NMSU Glorified Scrimmage: Buckeyes Roll 45~0

After a sluggish start, things went pretty much the way many believed they would. Pryor for the most part looked confident on most of his throws, albeit he still stares down the primary target. That bomb to Posey on the first play from scrimmage was on point, as well, as his strike to Sanzenbacher on the post that went for six. He did throw a couple that should've been picked off though. His running again was decisive and I maintain that his increased running will also help the passing game. Nice to have Boom! back as he picked up where he left off when we last saw him healthy, and that was in the endzone. Don't forget, prior to his injury he had scored a touchdown in 8 consecutive games I believe dating back to last season. Him and the running game must be on point this weekend at Happy Valley for the Buckeyes to have chance at winning. However, it would've been nice to see the offensive line just steamroll the New Mexico State, especially in the 2nd Half once Bauserman took over.

The defense was better than expected it was Sufficating! Everyone knew New Mexico State was gonna struggle, but to hold them to less than 100 yards of total offense is sick to say the least. This defensive line may not be as good overall as the 2002 group, but without a doubt, this unit is much deeper. Not much is lost when rotating this group and regardless of who is in there, they get results, whether its stuffing the run or getting pressure on the opposing QB.

Speaking of the 2nd Half, those chanting for Bauserman to get some playing time following the "Loss" got their wish. He played the entire 2nd Half, despite the initial thought process, it was not by design. But after seeing him get some extended playing time, it's obvious why Tressel was quite decisive in his saying that he never considered benching Pryor during the Purdue game. No disrespect to Joe, but he is what he is, and that is a backup QB. When prized recruit Justin Zwick struggled while here, Tressel had Smith to fall back on. Remember, even though he was the very last member of the same class that featured Zwick, Smith had attended the same Elite 11 QB camp as Justin. When Todd Boeckman struggled, Tressel had the overall number one recruit to fall back on in Pryor. With Pryor's growing pains, Tressel has a former baseball prospect who walked on waiting in the wings! Bauserman played well and if pressed could probably do a respectful job, but Pryor is dynamic and can change a game by himself, when on.

It was nice seeing several of the other players get an opportunity to get in the game and get rewarded for all the practice time they put in as well. It was nicer still that the defensive reserves were actually able to preserve the shutout this week that they let slip away against Minnesota last week.

The one glaring negative obviously was Aaron Pettrey's injury. Worse still because now he will miss the rest of the season. Devin Barclay probably wasn't expecting to see any action and it showed. He was very shaky on his field goal attempts, but his kickoffs were good and the special team unit was able to keep the Aggies pinned back. Will losing Pettrey make Tressel even more conservative? He loves to punt, but may be forced to go for some more 4th and 1's in these upcoming games. Hopefully with a full week of work and knowing he's the man will give Barclay some confidence from this point forward or maybe Tressel will turn to the freshman Ben Buchanan who was ill last week.

My Comments On Some Comments

With Iowa holding strong at the Number 4 ranking in the BCS, pundits have predictably given them little to know respect. They have won ugly, and lets face it, got extremely lucky against Indiana. The volleyball interception that eventually went 90 yards the other way for a TD, seemed to suck all the life out of the Hoosiers. Yes, the 2002 Buckeyes won ugly and was lucky in some cases, but I must agree with several pundits on this one. I knew the 2002 Buckeyes, and these Hawkeyes, are no Buckeyes of 2002. That Buckeyes team was loaded with NFL talent. This Hawkeyes quite frankly is not blessed with a plethora of players that will be gracing the field on Sundays. However, if they somehow were to get to the title game, I don't think they would get blown out as many have predicted, frankly because Florida, Texas, Alabama, etc.. haven't been all that impressive in their own right. Fortunately, for the Big Ten haters out there, I don't think they have to worry about Iowa, because I do believe that next weekend, our Buckeyes will take them down.

Again, Carroll overshadows Tressel. Following Purdue, Tressel got put on blast yet again. This time for doing something that he's rarely done, lose to an unranked team with a losing record. I guess good ole Pete couldn't take it. So what does he do? He goes out and accomplishes something that hasn't happened since he first arrived at USC. Get Blown out! The signs were there following the Oregon State game and to some degree the Notre Dame game. When was the last time that you saw a USC team get manhandled and look completely lost in a game. Where has the defense disappeared to? Where's Taylor Mays, oohh he's getting another personal foul penalty called against him. And don't give me that crap about them being young, blah, blah, blah. For years now all we've heard his about USC's legendary recruiting classes, All they have are 'Blue Chippers' Five Star prospects, they're two deep is better than most teams starters. Don't give me that crap about their road weary. You can't tout them as being road warriors and then blame road weariness when they lose. You can't say that Carroll makes great in-game and half time adjustments, and then go silent when he fails to make any adjustments whatsoever. Again, Tressel gets the blame and Carroll gets the excuses.

