Eleven Warriors

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

September 6, 2008 12:00 PM ET - ESPN —— Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH

Ohio 0-1, 0-0 MAC Roster | Schedule

The 4th-ranked Buckeyes will be looking for victory number 800 when they meet the Ohio University Bobcats in the Horseshoe Saturday. Only four other schools -- Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas and Nebraska -- have managed to field a football program long enough and be consistently good enough to achieve this milestone. Though there's some distance between the #4 Cornhuskers and the Buckeyes, you can take delight in knowing that there's a very real chance that Texas (821 wins) will catch and pass Notre Dame (824) for second on that list soon.

What's really kind of sad when you look at the milestone games such as win 100, 200, 300 and so on, is that only two of the previous seven century achievements came from what you'd classify as a big game. For win no. 300, the #12 Buckeyes won at #5 Minnesota 20-7 in 1945 and the program's 400th victory came in Ann Arbor in 1961 when the 2nd ranked Buckeyes hung 50 on the unranked Wolverines.

It's also interesting to note that after taking 16 years to go from 300 to 400 victories and then another 14 years to get to win no. 500, Ohio State picked up the next two batches of 100 victories in 11 years each. At this pace, we can look forward to victory no. 900 possibly coming against Tennessee in 2019. Though, if Tressel keeps his current pace, we'll probably arrive there a year earlier.

A minor sub-plot for the game that nobody is really talking about is the fact that Heisman hopeful Beanie Wells was injured last weekend against Youngstown State and will not play. While his absence won't be enough for anyone to seriously think the Bobcats have a chance, surely there was joy on Court Street this week as OU defenders got news that they would dodge the Varsity Club, thus increasing their own odds for a healthy season.

Opponent

To Ohio State fans, Ohio University has always been that fun place an hour and a half to the southeast that threw raging Halloween parties and produced (and consumed) the best weed in the state (or so we're told). The Bobcats have never been a real football power and last sniffed any kind of serious success way back in 1968. Frank Solich is working to improve things in Athens, but for the most part, his resources are limited compared to the 800-pound gorilla in the state eating bananas on Woody Hayes Drive.

On opening weekend, Ohio traveled to Wyoming and had a mediocre-to-slightly-bad Cowboy team on the ropes at home before giving up a late touchdown pass and the win. The running game was downright anemic, but that will happen when 4-year starter and the school's all-time leading rusher Kalvin McRae burns through his eligibility. Former wideout Chris Garrett (#2) stepped into McRae's shoes and was held to 30 yards on 12 carries in Laramie.

Another factor contributing to the poor showing on the ground is the relative greenness of the Bobcat offensive line. Not a single starter on the line has a full-season's worth of starts under his belt. Tight end Andrew Mooney (#81) is solid and has good size (6-3/236), even contributing a touchdown reception last week (moving him into 5th on the school's all-time list with 10 scores for his career -- I'll wait for you to stop scoffing), but he's not in the league of a Travis Beckum and shouldn't give Buckeye defenders too much of a headache on the day.

A bright spot on the offense was the play of wide receiver Taylor Price (#23). With good size and jets, he burned the Cowboys to the tune of 14 catches (school record) for 139 and has a local connection as he's one of three former Hilliard products on the Ohio University roster. He figures to be quarterback Theo Scott's (#3) go-to guy on the many third and longs the Bobcats figure to face.

Ohio looks to be a little stronger on the defensive side of the ball than they are on offense, with a solid (for MAC-land, anyway) defensive line and veteran linebacker corps. They held Wyoming to 271 total yards last weekend with 160 of those coming on the ground. They'll give up size on their Buckeye counterparts, but for the first half at least, they'll come out ready to play hoping to pull their weight in bringing down Goliath.

They had to replace a couple of safeties this year, but of note in their secondary is Julian Posey (#9), DeVier's older brother. He played in twelve games as a freshman last year and will start at corner against the Buckeyes and could draw some coverage of his brother depending on how things shake out. Being the sibling of a Buckeye, we of course hope he goes on to dominate the MAC, but for this one game, we won't mind seeing him burned a few times.

Solich is one of those coaches that got a raw deal in my book and for that reason I will root for him wherever he goes. By all accounts a class act, he appears to be a good fit for the university (save for the DUI, or drugging when he first arrived). He'd really like to see the 10-10 halftime tie that dazed Horseshoe fans witnessed when the teams last met in 1999, but the 2008 edition of the Buckeyes is a slightly better product than that Bellisari/Rambo-powered unit.

NOTES: Frank Solich is 19-19 in four season at Ohio... OU is 0 for 14 against ranked opponents... The Bobcats are 0-5 all-time against the Buckeyes... Ohio will be playing in front of their largest audience ever - the previous record being the 93,222 that witnessed the 1999 game in the Shoe... Speaking of all-time wins, the Bobcats are idling at no. 485.

Buckeye Breakdown

With Beanie on the sideline, Mo Wells will start for the Buckeyes, though Saine is thought to be 100% again and will be split the load along with Boom Herron. There is a calm confidence in Mo Wells around the 11W offices -- for this weekend (and possibly beyond). When Boeckman is in, Rasta is a nice rush and receiving option and he looked downright scary in the pistol with Pryor last weekend (and if I had to guess, I'd say we'll see even more of Pryor and the pistol this weekend).

