I have returned ...

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).