JennyBucks

Michigan - Get Well Soon!

2010-11-29T06:28:00.000-08:00

I implore the Michigan athletic administration to find a remedy for the Michigan football program ... quick.

THE Game has lost something in the 7-0 run Jim Tressel has put on the Wolverines in the past seven years. I've lost the nervousness in the pit of my stomach that comes just before kickoff. I no longer spend the week worrying about the outcome. The Vegas line has been ridiculous over the past several years, indicating that even the book-makers see no drama in the outcome.

I miss the drama.

And frankly, the mediocre football program that has become Michigan football does nothing to benefit the Big Ten or the Buckeyes in particular. Strength of schedule does matter in the current BCS math. Sure, Michigan is bowl eligible this season ... and while that is an improvement, 6 wins is nothing to brag about. Six wins does nothing to bolster the reputation of the Big Ten as "big, slow, and good-but-not-great" as conferences go.

Gordon Gee might even be including Michigan football in the "little sisters of the poor" soon if nothing is done.

I think the conclusion that should be made by the Michigan administration is that the Big East brand of football has no place in the Midwest (listening Notre Dame?) and that the spread can be defeated. Sure, Denard Robinson is a phenom, but he can't hold up against the 300+ pound linemen of Wisconsin, the hard-hitting secondary of the Buckeyes, or the chill in the air that is Big Ten football in October and November. I'll be surprised if Robinson can walk when he's 50 having taken this year of punishment alone. And as for his NFL future, he's not the quintessential NFL QB. He throws a nice ball, but he stands little chance of surviving the pounding in the NFL when he can barely finish a game in the Big Ten.

I miss the years of Bo followed by Lloyd Carr. The games were exciting, competitive, and meant something. The winner often won the Big Ten championship and went on to the Rose Bowl. I miss the feeling in the pitt of my stomach prior to kickoff. I miss the drama and the build-up to THE Game.

Michigan ... do something!

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

7 in a Row

2010-11-28T14:20:00.001-08:00

Greetings from chilly C-bus:

Where there are nothing but warm feelings for the Buckeyes today.

First, the Block O controversy. The 1942 tribute uniforms came with specially designed gloves that Nike manufactured to make an "O" when the hands are placed together in the manner demonstrated by a number of Buckeyes Saturday. When the uniforms were passed out last week, Coach Tressel even demonstrated to the team how to make the "O" with the gloves. My guess is that the gloves were trashed following the two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties assessed following two of the Buckeye touchdowns. However, two early Buckeye TDs also were followed by the Block O without penalty - one was by Dane Sanzenbacher, clearly caught on televised coverage. The still photos in today's Columbus Dispatch actually show the "O" quite clearly. The concept is pretty innovative ... good thing the game was not in doubt at the time the penalties were assessed, for the most part.

I am personally tired of the slow-start offense we've seen in the past several games. I know that Michigan tried to commit an extra man to the box to stop the run and that some early completions in the passing game would have forced Michigan to get honest on defense a lot earlier in the game. But we couldn't connect early. I continue to marvel at the Buckeyes inability to get things going early.

But when it came down to it, the Buckeyes rolled up 478 yards in total offense and they converted 10 of 18 third downs in the final tally.

Didn't feel like it.

Props to Boom Herron who amassed over 1000 yards on the season and finished with 175 yards on 22 carries including the long 89 that should have been 98. The 89 yards ties Gene Fekete for the longest run from scrimmage by a Buckeye. Should have been 98. The passing game was fairly evenly distributed among 5 receivers - Posey caught 5 for 82 yards and a TD, Saine had 4 catches for 11 total yards, and Sanzenbacher and Stoneburner had 3 apiece for 71 and 33 yards, respectively. Zach Boren had 2 for 10 yards ... and the fullback actually had a carry!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, for 2 yards. I still call for Zach to get the hand off much more often, but I still love zeroing in on his blocking. He gets more pancakes than Ihop.

Pryor was a respectable 18 of 27 for 220 yards passing and 2 TDs. He had 1 INT that Tressel took credit for in the interview at the half saying that he (Tress) was greedy going for the TD rather than the FG. Pryor also had 12 carries for 49 yards.

On the defense, Cam Heyward seemed to be under the skin of the Michigan offensive line all day. Cam actually had just 6 tackles but there were a lot of near-calls by the officials headed in his direction. Chimdi Chekwa, Ross Homan, Brian Rolle, and Jermale Hines - 4 seniors - had 8 tackles each. Rolle's speed was no match for Michigan's O line and he had 2 TFLs for 9 yards lost. Nathan Williams was also wreaking havoc and he had 2 TFLs for 12 yards. John Simon had another TFL and LB Andrew Sweat actually had 5 TFLs for a total of 2 yards (let's call those a few inches behind the line each). The list of defensive players with tackles in the game totals 24. It's great when the defense can go that deep into the roster in a Michigan game. Pretty much tells you that while the game at times felt closer, it was rarely in doubt.

And props to the defense for forcing three turnovers.

Special teams was special ... Jordan Hall's TD on the kickoff following Michigan's only score was probably the turning point in the game. The game was suddenly close and then, it wasn't. Michigan had just gone 80 yards in 11 plays for a score and Hall returns one 85 to immediately answer. That single play shut down any momentum that UM might have generated. Also, punter Ben Buchanan had a career long punt of 59yards and in 4 punts, he averaged a respectable 44.5 yards per punt.

So what does it all mean ... it means we win a stellar 6th Big Ten conference title. And it means, we wait. We wait about 2 weeks for a bowl bid and an opponent. The Rose Bowl seems unlikely. The Sugar Bowl, somewhat likely. The Orange Bowl, remote.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Whew!

2010-11-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Cbus,
It's a bright, sunny fall day in C-bus. Were it not for bare trees, one might think of the spring as lawn mower sounds abound as the lazy use their mowers to take down the last of the leaves. It's November and that's not a month when the Tressel-led Buckeyes surrender the Big Ten championship easily.

I was experiencing another torturous weekend of ACC football in BB&T stadium when the Bucks kicked off at 3:30. Thanks to technology (Slingbox), I was watching the Buckeye game and my daughter at the same time. And yes, being the superstitious type, I had my Buckeye gear on ... in part because my daughter's team wears Iowa colors. I stood out enough that the team mascot was agasp ... but mostly out of jealousy because my team stands to play another game after next weekend, while the mascot (and his two other costume inhabitants) only has basketball after Nov. 27. In fact, many in the stands were pretty well-educated when it came to Big Ten football ... and they had plenty of opinions (mostly positive) about the football played up north of the Mason-Dixon line.

I have to say that going into yesterday's game, I had taken something that Chris Spielman had said earlier to heart ... he apparently had in his TV broadcast a week ago cited Adrian Clayborn for taking plays off, stating that Clayborn had his head in the NFL already. This might explain Iowa's 4th (counting yesterday) loss this season after having led or been tied going into the fourth quarter. I was pretty confident that we might be able to win a dogfight. I think Tressel puts it best when he talks about a team that "never stops fighting". Apparently Ferentz needs to drill the same into his team's heads.

At the same time, DeVier Posey's drop made me think that he had his head in the NFL already ... too.

The game was a defensive battle for the most part. However, the team that led the NCAA in net turnovers (the Bucks) posted a -2 for the game. In most games against a strong contender, the team that wins the turnover battle wins the game. Not so yesterday ... luckily ... or perhaps it was just a matter of talent and (unexpected) play calling that won out.

Who'd a thought that the Bucks would leave behind their recent modus operandi coming into the game of Boom first, pass second to Posey and Dane. The Bucks game in with a completely unexpected game plan ... and the sputtering offense appeared to show how uncomfortable the team was with spreading the field, throwing to the TE's, the swing passes, and some bombs down field. What did seem to make the team relax was putting the ball in Terrelle Pryor's hands 15 times from where he gained 78 yards ... and a critical 14 when it counted. The steady Dane Sanzenbacher, however, was not going to be silenced. Terrelle Pryor apparently called the 24 yard pass play that led to the critical final drive completion. It was the same play called as the one at the end of the first half when, looking for Taurian Washington, TP threw his first of 2 INTs. On that play, Sanzenbacher had been covered by a linebacker and TP knew that the same play would likely draw the same coverage. All on the sideline liked their chances of Dane vs an Iowa LB and the acrobatic Sanzenbacher did not disappoint. Sanzenbacher finished the game with 6 catches for 102 yards.

And Sanzenbacher was quick not to point a finger at Posey. He too owned up to a missed catch during the game. In fact, the second INT came on a pass attempt to Dane.

While ABC coverage did not allow me to see the Tressel-to-Pryor flying chest-bump, my favorite TV coverage came when we saw sophomore Zach Boren, clearly a firey combatant, in the grille of senior captain Cam Heyward who almost immediately proceeded to make the critical sack of the game that all but ended Iowa's hopes of a comeback. Heyward is often criticized locally for not making the showy plays - the big sacks, the bone-jarring hits so much so that letters to the editor have often called his year "disappointing". Any informed viewer of football can see that Cam draws double- and triple-teams from opponents on nearly every play and that he is disruptive even if he doesn't get credit for the tackle. That being said, I was calling for a key stop at the time and no one better than Cam to deliver the blow.

Any observer could also see that Brian Rolle was a key element of the Buckeye D yesterday. It was not clear if that was by Buckeye design or based on what Iowa was dishing and, yes, there were some mistakes, but he seems to have the ability to turn right around and make amends with his next play. Rolle finished with 10 tackles including 3 TFLs for a total loss of 12 yards. The emotional Rolle is a contrast to the steady, quiet Homan who had a good though not great game. Homan had 7 tackles.

And yup, not one pick or fumble recovery. Clearly Iowa was intent on not giving the Bucks anything easy. The difference might have been in the matchup between Iowa's receivers and the Buckeye secondary, particularly in the second half when the Bucks dialed up some tigher coverage and dropped away from the all-out blitz of the first half that allowed Stanzi to dump the ball into the gap formed by the blitzing LB or DB. To me it seemed that the Bucks were over-running the plays and watching the RB run past or seeing the ball fly over their heads. In the waning minutes of the game when forced to pass Stanzi could not find an open receiver when we dropped 7 and 8 and forced the less-mobile Stanzi to flee the pocket. He's no TP on the ground.

The difference might too have been in the play of the Buckeye O-line which did a better-than-average job of handling the beefy Iowa D-line and stars like Clayborn. Iowa seemed more content to try to match up with the speedy Buckeye receivers and, in so doing, the LB-match ups were inevitable and in the favor of the Bucks. The TE match-ups favored the likes of Stoneburner and Fragel in size. And, I like the odds of any Buckeye receiver covered by any LB.

A little postgame ... not one of the 105 teammates are talking about Tress's half time pep talk from the Penn State game. No, Tress has not cracked or become the reincarnation of Woody Hayes, even though there was a bit of testiness in the Buckeye postgame presser yesterday and more arguments with the referees than I've seen in a long time from Tress in the Iowa game (I think a flag on the coach when he's about 20 yards on field was a definite possibility). Rather, Tress has shown that he's not 100% buttoned up. He's about 95% tight with about 5% of the rest of us in there. He's such a disciplined person, however, that it takes 211 degrees for the steam to start to show before he goes into full boil. The rest of us show a bit of simmer before we bubble and boil ... only to boil over rather predictably. The only leaks from last week have stated that there was a bit of "salty" language but also that Tressel was never out of control. Almost as though it was just as calculated as one would expect from the Senator. As someone mentioned, you really get a team's attention when the boil-overs are few and far between. I don't put it past Tressel to have completely planned and engineered last week's half time explosion for just the purpose of getting the team's attention. They were sleepwalking.

But, not yesterday. That team fully understood the urgency. One only need see the faces of the team in that final quarter and following the game. It was on the line.

And speaking of "on the line", the annual tussle with "the team up north" looms large. Plenty is riding on this game ... for the Bucks, an unprecedented 6th straight Big Ten title share and a likely BCS bowl bid (with an outside shot at the Rose Bowl). For Meeechigan, RichRod's time as coach likely hangs in the balance. Sure, I'd like to see RichRod stay at Meeechigan for the foreseeable future, but there's a certain coach in Stanford, Cali that appears to be the next savior of the program. I'm pretty sure that he was darn hard on the myth of the "student" part of "student-athlete" during his years at UM, but I'm also pretty sure that his resume is ripe for an "all is forgiven if you win" outreach should UM fail to come out of Cbus with a victory. The "he's our coach" mantra appears to be wearing thin in Ann Arbor and with the toried alumni. How's that Big East offense looking now (RichRod? ND's Coach Kelly?). I give props to LSU for their comeback and am rooting for Alabama vs Auburn this Friday ... their teams look a whole like they could play with the big boys of the Big Ten any day. And did Coach Pelini go all Woody on his QB last night? Nebraska will fit right in next year.

So it's Beat Meeechigan Week again! The annual showcase of all that is good with college football kicks at noon this Saturday!

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Props to the Bucks!

2010-11-18T06:45:00.000-08:00

First off, a special "props" to Tyler Moeller who was just awarded a 6th year of eligibility last night. This guy endured an entire year out of football last season due to a head injury suffered in his "civilian life" when he was jumped in a bar in Florida with his family more than a year ago. Then, after delivering standout performances early in the season, a re-torn pectoral muscle ended his year. His was the first among a series of injuries in the Buckeye secondary.

Next, props to the Buckeye women's basketball team. The women are 3-0 with Sammy Prahalis on the bench through her 3 game suspension for secondary NCAA violations. She rejoins the team just as they are about to head to the Meadowlands for a hook-up with the UConn women. Tayler Hill has been given the point duties in Sammy's absence. And no cupcakes here ... the last win was last night against the always tough LSU women.

Finally, what can you say about the early prognosis for the men's basketball team. All I can say is WOW. I still remember seeing Jared Sullinger as a high school sophomore during the basketball playoffs. He looked like he was having a blast with his friends and there was nary a team in Central Ohio who could match up with Northland. Add to his legend a dynamite cast of superstars from all over Ohio and nearby and we have what is certainly shaping up like a terrific team for Thad and staff. Sully has certainly gotten the props from local and now national media, but the standout for me in Wednesday's game against Florida was David Lighty. He has waited to get revenge on the 2007 finals loss, but his game has developed so much over the years as well. He went from a role-player in the 2007 final - a situational sub on defense - to a well-rounded player on both ends. Add to that his leadership with 6 freshmen on the team and hardly enough playing time to go around and we see the real David Lighty emerging. What we always thought was there. Sure, his name is not on any Naismith list, but I guarantee that Thad Matta would not have wanted to go into this season without David. He is likely the glue that will help this team mesh. Certainly with this many stars and future stars on this team, the chemistry could certainly be an issue, along with playing time, roles, etc. Thad has his hands full - and the 2011 class is also emerging as one of the tops in the country - but David (and fellow seniors) can set the tone - and so far, they appear to have set the tone. I look for really great things from this team if the injury bug can stay clear.

Billy Donovan might be right ... this team might be better without Evan Turner. It sure is deeper in talent.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

I have returned ...

2010-11-14T08:49:00.000-08:00

Greetings from C-bus and sorry for my absence ...

I have found it difficult to keep up with the blog as my travel schedule has taken me from weekends in Columbus so often this season. So sorry.

But I'm back to writing. And not too late ...

The even-keeled Jim Tressel apparently blew his stack at halftime and woke up the Buckeyes who appeared to have extended the bye-week through the first half of yesterday's game with the Nittany Lions. It is probably a good thing that Tress is not one of those firey, short-tempered coaches (Woody?) because his rare outburst apparently got the team's attention. And they reacted with the greatest turnaround of Tress' tenure to score 35 unanswered points. As Tress said in the postgame, "The halftime locker room was not a fun place."

Tress also credited the week's work with the military in honor of Veteran's Day of reminding the team to never give up. Tress told the skull session crowd (me included) that the team would "play like soldiers". I'm pretty sure he intended they'd play like soldiers for 60 minutes, not just 30.

Boom Herron has become a mainstay of the offense. I think he was the only guy on offense to play a solid first half of football. I fail to understand why, when Zach Boren has proven to be an NFL-quality fullback, he is not the lead blocker in every running play. That being said, Herron got a new career high 190 yards on 21 carries. That's a 9-yard per carry average. He's nearing the 1,000 yard mark for the season and has passed Terrelle Pryor on total rushing yards. In the first half, there were some attempts to get around the ends with both Boom and TP, but Penn State had come out with a spread strategy on defense. They intended for our offense to not exploit the ends. To some extent, the lead blocker was able to diffuse the PSU strategy, but just about as often that lead blocker was ineffective. B Saine's attempt to block for Boom on one play, comes to mind. The TE was also mildly effective. Rather, the off-tackle and Iso plays were more effective ... since the defense was spread ... and have been more effective all season ... with the FB lead blocker. Keep in mind that Boom's just a junior.

TP said in the post-game that he "played terrible". He was 8 of 13 for 139 yards. The TD pass to Sanzenbacher was an ill-advised pass to the double-covered DeVier Posey. The tipped ball was caught by the trailing "Great Dane" Sanzenbacher who was wide-open on the play. In fact, Sanzenbacher had not seen a ball tossed his way the entire game until he was the beneficiary of kismet. That INT in the third quarter might have been intended for Sanzenbacher, though it was clearly short of any Buckeye target. While ill-advised, it ended up putting Penn State deep in a hole. The turnover could have been disasterous given the tenuous hold the Bucks had clawed into the game at that point.

TP came out this week telling the press that he intends to come back for his senior season. Tress during his Thursday radio call-in show remarked that TP is close to graduation and staying for a 4th year would get him to his educational goals. My husband is convinced that it's about TP not being in the Heisman talk this season. Personally, I only believe these lines following a bowl game when the talk counts. I do believe TP when he says he wants to "leave a legacy" at OSU and another season will solidify him in the record books assuming he plays a full, uninjured season.

What was most puzzling to me was the defense in the first half of yesterday's game. I turned to my husband and uttered "oh no - it's Wisconsin again". The cover 3 defense the Bucks opted for left the slants and quick outs wide open due to the zone coverage applied by the DBs. It looked like Devon Torrence had suddenly become some sort of idiot, when, in fact he was just the victim of a poorly designed defense and a defense that was not adapted quickly enough to what Penn State had decided to exploit. The halftime adjustments brought the Bucks back out in cover 2 and suddenly Devon Torrence had a pick-6. Essentially the DBs were able to roll down and cover the WR on the slants and quick outs while the LB provided some back up from their second level, and the safeties were there for support too. It suddenly appeared like the receivers were all double-covered and point of fact, they were in some respects. The D line suddenly got mean too and showed success at shutting down the run.

I'm not sure why adjustments weren't made earlier, but the last Penn State drive before the half was the turning point in the game per Tress. The stop on 4th and 1 gave the Bucks some momentum. It was nearly lost when the coaching staff called 2 straight draws and ended up punting back to the 'Nits just before the half. But apparently that defensive success was leveraged into the 2nd half. Penn State came out and their first drive was stuffed. The Bucks had a 5 1/2 min 96-yard drive for a score in the third quarter and the Bucks were back in the game.

For one week, the special teams played the opponent to a draw ... which this season counts as a win. There was nothing to report which means special teams made no news and, while I crave a Buckeye runback for TD, not letting the other team make a significant runback is a victory.

The game as a whole was bizarre. It went from dismal, horrible and boo-filled at the half to a crazy party in the second half, especially after Devon Torrence got the first pick-6. And about the boos - okay - I boo'd and this is why. Are you serious about winning when you are running 2 straight draws after you just stopped the PSU offense for the first time in the first half of play? There was plenty of time on the clock for a drive for at least another FG. It was as though no one was trying - including the coaches. I expected real effort or at least more effort. That drive told me that the coaches weren't dialed in either.

Next week the Bucks travel to Iowa City. The pink locker rooms and fans always make Iowa a challenge. I'm not sure what to expect of the Hawkeyes. They rolled over for Wisconsin, then were flat versus a good NW team yesterday. With 3 losses (2 in conference), the Hawks are on the outside of any title hopes. So, do they come in intending to play the role of spoiler? And, while taking out another contender for the Big Ten title, the Iowa loss to NW actually damages the Bucks' strength of schedule in the BCS poll significantly. That being said, the Bucks must beat Iowa as the entire title race is outside of the Bucks' control (i.e. in the hands of Mich State and Wisky).

The Buckeye game is at 3:30 eastern on ABC next Saturday (Michigan game is at noon 11/27 by the way, also ABC).

Players of the Week

2010-10-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

Tressel gave only two POW awards: On Offense, Boom Herron who had a "whale of a game" and Mike Adams was given the lineman of the week award. There were no other awards.

