a dynamic QB, but he took care of the ball, rarely shooting the team in the foot with a turnover.
Yeah, but I think we tend to remeber Krenzel through rose-colored glasses. If we were to be honest with ourselves, as opposed to just basking in the memory of a championship, we would recall the many, many times in both 2002 and 2003 when Krenzel just couldn’t seem to advance the ball, even against poor defenses.
His passes were just as inaccurate as Pryor’s, and they had no zip whatsoever. (Remember the “rainbows” he used to send up?) This made our offenses very one-dimensional, which hurt the running attack as well. And, unlike Pryor, Krenzel didn’t have the speed to get himself out of his own jams. On the other hand, Krenzel did make better decisions.
So, blasphemous as it seems, basically I’d say it’s a wash between Pryor and Krenzel. With amazing defensive play and a lot of luck — and we had both in spades in 2002 — Pryor could just as easily lead the team to a perfect record. If it were not for the last drive of the USC game, we’d be in the midst of one right now.
let us also not forget(no matter how much we try) that when Krenzel won 14 in a row, he had a once in a decade type talent at RB who carried us to atleast4 or 5 wins that season on his own…along with that 02 defensive line…..
with ross and hall at RB in the 03 season we struggled AT wisconsin and our last loss to michigan….but i digress
Anyone ready to see what Ken Guiton can do?
no
Guiton?
Die slowly.
And what happened to Bauserman? Are people really going off of his limited game time, looking at Guiton’s crappy offer list, and saying “I WANT ME SOME!”?
Hilarious. OFFERRRRRRSSSSS dude must be the shit. Check out Tate Forciers website, his brother and him had offers out the ass.
qbforce.com
what kind of arrogant ass clown scans offer letters? THAT GUY.
Your meaning eludes me.
I still hate Bielema’s face. There’s just something about it that makes me want to punch him.
Pryor needs to humble himself in a hurry. I was hoping all the tell-tell signs were wrong, but I really think his attitude is holding him back. I do not see any progression and the only legit reason has to be poor work ethic. Yeah, yeah, he is a film room junkie I hear–but so what? He is obviously not putting in the time where it is needed because he keeps making the same mistakes over and over and over again. Now on top of staring down receivers, not going thru his reads and making poor decisions (the intentional grounding–wtf was that) he is hesitating before he runs like he is scared. I keep hearing that maybe its the instruction he is getting. Are you telling me that our QB couch is soooo bad that he can’t improve a freakishly talented athlete? There are two elements to any learning process–the teacher who wants and teach and the student who wants to learn.
I say its ego and attitude. Period. You cant be too afraid to play because you fear criticism and you cant be to proud to take correction and grow your craft.
Now, feel free to hammer me with all the “He’s only 19″ and “Look where VY and TS were at the same time in their college careers.” Heck, maybe somebody can come up with some fresh new excuses. But hey, it ain’t talent holding him back people.
Naturally, it’s the black man’s ATTITUDE. Racist white beeeyach.
yea freal…the kid is a true sophmore just going through his first full season as THE GUY….
who are you to judge his attitude and work ethic based on sophmore struggles?
exactly what was krenzel doing as a true sophmore? what did troy smith do for us in his true sophmore year? what about zwick–err nevermind….
we got this kid for 32 more games. hes going to improve, and were going to win alot of those 32 games…so sit back, RELAX, be patient and most of all, ENJOY…this ride should be fun
So far he looks like a bigger, faster, Reggie Ball.
Yeah, thats it. Ya caught me.
…but I did ask for something fresh and new….
Yes. There has to be something about Pryor because he does have renowned quarterback guru Nick Siciliano working with him everyday in practice. Pryor could end up being the only one of his proteges who doesn’t go on to some sort of football hall of fame.
Good point. Joe Daniels is responsible for Troy Smith’s development. Maybe his value to the program is becoming apparent.
Daniels was also Boeckman’s coach in 2007. Footwork issues were still apparent.
Ugggh, Iowa just made a bad call to go for a TD on 4th and goal and failed!
Why after an 18 point victory, do I keep feeling like disaster is about to strike?
Maybe it’s time to get Bauserman some reps. Not saying TP isn’t the man, but maybe if Joe could take a litlle pressure off, then TP could take a deep breath and regroup a little.
It just seems like all the criticism/expectations are starting to get to Terrelle. He seems to be trying to do too much and not just playing football.
Maybe its time for us fans to do him and ourselves a favor and get off his back a little. The kid is going to learn and so far, he has put up W’s, so why keep riding his ass into the ground for every little mistake?
Hats off to the defense, definitlely a top three unit in the country.