Speaking of Pryor, it took him all of one game in Columbus to move past Joe Bauserman and into the #2 quarterback spot behind Boeckman. Although it's not reflected on the latest depth chart, Tressel confirmed as much when he spoke to the press earlier in the week. All three quarterbacks will most certainly see action this Saturday, however, and if each of them builds on what they showed last weekend, the Buckeyes quarterback cup will continue to runneth over.

Freshman Mike Adams is now listed as the #2 left tackle, behind Boone. He was third on the depth chart last week, with Andrew Miller listed as the backup, but Miller is now listed as the backup left guard, bumping Scott Sika. Fellow frosh J.B. Shugarts and Mike Brewster are listed third on the chart, but as with the quarterbacks and virtually every other position group on the team, the young pups should see plenty of action.

It will be interesting to see Bryant Browning take on slightly better competition than what he saw against Youngstown State in his first career start. The right tackle looked great at times last week, though there were a few "teaching" plays for him to build upon. Tressel seems to like his work ethic and maturity, so there's no reason not to expect continued improvement out of him.

You have to wonder how much playing time Robo will see after coming down and re-aggravating his shoulder last weekend. Like Beanie, he's more valuable to the Buckeyes against USC than Ohio. If he is used judiciously, chances will be there for Small, Sanzenbacher, Posey and others to prove they're worthy of more snaps.

From a defensive perspective, there's no reason to believe the Buckeyes can't follow-up on the shutout they recorded against YSU with another one against Ohio. Exposed as somewhat of a paper tiger the last two MNC games, this unit looks like the real dealio this season -- and two-deep at that. We'd all obviously like to see another sack or three out of Gibson, Lawrence and the others (it's about time for a Cam Heyward outburst of destruction as well) and forcing turnovers continues to be a big priority for this group. If they continue to fly to the ball, it's just a matter of time until the turnovers do come in bunches.

Jermale Hines got the start at strong safety for the injured Kurt Coleman in week one and he turned heads. Coleman is listed as questionable for Saturday's game, but he may want to try to get himself back on the field as he's in danger of getting Wally Pipped (though Coleman still appears to have the full confidence of the staff).

Elsewhere in the secondary, Brian Rolle will be held out due to a concussion and Andre Amos should be able to play after sitting out against Youngstown State because of late camp injury. The game will also mark the last one that Donald washington and Jamario O'Neal will be pure spectators at, but the experience the young guys are getting should help payoff when they square off against pass-happy Mark Sanchez next weekend.

NOTES: Bobby Hoying and Jeff Uhlenehake will be inducted into the OSU Athletics HoF during halftime... Defensive back James Scott is rumored to be heading to Ole Miss... Buckeyes are looking to win their 29th-straight against in-state opponents... Pam Ward (shudder) will be calling the game for ESPN... Dispatch Buckeye beat writer Ken Gordon may secretly be pulling for his alma mater this weekend.

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PREDICTION: Ohio State 44, Ohio 0

Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press has written a new book on the Woody v. Bo rivalry and it's set to be released September 10th.

I know, I know, there's a thousand books out there about these two but this one is different in that it chronicles the rivalry against the backdrop of the political and social turmoil of that era.

Our friend (I use the term loosely) over at MVictors.com recently sat down with Rosenberg to discuss the book. The outcome was a fantastic two part interview that led me to order a copy. If you'd like to do the same, you can place your order here.

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Blogpoll Revised Now that the status of Beanie's injury is more clear, we updated Monday's original blogpoll ballot. The original had a top five of Oklahoma, USC, OSU, Georgia and Florida. Beanie's status, along with some reconsideration of the Sooner squad led to a revised top five of USC, OSU, Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida.

For the sake of additional housecleaning, I'll also mention we dropped Tennesspeed out of poll completely (they had yet to play at time of first submission) , which made room for the OBC's Gamecocks at #25.

As for the national blogpoll, Jason had it up in the Good Shizzy section. In case you missed it, OSU sits at #4.

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Conference Hoops Schedule Released The Big Ten released the hoops schedule yesterday and the Buckeyes will start conference play New Years Eve against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Shhh, er Schott.

This year, the Bucks face Wisconsin and Penn State only one time each due to the unbalanced schedule. OSU takes on the Badgers in a Valentine's Day tilt slated for 9pm on ESPN. Now's a good time to get your lady prepared although I remain disappointed that a large portion of Buckeye Nation simply doesn't support Matta's squad with the same devotion afforded Tressel's bunch.

A minimum of 7 games will be on BTN reinforcing the fact that the network is a greater must have during hoops season versus football. Face it, we all know somebody that had BTN before the network inked a deal with Time Warner and getting a pass from the wife/mistress/girlfriend is much easier on a football Saturday versus a basketball weeknight, especially with some tipoff's occurring at 9pm.

Though the non-conference schedule isn't completely known, the Buckeyes do have a couple decent matchups on the slate including at Miami, FL in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge, a neutral site affair with Notre Dame and home contests against both Butler and Huggy Bear's Mountaineers.

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Sullinger Tops ESPNU's Super 60 OSU commit Jared Sullinger was recently named the #1 prospect in the 2010 class by Scouts Inc. According to our man Bob Baptist, the hoops wing of Scouts Inc. does the rankings for ESPN and is headed up by none other than Dirty Paul Biancardi.

In any event, Sully nabbed the top spot with his dominating AAU play while fellow 2010 commit DeShaun Thomas ranked sixth. Newsflash: that Matta dude can flat out recruit.

