Since celebrating moral victories seems to be en vogue for both the football and hoops squad’s, I guess it’s good news the Buckeyes didn’t quit in addition to getting strong performances from B.J. Mullens and Wil Buford but they still didn’t have enough to threaten Sparty in a 67-58 loss tonight in the Breslin Center.

Buford scored a team high 17 points on 7/13 shooting while Mullens put up 16 points (8/14 FG), six boards and two blocks in 22 minutes. Considering the stiff competition, it was easily Mullens’ best performance of the season and it was much needed as Dallas Lauderdale laid another egg with two points, two rebounds, 3 blocks and two turnovers in 18 minutes of virtually invisible play.

Keeping with a recent theme, Ohio State allowed a big run to close the first half, this time a 21-7 stretch in which Sparty shot 5/6 from three point land while holding the Buckeyes to 2/10 shooting. The blitz turned a 17-14 Buckeye lead into a 35-24 halftime hole.

Preceding the run, OSU held Sparty scoreless for over four minutes forcing them into 4/15 from the floor before the defense once again lost track of perimeter shooters.

Though the offense sputtered shooting just 36% in the half, OSU did manage to assist on six of nine field goals compared to eight assists on 18 field goals for the entire Minnesota game. Baby steps, I guess.

Trailing 41-28 early in the second half, a 10-3 Buckeye run keyed by two triples and a dunk by Buford cut the deficit to eight at 44-36 but it was merely a teaser as the Buckeyes would get no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Evan Turner logged another 40 minutes and registered 14 points (5/11 FG), 10 rebounds and three steals after struggling with his shot (32.6%) in three previous games.

The Buckeyes get a chance to regroup with Houston Baptist coming to town Friday night before a home tilt with Indiana next Tuesday.

Hopefully, those two games will give Matta a chance to figure out what adjustments to make before back to back roadies against Michigan and Illinois.

One adjustment should be the insertion of Mullens into the starting lineup in place of Lauderdale. Though his blocks might be sexy, Dallas is incapable of adding anything offensively and Mullens needs more than the 19 minutes he’s averaging over the last four games if he’s going to develop at a rate fast enough to help this team keep their head above water.

Another adjustment could be the deployment of an occasional man to man defense. The continuous failings of the wings to pick up shooters resulted in another back breaking night from three point land as Michigan State went 8/17 (46%). In fact, Big Ten opponents are shooting 46% (30/65) from deep against the Buckeye zone through three games.

I’m really not sure what else Matta can do in an effort to jump start this team since kidnapping Mike Conley is probably against NCAA rules.

Oh, and I found it somewhat interesting Kecman didn’t see the floor tonight. I think that probably tells you all you need to know about whether or not he’ll be of much help considering he’s been practicing all season.

#23 Ohio State 10-2, 1-1 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

January 6, 2009 7:00 PM ET - ESPN2 —— Breslin Center East Lansing, MI

#15 Michigan State 11-2, 2-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

Wipe the crust out of your eyes and shake off that hangover, now that football is over, we can all turn our heads towards hoops and cheer for a return to the tourney.

The B10 scheduling gods were not kind to Thad and his young squad this year, forcing them to play 4 of their first 5 on the road, against teams that have lost a combined 8 games.

The Spartans haven’t played a game at the IZ-Zone driven Breslin Center since Dec. 17th and as usual they are a deep veteran squad. This game has a chance to resemble the West Virginia debacle for OSU if they can’t match MSU’s physical tenacity.

The Buckeyes have had success in East Lansing lately, winning 2 of the last 3, but with the recent unexpected changes and inconsistent play, leaving there with a win will require a perfect game, or one hell of a debut from Nikola Kecman.

Opponent

Michigan State leads the conference in scoring at 78.6 points and shooting at 48.1 percent, but surprisingly rank 10th in scoring defense at 67.1 a game. The Spartans offense is completely different from the Bucks, as Izzo’s crew actually looks to screen, move the ball, move without the ball, use post entry passes and look for good 2 point shots. They have attempted the least amount of three’s in the B10, but the most FT’s and their 18.8 assists per game rank 6th nationally.