Coleman reminds me of Brian Dawkins and Rodney Harrison. Get ready to cash the big paychex my man.
what happens when bauserman does great though? the pressure would just mount. tOSU has great recievers, and I think JB would be able to utilize them a little better
I think what he means is that Bauserman needs to light a fire under Pryor to get his mindset right. Let him know he can’t stink up the joint and that his job is up for grabs. I support that notion, but unless Pryor plays another game like today, I don’t support the notion of him getting benched. Yet.
yeah, i agree. but if bauserman does really well…….how do you take him out? while TP still has a TON of time to improve, the shine is certainly wearing off
Yeah, I agree, and there’s always the possibility that Bauserman steps on the field and lights it up with this set of WR’s, but I’m not sure how realistic it is. Ideally, we’d get Bauserman in during a blowout and Tressel would continue the whole “passing in the fourth, actually trying to score” thing and see if Bauserman blows up.
Two things I don’t want: a) a platoon/Leak-Tebow set-up, which hasn’t worked for anyone but Florida
and b) for Bauserman to get meaningful snaps while the game is still in doubt against some schlub. I think either would kill Pryor’s confidence.
and by “kill” I mean “kill it even more” or “kill it dead”
What happens when Bausserman gets in there against a D that can rush and he can’t run anywhere? Does anyone really know that Bausserman can throw the ball any better than Pryor. I mean, putting Bausserman in would work if we assume the offensive line is that much better. I’m still not sold on it just yet.
Tebow of Lazarus rises again….
…ugh….
What if somehow OSU could meet up with UF in the MNC game and ruin his final game and get revenge for 2006…How about 3rd and 7 at OSU’s 15, Fla trailing by 3 with 1 min left in the game, Teabow throws a pick 6 to Coleman to seal the Ohio State national championship. OSU fans get to celebrate in Pasadena. OK wake me up now.
DO NOT WANT THIS!!! CANNOT HANDLE THIS!!! NO, NOT AGAIN!!!
our mildly seasoned, young quarterback is freakish – but, mostly, not in a good way i’m coming to realize – at least not in his current incarnation. gonna say it again – guy just doesn’t look comfortable in his own skin – never seen anything like it at the FBS-caliber/level.
i want this young man to succeed as much as anyone, but he seems to be regressing in every aspect of his game.
completely serious question here – has any ‘face of a team’, highly recruited player like pryor ever really been deemed a ‘bust’ early in their career i.e. like, ’sorry, but we’ve got to move on’ sort of thing? i cannot recall any at tOSU, not w/ the same amount of pryor-type hype at least. and that is just a question…..JUST A SIMPLE, QUESTION!!!
Because his talent is mind-boggling, there are few players to whom he can be compared, hype-wise. However, Zwick was actually considered one of the nation’s best QBs out of high school and I’d say that, taking both players’ typical performances into account, Zwick was a bigger bust. Pryor actually has a good arm and his accuracy isn’t always terrible — it’s just terrible too often for comfort. Plus, he has kept many drives alive with his feet, both this year and last. Zwick was simply mediocre in every regard, and had less of a positive impact than Pryor has had, even acknowledging Pryor’s obvious faults.
Holy Shit, I didn’t realize the sky was falling in Columbus, a true sophomore, not turining into a superstar after one OK, but not overly impressive year. Freaking relax, kids a sophomore.
However instead of bitching about Pryor how about we stop being all Browns fannish (Back up RULZ !!!1!1) and lets talk about a stellar defense we should all be glad to have as fans.
Don’t ever mention the B word on this post ever again:) :)
You are now adding insult to injury!
Pryor sucks. Period, the END. It’s a shame we have to waste such a beast of a defense on this Turd in cleats……..The thing that insults me the most is Pryor talking shit this week about how the game has really slowed down for him. Yeah and Roman Polanski didn’t rape that 13 year old girl either………
Maybe everyone should stop hyping Braxton Miller as well so he doesn’t arrive in Columbus an A-hole either. Just a thought.
I agree for the most part. Braxton does appear to have much better mechanics already though. You won’t have to spend a lot of time teaching basics. I hope he becomes a Buckeye but I’m not crowning him by any means.
Pryor sucks. Right now, you put him up against Toledo, Illinois or Indiana and yeah he’ll blow by them with his speed. Up against a decent defense like Wisconsin’s or USC’s and he looks like he runs in quicksand. I’m becoming less and less impressed with him in the bigger of games, and we better hope they figure something out before November because those games are going to be hard.
The coaches must be punching holes in the wall realizing we’re going to waste the most talented team Columbus has seen in 40 years because The most hyped recruit in the history of College football is a bust.