You'd think that a 14 of 19, 187-yard day that included two touchdowns and no interceptions (good enough for a 191.1 quarterback rating) would be cause for much chest-thumping, but there remains a palpable sense of nervousness among Buckeye fans whenever Todd Boeckman becomes the topic of conversation.

I'm just as guilty as the next guy that might doubt whether Boeckman has the moxie and skill necessary to win the big game, but is it a sad indictment of just how things have become in Columbus when a first-year starter leads a rebuilding squad to the national championship only to find himself booed after his first bad toss in the following season's opener?

In his first year under center, Boeckman finished with the 3rd-most touchdowns and 5th-most passing yards for a single season in school history. Numbers good enough to rank 13th in the NCAA in passing efficiency. And I repeat, he helped guide a rebuilding team to a national championship.

Yes, the last three games weren't his best work, but the weather in the Michigan game earns him somewhat of a pass there. He actually had a middle-of-the-road day against LSU, however. Not great, but not really piss-poor, either. He completed 15 of 26 for 208 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and could have had a third touchdown (and possible game-altering play) had Robo's fingers been about a half an inch longer.

The Illinois game is the one he can't run from. At home and he turns in his worst effort of the season: no touchdowns and four interceptions, including the back-breaker in the Illini endzone at the start of the 3rd quarter.

I'm trying to chalk the Illinois and LSU games up to the mistakes of a first-year starter, especially considering how stacked that Tiger defense was. In other big (or thought to be at the time) games, he responded. His bomb to Robiskie was a thing of beauty and snatched the momentum at Washington, while his two 1st quarter touchdown strikes started the beatdown of Purdue.

At night, in front of a Nittany Lion whiteout, he threw a touchdown pass in each of the first three quarters as the Buckeyes raced out to a 23-7 lead and his numbers against the Badgers are nothing to complain about: 17/28 with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

It wasn't that long ago that we had to endure Stan Jackson stealing Joe Germaine's snaps and the bountiful brilliance of the Steve Bellisari project. St. Krenzel himself often appeared shaky when passing, but he more than made up for it with his clutch performances.

So what is it? Have we become so spoiled at the success of Tressel and guys like Troy Smith that we accept nothing less than perfection? Or are you firmly convinced that even with another year of seasoning he won't be able to get the job done when it matters most (like say 8 days)?

Here's hoping the wunderkind set to inherit the position has it a little easier. His incredible talent should do enough to placate fans, but based on the smattering of boos the offense took after his first sack on Saturday, I'm not so sure about that.

We kid with the title. We're just as tired of reading about this as some of you are, but for the other 50% of you, here you go.

Late news out of practice yesterday was that Beanie did some conditioning work, but did not take part in practice.

Running backs coach Dick Tressel spoke with the press and essentially touched on the following:

• The injury was confirmed by a member of the staff for the first time as a toe injury (at the base of the right big toe if you're curious).
• He's been in and out of the boot at various times and at one point was waving it over his head at members of the media. I'm no doctor (though I do play one on the internet), but when Tressel said he'd hoped Beanie would be wearing the boot as often as possible to take pressure off the toe, that made a lot of sense..
• He's a game-time decision for this weekend, though Tressel indicated that Wells want to play against OU.

If he's cleared, that puts the staff in a tough spot. No doubt he'll want to play, but do you risk it with the Trojans on deck? I'm not buying the "he'll get rusty" argument put forth by some -- some dudes just don't get rusty.

My guess is that if he is cleared to play -- and Tressel signs off on it -- he'll probably see a similar workload to what he saw against Kent State last season when he had four totes for 17 yards on the day.

A longtime reader from the UK sent us this picture of her cable company's description of this week's game against Ohio University.

Funny how things get lost in translation - or maybe I'm the only one out of the loop regarding our "rivals" from southeastern Ohio? Of course, the coolest part is that our Buckeyes are "heavily fancied".

Anyone up for tea and an OU asskicking?

You asked for it and here it is: our first ever Buckeye football UFR. Of course, our thanks to Brian at MGoBlog, not only for the inspiration, but also for actively encouraging his fellow Big Ten Bloggers to feel free to swipe the idea. We'll try to come up with a more unique name, but just putting this together sapped all of our energy -- and for that reason, we can't guarantee that this will be a regular feature, but we'd love to at least break it out on special occasions.

We're only going to stick to the offense this week, because quite frankly, a defensive UFR from the YSU game would be kind of boring. Also, we played football in our younger days but are by no means coaches, so if you have any terminology suggestions or see anything that we're doing wrong, we'd love your feedback on it.