Izzo loves to sub early and often, taking advantage of his depth by rotating 11 guys into the lineup, including 5 players 6′8″ or taller. He has the luxury of starting 3 seniors, a junior and a sophomore, then brings in super sophs. Durrell Summers and Chris Allen, to go along with freshman stud Delvon Roe. Those three account for 25 points and 11 boards a game.

Even though the Spartans have allowed more points than usual on D, they still have outrebounded their opposition by almost 10 a game, while allowing just 12 assists. It is a tested bunch, gaining wins over Oklahoma State, Texas, Wichita State, Bradley and Minnesota, while losing to Maryland and UNC.

Buckeye Breakdown:

This team is in a funk and a trip to East Lansing isn’t going to solve it. I don’t know what kind of boost Nikola Kecman will give the Bucks, but at least it gives Thad one more option on offense. However, the last thing OSU needs is another player who is going to stand around the perimeter.

The overall lack of movement, screening and post entry passes is becoming maddening. I learned at an early age, that once you pass the ball, you look to make some kind of cut or look to screen someone. It baffles me how OSU makes a pass on the perimeter and then stands there and watches. When they do attempt to screen, they are essentially switching spots on the floor. No one looks to set up their defender for the oncoming screen, nor do they wait for the screen to be set. BTW, where was the high screen for the Bucks pseudo-PG’s on Saturday? It is not illegal to screen even when facing a zone defense.

I am not going to get into it again, but if OSU does not learn how to get their big men involved in the offense it is going to be an ugly conference season. Both the post players and the wings are to blame for the lack of inside success thus far.

Luckily Michigan State doesn’t hoist a bunch of three pointers, but they move the ball well, so a tightening up of rotation within the zone is a key to this game. I didn’t expect the defense to continue the early season pace, due to inexperience, but with the loss of Lighty, it has added to the troubles.

Thankfully, the Buckeyes have had a couple of bright spots the last few games, in Turner and Diebler. Turner has struggled from the field, but has continued his all-conference play with 32 points, 13 boards and (gulp) only 1 TO. Diebler has connected on 12 of 21 bombs in conference play, leading to 42 points, 9 rebounds, 8 steals and 6 assists. After four straight in double digits, Buford took a step back in Minnesota, going for just 6 points on 1 of 6 shooting.

Etc

• Michigan State leads the series 56-48, but OSU has won 4 of the last 6.
• The Buckeyes fell from the top 25 this week, but still sit at 30th.
• OSU has 138 assists vs. 148 turnovers on the season.

Ouch. This one will take a while to get over, but for the first time in three bowl seasons, we can all be proud at how the Buckeyes played.

You can still be upset with some of the playcalling, missed tackles, and other mistakes made during the game, but the bottom line is that the Buckeyes gave Texas a much bigger scare than many thought they’d get and came within a whisker of knocking off one of the nation’s top teams.

Can a loss like this improve the program’s reputation? Doubt it. But at least it temporarily halts the slide it had been on for two years.

There are some problems to fix, but the wonderful thing about sports is that there’s always a next year. And next year, Pryor learns how to really throw.