Terelle Pryor=ZERO National Championships.
Troy Smith=ZERO National Championships. Peyton Manning didn’t win a National Championship either. If NC are the mark of a good QB, Krenzel is the best QB we have had in the last 40 years. I think Troy was 10x the QB Craig was and that is no slam on CK. A lot of factors have to work together to win a MNC. I think the 2006 team was more talented than the 2002 team overall but they didn’t get it down in the MNCG. Can TP play as well as Krenzel? Yeah, at this point in his career, I feel comfortable in saying that he can.
Troy Smith=1 National championship if we’re being technical:) Your points are well made but there is no way you can tell me TP makes the fourth and 1 holy buckeye throw That Craig Krenzel made to Michael Jenkins. The whole point of my post is I’m extremely concerned that Pryor will NEVER be able to make that throw.
On an off note…what the hell happened to ESPN? I almost puked with their over-the-top love of the SEC today. The LSU fans this morning on GameDay booed Ohio State…we were the only team they booed. Not Alabama, not Arkansas, not Georgia…Ohio State. WTF?! Why are they booing us? They beat the crap out of us, and now they’re booing us?
I hate college football as a whole right now.
Get used to it. With the new contract the 4letter has with the SEC look for nothing but love and lots of cross promotion for them
You would think that LSU fans would be booing Bama before they boo Ohio State, but who cares they can have their SEC love. Even if Ohio State and other big 10 teams dominated the bowl games and non conference games, the SEC would still say they are bigger, faster, and better.
They booed Notre Dame as well and chanted overrated at Clausen. I think a great deal of that comes back to penis envy and just general Southern inferiority complex. No number of national titles will ever change that.
No one told them the war is over. Educating them is a lost cause. Move on and stop worrying about them.
Jebus, I never thought I’d see a comment thread that would cause ME to say “Calm down, he’s just a Sophomore”.
Look: there was plenty of “Bad Juice” today, but no more or less than we’ve seen lately…and we DID, in fact, see some progress today, i.e., the first decent two-minute drill (minus the motion penalty, which can’t really be TP’s fault) we’ve seen since I don’t know when. And the TD throw to Posey was really a thing of beauty on both ends. Regardless, the flow of this game was so jacked up that it’s hard to take away anything meaningful about our offense.
Not to mention that this year was never supposed to be the year anyway, right? Remember when we had all those questions on Defense way back in the (six-weeks-ago) day? Have we forgotten that Ballard and Cordle are the only offensive players of note that we lose after this year?
Calm down. We have three easy weeks – seriously, EASY, like Spring-game-style – to get better on offense, but it might not matter anyway because none of the six we’ve got left has the ability to do anything to us offensively: Clark? Stanzi? Calista/Can’tThrow? Please.
wow – i can not believe it but i agree. offense never had a chance to get in a groove.
I also agree. We don’t know what the O would have looked like had they had any playing time in the 3rd qtr – could have had some mo jo after the end of the first half.
Having said that, though, this team is gonna have to scrape and claw its way to a Big ten crown and any bowl win. The O really looks like it will be until TP’s senior year for a MNC run. Which, Senior QB often helps the ‘ol MNC chances. No surprise. This is a pretty good not great team overall. And that is good enough for the Big Ten title.
Well we have 2 games to “get into the groove”. We’re 6 games into the season and we still haven’t found it, so I’m not buying that we didn’t have the ball long enough.
I’ll come right out and say it, we need a running back. Boom and Zoom are spell backs, that’s it. Last year, when the O struggled, we just gave it to number 28. That’s not there anymore, and I don’t believe Herron or Saine are getting the job done.
I agree that the offense’s performance for the season as a whole suggests that we cannot simply say that lack of time with the ball was the entire reason for Wisky performance. But, it certainly didn’t help any.
Truth is, we don’t know what the O would have done with a full 4 quarters to play with. The entire third quarter didn’t exist for this offense yesterday and that has something to do with the overall game numbers.
However, big picture: yeah, we are in need of something go-to when the offense stalls. In the immediate past that was Beanie.
I don’t care if it is planned TP running plays or what … but we need something that is a go-to for first downs when nothing is working and this offense doesn’t have that right now
That’s why I think the most overrated stat in football is Time of Possession. Wisconsin dominated that stat, and nothing else. I’m so tired of hearing about them having the ball for 44 minutes.
The game next week will not be remotely close. Purdue can’t hold onto the ball, The D is going to have a field day, and guess what, Purdue will probably have the advantage in Time of Possession. I kind of thought, in limited carries, Saine did well. He keeps the pile moving.
