Eleven Warriors

One of the things that The Meshed One touched on Saturday night was the need for Ohio State to further diversify their offense -- break out of some tendencies. A lot of us have been beating that same drumbeat for a while and probably hardest in the direction of You-Need-To-Call-Some-First-Down-Passes. Well, how'd we do against Penn State in that category? Chris rounded up the first down calls and at first glance, the play-calling was pretty agreeable, really:

On first down, Ohio State called 11 runs and 12 passes.

Nothing wrong with that. But three of those passes were spikes to stop the clock. We're sitting at 11/9 all of a sudden, which still seems reasonable especially given the Purdue masterpiece that was fresh in our memories.

But what if we remove the 1st downs from the three drives in which passing was required (and expected)? That would be the last drive of the first half, started at the OSU 39 with 1:33 to play, and the last two drives of the game. The first of those came immediately after the Devlin touchdown and the Buckeyes with the ball at their own seven and needing a touchdown with a little over six minutes to play. The second of those drives, of course, was against a prevent defense.

So that leaves the meat of the game -- six drives independent of clock or score. In those drives, there were we still have the 11 runs called on first down, but the number of passes has shrunk to four. The Buckeyes passed on first down just 26% of the time. And this was with the running game stuffed from the start.

When diversity was shown, it worked. Pryor was sacked on one of those called passes, but finished 2/3 for 23 yards on the other first downs in that group. But the playcalling is the equivalent of sending the players out on to the field with their shoes untied. I'll say it again: the guy calling the plays should be thinking of the quickest way to get into the end zone and not about a punt you're trying to setup in the next series.

Anyway, the pickings were pretty slim this week, so instead, just some running commentary on a couple of shots

Remember the stat you heard flying around after the drubbing in Los Angeles? The one about how it was the first time the Buckeyes had failed to score a touchdown since the Michigan game 12 years earlier? 141 consecutive games that saw Ohio State cross the goal line in some capacity was snapped at the hands of Cushing, Ellison, Mays and company.

It was a stat that was used to convey just how much of a beating the Trojans put on the Buckeyes and it was effective. But not so much after Saturday night when Penn State became the 2nd team this season to prevent Ohio State from scoring a touchdown in a game. In the two biggest games of the season, the Buckeye offense has managed to score a combined nine points. Toss in Purdue, and the offense has failed to score a touchdown in one out of every three games this season.

But why?

You have a Heisman-contender type back, a quarterback that was first-team all-conference last season, a veteran wide receiver corps that has produced in the past, veteran tight-ends and a line that was returning four out of five starters. Oh, and you're adding the nation's top recruit to a 10-2 team. How is this possible?

The first omen and what may have set the offensive mood for the season was Beanie's toe injury in the opener against Youngstown State. The offense performed well that weekend, but the injury hit the team like a ton of bricks. In their next outing -- their first against FBS competition -- they laid a relative egg in that close win over Ohio. Then came USC, followed by sputterings against Troy, Wisconsin and Purdue.

The line, without question has been the weakest link on the offense all season long. I'm still not sure how that unit actually regressed, but through nine, they've been yelled at by Tressel, Beanie and Nicol, seen a freshman forced into their ranks and have seen themselves getting worked over by the majority of opposing lines they've gone against. That is on Bollman.

Another complaint has been about the playcalling and while I maintain that a playbook doesn't matter if your line cannot provide the protection to use half of it (or the players simply cannot execute), this is a legitimate beef.

Where was the pistol against Penn State? Why do you run a play-action bomb to Robo with 90 seconds remaining in the first half and the ball at your own 39 when it's obvious that you are in a passing down? Why move away from bunch receiver formations that were giving the Lions a little trouble? Why are you so hesitant to throw on first downs and break the mold of your tendencies? Does it not bother you when Pete Carroll states that he wasn't surprised by anything the offense did on the field?

There clearly is a problem within the Tressel/Bollman playcalling braintrust.

And we won't even touch talent evaluation issues or how a guy like Thaddeus Gibson could have started the season as backup. New house rule please: If a guy is taken first in the spring game draft, he's a guaranteed starter for the opener.

The Buckeye staff is clearly in a funk and may be slipping a little. It's natural -- it happens in other programs and within government administrations, management teams at corporations and elsewhere. Tressel Ball may need some tweaks to stay with this most innovative game. New blood may be needed.

We humbly request a new offensive coordinator and the separation of playcalling duties from the Vest. We love him. He is an asset to the University, a role model for many and makes sweater vests look awesome. But the time has come to turn the playcalling over to a new offensive coordinator. One that is only thinking about how to put his offense into position to score as many points as possible and not worried about that killer punt you're trying to setup on the next series.

And if this doesn't happen before the 2009 season, there's a very good chance that Pryor's talent covers up these deficiencies and we'll rediscover the stink once he leaves after two years. Fierce urgency of now, please.

Excited to get my first look at this year's hoops squad, I ventured down to the Schott on Saturday to catch the one and only practice/scrimmage session open to the public. Fans were allowed into the lower bowl and I'd guess about 1,000-,1500 showed up.

The practice consisted of a 30 minute drill session in which bigs and perimeter guys worked mostly at opposite ends of the floor followed by a scrimmage comprised of four 10-minutes quarters.

I did my best to take notes on anything/everything I saw and the result is a hodge podge of observations. To keep this simple, I'm just gonna run down my notes in a semi-organized fashion. Please remember it was only 90 minutes so don't put too much stock in this stuff...just thought you might be interested in what I observed.

I think it's pretty clear that Jeremie Simmons and Anthony Crater are the top two PG's with PJ Hill not likely to see any meaningful minutes. Simmons and Crater really went at each other while Hill mostly served as an extra body. He actually fell down more times (2) than he shot (0) and my unofficial count had him at zero assists. Peters even drained a three in his eye for good measure. Based on what I saw from all three and from Hill last year, I'd be shocked if Hill averages more than 3 minutes per game this season. Oh, and Turner never brought the ball up, in case you were wondering.