Dirty play is dirty play and Brandon Spikes that was a dirty play. Many people have given Spikes a pass on his eye-gouging incident. The common theme from former players is that 'Hey that's what happens in piles!' Robert Reynolds got ripped for his dirty play against Wisconsin a few years back. Remember the forearm to the throat incident to the downed player. Reynolds got ripped and deservedly so. Spikes for the most part got a pass. One of the few commentators that I heard come out strongly against Spikes was Mike Golic on his radio show. Others gave the standard double-talk garbage. I don't condone it, but he shouldn't have done it. Brian Jones of Inside College Football, even went so far as to say,that this episode will improve Spikes draft stock. Really! Urban Meyer, didn't think to much of it himself. Do you really think Meyer wanted to do anything but really 'Talk' to Spikes about. And his initial punishment of a half game suspension against Vanderbilt this weekend was a joke. So embarrasing that he pretty much was forced to make it a full game suspension. It's even sadder still, if Spikes actually had to ask to be suspended for the full game. I would say kudos to him, but its something that shouldn't have been done in the first place, to go after somebody's eyes.

Not to get into a BCS v playoff rant here, but one big reason I prefer college football's post-season format over the playoff like that in college basketball, is that every game to some degree counts. Take for instance, the opening weekend of the college basketball season, where the basketball Orangemen have outdone their football brethren. They lost to Divison II Lemoyne on their home court. And last season, didn't Gardner-Webb defeat mighty Kentucky. But come the end of the year and tournament time, nobody is gonna mention that Syracuse lost to LeMoyne. Did Michigan ever live down the Appalachian State loss. Would Iowa be where they are now had they not blocked those field goals against Northern Iowa, even with the later win over Penn State. I mean if a BCS conference team loses to a non-BCS team, they could pretty much kiss their chances goodbye. For the most part, every game counts, every game is important, there are no mulligans in college football.

Flash Forward: Penn State

To say the least, this is the biggest game of Pryor's young career. Returning to his home state to face the team that was at the heart of his biggest loss last season as a result of his fumble. This will the toughest game for him mentally to overcome because of that fumble. The Nittany Lions stat wise have the best defense in the conference, I still think the Silver Bullets are better based on competition. This will be a defensive struggle, much in the same fashion of the game they played last season. If Pryor comes out and plays for the team and not try to redeem "himself" for last year's loss, then the Buckeyes can still accomplish their primary goal for this season and that is to win the conference and go to a BCS bowl game. Despite the loss to Purdue, the Buckeyes control their own destiny. Win out, they're the undisputed Big Ten Champions and off to the Rose Bowl and a possible matchup with US-- whoops, with Oregon! sounds funny huh? Pryor must play within himself and rely on his legs just as much as he desires to rely on his arm. The offensive line must do a better job in all phases, welcome back Boren! They must establish a sound ground game to ease the burden on Pryor. Now when I say establish a running game, I mean with one of the running backs, not just Pryor. With Boom healthy, hopefully he'll be able to get going, if not, I hope Tressel doesn't hesitate to go to either Jordan Hall or Jermil Martin. I believe both of them are more instinctive runners than either Boom or Brandon Saine. Posey, Sanzenbacher, and Small are important but can we get Ballard or surprise me and throw it to Jacob Stoneburner. Tressel surprised us last week with the reverse pass, and the onside kick, well how about throwing it the the tight ends for once.

Defense, Defense, and more Defense. Suffice it to say, defense will dominate this game with both offenses seeming to struggle against teams that can play a little defense. Not being biased here, okay maybe a little, I do believe that Ohio State has the more explosive offensive potential between the two teams. Key will be turnovers, which has been a problem for Pryor. However, if he can limit them and the Buckeyes win the turnover battle, I believe the they can win this game. How confident will Tressel be with Barclay (or Buchanan) remains to be seen, he may have to go for it on fourth down and got forbid run a QB sneak! This could also be time for Ray Small to step up big in the return game as special teams will play a big role. To say that Jon Thoma has to be better than what he's shown thus far is an understatement. The team that controls field position will have a definite advantage as the game wears on.

In the past several Big Games, it always seemed that the Buckeyes coaching staff got outcoached or were to slow to make any in-game adjustments or any at all. They must adapt quickly to whatever Penn State throws at time and counter it quickly. They can't get outcoached, period. Getting out executed one can deal with to some degree, but getting outcoached when your supposed to be one the conference's best is not.

In a big time defensive, bruising battle I do believe that the Buckeyes will come out victorious and keep their goal of winning another Big Ten title within reach. Final Score: 20-10, Ohio State.

My Heisman Winner~ This Week

Case Keenum, QB, Houston

Runner-up: Colt McCoy, QB, Texas

My Top Five ~ This Week

1) Texas - Destroyed Oklahoma St. to cement the top spot
2) Florida - Do You Really think Meyer wanted to Suspend Spikes? Me Neither
3) Alabama - Have to play better against LSU than what they did with Tennessee
4) Iowa - Will remain here until Ohio State game, come on Buckeyes have their number
5) Cincinnati - Undefeated and this Collaros Kid can play