Ross Homan and Christian Bryant are both doubtful for the upcoming Purdue game. It appeared Ross Homan rolled an ankle during the game. Christian Bryant has an infected toe and is spending most of the week in the hospital.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Players of the Week

2010-10-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

In Jim Tressel's weekly press conference, he announced the following awards: Player of the Week on Offense - Terrelle Pryor who nearly graded a "winning" performance. Pryor also shares the Big Ten POW award on offense with Wisconsin's Clay. On defense, the POW was Devon Torrence. Torrence has proven himself to have great coverage skills this season, but perhaps more importantly, he has shown strong tackling skills. For a guy who came to OSU as an offensive player, this is particularly important. Often the catch cannot be prevented, but the YAC (yards after catch) can. The Attack Force player was Nate Williams. During the game, I noted to my husband how Indiana had no answer for Williams. Many of the opponents are doubling on Cam Heyward, but that provides opportunities to other linemen. Nate has taken advantage of single coverage all season - I'm not sure anyone can cover Nate. The Jim Parker Lineman of the Week was Mike Adams. Mike has been something of an enigma in previous seasons. While he still appears to me to "take some plays off", he has shown improvement this season over past seasons and appeared to have a relatively good game vs. Indiana. It is telling overall, however, that the coaching staff a week ago chose to name Zach Boren, a fullback, as lineman of the week. The real test this Saturday will be for the O line to give TP plenty of time to throw the ball and to create that crease for the Buckeye RBs.

On to Wisconsin! GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Week 2 Big Ten Season

2010-10-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here's hoping that the Illinois game is nothing like the rest of the Big Ten season. Way too much drama against an opponent that doesn't deserve to be in the game that long! And with Indiana coming off of a near-victory against UM, ugh.

The weekly awards went to Zach Boren (yes, the FB) for OLine, Boom Herron on Offense, and Brian Rolle on Defense. The Attack Force player was Cameron Heyward and special teams POW was Ben Buchanan. Only 3 defensive players and 2 on offense graded out winning performances.

With great anguish, Jim Tressel announced what we had feared - Tyler Moeller will miss the remainder of the season with a torn pectoral muscle. He will have (or has had) surgery this week. Tressel noted that they already filed preliminary paperwork to get him a 6th year (hardship) explaining that an earlier injury to Tyler's pec muscle did not properly heal while he re-habbed from the head injury. Moeller will be sorely missed.

Tressel also reported that the quad injury of TP continues to heal/improve, noting that probably no player with the ball in his hands that much is 100% after 5 games. That might be coach-speak for a more serious injury - or less. I take news on the quad with a grain of salt given last season where the "knee" led to the eventual news that TP needed knee surgery. It will be telling how often TP carries the ball in the next game - Tressel continues to say that TP is scripted to carry the ball maybe 8-10 times per game. Makes me wonder also how Denard Robinson will hold up throughout the season carrying the ball probably 75% of the time (or more).

This week's Indiana squad should come in confident on offense, but devastated on defense. With the game in-hand, the Hoosiers could not hold off Robinson who clearly was going to tote the rock on the final drive. His one 40+ yard pass play was key, however. I continue to wonder if Robinson is that good or his opponents to-date, that bad. I'd like to see him rack up 100-200 yards on the ground against a stout rushing defense. Then, we will know a heck of a lot more.

The game vs Indiana tees up at noon eastern this Saturday.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Record-setter

2010-09-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings from C-bus!

Fall has emerged from days and days of 90 degree heat just in time for another scorcher in the 'Shoe (supposedly it was 70 degrees about game time but with the sun, it felt hotter) ... oh, the Bucks scorched another opponent yesterday too.

I don't know what it is about the scheduler, but the Bucks seemed to have had an abundance of green-clad opponents in the first 4 games ... who walked with little more than a stack of green and a loss on their record. But the nonconference season has come and gone, and the Bucks are 4-0.

It was the first time since 1950 when the Bucks ran 83 points up on Iowa that the Bucks have scored as many points and there were more than 100 points combined scored in yesterday's contest. It's enough to make the Vegas bookies head spin. For a while there, I thought the Bucks weren't even going to cover the spread.

Dane Sanzenbacher tied a record with 4 TD catches in the game - the most recent was Terry Glenn with Bobby Hoying at the helm. In that game, Hoying had 6 TD passes, something Terrelle Pryor has not yet achieved. But TP had 6 TDs in the game - 4 passing, 1 rushing, and 1 receiving. The statistics seem to suggest that TP was the first to achieve this feat. TP also accounted for 348 total yards of offense (not a record) in a game where TP played a few more minutes than anyone imagined he might. Good thing.

On offense, 12 different Buckeyes caught passes, including TP. Sanzenbacher led all receivers with 9 catches for 108 yards and the 4 TDs. Herron, Saine, and Posey had 3 each. On the pass from Jordan Hall to TP, Pryor later recounted tales of their high school days, telling the reporters that Tressel called the play telling TP that if he didn't catch the pass to just keep running out of the stadium. In high school, Hall and Pryor hooked up several times including one in the state championship when TP went for 55-60 yards on a Hall-thrown bomb. TP apparently out-jumped three defenders and told the assembled that they could catch it on YouTube. Pryor remarked that Hall has a good arm.

The running game sans Pryor still gives me worries. The morning radio call-in shows this morning were calling Tressel too loyal to Boom and Zoom, particularly since Jordan Hall continues to show promise. Add to the mix the Jamaal Berry 67 yard run and Carlos Hyde's play in shortened time and one can sympathize. I'm just not sure what Boom and Zoom lack and it is hard to tell if yards gained in mop-up duty, granted before a 2nd and even 3rd team line, are a result of talent or fatigue (and give-up) in the opponent at that point. Hall did get some time with the 1's in the game and did not disappoint. I hate that stutter-step that I see in both Boom and Zoom vs the burst I see in the young guys.

The defense let up on the pedal Saturday ... and they knew it. Brian Rolle in particular seemed to capture the theme by saying that the Bucks did not play Buckeye D in the first half of the game and after EMU's third score mid-way through the 3rd period, the defense seemed to wake up. That being said, the Buckeye secondary was full of opportunities for freshman and real-game experience for the back-ups. Prior to the game, Chimdi Chekwa experienced some soreness in his back and attempted to loosen up on the sidelines. He got in to the lineup late in the game, finally, only to get into a rough tackle with his own teammate. EMU to its credit found a weakness in our secondary, sliding the TE into space on all 3 of the pass completions, getting match ups with our linebackers and safeties on the plays. Not sure that Chekwa would have prevented the completions, but the inexperience on the part of Devon Torrence and Orhian Johnson getting just his second start showed. The Bucks had Andrew Sweat back at LB, but on nickel downs, Sweat rotates out in favor of Tyler Moeller, who continues to impress.

I would imagine that our Big Ten opponents will use more of the LB/safety match-ups one-on-one on big TEs and receivers, seeing this weakness. I would also expect that the Bucks may zone up a bit more and personally, I hate the zone because it can be exploited for that short, underneath stuff that works effectively as part of a time-consuming drive. While I don't think IL has the talent to exploit this, no doubt a more experienced QB and offensive scheme will want to find more of these match-ups. I continue to worry about the plethora of injuries on the Bucks D, in particular.

Among those injured yesterday were Jake Stoneburner who rolled an ankle. While Stoneburner tweeted after the game that the ankle was nothing, today he tweeted that it was sore. I like the way the offense has exploited Jake this season, but missing IL might be good given the larger tests upcoming.

Many around C-bus have been abuzz today about the "run-up" in the score yesterday. In fact, Tressel has put up 50 or more points 5 times since coming to OSU. And of course, Wisky put up 70 yesterday too. Tressel did not seem to intentionally run up the score - the long run by Berry was a nice bonus and Kenny Guiton's TD was a good play by the popular back-up QB. That being said, TP's 6th TD of the day was on a trick play. Sure it gives the opponent something to think about and Posey threw a TD pass last season but I do wonder if Tressel isn't trying to "pad the stats" of his young charge, Terrelle. I'm okay with that if he is ...

Next up ... Illinois. Illinois is 2-1 and did not play Saturday. The game is at noon eastern on Big Ten network. While the Purdue loss last season taught us to never look too far ahead (hear that Texas!), I do expect that the next two games (Illinois and Indiana) will be speed bumps on the road leading to the next big showdown - at Wisconsin 10/16 (night game). The Big Ten season starts today! There are no small games!

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Weekly Awards

2010-09-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

The coaches have released their list of weekly award winners:

Safety Tyler Moeller, with an interception, a forced fumble, three tackles and a TFL, is the defensive player of the week. Tight End Jake Stoneburner, who had five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown reception, is the offensive player of the week.

There was no player of the week selected on the special units. D'oh!

Mike Adams was named as the Jim Parker lineman of the week. Ross Homan received the Attack Force award on defense. The Jack Tatum big hit of the week will be decided Tuesday by player vote.

Players of the week on the scout teams: QB Kenny Guiton (offense); Dionte Allen (defense); Julian Vann (special units).

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Ho-Hum

2010-09-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

Greetings from sunny C-bus:

It is said that the important thing when you play a less-talented opponent is to not let them hang around and think they can compete (hear that UM?).

In fact, the best OU tackle of the day might have been when the OU Bobcat mascot made a surprise attack on Brutus when the teams ran out to start the game. It had 105,000 fans rolling in laughter.

But, for the Bucks, it was no laughing matter but it was all business.

Clearly, the Bucks heard the message to take out OU early, loud and clear and clamped down on OU early and often. The first half was about as perfect a game as the Bucks have played this year, save the INT at the end of the half - the first turnover of the season. Pryor had a period of 16-straight completions, a new OSU record easily passing the previous 13 straight (Bellisari and Boeckman shared the record) and Pryor was throwing the ball to a number of receivers across a number of routes.

But all was not perfect ...

The Bucks gave up another kick-off return TD - but for a penalty. The Bucks had little ground game in the first half - or the game for that matter - against an inferior opponent.

But some things are better upon further review ...

The re-loaded defense is as tenacious a defense as the Bucks have fielded since 2002. The Bucks' d-line is just loaded with a mix of experienced talent - Cam Heyward, Nathan Williams and Dexter Larimore - and young talent - Johnathan Hankins and John Simon, for example. Heyward sets the tone for the defensive line and the defense for that matter. He is a well-known perfectionist. He was upset apparently in the first half when a sack eluded him, but he made up for it with the fumble recovery and short run following. The linebackers are a mix of run-stoppers and speed. Ross Homan is a sure tackler that can cover. Brian Rolle has speed and tenaciousness. He's firey and hits like a safety. Tyler Moeller can tee it up on anyone. With Andrew Sweat out with injury, we had a mixture of bodies. All made stops. Then the walking wounded in the secondary. Joining Moeller is the steady Jermale Hines and experienced Chimdi Chekwa who did not disappoint coming off of a career game vs. Miami. CJ Barnett is now out for the season and Orhian Johnson filled in ably. Devon Torrence has been a stud in the secondary all season, but there were a number of injuries in the secondary in particular: Torrence, Travis Howard, Donnie Evege, and Dorian Bell. Howard appears to have the worst of the injuries though Evege appeared to have a broken arm, perhaps.

The offensive unit has dazzled with TP's new command of the passing game and inserted into the mix has been Jake Stoneburner. A local Dublin kid (Dublin Coffman HS), Stoneburner moved from WR to TE and has gotten a lot of looks this season with the ball. Stoneburner has shown the receiver's ability to get open and has the size of a TE. Stoneburner caught 3 passes vs Marshall and the rumor that the Bucks were going to throw to the TE appeared to be amazingly true. But yesterday, Stoneburner caught 5 to join Posey and Sanzenbacher with 5 a piece. And Jake got his first TD catch in his OSU career. Stoneburner has 9 catches on the season for 110 yards. Compare this to Jake Ballard who had 14 catches in all of last season's 13 games.

The offense has yet to really hit the ground running, so to speak. I spoke too soon annointing Brandon Saine as the answer. He seems unable to be the consistent go-to guy and the coaches seem to be trying to keep the carries between Boom and Zoom relatively equal. Jordan Hall again showed some pizzazz, mostly on special teams and perhaps the best rusher of all is still TP.

And the special teams remain the weak link. While the Buckeye returns on punt and kick-off have actually looked solid with Hall and Jamaal Berry back there on returns, coverage remains problematic. A few changes were made in the mix of personnel yesterday - Jordan Hall was out there on coverage and there were other first-teamers out there from time to time. The lane discipline remains the issue and the inconsistency in the kickoffs and punts is not helping matters. The short kickoffs immediately expose the Bucks to a run-back and solid punts have resulted in the speedy Bucks over-running the returner. A slight miss on a lane assignment can spring a returner. But, in the course of yesterday's games, I saw a phenomenal number of run-backs. Are the returners all just too fast for a coverage unit?

So, if we were to click down through the team's attributes through three games, I'd probably point to the following: defensive line - check; linebackers - check; secondary - check with an injury caveat; offensive line - improved with room for improvement; passing game - check; running game - incomplete; kickoff and punt returns - adequate; kickoff and punt coverage - failing grade.

And I would also say that we are seeing a more open playbook than a year ago, for sure.

Next up: Eastern Michigan. This is a team that did not win a game all of last season and is 0-3 coming into next Saturday. The game is at 3:30 eastern on ABC.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

CJ Barnett - Out for the Season?

2010-09-15T12:06:00.001-07:00

OSU safety C. J. Barnett is out for the season most likely, but against Miami, he made his presence felt. In fact, Barnett was awarded the Jack Tatum Hit if the Week award for his performance against the Hurricanes.

Weekly Awards

2010-09-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

Jim Tressel handed out his weekly awards at his traditional Monday luncheon: Terrelle Pryor was the offensive player of the game. On defense, the highly lauded Chimdi Chekwa was recognized. He was also the Walter Camp defensive player of the week and the Big Ten defensive player of the week. On special teams, Devin Barclay was recognized for his 5 field goals. Barclay also shared Big Ten special teams recognition. The Parker Lineman of the week was Justin Boren. Attack Force player of the week was Dexter Larimore. There was no Tatum hit of the week.

Tressel was somewhat sarcastic at his weekly presser - he tongue-in-cheek chastised the media for their lack of innovation in their questions. Many times he was asked about OU and the constant theme seemed to be that this is the classic "trap game". Of course it is. And yes, teams slip up against lesser opponents every year - just ask Purdue. But I think this team has a maturity and charisma about it that won't let that happen. Frankly, too many of the guys certainly on offense know how that loss to Purdue felt.

Tressel also let slip, if you will, that TP got about 12 carries in the game vs. Miami and that 12 carries is kind of a magic number. Interesting.

The game time for the Eastern Michigan game on 9/25 has been announced as 3:30. ABC has opted to pick up the coverage.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

And he might go all the way ... not

2010-09-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

Greetings from sunny C-bus:

Cameron Heyward's highlight reel interception had those of us wondering if the Miami Hurricanes were on the road to a comeback emitting a huge sigh of relief ... bullet dodged ... and Heyward might still be panting. The entire defense was trying to clear room for the big man who was trying to score ... or perhaps he just wanted to get tackled to end the struggle. Clearly, Heyward is built for bursts of speed; he's no 100 yard dash sprinter by any means. But for those season-end rewards, the interception will prove useful.

The player of the game - Terrelle Pryor. He proved himself worthy of the Heisman-hype on the big stage. His all-around game was not perfect but it had plenty of highlights and more importantly, no mistakes. Pryor led all rushers with 113 yards on 20 carries for a 5.7 yard/carry average and 1 TD. Pryor also had a workmanlike 12 of 27 for 233 yards and 1 TD. Posey had 4 catches for 105 followed by Sanzenbacher and Saine with 3 catches each and Saine had a TD. Herron had 66 yards on 14 carries. The rushing game was disappointing, particularly from Saine who had over 100 yards a week ago, yet seemed stuffed on every carry this week. At the same time, Saine the receiver was unwrapped for all to see.

Surprice of the game - 4 INTs from Jacory Harris. Harris had nearly the preseason hype of Pryor and had about the same experience level, yet Harris seemed to have not matured his game to Pryor's level. Harris seems to still believe, as young QBs often do, that a ball thrown harder into coverage is somehow a better pass than one thrown out of bounds. Four INTs hampered an otherwise talented Miami offense. Hankerson is a talented receiver - and one that Tressel apparently recruited - yet he had to battle for nearly every catch.

Passing the test - the Buckeye secondary. I thought the question mark coming into the season for the Bucks would be the secondary. The loss of Kurt Coleman and Anderson Russel concerned me - both were experienced and sure tacklers. But Devon Torrence and CJ Barnett looked every bit as capable and frankly more athletic. Torrence had a huge game with 7 solo tackles and 1 assist. He was a ball hawk. Add to Torrence's play the huge hits by CJ Barnett (ankle injury to be determined) and I was breathing easier. Chimdi Chekwa has often been criticized by this reporter for his pass interference calls - his seeming inability to turn his head on tight coverage. But I take it all back if Chekwa's 2 INTs are any measure of the rest of his season. Sure, both were the result of being in the right place at the right time, but I will take a DB with his eyes on the ball every play. He has shown strong improvement this season after two games.

Defensive tackle leader - no surprise, Ross Homan with 10 overall. But it seemed like he had a quiet game.

Surprise offensive player(s) - the O line. Much-maligned last season, the O line has given TP a lot of freedom to run or to pass. They allowed just one sack this week and the 2 offensive tackles were lauded by Jim Lachey during the radio call of the game for shutting down Miami's talented DEs - Vernon and Ojomo - for most of the game. Now, I'm not going to give them too much praise - the lack of an overall running game gives me the jitters.

Praise to the D line - wow. That D line set the tempo of the game. And I also credit Moeller and Hines for being as disruptive this week as last week, given a much different schemed opponent. Heyward, Simon, Williams, Larimore - all were man handling the Miami O line. Heyward was double teamed on almost every snap. Nathan Williams made a statement early - welcome back from your injury Nathan. John Simon flat out loves to bull rush. Larimore was blocking up that middle running lane on nearly every snap. The huge true freshman Johnathan Hankinson - Big Hank - is the first true nose tackle the Bucks have had in a while. You see glimpses of greatness in an 18-19 year old kid. He's a true wide-body but he can move.

Failing grade - special teams. Okay, this was not a reach and props to the blocked FG and to what was nearly a back-to-back runback TD by Jordan Hall. Sadly the turf monster reached up and grabbed Jordan Hall's shoe to stop him after a 47 yard return. But there is no excuse after last week to have not worked through kickoff return coverage. Then to give up a punt. Puleeze. On the kickoff, it was a lack of discipline. Guys out of their lanes, missing coverage and assignments. On the punt, it appeared as though the Bucks overran it. But that's not an excuse.

Worry of the season - RichRod might have something (or someone) in Denard Robinson. He reminds me of Troy Smith his junior year. But hopefully a real defense comes up with some solutions.

Next up - the OU Bobcats. The Marching 100 might be the highlight of the game for OU as they lost to Toledo yesterday 20-13 on 4 turnovers and seven penalties committed. The game is at noon Eastern - weather so far appears nice for next Saturday.

No let up Bucks ... GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Doubts May Linger

2010-09-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings from C-bus:

It took fans just 3 plays on offense to know that Tressel and the team took the "silence the doubters" banner seen outside Skull Session very seriously through spring and fall practice. The playbook remained relatively wide open from the Rose Bowl preparation through Thursday night's game and Terrelle Pryor seemed to have matured a decade between the Rose Bowl and 9/2/10.

Welcome back to Tyler Moeller! Moeller lost a year due to a head injury suffered in a FL bar more than a year ago while on vacation with his family. Moeller however led the team in tackles Thursday night and he looked to be back to form from nearly 2 seasons ago. His lateral speed kept Marshall from turning the corner and he anchors a relatively young and somewhat inexperienced secondary - a point of worry of mine. While Chekwa is the veteran back there, he was the same Chekwa who has lockdown capabilities but he's making the same mistakes - not turning his head to the ball and leaving himself open to the almost certain interference call. Frustrating.

The 3rd receiver position remains open. Sanzenbacher and Posey have locked down the first 2 receiver spots with both making a clear statement in the game Thursday. Perhaps the 3rd receiver might really be Jake Stoneburner? I think that depends on the strength of the opponent's defensive line and whether we need a TE for blocking or in the passing game. And certainly a quick view of Zack Boren as fullback eases your fears when it comes to blowing up holes for the RBs - Zoom and Boom (and definitely in that order). Grant Schwartz caught some balls out there Thursday and it was nice to see the senior get in there but all eyes during preseason were on Philly Brown and Chris Fields and neither showed too much Thursday. Taurian Washington was said to be #3 but he was quiet Thursday.

And boy ... work needs to be done on that special teams unit. Sure, the opening fumble recovery was their work, but the blocked field goal was a missed blocking assignment combined with a low, line drive and coverage of the opponent returns was lacking - blocking assignments missed no doubt. Some discipline is needed in keeping guys in their lanes. I'd also like to see some more consistency in kick off depth and punt distance. Good coverage on the punt with the near-stop just short of the goal line. There's definite speed on those squads. Appears they need discipline.

