Five Things: Penn State
The Final Punch: Saine’s dive for six capped OSU’s 24-7 fisting of Penn State. (AP: C. Kaster)As someone who expected a three point loss, I must first tip my hat to an OSU squad that showed some grit and avoided costly mistakes for the first time in forever during what was billed as a big game. I didn’t think the o-line could hold up creating a Pryor mistake or two that would surely lead to a tough road defeat but that wasn’t the case as the Buckeyes stepped up big time in Happy Valley. Good stuff.
Rushing Attack Wears Down PSU Front Seven
A banged up though rightfully maligned offensive line that had been, shall we say, inconsistent leading up to Saturday’s contest handled an over hyped PSU front seven. This allowed Tressel to engineer an efficiently conservative game plan in which OSU ran the ball on 49 of 66 plays including 25 times on 27 first down snaps. Think about that for a second – everyone in the stadium knew the run was coming, especially on 1st down, but PSU couldn’t do enough to stop it. On one hand, I’m ecstatic because there’s nothing sweeter than bullying a team in the own backyard, especially one with a fanbase that eclipses ours from a kool aid sipping perspective. On the other, I have to wonder (1) where has this been all year or (2) is this the product of the Lions truly being paper tigers? I mean, it’s great to hear Cordle act like Herbie and Co. fired them up but in a way that’s like saying the o-line had it in them all season but needed to get criticized just enough before they would decide to play with the necessary fire to open holes, protect the QB and silence some critics. I’ll choose to assume Cordle was letting off some steam after a big win. He and his mates deserve that much.
Out of the 49 runs, nine went for negative yardage but none for more than -4 as Boom and Zoom teamed up to carry the ball 36 times for 126 yards. The 3.5 combined yards per carry isn’t overwhelming but it was effective and balanced as Boom shouldered the first half load going 13/51 while Saine picked up the slack in the second with a 16/61 effort including the game’s final TD putting the game out of reach at 24-7 with under 10 minutes to play. The 36 carries between these two was huge as Pryor nursed various leg issues limiting him to a season low 5 carries. Hall chipped in with three carries and figures to play a larger role next week as Boom once again tweaked his ankle early in the 2nd half.
The final tally saw OSU rack up 228 yards on the ground, averaging 4.7 per, becoming the first team to go for 200+ against the Lions this season. Let’s hope Cordle and company will remain ‘fired up’ over the final two regular season tilts. If so, a conference title and a trip to Pasadena awaits.
Pryor Does It All By Not Trying To Do Too Much
One of the first steps to being great is playing within yourself. Saturday night was the first time, in a big game at least, in which we’ve seen Pryor let the game come to him instead of forcing things that weren’t there with drastic consequences.
The fact the line created holes for Boom and Zoom while giving up exactly zero sacks was obviously a huge benefit to Pryor’s decision making prowess as he looked more poised than we’ve seen him during any big game in his young career. There’s still plenty of work to do as evidenced by his sub 50% completion percentage (8/17) but he showed legit signs of maturity not yet seen in big games.
Avoiding the turnover bug was his biggest gain though I was also impressed with his 62 TD bomb to Posey for a few reasons. One, he briefly looked off the safety who was screwed either way since Dane had also gotten behind his man. Two, knowing Posey had 5 steps on his defender coupled with the knowledge the safety wasn’t going to be able to help in time, Pryor was careful not to overthrow Posey and waste an opportunity for at least a big gainer. This was crucial to me because I think part of the reason Pryor floated this one a tad was because he learned from his overthrow on a bomb to Dane late in the first half. On that throw, Dane had the same 5 steps separation but Pryor was probably a little too excited and missed an easy score. On the pass to Posey he controlled his emotion, went through his mechanics and delivered a strike.
Though he was clearly banged limiting him to 5 carries, Pryor came up extra large on 3 of them in particular. His first tote of the day was a nifty 7 yard scramble for OSU’s first TD, the second a 24 yard run on 3rd and 5 keeping a FG drive alive giving OSU a 10-7 lead and his 4th carry was a killer 12 yard run on 3rd and 11 setting up a six yard Pryor to Saine TD that put the game on ice. Big runs. Big nuts.
