2008 Football Rumblings

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

The Bottom Line

Sunday, September 21, 2008 4:34 AM
By Ray Stein


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/multimedia/audio_slideshows/2008/09/osu092008/index.html

Is that a swagger? Uh, no; that'll take a while to return. But there is a flicker, at least, a whiff of promise that the right personnel is on the field. That said, it's tough to not feel bad for the sixth-year man. Leaves are awarded on a zero-to-five basis. Offense (three leaves)
The only question was whether The Kid could wing it, and four TD passes says he can. He also has the presence that comes with profound athleticism, a huge asset in a performance business. Starts and fits overall, but the line was better and Daniel Herron showed he has a hard nose.
Defense (two leaves)
It's a familiar refrain, but nickel-and-dime teams get rich only when missed tackles allow them to earn interest. The Buckeyes lunged and came up empty a lot but buckled down as the game got older. QB pressure remains an issue, though the Troy dude was always quick on the trigger.
Special teams (three leaves)
A.J. Trapasso rescued a one-leaf performance on his own with three tremendous second-half punts, pinning Troy at its 7, 2 and 4 as OSU seized control and Tress beamed. Win field position, win the game as often as not. Little else worth noting except Ray Small -- get out of that doghouse, son.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Scarlet & Gray Matter
Rob Oller's observations on yesterday's game
Sunday, September 21, 2008 4:38 AM
By Rob Oller


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The game at hand

Short-attention-span synopsis: A win is a win, but ... without Beanie this team just isn't upper crust.
OSU oxymoron: missed tackles.
Corny but true: Pryor plays like former QB Greene. Boeckman standup guy in a sitdown situation. Hey, at least they can defeat some Trojans.
Pregame buzz: The breakdown between Pryor and Boeckman was supposed to be 50-50. Turns out Terrelle won the raffle drawing, taking 54 of the 59 snaps. Boeckman took two, and Joe Bauserman had three.
The $62 question: For three quarters, the Buckeyes resembled ice cream left in a central Ohio freezer during the blackout. Messy. But if history is your thing, witnessing the T.P. coming out party was worth every penny.
Cont...

 

[Buckeneye]

Apparently, we have a converted DE turned WR from another team that's going in the 1st round for tOSU...

Man, that is how damn good we are.


I realize the pic kinda sucks, but Matt Shaughnessy is listed as a WR for Ohio State as the last
pick in the 1st round. I'm assuming that'll be Robo?

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

Buckeyes' problems not solved

By Rusty Miller
the Associated Press

Monday, September 22, 2008
What's brewing today with the Ohio State Buckeyes:
Buckeyes buzz
Before everybody starts oohing and aahing about how Ohio State is back now that Terrelle Pryor is the quarterback, they might want to cool their jets.
Naturally, the focus after the Buckeyes' 28-10 victory over Troy was Pryor's four TD passes.
But ... what's up with the defense? The Trojans outgained the Buckeyes 315-309 and kept the ball for almost half the game. There were many, many examples of them turning a short gain or even a loss into sizable yardage because of missed tackles. The lone touchdown was Exhibit A, with four Buckeyes blowing clean shots at Jerrel Jernigan on his 45-yard run with a short pass.
Even if you give Troy credit ? QB Jamie Hampton came in averaging almost 300 passing yards a game ? Ohio State defenders still looked sloppy. And sloppy is no way to win a third straight outright Big Ten title.
On top of that it was either sink or swim for the offense. Yes, Pryor did have four TD passes. But it's not nitpicking to say that a couple of those would have either been batted down or intercepted if the receivers hadn't been open by 10 yards when he let go of the ball. The ball hung in the air like a punt on two of those scoring plays.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

College football: OSU Insider

Monday, September 22, 2008 3:03 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


? Next game: Minnesota Golden Gophers ? Where: Ohio Stadium
? When: Noon Saturday
? TV: Big Ten Network
? Radio: WBNS-AM (1460), WBNS-FM (97.1)
25 words or fewer

Terrelle Pryor came to pass, putting on a grand slam performance with four touchdown passes vs. Troy.
In the polls

Ohio State moved up one place in the USA Today coaches' poll, to 13th, and slipped one place in the Associated Press media poll, to 14th. That's called a hung jury. Wisconsin (eighth in coaches, ninth in AP) and Penn State (12th in both) lead the Big Ten pack going into conference play.
Who's hot?

Though he might not be as hot as Pryor, tailback Daniel "Boom" Herron is warming up for sure. While Chris "Beanie" Wells stands on the sideline letting his right foot fully heal, Boom keeps pounding the bricks. He had better timing and patience in his third major piece of action, and the team leaned on him (20 carries, 94 yards) a little more.
Cont...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Ohio State football
Inside the Beat: Here's a heaping helping of 'what-if'

Monday, September 22, 2008 11:10 AM
By Ken Gordon and Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

JONATHAN QUILTER | DISPATCH
The Dispatch's Ken Gordon on Terrelle Pryor, above: "He just flicks the ball and it travels 45 yards in the air."