14:54 - 12:06 1st Quarter, Touchdown
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OSU-38	1/10	I-Form Twins	Run	Beanie	7
Tight end right (short side). Boeckman appears to have changed the play at the line to a run left. Beanie (+1) does a nice job of cutting back into the hole. Person (-1) decides not to block anyone and the guy in front of him made the stop. Boone (+1) drove the defensive end out of the picture.
OSU-45	2/3	Single Back Two Tight	Run	Beanie	3
Bunched right (short) coming out of a hurry-up. Pitch goes to Beanie to right side. Brandon Smith drives his man out of the play (+1). Wells picks up the first down on a generous spot.
OSU-48	1/10	I-Form Two Tight	Run	Beanie	2
The second-straight play ran without a huddle, Beanie carries the ball for a third consecutive down. The MLB did a nice job of closing up the hole, but Browning (+1) and Ballard (+1) collapsed their side of the line.
OSU-50	2/8	Shotgun Three Wide	Run	Boeckman	3
Boeckman (-1) misses an open Hartline and Sanzenbacher on inside routes (though I want to give him benefit of the doubt for sightlines, he is 6-4). The pocket actually formed up nicely, but Boeckman tucked it and ran with a quickness.
OPP-47	3/5	Shotgun Five Wide	Pass	Robiskie	4
Boeckman (+1) makes a nice, crisp throw to Robo (-1) who doesn't extend his rout far enough and comes up a yard short of the first down.
OPP-43	4/1	I-Form Two Tight	Run	Beanie	43
Wells (+1) takes a handoff left and made a nice cut off of the blocks of his line to take it to the house. Great blocking all around, but Brandon Smith (+1) managed to take out two dudes and Boone (+1) was shoving a linebacker 5 yards downfield.
Drive Notes: Nice opening drive. The line, as expected, was dominating and Beanie had some nice runs. Loved the way the YSU defender dove and got air at the end of the romp.

10:18 - 7:54 1st Quarter, Field Goal
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OSU-41	1/10	I-Form Twins	Run	Herron	3
Boom gets the handoff to the left and away from the YSU blitz. Brandon Smith (-1) completely misses his guy who makes the tackle. Boone (+1) once again drives the defensive end away from the play.
OSU-44	2/7	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	Hartline	47
Hartline (+1) runs a cross underneath Robo and goes deep on the sideline. Boeckman (+1) stays in the pocket, takes a hit and delivers a nice ball. Browning (-1) was beaten on the outside, but the ball was delivered in time.
OPP-9	1/10	Single Back Three Wide	Run	Herron	3
Herron bounces an inside run out to the left and takes on a couple of tacklers before going down. Another nice pickup by Brandon Smith.
OPP-6	2/7	I-Form Twins	Run	Browning	-5
False start on Browning (-1).
OPP-11	2/12	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	Boeckman	0
Good protection, but Boeckman (-1) throws too low for Small. He was pretty open, too.
OPP-11	3/12	Shotgun Five Wide	Run	Boeckman	0
Boeckman gets plenty of time and finally rolls out of the pocket before overthrowing Hartline in the back of the end zone.
Drive Notes: Such a promising drive after the bomb to Hartline, but a false start on the YSU 9 yard line proves costly as the Buckeyes settle for a Pretorius field goal and a 10-0 lead.

7:40 - 0:09 1st Quarter, Field Goal
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OSU-35	1/10	Shotgun Five Wide	Pass	Thomas	9
Pryor (+1) enters the game and promptly completes a slant to Flash Thomas (+1) who goes into traffic to get the ball. Shugarts, Brewster and Adams see the first action of their sure-to-be glorious careers.
OSU-44	2/1	Shotgun Two Back	Run	Pryor	2
Pryor runs the option with Beanie to the right (short side) and decides to keep it for a short gain. If Shugarts (-1) had decided to block, it could have gone for big yardage.
OSU-46	1/10	I-Form Twins	Pass	Beanie	2
Great protection before Pryor goes through his progressions before showing nice touch by dumping the ball off to Beanie in the left flat.
OSU-48	2/8	Shotgun Five Wide	Run	Pryor	14
In a called run, Pryor (+1) keeps the ball and shows some good shakes (bye-bye, safety) before picking up the first down (and then some). Great downfield blocking out of Thomas (+1).
OPP-38	1/10	I-Form Twins	Run	Saine	-1
Adams (-1) has two guys to choose from to block and chooses neither. Saine never really had a chance on the play as it was run right into Adams' side and the LB blew it up in the backfield.
OPP-39	2/11	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	Nicol	14
Plenty of time to throw and Pryor hits Nicol (+1) for a nice grab over the middle for the first down. Pryor now perfect on this first three throws.
OPP-25	1/10	Shotgun Three Wide	Run	Saine	6
Pryor makes the pitch to Saine on an option left after the ROLB had closed on him. Saine (+1) turns a 3 yard gain into 6 yards by making the first guy miss.
OPP-19	2/4	Shotgun Three Wide	Run	Saine	14
A well-run option to the right this time, with Saine (+1) dancing the sideline for extra yards. Pryor (+1) does a nice job of sucking the defense up and looks like he's been running the option for 1,000 years.
OPP-5	1/G	I-Form Two Tight	Run	Saine	1
Despite decent blocking, there's nothing really there for Saine on the inside handoff.
OPP-4	2/G	Shotgun Five Wide	Run	Pryor	-4
Great defense as Pryor is stuffed on the draw.
OPP-8	3/G	Shotgun Five Wide	Pass	Pryor	-6
Andrew Miller (-1) is blown up by his guy on the play and Pryor never really had a chance. First boos of the day.
Drive Notes: The future was on display with the Pryor, the freshman lineman, Posey and Thomas all on the field for this drive. It started promising, but the -9 yards after getting the 1st and goal lead to another field goal and a 13-0 Buckeye lead. Eight of the 11 plays were run out of the shotgun.