For Miami, the game Saturday might be like playing a 4th OT although no one on that squad was part of the 2002 game. At least the media is trying to build the game up to be some sort of re-match. Bahhhh. But it is a chance for Miami to prove that they are "back" in primetime, on a big stage. The Bucks must come out prepared to sling it around with some very good athletes and we must be prepared to stop a talented QB in Jacory Harris. I saw him play in person last season at Winston-Salem, a game that Wake should have won. But the thing about Harris is that he's a competitor and has a will to win. A final drive in the waning minutes of the game propelled Miami to the victory when the receiver got behind a Wake DB into the endzone on a long, risky pass play. The Miami team roster is full of Harris' high school teammates. The squad is loaded with speed. Harris was a risk-taker last season - my guess is that Coach Randy Shannon has him more disciplined this year. Miami put the hurt down on their opening opponent Florida A&M. Miami did not fare well against Wisconsin in last year's bowl game, however, which makes me think that Miami will not fare well against a tough, disciplined defense like OSU and the physical play of the Big Ten. That being said, Harris is a gun-slinger. Our secondary had better be ready.

Keep in mind that the early weather forecast for Saturday calls for rain showers. That might favor a ground game from Zoom and Boom ... but it's too early to forecast Ohio weather with any certainty ... in fact the morning of the game might be too early.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

D Line Shuffles - Will It Be As Deep?

2010-08-31T13:43:00.000-07:00

Greetings from C-bus:

Today on Jim Tressel's call-in radio show, Tressel stated that Nathan Williams, the budding young D-lineman, will be out of Thursday's line-up. The usually deep rotation will probably be limited to 7 for Thursday unless a decision is made to play true freshman JT Moore. Moore is a redshirt candidate but if injuries continue to limit play among the starters and if conditions require Thursday, a decision to put JT Moore in the rotation will be made. The game-time temperature is expected to be in the upper 80s and conditions on the field will be some 20 degrees warmer. While Cbus experienced a particularly hot August (with record levels of humidity), it is unclear how those conditions might affect Thursday's game and the players in particular. Maybe they are used to the heat - maybe not. The Buckeye D-line has been particularly known for its rotation and Jim Heacock has been particularly pleased with this class of D-linemen, calling it perhaps his best ever. Surprising many with the kudos given the stars of the past, it has been unusual for any D-lineman to get many more than 50% of the snaps at a position as Heacock loves to bring in fresh bodies and substitute liberally.

A challenge before Cameron Heyward is whether he can/will take the majority of snaps at the DE/DT positions. It will be necessary for Cam to get more plays if he expects to be on the final ballots at season's end for major defensive awards. If he's going to be an every-play guy, it will be a test of his stamina. The rotation might include Cam moving back and forth between the more familiar DE position to the inside where Cam has shown he can be equally disruptive, ala Vernon Gholston.

Injuries have also cropped up in the secondary with Chimdi Chekwa now confirmed as available for Thursday along with Orhian Johnson. Both may split time, however, with a back-up or two as opportunity presented by the injuries among the starters has brought along some "youngsters".

Did you know there are two Corey Brown's on the Buckeye roster?

And both will likely play Thursday. The rising star is "Philly" Brown who has been turning heads at the WR spot as a freshman. He has flat-out burner speed. Expect to see him as a 3rd receiver and on special teams as a receiver. The other is "Pittsburgh" Brown who plays DB for the defense. He too has been working his way into the rotation. Good thing they don't play on the same side of the ball.

Props to Terrelle Pryor. If TP has improved and matured as all of the interviews with coaches and players indicate, this guy could be a legit Heisman prospect. The transformation in Troy Smith between his year 2 and 3 was nearly legendary ... did Tress do it again? Well, it remains to be seen but per Tress, TP has become a gym- and film-rat, has been drafting new plays, and is engaging with the center in calling protection schemes. Per receivers' coach Hazell last night in an interview, TP has all the throws and great accuracy. And per Tress, TP has plenty of weapons. Expect pass plays to Brandon Saine, who Tress today called the best receiving RB in college football. Jake Stoneburner has also progressed nicely as a legit receiving TE. Expect even passes to the fullback! That being said, Tress on-air today speculated whether TP will remember how to take off and run. Tress also noted that TP has played with the black no-contact jersey all spring and all fall and that with that jersey comes the tendency to hold the ball too long knowing that you, as the QB, can't get hit. He speculated that TP could get a wake-up call in Thursday's game as he will get hit if he holds the ball too long.

Weather for Thursday? Hot with a chance of showers. Hurricane Earl has the possibility of keeping the rain at bay through most of the game Thursday night as it will slow down the progression of a cold front. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rain holds off.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Six seniors will lead the Buckeyes!

2010-08-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

Ohio State has announced that 6 seniors - 3 on offense and 3 on defense - will lead the team for the 2010 season. The 2010 captains are Bryant Browning, Brandon Saine, and Dane Sanzenbacher on offense and Cameron Heyward, Ross Homan, and Brian Rolle on defense. I think Buckeye observers will find no surprise - other than the shear number - among the names. And those who thought that Terrelle Pryor might be among the captains must remember the infrequency of a junior among the captains in the history of OSU football.

In other somewhat related Buckeye news, Maurice Clarett has been given permission by the court to travel to Omaha to tryout for the Omaha UFL team. Clarett has apparently been working out at the WWHayes while attending classes at OSU now that he's been released from jail and claims to be in good football shape. He remains on probation and needs the court's approval to travel outside Columbus.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Fall is in the Air

2010-07-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, it is 90+ degrees here in Columbus but in one week, the Bucks report back for fall camp and the football season is just around the corner! Hard to believe.

It has become known that while the running back stable has been thought to be stuffed to the gills, two RBs expected to compete for playing time remain questionable for camp. Jermil Martin, the beefy RB who was among my personal favorites last season is currently academically ineligible. He is in summer school but reports do not sound promising. Earlier this summer it was widely rumored that he wanted to transfer, but his academic issues would also keep him from other NCAA rosters. Martin is a 3rd year sophomore. Incoming freshman Rod Smith is working on finishing a class at his high school, Fort Wayne (IN) Harding. At 6'3", some thought that Smith could have contended immediately for playing time for the Buckeyes this fall. If he misses fall camp, he will be behind the 8-ball.

The Bucks do come to camp loaded in the back field with returners Boom Herron and Brandon Saine and newcomers Jamaal Berry who flashed greatness in preseason last year before contending with injuries resulting in a redshirt year and Carlos Hyde, a highly touted incoming freshman this fall.

Talk around the possible Heisman run of Terrelle Pryor has been relatively quiet ... a wait and see approach from most fans. Was the Rose Bowl Pryor's coming out party or an aberration? While Florida State is actively promoting Christian Ponder for the Heisman, for example, the Buckeye camp seems rather quiet on this front. Pryor will not be at the Big Ten luncheon next week.

Big news in C-bus is the return of Maurice Clarett to OSU ... no, his football eligibility is gone ... he's going to class to attempt to finish his degree. See the story at the following link for more on Jim Tressel's involvement with (and forgiveness of) Mo-C. Tressel apparently had a hand in Mo-C's return to class. Interesting, to say the least. Response from OSU campus has been mixed.

http://www.theozone.net/football/2010/summer/clarett_Tressel.htm

And Buckeyes everywhere mourn the passing of Jack Tatum. One of the Buckeye greats, Tatum's passing was worthy of national coverage by NBC's regular evening news program yesterday (7/27/10). That surprised me a little, but of course, they had to focus in on his "hit" in the NFL. Tressel began his head coaching career paying homage to Tatum by naming a weekly award for Tatum (hit of the week). No word yet from OSU or the Athletic Department on how his career will be celebrated, but expect something at a game this fall. Long-time friend of Jack Tatum, John Hicks, was widely interviewed locally last night indicating that Tatum's passing was a surprise despite Tatum's well-known health problems. At 61, it was far too early.

"We have lost one of our greatest Buckeyes," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said in a statement. "When you think of Ohio State defense, the first name that comes to mind is Jack Tatum. His loss touches every era of Ohio State players and fans."

As much as I think I know about OSU football, I did not know that Tatum was originally recruited as a running back. Assistant coach Lou Holtz almost immediately saw Tatum's talent and asked Coach Woody Hayes to have Tatum moved to safety. Tatum was a 3-year starter who played on the 1968 national championship team. In the Rose Bowl, he ran down OJ Simpson from behind, as then-Assistant Coach Earle Bruce remembers.

He will always be a Buckeye!

Well, hold on to your Woody hats, Buckeye fans! The season is about to get underway.
GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

A little controversy ... though I see none

2010-07-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

A few local sports radio jocks were trying to make something of Tressel's announcement that Terrelle Pryor would not be among the three players he is taking to the Big Ten luncheon the first week in August. He's taking 3 seniors ... I see no controversy.

Going are Cameron Heyward, consensus top 5 pick in next year's draft and hands down captain; Dane Sanzenbacher, likely a solid NFL prospect and likely captain; and Bryant Browning, senior linemen. I feel sorry for Browning because he is a bit of a fish out of water ... I mean who wants to talk to an O-lineman. He will probably field a lot of questions about Terrelle, as will Sanzenbacher. But here's the thing ... the three Tress is bringing are proven to be articulate, reserved, concise in their comments, and team-guys. None of these guys is going to stray from the script. Cameron is actually quite engaging and Dane, well he's darn hot.

So why is Terrelle staying in C-bus? Well, short of Tress or the SID sitting next to Terrelle at every interview with a hand firmly planted on his thigh such that if he even breathes off script he feels a sharp pain, he's still a loose cannon. Take his pre-Rose Bowl interview. Did anyone need to know about his knee injury? And you know that the questions will be filled with pre-season team hype, Heisman hype, and attempts to get him to tell us again that "everyone murders" ...

So Terrelle is continuing to stay tight to the weight room at the Woody Hayes while his three teammates head to Chicago. And there will be no shortage of questions ...

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Spring Game 2010

2010-04-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

A spring game star emerged on April 24, 2010 - Kenny Guiton. The 3rd-string QB appeared to be a viable alternative to even TP to read the bloggers following the game Saturday. Will Guiton turn into the next Bam Childress who seemed to blossom every April only to wilt like my un-watered garden come fall? Or will Guiton truly emerge to fill the shoes of Joe Bauserman, who's 2nd-string status seemed increasingly troubled even before the spring game through tidbits coming from practice. Kenny Guiton showed a nice, accurate arm and the moves to elude tacklers. He led the Gray to a 17-14 victory over the TP-led Scarlet with TP playing sparingly.

And also emerging on the offense was Taurian Washington, a receiver who considered transferring after last season due to a bit of a logjam at the position. Well, with Duron Carter sitting in the stands, still trying to get his academic house in order, it looks like T-Wash, as he's known, is trying to secure the #3 receiver spot behind Dane Sanzenbacher and Devier Posey.

And TP did show flashes ... he was orders to limit his scrambling and was limited to playing only in the first quarter. He led the Scarlet for 2 touchdowns, including a crisp 4-play, 78-yard drive - all passing. The TD was to Sanzenbacher. TP was 8 of 12 on the day.

But who is the best player on the Buckeye team going into the fall ... his initials are not TP but rather CH - Cameron Heyward. He was a consensus late 1st round pick had he opted to skip his senior season but there is something so compelling about this young man. You need only hear him speak to know that he is a man and a leader on this team. And while many worried that the cupboard might be bare on the D after losing so many to graduation including leaders like Kurt Coleman, Doug Worthington, and Lawrence Wilson, one only need watch a replay yesterday to know that Cam Heyward anchors a D-line that will have a lot to say this fall, in front of 3 linebackers who are ready to play.

On the D-line, Nathan Williams emerged last year and flashed at various times, but he was a beast taking on Mike Adams much of the game one-on-one (more on Big Mike later). Among the LBs, you know that Brian Rolle and Ross Homan mean business but who would emerge to replace Austin Spitler? The answer appears to be Etienne Sabino who led both squads with 7 tackles yesterday. The secondary remains in the hands of Chimdi Chekwa and a supporting cast. The drama might be in the secondary, but overall, the defense is loaded. Again.

Great drama has emerged in the battle for the decidedly critical position of left tackle. Many observers think that Big Mike Adams made a bit of a statement yesterday, but one couldn't help notice that Nathan Williams had his way with Big Mike on more than a couple of occasions. Big Mike is battling Andrew Miller and the battle will likely extend into the fall. Also emerging on the line was Jack Mewhort at right guard. While Shugarts, Browning, Brewster and Boren appear pretty set with the LT spot up for grabs, it was good to *finally* see some depth emerge on the O-line.

And speaking of O-line, another name that has come up plenty from spring practice observers has been Jake Stoneburner. Now say what you want about Tight Ends getting involved in the offense outside of the spring game, but those here who have been fans of suburban C-bus high school football, knew Stoneburner could be a star. A lot depended on Stoneburner giving up his dream of becoming a wide receiver and accepting his natural role as Tight End. The kid can catch. Can he block? And can the other starting 5 on the O-line gel enough to give that chapter in the offensive playbook an opportunity?

And speaking of hands and seldom-used pages in the playbook, another suburban C-bus kid, Zack Boren, showed that he too can catch the ball from the fullback spot. Again, will this part of the playbook be dusted off in the fall?

The running back stable is full, but banged up ... again. Plenty of Brandon Saine and Boom Herron will hopefully be on the menu in the fall but crowd-favorite from last season, Jordan Hall continues to impress as does Jaamal Berry who appeared to have been held out for precautionary reasons. He's had a hamstring issue that sidelined him all of 2009 but again spring practice observers rave about the kid. In addition, Jermil Martin was an early pick by the team seniors on "draft day" which says something for what the teammates see in practice. Carlos Hyde showed a bit Saturday, as well. Many are liking Jordan Hall as a returner. It might be an option to get him more touches in a crowded backfield where he has some room to show his burst.

The main worry coming from spring has been the kicking game, specifically punting. And Saturday did not give anyone comfort. Between Ben Buchanan and Derek Erwin, it was pretty ugly in the kick scrimmage 2 weeks ago. And the more seasoned Buchanan did nothing Saturday to establish a starting role for himself.

Based on my observations following spring practices and the spring game, it appears to me too that several solid leaders have emerged in Dane Sanzenbacher, Justin Boren, and Devier Posey on the offense and Cam Heyward on the defense. It will be interesting to see how the team vote goes for captain and how Terrelle Pryor fares and where the defense goes for a 2nd guy - I'd guess Brian Rolle or Ross Homan but Chekwa might be right in there. There is a certain maturity in this team that reminds me a lot of 2002 ... no worries, I am not getting ahead of myself ... but I see similarities ... and there is the enigma (much as 2002 had its enigma in MoC) in TP. I am not yet convinced that what we saw in the Rose Bowl will carry through the season to come. If it does ... well, it will be a very successful season.

The first game approaches - the rare Thursday night game vs. Marshall awaits (Big Ten network). I trust I will see you all in August as fall camp gets underway!

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Big Ten All-Tournament Team

2010-03-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

David Lighty - dissed by media and coaches but his actions answered ...

Here is the 2010 Big Ten Men's Basketball
All-Tournament Team:

Demetri McCamey, Illinois
Devoe Joseph, Minnesota
William Buford, Ohio State
David Lighty, Ohio State
Evan Turner, Ohio State

No surprise ..........

Most Outstanding Player
Evan Turner, Ohio State

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Lighty Dreams of the Shoe

2010-02-26T12:56:00.000-08:00

Today, Thad Matta and selected ballers met with the media. David Lighty talked about his anti-Mich sentiments.

Lighty said he feels a little something extra going against Michigan. Maybe its the football player in him, but he said "they will always be that school up north to me." Said he wished he could play against them on Saturdays in the fall and would love to catch a touchdown pass in front of 100,000 fans at the Shoe.

For your knowledge, David Lighty was an All-State WR at Cleveland Villa Angela - St. Joseph High School.

Shhhhh .... don't tell Coach Tressel.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

C'mon People

2010-01-14T16:54:00.000-08:00

You'd think that they really did discover that Dan Brown had the whole Holy Grail story correct for all the hub-bub in C-bus over opening the football season in 2010 on a Thursday! Sacreligious! Sacre' bleu! OMG!

Seriously, a guy called into the local sports radio station today and complained that a Thursday game would cut into his party schedule because if he did his usual tailgate pre-game, he'd be too hung over for work the following day, a Friday. Another called in and thought for sure that the traditional TBDBITL quad-script would be ruined because the alumni band could not possibly get off work to march on a Thursday. The radio host rightly suggested that giving notice in January to an employer might ensure someone could get a random Thursday in September off work, and maybe even the following Friday.

So it's a Thursday night game. It is not unprecedented. The game will be a night game on a summer evening. It will be warm, but probably not as hot as those early season afternoon games where we roast in the heat of the day. The students will be off campus (the game is the week after summer quarter ends), so parking will be relatively ample. The game will be among maybe a handful of games so it will be a highlight game and likely picked up by major media.

C'mon People!

Have you not figured it out?

It's all about the bucks ($) Bucks!

Putting an Ohio State football game on a Thursday night is sure to attract the ESPN crew to C-bus to broadcast, particularly as the Bucks will be coming off of a big Rose Bowl win. And, yes, Marshall is not exactly like playing USC, but Marshall does bring tradition and a new coach and plenty of banter for the likes of the ESPN crew! Frankly, the risk is to the Buckeyes - if they lay an "egg" or play below expectations, they do so before a national audience!

So Buckeye Nation, accept the inevitable. The game will go on ... and you best get prepared now. Request the day off if you need to (and the day after). Prepare your best scarlet attire for the lights of Ohio Stadium. And prepare to bring home an opening game victory.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

'Nuf Said

2010-01-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

Remember Buckeye fans, when you are talking about college football coaches and Tressel, since coming to OSU in 2001, we've had eight straight years in the top 20, seven of those years in the top 10, with six of those years finishing in the TOP 5! WOW

A Budding Superstar?

2009-11-30T11:08:00.000-08:00

Probably an inappropriate title given that Buckeye Nation probably saw the "budding" of this superstar more than a year ago ... but Evan Turner is now a much-talked about budding superstar on the national media stage.

Evan Turner collected his third-consecutive weekly Big Ten Player of the Week honor after leading the No. 18 Ohio State men’s basketball team to a pair of wins last week. On 11/24/09, the junior guard recorded Ohio State's third all-time triple double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists to propel the Bucks past Lipscomb, 84-64. Evan Turner, a Chicago native, now owns two triple-doubles on the year, making him one of just 34 NCAA student-athletes all-time to record multiple triple-doubles in a single season.

With the effort against the Bisons, he also becomes the first Buckeye to open the season with five-consecutive double-double performances since Clark Kellogg in 1980. Turner continued his scoring prowess in Saturday's contest against St. Francis, adding 16 in OSU's 110-47 rout over the Red Flash, becoming the 44th Buckeye in program history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau.

On the week, Turner averaged nine rebounds, eight assists and 16 points on 71.4% shooting.

Turner has been called upon this season to embrace the point guard position as the Bucks' roster lacks a starter at the position. Spelled by PJ Hill who comes off the bench as a viable 6th man, Turner then rotates to the 2 or 3 position and remains in the game. With the exception of the past 2 blow-out games, Turner rarely leaves the floor and has typically played all 40 minutes. While this bolsters his stats, the fitness of Turner is apparent this year as he has worked hard to avoid the turnovers that plagued his play last season in similar 40-minute bouts. Turner had a tough game vs. UNC where he had double figures in the turnover stat, but in other games this season, he has been careful with the ball and has improved his decision-making and ball handling.

Notice that Coach Matta has moved back to his man-on-man defensive scheme, a scheme that served him well with previous squads and at previous coaching venues. Last year, however, the Bucks relied largely on a zone defense and with a squad of all returners from 2008-2009, the Bucks can revert to a zone when necessary to stop a hot shooting team. Lighty has also returned from his broken foot in 2008 - recall that the Bucks started 7-0 until Lighty went down and while the season was a winning season, most feel that the 2008-9 record was ultimately a disappointing one. Lighty has already made his mark with outstanding shooting (career high 22 points) vs. Lipscomb and through his defensive intensity in every game. Lighty also has honed his on-court leadership in part through observing from the bench last season some of the team's mental breakdowns in the past season.

The Bucks have a tough match-up this week with Florida State in the Big Ten-ACC challenge. Like UNC, Fla St is tall and rangy. The Bucks had a tough time driving to the basket against UNC and when their shooting failed them, particularly early in the game, the Bucks had no answer offensively. The Bucks also rely on Turner to be a rebounder. Presumably, the similar-sized Fla St will present similar problems for offensive 2nd shots and defensive rebounds as UNC did a week ago.

The Bucks have a mixed bag schedule-wise for the remainder of December until the Big Ten season starts on 12/31/09 at Wisconsin. The December schedule is win-able and those wins will be critical to getting notice come tournament time. The Big Ten looks solid across the top half of the 11 teams with a strong returning squad from Michigan State and Purdue. Michigan has also looked solid at times. Other contenders include Northwestern, Iowa, and Illinois and Penn State if they stay healthy. Indiana continues to lack depth but has skills among its starters. Of course with 3-point shooting, any team can beat any other team on any given night.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Indisputable

2009-11-22T10:38:00.000-08:00

It is a sunny day in C-bus:

Of course "owning" Michigan would make even a typhoon hitting Columbus seem like a sunny day ... and at 6 wins in a row, we own Michigan. Never mind the battle of Toledo or whatever it was called in the early 1800s when Michigan and Ohio quibbled over Toledo (we might want to give Toledo back to Michigan at this point), Ohio now "owns" Michigan ... and wouldn't we like a do-over on that Purdue game?

