It is a Momentum Game ....

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!