Each week during the Ohio State football team's season, Dispatch OSU football writers Tim May, left, and Ken Gordon engage in a give-and-take that brings readers "inside the beat" of Buckeyes football.
Even sooner than expected, the Terrelle Pryor era has dawned at Ohio State, that big ball of flame in the sky being the collective four touchdown passes the freshman hurled at Troy two days ago in the 28-10 win. What does this mean for Pryor? What does this mean for the team moving forward into the start of the Big Ten season? Did it mask a rather average day for the OSU defense? Well, let's get it started:

MAY: Past the hype and the TD pass-hurling and all, what was most impressive about Pryor was his pocket presence. Ken, as you and I talked about during and after the game, this was much different from the Troy Smith coming-out party years ago. At the first sign of a crack in the protection, Smith usually took off; the poised passing man came games later. Pryor moved around in the pocket, stepping side to side or forward to buy time and let things develop downfield. For someone who supposedly had a long way to go with his passing prowess entering OSU, he displayed that intangible that the more successful passers usually have: an uncanny sense of where the pressure is coming from and how to avoid it without taking his eyes off the downfield action.

Continued.........

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Ohio State football: Gibson into starting lineup, Heyward to tackle

by Doug Lesmerises Monday September 22, 2008, 4:24 PM


Jim Heacock defended his defensive tackles when questioned about them during the preseason, but now a change officially has been made.
We've seen it in games already and it often has been discussed, the idea of some of Ohio State's defensive ends getting time on the inside.
Today, former end Cameron Heyward is listed as a starter at defensive tackle on the Ohio State depth chart. Thaddeus Gibson is now a starter at defensive end opposite Lawrence Wilson. Doug Worthington is listed as a co-starter with Nader Abdallah at the other tackle spot, while Dexter Larimore and Todd Denlinger are the backup tackles behind Heyward.
This reflects the Buckeyes' best chance to get a pass rush from their front four, and we have seen this some already. But that original four-man tackle rotation just wasn't making enough plays.

Continued..........

 

[Joe56]

Thad's only 240, we could use a little more weight on DE, don't you think?

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

Thad's only 240, we could use a little more weight on DE, don't you think?

I like numbers as much as anybody; but the season is under way. Put the guys on the field that are getting the job done.

And FWIW, Thad is definitely up over 240. He added a lot of weight in the off season.

 

[Buckeye Nut]

I like the move, we need more athleticism on the inside.

 

[scarletngray]

I like the move also. It puts our quickest, most agile DL on the field.

:osu:

 

[daddyphatsacs]

Great move. I think Heyward is a natural DT. He's going to raise hell as the season progresses.

 

[osugrad21]

Zanesville

Veteran OSU team looks years younger

By JON SPENCER ? Mansfield News Journal ? September 23, 2008


COLUMBUS - Freshmen Terrelle Pryor and Mike Brewster shared a long-distance bond long before they found their hands all over Ohio State's shotgun.
They played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January, the same month Brewster enrolled at Ohio State and turned up the heat on Pryor to join him as a Buckeye. Pryor held off on his decision for two months, giving Brewster more reasons to pester him.
"He used to text me before we came on campus and said, 'Let's do work,' " Pryor said. "I'm like, 'What do you mean?' He'd text back, 'Let's do work.' I found out he's the kind of guy who's in the weight room lifting late at night. He's a dog."
It takes one to know one. As of last Saturday, Pryor is the lead dog in Ohio State's attack. Taking snaps from Brewster, Pryor threw for four touchdowns and came within a dropped pass of a fifth as the Buckeyes pulled away from Troy 28-10.
It was the first time since Art Schlichter in 1978 that a freshman started at quarterback for the Buckeyes. It's probably been longer than that - maybe never - since Ohio State started freshmen at quarterback, tailback and center in the same game.
"We've got a lot of depth and (coach Jim Tressel) is just trying to get it all on the field," said freshman tailback Dan "Boom" Herron, who had 94 yards on 20 carries as the starting replacement for the injured Chris "Beanie" Wells.
Cont...

 

[GoBux20]

I like Rose at DT also. He has looked good the few times I have seen him in there. I love the idea of a D-Line of Wilson,Heyward,Rose, and Gibson.

 

[gracelhink]

Great move. I think Heyward is a natural DT. He's going to raise hell as the season progresses.

Agreed!!

BTW, Whatever happened to the outcry for the Big Plodder, Floppy bellied, 2 gap, run stuffer at the nose?
Wasn't that "the solution" to the problem of how to keep the opponent's OL off our LBs?