Pryor is not Allen Iverson. What in over almost 2 years now makes anyone think he ever will be. Think about this, Juice Williams regressed year over year. Crappy, no talent teams need a mobile multi threat QB. OSU needs a smart QB who can make the right decisions to get the many ultra-talented guys around him the ball so they can do their thing. Even Todd Boeckman was a good player when he had protection.
All I know is he better get his sh#t together before Iowa or we’ll be playing in the Cap One Bowl.
Best stat of the game: 42:47 – time of possession for Wisconsin and not once did they find the end zone on offense.
I am dismayed as much as anyone about LiB and the offense, but when Wisconsin keeps the ball for the whole third quarter and we outscore them 14-3. Gives me chills how great our defense can be.
Don’t you feel the time of possession is pretty skewed by the 2 defensive and 1 special teams TD. I mean I know the offense wasn’t good, but that last drive before halftime was and I feel that they probably would have had a couple more drives like that had they actually had the ball on offense.
That’s a good point. Also, when we did get the ball in the 2nd half, Tress was being conservative with the play calling and for good reason. No sense in risking turning the ball over and allowing Wisky to get back in the game, especially with the way our D has been playing.
Look, the offense was bad in the first quarter, no question, and the blame was shared by all concerned – LiB, the OL, receivers, backs, coaches. But once they got in that early quick three-and-out pattern + the 3 return TDs (2 INTs and 1 KO), the offense really had very few chances to build on the rhythm established at the end of the first half. Heck, they didn’t get the ball until 1:48 left in the 3rd quarter, then drove 9 plays for 60 yards and kicked a field goal. Then, when they got it back in the 4th, the game was over as long as they didn’t do something stupid, so vanilla run plays just to get the clock rolling.
The Ohio State offense average more yds/play and pts/play than Wisc., and that looked like a pretty solid Wisc offense with a good off coordinator (Chryst). Are Wisc. fans now supposed to scream that the world is caving in like (some) Buckeyes fans are doing this morning?
Btw, it was a great performance by the defense. I’m not criticzing those guys at all. But they did have a tough time getting off the field at times – credit given to Wisc, though.
Anyway, we can criticize the offense without gettin irrationally negative. With all due respect to Joe Basuerman and Kenny Guiton, the mere suggestion of benching LiC is stupid beyond comprehension.
Why has he changed to LiB now? What does the B stand for?
Typo.
THANK you run Fido…
thats exactly what im thinking.couldnt have said it better myself…youre always good for some reasonable and insightful stuff in your comments both here and on ESPN…
we just beat a good wisconsin team and only possessed the ball for just over 1QTR, had only 9 possesions…with purdue, Minnesota and NMSU coming up, our defense has a chance for a couple more shutouts(oh yea, wisconsins ONLY TD was a well executed Fake FG) and our offense should have plenty of possesions to achieve some rhythm and success going into the home stretch….
the sky ISNT falling Buckeye fans….32 more games with Pryor..
you are wrong. does rex kern have any more years of eligibility left?!?!?!?!
I don’t doubt TP’s talent or progression. I would like to see him act more mature. When play calls come into the huddle too slowly from the sideline, you can see him have temper tantrum flare-ups, hit his hands together, face filled with scorn. I have to imagine he is looking at one of the backup QBs sending in the call, or maybe Hazell; I hope he’s not acting that belligerent towards Tressel. He’s the type that gets sacked, picks himself off the ground, and then mouths off to the O-Lineman that blew his block. That’s not the leader of a top team, that’s a cranky child. If we ever want to compete for the national title with TP, we need him to grow up and roll with the punches.
how bout scott mcmullen? he barely played, he has to have some time left, right???
Is it just me, or does Calista Forcier look to be about the same size he is now as he was in pop warner? Same stupid self-righteous smug on his face as well.
http://www.qbforce.com/tate/offers/Offers.htm
“bla bla bla pryor sucks. bla bla blehh troy smith and craig krenzel this and that”
get over it. it’s hard to put up yards when you don’t have the ball for all of 1 minute in the 3rd. stop crying, we got the W. bunch of arm chair QB/ Head Coach/Offensive coordinator babies.
I don’t get why Pryor not being Troy Smith’s equivalent is such a horrible thing. With this defense, we’re winning ten games a year regardless of how “not awesome” he looks.
tell that to the peanut gallery. if coach woulda put them in, they woulda won state. i bet they could throw a football over that mountain.
