Five Things: New Mexico State
Posey caught 5 balls for 79 yards and threw a 39 yard TD pass in the W. (AP: J. LaPrete)Defense Rolls On
As expected, the Silver Bullets had little trouble holding down the nation’s worst offense. In fact, OSU held the Aggies to 62 total yards en route to the 45-0 win. The shutout was OSU’s third this year, the first time since ‘96 that an OSU defense has accomplished the feat.
New Mexico State ran only 45 plays the entire game leading to 9 punts, 3 turnovers and a whopping 2 first downs as they managed 1.3 yards per rush and 1.5 per pass. The defensive box score looks hilariously incomplete thanks to the lack of actual plays ran. Homan picked up 7 tackles then you get to a cluster of 13 players that had 2 or 3 tackles illustrating how many players Heacock was able to utilize and still neutralize the 120th ranked offense in the country.
The question now becomes can the defense kick the intensity up a notch on the road next week as they’ll no doubt have to shoulder the load if OSU is to escape with a low scoring upset win in State College.
Pryor: Up, Down and Nicked?
Terrelle followed his recent blueprint making some strong throws, forcing some others into heavy traffic, showing some questionable body language (if you are a teammate) and finally, making some what looked like effortless runs for big gainers.
The good? His 43 yard strike to Posey on the first play from scrimmage was nicely placed, he had a couple excellent scramble runs to convert 3rd and long’s on the 2nd and 4th OSU possessions, the latter culminating with an 8 yard scamper to paydirt and a 7-0 OSU lead early in the 2nd quarter. Following an onside kick, Pryor went 4/5 on a scoring drive hitting Posey twice, one on a well timed out route converting 3rd and 8, setting up a 19 yard laser to Dane in the endzone for a 14-0 lead. Three series later, TP again used his legs keeping the play alive before racing for 27 yards on 3rd and 2 setting up the reverse pass from Posey to Dane giving OSU a 21-0 cushion. Pryor would finish with 9 carries for 83 yards and a TD, good for 9.2 per carry, showing just how dangerous he can be once he breaks contain, especially against a squad like the Aggies.
The bad? Once again, he struggled with accuracy (save a couple drops by Posey) connecting on just 11 of 23 tosses for 135 yards and a score. Worse than the completion percentage (48%) is the fact he continued his love for staring down the primary read leading to what would have likely been 3 INTs against better competition including 2 on back to back throws late in the half. Next week, he won’t be so lucky. Let’s hope another week of film and practice will correct these season long themes.
Of course, even more important right now is his health status. It appeared he tweaked his left leg on his 27 yard run midway through the 2nd quarter and possibly again in the final drive of the 1st half as he ran toward the right sideline. Tressel would only say TP sat out the 2nd half because he took enough hits on the day but Pryor acknowledged the injury as a minor bump and said he’d be fine. He better be after what we’ve seen from him healthy coupled with what Bauserman showed us in a lackluster 2/9 performance in which he had the balls to say, “I was tight when I first got in the game. I had been sitting around for two quarters, but I loosened up and I thought we came together well. I was able to get some communication and chemistry with the wide receivers.” And we wondered why TP wasn’t benched for a series to clear the cobwebs against Purdue? I remain 51% sure Siems is the best actual passer on the team. I kid. Sort of.
Putting the “Special” in Special Teams
We can panic about various units on this squad (QB, OL, RB, anyone?) but as the Buckeyes head for the final three games – two on the road – with a coach who loves to french the field goal and punt, it’s possible no unit on the field presents more concern than special teams.
As of Sunday night, I have yet to hear a prognosis on kicker Aaron Pettrey but it’s hard to believe he’ll be back in time for Penn State, if at all this season, after suffering a knee injury thanks to a dirty chop block. To this point, Pettrey has been far from automatic, especially on chip shots, converting just 13 of 19 FG tries but he figures to be a better alternative than former walk on Devin Barclay. The junior missed two FG’s in his debut (36, 47) while hitting one from 29 yards. As Tressel knows, you can’t leave points on the field on the road. In Barclay’s defense, he did do a nice job on kickoff’s and with a week of preparation knowing he’s the man, maybe he’ll have better luck Saturday. It’s worth noting Ben Buchanan is actually the second team kickoff guy but missed the game due to illlness.
Similarly, punter Jon Thoma struggled averaging only 31 yards on 3 punts. The battle of field position on the road against a team with a superior offense to OSU’s will be of huge importance so Thoma needs to bounce back from a shaky performance.