Crater and Simmons run the point with contrasting styles. Simmons was much more likely to look for his shot from both the outside and after penetration without shooting too much, while Crater is clearly a distributor who might even need to get a little more selfish over time. Don't get me wrong, I like the thought of having a pass first guy running the point when looking at the rest of this roster, but he'll be an even more effective distributor if defenses have to respect his intent to do more than pass off penetration.

Off the small sample size, Simmons had the edge, in my opinion, largely because the opposing D got punished when they didn't respect his ability to score.

Crater Notes: He lit up the drills hitting nearly every jumper he attempted, especially in the corner. He had good lift on his shot and always went straight up. As I said, I think he'll be even more effective when he forces defenses to respect both his ability to score and pass. He looked more focused than anyone else during the drill session. His scrimmage highlight was a steal in the half-court then he surprised everyone throwing down a one handed jam. The crowd was never more pumped as Crater ran back down court with one flap down, a la Jeffrey Leonard after a home run.

Simmons Notes: You can tell dude was a scorer in juco. He was pretty effective breaking down the D and was not afraid to shoot jumpers, drive against the bigs or dish out to open wings. He showed a nice basketball IQ running the offense during this small sample. He took it straight at Dallas (fouled) once and against a few other bigs off a loose ball resulting in a three point play. He also knocked down a three from the corner. His shot is flat in comparison to Crater's and it looks almost like a push. Again, small sample size, but I bet Simmons is the starter going into the exhibition games. He just seems a little more diverse after the juco experience.

Walter Offut didn't wow me in the drills as it seemed his release was a little slow. That said, he was a beast in the opening quarter of the scrimmage recording a 3 point play off a sweet driving runner in heavy traffic before scoring on another drive then hitting a conventional three from the wing giving his Gray squad a 12-2 lead over a Scarlet unit featuring the returning starters / key players (Turner, Lighty, Dallas, Diebler) plus Simmons. He didn't show any apprehension or favor his surgically repaired knees though he's not the quickest of the freshman crop, either. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by his play.

Staying on the wing, William Buford also generated contrasting thoughts in drills versus the scrimmage. He looked slow in the drills, especially the shell offense. He appeared lost conceptually as the rest of his mates whipped the ball around and set phantom screens. Once the scrimmage began, however, I was impressed with his footwork coming off screens and he showed a quick release looking comfortable shooting off the dribble and in the corner.

The last freshman and biggest recruit of them all, BJ Mullens, didn't impress me nearly as much as I hoped he would. Shot wise, he looked comfortable spinning to his left from the right block for jump hooks but he looked horribly uncomfortable spinning to his right from the left block. He struggled to hold post position against Dallas but not against the other bigs. He was also terribly slow executing the hedge and recover against guards up top. He also seemed the most winded of all players for virtually the entire scrimmage. He did have a nice block and a few bucket but I'm hoping he was victim of the small sample size as far as this review goes.

Nikola Kecman was hard to get a read on but I fear he could be a man without a position during conference play. He wasn't quite fluid enough on offense or defense to be a three and probably too small and finesse-ish to be a four. He showed poor footwork trying to score with his back to the basket and became increasingly frustrated with contact pushing him out of position. He did show nice touch on his jumper, especially along the base line. Hopefully, he just needs time to adapt and for Thad to define his role because he clearly didn't know what that was yesterday (to be expected).

I'll be brief with Zisis Sarikopoulos since he won't be eligible 'til next season but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. He's not as galoot-ish as I thought he'd be and he showed decent touch around the basket - his hands were much softer than I expected - at least for 90 minutes. He's already better than Madsen and a year going against Dallas and Mullens should do him good.

Since you are already familiar with the rest of the roster, I'll spare you an overload of specifics. I will say Dallas Lauderdale impressed me with his leadership. He was very vocal, directing the wings to come for screens or reverse the ball and calling for the ball when he had position. It's clear he's also been working on some post moves, notably a little lefty jump hook moving to his right from the right block.

Evan Turner was smooth and more careful with the ball (maybe 0 turnovers) while flashing his all around game while David Lighty looks like he bulked up a bit. Lighty stroked a couple threes but blew two fast breaks by passing to the wing way too early allowing two defenders to guard three guys. Interestingly, I didn't get the feel it was his team, as previous reports indicated, but again it was 90 minutes and I do think the experienced guys were willing to defer to the young guys playing in front of OSU fans for the first time. Jon Diebler hit a few threes but still looked too content to stand outside and jack up jumpers.

Anyway, that's what I got from my eyes and scribbles. Hope this was of some value. Don't forget, the exhibition season starts Thursday November 13th against Walsh.

Even with two of our top ten losing this week, there was little movement in the upper half of our rankings considering Oklahoma State lost a close one to #1 Texas while Ohio State dropped a close one to #2 Penn State. We only dropped the Cowboys one spot and the Buckeyes three. Fair?

We know LSU got spanked by Georgia but we weren't sure if it was right to drop them more than four spots to #15 considering how extremely pedestrian teams 16-25 appear to be. That Tiger defense is pretty sieve-like, though. Where would you slot LSU?

We're still not sure about Boise State and Utah being ranked so high based on their schedules so your thoughts on that would be valuable, as well.

Same drill as always. Please post your feedback by Wednesday so we can make any necessary adjustments before sending in our final ballot.

The Trojans scored the least points ever in a win under Pete Carroll but it was still enough to beat Arizona 17-10 in Tucson thanks to a defense that surrendered just 188 total yards and 1/15 third downs. The game was tied at 10 until Ponch found Stanley Havili for a 30 yard TD with 7:56 left in the 3rd Qtr.