Defense Does It Again
Though the play of Pryor and the offensive line were major surprises stories, the main reason the Buckeyes were able to strip Penn State of their collective manhood falls at the feet of the Silver Bullets. If not for their domination, Tressel is forced to call a riskier game offensively thus increasing the chances for shenanigans to occur. Armed with the knowledge his defensive line was overpowering the Lion front, Tressel was able to pick his spots knowing full well 14 points would be more than enough to leave HV with an inside track to the conference crown.
Looking to set the tone early, Heyward recorded a sack on the defense’s first play and Chekwa ran stride for stride on a deep 2nd down incompletion before Thaddeus Maximus blew up a screen on 3rd down forcing a Lion punt which Small promptly returned to the PSU 9 yard line allowing the Buckeyes to take a quick 7-0 lead. It was all downhill from there as the Bullets picked up two more 3 and outs before PSU’s lone ref-aided TD drive gave way to another punt followed by a 3 and out to cap the first half. One stat of note: PSU ran 11 offensive plays before picking up their first 1st down of the game.
The 2nd half was even more painful for We Are Not Great as their 7 possessions yielded three 3 and outs, 5 punts, an INT and a turnover on downs. In fact, excluding the last drive in which the Buckeyes were watching the clock run out, PSU’s 6 possessions produced 52 yards on 21 plays, good for 2.47 yards per play. Do work.
Once again, the domination was the product of the defensive line. Heyward had his best game as a Buckeye with 11 tackles (3 TFL) and 2 sacks while fellow all-conference pimp T-Maximus had 6 stops along with countless pressures. Lawrence Wilson also stepped up with 5 tackles as he appeared to see more snaps than usual in place of Nathan Williams. Besides holding Penn State to a paltry 2.5 yards per rush, the line also harassed Daryll Clark into a 12/28, 1 INT performance limiting him to a season low 125 yards through the air.
Behind the line, Rolle and Homan added 10 stops apiece while Spitler showed his pursuit angle struggles on a 31 yard screen pass to Zug. The secondary was led by Chekwa’s continued tight coverage. Sometimes his ball skills are questionable but when in man coverage he’s usually step for step with his guy. Back liners Coleman (3), Hines (2) and Russell (2) combined for just 7 stops but that’s what happens when the line and linebackers are keeping ball carriers from breaking the second line.
Small Is Large
Ray Small again showed why Tressel has stuck with him after years of nonsense off the field. His 41 yard return of Penn State’s punt following their first possession set the OSU offense up at the 9 yard line but it did even more than that. Knowing how fragile the psyche of this offense can be, it was huge for them to take their second possession deep in the red zone and stick it in the end zone. The return enabled Pryor and the offense to quickly remove the taste of a first possession 3 and out from their mouths quieting the drunk white out.
Small also came up big at the end of the 3rd quarter returning a punt 45 yards to the PSU 47 after the Buckeye D stifled the Lions with a 3 and out following the 62 yard strike to Posey. Leading 17-7, Small again gave the Buckeyes great field position and Pryor capitalized capping a 10 play, 47 yard drive spanning 5:23 with a yard TD pass to Saine putting OSU in front 24-7 with just under 10 minutes to play. Game. Set. Match.
For the game, Small returned 7 punts for 130 yards, good for an 18.6 average.
What’s It All Mean?
I was hoping this game would answer lots of questions no matter the outcome but isn’t there’s still plenty to ponder? I’m perplexed when it comes to just how good this team is or isn’t mainly because I’m having a hard time not thinking Penn State was anything other than a fraud as evidenced by two losses at the hands of the only legit teams they’ve played.
It was nice to see the offense play fairly mistake free against what was supposed to be a tough defense but was it really? And what about Pryor – he avoided the killer turnover but what’s it say when the game plan is to do everything in your power to avoid putting him in position to make a mistake with his mind or arm? I’m not arguing with Tressel’s approach because he did what he needed to do to win, I’m just trying to patiently wait as Pryor matures. You can’t contest he took some positive steps Saturday night now the challenge is to take more positive steps this week and avoid the regression we’ve seen in the past. With a lock down defense, maybe he’s figured out he doesn’t have to do it all on his own and every play can’t be a touchdown so playing within himself is the winning formula. Let’s see if he takes the next step versus an Iowa defense that currently ranks 4th nationally in pass efficiency, 13th in scoring and 14th in total defense.