The Bucks' 5-game winning streak featured the same formula ... run the friggin' ball and run it hard and run it often. The Bucks had 5 straight 200+ yard rushing games after the Purdue loss to take control of their own destiny and they did it in a fashion that would make Woody proud. Are the problems of the O-line solved? Definitely not. Michigan DE Brandon Graham was the highlight of the UM defense ... and he was a problem for our tackles all afternoon. But in part because Graham was a one-man wrecking crew, the Bucks could fashion their offense away from the Michigan senior and the Bucks got some hard running from Boom and Zoom. I think Brandon Saine set the tone when he ran for a 12-14 yard gain dragging 3-4 Wolverines with him. Boom couldn't let Zoom get all the kudos and he did the same on a following drive.

The Bucks dominated the game so much that even their errors were happy successes ... the Saine score on the misdirection play was a mistake ... the student intern wrote down the wrong play number on the white board they use to signal in the plays to Pryor and the offense. The play was designed for a different formation and Pryor recognized the mistake but thought it could work anyway out of the formation called so he went with it. If you watch that play again, you will notice that the UM defense was so keyed on Pryor that when he took the initial snap to the right, the linebackers follow and the misdirection turned into the perfect call when even the defensive line got turned with their backs to the run of Saine off of the left side of the Buckeye OL. With the UM defense so skewed to the right side of the field, Saine just simply needed to get a step on the safeties and he was in the endzone. Looked like the perfect call ... but it was far from. Just the result was perfect.

Then on the center screen pass to Boom Herron inside the 5 yard line, per Tressel the play call came from his brother Doc Tressel who in Jim Tressel words, always wants to see the ball go to his running backs. But the coaching staff thought that there was not enough time to get the play off and Tress was out on the field desperately trying to call a timeout when the play went off successfully resulting in a score. The Bucks even with a series of mistakes were dominant in their effort and won the game.

The defense set the tone early. Forcier was forced back into the endzone on the UM initial possession and simply dropped the ball. Cam Heyward was in the right place at the right time to scoop the ball back into the endzone for the 1st Buckeye score. In fact, the Buckeye D line dominated the UM O line throughout the game ... even late in the game when the Bucks were dropping 7 and even 8 into coverage, the D line was able to get pressure on Forcier and Robinson. Even if the D got just 8 sacks and TFLs, there were at least as many hurries and throw-aways by the QBs. The UM offense did get a bit going on some short passes and when UM ran a hurry-up offense, limiting the Buckeye's situational substitutions, but Forcier made some serious blunders with the ball, particularly when Devon Torrence stopped a drive that had the potential to change the game's momentum in the 4th quarter. The pass almost seemed like Devon Torrence was the intended receiver.

Tressel commented after the game about Forcier and his abilities, but tipped his hat to his thoughts on a freshman QB when he talked about the ability of Forcier to sling the ball around but the freshman's poor decision-making. After all, the rivalry game often is about turnovers and the Bucks won that statistic pretty easily and Forcier was responsible for all 5 of the UM giveaways.

Brian Rolle was a force in the lineup again this week with 9 tackles including 3 TFLs and Homan led all Buckeyes with 12 tackles. When your linebackers are leading your D statistics, that tells you that your defense is in control of the line of scrimmage and that the opponent running game has been shut down. As advertised, UM had 80 total rushing yards and 309 total yards. And yes, UM was slinging the ball around - nickel back Jermale Hines who plays the 'tweener in passing downs also had 9 tackles and 2 TFLs. And huge props to captain Kurt Coleman. With 2 interceptions - both of them athletic plays by the way - he exceeded even his own dreams he said in his last regular season game. His leadership of this team is to be particularly highlighted - he's well-spoken, hard-nosed, intense ... and his leadership is evident on this D.

On offense, the Bucks were skewed to the run ... 53 running attempts for 251 yards ... and the stats were 1-2-3 ... 1-Pryor with 19 attempts for 74 yards (3.9 yards per carry, 25 yard long), 2- Zoom Saine with 12 attempts for 84 yards (7.0 yards per carry, 29 yard long and 1 TD), and 3- Boom Herron with 19 attempts for 96 yards (5.1 yards per carry, 23 yard long). Pretty even really. Pryor also attempted 17 passes, completing 9 for 67 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. One of the local commentators has been advocating for Pryor to run-pass in about equal numbers and he got his wish. He thinks that Pryor should get 15-20 rushing attempts per game because of the affect it has on the opponent defense who has to account for Pryor as a legitimate threat to carry the ball and to carry the ball in a fashion outside of the broken play, etc.

The Bucks' very successful 80-yard drive for their 1st score on offense was all run - and featured the coaching staff using the read-option. Essentially, Pryor gets to make the run-pass call at the line based on the defensive scheme and his reads ... typically this means that he is reading where the safeties are and often and probably in this case, where the talented UM DE Graham is lined up. Some QBs also read the center of the D line for their call ... the spacing for example will tell the QB and will tell the center how the play should be blocked. If the drive was truly executed the way Tress said it was executed, that tells a lot about the coaching staff's expanding level of confidence in Pryor and tells us a lot about Pryor's growing ability to read the opponent D. That drive was run to near-perfection.

About mid-week last week, the sports radio station in C-bus featured a call-in from Troy Smith who alone "owned" Michigan in his time as the starting QB. He talked of his growing relationship with Terrelle Pryor and his counsel of the sophomore QB. I am beginning to hear a bit more Tressel-speak from Pryor, much as Troy turned the corner in his sophomore year to the Tressel-way and began to see success. One can't forget that early in Troy's experience as QB, you saw a playbook that featured Troy's running ability over his ability to throw the ball. Now, there are distinct differences between the 2 QBs, but they are often compared here in C-bus, despite their clear differences. Troy was an after-thought in his recruiting class and got his first time on the field in kick-off run-backs, not as a QB as a freshman. Troy was also small in stature, but a big talker ... a bit like Pryor on the talking side. But, Smith was clearly a born-leader and when he got his first time as QB against Iowa in a loss, I will never forget him talking about "his guys". That said that he had command. Pryor has struggled a bit more with this in his time at QB ... in part because he replaced a senior captain as QB and therefore struggled to take command, probably by no fault of his own. Players are loyal and trust is key in the stressful situations a team might find themselves in when in a big, high-profile game. I think Pryor has made strides though. Smith could also really throw the ball from day one and he had a trusted receiver in Ted Ginn Jr. on the field - that partnership is important - a game of pitch and catch came easily to the two of them. Terrelle comes to O-State without that partnership but has support now in the emergence of third team RB Jordan Hall, a former teammate in Jeannette. I like the prospects of a developing relationship between the two of them on the field too. And I like the thought of Troy giving the current Buckeye QB counsel.

Well, the Bucks now have the task of shaking off the national stigma that they can't win on the big stage. Two consecutive losses to USC, too many BCS bowl losses haunt this team and Ohio State will remain a laughing stock on the national front until they can win in a high-profile bowl game. And the Big 10 does us no favors ... while I celebrate the consecutive defeats of UM, their fall from prominence only reinforces the Big 10 as a conference made up of the "sisters of the poor". And the OSU playbook does us no favors ... that being said, the Bucks need to find the formula that won the 2002 national championship and the preparation that got them the crystal football. And our ability to run the ball, control the line of scrimmage was a key to the victory over Miami.

Oregon showed vulnerability to a good defense last night and while they still won, Jeremiah Masoli made mistakes when rushed by Arizona's D. I'm guessing we've got more talent on our D than Arizona. Oregon's D didn't impress me as much but rather, the Arizona offense was just not deep enough to go more than 4 quarters. No question, however, we've got to score more than 21 to beat a Pac 10 team. And Oregon State ... that presents an OSU vs OSU game! Oregon State has the ability to run the ball and features as their president the former Ohio State provost! That matchup might be confusing!

There is a chance for the Bucks to exhale a little and enjoy Thanksgiving but then it is back to the white board ... and let's hope that the month or so of preparation brings new wrinkles and an effective offensive and defensive game plan.

We're Rose Bowl bound baby!

One final thought ... the tribute to Stefanie Spielman was touching. The idea of the pink Buckeye leaf was a great one and her tenacity against cancer, a disease she fought for one-fourth of her life, make us grateful to have known her, and in my case, even a little. She never asked "why" or complained about her cancer but rather knew that God had something special in mind for her. Gordon Gee said it so well when he said, "She was given the gift of a visible life, and she wanted to give that gift to others." And in her near-12 year battle, her work raised over $6.5 million for cancer research and many here in Central Ohio were direct beneficiaries of her work and the work of her family. Please send a tribute to her fund in her honor, work her family will continue in remembrance of her for years to come. It is appropriate that Chris played for an Ohio State program that Coach Tressel keeps burning with the "pay it forward" motto of Woody Hayes and the Spielman family lived that and will continue to live that motto in the years to come. Stefanie paid for so many to have a better life ... a life, period, for that matter. Even in her 5th recurrence, her use of experimental therapies will leave a legacy for cancer research. I hope to take from knowing her, even a little as I did, not to complain about the little things in life and to stop being outraged by the trivial. Rather, I hope that when faced by the difficult I can show even a little of her courage and that I can "pay it forward" by my actions in the remainder of my life.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Beware of a Wounded Animal

2009-11-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

Tressel told the team that they could celebrate their victory for 3 hours after the Iowa game but then it was Michigan Week.

Beware the wounded animal - the Wolverines need a victory against the Buckeyes next Saturday to become bowl eligible ... and to salvage any vestige of respectability this season. The spread ... the spread offense as designed by RichRod does not work in the Big 10 if you have no defense. And Michigan proved against yesterday that they have no defense.

And yes, Buckeye Nation again suffered through another agonizing offensive performance. When arguably you have the best athlete on the field on your team, why not use him? Well, one rather astute caller into WTVN radio this morning made the observation that a college QB needs 2 things - athleticism and the "it" factor. He observed that Terrelle has the athleticism thing but not the "it" factor and went on to explain that Terrelle did not have the grasp of the game from a technical, strategic, and fundamental way. Terrelle cannot read defenses, cannot understand the field position strategies necessary to manage the game, and did not yet make good decisions on the field. He went on to point out the 4th and short call where the Bucks were well back into their own side of the field and Tressel called for the punt. Pryor apparently was shown on camera showing his distaste for the decision. The caller first pointed out that a team leader does not conduct himself in that manner on the sideline but then that Tressel was correct in attempting to bottle-up Iowa deep into their own territory. While the latter did not work out so well as Thoma clearly was not consistent in his performance yesterday, a student of the game (and Tressel certainly is one) and a student of Tressel-ball always knows where Tressel's head is on a decision like that ... field position and put the defense back on the field.

The gauntlet was laid before these Buckeyes to make November one to remember - the toughest part of the schedule was laid before the team starting with the game at Penn State. While boring as all get-out, Tressel et al have clearly decided that they will manage the game for their venerable QB by taking the flash out of the playbook. There was nothing "up top" yesterday and little creativity in the victory. But then again, the Bucks again went turnover-free and that proved to be decisive dampened by losing, but for the final field goal, the special teams battle. Tressel-ball relies on solid special teams play and that was sorely lacking from the punt team, a missed field goal, and on the kick-off run back for 99 1/2 yards. That latter gaffe nearly stole the momentum from the Bucks who had just scored to put the game to 2 scores.

But Tressel showed confidence in the walk-on-turned-starter Devin Barclay as Tress clearly played for the field goal having seen his defense finally push the stout Iowa O-line out of the way for 2 straight offensive losses. Finally!

The game was predicted to be one fought in the trenches ... and hopefully the Buckeye O line took notes and was properly schooled by the Iowa O line. They played a terrific game allowing the Iowa back up QB plenty of time to hit the Iowa TE Moeaki for 3 catches and WR McNutt for 6. Were it not for the loss, Iowa would have probably called the performance by Vandenberg pretty darn good. His rookie mistake in the OT did cost Iowa a chance at a field goal when he took the deep sack, but overall, he showed no hesitation and a great deal of confidence. The Iowa O line gave him good time and opened up holes for the injured RB Robinson. The Buckeye D did enough to win but not enough to be called Rose Bowl champion - the tackling was weak and spotty at best. The coverage of the Buckeye D was solid but on several occasions, the Bucks seemed out of position.

Now props to Ross Homan who had the 1 int and led the team with 8 tackles, but he was slow to react on several plays and attempted arm tackles when his normally solid tackling was required. The second leading tackler was Chimdi Chekwa with 7 - that tells you that he was pitted on McNutt most of the game and that the complete passes required a solid DB tackle.

The Buckeye D also held Iowa to a season-low 310 yards in total offense and kept Iowa's ground game to under 100 yards.

On offense, this is the 4th straight game and 7th game this season that the Bucks have topped 200 yards rushing. Some kudos to the O line is due, however, I give props to the RB's who seem to be running with a bit more authority and show a willingness to take the hit. I miss Beanie. But Boom and Zoom are holding up their end of the bargain. Saine, helped by the 49 yard TD run, ended with 103 yards on 11 carries, while Boom Herron was the workhorse with 97 yards on a career-high 32 carries. Essentially, the game featured 2 100-yard rushers in the game for the Bucks. At the same time, Pryor did what was needed. He went 14 of 17 passing for 93 yards and ran for 29 yards. Those rushing yards came at key times too.

Tressel appeared to be set on a game plan that called for ball control and time-consuming drives and the Bucks largely executed - the Bucks won the clock battle with nearly 34 minutes of possession and topped 320 yards in offense. At one point, the scoreboard statistics showed the yardage as dead-even, much as the game was at that point.

Will Tressel-ball prove victorious in Ann Arbor. Often the weather has something to say about the offense - and at least in C-bus, the weather for week's end does tend to look a lot like a ground game is in store for the Bucks. But the Wolverine D is porous at best, particularly vulnerable to the big play. The scUM offense is inconsistent to put it mildly. Our D is stingy. We will need to tackle better. We will need to cover receivers better and be ready for the wounded animal to come out and claw for every yard, for their very respectability.

The Game is at noon eastern time on ABC. The normal pomp and circumstance are in full regalia this week as preparations for The Game will be made all week. The Bucks have an outright Big Ten championship on the line ... the Wolverines have a bowl berth at play (and maybe the future of RichRod too).

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

The BIG Game - Game Time

2009-11-10T06:34:00.000-08:00

The Bucks' annual tussle with that team up north will be shown nationally on ABC next Saturday. The game time is set for high noon. Perfect.

And the weather is improved ... about 63 degrees and increasingly cloudy throughout the day. Showers are possible overnight Saturday into Sunday.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Buckeye Men's BB Debut

2009-11-10T06:27:00.000-08:00

One would think that in all the years of great men's basketball at tOSU, last night would not have been a historic night. Afterall, the Bucks won 100-60 over Alcorn St. in the first round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, a tournament that will later feature an OSU-NC matchup in NYC. But, it was ...

Evan Turner had the 2nd ever triple-double in OSU history (the other by Dennis Hopson vs. OU in 1986) with a 14 point, 17 rebound, 10 assist performance. The win also featured 5 players in double-figures and the return of David Lighty to the court for the first time since December 2008. Jon Diebler led scoring with 22 points including 6 triples. William Buford had 19, Jeremie Simmons 12, and Walter Offutt 11 points. Overall, the Bucks shot over 50% from the field the entire game, a game that was well under wraps before the half.

Evan Turner is largely filling the point guard role in a 6'7" frame and his play this season is showing that the summer led to much-improved ball handling skills. And props to Evan for playing 4 positions on the court ... all but the center spot. When PJ Hill enters the game, Turner moves to an open position and his talent and versatility are needed while Dallas Lauderdale heals the broken bone in his hand.

As a team, the Bucks had 29 assists to only 6 turnovers. Matta uses the ratio of assists to turnovers as one of his key measures of success. Successful outing.

The Bucks next play James Madison at home this Thursday night. The game tips at 7pm. Dallas Lauderdale is expected to see action this Thursday, though PT is unknown. He was dressed for last night's game but has not yet received medical clearance to play.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Bucks Get Weekly Honors!

2009-11-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Ray Small who was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. Along with the D line, Buckeye special teams proved special and proved to be a difference-maker in the Penn State game. Note in the Jim Tressel Seven Nation Army video on the Plain Dealer site that Ray is standing immediately to Tress' right (left of him in the video) ... clearly, he's out of the Tressel dog house.

And greater props to Cameron Heyward. His 11 tackle, 3 TFL, 2 sack performance made him the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and also the national Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week. And yes, he's now in the national spotlight and that puts pressure on the true junior to make that post-season decision to "stay" or "go" to the NFL.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Don't Celebrate Too Much Yet ...

2009-11-08T10:20:00.001-08:00

Greetings from sunny C-bus:

And Buckeye Nation is celebrating a week that will likely be the first in years where the sports talking heads will have little to talk (i.e. complain) about with regard to Buckeye football this week.

But, note to Tressel ... it's a bit too early to celebrate too much ...

See the video below for one of the few times in his 9 seasons with the Buckeyes that we've seen Tressel get a bit crazy ...

http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2009/11/buckeyes_celebrate_penn_state.html

Now, for the game analysis ...

Terrelle Pryor is going to get a lot of credit for this victory, but in my opinion, the determining factor in this game was the play of the D line and specifically, Cameron Heyward. Heyward was a mis-match for virtually every O lineman Penn State tried to use against him and was notably double-teamed and held over and over. Heyward improved his draft stock ... sadly, because he's a junior ... and got on every NFL scout's radar screen with his play yesterday. He had 11 tackles including 3 TFLs. As the Columbus Dispatch put it, "he was in the offensive backfield almost as much as Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark." And he was. His speed was just stunning. Teammates interviewed after the game weren't sure exactly what had "gotten into" Heyward, but to a man, they liked it. And the play of Thad Gibson, Doug Worthington, et.al. gave the linebackers room to roam and roam they did. After Heyward's 11 tackle performance, linebackers B. Rolle and R. Homan had 10 tackles each. The game plan called for shutting down Daryll Clark's favorite receiver, Derek Moye and he did not have a catch yesterday. That left Zug open for 7 catches and 96 yards. The Bucks also effectively limited RB Royster to a subpar 13 carries for 36 yards and Penn State had 201 total yards on offense for the game. Penn State had been averaging nearly twice that this season. This also marks the 20th game in a row where the Buckeye D has held a running back to under 100 yards. And but for the bogus TD call, the Bucks posted another shutout for the season.

Did you know that the Buckeyes lead the nation in 3-and-outs on defense this year? I'm not sure this is a widely calculated stat, but the Bucks notably kept pace with this measure yesterday too.

Credit special teams for getting the ball rolling on the scoreboard. Ray Small came out large on the first punt return where he got loose for 41 yards down to the PSU 9. It was classic Tressel-ball from a field position standpoint. The Bucks were held on offense, then the defense moved PSU backward on their first drive. Field position advantage was moving the Bucks' way. Then Ray Small gives the Bucks the ball inside the 10 for a first score. Phew. Game on.

On offense, there was nothing fancy in the game plan. Early on, TP came out clearly amped up and nervous. He was overthrowing nearly every route and seemed to rush his throws. Then the Bucks took a page from the Texas playbook and let TP hit a few short screen routes to get his confidence up. Colt McCoy in his early playing days at Texas benefited from an offensive script that typically allowed Colt to "warm up", hitting the short routes to fine tune his accuracy and to get confidence before they called the long passing plays. I hadn't seen Tress use that plan previously but it sure seemed like when TP showed some early problems throwing the ball that the coaches went that direction. They also called a few running plays for TP and some read-option to let him get his feet moving.

And speaking of Texas, the Columbus Dispatch had earlier last week carried a brief article featuring the Texas coach Mack Brown talking about the TP-Vince Young comparisons (ESPiN showed plenty on that yesterday). I shared with several a comment by Brown that stated that during Vince's sophomore year, there was a game mid-season where it all seemed to click and Vince never lost another game in his college career. Brown then predicted TP would lead the Bucks to a National Championship before TP's playing days were over. Brown also commended the Buckeye coaching staff and Tress specifically for bringing TP along exactly right. Now, I don't consider Mack Brown to be a seer, but as I read the statements, I started to think about the comparison. Physically gifted, Vince and TP have been compared before TP even came to tOSU. Physically, there are similarities. But I also think about quotes by TP this week noting that he knew that he had not yet led the Buckeyes in a "big game" and on the big stage yet. And I knew that Penn State would provide that venue if TP could "step up" and deliver on the hype. And certainly the hype is something TP is saddled with, not something he asked for. Perhaps, he has turned the corner and it has all clicked. That answer comes this Saturday and so forth.

And perhaps Mack Brown and Tress bonded this past summer while they visited the troops in the Middle East together on a coaches' tour ... and perhaps Tress picked Mack's brain a bit ...