1		McCoy proved he's human with two 2nd half turnovers but still completed 38/45 for 391 yards and 2 TD helping keep the Longhorns undefeated with a 28-24 win over Oklahoma State. The 28 points were a season low but the Longhorn defense came up big with a 4th down stop at their 30 late in the 4th quarter to preserve the W. 11W favorite Jordan Shipley hauled in 15 passes for 168 yards and a TD. Next up: a shootout with Texas Tech.	--
2		The Lions marched in to the 'Shoe and capitalized on a freshman mistake to move to 9-0. PSU controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides rushing for 4.3 per carry while holding OSU to 2.0 yards per attempt.	--
3		Bama moved to 8-0 as the defense held hapless Tennesspeed to only 173 total yards of offense in a 29-9 victory. The Tide has only trailed for 1:15 of game time this season.	--
4		55 point 1st half helped Oklahoma to a 58-35 win at Kansas State. DeMarco Murray ran for 167 yards and 4 TD and Sam Bradford added 255 yards and 3 TD threw the air. Sooner D continued its unimpressive run yielding 550 yards though they generated 5 TO.	--
5		--
6		Tebow tied Emmitt Smith's school record for rushing TD (36) scoring twice on the ground and twice through the air in Florida's 63-5 demolition of Kentucky. Next up: @ Georgia	--
7		Knowshon (163, 1 TD) and Stafford (249, 2 TD) helped Georgia put a 52-38 smack down on LSU in Baton Rouge setting up a showdown next Saturday in the Swamp.	--
8		We still have questions but gotta admit QB Graham Harrell was very impressive to watch with 386 yards and 5 TD in a 63-21 beat down of Kansas. Next up: @ Texas	1
9		The Cowboys had their chances but turned the ball over on downs late in the 4th in a 28-24 loss at Texas. They allowed a career high 391 yards passing to McCoy and surrendered 11/14 third downs.	1
10		Boise State led just 20-16 over San Jose State with 9:00 left in the 3rd Qtr but scored the final 13 points in a 33-16 win. RB Ian Johnson scored twice to move within 6 TD of the all-time WAC record of 57 held by some dude named Marshall Faulk. LaDanian Tomlinson is 2nd on that list with 54. The toughest remaining games for Boise are Nevada and at Fresno State to cap the regular season.	2

11		Bye week. Next up: @ New Mexico	2
12		The Tigers bounced back from from back to back losses with a 58-0 shellacking of Colorado. Chase Daniel threw 5 TD and the usually exposed Mizzou defense handed Colorado their first shutout since 1988 (3rd longest active streak - 242 games).	2
13		Well...The last big win for the program continues to be the '06 Michigan tilt after the 13-6 home loss to Joe Pa. In a game like that, it only takes one mistake and Pryor made it.	3
14		TCU WR Jimmy Young exploded for 223 yards and 3 TD as the Horned Frogs humped the Wyoming Cowboys 54-7. TCU defense has yet to give up a 4th Qtr point this season.	1
15		Damn…Les Miles' boys have now given up 103 points in the last 2 games after getting horse kicked 52-28 at home against Georgia. No QB (Lee: 3 INT) and no defense doomed LSU as they dropped to 5-2. Bummer.	4
16		Max Hall threw for 4 TD including the game winner with 1:46 left giving BYU a 42-35 win over UNLV. Cougar defense gave up 464 total yards and 11/15 third downs.	2
17		The Gophers picked up their first win at Purdue since 1990 thanks to a defense that forced 4 turnovers and held the Boilers to 226 total yards. QB Adam Weber had 272 total yards (212/60) and 2 TD in the 17-6 victory. Somewhere, Dauber and Luther rejoice.	3
18		Ball State improved to 8-0 for the first time since 1965 with a 38-16 win over Eastern Michigan. No penalties for the Cardinals.	3
19		Bowden's boys trailed 13-10 at the break but outscored Va Tech 20-7 in the 2nd half to win 30-20 and move to 6-1 on the season. FSU hasn't lost to Va Tech in Tallashassee since 1974. Still, is the ACC total crap or what?	4
20		Tulsa erased a 19-14 halftime deficit scoring 35 unanswered 2nd half points in a 49-19 win over Central Florida. David Johnson ran for 2 scores and passed for another as Tulsa improved to 8-0.	NR
21		Sparty bounced back from the OSU beatdown by handing their in-state rivals a 35-21 loss in Ann Arbor. Ringer (194, 2 TD) and Hoyer (282, 3 TD) paced the offense while the D held Michigan 3/12 on 3rd downs and forced 4 TO. Next up: Wisconsin	NR
22		The Tar Heels followed up last week's upset loss at Virginia with a 45-24 defeat of Boston College. QB Hakeem Nicks led the charge with 4 TD (3 pass, 1 rush) and the NC defense held BC to 40 yards on the ground.	NR
23		The Ducks moved to 6-2 with a 54-20 spanking at Arizona State to stay tied with USC for first place in the conference. Rushing yards: Oregon 304, ASU 107.	NR
24		The Cardinals improved to 6-2 with a 24-20 upset win over South Florida. WR Scott Long had a big day with 134 yards and 2 TD while the D shut down the Bulls rushing attack (24/8).	NR
25		South Florida fell 24-20 at Louisville as the Cardinals held them to 8 yards rushing. The Bulls didn’t help their cause with 14 penalties but with so many mediocre teams they get the 25th spot out of indifference.	8

DROPPED OUT: Pittsburgh (#16), Kansas (#19), Northwestern (#22), Arizona (#24).

Turnover Margin Once Again Dooms Buckeyes While it's not groundbreaking to say teams that lose the turnover battle normally lose the game, it is amazing just how bad Ohio State has been with regard to turnover margin in big games. Pryor's game changing fourth quarter fumble is just the latest example when you look at the numbers.

Even more painful is the grossly inaccurate perception that Tressel orchestrates an ultra conservative game plan to cut down on such occurrences because the numbers tell a different tale. Not only does the OSU offense turn it over at an alarming rate but the defense, while typically playing solid, struggles to generate turnovers when the lights shine brightest.

