Eleven Warriors

Badgers to Hold Open Running Back Tryouts
Wisconsin rolls into town this weekend, but will they bring their rushing attack with them? Super soph P.J. Hill sustained a deep leg bruise in the Badgers victory over Indiana last week. After scoring from 1 yard out in the first quarter, Hill's day ended early (not before racking up 12 carries in the first 9 minutes of the game, though).

Hill's status this weekend is still up in the air, and as Jeff pointed out, Hill's backup, Lance Smith is unable to travel outside the state due to battery charges stemming from an incident where he pushed his girlfriend down over a cab fare dispute and get this -- later took her shoes to prevent her from leaving.

Should Hill not be able to go, freshman Zach Brown will get the nod. I'm sure the defense relishes the opportunity to take on P.J. Hill, but if you can play Wisconsin without Hill, you take it and love it.

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This is Penn State, Bitch
There's a video out that shows Penn State fraternity rats pelting a couple of Buckeye fans (work warning: profanities). If you've ever had even the slightest neutral thoughts about Penn State, they will vanish after seeing the video.

A sampling of the reviews:

• EDSBS: "Ohio State fans have achieved the impossible. Despite craving the taste of teargas from birth, allegedly beating up handicapped people, and entering each game with the homicidal zeal of an ultra-nationalist Spartak supporter armed with a Camelbak full of cut rate vodka distilled from radioactive Ukrainian produce, you have become an object of sympathy."
• Black Shoe Diaries: "To the Ohio State fans featured in the video, I'm sorry. On behalf of the 99% of Penn State fans that are nice people capable of showing respect to opposing fans, I'm sorry. This is not the Penn State I know and love."
• The M Zone: "And the little smiling turd 'from Pittsburgh' - and any others who can be identified - should be charged with something."
• Men of the Scarlet and Gray: "Thank you Penn State fans for making idiotic Ohio State fans look like civilized gents who sip their tea with their pinky fingers extended."

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For USC, the Hits Keep Coming Not only does Surfer Pete have to deal with the fact that his Trojan squad, ordained since February or so as the 2007 National Champions, has recorded two losses before the start of November. Now ghosts of the past -- namely Reggie Bush -- are starting to catch up with him.

A sports marketer has filed a lawsuit against Bush and his parents seeking to get back $300k in cash and gifts given to Bush during his sophomore and junior seasons at USC.

Will the Trojans be on probation when the Buckeyes square off against them next fall?

We've talked a lot around here about how the Buckeyes offense has not missed a beat from last season, despite having to replace 4 skill players of which one won the Heisman and two others were NFL 1st round selections. We even half-joked that the 2007 version of the Buckeye offense was actually an upgrade from 2006.

While an upgrade may be a bit of a stretch, the numbers seem to indicate that Boeckman, Wells, Robo & Co. are performing just as well as their great counterparts of 2006.

It's a fairly easy case for an upgrade at the running back spot. Beanie is the best Buckeye running back since Eddie and when it's all said and done (only a soph, he's definitely back for one more) he may be regarded as better.

Through 9 Games

	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
Pittman	163	894	5.48	10
Wells	174	996	5.72	7

Pitt actually matches up well with Beanie just looking at the data, but when you throw in Wells' 4 carry week off against Kent State, and the fact that you've actually seen him throwing defenders 5 yards downfield with a stiff-arm, this comparison isn't really that close.

No disrespect to Pittman, a very good back, but Beanie operates on that other level.

Raise your hand if you thought Robiskie would put up better numbers than Ginn. To say this would have been pure blashpemy in July, but Robo is indeed an upgrade.

Ginn benefited more from sheer speed than anything else. Even as a senior when his route-running had improved, it still wasn't in the class of what Robo puts out each weekend. Robo has the routes of Holmes and the (college) size and fluidness of David Boston. He's not exactly slow, either.

