Monday Buckeye Report: Wisconsin Edition

Thanks to the ongoing dispute between my cable company (Time Warner) and the BTN I was forced to watch the third Buckeye game of the year at a local bar. For the first two games, this did not prove to be much of a problem. Great food, cold beer, lots of cheering fans and I was always able to get a seat just before kick-off. Funny thing happened this week. I got to the bar with wife and kids and found nary a seat to be had. Now, standing in a bar with several hundred fans cheering on the Buckeyes is my idea of a great time. My wife and kids though…..not so much. Fortunately, we were able to get a seat just before halftime so I wasn’t forced to leave and listen to the game on the radio. Luck me!!! Here’s hoping Time Warner and the BTN have everything worked out before next year.

The short story this week was Ohio State finding a new offensive gear late in the third quarter and pulling away for an easy 38-21 victory. More detailed analysis shows a game that featured three distinct scenes. Scene One….the first half. I thought I was watching a good, old fashioned Big-10 football game. Smash mouth football. Both teams playing hard, and tough. The Buckeyes held a slim 10-3 advantage at the half. Scene Two……the first ten minutes of the third quarter. I thought I had somehow managed to go back in time to parts of the last three Buckeye losses against the Badgers. In each of those games we built decent early leads only to fade in the second half and lose. Two nice drives by the Badgers resulted in two touchdowns and a 17–10 lead late in the third quarter. I don’t mind telling you I was more nervous after their second score than I had been all year. I may have been guilty of a little questionable language in front of the family after the second touchdown. My bad…..guys!!!! Scene Three….Oh, gee…..there’s the number one team in the country. Where have they been hiding? For the last 20 minutes of the game, the Buckeyes looked like a team very deserving of the number one ranking in the BCS standings. The defense stiffened and Beanie Wells decided he liked running down the left side of the field for touchdowns. Both runs covered 30+ yards and demonstrated nice vision and cut-back abilities. That’s always fun to watch. Power and speed.

The win was special for several reasons:

· It established a new Big-10 record for consecutive conference wins with 20
· It stopped a somewhat ugly string of home losses to Wisconsin
· It was a great team performance in front of several important recruits for next year
· Vernon Gholston is starting to get warmed up at just the right time. His four sacks Saturday tied a team record
· It was another demonstration of a balanced offense with several big plays both running and passing

In summary:

· Still love the power running game. Wells gains more confidence each week. I wish he would start every game like he’s been finishing them lately.
· The proprietor of this blog thinks Mario Manningham is the best receiver in the conference. For my money, I’d take Brian Robiskie any day of the week. He has deceptive speed, runs great routes and catches everything thrown in his area an has a great attitude. Manningham is great at running fly routes against single coverage. He did catch a few quick outs to keep Michigan in the game yesterday. However, when was the last time he ran across the middle? I’m just saying……
· We’re averaging 35+ points a game so I’ll go 38 – 21 next Saturday versus the Illini
· 12 more days!!!!!

See you next week.
Buckeye John