Strange Game Ends in Victory

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!