The Bucks put together another 200 yard rushing game, but this time it was against Penn State, a team that led the Big Ten in nearly every defensive category and led the nation in several categories. Somehow, the O line seemed to click. And Boom came out a man possessed ... he ran effectively and looked healthy until he tweaked the ankle again and gave way to Saine. Saine looked awful after his first series and I was shouting at the TV for Tressel's ears ... where is Boom? But once Boom went down, Saine seemed to catch fire. Combined, the duo had 126 yards on 36 total carries and each ultimately got about 50% of the work. Sadly, PA-boy Jordan Hall got little time - 3 carries for 17 yards. Tress said after the game that the coaches were disappointed that Hall didn't get into the game more. OK. I buy that.

And how about DeVier Posey! Okay, just 2 catches but the 62-yard catch on the first play of the third quarter drive after PSU's punt. Up until that play, Tress had called run on every first down. Finally ... time to make the PSU defense honest. Up top. And that seemed to seal the momentum in favor of the Bucks and permanently quiet the crowd.

TP went 8 of 17 for 125 yards and 2 TDs. He also had 5 carries for 50 yards and 1 rushing TD. The game stats aren't Heisman-worthy but the big stat was this ... NO TURNOVERS. The Bucks for the second week in a row did NOT commit a turnover. And Penn State did.

Clearly, TP is banged up from last week's game. The recumbent bike on the sideline was a bit of "show" but there was a purpose. The claim was that Pryor needed to keep his ankles loose. Huh? I'm guessing something more of a gross muscle group like a hamstring ... either way ... keep it going Terrelle.

In a funny postgame line, Tressel when asked about the Penn State white out crowd said, "We thought all of that white was cheering for us since we were wearing white. It was nice." The Dispatch this morning called the white "surrender flags".

And consider that this was Tress's first victory against a higher-ranked team since the national championship game against Miami. That stat surprised me.

And that overhead shot provided by ABC/ESPiN at the game showing all the white but for the corner of red and the little blotch of red around the 20-yard line (where TP said his family was sitting) was very cool. Props to Penn State for getting even the blue-hairs organized to show school spirit. I truly wish that OSU could accomplish the same.

Iowa's surprise loss to NW changes the "game" for this coming Saturday. First, NW shows that their competitive game vs. PSU was no fluke. Fitzgerald is no dummy - after all, he's a NW grad. The NW coach put together 2 weeks of solid game plans to take down the biggies in the Big Ten. While they didn't get it done vs. Penn State last week, they sure did against Iowa. And nothing fancy. Just a solid game by NW got the job done. But, the decisive 7-point swing in the game came in the end zone following Iowa's opening drive (where they looked unstoppable by the way). NW came in on a well-called blitz and caught Iowa QB Stanzi in Iowa's end zone for what could have initially been a safety. Not only did NW get the ball loose from Stanzi resulting in a fumble that NW fell on for their first TD, but Stanzi went down awkwardly on the side of his ankle for a game-ending injury. And the injury, per Coach Ferentz, will keep Stanzi out for the next "couple of weeks". It appears to be the classic "high ankle injury", an injury that really hobbles skill players. Ferentz says that they will gameplan assuming Stanzi cannot go and if he can, it will be a bonus. Seeing the QB on the sideline on crutches and in a boot up to his knee tells me that the injury is not likely to heal by this Saturday, unless he's a heck of an actor.

So Saturday's home finale is for the Rose Bowl. The Bucks win, they go ... regardless of the Ann Arbor outcome the following week. The Bucks win, they also win the Big Ten ... again. Don't even speculate on who the Rose Bowl might have from the Pac 10. Talk about a screwed up conference.

But don't go to the florist just yet. There's work to do.

On the injury front, Pettrey is done for the regular season. Boom? Not clear. Another injury to the same ankle will probably hobble him or keep him from this Saturday's home finale. Big Mike Adams could be back for this coming game. Dexter Larrimore got in yesterday's game but he will continue to return to his pre-injury form as the games go on ... bad news for opponents. TP - let's just hope that the bike is just what the doctor ordered.

The home finale is this Saturday vs. Iowa at 3:30 in Ohio Stadium. Seniors will be honored - always emotional. And the weather ... bring the rain ponchos ... so far.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Pettrey to Miss Rest of Season

2009-11-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

Local word is that Aaron Pettrey had surgery today on the MCL injury he suffered vs. NMSt Saturday. He will miss the remainder of the regular season.

Backups are now a tie - Devin Barclay who played in his first collegiate game last Saturday and Ben Buchanan, the redshirt freshman who was sick last Saturday and did not dress. Both are listed as number 1 for kicking duties.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

All Hail Defense ...

2009-11-02T06:10:00.000-08:00

Greetings from sunny C-bus!

But a victory often brings a sunny disposition to Buckeye Nation!

A bit of a mid-year report card since the New Mexico State game yielded little in the way of surprise ... but for injuries ... more on that later.

The Ohio State defense - A. It pitched a near-perfect game vs. NMSt. Not only did it record its third shutout -- the school's most since getting three in 1996 -- it gave up just two first downs and about 60 yards in total offense to the 120th offense in NCAA. One of my favorite Buckeyes, Brian Rolle, had the exclamation point in Saturday's game with a fumble recovery for a touchdown and so OSU's defense outscored the Aggie offense. Not a surprise. And that D line has allowed the young LBs to blossom this season. I look forward to getting Dexter Larrimore back full strength soon!

The Ohio State offense - C+. Terrelle Pryor could be the hottest quarterback in the Big Ten if he could stay away from those passing lapses. No QB in the league runs more effectively (he's the seventh-leading rusher in the Big Ten with a 61.56-yard avg.). When he makes the right choice and doesn't hesitate, he's also a good passer, though it's clear he and his receivers all have room to grow. O line - it sucks. Period. The next 2 weeks will not allow the Buckeye offense to get away with slow starts! Is it possible that DeVier Posey might see some wildcat offensive plays written for him? He's a viable 3rd QB now with that left-handed pass to Sanzenbacher Saturday, in a reverse option that was actually designed to go to Pryor with the ball. Seeing Pryor covered, Posey went to his outlet in the endzone. Guess what? He can read defenses too. The Buckeyes ultimately must get a consistent running game going to run the gauntlet the rest of the season. And I'm more and more in favor of seeing more and more of Jordan Hall. I love the way this kid hits the hole fast and hard.

The Ohio State special teams - B-. This is looking scary into the next 3 games. The run backs on both kickoff and punt returns have been better than several seasons, sans Ted Ginn Jr. Just don't drop that punt! But with Pettrey hurt, Barclay proved about as effective in his first-ever college game Saturday. But that's not saying much. Tressel-ball requires a more-than-passable field goal percentage and while Pettrey proved solid from long distance, his shorter stuff is not reliable. Now Barclay ... he too was not reliable on Saturday. Kick-offs by Barclay were very solid, however. Loved those deep kicks and that was a net sum gain Saturday. Protection has been largely solid all season, but know that PSU and Iowa are both solid in this area and have the potential to turn a game with a big play on special teams. The Bucks too have that capability.

Buckeye Coaching - B+. I've seen something never seen before this season. Tressel is willing to give up some control on the offense. Clearly, Darrell Hazell is very involved in the offense on game day. All you need to do is to look at Hazell on the sideline to know that he's getting input on play calling and that he's very engaged with the players on offense on the field. Can we get a decent O line coach? And on D, not a darn thing I would do differently. The switch between Heacock and Fickell, moving Fickell to the field from the booth, and vice versa has paid dividends ... Fickell is much more animated on the field and his men feed off of that.

The gauntlet is before the Bucks with 3:30 starts this week in Happy Valley and vs. Iowa in the 'Shoe a week later. The Bucks control their own destiny and there's no reason they can't win out ... just as there's no reason to be confident in the outcome of all 3 games. Each team has its weaknesses and each has it's strengths.

Penn State - the team leads the Big Ten in virtually every statistical category in Defense. Offense - same issues as the Bucks but with a bit more seasoning at the QB spot - consistency or lack there of.

Iowa - a team that reminds me a lot of 2002 Bucks ... a team with heart and the never-give-up spirit that has led to many, many, too many 4th quarter wins. The advantage to the Bucks is having the game in C-bus. By the same token, Iowa is no slouch ... their D is a big-play D and their QB is service-able and at times, great.

Michigan - no defense. Period. Inconsistent offense. Weather could come up big in a game in Ann Arbor because scUM has no real running game and relies on Forcier's arm. That being said, the Bucks have not been consistent running the ball.

Injuries - Pettrey. Not clear if this is serious or not. Boom and Zoom (Herron and Saine). Unless they got banged up vs. NMSt., they return. I'm not sure I care. Pryor. Banged up. Not clear where and Tressel was mysteriously vague. Appears to be a "lower body injury" and Pryor referred to a left leg injury on the play where he got his head ripped off. Might be a quad ... hamstring ... or worse. O line - all are banged up and I'm not sure I care. The carousel of O linemen are as bad as ever and I don't think their lack of health is to blame. This is our real weakness. Period. Larrimore - should be back to full strength soon. Miss him - he's a true defensive tackle and if he's healthy, the Bucks can play more of a 3-4 and that can stop some of that short stuff underneath.

So ... the task at hand is clear.

Win out ... Rose Bowl at worst. BCS is possible.

Lose one ... Buckeyes do not control their future.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Players of the Week

2009-10-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

In somewhat of a surprise move, Terrelle Pryor was named by the Buckeye coaches the player of the week on offense. The coach spoke of the reason being just the third time a QB has run for over 100 yards and thrown for more than 200 yards in a single game (a couple of Troy Smith scUM games come to mind).

The defensive player of the week was Thaddeus Gibson who was also the co-Big Ten POW. Thad has proved to be a monster on that D line this season. Hardly a surprise.

The special teams POW was Etienne Sabino. Sabino had a great game as the gunner on special teams. Tressel noted that Coach Fickell told Sabino that if he wants to be a great LB, he needs to excel on special teams this season - just think of the emergence of Brian Rolle in that LB corps and you will see the trek Fickell as the young Sabino on.

Tressel was doing all he could to paint he NMSt Aggies as some sort of juggernaut. After all, we know how Purdue jumped up and snake-bit the Bucks following a week of weak preparation. Clearly, Tress is guarding against the possible letdown as the Bucks exit conference play for the pick-up game. Today, Chris Spielman suggested that the coaches put on the film of the Texas A&M Aggies instead of the New Mexico State Aggies! Good idea.

But, it is probably a good week for a respite. Boom Herron and Brandon Saine are questionable for this week's game - Herron has a high ankle sprain and will likely sit. Saine is recovering from a concussion. If Saine is ok'd by the medical staff, per Tressel, Saine will play. Starters today would be Jordan Hall and Jermil Martin. Tressel did mention that he'd burn Jamaal Berry's redshirt if necessary. No worries - the local media is having a love-fest on big Jermil Martin. No one quite knows where the coaches have been hiding the big guy. Tressel also noted that LT Mike Adams will miss several weeks from a knee injury and let slip that Adams had knee surgery. Cordle is the probable LT starter. Dexter Larrimore returns to the practice field this week at DT - and he's probably the team's true DT allowing them to play a 3-4 if Dex gets healthy.

The Bucks face the Aggies at noon this Saturday. The game is on the Big Ten network. The Big Ten announced that the following week's game at Happy Valley will have a 3:30 Eastern start time.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

It is a Momentum Game ....

2009-10-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Greetings from sunny C-bus ...

and it seems the sun is always shining after a decisive Buckeye victory!

Saturday's game was a windy, drab affair in the first half but the momentum of the game swung decidedly for the Bucks with the Zach Domicone fumble recovery that put the Bucks in scoring position. Three plays later and Terrelle Pryor scored on a scamper into the end zone. The confidence in Pryor in the offensive possessions that followed mirrored that same confidence that had just welled-up in the stands. Suddenly, it was as if collectively Buckeye fans everywhere sighed a big sigh of relief. Whew. It's not Purdue. It's Minnesota. We got this one.

The Buckeye defense clearly proved too much for the Minnesota offense. While the Buckeye offense is bad statistically speaking in the Big Ten. No worries. For OSU rated 10th in the conference, Minnie was rated 11th. And once their best athlete WR Eric Decker went down with an injury, Minnie had few weapons. Where the D had their turnovers stolen from them vs. Purdue, the refs were a bit better in the booth vs. Minnie and seemed to get the turnover calls correct (and yes, they missed the late hit call). Telling from the stat line, the defensive tackle leaders were among the D-linemen (Gibson, Worthington) and linebackers (Homan, Rolle) and not from the secondary. That gives you a clue to the fact that Minnie was not able to click off any long runs and pretty much had little success in the passing attack.

And the Buckeye offense caught fire in the 3rd quarter. After the short 31 yard drive following the fumbled kickoff by Minnesota, the Bucks clicked off drives of 22 yards and 69 yards and scored 21 total points. The lead into the 4th quarter was 4 scores and time to shut it down. But they didn't. The Bucks had 2 more successful scoring drives for 2 additional TDs before a garbage-time Minnesota score.

Pryor looked solid. He threw the pick at the end of the second quarter - a pass he clearly should not have thrown and forced into double, even triple coverage when you consider the deep help Minnesota had on the play. But I think following Pryor's 62 yard TD pass to Posey earlier in the 2nd quarter, Pryor might have gotten a bit overconfident. The wind conditions were such that a ball had to be perfectly thrown if it were to be snagged by a Buckeye in traffic. It wasn't perfectly thrown and not wisely thrown either. Pryor also ran for 104 yards on 15 carries. His speed was a complete mis-match for the slower Minnesota D. Pryor was 13 of 25 for 239 yards passing and had 2 long TD passes.

And props to DeVier Posey who, after last week's breakout game, has clearly emerged as Pryor's favorite target. Posey had 8 catches for 161 yards and 2 TDs. The baby-faced Posey has speed to burn and has been the beneficiary of 2 straight weeks of mis-matches with the opponents' corners. The test will come in November for Posey, particularly against Penn State and Iowa who have some defensive speed.

Now, if Pryor would just stop staring Posey down.

The injury bug has bitten the Buckeye running back corps. But no worries! In addition to the emergence of backup Jordan Hall vs. Toledo, add to the mix the big, bruising Jermil Martin. Both got their first collegiate TDs Saturday vs. Minnie and both looked darn good doing it. My husband is a particular fan of Jordan Hall for his quick-to-the-hole running ability. He doesn't stutter step around and really shows great burst. Jermil Martin was a surprise to all in attendance I think. Martin was moved from fullback to tailback before the start of the season and ended the game with 75 yards on 7 carries and a 39-yard TD. The big man showed great speed on the TD run - no wonder he's not a fullback any more!

And the Bucks may be without Boom Herron and Brandon Saine next week vs. the New Mexico State Aggies as Herron's ankle sprain kept him out of the Minnie game and Saine took a blow to the head - probably a concussion. This might make the Aggies a well-timed get well game for both - no offense to the Aggies who ARE a Division I football team.

The Bucks are again home this Saturday to face the New Mexico State Aggies. The game, at noon Eastern, will be an upset-alert if the Bucks take their out of conference opponent too lightly. That being said, it might be a good respite before the killer schedule in November.

And Tressel believes in playing the best football in the month of November ... and the Bucks had better! There is no let-up with @Penn State, home vs. Iowa, and @Michigan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Do I Have to Go to Work Monday?

2009-10-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

Doom and gloom as there was a complete train wreck in West Lafayette Saturday. And in attendance, a guy I work with ... and he's not even someone I like. As he left Thursday, he gave me the "high sign" that he was going to the game Saturday. He is an IT project manager ... and we've already had words a couple of times this year as his "staff" completely botched a project and because the deadline is looming, somehow it is just fine to inconvenience me and my staff because it wasn't done correctly the first time ... and NOW THIS!

I can't even find anything good to say about the offense. Did they all have H1N1 or something ... DeVier Posey stated, "I feel like it's just an attitude thing: I don't really feel like it's a technical problem." Posey said in the Columbus Dispatch, "I feel like it is something inside our chest. I feel like it's something that's got to do with our heart."

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ... are you saying that the team didn't get fired up or didn't care or both????????????????

Then, here's a news flash. There are guys on that team that do care. So LET THEM PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is no place for that lax attitude. I pay freeking good money for you to go to school for free. So play hard or step aside.

And credit new Purdue head coach Hope ... what a great name for a football coach. His play calling and execution by his QB Elliott were key to neutralizing the Buckeye D ...

Next up ... Minnesota. And we thought this was the easy part of the schedule ...

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Injury & Other Updates

2009-10-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Quick update ...

Dexter Larrimore and Boom Herron will miss the game due to injury.

Jim Cordle is back and available as is OL Andrew Miller. Coach Tressel spent quite a bit of time in his press conference today on the flu bug that has hit the team, noting that because OSU is a school on quarters, the flu hit the student population later and is therefore later peaking. He stated that "one" player got hit with it today but didn't give a name and was not sure if it would keep him out of the game. Experience with the H1N1 hitting the local high school is that for most kids, it is fairly short in duration - 4-5 days - and benign. For healthy football players without other underlying conditions, it might be that someone ill today could play Saturday.

Tressel did continue to lament the lack of offensive plays last Saturday - quoting 32 plays on offense. He continued to laud praise on the defense, particularly given the number of plays and the unfortunate lack of rest given the defense during the game. He pointed to a lack of adjustments on the offensive side of the ball, without pointing a finger at the QB or the coaches for the matter, but rather stating it was a collective issue. Apparently Wisconsin did some things on defense that OSU's offense did not adjust well to, but then Tressel noted that the coaches "shut it down" once the Bucks got to a 3-score advantage.

So we will see ...

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Defense Rules

2009-10-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Ross Homan who was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, the Bucks first Big Ten honor of the season. Homan had 15 tackles, 2 tackles for loss in a stellar performance. However, the Buckeye coaching staff recognized Kurt Coleman as the defensive player of the week. His pick-6 for 89 yards started the defense's scoring blitz that, alone, accounted for the victory - the defense scored 14 to the Wisky 13 total points.

On special teams, Ray Small was recognized by the coaching staff. This caps his emergence this season from the Tressel doghouse. And let's hope he stays on the coach's good-side for the balance of the season for Ray is loaded with talent.

No offensive players of the week awards were handed out by the Buckeye coaches. And no wonder - there were just 42 plays to evaluate.

The Bucks have Purdue this Saturday at noon eastern. After putting the hurt on Toledo in the first week of the season, PU has been victimized by turnovers in some close games (until last week). Should be ripe for the Buckeye defense this week.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Strange Game Ends in Victory

2009-10-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

Greetings from sunny C-bus,

Of course, it could be a monsoon or blizzard on a day following a decisive Buckeye victory and no one in this city would notice ...

The puzzle ... how does a team have the ball for 42 minutes and 47 seconds and score only 13 points and lose by 18 points? The answer ... opportunistic, big-play defense.

So, was it a decisive victory?

If I am a defensive coach or player, yeah, it was decisive. The Wisconsin hog-mollies up front had yielded just 2 sacks in 5 games to tie for second in the nation going into this game. The Bucks tagged 6 sacks on the Wisky line. And the Bucks were just dominant up front. That was THE decisive factor in the game. As Coach Bielema said in the postgame, "I don't know, since I've been in the league, if I've ever seen the defensive-lineman rotation, the depth they've got to be able to keep coming in with new guys." Bielema said, "The four guys that start are pretty special." And the Bucks were without their true nose tackle, Dexter Larrimore for this game too. That D-line basically allows the inexperienced LB corps a chance to roam, take chances, and cover receivers while that D-line can rush 3 and still get penetration on the QB. Ross Homan had a career game with 15 total tackles including 2 sacks. He was also in on a number of QB hurries and put the hit on Tolzien a number of times in the game after the QB released the ball. LB Brian Rolle was again "on a roll" in this game with 14 total tackles including a half a sack.

The return of senior captain Kurt Coleman was probably the most anticipated and he did not disappoint. He opened the Buckeye scoring with the first pick-6 taking the ball to the house 89 yards later. He also had 14 tackles on the day. His leadership was evident in his return to the secondary as he played center field most of the second half of the game as Wisconsin tried to play catch-up, often 15 yards off the ball. Yet, his pursuit led to tackle-after-tackle. Props to the senior leader.

And the second pick-6 came from young Jermale Hines who showed tremendous speed and some running back ability as he bulled into the endzone on his TD. Hines had 11 tackles including a half a sack.

And along the D-line, young Nathan Williams has emerged as a force on the inside of that line. He's got a nice burst off the ball and ended the game with 5 tackles including 1 sack for a 9 yard loss.

The offense played a total of 42 plays in this game and Terrelle Pryor accounted for 23 of the plays with 10 rushes for 35 yards and 13 passes, completing just 5 for 87 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. The game was largely a defensive struggle for the first half until the Bucks got a decent drive that ended up being a decisive response to a bit of Wisconsin momentum before the half ending in a spectacular pass and catch between Pryor and Posey for the TD. Posey led all receivers with 2 for 54 yards. In the second half, an entire hour passed before the Bucks got a single offensive play and that came at 1:40 remaining in the 3rd period. Then the Bucks got a whole 3 plays in the quarter.