In the seven Buckeye losses since 2005, Ohio State has lost the turnover battle by a combined 16-5:

TO Margin in 7 Losses Since 2005

Game	OSU TO	Opp TO	Margin
'08 Penn State	2	0	-2
'08 USC	3	1	-2
'07 LSU	3	1	-2
'07 Illinois	3	0	-3
'06 Florida	2	0	-2
'05 Penn State	2	0	-2
'05 Texas	1	3	+2
TOTAL	16	5	-11

Taking it a step further, I looked at Ohio State's performance in what I consider big games over this same stretch (since '05) and the results only get worse. Besides the 7 big game losses outlined above, I looked at wins in 2005 against Michigan and Notre Dame, the 2006 win over Texas and both the '06 ad '07 wins over Michigan:

TO Margin in 5 "Big Game" Wins Since 2005

Game	OSU TO	Opp TO	Margin
'05 Michigan	2	0	-2
'05 Notre Dame	2	0	-2
'06 Texas	0	2	+2
'06 Michigan	3	0	-3
'07 Michigan	1	0	-1
TOTAL	8	2	-6

Factor the TO margin from those five wins in with the seven losses and the results are even more lopsided. Disgusting, really:

TOTAL TO Margin in 12 "Big Games" Since 2005

12 Big Games	OSU TO	Opp TO	Margin
7 Losses	16	5	-11
5 Wins	8	2	-6
TOTAL	24	7	-17

Basically, OSU has won the turnover battle in exactly two of the last twelve big games, both against Texas, producing a cumulative -17 turnover margin in the process. No wonder the program is viewed so poorly from a national standpoint. You can't be a legit contender with a 24-7 turnover ratio, yielding a 5-7 record, in the last four years of big games. I mean, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Offensive Line Woes Back in Full Force So much for hoping the offensive line was back on track. Sure, Penn State has a hell of a D-Line and frequently stacked the box but to average just 1.97 yards per rush (31 for 61) on a night when OSU actually had some balance (25 pass, 31 rush) is disgraceful.

Early on, the play calling was largely to blame as the Buckeyes focused on trying to get outside the tackles before finally realizing PSU's incredible speed off the edge combined with the anvils tucked in Browning's socks rendered that plan of attack hopeless. In fact, the lanes were so sparse Ohio State managed just 16 first half rushing yards with PSU holding Beanie to an astonishing 10 carries for 11 yards.

The second half saw Tressel adjust by looking to rush up the middle and Beanie was slightly more successful (12 for 44) but the big fella never really had a chance to get rolling downhill and finished with 22 carries for 55 yards with a long of 8 yards. That total represents his worst game (throw out 4/17 Kent State game) since a 16 carry, 46 yard stinker against Youngstown State to start the 2007 campaign. During that same span, his longest carry was at least 13 yards (again, save KSU). Cue Martha and the Vandellas..."Nowhere to run to, baby..nowhere to hide."

You all saw Browning's masterpiece so I'm not even gonna get started except to say I read one commenter say Browning wasn't helped by the backs missing chip blocks off the edge but after re-watching the game, I'm not sure that's a totally fair statement. Browning got his ass beat all night long. Period.

One last thing, it was odd Ben Person didn't dress even though we hadn't heard anything about an injury. Just as odd was Shugarts dressed and warming up even though he was reportedly out for the year. Did I miss something?

Defensive Line Did What They Needed to Do At least I think they did. They definitely aren't the finest defensive line Tressel's ever had but they've definitely improved since Thaddeus Maximus was inserted into the starting lineup. Gibson absolutely dominated in the first half forcing PSU to basically avoid his side the rest of the game. He finished with 5 tackles, 1 sack and a pass breakup showcasing speed and a motor that'll allow him to play on Sundays.

Also up front, Cam Heyward (6), Doug Worthington (6) and Nader Abdallah (5) combined or 17 stops giving the defensive line 22 tackles on the night helping hold PSU to 200 yards below their per game average.

They did wear down a little toward the end but I'm encouraged by their production. It was a physical game against a prolific offense and they kept coming. I also don't think they missed many tackles which I can't say about their teammates at linebacker and in the secondary.

Obviously, it wasn't enough, but if those guys play like that the rest of the way, I'll take it.

Don't Be Too Hard on Pryor The freshman mistake of fumbling the game away while trying to do too much is something that will haunt both Pryor and the fans for a few weeks but don't forget this is what we willingly signed up for after the USC debacle.

I think both Tressel and the fan base decided if it meant losing a game at the hands of Pryor's inexperience with eyes on the long term direction of the program, then so be it. Well, last night was that reality.

Coupled with the fumble was more growth in the form of career highs in completions, attempts and yards against a top notch defense in the most pressure packed start of his young career. Hell, I'm incredibly excited about what I think was the first ever time he dropped back, saw nothing, scrambled for just a few seconds then smartly tossed the ball out of bounds on 1st down to open OSU's second possession of the game. A few games ago, he would've zig-zagged until the only option was a sack or worse.

He's still got an issue with knowing when to zip the ball or loft it to a receiver but my observation is he continues to at least make the decision to throw quicker and with more confidence in most cases. The low completion to Robo that was overturned was one example of his being tentative before launching a turd and he under threw a few deeper balls but the promise is there. How 'bout that 3rd and 7 throw to Sanzenbacher that went for 53 yards when OSU was backed up at their 6? Even better was the 10 yard bullet to Robo on 3rd and 9 that helped OSU to a field goal and a 3-3 tie at the break. It's coming. Know that because if it wasn't, Tressel wouldn't let him throw 25 times against such an impressive defense.

A Bunch of Miscellaneous Stuff I know...catchy title, right? There's just so many little things that I wanted to bring up since I'm curious as to your thoughts:

• What about the performance by the refs last night? Disclaimer: I don't think the zebras had anything to do with the outcome - I just think they sucked. Browning got away with at least three holds, the pass to Robo looked like a completion to my truly unbiased eye (yours?) and there were some highly questionable spots. If anything, the spots seemed to favor PSU the most but admittedly that could be my Buckeye glasses getting the best of me which is why I'm curious as to your thoughts. I'm less critical of the PI calls on Washington. He needs to turn and look for the ball to help the ref from throwing a flag when there's contact, even if it is back and forth contact because the receiver seemingly always gets the benefit of the doubt in those situations.
• I liked the insertion of Pettrey, who went 2/2 hitting from 36 and 41 yards. I said after the Purdue game it was time for a change. Thanks for reading, Tress. Kidding. I know he thinks blogs are the anti-Christ.
• What's your take on what happened when Clark hit Zug for that 49 yard completion setting Penn State's first field goal? In zone, it looked like Checkwa handed Zug off to Coleman but he got sucked up watching Williams come across the field.
• Similar to my thoughts on Thaddeus, can someone tell me why it took so long to insert Flash Thomas on kickoff returns? He returned two kicks for 71 yards (34, 37) before PSU got wise and kicked the last one to Mo Wells who promptly chest bumped it for 3 yards before it rolled out of bounds at the 7 yard line on what was really Ohio State's last true chance to tie the game. Nice work, Mo.

