Buckeye Monday

Ohio State – Purdue Game Summary

When does a win feel like a loss…part II?

I think I can use the game summary from the OSU – OU game in week two of the season to cover this week’s game against Purdue. No offense….good/great defense….solid special teams. I know that’s been the working definition of “Tressel Ball” for the last seven years but I’ve seen enough. It’s one thing to play like that when your team is young, inexperienced and looking to forge an identity (see current state of affairs in Ann Arbor). This is a totally different situation. The Buckeyes have loads of returning talent and I don’t think the play calling is helping Pryor develop any confidence or consistency. After 7 games this team has far too many questions and not enough answers. Here are three of my favorites:

#1 Is Beanie Wells healthy….or not? I’m hoping that the number of plays he was on the sideline for Saturday was a result of the flu (he suffered during the week) and not his lingering foot problem. It’s pretty obvious that Bandon Saine and Mo Wells can’t carry any of the load at running back. I hope Herron makes it back for the trip to East Lansing.

#2 What’s with the play calling? Some Buckeye blogs are speculating that Tressel is “holding back” the offense on purpose. The thought being that he can unveil all kinds of potentially explosive plays against Michigan State and Penn State in the next two weeks. I believe that strategy goes against the coaching philosophy Tressel has always followed and is simply not the case. Many people are pointing to the O-line as the reason for the inconsistency of the offense. I agree completely. I think Browning and Person are not showing any signs of improvement on the right side. Boone and Cordel have been only marginally better on the left side. The best player on the line has been Brewster and he’s a freshman. What does that tell you?
#3 How can Pryor go from throwing 4 touchdown passes in his first game to passing for under 100 yards in week 4? The play calling has not necessarily helped his cause but for god’s sake, do we have a medium length passing game at all?

Too many other questions and not enough answers. Maybe it will be easier to diagnose after the next two games. .

What worked? In a word…Defense!!!

Malcolm Jenkins….All American - What a game!!! He was great in man-to-man coverage, getting the interception, supporting the run, blocking the punt. What more can you ask him to do? I’m not sure what he ate before the game but he needs to put it in a bottle and sell it to the rest of the team.

Ross Homan - He’s getting better each week. I think offenses key on getting blocks on Laurinaitis and Freeman. This is allowing Homan to make more and more plays. I think he’s going to be especially busy during the next two games. We’ll see if he’s up to the challenge.

What didn’t work well? Everything else………..

I’m tired of typing the same things in this spot each week. The lack of improvement on the O-line baffles me (at least Bollman is trying new players and positions to try to get it figured out). The only change I saw that I liked was the introduction of Lamaar Thomas returning kicks and seeing more time as the slot receiver. He showed his speed on the opening kick-off and his elusiveness after several catches during the game.

What’s next?

Well…..I think the Big-10 title will be decided in the next two weeks. We get Michigan State on the road and then Penn State at home. All three teams are undefeated in league play. Jevon Ringer is awesome although I think the heavy workload he gotten is starting to slow him down (at least I hope it is). Not sure what to make of Hoyer and the passing game. Their defense appears solid. I have no reason to believe that our offense will figure out a way to put points on the board in this game. I will not predict OSU going for over 30 points in a game the rest of the season. Pryor seems to play with a little more urgency away from home and the defense remains solid. I have it 16-10 OSU.

Go Bucks!!!!

Buckeye John