Yeah, we shouldn’t be comparing him to Troy or Krenzel. The better comparison is Bellisari. Actually, I’d take Bellisari over Pryor no question, at least the guy found Michael Jenkins for some yardage every game.
i mean no offense to actual retarded people when i say this, but you are retarded.
does greg frye have any eligibility left?? what about bobby hoying?
i’m sure you were one of those guys screaming for scott mcmullen to start when the krenzel teams were putting up 14 points back in 02/03
stfu – pryor with his legs will win us some games. when his head gets straight watch out – quit bitchin all the tme – the kid is only 19 – i’d rather have him than teblow
it sounds like we agree. glad to know not everyone has on foot on the ledge and ready to jump on the bauserman bandwagon.
i guess whoever said that the back up QB is the most popular man in town was right.
the greg frye and bobby hoying comments were clearly sarcasm. although, if memory serves, frye rocked a sweet greenp-tinted visor back in the day.
Way to show your ignorance. I hate Tim Tebow, but to say you would rather have Pryor over him is just dumb.
That wins the award for most stupid comment of all time
he has more DUI’s than TP. when will he get his DUI game on track?
It’s not merely the quantity of the DUIs, you also have to have impeccable timing with them to fire for full effect. Several DUIs before early season cupcakes, that’s impressive, but not overwhelming. But, a late season DUI, timed right before the end of the season showdowns with the best teams in the Big 10 (2001 Illini and 2001 Michigan), by a senior? THAT is impressive.
note to TP, remember to get pulled over for squeeling your tires while driving drunk right before the scUM game. it’s all about the little things that set your performance apart.
steve bellasari, the best free safety ever to play qb at ohio state.
And Pryor hasn’t found Sanzenbacher for huge plays on multiple occasions this year? Stupid comparison.
I second southbaybuckeye. If you’ve fully given up on Pryor already and are willing to trade him for one of the biggest goats in our history, that’s fine, I guess, but go root for another team. Because this one doesn’t deserve you.
according to (fair weather)bucks”fan” those plays never happened.
what about the first 2 quarters when he was throwing at the receivers feet, over their heads, looking down receivers, or getting intercepted and producing 3 and outs faster than the Beatles produced hit records. You people are missing the point. At some point the anointed one is going to have to win a game against an elite opponent. Stop making excused for him. He was the most hyped recruit in the HISTORY of college of football. I’m not asking for much but at this point he should be able to hit his running back in the flat, Get rid of the ball under pressure in the red zone, and not hang his receivers out to dry. Lamar Thomas come to mind anybody.
Some of you are so far up this program’s ass you can’t see the forest from the trees. Pryor is worse than last year. Period.
when are you going to suit up and take over for him? i wish i could watch it, but apparently my head is up the program’s ass. damn, it’s dark in here.
It smells like cinnamon, Bartles and Jaymes, and four straight conference championships.
props for bartles and james.
i’m partial to seagram’s wine coolers though
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ZArV2wsak
You are the biggest crybaby on this forum. You were crying like a little bitch when we lost to USC. Oh by the way, Pryor couldn’t get it done in that game! So sit back, relax for the next three weeks, and when Pryor stinks the joint up again against a worthy opponent you can be the lame apologist tool that you are!
The only difference between the Wisconsin game yesterday and the Wisconsin game in 2001 where Bellisari lost us the game, was that the 2001 defense/special teams didn’t score 21 points.
wisconsins offense didnt score a touch down yesterday…our offense scored a touchdown….so with your rediculous, hypothetical logic the Buckeyes still win 10-6….
are u an NBA fan in Milwaukee? if not, u need to change your name in here, cuz u sound like Mark May or somethin…
when/if pryor becomes the player we think he should be is bucksfan gonna be the first on the “i’ve always liked him/told ya so” bandwagon?
History seems to indicate as much. This is the guy who was forecasting a massive, one-sided blowout of Navy then totally flipped a bitch when it actually ended up close (just like previous games against Bowling Green, San Diego State, etc.)
Someone people just aren’t satisfied with anything short of weekly blowouts (and hell, on a basic level, that’s what we’re getting, they just aren’t as pretty as said people would like them to be)
bucksfan could throw a football over that mountain.
i’ll just take the W and be happy with it, thanks.
Yesterday just felt like classic Tresselball to me. Sure, I’m a bit bewildered as to why Pryor sucked so bad, but two defensive touchdowns plus a kick return? That’s a barnburner in ‘02/03. We were spoiled by Troy and Teddy.
do “we” need to put up more points on offense? yes. Is Pryor john motana with bo jackson’s legs? not at the moment. hell, joe montana wasn’t joe montana in college. there’s always room for improvement.
We won. Wisconsin’s offense got shut down.