	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Ginn	44	611	13.89	7
Gonzalez	41	621	15.15	6
	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Robiskie	41	787	19.20	8
Hartline	34	429	12.62	5

Anthony Gonzalez was loved for his awesome quotes and knack for making clutch catches. With the injury to Harrison, he's seeing playing time for the NFL's 2nd-best offense and his admirers in Buckeye Nation are numerous.

But there honestly isn't anything I can remember Gonzo doing that I don't think Harline could do.

Through nine games, Hartline is slightly off Gonzo's pace, but some of Gonzo's looks have been distributed to tight ends this season. Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that there's nothing Gonzo did at Ohio State that I don't think Hartline could do.

Still, slight edge to Gonzalez -- but Hartline is only a sophomore.

I'm going to be generous and give Biggie Small an edge over Robo last season as the team's 3rd receier. They each managed to lead the team in receptions through 9 as the 3rd receiver and Small's juke skills and speed are what puts him ahead.

The Ghost is alive and well -- and while not having Ginn-speed, he's close. His 60 yard catch was the longest play from scrimmage Penn State has allowed this season.

Finally, at quarterback, the Buckeyes replaced a Heisman trophy winning quarterback -- a guy many fans considered the best quarterback in school history -- with a guy that's putting up similar numbers, all during his first 8 starts.

	CMP	ATT	CMP %	YDS	TD	INT
Smith	145	214	67.8	1898	22	2
Boeckman	139	209	66.5	1799	21	8

Maturity, great size and an NFL-arm have already pushed Boeckman to 4th on the Buckeye list for most touchdown passes in a season with 21. With four to play and seeing how he's thrown at least two touchdowns in every game this season, he has a decent shot at Smith's school record of 30, set last year. Say he falls one short and finishes with 29. That's more than Hoying and equal to Germaine's greatest season.

Smith could bring plays back from the dead with his scrambling ability, but Boeckman is starting to look scary. Against Michigan State two weeks ago and Saturday against Penn State, he went into halftime with at least 180 yards. If called upon, he could easily put up 350. That's a comforting feeling.

The numbers are nearly identical, although Todd has thrown a few more picks. Chalk that up to the fact that it's his first year starting. So, give Smith a slight edge for his ability to create plays, but make no doubt about it -- Boeckman is a better passer right now than Smith will ever be.

The new crew is certainly measuring up to their celebrated predecessors. Of course, this is all just really a testimony to the Vest's ability to tailor his playbook to suit the abilities of the players he has to work with. Run it with Krenzel, move the pocket with Troy and now that he has a classic pocket passer, let it rip.

This week's Buckeye NFLer is Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots. The Patriots remain undefeated and continued their domination of the NFL by creaming the Washington Redskins in their own backyard, 52-7.

Vrabel totaled 13 tackles (11 solo), 3 QB sacks, and forced 3 fumbles. All 3 of Vrabel's sacks attributed to fumbles by the 'Skins QB, Jason Campbell.

It would not be a good idea to dress up like Mike Vrabel and show up at the Campbell residence for Halloween. Not only would it scare Campbell to death, but he could very likely drop the bowl of candy to give out to the other beggars.

Vrabel's week 8 defensive stats were good enough to win the Buckeye NFLer Award alone. But once again, Mike contributed on both sides of the ball. Vrabel caught a 2nd quarter, 2-yard TD pass from Tom Brady. This was Mike's 10th career TD catch and his 2nd of the 2007 season.

Vrabel's 2 TD receptions for 2007 ties him for 5th in the league for TD receptions by a TE. Not bad for a linebacker.

Our third contest had the most participation so far and not coincidentally, OSU has won all three games in convincing fashion. I guess that fact ensures the next edition will be for a certain game to be played November 17 in Ann Arbor.

With a prediction of 41-17, reader David L. emerged victorious winning an autographed photo of Penn State killa Chris Gamble.

That's such a fine prize that we're having internal discussions about renaming the site Generous Warriors.

Anyway, congrats to David L. and keep your prediction skills sharp in prep for Showdown Saturday.

Finally, a return to normalcy in these parts. And by normalcy, I mean that only two teams in the top ten suffered defeats while the 2nd ten completely crashed and burned. These things grow more and more difficult to do every week.