Bullets

• You gotta feel for Anderson Russell. That missed tackle will sit with him for a while. Hey, that’s football — sometimes you don’t make the play. But, don’t forget about his pick at the end of the first half or the fact that he finished 2nd on the team with nine tackles.
• On the winning score, the Buckeyes brought the house and paid for it. With a quarterback like McCoy that’s smart enough to make the right read on that, it’s risky, but it paid off for the staff against Dorsey oh so many years ago (though it should be pointed out that the goal line cut out half of Miami’s playbook), so I don’t fault them for dialing that up. They had been getting pressure on him all night.
• Props to the boys for not rolling over when down 17-6 and momentumless heading into the 4th.
• If this was Beanie’s last game as a Buckeye, it was a microcosm of his career. I’d still be shocked to see him back next year.
• The Boeckman to Pryor combo makes you wonder why we didn’t see something like that on goal lines all year long. Hats off to Todd, he played well tonight.
• Pryor, on the other hand, burned the Horns with his legs, but curiously stepped out of bounds early on a couple of plays. He didn’t look comfortable throwing the ball at all, but that will come.
• McCoy was the real deal. I think if you had told me he’d have 400+ two days ago, I’d have assumed a blowout. He could run into Pryor one more time if things line up right.
• The Longhorn hurry-up offense really got to the Buckeyes at times. They had to have known it was coming, but that’s tough to simulate in practice. (Well, you can simulate it, but not the personnel running it so well.)
• The officiating was questionable, but each team received its share of calls. That fourth down spot was close, but the right call.
• Robo showed up huge — his 5 for 116 led all Buckeye receivers and the bomb was a thing of beauty. Hartline, on the other hand, finished with 0 receptions, which surely can’t help his draft evaluation.
• Orakpo is a great player and got his plays in, but he didn’t take over the game. Credit to the staff for getting a second blocker on him for most of the night.
• Prayers for Shaun Lane and his family. Looks like he’ll be okay.
• There are some great game photos at the Statesman.
• My money is still on USC being the best team in the country. And it’s not really close.

We’ll have more in the coming days.

Nothing left but the complaining and/or celebrating. Alex Boone, do you want to be a first-day selection?

Also, this is your last chance to get your score prediction in and have a chance to win a couple of shirts from HOMAGE. Details here.

#9 Ohio State 10-2, 7-1 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

January 5, 2009 8:00 PM ET - FOX —— Univ. of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ

#3 Texas 11-1, 7-1 Big 12 Roster | Schedule

After nearly a century without playing each other, Ohio State and Texas, two of the bluebloods of the college football world, will meet tonight for the third time in the past four years. Vince Young and the Longhorns won an instant classic in 2005 and the Buckeyes led by Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. returned the favor in Austin the next year. Now, a neutral field of the Fiesta Bowl will be the site of the rubber match.

The 15 seniors on the Buckeye two-deep will be playing not only for the victory, but for a chance to end their careers, which can only be described as bittersweet, on a good note. Many were freshman the last time the team closed the season with a victory and the last time they played in this state-of-the-art spaceship of a stadium was a nightmare on all accounts and was the start of this malaise the program has found itself in the last few years.

The following year, when Laurinaitis, Boone, Jenkins and company were juniors, they had an overachieving season and wound up back in the national championship game before they were dispatched by a gorilla with a chainsaw for a penis.

2008 was supposed to be the year, but instead, the new primate with dangerous objects swinging from its groin proceeded to beat the championship thoughts out of this team in early September. Yet here they are again, with a chance to face another elite opponent and by extension another chance to salvage the program’s reputation (somewhat).

A win tonight would also mean a lot to the legacy of this senior class. We all remember the last one, after all, and whenever you go a combined 6-1 against the Longhorns and Wolverines, you’ve had a great career. If Texas runs away with this one, then no amount of gold pants will cover the scars of the way they ended seasons.

When the Longhorns Have the Ball

Let’s just get this out of the way: Texas is going to move the ball through the air. McCoy is just that good — he can read his receivers’ minds and word on the street is that he can levitate for up to two seconds when needed. So the first time you see them moving the chains and picking up third downs on that soft, soft zone, take a deep breath and realize that adjustments will be made and the teams will settle into the flow of the game, just like they did after Vince ripped off chunks of yards on the Longhorn’s first drive in the Shoe.

Texas will come out and spread the field and McCoy will distribute the ball making smart decisions and gladly taking seven, eight or 19 yard chunks. Once the defense commits to shutting off the underneath stuff, they won’t hesitate to go over the top. They will run when they need to or to otherwise set up another throw and won’t shy away from trickery if it suits the situation.

They’re saying the Buckeye secondary will be the best they’ve faced, and Ohio State has seen this scheme before a few times, but never with anything approximating the talent plugged into it tonight. And for added stomach pain, the last time OSU squared off with an elite passing unit, Mark Sanchez dropped four touchdowns on them. Granted, Greg Davis is no Steve Sarkisian, but McCoy could pile up yards without a coach.