14:52 - 12:43 2nd Quarter, Field Goal
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OPP-34	1/10	I-Form Twins	Run	Beanie	25
Bauserman enters the game and pitches left to Beanie (+1) for a big gain. Brandon Smith (+1) provides the key block allowing Beanie to cut the run inside at the edge.
OPP-9	1/G	I-Form Two Tight	Run	Beanie	3
Bauserman checked off into a handoff to Beanie to the right. Decent blocking and Wells falls forward for an extra yard at the end.
OPP-6	2/G	Single Back Two Tight	Run	Beanie	-2
Pitch left to Beanie but Boone's (-1) guy gets penetration into the backfield, causing Wells to cut up into a tackle.
OPP-8	3/G	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	Hartline	0
Good protection up front and a nice throw from Bauserman to Hartline, but it may have been a tad late and Hartline is unable to come up with the reception on the left side of the endzone (despite the call on the field initially being a TD).
Drive Notes: Ohio State had to settle for yet another field goal after recovering a fumble in prime Youngstown State territory. OSU 16, YSU 0.

9:00 - 5:17 2nd Quarter, Field Goal
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OSU-31	1/10	Shotgun Three Wide	Run	Beanie	4
Draw to Beanie who picks up a few yards on the left side.
OSU-35	2/6	I-Form Twins	Pass	Hartline	12
Boeckman (+1) makes a nice throw and Hartline (+1) makes a nice catch on the right side. Good overall protection and good pocket presence as Boeckman completes the pass just before pressure arrived.
OSU-47	1/10	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	Robiskie	0
Boeckman again with all day to throw, hesitates twice and then throws deep for Robo in single coverage within the five. Despite acrobatics, Robo is unable to come down with the ball.
OSU-47	2/10	I-Form Twins	Pass	Ballard	9
Great catch out of Ballard (+1) as Boeckman throws the ball to the wrong side of his body.
OPP-44	3/1	I-Form Two Tight	Run	Beanie	4
Handoff to Beanie and he bounces it outside to the right for the first down. Brandon Smith delivers another nice block.
OPP-40	1/10	I-Form Twins	Pass	Robiskie	6
Boeckman does a good job of stepping up into the pocket to avoid pressure and hits Robo on the comeback.
OPP-34	2/4	Single Back Three Wide	Pass	Boeckman	1
Nice blitz pickup out of Boom (+1). Boeckman sees nothing and tucks the ball for a short gain.
OPP-33	3/3	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	Boeckman	0
Decent protection and Boom was wide-open flaring out of the backfield, but Boeckman's pass is batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Drive Notes: Boeckman finished 3 for 5 passing on the drive and though Robo had a chance on the deep ball, his 3rd down pass was knocked down at the line of scrimmage. Pretorius bangs in the 51-yarder as the Buckeyes settle for their fourth-straight field goal and go up 19-0.

2:42 - 1:16 2nd Quarter, Touchdown
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OPP-45	1/10	Shotgun Two Back	Pass	Smith	0
Great protection again before Boeckman (-1) throws the ball into Brandon Smith's feet, earning boos from the faithful. Todd is now 5/10 for 78 yards on the afternoon.
OPP-45	2/10	Shotgun Four Wide	Pass	Small	9
Good rhythm, delivery and release as Boeckman (+1) with Ray Small on a slant.
OPP-36	3/1	I-Form Two Tight	Run	Beanie	2
Give is to Wells over the right side for a short gain and a first down.
OPP-34	1/10	I-Form Twins	Pass	Beanie	3
Boeckman shows nice touch hitting Beanie out of the backfield for a short gain. I love seeing Beanie getting thrown to this often.
OPP-31	2/7	Single Back Three Wide	Pass	Robiskie	31
Boeckman (+1) delivers a nice ball to Robo on a seam route, before taking a hit in the pocket. Robo (+1) was blanketed, but comes down with the ball for six. He leaves the field favoring his shoulder and would not return (uncalled facemask against Robo on the play as well).
Drive Notes: On their final drive of the first half, the Buckeyes end the field goal streak (slump?) by putting up another touchdown to take a 26-0 lead. After he earned boos with his first pass of the possession, Boeckman bounces back to complete his next three passes for a total of 43 yards.

11:23 - 7:14 3rd Quarter, Fumble (Turnover)
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OSU-44	1/10	Pistol	Pass	Beanie	5
The first look at the pistol, or what closely resembles the traditional pistol, features Boeckman in a short shotgun with Beanie behind him and Brandon Smith to his left. Beanie (+1) makes a nice one-handed grab in the right flat and drags a tackler for two yards at the end of the play.
OSU-49	2/5	Shotgun Three Wide	Run	Beanie	16
Beanie (+1) bounces a draw outside for a 16 yard gain and ANOTHER BUCKEYE FIRST DOWN! Person (+1) picks up a huge block pulling on the play. Small (+1) had a nice block downfield as well.
OPP-35	1/10	Single Back Three Wide	Pass	Boeckman	2
Good coverage out of the Penguins as Boeckman moves through his progressions before tucking the ball for a short gain. He did put the ball on the ground (-1) at the end of the play, but was able to recover his own fumble.
OPP-33	2/8	Single Back Three Wide	Pass	Sanzenbacher	4
Play action to Beanie leads to a rollout to right where Boeckman promptly lays Dane Sanzenbacher out to dry. Props to Dane for holding onto the ball (+1) and to Nicol for being the first Buckeye on the scene to peal Dane off of the turf.
OPP-29	3/4	Shotgun Two Back	Pass	Small	-5
The infamous 10-yard running false start out of Small (-1).
OPP-34	3/9	Shotgun Two Back	Pass	Small	18
The Ghost redeems himself by making a catch and then making the first two guys miss (+1). Great pickups be Beanie and Boom, who each stayed in to block.
OPP-16	1/10	Shotgun Four Wide	Pass	Small	8
Bubble screen to Small to the right. Nice throw by Boeckman and great downfield blocking from Taurian Washington (+1).
OPP-8	2/2	I-Form Two Tight	Run	Beanie	6
Nice hole up the middle, which Beanie proceeds to gallop through. One lone defensive back prevented a touchdown.
OPP-2	1/10	I-Form Two Tight	Run	Beanie	-2
The moment 100,000+ went silent. After hurrying to the line to get the play off, Beanie crumples in pain and coughs up the ball (-1). "Gentleman, it is better to have died a young boy than to have fumbled this football."
Drive Notes: After starting the drive with a one-handed catch and a 16-yard run, the series came to a horrific conclusion with Beanie's injury (and fumble) inside the YSU five yard line. Taking a more positive approach, Ray Small looked like a playmaker on this drive, at least.

