Indisputable

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!