You don’t have to be a Michigan grad to realize that getting pressure on Colt would go a long way towards the Buckeyes actually ending this one with more points than the Longhorns and I’m guessing Heacock will dial the blitzes up a bit. The Texas offensive line is solid, but not excellent and they’ve given up their share of sacks on the year. Tech was able to score the upset in part by getting after McCoy and by also stopping the Longhorn rushing attack.

This will leave the backs in a lot of man coverage situations and while I don’t exactly fear the homerun threat out of Shipley or Cosby, sure tackling will be huge. Without it, 12 yard patterns become 45 yard gains — or worse. The state of the field could have an impact as it was trampled pretty good by the Cardinals and Falcons Saturday, so Jenkins, Chekwa and Washington will have to be careful with their footing as well.

If the Longhorns are able to compliment their passing attack with a productive ground game, the Buckeyes could be in for a long night. McCoy is the team’s leading rusher, but other options exist in the form of running back-by-committee. Freshman Foswhitt Whittacker got a lot of the late season love, but Crhis Ogbonnaya had a 100 yard game against the Sooners and Cody Johnson, with 12 touchdowns, is the short-yardage/goal line guy. Simple put, Ohio State must bottle-up the run.

Having a healthy Jermale Hines back along with an emerging Moeller should help to keep the Texas rushing game from picking up too much steam and with the Buckeyes likely to run nickel most of the night, they will both get plenty of pass defense opportunities as well. It’s the safeties that I’m a little worried about and if Texas has done their film work (which they have), they will figure out a way to attack that tandem.

When the Buckeyes have the Ball

While most think the Buckeyes have to run the ball well to have any chance in this game, I think the opposite is true. They certainly must run the ball, but if Pryor does not come out, make the correct reads and get things going with his arm, then we’ll have the luxury of watching Texas stack the line to stop Beanie and harassing Pryor on 3rd and longs.

We’ll see a heavy dose of Beanie, but I think the team will come out in passing formations in an attempt to set up the run by throwing the ball, especially considering Muschamp has likely spent the better part of the past six weeks working on stopping Wells. Getting out ahead on the early downs will limit the upfield rushing that Orakpo, Melton and Kindle will be able to do as will the read option, employed at the right times.

Robiskie and Hartline had trouble getting open against the LSU secondary last year, but Pryor’s feet will buy some openness and this Longhorn secondary isn’t quite as good as the one the Tigers had last year. As Blake Gideon can attest to, there have also been some tackling problems back there, so the potential to turn something underneath into something bigger exists.

Muschamp, American Badass

If the Buckeyes can get any type of traction throwing the ball, then it’s Beanie time. Texas hasn’t played a back like him before and if he gets going, that will enable the team to put together time-consuming drives that keep Colt McCoy and that explosive offense on the sidelines. This would be a good thing.

Ultimately, the play of the Ohio State offensive line will determine how the team fares in this outing. Boone and Orakpo will be the featured matchup, but Browning will be busy on his side as well. The Person-Rehring flip experiment will be interesting to watch, and one of them or Brewster will need to get out and get a hat on Muckleroy. If things start slow and Texas is able to get consistent pressure into the Buckeye backfield, especially from the edges, draws may be needed in large amounts.

From a personnel standpoint, Cordle is available to play but will not start. Brandon Saine is likely out for the game and Hartline may or may not have a curfew problem giving either Posey or the Ghost a chance to get see the field earlier than planned.

Prediction

I’ve been optimistic since this game was announced, based mostly on the assumption that Pryor would be taking a huge step in his Buckeye career. He struggled a bit early against Michigan, but has had a great rookie year. If he can take some of the pressure off of Wells with either his arm or his feet, I’m liking Ohio State’s chances.

I think at this point, most fans would be happy for a competitive game, but the Buckeyes will have a chance to win this one late before the experience of McCoy comes through late for Texas.

Texas 23, Ohio State 17

Etc.

FOX will carry the game nationally with Matt Vasgersian, Tim Ryan, Laura Okmin and Chris Myers describing the action… Ohio State will be wearing white jerseys tonight — they are 9-1 wearing the whites the last two years… The love affair with In-N-Out Burger endures… Tressel snuck in the news that Willie Mobley suffered a season-ending injury at his press conference Sunday.