The Buckeye offense just never got anything going. And where to place the blame? Hard to say - with so few possessions, the Bucks could hardly get anything going from a momentum sense and with so many 3-and-outs, it was hard to tell what exactly was and wasn't working. Perhaps, not much was working until that drive before the half.

But props to Wisconsin - they have a real defense - like Iowa and PSU have a real defense. The rushing from the shotgun was not a surprise to Wisky like it was to Illinois and the O-line was faced with a pretty darn good D-line. And the left side of the Buckeye line did not play well for much of the game. Wisky likes to twist and Big Mike Adams was not handling the moves the D-end was putting on him, despite the film study he must (should) have done in preparation. The Wisky D-line didn't do anything unexpected, but they are talented. I might chalk a bit of the O-line weakness to the flu - 2 or 3 of the guys missed at least one day of practice last week due to illness and Andrew Miller missed his second consecutive game due to illness.

I did think that using Pryor around the edge might have been more successful had it been tried more in the game. Pryor had a clear speed advantage on the Wisky D-line and LBs as was evidenced in a couple of called runs and scrambles. The weakness seemed to be in the blocking of the play. The TE, tackle or a receiver has got to seal that edge for the play to get more than a few yards.

A mixed bag on special teams. Props to the enigma that is Ray Small. It was like the parting of the Red Sea as the 96 yard TD kick-off return unfolded. Taking it right down the middle is a bit unusual for the Buckeye special teams schemes ... but it was very effective. And ... no penalties! Jon Thoma's leg, however, seemed to wear down right before our eyes as each successive punt seemed shorter than the last. He ended the game with a 39.5 yard average but a 48 yard long. Not consistent enough. I could see the field position for the Wisconsin Badgers continue to improve in the first several 3-and-out possessions for the Bucks and had that "uh-oh" feeling come over me as the Wisky field kept getting shorter.

So the game was just weird. Two defensive pick-6's, a kickoff return for a TD, 1 offensive TD and an offensive FG. So the Buckeye D beat Wisky alone. The rest was just gravy, and in a way, it seemed like that. I think most of us in the stands had this sense that we were going to win, and that it was just a matter of time before Pryor and the coaches put together an old fashioned offensive drive. But it really never happened. Then you got the sense that it was better just to let the defense stay on the field ... but then I had visions of a defensive breakdown ala USC with little confidence in Pryor to pull it out if we went down. Then - pow - like shot from a gun, Ray Small put the game away.

Next up ... Purdue. Truly PEEEEEE-UUUUUUUW this season at 1-5 on the season. Purdue was solidly smacked around in Minneapolis Saturday. The game is a nooner in W. Lafayette.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Honorary Captain

2009-10-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

For the 3:30 Wisconsin game, Shaun Lane who suffered career ending injury about a year ago will be the honorary captain this week. He still has lingering effects of the injury per Coach Tressel but his efforts will be rewarded.

Be ready to play ...

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

On (to) Wisconsin ...

2009-10-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

It seemed a bit like a defeat when the 2-game shut-out streak ended in Bloomington but nonetheless, the Bucks stood triumphant in front of a high percentage of Buckeye fans in attendance at IU. The Bucks are very much in the mix of the Big Ten and still hanging on in the national picture after the 33-14 defeat of Indiana.

Probably, position by position, the Bucks proved too much for IU but for Hoosier wide receiver Doss who made some plays when it counted and kept the Bucks from a third-straight shut-out. The Buckeye D line was again decisive and the make-shift secondary due to the suspension of Kurt Coleman did a decent job Saturday.

Terrelle Pryor and the offensive coaches proved to be equal-opportunity with the distribution of passes Saturday with 8 different receivers catching passes, including another pass thrown to the FULLBACK! That's a play right out of Woody's playbook but Zach Boren can catch - saw plenty of him in high school conference play over the past 4 years to be definitive in that assessment. And Terrelle appeared to make some positive steps in his development this season.

The knock on him continues to be pass mechanics and some on the decision-making side. In terms of mechanics, if he can connect with his first option, his passing is flawless - feet set, arm position good, delivery timely. If he has to take the second or later options, his mechanics tend to break down - especially his feet. That's where you see the over- or under-throws and some of the off-target stuff. Now, you might point to the pass to Duron Carter for the TD as one that demonstrates bad mechanics - Carter however has said that he asked for that ball to be high to elude the defensive coverage. Not sure that he's not a good "cover" for his QB on that one. That being said, that ball was seriously where none of the defenders could have brought it down. Pryor does seem to have been a bit quicker to pull the ball down and run since the first and second game too this week and last. It is not clear how many of his runs have been designed or not.

The Bucks face a Wisconsin team that is getting little respect at this point nationally, however among the Big Ten, Wisconsin this past week swept the conference awards for offensive and defensive players of the week. Their big RB Clay had over 180 yards rushing this past week and the team is averaging about 217 yards per game running the ball for a mark of first in the conference. I like our chances against a running team - especially an old-fashioned running attack. We get ourselves in trouble against the team that likes to spread the ball and run. The latter is not Wisky's style traditionally. The Buckeyes are 10th in the nation, and No. 1 in the Big Ten, against the run (83.4-yard average). Since giving up 186 yards to Navy, they have yielded 118 to Southern California, 13 to Toledo, 82 to Illinois and 18 to Indiana. OSU held Indiana's Darius Willis, who rushed for 160 the week before at Michigan, to 23 on 11 carries.

Wisky also brings a good defense, particularly one that likes to pressure the QB and has had some games with plenty of TFLs and sacks. I like the prospect of Pryor rolling away from the rush to deliver the ball or run. And I like the prospect of Dane Sanzenbacher as the steady receiver. The receivers will need to be aware of the rush and be able to come back to the ball if needed to help Pryor if the O line breaks down.

And speaking of the O line, the Bucks had yet another assemblage of guys out on the line for much of the game. Seems that the coaches are yet to be set upon a mix of guys that they really like. Big Mike Adams, however, seems to have settled in at the left tackle spot - I like that - the kid's massive. J.B. Shugarts is now seeing his playing time cut as freshman Marcus Hall got extensive time at the right tackle spot. How will the line shake out when senior Jim Cordle returns?

And how about Brandon Saine as the new starter? True, Boom Herron had an ankle tweak but Saine seemed to have the mo-jo this week. I vote Saine as the starter until he peaks and Boom has the hot-hand.

Our true Defensive Tackle Dexter Larrimore suffered a knee injury that has caused him to fall out of the two-deep though Tressel called it "minor". The flu bug hit left tackle Andrew Miller and he didn't make the trip. Other injuries are unknown at this point - Pryor looked a bit gimpy to me at the end of the game.

And to Mr. Pettrey, let's get some practice in this week.

This Saturday is so far projected to be a blustery November-like day with a high in the mid-50s. See, in Ohio, we skipped from summer to winter all in about a week. And we haven't really looked back. But we will ...

Game time is 3:30 eastern on ABC.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Updates ...

2009-09-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit remiss and did not post the announcement by the Big Ten on Monday that Kurt Coleman, Buckeye captain and starting safety, had been suspended for this Saturday's game at Indiana. Coleman, clearly guilty of a late hit late in the game vs. Illinois, was suspended by the conference. The conference employed a rule that calls for a review of all personal foul calls that do not result in the ejection of the player. The conference viewed Coleman's hit, that clearly involved his helmet, as more deliberate including the "crown" of the helmet and deliberate and against a defenseless opponent. Review the tape. That's not exactly what happened. More like the side of his helmet, but clearly involving his helmet.

However, it should be noted that before the game began, there was a bit of a tussle at midfield. In 2007, Illinois had enjoyed stomping on the Block O at the center of the field, and apparently there was a bit of jawing regarding that event and a lot of taunting. Some of that apparently involved Coleman (sadly) and his victim, backup Illinois QB Eddie McGee. Whether the one incident led to the other?????

Coach Tressel and AD Gene Smith released a statement following the Big Ten's decision. The statement itself ruffled a few feathers here in C-bus, particularly among the media-types who found it a bit self-serving but nonetheless, I found their statement to be a support statement for the team captain who, by all measures, is not the type of guy to do any intentional harm. Local personality and Buckeye hero Chris Spielman came out vehemently against the conference's decision.

Orhian Johnson, the redshirt freshman, appears to gain the most playing time as a result of the suspension.

On a somewhat related note, news came out yesterday that USC RB Stefon Johnson was involved in a horrible weight room accident that resulted in 10 hours of surgery for Johnson. Johnson was lifting and a barbell slipped from his hands and landed on his neck. He was being spotted by an assistant strength coach ... Spielman said on his radio show yesterday that that was why the coach was an assistant ... but nonetheless, he received immediate medical attention. Our prayers for a speedy recovery go out to Johnson and his family. It makes me gag every time I hear the account. ouch!

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

The Week's Award Winners ....

2009-09-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

The athletic office has announced the following football weekly awards:

On defense, Doug Worthington
On special teams, Aaron Pettrey - great FGs despite driving rainstorm
On offense, a shared award between Boom Herron and Brandon Saine - message sent about getting the running game going, perhaps?

The Attack Force player of the week was Jermale Hines
The Jim Parker Lineman of the Week was Jake Ballard - note that the offensive scheme was a bit different against Illinois, as Ballard was used in lieu of the traditional pulling guard. Ballard essentially pulled across the entire formation.

On special teams: Martin, Bellamy, Georgiades
There was no Jack Tatum hit of the week.

That being said, there is a possible penalty to be assessed by the Big Ten against Kurt Coleman for his head blow/personal foul call late in the game. The penalty can be a suspension for up to 50% of all games. There have been 1 game suspensions assessed already this year by the Big Ten. Stay tuned. This could be a very big loss on a very stupid action by a team captain.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

And I Paid for These Seats?

2009-09-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure that I will ever complain about dry grass again ...

Of course, we cannot control the weather and Ohio is not exactly known for its predictability, I have to say that was among the few times in Ohio Stadium where the rain was that hard ... so hard as to look like snow, so hard as to "hear" it as it beat down on those hardy souls in attendance. But it was worth it.

What did we see ...

A running game!

The first back-to-back shut out game since 1996!

A watered down Juice bottled ...

The defense. What can I say about defense. I point to the emergence of the active Brian Rolle who was well known for his hard-hits on special teams but somewhat of an unknown at the MLB spot. Well, he saved the Navy game, and thwarted probably Illinois' best drive of the day with another timely INT. And his enthusiasm has spread amongst that team. The defense is active, hard-hitting, and focused.

And the other defensive leader - the DLine - since 2002, probably OSU's deepest and most talented. Cam Heyward remains unblockable, forcing the opponent to double-team him at their own risk. And his teammates Thad Gibson had a huge game - in fact, he was responsible for one of the 3-and-out Illinois possessions.

And the consummate leader, Kurt Coleman. But I am a bit disappointed in his personal foul, blow to the head call. Coleman was quickly replaced on the field. But Coleman continues to lead the team in tackles with B-Rolle (as Tressel calls him), game after game. Coleman had 9 vs Illinois.

Did anyone notice that the Buckeyes figured out how to run the ball? And it couldn't have happened at a more opportune time ... the rain made seeing the game from my vantage point a bit difficult, but I cannot imagine trying to find the ball in the air. So Pryor threw a whopping 2 passes in the entire first half ... and completed 0.

When asked about the running game in the post-game, it was noted by the reporter that the rushing attempts were largely from Pryor in the shotgun and Tressel, in his senator-like response, stated that the "efficiency" of that formation after 3 games was found to be the highest. Whatever ... it worked.

And there might be some settling by the coaches on an Oline. Big Mike Adams got the start at left tackle with Boren (LG), Mike Brewster (C), Bryant Browning (RG), and JB Shuggarts (RT). Shuggarts settled down after 3 false start calls last week. And overall, the line played pretty well. No sacks on Pryor - though a lot of that is on Pryor - and a handful of TFLs by Illinois.

Pryor had a workmanlike day - finishing with 13 pass attempts, completing 8 for 82 yards and a TD. And that last TD was Pryor's call - he told Tress and Hazell that they should go for it and Pryor made the play and the pass. Pryor also had 59 yards rushing on 11 attempts.

Boom Herron, after getting blasted in the local Dispatch earlier in the week for his 2.2 yard per carry average, ran for 75 yards on 14 attempts and 2 TDs. Brandon Saine had 13 attempts and 81 yards. The flashy Jordan Hall got in late ... he continues to flash greatness ... and he lugged the rock 7 times for 22 yards.

Did you see a pass thrown and caught by a fullback! OMG! and a pass thrown and caught by a tight end! OMG! And another fine effort by the day's offensive captain, Dane Sanzenbacher with 3 catches for 36 yards and 1 TD.

Next up, night game at Bloomington where the zebras took a possible victory away from the Hoosiers in the Big House. How will the Hoosiers feel? Like they can hang with anyone or deflated? Doesn't matter. The Bucks need to be feeling confident going into the stadium feeling like, and knowing, they can stop anyone.

The last time the Bucks shut out opponents in 3 consecutive regular season games ... 1924.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

An Old Dog Can Change His Spots ... or Is It Aliens?

2009-09-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

A revelation on today's Jim Tressel call-in show ... Darrell Hazell called some of the offensive plays against Toledo.

And we all thought that Jim Tressel would NEVER relinquish play calling ...

Now, which plays did Hazell call?

And, will Tressel allow the "experiment" continue?

The local media has somewhat bashed Jim Tressel in the past for being a bit too much like the "senator", but this season-to-date, there has been a bit of a "kinder, gentler" Jim Tressel ... more open, often joking at press conferences. Now this!

Was his trip to the MidEast that life altering that he's come back a changed man?

Or, have aliens abducted Jim Tressel this season.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

OSU-Toledo Award Winners

2009-09-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

The football coaching staff has announced its weekly team award winners: Dane Sanzenbacher was the offensive player of the week with 5 catches for 126 yards and 2 TDs. Ross Homan was the defensive player of the week with 6 tackles and a fumble recovery. On special teams, Ben Buchanan was awarded the weekly award. He stepped in capably for Jon Thoma who sat out the Toledo game due to illness.

The Attack Force player of the week was Cameron Heyward. Bryant Browning was the lineman of the week. On scout team, the winners were Fields, Whiting and Harlamert. There was no Jack Tatum Hit of the Week awarded.

The Bucks host Illinois on ABC/ESPN at 3:30 eastern time/2:30 central. Rain is expected.

The Illini come in limping off of an embarrassing loss to Missouri followed by a walk-over Illinois State. This past Saturday, the team was idle. Juice Williams went down very early in the Mizzou game with an injury and has yet to return to the field. It is possible he will benefit from the idle week and play this Saturday. Stay tuned.

Pryor and the Bucks on the Rebound

2009-09-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings from rainy C-bus:

But nothing can dampen the collective sigh of relief coming after yesterday's romp on the north coast. Pryor came through with his best passing game in his short career and his best-tying 110 yards rushing ... but a few misfires remind us that he's not all that, yet.

The play of the game - Kurt Coleman's strip. The Buckeye captain kept the opponent to a goose-egg on the one-man strip of the ball from the Toledo receiver near the goal line. The threat averted, the Bucks basque in the glow of a shut-out.

The mis-match. The strength of this team has emerged along the D-line. The D-line vs. USC was a real threat to arguably the best O-line in college football. The Toledo O-line was completely outmatched. Cameron Heyward just kept coming and Toledo QB Opelt who had just 8 days ago brought down Big 12 also-ran Colorado is going to see the relentless Heyward in his nightmares for weeks. The Buckeye defensive scheme seemed to be to bring pressure, force quick decisions and off-target throws and the results proved the coaches geniuses: Opelt was 22 of 45 for 197, 1 INT, no TDs. Toledo rushed for a total 13 net yards, including 2 Buckeye sacks. Toledo was 3 of 15 for 3rd down and lost a fumble.

The growth - Terrelle Pryor. His 17 of 28 passing day for 262 yards and 3 TDs was his career-best. His rushing yards of 110 yards led all players on both sides. He averaged 9.2 yards per carry and got another TD rushing. Terrelle was also a bit more staid in his post-game press conference than a week and 2 weeks ago. He's found that he needs to speak through his play on the field. Period. But I recall a former QB and later Heisman Trophy winner who had to learn to manage the local press. It's a lesson worth learning and generally, Pryor has been given a pass by most of the local media.

The worry. The running game. Or lack thereof. Outside of the rushing by Pryor, no other Buckeye back got anything going ... but a star might have emerged in Pryor's High School team mate, Jordan Hall. His 44 yards came on just 7 carries with a 17 yard long. That's as good as Brandon Saine's 45 yards, his coming on 9 carries including a 31 yard run. Hall hits the hole fast ... and that's going to be important as the Bucks will be going with a patched-up O-line for another 4-6 weeks while Jim Cordle nurses an ankle injury. J.B. Shugarts got his first start at right tackle and seemed to perform capably. Big Mike Adams also emerged from the Tressel dog-house to play several series at the all-important left tackle spot. The line was far from flawless - 5 false start penalties including 3 by Shugarts and a sack. But the Bucks handled the various blitz schemes Toledo used successfully against Colorado a week earlier.

The insurance policy - the Bucks offense is in good hands with ... Dane Sanzenbacher. Again, tried-and-true #12 made a key big play to start the Buckeye romp, and this time he was not caught from behind. Sanzenbacher, while clearly not fleet-of-foot versus USC, is a reliable route-runner and a good-hands receiver ala Anthony Gonzalez. He had 5 catches for 126 yards including the 76 yarder to open the scoring. His 2 TDs led all receivers. The emergent star might still be DeVier Posey but Terrelle has to be careful not to lock in on Posey in the open field. Posey is truly fleet-of-foot with good athletic abilities. He's the kind of receiver that can go get a ball ... his 5 catches for 46 yards appears a bit tame for the flashes of genius we've seen so far this season.

Another defensive star that continues to emerge is Brian Rolle. Recall that I've opined on Rolle now for 3 weeks. His bring-the-wood hard hitting style belies his athletic ability. Watch his lateral speed and his coverage of the receivers underneath. He's a sure tackler and a leader on that defense. I predict continued rise to greatness for Rolle.

So, are the Bucks ready for the Big Ten? Given the mixed bag we've seen from the Big Ten so far this season, who knows. But next up is Illinois coming off of a very disappointing 2008 season. Illinois is 1-1 on the season.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Players of the Week

2009-09-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

Devon Torrence was named the team's defensive player of the week while the attack force player was Cameron Heyward. The Jack Tatum award when to Boom Herron.

There was no offensive player of the week and no lineman of the week.

Big Stage, Big Letdown

2009-09-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Greetings from C-bus:

Were it not a beautiful sunny day, I'm not sure I would have gotten out of bed. A combination of mack truck and junk food hangover hit me this morning as the supreme disappointment of "the loss" hit me again this morning.

For about 58 minutes, the euphoria of a much-fought win seemed almost outer-worldly. And then, the experience came crashing down as the bungled final Buckeye possession played out.

While the pundits largely got the game story wrong, they got the outcome right. The Bucks lost and there are 2 points of blame that ultimately come down to one common theme. Coaching.

I feel strongly that the offensive game has passed the coaching staff by ... and their egos are such that they seem to be oblivious to the obvious. Terrelle Pryor for all his talent has regressed. His inability to manage the clock, the numerous and costly offensive line penalties, and the problems getting the plays called speak to indecision on the part of the coaching staff and the QB. He does not look like a QB with nearly 1 year as a starter under his belt. Pryor's mechanics may be better, but his command of the game paled in comparison to that of Matt Barkley on the big stage. And Barkley got it done. Pryor did not.

The second issue - predictable offensive calls. Why hand off the ball to the RB 5 yards deep with a QB sneak should deliver the 1 yard needed on the 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 call? USC let Barkley carry the ball 5 different times with success. If you afraid of an injury to Pryor, then why let him carry the ball at all. And when there is some semblance of creativity in play calling as was shown in the only TD drive, why regress to the old staid play book with the lead. There is no killer instinct on that staff, and therefore, the opponent is never "put away" in a game. Navy was the hors d'oeuvres; USC the main course.

But the fears that manifest last week over the defense are now mere memory. The Bucks accomplished a great deal on the defensive side of the ball ... and that is where the pundits got the script of last night's game wrong. The Buckeye defense did hold up ... with the exception of the final drive, the USC offense was held to minimal production. The rushing offense from the stable of USC backs was largely ineffective but the lack of productivity on offense in the second half just wore the defense down. That last drive was nothing fancy, but the missed tackles let nearly every play rack up just a few additional yards. And those yards added up. But had I told you that the Bucks would have held USC to 18 points, most would have thought that holding USC to 18 points would have nearly assured an OSU victory. Largely it was "mission accomplished" by the defense.