5:00 - 2:01 3rd Quarter, Touchdown
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OPP-46	1/10	Shotgun Two Back	Run	Herron	5
Inside handoff to Boom, who makes a good inside cut (+1) on the run. The run was essentially a draw after faking a handoff to the other back first.
OPP-41	2/5	Single Back Three Wide	Run	Boeckman	4
Somewhat perplexed on this fake end-around which Boeckman kept to run up the middle. I've watched this play ten times and still can't decide if it went as drawn up. Was Small supposed to grab that handoff?
OPP-37	3/1	I-Form Two Tight	Run	Herron	5
Nifty running out of Herron (+1) as he cut up the inside to pick up the first down.
OPP-32	1/10	Shotgun Two Back	Pass	Smith	6
Nice touch on the Boeckman pass to Brandon Smith out of the backfield. Smith lowers the shoulders and picks up six.
OPP-26	2/4	I-Form Twins	Run	Herron	1
The blitzing corner picked up Herron near the line of scrimmage -- nice defensive play out of the Penguins.
OPP-25	3/3	Shotgun Five Wide	Pass	Posey	25
Posey catches a hitch on the right side, jukes his man (+1) and then jets to the pylon for the score.
Drive Notes: After the defense stepped up following the Wells injury and forced a punt deep, the offense inherited excellent field position and capitalized with Posey's first Buckeye touchdown.

0:13 3rd Quarter - 12:48 4th Quarter, Touchdown
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OSU-32	1/10	Pistol	Run	M. Wells	2
Pryor is back in at quarterback and a *true* pistol is shown. Inside handoff to Rasta Wells for a short gain.
OSU-34	2/8	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	M. Wells	10
Pryor has plenty of time to throw and starts to run right before dumping to Mo Wells who puts on a nifty move (+1) to extend a 6 yard catch into a first down.
OSU-44	1/10	Pistol	Run	Pryor	21
Out of the pistol, Pryor (+1) fakes the inside handoff to Wells before tucking the ball and racing down the right sideline for 21. The camera man bites on the fake.
OPP-35	1/10	Shotgun Three Wide	Run	Pryor	4
Finding nothing open, Pryor tucks the ball and runs for a short gain. His speed turns a play of no gain into four yards.
OPP-31	2/6	I-Form Twins	Run	M. Wells	13
Inside handoff to Mo Wells, who breaks two tackles (+1) on the way to a first down pickup. Rehring (+1) and Boone (+1) do a nice job of creating the initial hole.
OPP-18	1/10	Pistol	Run	Pryor	18
Wells lines up in behind Pryor in the pistol, and fakes a handoff before Pryor (+1) does his thing on the left side, walking/stretching in for six. This play will be hard to stop, regardless of the running back used.
Drive Notes: Pryor got his first shot at playing with the ones and delivered his first Buckeye touchdown. It's funny how much better Pryor made Mo Wells as an option out of the backfield on this series. Imagine the damage he and Beanie would do together.

10:57 - 5:08 4th Quarter, Field Goal
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OSU-20	1/10	I-Form Twins	Run	M. Wells	2
Bauserman is back in with the 2nd team line and the Penguins load eight guys into the box and gamble on the run, stopping Wells for after a short gain.
OSU-22	2/8	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	Posey	4
Posey catches a hitch for short yardage. Good zip on the ball from Bauserman.
OSU-26	3/4	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	Posey	11
Great protection as Bauserman throws underneath to Posey who turns the play up for four more yards after making the catch.
OSU-37	1/10	Single Back Three Wide	Run	Bauserman	1
Good coverage out of YSU on the play (though Posey was open again). After not finding anyone open, Bauserman (-1) tucks the ball for short yardage. Great line protection on the play as well.
OSU-38	2/9	Pistol	Run	Bauserman	8
The pistol is for white dudes as well, evidently. Bauserman (+1) fakes an inside handoff to Rasta Wells and does his own Pryor impression, rushing around the left end to leave a 3rd and one.
OSU-46	3/1	I-Form Two Tight	Run	M. Wells	4
Inside handoff to Wells who picks up the first down. Mike Adams (+1) was hammering on his guy five yards off the line of scrimmage.
OSU-50	1/10	Shotgun Five Wide	Pass	Larson	0
The Penguins were coming on a blitz and Bauserman hung in there before slightly overthrowing a wide open J.D. Larson down the middle of the field.
OSU-50	2/10	Single Back Three Wide	Run	M. Wells	11
Draw play to Wells who has a huge hole on the right side of the field thanks to Shugarts (+1) and others sealing things off.
OPP-39	1/10	I-Form Twins	Run	Saine	0
Inside handoff to Saine, but Lukens (-1) was stood up and his guy got penetration to shut down the play early.
OPP-39	2/10	I-Form	Run	--	-5
Penalty for breaking the huddle with 12 players. Not a shock with this many youngsters in.
OPP-44	2/15	Single Back Three Wide	Pass	Posey	7
Good protection for Bauserman as he hits Posey underneath for a short gain. Posey was a little slow to get up after the play (welcome to D1!).
OPP-37	3/8	Shotgun Two Back	Pass	Schwartz	0
Bauserman must have missed Posey after he went out because he badly overthrew (-1) Grant Schwartz on a sideline pattern. Nice pocket and protection once again on the play.
Drive Notes: By now, Beanie has made it back to the sideline and spirits are lifted. Bauserman is back on the field, although running with the 2nd team line. It sure looks like he's developing a rapport with Posey, but the team is held to another field goal, this one a 54-yarder from Pettrey as the Bucks go up 43-0.