RB Situation Far From Stable
So, what are we to make of the situation in the backfield? Due to his recent concussion, I give Saine a pass for a performance worthy of ‘06-’07 in which he looked slow and timid as he lost a fumble managing just 1.9 per carry (7/13) but even with that pass, can we expect him to be ready next week? His history of responding to injury isn’t exactly confidence inspiring so hopefully he simply still had a few cobwebs and will be back to his Indiana-game-self this week.
Boom ran 6 times for 66 yards including a 53 yard TD in his first action since a 2 carry game against Wisconsin back on October 10th but how confident should we be that Boom will be ready for PSU considering his 8 carries in the last 5 games thanks to a high ankle sprain? Like Saine, he’s proven to be injury prone leaving the faithful to ponder who exactly is the most game ready running back on this team as of right now? Is it possible that true freshman Jordan Hall is the best man for the job this week thanks to the maladies hindering Boom and Zoom?
Certainly, Saine is your clear cut starter next week but if he jogs to the hole with the same tentativeness as he showed this week, do you turn to Boom or Hall first? I personally have a hard time not thinking Hall deserves a shot to see if he can make anything happen behind a makeshift line that wasn’t very good even with everyone healthy. His speed and elusiveness could prove better suited for the game next week when he spells Saine. Either way, I’m finding it difficult to absorb that there really isn’t an all-conference tailback on the roster when you take into account what it really takes to be great. I guess we need to hope Saine is ready for another breakout performance because if Pryor begins to feel it’s all up to him as the game unfolds in Happy Valley, the wheels could fall off early. Of course, none of this matters if the line, specifically the left side, isn’t up to the challenge. Boren will be back meaning we won’t have to suffer though Moses getting schooled but what to do about Cordle at left tackle? Ask the Big Man upstairs for help, I suppose.
Outlook
I’m sure many of the kool-aiders think I’m negative about everything but it’s truly not my intent. The intent is to convey my perspective instead of what I think will be popular to read. That said, I did see many positives this week. First, once Posey eliminates the drops he’s going to be a big time WR for Pryor and Ohio State. It seems he is always open and the fact he can show Pryor how to look off a defender when passing is an added bonus (sorry, couldn’t resist). Once Carter makes the expected jump with increased reps, OSU figures to have a pair of stud receivers in the coming years.
Second, I liked Tressel’s plan to get some things on tape for Penn State to digest. The numerous deep routes should give PSU something to think about if they plan to stack the line all night. The onside kick was a nice touch and the reverse pass will definitely give the ‘Nits pause if a regular run reverse is called this week. I suppose this is what coach meant when he proclaimed OSU would go out all barrels blazing in the presser. Good stuff. I’m not a big fan of trickeration if it’s something that is overly relied upon, but if used sparingly it can be of tremendous value.
In the end, I feel as if the Buckeyes are capable of going on the road and pulling the upset next week but I can’t say I expect it. The bottom line is this team is banged up on the offensive line, the backfield and on special teams and while the defense could help steal a win if they hold PSU to under 14 points and create turnovers leading to short fields or actual scores, I simply don’t have enough confidence in the ability of the offense to avoid mistakes and score enough points to win against a solid opponent. Trust me, I want to be wrong so you can all say, “I told you so.”
Pryor 14-23 306yds 4td 8 att 79yds NO INT
tOSU 49
NMS 0
MAN I WAS CLOSE ON THE ATT AND COMPLETIONS… NOT SO MUCH ON TD’s BUT I WAS DEAD ON THE INT’S… SCORE WAS CLOSE TOO!
11 23 135yds 1td 9 att 83yds 1 NO INT
tOSU 45
NMS 0
sorry! this was me.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK A LITTLE HARDER PLEASE
a broken clock is right twice a day
If I’m Penn St., I’m loading up the box and playing everyone within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage and bringing pressure at TP. The fact that OSU threw a lot of deep balls vs. NMSU doesn’t scare me one bit….did you see how badly TP missed most of the throws? I hate to say it, but they might shut out the Bucks.
Greg = a gay name!
What should scare Penn St is the film of the Iowa game in happy valley!
Or, the fact that Penn St plays the worst non-conf teams.
Who are you?
1-7 Akron W 31-7
3-5 Syracuse 28-7
(speaks for itself) Temple W 31-6
8-0 Iowa 3-1 (0-1) L 21-10 They have a defense
2-6 Illinois 35-17 (shut them out)
(speaks for itself) Eastern IllinoisW 52-3
5-4 Minnesota 20-0 (By the way we put 38 on them)
5-4 @ Michigan 35-10
5-4 Northwestern 34-13
So, Penn State best win came against i guess a 5-4 minnesota team!
