ABJ
Tressel admits poor choices
He indicates play calls relied too much on run
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
COLUMBUS - If fans and critics are going to take shots at top-ranked Ohio State's woefulsecond-half offense Saturday at Illinois, coach Jim Tressel also wants to face the firing squad.
In a rare moment in his six-year tenure, Tressel second-guessed his play-calling in the 17-10 victory over the Illini. A ghastly second half produced no points and 29 yards on 30 plays, but the Buckeyes still managed to extend the nation's longest winning streak to 17 games.
``I'm not sure we were as balanced with our attack as we could have been, and we didn't execute on early downs,'' Tressel said Tuesday. ``Then we got behind in the count, and we let them come storming the castle pretty good. One thing leads to another, and all of a sudden your momentum has changed.''
Pressed on what he meant by balance, Tressel cited the run-pass ratio and conceded he referred to play selection.
Tressel may be a little too hard on himself. The Buckeyes ran 30 plays after intermission: 20 runs and 10 passes (including two sacks). Three of those runs came after OSU receiver Brian Robiskie recovered an onside kick with 1:40 remaining and the team was trying to kill the clock.
Those 20 runs netted 35 yards. Quarterback Troy Smith completed 3-of-8 passes for 9 yards in the second half. Only once in the final two quarters did OSU throw on first down -- a pass to running back Antonio Pittman for a 3-yard loss. And that came on a three-and-out fourth-quarter series that included three straight passes.
Junior slot receiver Anthony Gonzalez said no one in the huddle wondered why Tressel kept running Pittman up the middle. Six of seven second-half drives started with a run by Pittman, who finished with a career-high 32 carries for 58 yards. This season, Tressel has called running plays 59 percent of the time.
``Whatever's called, you just run,'' Gonzalez said. ``It's not like if a run play goes in, you're sitting in the huddle, `Why aren't we throwing the ball?' That never happens. Coach Tressel felt like we needed to be running the ball at that point.''
For the first time this season, Tressel did not name an offensive player of the week or offensive lineman of the week. He would not blame the line's woes on the absence of sophomore left tackle Alex Boone, who sat out after undergoing a ``procedure'' and was replaced by senior Tim Schafer.
Tressel said Boone is probably a week away from playing, meaning he will also miss Saturday's game at Northwestern.
Asked how much Boone's absence contributed to the line's woes, Tressel said: ``Probably one-fifth, and I don't mean to be a smart aleck. Tim Schafer graded out very similar to the rest of the group. Sure, you'd like to have all of your personnel, but if anyone thinks they were the difference, they're missing the point of this game.''
Tressel and Gonzalez gave more credit to the Illinois defense.
``I remember thinking a few hours after the game, `That was the first team I feel like played with no fear and gave us everything they had,' '' Gonzalez said.
In Tressel's grand plan of peaking for the Nov. 18 game against No. 2 Michigan, this would appear to be a huge setback.
``Maybe statistically speaking,'' Gonzalez said. ``After watching the film, yeah, we didn't move the ball, but it's not like it was a complete debacle and nobody was doing anything right. There were a lot of good things being done, it's just they didn't manifest themselves in the form of yards and production.''
Gonzalez shot down the notion that the Buckeyes got complacent with a 17-0 halftime lead or were overconfident against a team that is now 2-8.
``Our confidence wasn't at a level where `We're unstoppable, nobody can touch us,' '' Gonzalez said. ``That's a dangerous level. It is what it is. It's over now, thank God.
``It's just another game we happened to not play well in. That will happen with all teams in 12 or 13 games. One along the way is not going to be the smoothest ride.''
Award candidates
? Senior defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock was named one of four finalists for the Lombardi Award, given to the country's top offensive or defensive lineman. He was joined by Michigan's LaMarr Woodley, Texas' Justin Blalock and Penn State's Paul Posluszny. It will be presented Dec. 6 in Houston.
? Fifth-year senior cornerback Antonio Smith is one of 11 semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation's top defensive back. The list also includes Michigan's Leon Hall, Texas' Aaron Ross and Notre Dame's Tom Zbikowski. The trophy will be awarded Dec. 7 on ESPN.
? Sophomore linebacker James Laurinaitis will find out Thursday if he's a finalist for the Butkus Award. He's tied for 15th in the nation with five interceptions.