As electrifyingly awesome as Vince Young was for Texas, it may be the Opie Taylor-like kid from the small town that replaced him who will wind up first in the hearts of Longhorn fans.

Colt McCoy doesn’t possess Young’s size or physical skills, but since taking over as the starter in 2006, he’s been consistently excellent on the field and perhaps even better off of it¹. Heisman or not, he’s likely the smartest signal-caller in college football and when you surround a guy like that with the superior talent that seems to flow continuously into Austin, it’s easy to see why he already owns the school record for victories at quarterback with 31.

After dominating 2A high school football in Texas, McCoy came to Austin as a three-star recruit and was redshirted his freshman season. The next year, he was given the ball as the starter and faced his first big test as a collegian when Ohio State came to town in week two. The thing I remember most about McCoy in that game is that Mack Brown didn’t appear to trust him throwing downfield, much like we saw with Pryor at times this season. The Longhorns went on to lose that game, but McCoy led the team to 10 other wins as he put up numbers not normally seen out of first-year starters in BCS conferences: 2,570 yards and 29 touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named The Sporting News’ Freshman of the Year.

Last year, as a sophomore, McCoy slipped a little. For reasons that are still beyond my feeble grasp, he threw 18 interceptions, or only four fewer than the number of touchdown passes he connected on. In a tough loss to Kansas State, he was intercepted four times and in a narrow win over Oklahoma State, he was picked off three times. The hangover was partly due to the fact that the Longhorns were breaking in so many youngsters in 2007, but McCoy managed to finish the year on a high note, winning game MVP honors in the Holiday Bowl after toying with Sun Devil defenders for a little over three quarters.

Using that bowl performance as a springboard, McCoy has put up a season for the ages, rewriting several Texas passing records along the way. The completion percentage of 77.6 is bonkers — and a new NCAA record, and the 9.19 YPA is disgusting. His 3,445 yards passing and 32 touchdown throws against only seven interceptions are slightly better than numbers Troy Smith put up his last year in Columbus and just for good measure, McCoy is also his team’s leading rusher with 576 yards on the year. When I watch footage of McCoy, I can’t help but think "Steve Young" because the rushing threat and heady decisions are there in both of them.

From a pure numbers perspective, McCoy really didn’t have a bad game this season. He did throw a pick-six that proved costly in the Tech game, but he’s been a consistent stream of quality quarterback play for Mack Brown and I wouldn’t expect Monday night to be any different. The good news for the Buckeyes is that the Longhorn offensive line is good, but not outstanding and the unit is susceptible to pressure.

The front four and the backers will have their hands full because they will be called upon to zone the short game where McCoy and the Texas receivers earn their living, but at the same time be around to stop any scrambling attempts. I touched on this in the profiles of Cosby and Shipley, but each receiver seems to be in tune with Colt and will break for touchdowns when it appears he’s in trouble in the pocket.

Buckeye defenders have been saying all the right things about the guy, including how cool they think his first name is. Let’s hope it’s just his name and not a night of precision strikes we’re left admiring on Tuesday morning.

Highlights from the McCoy File (Source)
Favorite movie: Gladiator
Nobody knows how much I like to: Hunt and fish
Favorite music group: George Strait

¹ Academic All-Big 12 selections, volunteer work, Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Let’s face it, McCoy is the boy your mother wanted you to be. Good guys do win, after all.

As of Friday, there were a grand total of two national media members here, both from ESPN.com. Heck, there were only two Ohio newspapers represented — Columbus and Cleveland — until a few other reporters showed up Thursday and Friday.

It’s a sign of the times, newspaper-wise, with slashed staffs and budgets. Akron and Dayton stopped covering Ohio State regularly this year. In the past, Canton and Mansfield would have sent reporters to a bowl, but they’re not here, either.

I’ve noticed a little bit of that as well. There seems to be a sort of fatigue among Buckeye fans which probably stems from getting thumped in three straight big games and the fact that the season didn’t exactly play out as anticipated. It doesn’t mean fans will be doing other things Monday night, but you can definitely feel it.