I think Temple is way better than they get credit for
Temple (6-2, 4-0 MAC) sits alone atop the MAC’s East division who just beat Navy a team that played us hard.
ricky dobbs was out and they only one by 7…
he is good…
Dobbs is a stud, and the fact that Temple is a decent MAC team doesn’t excuse State Penn’s cupcake schedule.
Gaylord, I thought your name was Greg? You’re parents named you Gay Focker?
And our best win was agaisnt that same Minnesota team. I just think PSU has a little more experience and is much more healthy than we are, so I am with Chris on this one, I just dont think we can go in there and win. Not this year.
I think we have much more talent on both sides of the ball and win this game.
I agree. I think we are deeper in talent than PSU. I just can’t get past the o-line injuries / ineffectiveness, being on the road and the fact TP has struggled when it matters most. Still, I wouldn’t be the least surprised if we won, just not sure I think things stack up in our favor at this point in the week.
I share in your concern for our offensive line woes. IMHO that is where this game will be won or lost.
WISKY…. is way better than minnie
Our best win was Minnesota, have you not seen Wisconsin play this year?
well, they are 6-2.
Ranked #21 in the bcs.
So, yeah they have a better record, and if you are a OSU fan.
You are hopeing the bcs likes them alot.
That was my point, they are better than Minnesota, and they beat Minnesota
“…but as the Buckeyes head for the final three games – two on the road – with a coach who loves to french the field goal and punt…”
Classic Line, I’ll be laughing all day.
ACTUALL ARE BEST WIN IS A #21 ranked Wisky team !!!
How could you forget that !!!!!
Sorry Duran, forgot about Wisky, my bad
I dunno, I’d say Posey might be the best passer on the team, over siems. hah!
the onside kick was not a nice touch it was a stupid touch. can someone smarter then me(which would be everybody except buckjimtresselsnut)tell me why he would use that against a shit opponent and not use it in the next two weeks? dumb
just a guess…
He would use it against New Mexico because
if it did not work, we would still win. Also, to scare Penn State
and Iowa into thinking we would ever use it.
Trust me we wont!
Tressell, would never use that or the reverse in a big game.
These are ploy’s to make other teams take 3-5 min in practice to
talk about.
We will be lucky to just see a reverse. a reverse pass (LOL) NEVER!
Oh he is back, I am surprised he isn’t openly rooting for PSU this weekend so that he has something to say about Tressel next week.
you two crack me up!
Sitting here at work bored, and it’s sad but i have a feeling your
conversation will be the highlight of my day untill 4:00pm.
Ding! Ding!
Are you ready? Are you ready? lets get it on!
Same here except I have to wait until 5 to get out of work!
I am actually heading to Happy Valley for the weekend, so if anyone is going up I’d love some tickets or just to hang out with some Buckeye fans, my girlfriends entire family is Penn St. fans and I don’t want to listen to them all day!!
don’t you mean boyfriends’ entire family?
Good one McNutt, did your buddies at “work” allow you to use their joke?
I doubt they’d use the onside kick again, but I like the reverse pass. That way if they run a reverse, have the formation, fake it and tp keeps the ball, Penn State may over pursue. What is it everyone is always carrying on about, a different look from the same formation? That’s what that pass did. Maybe they do run it again and pass, it worked so well the first time.
To me, those 2 plays are usually the creativity Tressel uses to OWN Michigan every year. Who knows what else he has up his sleeve. I have confidence in this team in this game. Would I be shocked if they lost? No, even when Penn State is bad Happy Valley is not a easy place to play.
Another issue I have is the statement about a line that wasn’t very good even what it was healthy. I remember posts, and the actual blog writers saying the line was much improved and that they were playing well. Did I miss something in between. Granted the line was only healthy for about oh 3 games before the flu and injuries set in, but I do remember a lot of compliments on how the line was playing well.
There were times when the line had its moments. I remember writing about it. In retrospect, maybe it was due to the competition or dying to give them benefit of the doubt? Bottom line, even if that was written by a writer or commenter, if it becomes incorrect or changes it makes no sense to keep saying it. Regardless of that, there’s no denying it’s been incredibly unfortunate to see how many injuries/setbacks the line has been forced to overcome. Cohesion up front is so crucial and they’ve been unlucky in that regard.
I think when they have come out motivated, they’ve been excellent, like during the USC game.
Since then, they’ve played flat for the most part, and injuries don’t help.
