Buckeye Monday - Illinois Review and The Preview for the Team Up North

For detailed analysis on this game please refer to Ohio State game reviews of the Minnesota, Purdue, Michigan State and Northwestern games in the ‘Older Posts’ section of this blog. No, really…...I’m serious. I’m tired of writing the same thing each week. Saturday’s road win against Illinois was almost an exact replica of each of those games. Each of those teams had a decent quarterback, decent running backs and above average defenses. End results…we ran the ball at them all day, Pryor made several “safe” throws and made some plays running the ball, and the defense made enough plays to limited scoring by the opposition. Saturday’s results included Beanie rushing for 140+ yards and a score, Pryor running for 110+ yards and a score. He also completed 6-10 passes for 50 yards and another score. Please see other game reviews for my feelings on giving him extremely limited number of throws to make. The defense seemed unprepared for the ‘no-huddle’ offense and really had no answers for the multiple quarterback looks and balanced play calling thrown at them by the Illini. I can’t wait to see how they react this week to 3 quarterbacks (Threet, Sheridan and Feagin) directing the UM offense. Gee, I wonder if we should expect to see some ‘no-huddle’ from UM too. Anyway, throw all that together with a dash of revenge and you get a 30-20 Buckeye win. Pretty pedestrian if you ask me.

What worked?

Well…..I guess you’d have to say the running game was hitting on all cylinders. 52 attempts for 305+ yards was more than adequate. It was fun watching Pryor running in space and was even more amusing watching Beanie run around, through and over potential tacklers all day. I don’t think there is any doubt that he is among the best 2-3 backs in the nation at the moment. At one point during the game, ESPN announcer Andre Ware was asked if having a healthy “Beanie” would have made a difference in the USC game earlier in the year. Ware’s answer (and mine too) was a quick “No”. For some reason the exchange made me laugh. Boom Herron seems to be fully recovered from his concussion. He’s by far the most capable backup for Beanie.

I guess you could say the defense did a pretty good job of keeping Illinois out of the end zone. Holding that team to 13 points for a vast majority of the game (the last 7 came in ‘garbage time’) was pretty impressive.

What didn’t work?

The defense had no answers for the Illini (between the 20s.) Giving up 455+ yards of total offense is not very good. I hate the fact that teams can run the same plays (Illinois was hugely successful running a ‘stretch play’ to the ‘short side’ of the field all day) against this defense and get great results all game long. I don’t know. We have a shut down cornerback in Malcolm Jenkins and pretty instinctive linebackers. There’s still not much else to point to with this unit.

Once again, the passing game was non-existent. It’s hard to grade this part of the game as “not working” as Pryor completed 60% of his passes with 1 touchdown and no interceptions. It just baffles me why we haven’t shown a more diversified approach to throwing the ball. I did see a short crossing pattern for the first time in about a month. Poor Sanzanbacher almost got killed for running the route and catching the pass. We’re still not inclined to throw screen passes or to develop any semblance of a mid-range passing game. If you’re going to run the ball 50+ times a game you’d at least think a few play action passes would be sprinkled into the play calling to keep the defense honest. You’d think so…..but you would be wrong.

What’s next?

Well…..many Michigan fans are already ceding victory to the Buckeyes on Saturday. Having lived through the Cooper Era I will never be that presumptuous. UM’s inconsistent play this year has given all Wolverine/Buckeye fans plenty to discuss. I’ll admit to spending some time contemplating what’s gone wrong in Coach Rod’s first year. Some of the reasons are obvious and thus, well document. Others are more subtle and not as easy to analyze. Here’s how I think everything comes together this weekend at the ‘Shoe.’ Actually, this is not that hard to predict. Both teams will start out with great intensity on both sides of the ball (see UM at Penn State early in the game and Ohio State early in the USC game). One team will score early but the other team will respond with a score of their own. Ohio State will ride Pryor and Beanie and jump out to a 14-17 point lead early in the second half. Michigan will respond with a late score to close the gap. I have it OSU 30 - Michigan 17.

GO BUCKS!!!!

Buckeye John