Texas fans are likely in the same boat — having to settle for a matchup with a just-decent Ohio State team instead of playing for the crystal football. From press accounts, it appears as if the coaches and players have been grilled more on Oklahoma than they have been about the Buckeyes.

Are you more or less pumped than you thought you’d be?

Trick or Treat

Surprise! Not only will Rehring and Person both be starting Monday night, but they’re flipping sides! I’d like to think we’ve seen the depths of Buckeye line play this season, so maybe Bollman’s crazy idea pays off.

A Word on Pryor and the Media

It was big news Friday day when Tressel held Pryor back from speaking with the press. Partly because this broke unwritten bowl protocol of making a team’s starters available and partly because the ones most burdened by this decision are also the ones that produce the news.

The quasi-official explanation given was that Pryor (and fellow MIA starter, Brewster) were freshmen. But it was also a stroke of tactical brilliance out of the Vest. Pryor is your typical cocky confident freshman star and has already slipped by saying some very unsenatorial things this season. Whether it’s saying college football is like high school or taking shots at Mark May, he’s flashed his youth on more than one occasion. Why take a chance on giving the Horns any bulletin board material.

Besides, Tressel surely remembers what his last hotshot freshman starter said and did during a bowl week in Arizona.

You remember Vernon Gholston, don’t you? Good. Well, if you’ve always wondered what it would be like to fear a pass-rusher like that when your beloved Buckeyes were facing a 3rd and 15, Monday night may be your chance to find out.

The Gholston comparison seems too easy and somewhat of a shortcut, but the players have the similarities to justify it. First off, the obvious: both guys own serious pipes. Give Gholston the slight edge here, at two inches shorter, he carried the weight in a more compact and chiseled manner, but Orakpo, or as the kids call him, “Rak” has added nearly 50 pounds to his frame while maintaining 8% body fat. And just like Gholston did to us, Orakpo action photos cause Longhorn fans to seek the nearest defibrillator (though the deep-fried Snickers at the state fair didn’t help matters, either).

Both guys were undervalued by recruiting services coming out of high school. Rivals had Gholston 11th and Orakpo 12th¹ in its weakside defensive end rankings for 2004. Both solid four-stars, but not among the handful in each class that is causing all of the heavy breathing on signing day².

They also each put the fear of God into defensive coordinators. If you’ve watched even a few minutes of tape on the Texas defense, you notice #98. He’s been virtually unstoppable this season, scooping up the Nagurski, Lombardi and Hendricks awards — pretty much the triple crown for a defensive end.

Injuries appear to be he only way to slow this guy down and they’ve played a role in his career at Texas. After being redshirted in 2004, he played some the following season before really earning playing time as a redshirt sophomore in 2006. Heading into his junior season, Mack Brown went so far as to say he thought Orakpo could be one of the better defensive ends he’s had a Texas

But a high-low block against Arkansas State in the opener³ led to a right knee injury which kept him out of the next four games. He would come back and post respectable numbers, and then, like Shipley, he had his coming out party of sorts in the Holiday Bowl stomping of Arizona State where he won the game’s Defensive MVP award after posting a career high in tackles (six) to go along with two sacks.

Though he started hot this year, he missed two and a half games due to injury including the second half of the Texas Tech game. Still, the numbers are impressive: 10.5 sacks, 18 TFLs and four forced fumbles — in just nine and a half games. The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year was also a unanimous consensus All-American.

In the Red River Shootout, he abused Oklahoma tackle Phil Loadholt⁴, getting to Bradford for two sacks. His performance in the Missouri game was equally impressive. And while his edge rushing is phenomenal, he’s shown good instincts in run support.

Texas Tech was able to hold him in check in the first half when he did play and I can distinctly remember the buzz about how good Tech’s line looked after that performance. Lucky for us, that just so happens to be the perceived weak spot on this Buckeye team. Think of the pressure Maybin brought and with Orakpo, we can probably multiply that by 1.3.

Orakpo is typically lined up at right end and as such, will be taking on the best lineman Ohio State has. He’ll often line up wide and come with edge speed, but he’s also worked to develop spins and power moves off of that initial outside burst and judging by his results this season, that work has paid off.