2:59 - 1:36 4th Quarter, Turnover on Downs
LoS	Down/Dist	Formation	Type	Player	Yards
OPP-43	1/10	Shotgun Two Back	Run	Pryor	-4
Kerr (-1) watched his guy go right past him to tackle Pryor in the backfield.
OPP-47	2/14	Shotgun Five Wide	Pass	Schuck	0
Another nice pocket and protection but Pryor's pass glances off of Ryan Schuck's (-1) fingertips on a crossing pattern. Don't worry, I had never heard of Ryan Schuck, either.
OPP-47	3/14	Shotgun Three Wide	Pass	Pryor	7
The pocket starts to break down a little earlier than what he'd seen and Pryor tucks the ball and escapes around the right end, using his speed to get to the corner (+1). An illegal procedure penalty against the Buckeyes is declined on the play.
OPP-40	4/7	Shotgun Five Wide	Pass	Schwartz	0
Pryor ends his first game as a Buckeye by throwing high (-1) over Grant Schwartz who had found a spot in the middle of the zone.
Drive Notes: Pryor's third series of the day was run with the backups and although starting the drive at the YSU 43 and given several opportunities to throw the ball, the drive produced just the three yards and the Buckeyes turned the ball over on downs.

While we here at 11W are not officially invited to the weekly media luncheons and crashing it is not the PR move we need right now, the wonders of the internet allows us to be there and hopefully touch on a few of the highlights each week.

Of course the majority of the questions focused on Beanie's injury and Pyror's future role.

It appears as if Beanie's reaction to the "pop" he heard may be more severe than the injury itself. He told Tressel yesterday morning that he felt great and the treatments are working, but he will probably be listed as doubtful for OU this Saturday.

Tressel gave his typical answers when it came to Terrellr Pyror, saying he is learning every day, he is anxious to learn and his role will continue to grow as he grasp the entire package and develops consistency. While TP was listed as the third-stringer going into the YSU game, the Vest did say that if Todd were to go down with an injury, Pryor would be his replacement (that didn't take long).

After sifting through a couple dozen Beanie and TP questions, I was glad to hear someone ask about the red zone problems that resurfaced again on Saturday. Tressel could recall at least two times the team had 1st and 10 inside the 10 yard and the following mistakes lead to field goals.

There were the typical problems. The first one was we had an off-side penalty and all of a sudden we're second and whatever, 14, which it's a little more difficult to score from that vantage point. On one of them I recall, I think it was on Terrelle's first drive, one of the plays, the receivers didn't get the check and all of a sudden they were running a route and he was running the ball and there were the three guys that were supposed to be blocking right there, but mistakes, penalties, it's usually the case.

I was also interested to hear in the performance of Byrant Browning. It was his first career start and his continued development is key.

He did well, he didn't quite grade winning performance. The penalty might have been a little costly in that. But I thought he played solid, and he got about 40 snaps as a starter, as a right tackle solely. He had moved around a little bit last year. He was kind of our sixth guy so we had to have him a little bit of everywhere. Bryant's going to be good

Finally, you can read the entire transcript here, but be prepared for 20 different ways to ask the same question about Beanie's injury, as one reporter summed it up towards the end.

To ask the same question a hundred different ways, people, I think in this state have been for a couple days just waiting and wondering about Beanie. Is the main message today that Ohio State fans can go back to their lives and not be too worried about how Beanie Wells is doing.

Other Notes: Kurt Coleman is back practicing this week... The Buckeyes sent out 6 freshmen together on the third series of the game... Robo could have come back into the game if needed... No other injuries came out of the first game.

There is little doubt that Beanie's injury is going to be the major topic of discussion for the next 11 days and hopefully not beyond that. If you believe the early reports and rumors, it looks as if his big toe will be healed in time for the USC game and Buckeye fans should have no worries.

However, what if it lingers beyond Sept. 13th? Which direction do you think JT will take the offense and more importantly, who gets the bulk of carries.

From early results of our current poll, most of you believe Boom Herron will get his opportunity to carry the load. Jason touched on the rise of Boom last week, but he only carried it 5 times for 17 yards against YSU and had no catches, simply not enough touches to form an opinion. I liked the way he ran for his first game and will be anxious to see him get 15 or so carries this week.

