2008 Football Rumblings

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Bitter loss breeds a new set of goals
Ohio State still has shot at BCS bowl, including Rose
Monday, October 27, 2008 3:17 AM
By Ken Gordon


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



As Ohio State players struggle once again with lowering their sights a notch, the last thing they need is an extra week to think about it. But coming off the 13-6 loss to Penn State on Saturday night -- a defeat that probably ended hope for a Big Ten title -- the Buckeyes now have a week off, time that certainly could serve to deepen their disappointment.
"After you don't get done what you'd like to get done, you'd sure like to get on that field again," coach Jim Tressel said.
"But our guys will get back to work when the time is right, and they're a good bunch."
Indeed, after the game, the Buckeyes sounded beaten but not bowed. Defensively in particular, they had stood toe to toe with the nation's third-ranked team for more than three quarters. They limited the Nittany Lions to 13 points and 281 yards.
But with OSU leading 6-3, quarterback Terrelle Pryor fumbled, and Penn State recovered and drove for the game's only touchdown with 6:25 left.
"You know the way I am -- we think six points should be good enough," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "We feel like we've got to stop them there."
They didn't, though. The Buckeyes (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) slipped to 13th in the Associated Press and USA Today polls -- the exact poll slot they found themselves in six weeks ago after losing at Southern California.
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[osugrad21]

Link

Not even LeBron could help the Buckeyes

Jon Spencer ? Gannett News Service ? October 27, 2008

The face of the 2008 Buckeyes plopped into a chair, looking mentally exhausted and - this is scary - physically spent. He was at a loss for answers after Ohio State was held without an offensive touchdown for the second time in three weeks and third time this season.
"I just punt," A.J. Trapasso said.
He does it quite well, actually, and way, way, too often.
Knowing Jim Tressel's track record when it comes to working with explosives, we must have been kidding ourselves, breathlessly anticipating a new era of spread offense when freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor took over the controls six weeks ago. The closest they've come to replicating Joe Tiller's once-vaunted "basketball on grass" attack was having LeBron James on their sidelines for moral support during Saturday night's 13-6 loss to Penn State.
So much for the Buckeyes riding a wave of Scarlet Fever to an eighth straight home win over the Lions and controlling their own destiny in the Big Ten race. LeBron's gray beanie and gray scarf - didn't he get the memo? - better matched the mood in the stands and the skies over Tressel's head as he plotted his next move.
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[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Bob Hunter commentary: 2007 raised expectations too high for '08 Buckeyes

Monday, October 27, 2008 3:23 AM
By Bob Hunter


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Jim Tressel's postgame interview was only three questions old when a reporter unconsciously exposed the raw nerves of the Ohio State nation. You talked about your third straight outright Big Ten title, and it looks like the chances of that are pretty slim now. What do you still have to play for this year?
Before the Ohio State coach had uttered a word of his answer, my mind conjured the title of a book I had read while in college, The Arrogance of Power. I'm sure the questioner meant nothing by his wording, but he should have been aware that the way he posed the question contained a hint of superiority that wasn't the least bit flattering.
What do the players at dozens of two-, three- and four-loss teams have to play for? How about kinship with their teammates? How about gratitude to the fans or loyalty to their university? How about love of the game? The implication that there might not be a compelling reason to finish the season if the Buckeyes don't appear in the national championship game or at least win another outright Big Ten title is wrong on many levels, and yet I couldn't help but think that was exactly the way many fans and even some of the players are thinking today.
Runaway success has spoiled many of those in and around the Ohio State football program, and the public manifestation of that isn't pretty. Three Big Ten titles in a row and three national championship game appearances in six years have made success seem like more of a birthright than a goal, and the assumption of that doesn't contain a hint of humility.
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[osugrad21]

Link

OSU football notebook: Polls showed a little mercy for punchless Buckeyes

By LARRY PHILLIPS ? News Journal ? October 27, 2008

COLUMBUS -- The polls weren't nearly as harsh on Ohio State as the message board maniacs and disgruntled fans who filed out of Ohio Stadium on Saturday night.
Perhaps a drop from 9th to 13th in the polls is recognition there's no humiliation in losing a skin-tight 13-6 duel to a team poised to reach the national championship game, while starting a true freshman quarterback to boot.
The disappointment in falling to 3rd-ranked Penn State reflects a game the Buckeyes seemed on the verge of winning. But Terrelle Pryor's fourth-quarter fumble on what could've been a game-sealing drive was the only opening the Nittany Lions needed.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Ohio State football
Inside the Beat: Now what?

Monday, October 27, 2008 12:15 PM
By Ken Gordon and Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Against Penn State, Terrelle Pryor was asked to throw more than he had all season ? 25 times. He completed 64 percent of those passes.


Each week during the Ohio State football team's season, Dispatch OSU football writers Tim May and Ken Gordon engage in a give-and-take that brings readers "inside the beat" of Buckeyes football.