Boone will certainly have his work cut out for him, but containing Orakpo, or at the very least keeping him from taking over the game should do wonders to help repair his falling draft stock.

Highlights from the Orakpo File (Source)
The worst movie I ever saw was: Like Mike
I can’t believe I watch: Big Love
Favorite car: My Cadillac DeVille

¹ With the exception of Derrick Harvey, the rest of that list is bust-city.
² Orakpo’s first love in high school was basketball and as such didn’t start to take football seriously until his junior season. It’s worth noting that Godwin of Godwin’s Law went to his high school.
³ Rak’s on record as saying it was a cheap-shot. Who tries to anger this guy?
⁴ For some transitive fun, Oklahoma’s offensive line > Ohio State’s offensive line and Loadholt is considered their best lineman.

Early on, it looked like the Buckeyes might be able to spring a road upset as they led Minnesota by seven but a 19-2 run to end the first half took care of those thoughts before the physical Gophers finally prevailed 68-59 this afternoon in The Barn.

I guess you can take the fact that Ohio State didn’t quit, going on a 10-0 run after trailing 60-42 with 4:37 left, as a moral victory but the bottom line is this team has some major flaws that come to light each game, win or lose.

First, this team has no legit point guard. Simmons and Hill combined to shoot a frigid 2/12 with four assists against four turnovers and neither showed any ability to effectively penetrate the zone Tubby unleashed midway through the first half completely changing the complexion of the game. The play of Simmons and Hill further illustrated what an idiotic pair Crater and his momma truly are. More minutes were coming they just refused to be patient.

Simmons had actually shown some improvement against Iowa but there was no carryover. His play was so erratic Matta was forced to pine him leading to the lowest minutes Simmons has played (21) since the opener against Delaware State.

Hill was the benefactor of Simmons’ stank, registering a career high 19 minutes in his return home but he tried to do a little too much after his lightning in a bottle effort against Iowa. I do like Hill’s energy, but I don’t like him thinking he’s on the floor to launch 17 footers. He’s got a 29% career FG% for a reason. If he’s going to be in the rotation he’s gotta stick to the role Thad wants him to play.

The other major issue killing the Buckeyes is a lack of consistent production from Lauderdale and Mullens. Those two were flat out pushed around today and Mullens appears to have one foot in Matta’s doghouse as he didn’t even enter the game until midway through the first half.

Mullens pulled down five caroms, Lauderdale just four in 29 minutes, allowing the Gophers to post a 35-27 edge on the glass including a 13-7 advantage at the offensive end. The Gopher rebounding cushion underscored what was truly a physical game with Evan Turner taking the brunt of the pounding.

To his credit, Turner battled on the boards pulling down a game-high eight rips while scoring 21 points but the physical toll he’s taking has had a major impact on his shooting. In the three games against legit foes since Lighty’s injury, Turner is shooting 32.6% (15/46) while playing no less than 39 minutes in each of those three contests.

Diebler also had a decent showing with 15 points (5/13 FG, 5/11 3FG) and 5 steals though he did have a game high three turnovers. If nothing else, he at least appears to have full confidence in his shot, even when it isn’t falling which is the mentality he has to have as the only real option to consistently help Turner.

When the dust settled, the Buckeye offense rivaled the weather outside as Ohio State shot 34% from the floor (18/52). The low percentage was the product of few good looks at the hoop in the half court and a non-existent transition game.

Even with a loss that was worse than the final score, at least in my eyes, it’s important to keep perspective. Winning on the road in conference is always a chore and it doesn’t get any easier with a trip to East Lansing slated for 7pm Tuesday night before a two-home-game-breather against Houston Baptist and Indiana.

If you are Matta, what adjustments, if any, would you make from a strategy or personnel standpoint?

We’re still basking a bit in Utah’s glory, but there’s basketball to be played in a frozen town this afternoon.

And don’t forget what happened the last time these two schools met when both were ranked.

D I R T Y.

UPDATE: Feel free to use this for any Army All-American Bowl comments as well.