I’m just tired of all the whining and complaing and “so and so sucks so bad”. It’s ridiculous. Maybe that’s just because my head is up the program’s ass.
Sam, you were the guy trashing Ohio State’s big game ability before the Texas game last year, and everyone was calling you out for being a “hater,” including me (unless it was a different Sam). I actually think you were right all along. Now you’re a kiss-ass.
I still don’t believe we can win a big game to save our lives, but that isn’t cause to a) Bench Pryor or b) Fire Tressel. I never thought it was.
We can win a big game with this D. Can we beat the best teams in the country right now. No. Not with this Offense. But we can win a BCS game this year with this D alone, IMO.
We have closed the gap in the big games due to the simple fact that we are better at the LOS. Obviously, that is mostly on the D-line, but we are a bit better on the O-line as well. This team can beat Texas, USC, and others not named FL or Alabama this year as it will be hard for anyone to score. Of course, we could also lose a close game to anyone as well b/c we can’t score. nonetheless, a big game win this year is not crazy
southbay, I encourage you to watch some of the football that’s played outside of the city of Columbus for just one Saturday. Just one. Just suspend your fanhood for one second and look at what other teams are doing, what other QBs are doing with less talent around them, what other coaches are doing to put themselves in position to score points.
It’s not hard, there are buttons on your TV remote that make the whole experience possible. You could push in a random series of buttons and find a QB playing better than Terrelle Pryor.
i do not watch footage inside of the city of columbus, i do not live in columbus.
when it comes to channel surfing, i could also find qb’s playing worse and qb’s playing better for teams with worse records.
But it’s evident that you don’t watch football that’s PLAYED OUTSIDE the city of Columbus. I don’t care where you are or where you live. You need to read what I wrote.
is it evident? i watch all sorts of teams, and living on the west coast i see an awful lot of pac10 teams play.
maybe gene smith will hire you as the next HC since you know so much and are so well versed in all things football outside of columbus.
even troy smith had bad games
http://www.scarletandgray.info/osu/2004/osu_10_2004.pdf
http://www.scarletandgray.info/osu/2004/osu_06_2004.pdf
http://www.scarletandgray.info/osu/2005/osu_05_2005.pdf
so did craig
http://www.scarletandgray.info/osu/2002/osu_09_2002.pdf
bad games, that is.
Here’s my Mumme Poll ballot:
Top 5: Alabama, Florida, Texas, VaTech, USC
Next 7: Ohio St., LSU, Iowa, Nebraska, Miami, Boise St., Oregon
I had all thes same as you, except PSU instead of Nebraska.
I do not have LSU in my top 12 at all. I think that team is the MOST overrated team in America. They will lose 2 more games at least.
I filled out my ballot and didn’t put Ohio State in my top five because I truly feel they don’t belong there(they are at six though). Have you seen the top five votes for Cincinnati, Boise State and Auburn last week. Get real! Are we the only fans that are realistic. I know we can beat the hell out of the bearcats, broncos and Auburn tigers (who was destroyed by Ryan Mallett of all people).
lets face it wiscy brought their A game. play calling sucks. do not over look purdue and minny – they watch tape and will be ready. offense needs to get a chip on its shoulder in a bad way. like what the defense says ” we are having fun out there”. i really liked how the defense was just hammering people on the line and bringing it against their qb. we need a better mental approach on offense.you can have all the talent in the world but it comes down to whats between your ears.
Be careful…some people might label you as not a real fan if you don’t kiss Pryor’s ass on this thread for his winning performance against Wisconsin. Southbay and Sam appear to be his digital bodyguards.
Bucksfan: You are now nothing more than a worrywart internet troll. No, don’t thank me, you’ve earned it.
Sam, I might be overly tough on this team, but just because I’m voicing my opinion here doesn’t mean half of the fanbase doesn’t feel exactly the same way I do. Be a blind homer, fine…I’m not insulting your manhood when I’m critical of Pryor or the Ohio State offense. I’m allowed to want this team to perform the best that it can, and to be pissed when they don’t show up prepared. I’m allowed to be pissed when they play like they did against Purdue last sesaon, a game that I flew 2400 miles to see.
That’s not trolling, that’s being realistic. You’re the one calling me a fairweather “fan.” If I were a fairweather fan, I wouldn’t have thrown my TV remote control into my floor when I discovered that ESPN fucked up its coverage map this week, and I didn’t get the game, but didn’t know it until I came home after it was over. If I were a fairweather fan, I wouldn’t have broken my mouse and thrown my mail all over the room after my computer started wigging out when I tried to pull up the game on ESPN.360. If I were a fairweather fan, I wouldn’t have blamed the entire fiasco on my wife for making me go wine-tasting with her uncle (for which she has since forgiven me because she’s a better human being than I).
