Beware of a Wounded Animal

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!