The Buckeyes hold on the to top spot, while Oregon jumps LSU into the 2nd position. That's a function of LSU having the week off and a combination of the LSU loss at Kentucky looking worse, with the Oregon win over Michigan looking better and better. With Oregon welcoming Arizona State this weekend, the top come to focus even further next week.

We feel great about picks 1-9, but picks 10 and on, not so much.

As always, you can check the ballots of every voter and the final version is due Wednesday morning, so get your thoughts in by Tuesday night if you think we got it wrong.

1		The doubters are thinning. Always tough Wisky comes to Columbus this weekend.	--
2		Dennis Dixon and the Ducks took care of USC and welcome ASU to town this weekend.	1
3		The Tigers had a bye before going to Alabama this weekend.	1
4		Earned some respect with that comeback in Blacksburg. The Eagles take on Florida State this weekend.	1
5		Say what you will about the guy -- cough -- penalties -- cough -- program out of control -- cough, but Dennis Erickson can coach. HUGE matchup in Autzen this weekend.	2
6		The Sooners had a bye before playing Texas A&M this weekend.	2
7		White, Slaton and crew demolished Rutgers. There's an outside shot the Mountaineers can get to New Orleans, but a few teams will have to lose.	1
8		The Mangino express will be the latest team to destroy Nebraska this weekend.	1
9		Took care of Iowa state handily. Travel to Colorado for a tricky road game this weekend.	2
10		Georgia neutralized Tebow and frosh Knowshon Moreno got 188 on the ground. Georgia fan already dreaming of 2nd coming of Walker.. but smaller.	6
11		This is about as high as you'll find a 3-loss team. The Gators get Vandy this weekend. That used to be considered a breather.	3
12		It was another close game until late -- this team loves living on the edge, but Charles and the Horns put it on Nebraska late.	2
13		Look who's all the way back up at #13. Minny gave Michigan a scare early, but it wasn't close at the end.	6
14		Injuries have ravaged this team. I do take back what I said about Joe McKnight looking slow a few weeks ago, though.	2
15		Depending on what side you're on, the Hokies either gave one away, or Matt Ryan looked the Heisman part late. Probably a little of both.	5
16		So, Northern teams can play some ball with Southern teams. Imagine that. Huskies get Rutgers at home next.	NR
17		Will this team even be ranked at the end of the season? They welcome the Bearcats next.	4
18		Yawn. Beat Mississippi and welcome Tennessee Tech this weekend.	7
19		Karma shoves its foot up the OBC's ass once again as the Buckeyes roll, while he goes down to a guy he used to collect rent from.	4
20		The Deacons beat UNC and square off against Virginia in Charlottesville this weekend.	NR
21		Hawaii beat the hell out of New Mexico State, but they won't move up much further until they beat a BCS team - which won't happen this year.	1
22		20 minutes away from moving into #1 a few weeks back, the Bears have suddenly lost 3 straight. The hippies protesting the new stadium have already won.	5
23		Bear Saban's boys had a bye before they welcome LSU to town this weekend.	--
24		The Badgers got back on track by throttling Indiana 33-3. Hoosier receiver James Hardy was held to 17 yards receving a week after torching Penn State.	NR
25		Why not? Troy can prove this ranking worthy by knocking off Georgia this weekend. Unlikely, but..	NR

DROPPED OUT: Virginia (#18), Kentucky (#20), Penn State (#21), Rutgers (#24).

Since 11W's last installment of Buckeye Seedlings, the Ohio State football team has extended its winning streak to 27 straight regular season games and they look poised to make another run at an undefeated season. Off the field Tressel has continued to hit the recruiting trail and he landed three recruits in the last two weeks. Lamaar Thomas and Travis Howard committed to the 2008 class and Storm Klein became the second member of the 2009 class.

Howard committed last week after making a visit to Cbus for the Michigan State game. He is a 6'1" DB from Miami and his 4.43 speed should help the Buckeyes in bowl games against faster opponents (remember the Big Ten is slow). Travis's teammate Etienne Sabino is also another Buckeye target and both recently informed Miami they were going elsewhere.