If Pryor and his o-line can get it done the next two weeks the Buckeyes will lock up an outright conference title in addition to their first Rose Bowl trip under Tressel. Funny how things come full circle. This team has walked the tight rope all year long but they’re just two games away from doing what most of us thought they’d do in a season that most logically viewed as a steppingstone for a title run in 2010. Looking back, it’s hard to believe they are right on course but maybe that’s because they took such a bumpy road to get here.
Can you believe Mark May gave Heyward a helmet sticker on College Football Final? But on the same show said Iowa still can beat OSU because they find ways to win! Punk!
yeah…. i was like what! (mark mary) had something nice to say about
tOSU. Only to say he likes the fact that Iowa (struggles in every game)
CONFUSED!!!
Heyward’s dad played for Pitt. Just sayin’.
One right does not erased multiple wrongs!
Mark May can still choke on a elephant turd!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H9jZG0ZuEE
10 minute recap of the game.
Paper champs or not, this was a legit top 20 program that we dominated on the lines in their own house. I’ve been saying since Purdue that the o-line play was magnifying Pryor’s learning struggles. Now we see what our young signal caller can do with proper protection. He may not be Peyton Manning, but he can still be a very effective leader of the offense. This is only the beginning.
Cam Heyward may have vaulted himself into top 10 draft status after Saturday. Big game, big stage and he played like a man among boys.
It all comes down to recruiting. In a few ways OSU/PSU are very similar, in that we had alot of new faces in key places. But now you see the differnce in average recruit ratings. We replace starters with guys like Duron Carter, they replace starters with something called Graham Zug.
This was a game that was hard to watch at first… The DAVE PLAY was in full force. Ahhh…. Drives me freakin nuts! But, hey we didn’t turn the ball over.
Pryor, played very very well. ie: dropped passes by his WR, and no turnovers!
If sans does not hesitate we see two deep bombs go for touchdowns!
P.s. We won 24-0. Clark was clearly not in.
DID ANYONE FREAKOUT WHEN IT WENT TO BREAK WITHOUT LETTING US KNOW THAT THEY DIDN”T CHALLENGE THE PLAY. only to return to a second pat attempt. (LAME)
You better believe I freaked out. I constructed a whole rant in my head (was watching alone).
I freaked out too. And did anyone else see a defensive player (Sabino?) attempting to call timeout before the snap?
You can see it here at 3:15 mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H9jZG0ZuEE
No mention of that either from the crew calling the game.
“Isn’t there still plenty to ponder?”
No. There isn’t.
Look: if the O-line and Terrelle can play this Saturday even CLOSE to the way they did in HV, then there really is no way Iowa can come out on top. I don’t really believe in the transitive property of CFB all that much, but I did watch virtually all of the PSU-Iowa game, and the beating the Nits received from us seemed to be of a different kind than the one they received from the Hawkeyes – for one thing, for all of Clark’s ineffectiveness this past Saturday, he didn’t seem to be making any extra-special efforts to HAND us the game like he did vs. Iowa. For another, it ought to be clear that it is vanishingly possible that this Saturday’s game will go down like the Hawkeyes’ vs. PSU: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=292690213
Does anybody believe that we’re going to allow a Stanzi-less Iowa offense with no legit running game (or an offense led by a gimpy-at-best-and prone-to INTs-when-healthy Stanzi) to succeed? Not bloody likely. I like to think of myself as a non-homerish, rational observer of OSU football despite my fandom, and it’s hard for me to see how Iowa scores any points AT ALL Saturday without being helped by turnovers/lucky bounces/special teams mistakes/officials’ errors (that deprived us of another shutout last Saturday)/etc.
Look again at that Iowa-Penn State box score – or any of Iowa’s box scores. There is nothing there, vs. any of their opponents, that says – stats rankings notwithstanding (we saw how much that matters just two nights ago, right?) – that we shouldn’t TCB in exactly the same way as we did vs. the Lions, only more so.
“But wait!”, you say – “What about Purdue?! What about what we’ve (some of us, anyway) seen as incontrovertible evidence of Pryor’s inevitable and unfixable tendency to ‘regress’?” “What if Penn State’s defense wasn’t really good at all?”