Even spielman and herbstriet called them out for uninspired play.
I’ll say it. The line is shaky at best! Did you see those DEs get around Cordle. DTs wrap up the running backs easily enough to attempt to strip the ball. These are defensive players that we wouldn’t attempt to recruit and they gave the offensive line all they are worth. They did not blow up the line but did cause more trouble than necessary. Plus I am not talking about the beginning of the game when teams are pumped up. I’m talking about the second half after they were losing by 28.
I also believe that myself and others stated to the fact that benching TP and bring in Bauserman is NOT the answer. MAN I LOVE BEING RIGHT!
Anybody interested in my new book “Mark Mays can suck it!”?
Sorry, Im still reading “Mark May: My Love Affair With Penis.”
Jim Cordle should not start vs. PennSt. I know saturday was his first day back, but they had guys who Brian Kelly wouldn’t recruit blowing past him. There is nowhere to put the fat-ass, a freshmen took his position last year, and he is NOT a tackle.
Also, if Boren plays, it’s time for him to step up. He was supposed to put a mean streak back into our team, but so far has dissappointed.
I think our defensive line will be hitting Clark all day, once again. You can’t hit the fumble lottery two years straight. And this time they won’t be able to rely on the best QB on their team to actually put together a drive and win the game.
OSU 16- PSU 10
man, thats a classic.
I have started to read the series on EsecPN:
“SEC better than NFL teams”
and there is a Drama section
EsecPN: “when tebow leaves”
So, USC was bad competition for the line to face? In retrospect the line was pretty good before the flu and wave of injuries. That’s why at the beginning of the year it was good against USC, but now it’s not good against New Mexico State. That was my point. The line play was commented on and complimented a lot at the beginning of the year. I mean when you have to put in guys like Moses who aren’t ready and aren’t as talented, you’re going to have some problems, but what else can they do at this point. There are only so many injuries and illnesses a team can withstand. Put in a freshman sure, but is he going to be better than Cordle?
I’m too lazy to go back and look so feel free to prove me wrong but I can’t imagine I did a lot of gushing over the line play. Regardless, even though injuries/illness played a major role, the line has regressed in the opinion of virtually everyone that watches this team week to week. Do you not agree? As for Cordle, I’d gladly play a freshman instead but only because I have already (maybe unfairly) moved on to trying to prep for next year since the ultimate goal from my standpoint is to try and win it all.
Guys way more qualified to evaluate line play (herbie, lachey, spielman) think the same thing as most of us. The line continues to be the achilles heel of the program and not just this year. Their opinions are good enough for me. I just happen to agree with them.
The best compliment they recieved was “solid” or “decent”. But they have yet to control a game. Oh yeah, those compliments came after Navy, Toledo, and a USC team who just gave up 600 yards Saturday night.
HOW DARE YOU BE TOO LAZY?!!??!
OSU 20
Penn 16
Defense bends a little but doesn’t break.
Barclay comes up big.
TP has 1 turnover. Hopefully it will not be a pick 6.
Maybe Pryor pulls a Boeckman and looks like a Heisman winner.
34-9 OSU
I think the key factor in the PSU game will be how the coaches adjust during the game. PSU has excellant assistant (or duel head) coaches on both sides of the ball. They’re the best in the Big Ten for in-game adjustments IMHO.
We haven’t made any decent offinsive ajustments since Walt Harris left. On the D side it seems to take Heacock a full half.
That’s the main edge I give PSU.
Last time OSU made a halftime adjustment Bill Clinton was still finger-popping Monica Lewinsky.
Good analysis. It’s really easy to get overconfident with a 45-0 victory that could have easily been 57-0 if not for the missed fg’s. It was fun to watch at times, but I needed aspirin, too.
The team did have its struggles, and outside of a few breakout runs, the rushing game even against a terrible NMSU team has been spotty. Hall has shown a lot of character and certainly has more explosiveness when he hits the holes than anyone else on the roster. To me, he’s a good step above the other guys.
Posey keeps dropping the easiest of passes, yet makes tight coverage/over the shoulder grabs, while twisting in the air doing the splits. Chalk it up to youth, I guess.
Pryor has these ticks that makes me want to slam my hand in a drawer. That pump/pat thing he does as he stares down his man is one of the worst tendencies you can have. You don’t even see MAC QBs doing that. He also needs a bit more explosiveness when contain breaks…it seems he’s just a little slow off the first step, and that kills him against tougher pass rushers who seem to get a hand on him in a drag-down.
Defense = rock face.