Lamaar Thomas committed a couple of weeks ago on ESPNU. He is considered by some to be the top rated prospect in Maryland and #32 nationally. Ohio State used the Ted Ginn angle and showed Thomas he could be the next triple threat at OSU. He picked Ohio State over 30 other Division I scholarship offers.

While being #1 in the country certainly helps recruiting, it looks as if landing Michael Brewster has also helped. Brewster is considered the top player in Florida and has been committed to the Buckeyes since early this year. It sounds like he is working the phones, assisting Luke Fickell and other coaches in landing their targeted prospects. He wants a chance to block for Terrelle Pryor and is looking for car pool buddies from Floridia. Ohio State will host some commitments and targets this weekend against Whisky and another domination could lead to a few more verbals.

Rebuild? Try Upgrade
You cannot say enough about the play of Todd, Beanie and the receivers -- even the tight ends.

As a result, many fans are today thinking what was unthinkable only two months prior: last season was actually the rebuilding year.

Not quite, but the way guys have been able to step into shoes left by NFL draftees is the single biggest story of this 2007 season.

Beanie gets 133 on the nation's 9th best rushing defense and Boeckman and the receivers go Mike Leach.

Of course, none of that would be possible without the line doing its thing. The Lions failed to get any type of real pressure after coming in leading the nation in sacks with 35. They got one. But it was meaningless and came pretty late in the game.

You could have driven Mark Mangino through the hole they created for the running game. That group, knocked perhaps the hardest following the Glendale Debacle, are getting it done. Their ability to power the way to scores on 7 of 9 opening drives this season and the number of 85+ yard drives they have churned out has been sick.

Since I refuse to believe that the Big Ten is the new Ivy, looks like Tressel's most complete team to date. And whenever you hear static from a Penn State fan in the future, just reply with "zero punts".

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Who Is That Calling Plays?
Last week, I mentioned that I thought maybe the Vest decided to show more emotion as a lesson learned from the loss to Florida. Well, you can add playbook diversification to that list of lessons.

Tressel and the coaches have done a great job of repeatedly throwing the ball downfield to pull defenders out of the box against Beanie. What's been the pleasant surprise is just how many of those bombs are paying off.

In Boeckman, the coaches have a quarterback that is capable of dealing the ball to each of his options and they're taking advantage of this. Stack the box to take away Beanie and they'll throw over top of you. Try to take away Beanie and the receivers, one of the tight ends will come up huge.

Tight end Rory Nicol notched a career high six receptions while fellow tight end Jake Ballard scored a touchdown for the second consecutive week.

How slick has the playcalling been? Consider this quote from Penn State defensive back Lydell Sargeant:

"They pretty much ran everything that we did not see. They did not run anything we were used to or saw in tape. We adjusted to things in the second half, but they ran plays that we could not pick up on.""

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Ammo for the Animal Haters
Yes, Laurinaitis only recorded two tackles and that will only further solidify the opinions of some that believe he's overrated.

As Chris pointed out, Animal was neutralized by well-executed blocking schemes. Luckily, Marcus Freeman had a career night with 14 stops.

Still, the success Penn State had running the football is cause for some mild alarm. Fans would no doubt be more stressed if the Buckeye offense didn't move the ball like some of Pete Carroll's 2004 units last night.

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Terrell Pryor Impact
Penn State was probably on the verge of being crossed off of Terrelle Pryor's list before the events of last night. Consider them gone.

With rumors of Pryor having the Buckeyes at the top of his list and both Tressel and Matta flying in on a private jet to meet with Pryor Thursday night, the 37-17 thrashing of Penn State definitely didn't hurt the Buckeyes' efforts.

The flip side of that is maybe Pryor saw Boeckman looking like a guy Pryor would have to sit behind next season.