You call me fairweather or bandwagon, that’s pretty much the biggest insult you can throw at me. That makes you a typical douchebag Ohio State homer, and you can be certain that you’ve earned it.
the guy that is repeatidly admitting his douchebaggy actions is calling Sam a douchebag, i find that humorous.
coverage map did lie though…. sort of. i had it espn but not espnHD.
Pryor deserves all the criticism he is getting. He is not getting the job done. It goes with the territory. If he can’t handle it, then he is in the wrong profession. And for all the Pryor apologists-quit making excuses for the guy and realize the only reason people are upset and on Pryor’s ass is because we care, we WANT HIM TO DO WELL, AND WE WANT TO WIN.
He was brought here to bring us a Championship!
digital bodyguards. hmmm
i ram ealistic about what pryor brings to the table at this point in his life, it’s pretty clear that you are not.
go back and look at try smith, who you keep bringing up. he had his fair share of stinkers. so did craig. i don’t think i ever said pryor was the greatest thing ever, or that he was the best qb we’ve ever seen top this point. what i did say was that we won the game. wisc was undefeated, the defense took care of that.
just because you aren’t winning “the argument” doesn’t mean you have to get you panties in a bunch.
I never brought up Troy Smith, except in reference to what others have said.
Bucksfan don’t sweat it I’m on your side – your wife owes you big time for the wine tasting. Ohio State football is bigger than it should be at times. I got yelled at by my wife for the the 2 int returns and my step son ray small’s huge return – i thought he was ted ginn the way he was running.
palm beach and southbaybuckeye do bring some stuff to the table once every so often. buckeye nation god i just love it!
First of all, the goal Saturday was to beat and unbeaten Wisconsin team. They did that but apparently not to everyone’s satisfaction. Pryor’s play was not impressive so you naysayers are ready to throw him under the bus. How about 31-13?? If that was a BCS Bowl victory or a NCG victory yesterday would it be less enjoyable because someone did not have a convincing performance on the field? Would you still find fault and criticize the play on the field?
Secondly, the O didn’t spend much time on the field, especially in the third qtr but there were some bright moment that showed how effective Pryor can be. He is still a diamond in the rough but I believe that he should be given time to develop and let’s just accept that it may not happen according to our timetable. I’m sure he would love to please you so why don’t you call, email or try to access his facebook page to tell him exactly how you feel. Maybe someday you will run into him on campus or one of his team mates and you can ask them to pass along your concerns and criticisms. Just sayin’.
one thing i’ve learned about OSU fans in the past three or four years is that some of us just love to rage about anything.
people like PAUL and angelheartsbuckeyes and so on wanna rant and rave about something, and by God they’re gonna find it whether it be our QB play or the playcalling or the o-ine or whatever.
there is always room for serious and legit criticism, and i’m not saying some of it isn’t warranted against pryor, but the dudes who go crazy and call for guiton or call pryor a bust halfway through his first full season of being a starting QB aren’t interested in serious criticism, they just want to bitch and moan.
so i ignore em
secondly, there also seems to be this running thread where if i’m not FREAKING OUT OMG AAAAAAA about our QB play or going crazy about whatever i’m not a real fan.
this i actually do get irritated about, i spent 5 years at Ohio State and got two degrees from there, spent tens of thousands of dollars getting an education there, and went to literally dozens of OSU games. i’m a far, far better fan than some fair weather jackass with no connection to the school
I spent 4 years on full-tuition scholarship at OSU, was involved on campus, got a degree in biochem, never missed a home game, and went to 8 games in 2004, including Purdue…was in a verbal fight with a boiler fan the entire time. This is why I take offense. I feel the fact that I went there gives me every right to say what I want. It’s MY team.
In my experience, though, there are no fairweather Buckeye fans. Part of the reason is because there just aren’t enough down-times in Buckeye football to tell who’s who, or whether or not this fanbase is capable of not filling the stands. Whether you go to the school or not, if you grew up a Buckeye fan, then you’re a Buckeye fan.
There are fairweather Buckeye fans all over the place; just as there are fairweather Steelers fans. Success breeds a following, obviously, but the first ones to complain were probably the last ones on the bus. Those people calling for Jim Tressel’s head after USC? Fairweather fans. Guys who latched on in ‘02, or ‘06, or whenever.
And regardless of whether or not they’re bandwagoning, there are always idiots in every fanbase.