Well, Penn State’s defense wasn’t good against US in general or TP in particular, but they were pretty good vs. an Iowa offense that was in far better shape than the Iowa offense we’re likely to see Saturday. On the Pryor question, well, it’s just possible that his basically flawless performance in HV was evidence that his light is coming on – and let’s not forget that his underwhelming stat line vs. PSU was affected by a couple of bad efforts by both Posey and Carter, not to mention the fact that he was dinged up a bit. There is no reason to ANTICIPATE that he won’t perform well this weekend.
As far as Purdue is concerned, well, I’ve got a theory there: That’s the kind of loss that can be expected from time to time when dealing with a “young” team, and I think this is arguably Tressel’s “youngest” team yet (though the ‘04 team might be in the running).
So (getting back to the point) there’s not that much to ponder – is this iteration of the Buckeyes any good? Yes. Should we be worried about Iowa? No. How good are we? Good enough to win the Big Ten OUTRIGHT and make the Rose – and that’s enough, given that most thought that next year was THE year anyway.
I tend to agree with you on this. I think Iowa has just taken to many hits to their team this year. They are a very good team to be sure, but I they have just lot so much. The Purdue game was a very tough loss, but sometimes in conference play that stuff happens. I think the success this team has had in conference the last 5 or 6 years, people forget that now and then a team Like Purdue will come up and bite you. It was a really really bad game. Since that game though, if anyone has really been watching and paying attention, the O-Line has gotten much better, and I believe Pryor has taken huge steps the last 3 weeks or so. I do think the Buckeyes take down Iowa this week and Michigan as well, even though it is a rivalry game. I just hope that Michigan only has 5 wins the day they play the bucks and Tressel takes away their last chance for a bowl game.
Did anyone notice whether Dexter Larimore ever made it on the field? I looked for him and never saw his number
I only saw Dex in for a few plays. I haven’t rewatched but it seemed like Simon was still the primary backup for the tackles.
When they put in that freshman guard across from Heyward I said to the room “I feel sorry for that kid b/c Heyward is going to kill him.” He’s a beast, too bad him and Thadeus will both go out this year. D-line is pretty deep but those buys back next year would be huge for trying to win it all.
Duane Long report said that Cam is planning on staying until he sees his draft status. Thad could benefit from another year. He’s being overshadowed by Cam, and Thad does still have his moments of disappearing (although that certainly hasn’t been the case recently).
Anyone notice how Pryor couldnt wait to get out of that worthless interview at the end of the game to go celebrate with his team and with our fans that were there… just awesome! Theres no doubt the kid loves to be a buckeye
I loved that. He really does love being a Buckeye.
Let’s no get too over confident… Stanzi-less or not, the Bucks have to take IOWA deadly serious. A part of the Purdue loss was over confidence and a feeling that Purdue was a glorified scrimmage… If the same team that showed up last Saturday shows up for the next three (Rose Bowl included) we will win all three. Discipline, dedication, and determination are way November is the month for contenders.
Good call…They finally threw some lateral passes ..that got us 2nd & short.
Hey, when Bucks ran that TE screen Ballard… I almosted Paterno’d myself.
Do you honestly think that they’ll be over confident when the number 10 BCS team comes to town? The Purdue game had a whole lot to do with over confidence but it was a 1-5 team and the Bucks had been on a roll. I’m not saying they won’t be confident, but don’t you think the coaches are beating into their heads what Saturday’s game means. I was bummed when I saw Iowa lost, I wanted to see at top 5 team come to town, but Iowa losing actually makes this game more exciting. It’s going to be the Big 10 Championship game. It’s almost going to feel like a bowl game atmosphere. The crowd should be nuts, they team will be pumped, they won’t look past Iowa.
The Bucks are coming off an emotional win, Iowa suffered a loss, potentially lost their starting QB, who knows who will be running the ball for them, and I think they had some other critical injuries, and Michigan is the week after. So yes, I am a little concerned.
With that being said, the pendulum of momentum is swing upward in our favor.
I’m not saying it’s going to be an ass kicking by Ohio State, I’m just saying if they lose this game it’s not because they won’t take Iowa seriously. This game sets up much differently than the loss to Purdue. If they lose this game it won’t be for lack of focus or overconfidence.
The thing is, Purdue is a tougher team than Iowa. Purdue plays teams like Oregon close.