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Totally Unrelated, But We Can't Stop Watching
You've probably already seen this a million times already, but we can't get enough of it:

With all the hype surrounding two nationally ranked defenses, it was the Buckeye offense that stole the show in a 37-17 rout of Penn State. The offensive domination was paced by Todd Boeckman who had his best game as a Buckeye going 19/26 for a career high 253 yards and 3 TDs silencing the Beaver Stadium crowd with 4 touchdown drives of at least 78 yards. Boeckman's success through the air set up the rushing attack and Beanie Wells took full advantage with 25 punishing carries for 133 yards to eclipse the century mark for the 2nd straight game.

The offense set the tone early taking a 3-0 lead on Ryan Pretorius' 50 yard FG on their opening possession then answering PSU's opening TD drive by marching 80 yards for a TD as Boeckman hooked up with Brian Robiskie on a nice 9 yard out route to take a 10-7 lead with 5 minutes left in the 1st quarter. After the Buckeye defense forced a punt the offense came back on the field for the drive of the night. A game changing drive doesn't normally occur at the start of the 2nd quarter but it did tonight as Boeckman engineered a 15 play, 91 yard masterpiece chewing up over 6 minutes before hitting Brian Hartline on a perfectly executed WR screen on 3rd and 14 at the PSU 16 yard line. The drive silenced the 2nd largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history and the 17-7 lead at the break looked like it would be enough as the defense found its groove after surrendering the early touchdown.

The second half was more of the same as the Buckeye D came out and forced a punt setting up the OSU offense at its own 13 yard line. The Buckeyes promptly put the game out of reach with a backbreaking 13 play, 87 yard TD drive extended by a 4th and 1 conversion via a Boeckman sneak at the PSU 24 yard line. With the Wells brothers softening up the defense for 51 rushing yards on the drive, Boeckman continued a game long theme of getting the TE's involved hitting Rory Nicol for an 8 yard completion before finding Jake Ballard on a 15 yard TD giving the Bucks a 24-7 cushion against the nation's 9th ranked defense with under 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

The teams exchanged FG's before a desperate Anthony Morelli served up a 24 yard Pick-Six to Malcolm Jenkins giving the Bucks a 34-10 lead capping a solid, if not spectacular effort by the defense. As expected, the Silver Bullets shut down the mediocre Morelli holding him to just 12/21 and 111 yards before Joe Pa threw in the towel to get backup QB Daryll Clark some reps.

It remains to be scene if the pundits will again change their mind as to whether OSU has been tested, the result of the Buckeyes statisically dominating every foe to date. I can already hear the Mark May's of the world surmising that winning on the road, at night against PSU really wasn't that impressive. As I typed that last line, May is the background pounding his chest proclaiming Michigan will beat the Buckeyes. The good news is many of the doubters learned something tonight and the better news is that none of that chatter matters. The bottom line is the Buckeyes continued their evolution as a unit and control their destiny with three games to play in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Me likes.

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OFFENSE:

Did you get the feeling the offense took a big step tonight? I did. While the unit has been impressive all year, it was exciting to see Boeckman play such a heady game (minus the INT) on the road against a Top 10 defense. He was on fire making some difficult throws over the middle including one to Brian Hartline in between 3 DB's and another in the face of pressure to Jake Ballard to convert a key 3rd down on the TD drive resulting in the 24-7 lead late in the 3rd quarter. Boeckman's growth has been the key to the undefeated start complementing a punishing rushing attack led by Beanie Wells.

Beanie put together another terrific night rushing for 133 yards on 25 bruising carries showing no ill effects from his gimpy ankle. His cuts were sharp as ever and he showed his usual patience at the line of scrimmage although he didn't have to wait long for holes to emerge behind an offensive line that had arguably its best game of the season. The line buoyed a balanced attack that rushed for 200 yards and passed for 253 surrending just one sack and possessing the ball for nearly 38 minutes. OSU converted 12-16 third downs to extend long scoring drives wearing out both the crowd and the PSU defense. Oh, and how many times did OSU punt tonight? Try zero.

