Buckeye Blogger Network
Spiral bound and everything!
Another Wednesday, another mainstream media member making less than accurately informed statements about issues they think they understand…
Buckeye 411
In this week’s edition of news and notes, we take a look at the ever swirling world of college “playoffs”; helping you get to the bottom of the matter. You can probably guess where this is headed…
Never forget
Buckeye 411
(Gee) knows more about bow ties than he does about journalism.
Probably true, but since Gordo is a fifteenth level bow-tie ninja, what does that say about your point?
OT J.B. Shugarts (seventh or free agent): Good size, but had false start and some foot problems with the Buckeyes.
Well, let’s try to put a bow on this, shall we? Silk purse, sow’s ear and all that… Actually, there’s a lot to be positive about looking back at the team’s efforts against TTUN- and some things that definitely need attention.
Defensive Heart. Depends on who you’re looking at- Shazier played his heart out, and Simon/Hankins were fighting on every play (funny how that happens when you get held). The secondary, though… wow, we’re going to need a tune up before next season.
Courtesy, CPD
A worthy offensive gameplan. Throwing the ball on first down? Sweet sassy molassy… what was that? My only frustration is that this type of game plan would have won against Michigan State, Penn State, and Purdue… What took Bollman so long?
A Jake Stoneburner touchdown. Nope- but he was targeted. And we had Fragel sightings again!
Weeping M*ch*g*n fans. Sigh.
Beat M*ch*g*n. Double Sigh. Read More
Well, that was awkward. Was there anything salvageable about yesterday’s dose of disappointment?
Things Started Well
Welcome Back, DeVier
Boom goes the dynamite – No one will ever doubt Boom’s courage and heart. But the fumbled exchange was almost catastrophic.
It was a memorable Senior Day in Columbus, although not the memories that Buckeye fans were hoping for. Ohio State’s offense continued to struggle against a solid PSU defense, and the Buckeye D were unable to effectively stop the big plays as Penn State moved to a Wildcat package to have success running the ball.
After returning from his 10 game suspension, Devier Posey received a warm welcome at his introduction during the Senior celebration; there was speculation that the fans might not have responded well to the last member of the Tat 5. His presence helped in the game, but in the end it wasn’t enough.
Ohio State deferred to the second half, and PSU started on the OSU 20 after a huge kick. However, on the first play, Howard committed pass interference after biting on the play action. OSU’s D managed to shut out the Lions on first and second down, but gave up a slant for the first. PSU went to the wildcat, with Drake taking the snap and handing off to Green; who burst up the middle (and past Ryan Shazier) and ran 39 yards for the early PSU touchdown.
Ohio State’s Offense started with a run up the middle. Surprise, right? Miller took a sack on second down, and completed a pass to DeVier on a broken play. A pass to Herron on first down fell incomplete, but Miller’s keeper on the option look picked up eight yards; Boom picked up the first down off tackle. Boom was tripped up after a three yard gain on first down, but picked up nothing on the second. A fumbled snap on third down, and Buchanan came out and punted into the endzone.
Read More
Step One- Get Hot At The Right Time
Buckeye 411
We got to finish. We know defensively we talk about it. It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish. It’s about us first playing four quarters. I don’t know that you can pinpoint any one specific thing that we could say is anything different. To me it really comes down the thing against Wisconsin is being able to overcome giving up one of those things, giving up one of those big plays that you can just go to the next play and not still dwell upon those things of the past and move forward. I think that’s probably, from the start of the season to right now, where we’ve got to get a lot better defensively.
We’ve had those expectations. We don’t want anybody to ever score. All of a sudden something happens. It’s like there’s a letdown. We want to keep those same expectations, but we have to know the most important play is the next play, move on, correct those things within a game. Read More
Could also read "Emergency Room"
Buckeye 411
I think the other reality is that the Buckeyes never quit. The Buckeyes played and played. I thought we did a good job of putting ourselves in position to have a chance to get back in the game and perhaps take over the game and, again, to their credit, they put together a nice drive which was keyed by a couple key third-down conversions that they did a nice job with and those really are the realities in the football game.
Well, there aren’t any other issues, other than being in your lane and taking on blockers and everyone being where they’re supposed to be. So, yeah, they’re the exact same
To me the key will be, what kind of students are we, because if you’re being taught through adversity, how well are we learning from it, and that will be the fun of attacking the practice field. Because what’s interesting is Purdue really doesn’t care about the difficulty of the challenge or the adversity or the disappointment of maybe letting someone down. Purdue has had their own adversity. They lost their quarterback early. They lost a running back in preseason. They lost a great receiver. And to their credit, they just rolled up their sleeves and have gotten better and better and better and find themselves by doing so, sitting at the top of the Big Ten, 2-0, playing well, young quarterback coming in and the staff, I think, is doing a great job with that young quarterback. He’s a very, very good runner and a very good passer. I think they’re doing the things that conceptually he understands and keep adding a little bit as he goes and in terms of our situation, Purdue doesn’t really care about our adversities, they’ve dealt with their own, they just care about getting better. And what we have to make sure when we take the field this afternoon is that we’re most concerned with getting better at what we need to do. Our players and coaches spent just as long on Sunday watching the film together as they normally do, and someone asked me on the Big Ten call, well, how were our guys this week. Well, Sunday they were tired. They were sore. They were disappointed, but they went to work and went to do what they had to do. Yesterday was their day off and there were lots of them roaming around the building, watching more film, lifting weights and doing all the things they do on an off day, but in my mind, the measure of how we confront that adversity and what kind of students we are of adversity will be determined by how we hit the practice field and how we take the field on Saturday and, you know, life is tough.
REPORTER: Both Illinois and Wisconsin came out hard charging out of the gate and I’m wondering if there was a common denominator in those games, are those experiences something you could learn from that would help you be more productive earlier in games?
COACH TRESSEL: You mean not get behind?
Old school
Buckeye 411
I think their offense starts with the toughness that their quarterback shows. Their quarterback stands in there and holds that ball until the last second when the receiver is ready to break and runs when he has to run, kind of plays a little bit in the shadow of their rush game, which their rush game is — it deserves all the kudos that it gets, but their quarterback just kind of whatever the team needs him to do, he does, and he’s a veteran. He’s got a veteran offensive line who are very, very physical. Their tight end position is always one of the deepest and best utilized tight end corps in the Big Ten.
Well, they were going to be ready if we were 15th. I mean, I don’t know that that will change their readiness. What’s most critical is our readiness and our preparation and then how we handle the adversity and how we handle the situation there. There will be times when you can’t hear. There will be times when you’re not in the same comfort zone as you are back in your own meeting rooms at halftime or whatever, but I’m not sure that anything in terms of the rankings are going to change. I mean, Wisconsin is going to be ready, so I don’t know that that will change it.
Hard. Hard and long.
Assault. Plain and simple
