You know, while I am very very happy for the win, I just can't put the scarlets on for this one. In fact, I was having trouble identifying any plays that were well-executed on even a semi-consistent basis. Yes, only one turnover was excellent progress, but tell me that I am not the only person who thought "well, that's three" when Whitner got tackled on the INT return.
Zwick was just plain off, even when he had time and a target. That happens, and he's a fine QB, but it really exposes a weakness in this offense. The stats don't like -- it lives on the big yardage pass play. If he isn't connecting, then we don't drive the ball. Our best scoring drive all day was fuel by Pack penalties, and even then resulted in three.
Props of course to Mike Nugent. Three points a shot is still offense, and he's deadly from anywhere inside the 40, it seems.
Pittman is a spark. This kid deserves to play more, and runs like someone who wants to. I am dying to see him catch a pass in space to see what he does with it.
The WR screen to Hall was a nice wrinkle, and was an effective play. Hall brought some size to that, and you could see he was hard to bring down.
Bam is playing with the kind of heart a senior should have. I love seeing him catch the ball, because you know he's giving everything he has on that play. As excellent as Holmes is, Bam is one of the few guys you'll ever see who makes you believe that he can turn a three yard out into an 80 yard touchdown.
But otherwise, I was not really excited. Zwick was under more pressure than we've seen so far. He did well responding to it, but depending on the play, either the protection broke down or the receivers couldn't beat the coverage. Props to NCSU for playing some solid D, but that wasn't encouraging.
Then there's Ross. Man, we all want this guy to break out and have a solid senior year. Maybe it's the Joe thing. Maybe it's not. Maybe today was the worst rushing peformance I've ever seen from an Ohio State team. Maybe I need some sleep, but that's got to change. We have to be able to run the football, and run it well. Does anyone think that the rushing defenses we're going to see for the next eight games are going to be softer and easier? Even our good friends at the doormat Hoosiers have elevated their game a bit.
Count me in the "Start Pittman" camp officially.
I hope that wasn't too negative. I love our defense and our special teams, but I really think that the offense phoned this one in.