The game's stars for the Buckeyes were all on the defensive side of the ball: Ross Homan, LB, led all players with 9 total tackles. USC tested the relatively untested Devon Torrence and he held up well with 8 total tackles. Brian Rolle with 8 tackles also showed speed and good lateral movement. And Heyward was a force on the Dline. In fact, the Dline really put down the gauntlet against the largely All American USC Oline. And Jermale Hines played the safety position with great prowess.

And I don't want to forget to lob kudos on the special teams. The Bucks were largely productive on kick off and punt returns. The pressure put on the walk-on punter resulted in 2 points. The missed kick seemed to be another Buckeye bounce of the ball. The Bucks also controlled field position for much of the game.

The offense never capitalized.

Had you asked me last night, I would have said that the season was lost. A night's sleep and I am feeling more like that there is something to build upon if the coaches will read the tea leaves and really critically analyze their highly predictable offense and their weaknesses. Tressel needs to seriously consider significant changes on the coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball. The defense is sound. And yes, I miss Mark Dantonio but props to the defensive side that showed real aggressiveness, rushing the passer, disguising blitzes and coverage schemes. Overall, the defense gets high marks for about 57 minutes of the game and the coaches put a team on the field qualified to make stops with schemes that were largely effective.

I can't say the same for the offense. I can't say much for the offense.

Next up, Toledo in a game played in Cleveland. I, for one, hope the Bucks are able to leverage the outcome of the game and build upon it for the rest of the season.

The game is at noon eastern, ESPN Plus this Saturday.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks.

The BIG Game

2009-09-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

Greetings from C-bus:

The buzz about this weekend's game is a bit unusual. And in a minute, I will get to that, but first a bit of news. The honorary captain for this week's game is Jack Tatum who had a measure of success against the Trojans in his day.

And Tressel called out the crowd to be loud this weekend.

Now, for the C-bus atmosphere. There is a lot of distrust, disbelief. Sadly Tressel-ball may have fallen from grace much like Obama-care in his few months in office (I won't tip my politics but I'm a LOT more sad for Tressel). The consensus seems to be to expect a loss, but a closer loss than last season's debacle. The consensus is also that with eight RBs in the USC arsenal, USC brings more firepower than OSU can handle.

And the tide may turn decidedly against Tress if the game is another wide margin defeat. First, tOSU is playing for the entire Big Ten. The Big Ten is big, slow, midwestern. Winning the Big Ten is no better than winning the Big East. In fact, some in C-bus believe that the best football team in Ohio might just be the UC Bobcats. Tressel's approval rating will fall faster than Obama's if the Bucks are soundly defeated.

That being said, the party is ON! I hear that given the 8pm start, there will be no pacing the drinking expected to begin on campus at the usual 4-5 am. Buckeye Nation will represent ... what, I'm not sure ... but Gameday and the crowd of sports talking heads expected in C-bus beginning tomorrow will see the best, and potentially, the worst of C-bus. And no students are on campus yet.

That's a lot of pressure on this young team.

And, by the way, Jim Tressel has said that he is rooting for scUM against ND this weekend. OK, me too ... because it is another potential nail in the coffin that is the proud Big Ten conference.

A few notes from practice - DeVier Posey is full-go. I expect we will hear a lot from him in the coming weeks of the season. Dane Sanzenbacher is the reliable, go-to guy right now, but Posey has razzle-dazzle in him. Also, Anderson Russell has been demoted and expect Jermale Hines to get the start at safety. Russell was burned on the 2 long TD passes vs. Navy last week (and vs. Texas if you recall). The comments from practice allude to him "forgetting" where he needs to be - I decode that to mean that he is not playing disciplined, assignment football. Props to the staff for making the change. And Hines has make-up speed and then some. He's been a regular on the nickel all last season and has the hitting ability of a Michael Doss with better wheels. Also, Ray Small is on the mend. While not listed as a starter due to "illness" last week and prior (hard to tell with Ray whether it is an assigned illness or a real one), the players seem to see him on the field with the 1's come Saturday ... and he's our best, proven threat on punt returns. And, local product Big Mike Adams is serving a 2-game suspension. And yes, many of us know why, but are not at liberty to say because the university is not releasing why ... suffice it to say that Big Mike may go the way of Ray Small if he's not careful. And let's hope Big Mike sticks with it and tries, like Ray Small has, to emerge from the Tressel dog house ... and soon. He has potential.

So, keep thinking good thoughts. The Bucks are carrying the Big Ten flag into battle in prime time Saturday. The Bucks have got to throw some new wrinkles into the game plan, exploit their weapons (TP has got to run the ball and scramble - and there's a difference), and that defense has got to make USC one-dimensional.

Another performance like last week's game and we might think it is 2002 re-dux ... a nail biter, a close call. But hey, if we come out victorious, while older, I can handle another year of "cardiac kids". Just win baby. There are no style points ... ultimately. But nothing short of an undefeated season ... and then some, will get a Big Ten team into the BCS championship game.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Midshipmen Highlight Mis-Shapen Expectations?

2009-09-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Greetings from C-bus where the sun is shining a bit brighter after the near eclipse at the hands of Navy yesterday!

No question, the play of the day and the star of the game was Brian Rolle's and his return of the Dobbs' errant pass on Navy's 2-point conversion attempt. Rolle had elevated himself to the starting LB role this season and those who watched last season will recall he was the enforcer on the punt and kickoff teams last year known for his bone-crushing hits. Few knew that he had a nice lower gear, as evidenced by his speedy return of the INT for 2 points that put the game largely into Buckeye control.

The defense appeared lack-luster to me - not as disciplined as I would like, particularly on the initial drive where Navy seemed to control the line of scrimmage on every play. Defending the option requires a disciplined defense, assignment defense. If your role is to cover the pitchman, that's what you do, and you must have confidence that your cohorts on the field will do the same, maintaining their assignments as well. Clearly, the "swarming" culture of the defense was constantly overwhelming the assignment discipline needed and cracks in the defense's facade were letting plays go for long swathes of yardage. The D line apparently has some 8-10 in rotation. Perhaps that is because there are not 4 that are consistently good? Outside of the play of Cameron Heyward who had 5 total tackles and Dexter Larrimore with 7, no one on the line stood out. That was particularly annoying given that Doug Worthington is a defensive leader and Lawrence Wilson was getting yet another chance to go following an injury-shortened season. Chekwa looked solid on the corner, but it was not clear whether the Bucks are weak at defending the pass or just unprepared for the Midshipmen to go skyward. In a previous season, Navy went some games without throwing a single pass ... were the Bucks unprepared? or unskilled? The long pass setting up a near game-ending tie was a clearly errant coverage package - you never let the defender behind you and do not go for the ball, but make the secure tackle, particularly without safety help behind you. And Coleman looked very solid, but where was the other safety? That single safety set didn't provide much help on those long pass plays.

On the offensive side, I was much more pleased and somewhat pleasantly surprised. The offense looked to be in a rhythm until Tress decided to put Bauserman in for a series. I felt that was very disruptive to the offensive rhythm. And while I do not often criticize Tress outright and understand his reasoning for putting the back-up in a real game situation, I wondered given the relative youth of the offense whether the strategic move paid dividends. Then I saw Sam Bradford go down later yesterday and I came to think Tress was probably right and the break in rhythm was worth the risk.

Pryor went 14 of 21 for 174 and 1 TD pass and 1 TD run. And one costly INT. Pryor's passing has come a long way ... but he tends to throw the ball high. I like the concept of letting the athletic receivers go "up for it" but the ball needs to be catch-able. And receivers - tap the ball down, not up, if you can't get it.

Dane Sanzenbacher is this year's Anthony Gonzalez - the "go to" guy. Again, he had a key TD catch and led the team with 57 yards receiving. And that's not a lot of yards - why? Because, the Bucks are loaded at receiver - 7 individuals were involved in catches totaling 174 yards. Boom Herron led all "receivers" with 4 catches for 29 yards. Clearly, the coaches are looking for ways to get Brandon Saine and Herron some "space" from where to get a burst, looking for YAC (yards after catch). And Duron Carter is some kind of athlete ... but that's no surprise.

And 4 catches by Tight Ends? What was Tress thinking? The two Jakes - also known as big Jake and little Jake - had 3 catches and 1 catch, respectively. Both looked good catching the ball and running with the ball after the catch.

The lack of a ground game was very frustrating. That zone blocking scheme is just not working when the call is for the RB to go up the middle. The option is good, however, at springing the speedy Herron and Saine. But we are sorely missing a bruiser back. Beanie - where is the next Beanie?

There were 2 brother acts out on the field yesterday. The Pickerington connection featured the Boren brothers - the transferred Justin Boren starting on the O-line and his true-freshman brother Zack at starting full back. The Homan brothers were also on the field. Ross Homan got the start at LB and his brother is Zack's backup at fullback. The parents must be so proud.

No commentary needed on what's before the Bucks - USC comes to town with a primetime matchup scheduled for this Saturday night, 8pm eastern time in the 'Shoe. Gameday will be in town and game will be televised in prime time. The big spotlight is on. And redemption - will it be ours?

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Game Prep

2009-08-31T09:12:00.000-07:00

Greetings from C-bus where it is game week.

The weather is a pleasant fall-like upper 70s and it is sunny. I'm hoping this holds out for Saturday and so far local weather-caster Jym Ganahl is on board.

While the team is now looking ahead to Navy and Tressel will resume his regular weekly game week lunches tomorrow, it is also time for fans to get game-prepped.

First, beware of 315 construction. Face it, Columbus freeways are a mess and all routes to and from campus on 315 are closed, re-routed, and/or under construction with orange barrels blocking various access routes. University officials are saying that exiting the game might take 3+ hours this Saturday. Added to the mix is the fact that students are not on campus so there will be more alumni/drivers in attendance this Saturday.

Second, the university has instructed fans to wear "red" for all games - okay, I'm sure they meant "scarlet" but despite the media gaffe, the stadium does look better with the uniformity that an all scarlet-wearing crowd provides. For some of you, that might mean purchasing new game wear and there is plenty available. Don't expect bargains, however, this early in the season.

And for those outside of Columbus, the famed Hineygate has moved just about 1/2 block east down Lane Ave. The former Holiday Inn is now university housing and needless to say, a drunken crowd is not exactly what Gordon Gee wants on his campus. That being said, the proximity of the new location probably means that no one will get lost finding the new Hineygate but I seriously wonder how the expect to get the same crowd in the new location given it's just not that big! I'm guessing overflow will be in alley behind the businesses. I am truly anxious to see how this works out for 610WTVN, the hosts, and the crowd. Particularly next week with USC visiting and presumably ESPN Game Day.

Finally, the university and athletic department has released a video asking fans to applaud Navy as it enters the field this Saturday. While it is never appropriate in my opinion to boo an opponent (unless it is UM), paying respect to these young men who will go on to defend our country after they finish their days on the football field is entirely appropriate and honorable.

So, Buckeye Nation, time to get fired up for the first home game and first game of the 2009 Buckeye season. The Navy triple-option was the most productive offense in college football in 2008. Not much has changed and unfortunately, the clear difference in offensive scheme is not going to help with USC preparation this week. That being said, the Bucks carry the weight of the entire Big Ten going into next week. So let's take care of business early this Saturday.

The game is noon eastern, ESPN TV.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaack

2009-08-28T12:46:00.001-07:00

Greetings from C-bus where preseason camp is winding down and next week is a game week for the Buckeyes. Today's preseason camp ended with the voting on captains and reminiscent of the 2002 season, there will be captains on the defense and a rotating offensive captain on a weekly basis. But this year there are 3 defensive captains in a departure from tradition: Kurt Coleman, Austin Spitler, and Doug Worthington. Any speculation about the health of Austin Spitler should be alleviated by his elevation to the captaincy by his teammates. It shows he's a contributor.

And what does the lack of a captain on the offense say ... perhaps too many votes for Terrelle Pryor and the coaching staff's unwillingness to name him a captain as a sophomore? Perhaps no clear leader has emerged, as well. I tend to think that if the talk coming out of camp is true and Pryor has made huge improvements in his game, his reads, and his execution, it may be the former. In the case of 2002, Craig Krenzel ultimately emerged as the true leader on that offense and he was a junior. There were also 2 other offensive leaders in the 2002 season - Jenkins and Hartsock. It did not turn out too bad that season! I was a bit surprised that a captain did not emerge this year from the O-line. However, that might speak to the unsettled nature of that line right now due to injuries and quite a bit of uncertainty on the left side. That gives me NO comfort.

In another surprise announcement yesterday, USC announced that they will start a true freshman in Matt Barkley in the QB spot next Saturday. And Coach Carroll stated that it is not just a 1-week experiment. He is the freshman phenom on the team ... could the outcome on 9/12 be akin to that of the outcome in 2008 but in reverse order ... the Bucks will start a more seasoned QB to USC's true freshman. True, the Bucks did not start Terrelle Pryor in that game but he got his "trial by fire" and baptism all in one game. Could Barkley be headed for the same rude reception? Let's hope so.

Next week is game week ... but the Bucks are not back in school due to the quarter system ... they have nearly another month before classes begin. No distractions. All football, all the time.

And high school football in Ohio begins tonight. Look for my alma mater in the Herbstreit Classic on Saturday at noon eastern on ESPN. The Upper Arlington Golden Bears will be taking on the defending national champions St. Thomas Aquinas in the first of 4 games over 2 days played in Ohio Stadium. Please go easy on my Bears men! Shock the world! GO BEARS!

Stay tuned ... more next week as the 2-deep gets announced and game preparations begin in earnest. The O-line is what I am watching .....

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Watson and golf

2009-07-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

I can't help but be sad for the bogey on Watson's 72nd hole of the British Open yesterday. While still quite a bit older than I, I couldn't help but root for Watson after Thursday's 65 thinking how great it would be to see a "seasoned" golf veteran contend in a major championship. Then after Saturday, I hoped against hope that he would win the tournament.

It wasn't meant to be.

Nonetheless, Watson gave a shot in the arm for senior golf everywhere and I can't help but think of the 40+ and 50+ crowd of golfers who took out the clubs Sunday afternoon and thought about taking up the game again.

While his loss was sad, nearly tragic given the fairy tale ending we all wanted for Mr. Watson, I think his loss will still be a gain for golf everywhere. Watson showed that golf is indeed a sport to be played for a lifetime.

Good for Tom Watson. He made history. He made great memories.

Will Tressel Remove the Reins from Pryor in 2009?

2009-07-14T13:23:00.001-07:00

The prognosticators are alive and well in Columbus, Ohio. Will Jim Tressel let loose the reins on rising sophomore Terrell Pryor and the Buckeye offense in 2009 or will Pryor's talent be "wasted" in the much-maligned plain-vanilla Ohio State offense?

With the Big Ten Football luncheon just two weeks away, the talk in Columbus, Ohio has turned to football. For those not familiar with Columbus media, two major radio stations tout their Buckeye coverage and with the Columbus Blue Jackets playoff debut ending as quickly as it began and with lukewarm allegiance largely split in the community between the Reds and the Indians (and neither are pushing imminent playoff hopes), the sports dead zone is quickly filled by Buckeye football talk. Kirk Herbstreit is a local media personality appearing sporadically on 1460 TheFan, now 97.1 TheFan in the evening, drive-home spot joined by permanent host Bruce Hooley and former Buckeye and NFL great Chris Spielman. With former Buckeye football greats among the radio hosts, like Herbstreit and Spielman, it is hard for the sports radio banter to do anything but rely on football and football metaphors.

The criticism of the Buckeye program has long been that the teams have been built around a strong defense and effective special teams. Tressel was once quoted in his first year as the head man as saying that the punt was the most important play in football!

Given Tressel is a former QB and a former QB coach at OSU during his first stint with the program, many thought that Tressel would bring more creativity to the offense. Rather, in the 2002 national championship season, the team was built on a stifling defense and a QB in Craig Krenzel who was cerebral and prone to making good decisions with the ball. In other words, Krenzel would not lose the game for the staff, but rarely was he called upon to win the game either. With the exception of what has come to be known as the Holy Buckeye play vs. Purdue in the 2002 season (for Brent Musberger's memorable call of the play to Michael Jenkins on a 4th and short with time ebbing away on the game clock), Krenzel did nothing fancy in that 2002 season and the Buckeyes went undefeated. Tressel-ball, as it has come to be known, was vindicated.

Not so fast ...

What about recent Heisman trophy winning Buckeye QB Troy Smith? He was an offensive juggernaut versus arch-enemy Michigan. And in Columbus, beating Michigan (the-team-up-north) is all that really matters. Tressel appeared to increasingly loosen the reins around Troy Smith as Smith progressed from his sophomore to senior season. The "rookie" Troy Smith was a run-first, scrambler at the QB position. Troy developed the ability to deliver the ball on target to receivers now dotting the NFL like Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez. The expectation in the media in Columbus is that Tressel will similarly loosen the reins on Terrell Pryor allowing him to run loose as his passing develops and his receiving corps matures.

The real difference might just be in the tools at Pryor's disposal in the offense.

Pryor does not have the receiving corps Troy was blessed with ... yet. Gonzalez was a slot, possession receiver while Teddy was a burner. Ray Small has been long thought to be the next burner, but he has found himself in and out of the Tressel doghouse for his off-the-field issues. Small infractions apparently involving attendance mostly. Surprisingly, Small returns to the team this season, perhaps with a sense of urgency to reach his speedy potential.

Likely Page Break
Pryor did have the once-reliable horse in a running back Chris "Beanie" Wells. The 1,000+ RB (sophomore and junior years) had a bit of a durability problem last season but when healthy, the conservative Buckeye play book often put the ball in Wells' hands rather than allow a fresh-freshman-faced QB to throw the ball or to scramble. Add to that the fact that Wells was once among the pre-season Heisman hopefuls until a sore foot-factor kept him from the bulk of the early season. It was clear that the early season offensive plans had called for large doses of Beanie, working Pryor into the scheme slowly.

Then came USC.

Pryor emerged the new starter at QB. While flashing moments of pure athletic magic, be it the abbreviated play book or other factors (the offensive line was often blamed) Pryor never quite emerged with the plays to match the hype. Nonetheless, the Buckeyes had a successful-to-most season (note: Columbus fans are generally content with any victory over Michigan though anything short of another national championship will leave most Buckeye fans crying the blues).

So, what will 2009 bring? A strong incoming Buckeye class should bolster a number of skill positions. The move to take Jake Stoneburner from receiver to Tight End was not unexpected and Stoneburner's size (6'5", 240) is a good addition to the position. Small returns to the receiving corps where Devier Posey, Lamar Thomas, and Devon Torrence are a year older and more experienced. Brandon Saine and Boom Herron return with time at running back. Herron in particular had a strong back-end of the 2008 season. The line remains a question. Those visiting spring practice noted the addition of the former Wolverine Justin Boren to the line and even noted his leadership makes him a possible 2009 captain. Boren sat out the 2008 season due to Big Ten transfer rules.

The defense returns a mix of starters and second team with some concern for DB with the loss of Donald Washington and former captain Malcolm Jenkins to the NFL. Chimdi Chekwa returns with the greatest DB experience and Kurt Coleman emerged last season as an almost hands-down pick for a defensive captain at the safety position. The D-line will be anchored by the experienced Worthington, Wilson, and Heyward with linebackers Homan, Moeller, Rolle, and Spitler all emerging in spring ball as contending for starting positions. In fact, a wealth of talent along the line and in the linebacker corps makes the secondary less of a concern.

The Buckeyes open with Navy in Columbus on September 5. Navy's playbooks last year featured an option attack that will give the Buckeye defense plenty to keep them busy. The Navy defense allowed some scoring last season so Pryor might be allowed to get his feet wet with some freelance and some scrambling as the offense gels. The following Saturday night features the rematch with the USC Trojans in a prime time ABC game already scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Eastern. The cover will need to be off the playbook if the Buckeyes are to revenge their embarrassing 2008 loss.

Coach Jim Tressel has long touted his playbook as being written around what his QB does best. Terrell Pryor, often touted as the next Vince Young, might be just that if given the tools and the playbook ... and then again, it could be 2008 all over again.

GO BUCKS!

Bucks Vie for 3 National Championships This Spring!

2009-05-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings -

Today, the men's Buckeye tennis team will vie for their first-ever national championship taking on #8 ranked USC in the NCAA finals in College Station. The #11 Buckeyes won a close one over UCLA to gain the finals berth today. GO BUCKS!

The women's softball team make their first-ever super regional appearance in the NCAA tournament against Georgia this weekend. The games are scheduled for ESPN2. GO BUCKS!

The men's baseball team are the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will play the first round winner in a game this Thursday night at Huntington Park. Huntington Park is the new minor league ballpark that opened this spring in Columbus so the Buckeye fans should outnumber visitors. GO BUCKS!

Three legitimate chances for the Bucks to win a National Championship this Spring!

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Rebuild or Reload?

2009-04-02T05:53:00.001-07:00

You know it's spring when the sky starts to clear, the daffodils bloom, we've had our 3 snows after the forsythia bloom, etc. ... no! You know it's spring when the Buckeye football team takes the field for spring drills. It's here!