The crew here at 11W have not been the biggest fans of Mo Wells and his production over the last three years, but starting late last season, I have sensed a different back and that showed again on Saturday. He averaged 7 yards per touch (6 for 42 yards) and he seemed very effective running the pistol formation with TP. I still don't think he can be the primary back, but his change of pace could be crucial to OSU's success in the coming weeks.

Brandon Saine wasn't used as much on Saturday, but that still could be the lingering effects of his injury in fall camp. Tressel doesn't like to rush players back and Saine's touches could still be limited until USC.

Then again, Bollman and Tressel could take the opposite approach and let the QB's and WR's get most of the work. I think Ohio State's passing game is going to be awesome this year. I know there is still some distrust of Boeckman, but 14-19 for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns is not a bad start. His feet were happy again, but The Todd even admitted to that and we can chalk it up to first game jitters.

11 Buckeyes caught passes Saturday and that group doesn't include T. Washington or Saine. With the early emergence of Devier Posey and Lamaar Thomas, Tressel has a minimum of 7 receivers he can throw out there. I don't care how good USC, Oklahoma or Florida is, if JT can rotate receivers the entire game and get effective QB play, there is no defense that can stop the attack.

I know, I know, what about LIC? Terrelle was impressive in his first game, but I don't think he is going to take the offense away from Todd. What we saw of TP on Saturday is what we will see all year. His touches may increase as the season progresses, but I don't see the coaching staff forcing him to do too much with Todd at the helm.

With that being said, how exciting is this kid going to be? I try not to look ahead too much, but the only seniors amongst the WR's and RB's are Robiskie and Mo Wells...sick.

I want to know your opinions. Beanie is out and you are the offensive coordinator, which direction do you take? Do you trust anyone to run it 20 times a game or do you turn it over to the quarterbacks and wide receivers?

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I am floored by the response we received for the 11W stickers, but don't worry, we have plenty. I was going to try and get them out this past weekend, but real life called and everyone will now have them for the USC game. If you are still interested, please email me corey@elevenwarriors.com

Chris touched on this with the Blogpoll ballot post yesterday, but I really, really hope we're not witnessing a new meme in college football. Last season, the theme was upsets with Appalachian State, Pitt, and Stanford just adding flavor to the not-so earth-shattering, but equally upsetting victories such as Illinois dropping Ohio State, Arkansas upending LSU and Michigan taking out Florida.

It was crazy, but it was fun. What's not so fun is seeing so many impact players suffering injuries this early in the season (with a large percentage of them torn ACLs and the end of the season that come with that one).

Before the season had even started, Florida suffered five ACL tears, including the loss of tight end Cornelius Ingram for the season. Auburn lost a starting cornerback (ACL), Georgia lost Sturdivant (ACL) and saw a slew of other injuries, Mark Sanchez dislocated his kneecap and McKnight suffered two freakish injuries all before their teams had even hit the field.

The carnage didn't exactly let up on opening weekend either. Georgia was dealt their second big blow when starting defensive tackle Jeff Owens went down (ACL). Dawg fans got another scare when Knowshon Moreno sat out the 2nd half after tweaking his hamstring suffering leg cramps.

We had our own hometown horror, Mizzou's Jeremy Maclin suffered a left ankle sprain against the Illini and Auburn saw three receivers get hurt.

Can you ever really fault a junior for wanting to leave early now?

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Somewhat lost in all of the Beanie hoopla was the huge get by the Buckeyes in the form of Miami running back Jaamal Berry. Rated in the top handful of running backs in the 2009 class by both Rivals and Scout, he's ESPN's top prospect at the position. A major, major win by any standard, Berry should put this class into top spot contention once again.

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A couple of former Buckeye quarterbacks saw action over the weekend, both with similar results. Rob Schoenhoft got the start for Delaware at Maryland. He finished 14/22 for 128 yards through the air, but his lone interception was a costly one, allowing the Terrapins to run out the clock on the ensuing possession.

Meanwhile, Antonio Henton, despite not starting, got into the game for Georgia Southern against Georgia. He finished 10/18 for 102 yards, an interception and a 34-yard touchdown toss with 1:45 remaining in the 45-21 loss.

The good news for each of these guys is that the defenses they face going forward figure to be considerably easier than what they saw Saturday.

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Our YouTube's runneth over. This seems to be the season when abundant video footage is a reality. Jeff has his collection, which is worth checking out. OHD has been burning up the tubes as of late and The-Ozone and other outfits have established outposts*. This internet thing is slightly okay, right?

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11W wallpaper is up and can be downloaded in various resolutions here. We hope to add more soon, but we have a first at least.

Also, Tuesday at 5PM is last call for Soapbox submissions. There should be plenty of things on your mind this week. Why not unload them on all 31 of our readers?

* Our own stagnantly humble collection of videos can be found here.

The only official news out of Ohio State today is that Beanie is still in a protective boot and he had an MRI though the results weren't known.

The better news comes from various players who've chimed in after speaking with Wells. Both Brian Hartline and Ryan Pretorious have indicated they expect Beanie to return soon.

The next doctor with info was recent verbal commit Jaamal Berry. The RB from Florida saw Beanie at the WHAC on Sunday:

"He said he's going to be OK," said Berry, who was visiting from Miami Palmetto High School. "I asked him how he was doing, and he seemed cool with it. He wasn't down or anything. He was like, 'No problem'. I guess he'll be back, if not this week (against Ohio University), he'll be fine by next week".

12 days...