Great game! It's always a great game when the Buckeyes win, but this has been the most satisfying game of the year so far.
I think if you said to most people that the Buckeyes wouldn't be able to pass the ball in the first half because of the weather, they would have told you the Buckeyes would be in a lot of trouble based on the way they had performed rushing the football so far this year. That was not the case at all though. The offensive line grabbed control of this game in the bad weather and delivered when everybody in the stadium knew that the Buckeyes were gonna run the football.
And I don't know why I'm even talking about the offense after what we just saw from the defense. There is no question right now - this is the best defense in the country. A lot of people are going to talk about Gibson and Rolle - and rightfully so. I especially proud of Lawrence Wilson though. He's had more than his share of bad luck, and he got the chance to make an absolutely outstanding individual play today. All 32 NFL teams are gonna have that on their film of him and that should be one of the first plays they show of him when his name gets called in the draft.
Two consecutive shutouts in this day and age is no small feat. It's already started (thanks, John Saunders) but there was nothing ugly about that 30-0 win.
Aaron Pettrey made two huge kicks early in the game when the game was very much in doubt. That was huge. I'll promise to stop doing this after today, but seeing that makes me think once more that the Buckeyes should have kicked the FG late against USC. Pettrey is a special kicker - especially from long distance.
I like the improvement we've seen in short yardage situations.
I also like the way the coaches managed the game on their final offensive possession. First of all, the first team offense - especially Pryor - needs the reps. Injuries are a valid concern, but they can happen anytime. Injuries are no less inconvenient if they happen with the game in doubt versus garbage time. I wanted no part of Joe Bauserman in that situation. We've also lamented at times Jim Tressel's stubbornness in the face of the idea that a few extra points on the scoreboard helps the way the team is perceived and could help them in the polls. I don't think he's necessarily changed his mind on that, but I like the result of his decision.
I mentioned that Pryor needs the reps - and it's because he needs to improve his decision making and footwork. I don't want to say that he's always bad - he's just not good often enough or consistently enough in those areas. I would like to see him do a better job with his feet to improve his accuracy as a passer, and I would like to see him make better decisions on when to run and how to run. While his raw ability gets him a lot of yards that lesser players cannot get, he also leaves a lot of yards and first downs out there that lesser players pick up. It looked to me like he didn't take what the defense was giving - trying to bounce it out or reverse his direction too much. It looks like on option plays he doesn't decide to pitch or keep in a timely enough manner. Overall I don't think he showed too much improvement over last week. Within this game though I think he did show some improvement as the game progressed (his fumble notwithstanding), and that was a bit encouraging.
All in all, it was great start to the Big Ten portion of the schedule.
I think if you said to most people that the Buckeyes wouldn't be able to pass the ball in the first half because of the weather, they would have told you the Buckeyes would be in a lot of trouble based on the way they had performed rushing the football so far this year. That was not the case at all though. The offensive line grabbed control of this game in the bad weather and delivered when everybody in the stadium knew that the Buckeyes were gonna run the football.
And I don't know why I'm even talking about the offense after what we just saw from the defense. There is no question right now - this is the best defense in the country. A lot of people are going to talk about Gibson and Rolle - and rightfully so. I especially proud of Lawrence Wilson though. He's had more than his share of bad luck, and he got the chance to make an absolutely outstanding individual play today. All 32 NFL teams are gonna have that on their film of him and that should be one of the first plays they show of him when his name gets called in the draft.
Two consecutive shutouts in this day and age is no small feat. It's already started (thanks, John Saunders) but there was nothing ugly about that 30-0 win.
Aaron Pettrey made two huge kicks early in the game when the game was very much in doubt. That was huge. I'll promise to stop doing this after today, but seeing that makes me think once more that the Buckeyes should have kicked the FG late against USC. Pettrey is a special kicker - especially from long distance.
I like the improvement we've seen in short yardage situations.
I also like the way the coaches managed the game on their final offensive possession. First of all, the first team offense - especially Pryor - needs the reps. Injuries are a valid concern, but they can happen anytime. Injuries are no less inconvenient if they happen with the game in doubt versus garbage time. I wanted no part of Joe Bauserman in that situation. We've also lamented at times Jim Tressel's stubbornness in the face of the idea that a few extra points on the scoreboard helps the way the team is perceived and could help them in the polls. I don't think he's necessarily changed his mind on that, but I like the result of his decision.
I mentioned that Pryor needs the reps - and it's because he needs to improve his decision making and footwork. I don't want to say that he's always bad - he's just not good often enough or consistently enough in those areas. I would like to see him do a better job with his feet to improve his accuracy as a passer, and I would like to see him make better decisions on when to run and how to run. While his raw ability gets him a lot of yards that lesser players cannot get, he also leaves a lot of yards and first downs out there that lesser players pick up. It looked to me like he didn't take what the defense was giving - trying to bounce it out or reverse his direction too much. It looks like on option plays he doesn't decide to pitch or keep in a timely enough manner. Overall I don't think he showed too much improvement over last week. Within this game though I think he did show some improvement as the game progressed (his fumble notwithstanding), and that was a bit encouraging.
All in all, it was great start to the Big Ten portion of the schedule.
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