Today, the Bucks get their 1st of 15 spring practice drills in at the Woody Hayes and this spring will resolve the question ... Rebuild or Reload? Is this going to be one of those years that begins with the caveat, "well, we've lost 31 from last year's squad so it's going to be a rebuilding year" or will it begin with the excitement of, "it's going to be another great year of Buckeye football ... at Ohio State, we don't rebuild, we reload!"

And I can't predict right now.

The real tale will be in the development of Terrelle Pryor (OK, not a stretch). Pryor finished the year as the Big Ten's passing efficiency leader completing 60.6% of his passes, however he completed an average 12 passes per game in the last 4 games. Hardly a hardy tale of passing prowess. But with Beanie Wells gone from the backfield, a lot of options (and a lot of stress) remain for the offense. The question will be how this offense will develop. Will the offense begin to look like that driven by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith or will it opt to use the Wildcat heavily or will it be just a wide-open spread offense. I'd tend to think, given Tressel's tendencies, that the offense will begin to be that of the Troy Smith era with hefty use of the option and with a lot more proficient and prodigious use of the pass. I'd like to think, again given Tressel's tendencies, that the offense will begin to be more balanced - 50-50 run/pass - and I'd like to see the development of Brandon Saine who just about disappeared from the offensive playbook last season.

A few changes have been announced. To no one's real surprise, Jake Stoneburner has been moved to TE. Those who saw him play for Dublin knew that his size would make him a great TE option in the college ranks. Apparently letting him continue to believe that he could/would be a wide-out got him into the Buckeye fold ... now he's moved to the position most schools projected him to play. Gamesmanship. But in a few surprise moves, DT Todd Denlinger and OL Andy Miller have been moved to TE to block in short yardage situations. On the injury front, Lawrence Wilson is back but not yet cleared for full-contact and Aram Olsen is still out for undisclosed medical reasons. Andre Amos is back full-go and looks to contend for the open corner position.

So, spring is here but 31 former Buckeyes have departed. Many will find out their fate later this month. The 28 seniors and 3 juniors all made their mark on this university and this program. But it will be up to the emergence of leaders and players starting today that will answer the question: Rebuild or Reload?

I can't wait!

Oh, and mark your calendars for Saturday, April 25. The spring game will begin at approximately 1:00 following the OSU Men's Lacrosse game featuring the Buckeyes vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish beginning at 11:00 a.m. OSU is again trying to set a record for a crowd at a men's lax game. Weather permitting, I have no doubt.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

BJ Mullens - Another One and Done

2009-03-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

... and do we care?

Yet another center has come and gone. And still the only one I miss is Greg Oden. Why? Greg had passion for basketball, not for NBA money.

And, Kosta Koufos and BJ Mullens, they share one thing. A passion for the money. OK, two things, I don't and won't miss either.

It was clear through the waning games of the Buckeye regular season that BJ was playing tentative and was not enthused. How many times did he do something so stupid that you wanted to throw your shoes at the TV. Then you'd see Matta yank him, start to school him on the sideline, and you'd see BJ, eyes to the floor or simply walking away while Matta was still talking. He'd checked out.

And we could have used him.

I contend that he has skills ... there were flashes. He certainly has size. He also has hands of stone. He has one posture and won't extend up or down to get a ball that's not right where he wants it on a feed inside. Great. The guards could deal with that. He also won't leave his feet and barely breaks a sweat rolling down the court. Hey, as long as he's there to get the inside pass and score.

But he had no Buckeye passion. He didn't play hard in the minutes leading to the double-OT loss the Bucks suffered at the hands of Siena. He never played like a #1 high school talent for all 20 +/- minutes he was in the game. He never learned defense. I for one won't miss him.

Take your millions BJ. Take care of your family. I sure hope all of your "advisors" really have your best interest in mind, and not theirs. I sure hope in 10-15-20 years you still have some money in the bank. Or we'll see you back down in the "Bottoms" area of C-bus, no better for your 1 year at tOSU and your huge NBA Bucks. Nope.

Let's hope you get more PT than one-and-done Kosta Koufos got in his first year. Oh yeah, he got drafted in the first round. Guess where he's playing now? He got sent down. But yeah, mom's happy. He got a big paycheck.

And I hope you have the maturity to treat your new job just that way. It is a job. No support system. No coach is going to take an interest in you or your family. Nope. No loyalty to you. Good luck in that environment.

And, I won't miss you.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

My 16-Second Take

2009-01-06T12:41:00.002-08:00

I don't want to talk style points or make other woulda/coulda/shoulda comments. The reality is that Ohio State lost. They lost. But in about 16 excruciating seconds, here are my thoughts ...

1. The 2-QB thing. I don't get it. Is Pryor our QB? If so, by putting Todd Boeckman in the game every time a pass is required - isn't that saying Pryor can't throw the ball downfield? And isn't this just a gimmic that says "hey, we can't hang with these guys using our regular playbook?" And what about the reps Pryor missed during the month and a half of bowl practice? Wouldn't the presumed starting QB for next season have benefitted?

2. Pryor's apparent desire to avoid the hits. Did I miss something or is this some sort of a new thing for him? I don't remember him ever avoiding a hit during the regular season.

3. Beanie. Beanie is Beanie. I wonder if he's made of rock or glass. I'm betting a whole lot of the latter. And I'm not questionning his toughness. He's a tough kid because while he winced several times last night after taking hits in the game and appeared to want to come back in after the apparent concussion, is he just somehow more brittle than other football players or injury-prone or ... perish the thought ... a cry-baby? How's he going to fare in the NFL? Not For Long. Better stay with the Bucks Beanie and NOT come out early for the NFL.

Frankly, I hope I'm wrong and Beanie is tough as nails because the prospects of Beanie and Pryor in the backfield excite me about the 2009 Buckeyes.

4. Play calling. What is the H happened in the 3rd quarter. And I'm talking both sides of the ball. We were getting our asses handed to us on offense and on defense. The Longhorns came out determined to run hurry-up and not let us sub on D. They did and we didn't and our D looked completely wiped out. Why no timeout defense on that opening drive by the Longhorns in the 2nd half. The Bucks were gassed and out of position. Tress, I know you don't call the D but you are watching from the sidelines. Call the timeout.

On offense, you ran about 1 screen pass the entire game ... to Beanie ... and it worked. Then, did that page of the playbook like fall out or something? And what about some rushing plays that don't go straight up the middle? Guess what? I don't think we scored going up the middle the entire season! I think we'd all agree that Texas is better than any team we faced this season in our regular schedule! Shesh.

Finally, it's just such a shame that the season didn't turn out better. We had high hopes for this team and this group of seasoned seniors. I'm sure they can't stand that they leave tOSU with this kind of a BCS record too. And it's not a reflection upon what they've done at Ohio State.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!

Crediting My Friend Ed for This Well-Written Prose

2009-01-06T12:41:00.001-08:00

What did James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins, and the 23 other Ohio State seniors do to earn this fate? Buckeye fans, at least you still have the 2002 national title in your memory bank to fall back on. The OSU seniors, the ones who actually played on the field, will have to live the rest of their lives with a ridiculously unfair check mark next to their careers, sort of like the Buffalo Bills that lost four straight Super Bowls.

"Oh sure, they had great careers, but ...."

There will always be a stigma overshadowing the special accomplishments that otherwise should be lauded. After getting blasted in the last two national title games, and dealing with the embarrassment that followed, the defense was one stop away from all but closing things out with a brilliant statement that would've all but forgiven the other big January losses. Instead, the Buckeyes got their hearts ripped out knowing they were just two minutes, and a few inches on a key fourth down play, from finishing off one of the greatest eras in school history.

Over the last four years, Ohio State has gone 43-8 with four straight trips to the BCS. Two of the losses were in national championships (which is far more forgivable than this group ever got credit for), one was to a Texas team that probably belonged in the national championship, one was to a USC team that would probably win the national championship if there was some sort of a playoff, one was to a Penn State team that won the Big Ten title and played in the Rose Bowl, one was to an Illinois team that played in the 2008 Rose Bowl, one was to a 2005 Penn State team that went 11-1, won the Big Ten title, and won the Orange Bowl, and the other was to the Vince Young-led 2005 national champion Texas team. The eight losses came to teams teams that went a combined 93-12 (that's an 89% winning percentage) and finished their seasons in the BCS. Let that sink in for a moment. In the end, this year's Ohio State senior class didn't lose to a dud team, had big wins over Notre Dame in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, at Texas in 2006, and beat Michigan four straight times (five straight if you count a redshirt year of 2004) including the 2006 powerhouse. This will be remembered as an extremely great group that showed tremendous resiliency, but it simply wasn't good enough to be at the top of the mountain. However, these seniors came very, very close.

http://cfn.scout.com/2/827681.html

Edward L. Ostrowski, Jr.

Attorney at law

Great Take on the Game by Matt Zemek

2009-01-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

Instant Analysis: Fiesta Bowl

By Matt Zemek

Staff Columnist
Posted Jan 6, 2009

He made several stunning mistakes that put his team in position to lose, but when Last Chance Gulch greeted him in Glendale, Ariz., six-shootin' superstar Colt McCoy gunned down the Ohio State Buckeyes. As a result, the Texas Longhorns--lacking style points and outplayed at times--achieved the end result they ultimately needed.

It wasn’t a pretty sight in University of Phoenix Stadium, and it won’t enable Bevo’s boys to claim a share of the AP national championship, but Monday’s 24-21 Fiesta Bowl victory will at least enable “The Eyes of Texas” to view this season in a favorable light. That’s just one of many complicated realities to emerge from a game packed with paradoxes, ironies, and sloppy slip-ups too numerous to count. If it’s football analysis you want, this is the kind of cluttered contest that requires a lot of patience… and a willingness to listen to numerous arguments before reaching finite conclusions.

Let’s sit down at the big-boy table to discuss a game that alternately confounded and soared, pleasing and perplexing a raucous crowd in suburban Phoenix while leaving a national TV audience in a state of breathless amazement.

The first tension point provided by the aftermath of this Fiesta fistfight, won by the Longhorns with just 16 seconds left on a connection between McCoy and dominant UT receiver Quan Cosby (14 catches, 171 yards, 2 touchdowns), is that a win should be good enough for the Texas football family. Yes, it’s true that American culture looks down on any team that fails to win a championship, but in the case of Mack Brown’s ballclub, that unfair attitude should be shelved. The fact that Texas left loads of points on the field should not detract from an even more supreme statistic: The Longhorns had scored three more points than the Buckeyes did when the fourth-quarter time clock hit triple-zero. Sure, some folks inclined to slight the Big 12 Conference will exult in the less-than-emphatic nature of the Texas win, which clearly puts the Horns behind Utah in the race for a potential national title outside the BCS system. But in a sport whose lack of a playoff often clouds season-ending rankings, the only thing a team can control is its ability to post wins. Style points are fickle; notches in the “W” column endure forever. Plainly put, Texas is 12-1 and not 11-2, blessed with the third BCS bowl victory of the Mack Brown era. Those are accomplishments that should bring about rejoicing, not sulking, in and around Austin and all other places that fly burnt orange flags.

The second difficult argument one has to confront in the aftermath of this game concerns the Buckeyes’ own standing, not to mention the reputation of the Big Ten Conference. Much like Texas’s inability to catapult itself past Utah, a lot of college football vultures will relish yet another loss for the Big Ten in a BCS battle. Even more specifically, fickle fans will be inclined to tut-tut Jim Tressel’s latest loss in the January spotlight. There’s just one problem with these arguments, shrouded in stereotypes and long-existing claims laden with excessive prejudice: They don’t hold up.

Tonight’s loss can’t be hung on the Big Ten… not, at any rate, as an indicator of grave deficiencies in commissioner Jim Delany’s league. Ohio State wasn’t outclassed in terms of speed during this duel in the desert. The Buckeyes warred with Texas on even terms in the trenches. The aspect of this game that truly staggered Ohio State was the Longhorns’ hurry-up offense in the second half. A clever change-up from Mack Brown and offensive coordinator Greg Davis—who have grown so profoundly as coaches over the course of this decade—made a difference in this contest, and Tressel’s troops could only do so much to stem the tide in a third quarter that spiraled out of control. As soon as the Bucks regained momentum in the fourth stanza, however, their problems not-so-mysteriously began to lose their severity.

In fact, when Ohio State lost star running back Chris “Beanie” Wells midway through the second half of this baffling ballgame, the Buckeyes actually made significant improvements in their offense. Tressel responded well to the events taking place on his own sideline; Colt McCoy isn’t quite so controllable. Mister Sweater Vest might have to endure a long plane flight to Columbus after this stomach-punch setback, but the lack of a victory shouldn’t lead observers to paint OSU’s exceptional leader with a brush of negativity.

The next really big debate caused by this collision relates to the quality of the game itself. The rousing and memorable ending certainly ranks among the most fantastic finishes of the entire BCS bowl era, but it needs to be said that the first 50 minutes of action in the Valley of the Sun left a lot to be desired. Several counter-intuitive truths have to be accounted for when examining Ohio State-Texas in a football laboratory.

Consider this head-scratcher, for starters: Before McCoy maxed out on the game’s final drive to lead his Longhorns to the winner’s circle, the Texas quarterback—armed with the best brain in all of college football—made shockingly poor decisions that jeopardized his team’s chances of leaving Arizona with a Fiesta Bowl trophy. McCoy took a number of bad sacks—on plays where he easily could have thrown the ball out of bounds—to blunt at least four separate drives, three of them in OSU territory and one in the red zone. McCoy also tossed a horrible interception at the end of the first half to quite literally throw away three points. For a smart player who displayed typical brilliance for most of this contest, often in the face of pressure from the Buckeyes’ pass rush, McCoy’s handful of major mistakes proved to be that much more unfathomable.

Another piece of pigskin puzzlement rested on the shoulders—or more precisely, the legs--of McCoy’s opposite number, Ohio State signal caller Terrelle Pryor. Despite being rotated in and out of the lineup, in tandem with senior quarterback Todd Boeckman, Pryor somehow felt it unimportant to spill his guts on each and every play. On multiple occasions during this game, Pryor—the fastest man on the field not named Beanie Wells—ran out of bounds well before he needed to, the height of irony (and agony) for the Scarlet and Gray.

The freshman with jaw-dropping athleticism would make several Longhorn pass rushers look absolutely silly, only to then break into the Texas secondary and bail out on a play, sacrificing 15 yards out of a misguided sense of cautiousness. Perhaps he wanted to pace himself, and perhaps he wanted to save his body from hellacious hits. All the same, Pryor prematurely ended plays that could have prolonged a number of Buckeye drives, particularly in a first half dominated by OSU. Had Pryor been able to finish strong on all of his runs, and not just the plays he dominated on the Buckeyes’ first fourth-quarter touchdown drive, it’s fair to say that Ohio State would have scored more than 21 points. Yes, Texas also wasted numerous scoring opportunities, but Pryor could have done so much more to bump up the Buckeye side of the scoreboard. It’s worth noting that McCoy, not Pryor, proved to be more consistent at finishing his runs, especially on the two touchdown drives Texas used to take a 17-6 lead in the third quarter.

Besides the stupidity of a smart player (McCoy), and the underused legs of a fast player (Pryor), there were other brain-benders to be found in the home of the Arizona Cardinals. Consider the fact that one of Ohio State’s more crucial penalties—a false start on a third-and-2 inside the Texas 10 in the second quarter—immediately followed a Buckeye timeout. Also take note of the breakdowns that occurred in the Longhorns’ secondary when Wells left the game and made Ohio State more limited and pass-based on offense. A pass interference call on Texas defensive back Deon Beasley reflected this trend.

With OSU trailing 17-9 midway through the fourth quarter, and facing a third-and-12 at the UT 25, Pryor—under heavy pressure from Texas’ sensational defensive front—threw a ball low and short. The throw represented a concession, a tip-of-the-cap statement a quarterback makes when he expresses a willingness to settle for a field goal. Beasley, however, held Buckeye receiver Brian Robiskie by the shoulder pads. The collapse in the cranial region of the Longhorn cornerback paved the way for the first OSU touchdown, which created a two-point game (17-15) and made the nervous Longhorns sweat.

The first 50 minutes of play, in addition to everything that’s already been said, also featured a bad roughing-the-passer penalty on Ohio State at the end of the first half; an intentional grounding penalty on McCoy that lost nearly 20 yards and stopped a Texas drive cold; deficient Longhorn rugby punts that, in pooch-punt situations, bounced into the end zone; and, last but not least, a larger game flow in which both teams—Ohio State in the first half, Texas early in the fourth quarter—established substantial control of the proceedings, only to let go of the jugular in fairly short order. Tonight’s tussle was, to quote NFL Films’ John Facenda-voiced summation of Super Bowl XII, “fiercely fought but frightfully flawed.” The two teams’ late scoring drives produced a sensational closing act to this desert drama, climaxing with Colt McCoy’s Texas-sized heart and Quan Cosby’s conquering quickness, but the first 50 minutes of the 2009 Fiesta Bowl will prevent this game from attaining anything close to classic status.

Ohio State fans might emphasize the extent to which the Buckeyes failed to maximize their first-half superiority, and produce a better result. Texas partisans could find it easy to tout the Longhorns’ second-half dominance, which brought about an 11-point lead and put an exhausted OSU defense on the ropes. Ohio State critics will harp on another Big Ten loss, plus another Jim Tressel trail of tears, while those who dislike the Longhorns will take Texas to task for not winning this game more emphatically.

One can only look back on these Fiesta fireworks and say that two big-name programs, for all their wayward moments on the gridiron, put forth a pair of honest efforts that should add to, and not detract from, their respective reputations. This was not an artful game graced with precision or polish, but in the world of collegiate athletics, an exciting 60 minutes contested with pronounced passion should count as a pure plus for Ohio State and Texas. The Buckeyes competed on relatively even terms against a decorated opponent. The Longhorns, who had every chance to pout in Glendale because of their BCS title game snub, instead treated this game with the seriousness it deserved. Monday’s many mistakes deserved criticism—criticism that was needed in order to prevent this game from being deemed as the classic it most certainly wasn’t. Paradoxically, however, the stacks of shortcomings only made the grit and gallantry of these two proud teams—and the clamorous climax they fashioned—that much more pleasing to behold.

Ohio State proved to be a winner of the soul, a team that got past its big-game demons and chased away the haunting memories of bowl blowouts from the past. Texas, while not able to usurp the Utes of Utah, nevertheless claimed a Fiesta Bowl triumph that should assuage hard feelings in Austin for one very simple reason: Victory—though so attainable for the Longhorns, and perhaps even likely, late in the third quarter—was anything but certain when Colt McCoy stood under center on a fourth-and-3 from the OSU 43 with just under one minute left in regulation time.

The ability of McCoy to convert a first down, and then fire a touchdown pass two plays later, with just 16 ticks left on the clock, should enable a Big 12 South brouhaha and a king-sized BCS controversy to finally fade into the background. Winning—especially against Ohio State, Jim Tressel, and a Buckeye defense that never stopped bringing the heat—should give Longhorns of all ages reason to savor a significant season, a special quarterback, and a result that sure beats the heck out of the alternative: the alternative: the frustrated feeling being experienced by the gallant but gutted kids from Ohio State.

Happy Holidays! I'm Back!

2008-12-27T11:04:00.000-08:00

A few technical issues and I'm back in business.

In a few short hours, the Bucks will defend the nation's longest winning streak taking on WV in the Schott. And yes, I will be there.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this year's Buckeye team! While young, they often seem more mature to me than the 2007-2008 squad. The leadership is very much centered in David Lighty, the lone remaining scholarship player from the NC runner-up team. And while he's out nursing the healing broken bone in his foot for 6-12 weeks, Evan Turner has clearly stepped up. Other young players like William Buford, the transfer Jeremie Simmons, Noopy Crater, and young BJ Mullens have all shared time in the spotlight. The most improved returner in my mind is Dallas Lauderdale. If you will recall, Dallas was charged last year with trying to make the enigma Kosta Koufos more physical under the basket. And physical is one term used to describe Dallas. That being said, he's not fleet of foot and can get beat inside ... much to the casternation of Coach Matta. My opinion is that we will see more and more of the twin towers while Lighty mends except in instances where speed is needed. The Bucks are quite slow with the 2 big men in the lineup and we've seen some teams come in and run pretty effectively on the Bucks with the big men lineup. Matta, ever the coach and teacher, has started a smaller, faster lineup in those instances using transfer and local product Kyle Madsen on the inside. He's quicker down the court but not as big. He can get position and an occasional block but don't expect him to be a scorer or a blocker.

And on everyone's mind is the upcoming Fiesta Bowl. The local travel agents and university are begging takers on the ticket side. Sad, but this bowl is not a great draw given the financial constraints many are under and its "been there, done that" feel since the desert seems like the Bucks' home away from home. Good thing there are a lot of west coast alumni or we might see a sea of burnt orange. After all, the Texas economy has been rather robust.

And rumor has it that Tressel is cooking up something featuring Boeckman and Pryor in the game at the same time. Apparently a page from Pryor's high school play book where Pryor lined up at receiver in the first play from scrimmage in the PA state championships. Interesting.

Well, glad I'm back!

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!