Looks like the Buckeyes won't get that third consecutive outright league title after all.

Behind an amazing performance out of their defensive front, steady play out of backup quarterback Pat Devlin and a timely turnover, Penn State eked out a 13-6 win in Ohio Stadium to move to 9-0 and a week off to enjoy the vanquishing of another monkey from its back.

The Ohio State defense came to play, holding the nation's 7th ranked scoring offense to 32 points below their season average, but the Penn State defense may have outplayed them. The front, led by the play of tackle Jared Odrick and end Aaron Maybin played huge in holding Beanie Wells to a season-worst 55 yards on 22 attempts. I, for one, thought that was impossible. Maybin was equally terrifying against the Buckeye passing game. He beat Bryant Browning on several occasions, earning a second quarter sack, but hurrying and otherwise altering several other plays.

At no point was the Lion defense better than on a Pryor third down run on the Buckeyes' second drive of the 3rd quarter. After getting 36 yard field goal from Pettrey to take a 6-3 lead, the Buckeyes had seen Penn State come back and miss a 45 yard field goal for the tie. With a lead, the crowd into it and Beanie starting to gain some traction on the ground, Ohio State moved to midfield when Pryor lined up to take a snap on 3rd-and-1. The play was a called sneak, but Pryor seeing some daylight, tried to bounce the run outside. Safety Mark Rubin had other ideas. Meeting Pryor at the first down line, he punched the ball free and after a scrum, Penn State had come up with it at the Ohio State 38 yard-line.

Enter Pat Devlin. The backup quarterback came into the game because of a slight head injury suffered by starter Daryll Clark. After an Evan Royster nine yard run, Donald Washington was called for interference on a Devlin pass to Derrick Williams. Four runs out of running backs and two Devlin's sneaks later, Penn State had reclaimed a 10-6 lead with a little over six left to play.

Unlike the game-winner in Madison that started with about as much time on the clock, Pryor was unable to muster any magic on Ohio State's ensuing possession. After a first down toss to Hartline, the Buckeyes were forced to punt the ball back with 4:31 to play.

Penn State would drive to score another field goal, going up 13-6, but the Buckeyes would get one more chance with the ball at their own 20 and 1:07 remaining. Pryor hooked up with Small for a couple of first downs and the offense was able to get into Penn State territory, but a Lydell Sargeant interception in the end zone iced the game.

Offense

The offensive performance was frustrating on many levels, not the least of which was the dominating effort the Penn State defensive line put forth against the Ohio State offensive line. It's easy to pile on the offensive line, but the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle of the unit not having the game of its life and their counterparts on the other side of the ball playing extremely inspired ball.

Despite Beanie's best efforts to verbally ignite a fire in his line's ass early on, the Buckeye rushing attack never really got on track. Beanie's typical seven yard gains became three yard gains and his three-yarders became one-yarders. At one point early in the third quarter, he had racked-up 18 yards on 12 carries. Odrick and linebacker Navorro Bowman (10 tackles, 1 TFL and the key fumble recovery) held him in check for most of the evening and when he did finally get things going, the offense turned the ball over.

However, it was the play of Maybin that stood out the most. Twice on the opening drive he blew past Browning to disrupt things in the backfield and he kept that pressure consistently throughout the evening. It was Maybin that forced Pryor out of the pocket on the interception to end the game. If this is Joe Pa's last season, he's going out with one hell of a defensive line. Maybin looked as good to me as anyone I saw on USC's roster.

Dane Sanzenbacher led all Buckeye receivers with 82 yards on six receptions, including a big 53 yard catch on busted coverage to flip the field position at the start of the 2nd quarter. Robo had four catches for 56 yards and Small caught two late balls for 37 yards, but most of the passing production came in the second half with the team needing to throw. (Anyone know where Posey went?) Pryor still struggles with some throws, but for the most part performed admirably when passing. His run game abandoned him (nine attempts for six yards), but there clearly is progression throwing the ball.

Fans will take exception with the playcalling and for the first time in a few weeks, I'll have to agree with them. Before I had thought the play of the line was dictating the plays that could be called (say goodbye to anything late developing), but after watching the team have some early success throwing the ball on first and second downs only to watch them move completely away from it, I'm ready to give-in. Keeping Beanie on the bench for the game's opening play was curious at best and the lack of any type of Pistol-based plays is a tad unnerving.

Defense

Penn State started the game hot, picking up first downs on their first two offensive plays, but after settling down, they stiffened and forced a Penn State punt. Then, the Thad Gibson show started. On Penn State's second possession of the game, he was everywhere, recording two and a half stops and sacking clark for a three yard loss on third-and-six from midfield. Gibson would continue to dominate for the remainder of the first half and things were looking good heading into halftime tied at three.

And this is where you must credit the Penn State staff for pulling something off their Buckeye counterparts couldn't: neutralizing the game-changing defensive end from the other side via halftime adjustments. Whereas Maybin was doing damage all game long, Gibson was relatively silent in the second half.

Heyward played large at times and might have had the hit of the game, finishing with six tackles, while Worthington and Abdallah finished with six and five respectively. The line held Royster to under 80 yards and got pressure on the Penn State quarterbacks throughout the evening, so kudos to them.