Maturity is Pryor’s issue as I have said all year… it appears he may be taking steps to correct that. He lookd poised and made good decisions all evening… not one ball up for grabs and let his players play their games…. he may be on his way ……. OSU should be able to handle Iowa pretty handily… they have been down to EVERY team they have played this year and no one could nail the coffin shut…. OSU defense will do that–especially since their Starting QB is out…. OSU 24… Iowa 10
Iowa is going to come out sluggish (dealing with injuries & last week’s loss). I expect Iowa coaching staff to come out with a few trick plays early to get momentum in their favor. If the Bucks weather that storm and go up a touchdown or two early, it may be enough to take the life out of them. However, you can say one thing about Iowa, they are resilient…meaning this will be a 60-minute game. I agree with your comments on Pryor, if he can stay within himself he will develop in to an excellent quarterback.
Iowa has what 9 turnovers in the last 2 games? You may survive or barely lose with those numbers when you play Northwestern and Indiana, but throw 4 or 5 picks to OSU and it’s over. Iowa’s only prayer is to keep running the ball, hope they get 4 or 5 yards a carry and try to grind it out. Stanzi was a rough passer as it was, but the backup is even worse. That being said, Iowa is a tough team, and I don’t know it will be a blow out, but I think the Bucks pull it out. Iowa has a lot of grit, this team has been through a ton of battles this year.
That is why if we can get on top of them fast with what I am assuming is a poor Iowa mental state, is critical with the first 5-10 minutes of the game. If they are down keep them down right way. I like our chances to win and of course I think they will. My take is that the Bucks do not want to unnecessarily coach this one into an unnecessary battle. If so, Iowa has been very lucky this year and I do not want them being able to roll the dice in the final minutes of this game.
One complaint, and to me it’s a big one: Early in the game, the Bucks have 4th-and-7 at PSU’s 29. Options are 46-yard FG or go for it. DON’T PUNT. OSU punted and gained nine freaking yards of field position. Stupid moves like that drive me absolutely crazy.
I agree. That call seemed curious at best. But as with all big wins, those things are quickly forgotten.
YEP…I was screaming to Go For It and if you dont make it … PSU gets it around the 25…just like a punt. Or throw into the end zone– if they intercept it is no more than a touchback.
While I agree that they should have gone for it, I don’t think punting for a touchback is the same as throwing an INT into the endzone for a touchback. That kind of thing swings the momentum, especially in that stadium. It would give a boost of confidence to the PSU D and possibly rattle Pryor as well.
Moot point if the point is 3 feet shorter. The ball barely got in the endzone. Thoma again did a spectacular job putting PSU inside their own 20 or 15 yard lines.
*punt
Great article….accurate & succinct.
BTW , we’ve only given up 14 points (7 questionable) in our last three games.
Thank you, sir.
Interesting….how most polls have us ahead of Iowa …& have us a 13 point favorite.
Pryor would have gone 10/17 (58%) if Duron Carter and Devier Posey had caught two balls that hit them in the hands.
Certainly can’t argue that fact. Those two have dropped their fair share and with only 17 passes attempted, you are correct. Those two drops make a big difference to the overall completion percentage. Duly noted!
Not to mention the one where Posey didn’t get his feet down in time and was ruled out of bounds. Maybe it would have taken a great effort but he’s a tall guy and I think he could have done it.
And two screen flares went into the books as runs instead of passes b/c the ball was thrown behind to the receiver (Posey each time).
we’re all doomed here. most of thought we wouldn’t win at all or that’d be close. we dominate Penn State thoroughly and now we wonder “well, just how good were they really?” sigh. such is the life of a college football fan.
I can’t believe how much one game re-started what had been a down year. instead of going to Orlando to play an SEC team (and hear all about our SEC struggles) we’re looking at a trip to go duck hunting in Pasadena. marvelous!
we’ll be ready for Iowa and we’ll put the beat down on RichRod that he and his bunch deserve. get ready Oregon — you’re next!
Great article as always Chris. I think you bring up a great point, what do we know about this win? I said this before the game that we have no idea how good Penn St really is, but they are still a top 20 team and we bent them over on their home turf. Plus with their fan base being as douchy as they are, it feels fantastic and we should carry this momentum into Senior Day at the ‘Shoe and smell some roses.
I saw improvement in Pryor’s passing, despite the weak completion percentage. He made good decisions, only a few overthrown (though both were to wide open receivers), but the good thing was that they had no chance of being intercepted. Also, Posey has had a mild case of the dropsies lately.