“the first ones to complain were probably the last ones on the bus”
WORD
No, the ones calling for his head after the Florida game…THOSE are fairweather fans. The ones calling for his head after being subjected to Florida, Illinois, LSU, USC 35-3, Penn State, Texas, and USC 18-15 over the span of 3 seasons…those are defenders of the program.
“The ones calling for his head after being subjected to Florida, Illinois, LSU, USC 35-3, Penn State, Texas, and USC 18-15 over the span of 3 seasons…those are defenders of the program”
hahah okay
Bucksfan, you have completely and finally lost it. I don’t want to hear a peep from you when we’re winning the title next year.
Sam, I don’t really give a shit what you want. WE’RE LAST IN OFFENSE IN THE BIG TEN!
The fact that you’re fine with that should make you second-guess who you’re really rooting for. It would seem that you’re rooting for the other 10 Big Ten teams, three of which have a legit shot at beating us in November if OSU doesn’t figure something out. Defending a last place in anything is ludicrous and has no place here.
So I guess the 105,000 plus fans who were booing Pryor yesterday were just looking for something to rant and rave about! If you paid attention to my posts, they are 90% positive and optimistic. I’m very objective. I rarely post on this blog and I defend My beloved Buckeyes passionately. I just think it’s time for people to be honest with themselves and accept that TP is not a good QB at this time. I hope he lights is up and wins Back to Back national championships. If he doesn’t but performs at a high level as was advertised then I’d be satisfied. I get frustated when week after week, QB’s like Tolzien and every other inexperienced ham and egger make him look Like a D111 QB. Tolzien threw 2 pick six’s but he also made the “basic” throws consistently. Pryor doesn’t do this, EVER. At this point it’s alarming. At this point I’d be happy to see the guy throw for 200 yards have a 60 percent completion percentage and maybe not throw an interception in the red zone.
Please feel free to respond……………
Seriously, I didn’t graduate, okay? I did however grow up in the JHC era, where ALL my friends in Columbus where scUM fans. I am calling for something not because I think Pryor should be throwing for 350+ every game with4 TD’s and no INT’s and running for another 120, but because he misses out routes horrendously either 10 yds away and out of bounds, or 5 yds in front/ into the dirt, and because he locks on to his recievers too much. That’s all. I will take 55% completion rate for 150 and a 2:1 TD:INT ratio and be happy, but man he looks gawd aful sometimes. But NEVER EVER call me a fair weather fan. I spent a month on campus every summer from 6-12 grades, went there for a few months before joining the Navy, and bleed Scarlet and Gray. My kids know the lyrics to “Hang on Sloopy” and have met Coach Tressel and love the Buckeyes.
Just because we are mad, it doesn’t make us all fair weather.
if you’re mad for dumb reasons, and blow things way, way out of proportion, yeah, it does make you a fair weather fan.
You are “mad” after an eighteen-point win over an undefeated team ! What the hell is wrong with you? I can understand some frustration and confusion, but anger is the craziest response I can think of to yesterday’s game.
my final words on this are the same as ken gordon’s:
http://twitter.com/kgordonosu/status/4787063714
I agree whole heartedly with the “sick of the complaining” sentiments. The Bucks won. Jeezus, Tressel was totally spot on with his comment about sad, miserable fans.
“I went to school there, blah blah blah….” STFU already, really. Just ’cause you went to school at OSU doesn’t entitle you anything, accept a degree if you graduated.
I went to school there too (and graduated), and attended games as a kid since the 1980’s until I moved abroad 10 years ago. I’m a fan, and have been known to bitch about some offensive shortcomings of late, but to be upset with a win, EVER, is ridiculous. It’s one thing to complain to friends while your watching a game (cause you care), and it’s another one to post them for the whole world to see. Get over yourselves, you’re not experts, and most who post this BS dribble probably never even played ball.
Which to be honest, explains it all….
“….except a degree…..” Damn, always screw that one up when I rant….:-)
Wow. I guess this is what I get for not coming to this site for a while. TP looked like sh!t, everyone saw it. Yes, that scares me but just a bit. TP’s long runs on critical downs have kept us in the games we have played in. You put any of our back-ups in and they will get killed, and probably throw interceptions because of the pressure they are under. We have a good couple of teams to play against to get better before a HUGE November.
Let’s just crown Terrelle Pryor the Heisman Trophy winner. My bad, he’s the best QB I’ve ever seen at the University of Ohio State-as he put it when he signed his letter of intent.
We love you TP and are breathlessly awaiting your next 90 yard 1 or 2 int game and maybe a TD and hope the D bails us out again. Can’t wait, go Buckeyes. Now I’m stuck watching the Browns offense and the TP led Buckeyes offense. Good Times………