I'm no offensive coordinator but I thought Tressel was much more agressive with his playcalling after seemingly letting off the gas a little early last week against his buddy Mark Dantonio before MSU got the two fluke turnover TDs. This week, Tressel continued to attack through the air as the Nittany Lion defense stacked the box with 8 men blitzing early and often. This strategy worked as the line held off the blitz and Boeckman stood poised in the pocket. I'm not a huge fan of making a big deal over a QB's height but Boeckman certainly benefited from the ability to see over the defensive line allowing him to focus downfield and go through his progressions in the face of pressure. The only blip on Boeckman's night was a poor INT toss giving him INT's in back to back games for the first time this season.

Forgiving the INT, you have to feel good about the state of the offense. Tressel's favorite month is on the horizon and the offensive attack is balanced and not reliant on one guy to do all the heavy lifting. The unit has also proven it can function on the road in a hostile environment which will increase in importance if OSU gets by Wisconsin and Illinois before the showdown up north.

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DEFENSE:

The defense started a little shaky giving up a 78 yard TD drive to start the game but gave up just 185 yards the rest of the way forcing 4 straight punts and then two straight turnovers sandwiched between a 62 yard FG drive.

The secondary came up big again giving up just 124 pass yards while notching Jenkins' 24 yard interception return for a TD. The lockdown coverage also led to two sacks of Morelli on the night. Up front, the Buckeyes weren't as impressive allowing 139 yards on the ground, good for 6.0 yards per carry. That said, Penn State RB Rodney Kinlaw never really got loose carrying 14 times for 81 yards. Kinlaw proved fairly shifty and the blocking schemes kept James Laurinaitis from having much of impact, especially early in the game. This appeared to be aided by the lack of a blitz allowing the lead blocker to seal off #33 and he finished with just 2 tackles.

Like the offense, the Silver Bullets have a stable of weapons so Laurinaitis' off night was minimized by the solid efforts of Malcolm Jenkins and Marcus Freeman, among others. Freeman had another monster night with 14 tackles, Jenkins had his INT return, and Cam Heyward and Vernon Gholston both stood out wreaking havoc from the outside. All in all, it was another game, another solid performance for the defense.

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SPECIAL TEAMS:

PSU kept punter A.J. Trapasso from showing off his punting skills since they couldn't force the Bucks to punt, but they did allow him to show his kickoff skills as he recorded 3 touchbacks. Trapasso also put the wood to a PSU return man.

More impressive was the night of placekicker Ryan Pretorius. On a windy night in Happy Valley, he went 3-3 on FG's including a 50 yarder to ensure OSU left with points on their opening drive to keep the crowd in check.

While it didn't have any bearing on the outcome, the only bad news for special teams came in the form of another kickoff return for a TD in the game's final minutes.

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NOTES:

Penn State's 7-3 lead in the first quarter marked the first time in 311 game minutes that OSU trailed its opponent...The win made it 19 straight conference W's, tying the all-time conference record set by Michigan from 1990-92.

The Penn State contest has already received over 60 unique score submissions -- including some from the Nittany Lion faithful -- and the masses think it will be a 25-11 Buckeye victory (25.42 - 10.73 to be precise).

Granted, not too many Buckeye doubters hang in these parts and the data is further skewed by the fact that submitters may not have had their first (or second, third, etc.) choice available, but still fun to play with.

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The weather looks like it will cooperate. Still a slight-chance of some sprinkles, but tonight is looking nice.

Beaver Stadium is natural grass and the accumulation of rain over the past couple of days could have an effect on the edge speed that will be on the field tonight -- for both teams.

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Finally, the DDN caught up with the Gun Show for a Q & A. If only all interviews started like this:

Was there ever a time when you wish you weren't so big?

Hopefully MotSaG doesn't collectively wet itself.

Here's a toast to the first of your many adult beverages tomorrow. Let's hope we see this again.

Last chance to enter 11W's predict the score contest. Bonus contest trivia: the Penn St. game in 2002 was Chris Gamble's first action as a two way player.

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Preview: #1 Ohio State at #24 Penn State.