Laurinaitis recorded 12 stops on the night, but the faction that believes he's a little overrated would like to point out that only two of those were solo tackles. Likewise, Freeman had six tackles (one solo), but he appeared to have been dragged for extra yards on a couple of plays.

Penn State chose not to go directly at Jenkins for much of the game and they did a good job of neutralizing his effectiveness. Chekwa turned in a solid game, but Donald Washington had two huge pass interference penalties. I'm not going to say that Washington's second interference call directly resulted in a touchdown because Royster had ripped off a nine yard run right before that, but it certainly didn't help matters.

The defensive backs did a great job of shutting down the Lion receivers -- Williams, Butler and Norwood combined for just 28 receiving yards -- but they were handcuffed by the staff when zone was called. This was most evident on the 49 yard catch out of Graham Zug (seven receptions coming in) against zone coverage to setup Penn State's only first half points.

I don't remember seeing Nathan Williams in the game and Sabino was interestingly in the game for the goal line package before Penn State scored their only touchdown, but nothing too surprising outside of that. You just hope that the man vs. zone light will finally go off in the WHAC.

It's really a shame to lose a game like this considering the defense played absolutely lights-out, but this one's going down easier than most. For one thing, the Buckeyes lost to a quality opposition and they were one play away from victory. I also feel like a weight is off our chests. No more daram or national hate about the MNC race and the team can get back to playing good ball and we can sit back and watch the evolution of one Mr. Terrelle Pryor. He's going to have games like this, but not too many more of them.

Special Teams

Aside from finding out that Pettrey is most definitely the new starting kicker for field goals, and Flash should have been returning kicks (two for 71) from the start of the season, it was an uneventful night for the special teams units. Pettrey was 2/2, Trapasso put three of his five punts inside the Lion 20 and Ray Small had a near muff on one punt, while he fell backward like a zombie when catching another. Just kind of meh.

Notes

Pryor suffered his first loss as a starter, but finished with a career-high 226 yards through the air... Robiskie (33 regular season games) and Hartline (27 games) both kept their consecutive game with receptions streak alive... Sanzenbacher's 53 yard catch was a career high as were his six receptions and 82 total yards... The Buckeyes were the first team to hold the Lions to under 20 points this season and their 281 yards of total offense was 200 less than what they had been averaging this season... The JHC was honored at halftime for his induction into the College Football HoF and I blame him for Pryor's fumble.

Kickoff:	8:00PM ET
Previews:	11W, ATO / BSD, ZN, HHV
Favorite:	Penn State (-2.5)
Television:	ABC (You're getting it)
Radio:	OSU Football Affiliates
Weather:	Perfect

And we wait.

There are some compelling matchups to get you through the day, but 8PM can't get here soon enough. Watching that offense collide with the Buckeye defense under the lights is going to be special.

I do have a creeping suspicion that we as a fanbase are undervaluing both Royster and Clark and I pray that the defense that showed up against Minnesota and Michigan State makes an appearance tonight. But Big Ten football championships run through Columbus these days and if the Nittany Lions want one of their own, they are going to have to take it.

It's a virtual lock that Ohio State will get the ball first to start the game. Establishing Beanie and/or Pryor and by extension, the line, early is crucial. If you're scripting out the first four plays what do you call?

If you're headed to the game today, enjoy yourself. Be hostile in the Shoe, but gracious to any PSU fans you may run into -- spirit and class are not mutually exclusive. Should be a helluva game and it's looking like you'll be able to leave the ponchos at home.

Motivation proper.

#10 Ohio State 7-1, 4-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

October 25, 2008 8:00 PM ET - ABC —— Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH

#3 Penn State 8-0, 4-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

College football is a wonderful thing. Just six weeks after being completely humbled by Southern Cal and thinking the Buckeyes' season might as well have been over, here we are staring down another huge game.

In Penn State, the Buckeyes welcome the #3 team in the country and that's with the handicap of playing in the Big Ten and its perceived lack of skilled players. 35 first half points on that Oregon State team that beat the mighty Trojans? 48 in Madison? 46 against Michigan last week? (And yes, those two teams aren't exactly the class of the Big Ten this season, but 48 and 46?!)

The catalyst for this explosion are the two rocky offseasons that featured back-to-back top-eight finishes in the Fulmer Cup and a punchy Joe Paterno getting grilled by ESPN, the "Joe-Must-Go" chorus was reaching a deafening level in and around State College.

Then came the announcement. The team would be breaking out a new offense called the "Spread HD". At first, it was nothing more than a punch line or a diversion from the off-field problems, but that offense has been a smashing success -- and then some. Though Paterno will be confined to the booth for the game, that offense is in more than capable hands with Galen Hall. The Buckeye defense is going to have its hands full.

My goodness do the Buckeyes ever have a game to get up for. A chance to play spoiler and move into a better bowl by possibly changing some minds around the country. And it's the de facto Big Ten championship. The weather is looking more and more like it might cooperate and stay dry for kickoff, but regardless, the Horseshoe will be ringed with scarlet hooliganism propped up by a long sauce-fueled day. And WE GOT FREAKIN' LIGHTS!!

Opponent

Credit for Penn State's offensive turnaround really must be split primarily between quarterback Daryll Clark and running back Evan Royster. Both first-year starters, even Lion fans would be hard-pressed to tell you which one has been more valuable to the team's success this year.

Clark, a native of The Yo, has really been the anti-Morelli. Whereas Morelli was the highly-touted high school recruit that turned in a rather forgettable career at Penn State, Clark kind of arrived at Penn State under the radar a little. He has Juice size (6-2/231) and is making the most of his first season as a starter and is killing teams with his arm and his legs. He's sporting a 11/2 touchdown to interception ratio, eight rushing touchdowns and like his counterpart with the Buckeyes, a flawless record as a starter. He's had a bit of a fumble problem as of late and plays with emotion that sometimes leads to mistakes, but he's also a huge reason the Nittany Lions are so darn good on third down.