Lately or all year? The guy is great but he gets at least 1 or 2 drops a game. It was frustrating to watch. Really Pryor could have easily had 3 more completions if it weren’t for drops on ball that hit guys right in the hands.
I agree.
These receivers are talented but young, so hopefully these things get better next year.
Yeah they are going to be great. I’m really excited for the future.
This team reminds me alot of the team that went to the Alamo bowl. They may not always look great but they have so much talent. Remember how they came out in the bowl game? I can totally see that happening this year. The biggest difference is this year’s defense though. They are great, that team didn’t have a unit near the strength of this one.
From Black Shoe Diaries, today, regarding the OSU-PSU game: “I’m not going to break down the offense and defense this week as I usually do. I’ve said everything I want to say right here. And besides, it’s my blog and I’ll cry if I want to.”
Beating Penn State so badly that Black Shoe Diaries can’t bring themselves to examine the game per its normal custom: great part of the victory, or greatest part?
Greatest Part
All those guys are D-bags
what d-bags? they are a fine example of journalism just as mark may is a fine example of objective sports commentating.
Fair enough
“HATE WEEK” makes me laugh even more now than it did last week!
I think it’s more like “ENVY WEEK”
Penn State is a very good team. They may have lost to the only 2 teams they’ve played, but the 2 teams that beat them are pretty damn good. Ohio State and Iowa have two of the best defenses in the country. Penn State has a good denfense, Clark is not a bad QB and Royster is a really good RB. I think the losses to Ohio State and Iowa say that Penn State is the 3rd best team in the conference and that’s not bad.
If the O-Line can continue to play – like it played against PSU then I will happily discontinue using this moniker.
But I need to see a season’s worth of good O-Line play – so I guess that means I will keep it until the end of next season, but Saturday was a good start.
Nice Job to the O-Line and the coaches.
Iowa can’t win because they rely on protecting the QB long enough to allow intermediate crossing routes to develop. I have watched their last two games start to finish and nearly every point was scored on a big play or set up by a big play. There is no way they will be able to protect long enough against our d-line. Tressell-ball is designed to win these types of games.
OSU 34- Iowa 7, you heard it here first.
I agree and with their QB’s, either one, throwing so many picks in general combined with the frequency with which the buckeye defense returns those picks, Ohio State could put up 14 points on defense alone. There are only so many times a QB can fumble or the picks that it doesn’t totally bite you in the ass. See the Purdue game and TP for a perfect example. I know Iowa is a very good team but with all the injuries and their tendency to play 3 quarters of iffy football every game, I just can’t see them holding their own this game.
Forgot to mention that I am LOVING the passes to Boren (FB)… very nice!!
totally. are these planned passes or check-downs? if they are check-downs i’m double-loving it b/c it looks like a sign that our young qb is growing up in his decision making.
No real surprise here, but the University just confirmed the kickoff for the Michigan game will be noon (on ABC).
This is a great quote re: Iowa’s new QB:
Vandenberg’s fellow Hawkeyes have started to appreciate his toughness as well.
“James is a good guy,” linebacker Pat Angerer said. “He’s a competitor. I beat him up in practice many times, and he always comes back for more.”
James, meet Cameron.
“Looking back, it’s hard to believe they are right on course but maybe that’s because they took such a bumpy road to get here.”
wait, you mean they are….who we THOUGHT! they were? apologies coach green.
i’m on board with this posey-drop thing, not sure what that’s all about. it seems like he as 2-3 every game. they’re not straight up easy-to-catch drops (usually), but balls that are thrown in-coverage to a spot that he really should be able to catch. its the difference between being a great receiver with sticky hands that comes down with the difficult (but catch-able) balls, and being a basic receiver that catches all the easy ones and every now and again pulls something out of his rear. i’d rather see posey become a david boston than a buster tillman. just sayin.
Daryll Clark, you have been weighed, measured and found wanting.
Re: Larry Johnson being released, his agent says:
“A part of him is excited and a part of him is very regretful,” Johnson’s agent, Peter Schaffer, told The Associated Press. “There’s a lot of feelings going on right now. It’s analogous to breaking up with a girlfriend. Maybe you saw it coming, but it still hurts when it happens.”
When he says “saw it coming,” is he referring to LJ’s right cross that inevitably accompanies any female interaction with him?