The dust is clearing, and there is a crater where used to stand Ohio State's grand goals for the 2008 season. The players who opted to return for their senior season instead of heading for the NFL can say what they want, but a shot at a three-peat trip to the national championship game was the ultimate incentive, and being the core of an unprecedented third straight outright Big Ten championship team was right up there, too. The 35-3 loss at Southern California blunted the first goal, and the 13-6 fall to Penn State on Saturday night all but confirmed the second goal won't be reached either. Now what? That's what Dispatch beat writers Tim May and Ken Gordon ponder as the Buckeyes head into this bye week before the three-game regular-season wrap-up run:
MAY: This is not at all what I envisioned for this OSU team, or for the Big Ten, for that matter, in 2008. The crystal ball back in August saw the Buckeyes having a challenge when they played at USC on Sept.13, but there was no indication that the Big Ten would be anything more than a scarlet-carpet ride back to the another title. No one that I spoke with or read projected Penn State to be the power it has turned out to be. And forget the rise of the PSU offense -- with all the troubles the Nittany Lions had with their defensive personnel on and off the field in the build-up to the season, most thought that's where PSU would be the weakest. Not true.

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[osugrad21]

Scout$--Buckeyes Have Struggled After Open Weeks

Rundown of 1-4 record after bye weeks under JT

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor sits on the bench after his pass was intercepted by Penn State cornerback Lydell Sargeant in the end zone late in the fourth quarter of Saturday's 13-6 loss to Penn State in Columbus. AP

Jon Spencer: OSU Buckeyes begin healing



By JON SPENCER ? News Journal ? October 28, 2008

Football teams usually look at bye weeks as a chance to salve wounds.

But when you're Ohio State and the scars are more than skin deep, getting this week off is merely a Band-Aid.
"It'll haunt us, not just for the next two weeks, but for a long time," Ohio State guard Jim Cordle said after Saturday's l3-6 loss to Penn State killed OSU's chances of playing in a third straight national championship game and winning an unprecedented third straight undisputed Big Ten title.
"It's unfortunate the bye week is right now," Cordle said. "Hopefully we can get out there (Nov. 8 at Northwestern) and get things rolling again. It might take us that long to get back."

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[osugrad21]

BN Free--Tressel Grilled On Offense, Talks Pryor At Teleconference

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

College football: Buckeyes hope to find 'what it is we feel we can do best'

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 2:30 PM

By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

All things considered, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel would rather have seen Terrelle Pryor try to be a little sneakier the other night against Penn State when the Buckeyes were clinging to a fourth-quarter lead.
The freshman quarterback opted not to sneak for a first down at midfield, and he tried to get outside on a keeper where, if he beat just one man, he thought he would have had smooth sailing. Instead, he was stripped of the ball, the Nittany Lions recovered and moments later scored the go-ahead touchdown in what turned out to be a 13-6 victory.
"For sure the best decision would have been to stay focused in on what we really needed at the moment," Tressel said today. "I think he felt that when, all of a sudden, they dropped a bunch of people into the A gap (either side of center) and crouched in on the B gap there, that he felt like he could do a little bit better a little wider. And you could see from the film why he felt that way.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Ohio State football: Tressel update and players of the week

by Doug Lesmerises Tuesday October 28, 2008, 2:52 PM

APJim Tressel today still was not in favor of the decision Terrelle Pryor made that led to this fumble against Penn State on Saturday.

It must have been better than the Purdue game.

Ohio State named its players of the week today for Saturday's 13-6 loss to Penn State. After previous wins over Ohio University on Sept. 6 and Purdue on Oct. 11, the OSU offense declined to name either a player of the week or a lineman of the week.

Despite scoring no touchdowns against the Nittany Lions, Ohio State named receiver Dane Sanzenbacher, who caught six passes for 82 yards, the offensive player of the week and left tackle Alex Boone the offensive lineman of the week.
In nine games this year, the 7-2 Buckeyes have four times chosen to name no one as the offensive lineman of the week, meaning that no offensive linemen graded out at a winning performance level. The five times that the honor has been handed out, Boone has won it four times. Jim Cordle won it the first week he moved from center to left guard.

On defense, safety Kurt Coleman was the player of the week and lineman Cameron Heyward was the attack force player of the week. Aaron Pettrey, who scored all of Ohio State's points on field goals of 41 and 36 yards, was the special teams player of the week.
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[osugrad21]

DDN

Loss didn't keep Pryor down long


Wednesday, October 29, 2008
What's brewing today with
the Ohio State Buckeyes:
Buckeyes buzz
After the 13-6 loss to No. 3 Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 25, Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor took the blame for the offense failing to score a touchdown and for two late turnovers that swung the tide in favor of the Nittany Lions.
"Oh, I think he's come along well," coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday. "Whenever you're in those competitive situations, and you feel as if you could have done better, it's always very, very difficult. But as soon as you can move to the point of, 'OK, what do I have to do to be better in the future?' I think you start feeling a little bit better. So he's turned his attention to the future."
Team honors
The Ohio State football coaching staff selected its weekly award winners.
Safety Kurt Coleman (Northmont) as the Buckeyes' defensive player of the week; wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher picked up the offensive honors; and kicker Aaron Pettrey was selected from special units.
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[osugrad21]

Canton

Tressel puts heat on line for breakdowns against Penn State
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
BY TODD PORTER
[email protected]

COLUMBUS When Terrelle Pryor decided to improvise a quarterback sneak, it was either going to make or break his ? and Ohio State's ? season. Neither is quite shattered yet, but all the king's horses and all his men will try to put the Buckeyes back together again this week.