Royster has been just as good. He's failed to crack the century mark in only three games this year -- and all three were 40+ point Penn State victories. Fresh off an 18 carry, 174 yard day against the Wolverines, he's good for a little over a touchdown a game. And he's fresh. Despite putting up 893 yards in only eight games, he's yet to carry the ball even 20 times in a contest. He gets his yards behind a unit that Marcus Freeman called "the best offensive line we've seen,", led by senior A.Q. Shipley, quite possibly the best center in the nation. The line has been extremely good, but not quite perfect. Guard Stefen Wisniewski has a hobbled ankle and there is some concern amongst the faithful over their third-and-short performance lately, which was 0-3 against Michigan and similarly bad against Purdue. But when you're complaining about that after a 46-7 win, you know things really can't be all that bad.

Through the air, Penn State will go the senior triumvirate of Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams. The three received adequate amounts of hype as freshman when they burst onto the scene and helped the team to that BCS bowl bid following the 2005 season. None of the three have Nintendo numbers, but Butler and Norwood have doubled-up Robo and Hartline's numbers, and Williams is dangerous in the backfield as well as in the return game.

The injury to captain Sean Lee was huge in the spring and Linebacker U hasn't exactly found that next superstar backer yet, so they'll continue to rotate bodies, though sophomore Navorro Bowman figures to see a lot of time. The defensive front, however, is making up for any uneasy linebacker play and is phenomenal. Tackle Jared Odrick is solid and the ends feature Maurice Evans and his 12.5 sacks of a year ago and Aaron Maybin and his 10 sacks of 2008. Due to academic problems, Maybin wasn't even on the roster back in August, but once cleared, he stepped into Evans' role during his suspension and quickly mastered the position -- his three sacks against Wisconsin attest to that. Both ends are fast and fast ends help contain quarterbacks that like to run outside.

Just to give you one more thing to worry about, the Penn State secondary is right up there with the Buckeye secondary at the top of the conference in pass defense. Part of their schedule is complete crap, but 11 interceptions against only four touchdowns allowed is pretty fresh no matter which way you cut it. The star of the unit is senior safety Anthony Scirrotto. He suffered a concussion against Michigan last week, but is expected to be play Saturday night.

NOTES: Penn State is playing its 4th road game in five games... Joe Paterno is 7-12 against Ohio State... Joe Paterno first started coaching when Truman was still in the White House... Ohio State is the only Big Ten school with a better record than Penn State over the past four years... Penn State is seeking its 10th 9-0 start under Paterno... There are eight Ohioans on the Penn State roster.

Buckeye Breakdown

Though he's had his share of rookie mistakes and growing pains, Terrelle Pryor has stepped up each time he has been asked to do so. First was the game-winning drive and touchdown to pull out the victory in Madison and then, in his 2nd game worthy of Mark May's scrutiny, he kick-started the 45-7 romp against Michigan State last weekend. If he gets off to a similar start at home against Penn State, the results could be glorious.

I am worried about a couple of things, however. First, I think the pressure of playing in front of the quick-to-boo home crowd gets to this team. They are definitely a much looser team on the road (save for one terrifying night in mid-September). Second, lost in the tale of Pryor's request for Tressel to bench him last weekend if he didn't start hot was Tresel's witty quip that if he threw an interception, he'd take care of that. This gels with what others have said about the Vests insistence on avoiding turnovers coming at the expense in the growth of quarterbacks. If Pryor comes out and plays loose, he's one of the top two or three players on the field. If not, we're in for some of the tentative, long sack stuff which causes mass stomach pains in Franklin County.

Beanie was nicely primed last week with his 31 carries in East Lansing. I'd love to see him get 30 more this weekend, nursing an early two touchdown lead, but whatever his touches, Penn State has not seen a back of his level since, well, the last time these two teams met. I promise high quality stills of the moment he plants his hand into Scirrotto's grill because it will happen. Still, the Penn State defensive front will make him work. If he can get to the next level, there will be mad yardage because their linebackers are not what they usually trot out, but he'll have to get through that line first and hope the Buckeye line can do its job helping him do so.

Speaking of the line, it looks like we're closer to nailing down the starting five. After getting a surprise start at right guard last weekend, Rehring is now penciled-in as the starter for that spot in the most recent depth chart (PDF). Person is listed as his backup and though earlier in the year, I personally would have probably taken Person over Rehring, Big Steve was pwning Spartans last weekend. Boone and particularly Browning will get a workout with Penn State's ends. I really expect the Lions to attack Browning as often as possible, so he'll need to come ready to play.

The receivers have been sitting on ice as of late, but they will be needed to have any chance at a victory. I'm not sure 11 attempts will cut it this weekend. We're still tracking the emergence of Posey and Flash and Saturday would be the perfect breakout opportunity for one of them.

Raise your hand if you thought the starting defensive ends heading into this game would be Rob Rose and Thaddeus Gibson. As crazy as that would have sounded back in July, the new blood has definitely provided a spark to a defensive front that was sputtering just three weeks ago. Gibson has been a force and Rose set the tone early against Sparty by getting into the backfield on Michigan State's first play of the game. Curtis Terry and Nathan Williams will continue to provide depth at end and I feel good about all four of them going into this game.

It will be interesting to watch the linebackers as they were getting handled early last year by the Penn State offensive line before the score got out of hand and the Lions had to abandon the run. Laurinaitis is coming off his finest game of the season wants to continue to prove us naysayers wrong for saying that he might have been a tad overrated heading into the season. Freeman may see some spy duty on Clark (along with Hines), but clearly for the Buckeyes to have a chance at slowing down Royster, they'll need to be on.

Not much to worry about in the Buckeye secondary. Partly because that's been the best-performing unit the past few weeks (Jenkins for team MVP? He's good-best!) and also because Clark won't kill a team through the air. He's effective, but he's not going to go Graham Harrell on anybody. Having Chekwa available is big, but I sleep better at night knowing that if for some reason he can't go, the backup has two MNC starts under his belt.

NOTES: Note 1... Note 2... The home team has won 12 of 15 games in this series... Ohio State is 63-18-5 in homecoming games; Tressel's only loss at OSU in a homecoming game came in 2001 against Wisconsin (20-17)... Musberger, Herbstreit and Lisa Salters will be calling the game for ABC... The JHC will be honored at halftime for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame on 12/9.