I live in Kansas City, and everyone here is glad this bum is gone. Saw it coming? How about “caused it myself”. When you as an NFL player call out your coach on Twitter and then call a fan a “fag” and a “Christopher street boy” you no longer want to be part of the team you are on. Oh yeah, thanks for your 2.7 yards per carry effort this year.
For all the talk of them being LB U, Navarro Bowman was singlehandedly responsible for the first touchdown, as he did an AWFUL job of ’spying’ pryor. Not to mention he missed an easy tackle. Sean “my name wasn’t called all day” Lee didnt even suit up as far as I can tell. Goes to show that they really only had those numbers from the cupcake buffet…..
Rolle, Homan > Bowman, Lee
does anyone have a pic of Bowman as he fell to his knees on the Pryor rushing TD?
Navorro on his knees is the new sad panda d. clark
I think Bowman had to go back and pick up his jock after the play.
Quarles’ (TE #10) attempted block on Heyward was pathetic.
how bout that “GOD’S GIFT” tattoo? What a joke.
I did not see any of the game, so thanks to MLBindian for that extended highlight.
i loved that pryor interview at the end. he was into the interview for 2 questions and then got tired of it and completely checked out. he seems more calm than even last month. i don’t know if anything has clicked yet playing wise, but clearly he has become comfortable with the circus.
I’m always interested in checking out strength of schedule as it pertains to other teams playing cupcakes and what not. Do you all realize that this week on the CBS sports site, they have the rankings of the teams and their SOS, and Penn State’s schedule is 32nd while Ohio State’s is 33rd. Is the Ohio State Defense suspect too? I love the buckeyes as much as anyone else, but let’s not act like our schedule is so much different than theirs. To be sure playing Iowa will make the Ohio State schedule improve, but to this point, both teams have played a similar schedule.
the differentiatior to this point would be that when faced with tougher opponents we don’t play badly like PSU does.(yeah, i know we lost to USC, i was there, but it was a close game)
i thin our defense and team is juuuuust fine.
now go beat iowa!
Correction:
Our Defense is spectacular. Quite possibly the best in the country hands down. Homerism? Maybe…..But its worth an arguement for sure
I know our defense is great, and one of the best out there, I’m just saying, 2 of the touchdowns came of a 9 drive and a 45 or 47 yard drive. It’s not like Ohio State hung up 50 points and 700 yards. That was a good team we beat, but I hardly think it’s fair to say they played a bunch of cupcakes and our schedule was much tougher. Some strength of schedule ratings say we’re pretty close is all I’m saying.
sagarin has our SOS at 46 and PSU at 72
Check out the hippie’s rationalization of Dick-Rod’s turribleness.
http://mgoblog.com/content/when-can-we-fire-guy
The analysis isn’t awful, but he fails to state the one presumption that matters: that Dick Rod should have been hired in the first place. Everything else flows from Bill Martin’s poor decision to bring Dick Rod to Michigan, and partially from Herbie scooping the story on Les Miles to Michigan, which proved problematic only because Dick Rod had choked against Wannastache and gift-wrapped a national title trip to LSU. But I digress.
The creepiest part about that MGo post is the MGo commenter’s near canonization of the hippie as the final word on all things Michigan football related. They don’t drink the Michigan kool-aid; they drink the hippie acolyte kool-aid. They do not question hippie as the Moses on high, delivering the commandments that Thou Shall Not Second-Guess Dick Rod.
He has it from a good source that Mallet was leaving no matter what. That is the first I’ve ever heard that. That’s what F’d Michigan, and that’s why I’m so glad they canned Lloyd Carr, or he “resigned”. They made a really stupid move doing that, and if they think 5-7 is an obvious improvement over 3-9, then they can enjoy another great year with Dick Rod. Seriously, it’s sad for a program like Michigan to have it’s fan’s defending a guy that could potentially win 8 games in 2 years. Hell 8-4 is a bad year for Michigan. I love it.
Well if you like….I love it
well, at least they aren’t questioning the whig party platform yet.
Hey, this is totally off subject but I have 2 tickets to the game this Saturday, The guy I bought them from told me he would upgrade them for me as they were his student seats I guess. Can you tell me if there is a way for me to look at the tickets and tell if they are upgraded? They say ticket cost 63 and a service charge of 15 bucks. Am I safe? I would hate to get there and not be able to get in because I don’t have a BuckID
Love it