Pryor's key play in the fourth quarter, in which he fumbled and No. 3 Penn State later scored the game-winning touchdown, was the rare occasion in Pryor's athletic career when he didn't come out on top.

Buckeye Head Coach Jim Tressel didn't lay all the blame at Pryor's feet. He saved much of the blame for his offense's struggles on an inconsistent and disappointing veteran offensive line.

Ohio State has a week off to lick its wounds and then prepare for consecutive road games against Northwestern and Illinois. The 13th-ranked Buckeyes likely are out of the Big Ten and national title pictures.

Pryor, his eyes red and his voice trailing off, was clearly dejected after the loss. Tressel said the young quarterback has bounced back.
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[osugrad21]

CPD

Struggling running game becomes a front-line issue for Buckeyes

by Doug Lesmerises Tuesday October 28, 2008, 9:00 PM

Jay LaPrete/Associated PressAn all-too-common sight in Saturday's loss to Penn State was Chris Wells being bottled up by Mark Rubin and the rest of the Nittany Lions' defense.
COLUMBUS -- Beanie Wells was stunned. You could have walked into post-game interviews after Ohio State' 13-6 loss to Penn State on Saturday, taken one look at the Buckeyes' star running back and known everything you needed to know about the outcome and the run game. And Ohio State's offensive line.
In seven previous starts against ranked teams, Wells had broken the 130-yard mark six times and never averaged less than 4.5 yards per carry. Whatever else had gone wrong, Wells had gone right.
Now, after rushing for just 55 yards on 22 carries, a 2.5 yard average that was his worst in 19 career starts, Wells knew what it was like to get stuffed.
Asked if he'd ever felt like this after a game, Wells' eyes widened as he said, "I definitely haven't.

"This was by far the best defense I think I played against," Wells continued. "It seemed like guys were all over the field. They played great. It was hard for us to establish our run game."
Several times this season, OSU coach Jim Tressel has trotted out the story of how often Ohio State ran a simple run play in 2002, how if you do something well, a defense can know it's coming and still not stop it. Nine games into this season -- ranking 95th in the nation in total offense, with no offensive touchdowns in two of the last three games -- maybe at last, the Buckeyes realize that story doesn't apply to this team.
"I think the consistency of the offense has not progressed," Tressel said Tuesday during his 10 minutes on the Big Ten coaches conference call.

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[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Ohio State football: Bye week to focus on weak offense
Nine games into season, Tressel sees identity crisis
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 3:24 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

For a team seeking rhyme and reason on offense, it figures that Ohio State's next few practices will be about finding precision and making decisions. Coach Jim Tressel said after a 13-6 loss Saturday to Penn State -- the third game this season in which the OSU offense failed to score a touchdown -- the Buckeyes will hammer heavy on fundamentals, especially on the line, during their bye week. They'll also review some decisions freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor made in the fourth quarter.
The goal, Tressel said, is to find an offensive identity, even if the season is already nine games old. The Buckeyes are 95th nationally in total yards (318.3 average).
"The consistency of the offense has not progressed," Tressel said. "We haven't been able to really find out who we are, what we do best. Hey, we're going to do this, and you know we're going to do it, but we do it so well it doesn't matter if you know we're going to do it.
"We haven't gotten to that point."
The Buckeyes still were on the verge of pulling off an upset over the Nittany Lions, leading 6-3 with just more than 10 minutes left. Then, on a third-and-1 at the 50-yard line, Pryor opted not to run a quarterback sneak as called and instead ran to the outside, where he thought a big play was possible. But he was stripped of the ball, and Penn State recovered and drove for a touchdown.
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[osugrad21]

DDN

OSU going with two place-kickers

By Rusty Miller
Associated Press

Thursday, October 30, 2008
What's brewing today with
the Ohio State Buckeyes:
Buckeyes buzz
In case you were wondering, it now appears that the Buckeyes have a two-headed place-kicker.
Ryan Pretorius handled all the field goals and most of the kickoffs, and continued this year. But in a 13-6 loss to Penn State on Saturday night, Oct. 25, it was Aaron Pettrey who kicked both field goals and handled the kickoffs.
"We felt as if he's probably the best guy with the longer field goals. We made a cutoff of the 20-yard line in normal conditions," said OSU coach Jim Tressel. He said he ignored that rule later when the ball was at the 19 because the wind was blowing.
Pretorius was 6-for-7 on field goals of 40 yards or longer last season. This year he's 11-of-12 inside 40 and 2-of-5 beyond 40 yards. Pettrey has converted all five attempts, including all three between 40 and 49 yards.
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