Prediction

I feel good about this one. I hope it's not misguided swagger and I realize that this is the best Penn State team Tressel has faced at Ohio State, but the teams match-up from a talent perspective and I believe they have a mental edge over the Lions -- especially in Columbus. The Buckeyes have done an excellent job this season creating turnovers and I know it's something they worked hard on during the offseason, but they'll need to do more of the same Saturday. I'm really hoping for clear weather and maybe a Flash kickoff return to get things started.

Ohio State 26, Penn State 20

There weren't any real significant developments on the hoops front in the last week but I rounded up a few nuggets for you to peruse.

While you're throwing down RBV's or ice cold brews on campus this Saturday, don't forget about the open hoops practice from 4-5pm in the Schott. Doors open at 3:30 so sway on over there if you can and show some love for the '08-'09 hoopsters. I'll be there - just have your lady look for the strikingly handsome dude wearing the 11W shirt stinking of Vodka and stop by to say hello. I kid. (I won't be drinking Vodka)

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CBS Sports writer Gary Parrish recently released his preseason Top 25 and the Buckeyes are slotted 19th. Purdue (6), Michigan State (9), and Wisconsin (22) also made the cut.

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Respected (at least by me) analyst Jay Bilas came out with his list of underrated/underappreciated players to watch and star-in-the-making Evan Turner got some love. As Bilas accurately notes, if Turner can improve his decision making leading to less turnovers, he will be a force. I personally expect Turner to blossom into a 14, 6 and 4 guy that Matta leans on heavily when the game is on the line. He can do it all. Might be a lofty comparison but he's got Jimmy Jackson type versatility.

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Matt Markey of The Blade has a nice piece on Wil Buford and the Toledo pipeline to Columbus built on studs like JJ, Dennis Hopson, Kelvin Ransey and now Buford. I can't wait to see Buford play against D1 competition and fully expect him to play a major role on this year's squad with his ability to score from all over the floor. Man, how good was Hopson in college? Dude could score at will and had the fresh box cut to match. I never imagined he'd be such a bust in the NBA.

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Of course, the biggest name in this year's freshman crop is big man BJ Mullens. He's a lock to start from day one and CollegeHoops.net expects big things. They've got Mullens on their Honorable Mention All-American list and expect him to be one of the most dominating freshmen in the NCAA.

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Lastly, it looks like former Buckeye Othello Hunter has a damn good shot to crack the Atlanta Hawks roster. Hunter has impressed the Hawks with his defense, rebounding and work ethic. Coach Mike Woodson has compared him to a young Ben Wallace and Hunter even drew praise from hoops guru / bedouin Larry Brown helping Hunter get a shot with the Hawks summer league squad where he made a name for himself.

If you want to follow Hunter's progress, check out his training camp blog. I don't know about you, but I find him extremely easy to root for.

We have always felt there shouldn't be any type of college football poll until at least week four. No one really knows what is going to happen before the season starts and any pre-season poll is pretty worthless. Remember West Virginia, Clemson and Auburn were ranked in the top 10 just two months ago.

The real fun started when the BCS standings come out Sunday and there are quite a few clashes this weekend that will play factor into who climbs, who drops and who ultimately goes where.

For the remainder of the season, we will take a look at big national or conference games affecting the BCS race.

National Games

#8 Texas Tech at #21 Kansas, 12:00PM - ESPN
Before you sport your scarlet Saturday, be sure to put on your best Jayhawk Blue. Texas Tech's toughest opponent this year has been Nebraska, which took the Red Raiders to overtime in Lubbock.

Mike Leach's team is averaging 418 yards passing and 46 points per contest, while Kansas is putting up 335 yards through the air and 34 points a game. If Kansas doesn't pull off the upset, TT faces Texas, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma over the next three weeks.

#5 Oklahoma State at #1 Texas, 3:30PM - ABC
Both these teams took down Missouri in the last two weeks, OSU by 5 and Texas by 25. The Cowboys can score, averaging over 46 points a game, while only giving up 21, but this is their biggest test to date and former Buckeye coach Tim Beckman will have his hands full trying to stop the Longhorn attack.

Texas is the real deal, but after facing Oklahoma and Missouri in back to back weeks, you have to wonder if that let down performance is about to surface. Chris Ogbonnaya has emerged the last two games as the compliment running back Colt McCoy needed and they have scored 101 points over that span.

#9 Georgia at #12 LSU, 3:30PM - CBS
SEC dude, SEC. Both teams come in 5-1 overall, 3-1 in conference and are looking to keep pace in their respective divisions. This is going to be another classic SEC tilt, with the loser getting knocked out of the BCS race.

Georgia's offense has topped 27 points once in the last five games, getting 30 in the loss to Alabama, while LSU has averaged just over 25 points in their last 4. This game could be a low scoring affair, with turnovers and field position playing key roles.

#2 Alabama at Tennessee, 7:45PM - ESPN
This is the game that could save Phil Flumer's job and lifetime supply of sausage gravy. This is the last game against a ranked opponent for the Volunteers and a loss would send them to 3-5. Alabama has to guard against looking ahead to Arkansas St. next week.

Big Ten Games

#25 Northwestern at Indiana, 12:00PM - BTN
The Wildcats look to avoid the upset before next week's battle with Minnesota and Indiana will be trying to end their 5 game losing streak. A Northwestern win will have them a half game out of second.

#24 Minnesota at Purdue, 12:00PM - ESPN Classic
Purdue is just 2-5 in Tiller's last season and quite frankly, Minnesota has shocked the conference. The Gophers can ensure a winning record with the victory and can keep pace with Northwestern for second. Purdue is in complete turmoil and will be trying to end their 5 game skid.

Michigan State at Michigan, 3:30PM - ABC
This game likely won't factor into the BCS race, but we'll all be rooting for "Little Brother" to lay an epic beatdown on the Wolverines.